Fringe activities by LAC members.

Scottish Islands Peaks Race, Mountain Marathons

Bruce Poll, Peter Ward and Jon Gay are three newmembers of the club, Bruce and Peter originally runners from the Lake District, but both now firmly ensconsed within Lochaber, and Jon originally Scottish, now relocated to Lochaber. Their attraction to the area was that of an undiscovered playground, and one which would take years to discover wholly. This playground with its breadth of mountain ranges for climbing, running and exploring and the vast coastal mileage for sailing and exploring some more. Peter also ventured back south this summer to run all the Lakeland classics, both miles in the car and underfoot! There is no long Scottish classics series yet?! I do not think? Bruce and Jon took part this year in the Scottish Islands Peaks Race, held in mid May, unfortunately foreshortened by extremes of weather, Force 10 in the Sound of Mull, the first time in 25 years the race has been abandoned. Poor Davy Rogers 's boat never got to start. After a successful run over Oban cliffs, Salen was tricky but Ben More was savoured by men loving the extremes of weather and the challenges of route finding and staying on their feet, the team achieved second in their class as the organisers called it a day. See http://www.sipr.zetnet.co.uk Several other members of LAC have dipped into this event over the years.

In July Bruce took part in the Trail des Cerces, 57km, 2700mm of climbing all on Alpine trails, sumptuous feeding stations. If you are in the Alpes for a spell in the summer, there are several events like this through the most amazing stunning high Alpine scenery. Just take a doctors note to say you are fit and you are in. See http://www.trailserrechevalier.com

Over the clocks change weekend in October, all three mentioned above were in action again wearing LAC vests, in the now named Original Mounatin Marathon, a pairs event for running and navigation, see http://www.theomm.com We were all in the elite class. There are many different classes. Jon was partnered by his brother Dan; and Bruce and Peter paired up. This event is aimed at navigating around two courses in two days consecutively whilst carrying your kit to be self sufficient for the two days. You do not know where you will be camping overnight on day one until you get the map for day 1. The terrain is generally mountainous and sometimes rough underfoot. Lochaber is surrounded by peat hags, rough rocky ground, mossy boglands, and tussock grass (Peter's favourite!). Lochaber should be doing well at these events year after year, all classes. All you need to do, is get with someone who you can have a laugh with, not shout at too much, put up with in close proximity for atleast one night, and run about the same pace with. At least one of the pair should have some idea about how to use a map. There is always plenty of choice of distance at these events- the term 'marathon' is possibly misleading. This year the same film crew that filmed the Ben Nevis Race also filmed the Elite class at the OMM. Bruce and Peter were wearing their LAC vests and were instantly recognised by the film crew, see "The Adventure Show" soon on a December Tuesday we think?? Watch this space. Hopefully we will get some LAC coverage. Unfortunately Jon had to retire early on Day 1 as he was recovering from flu. Bruce and Peter finished 12th in their class. They will do better next year. 1550 teams took part across all classes over the weekend.

A similar event to this is the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon, described by the organisers as the "Connoisseurs Mountain Marathon". Normally slightly shorter than the OMM but with MIDGES. See http://www.lamm.co.uk Colin Donnelly and Jon
finished 8th on a very hot june weekend this year. The LAMM can also be a good excuse to bag some new munros if you are not feeling too competitive or you can persuade your partner that the best route for that leg is via the summit cairn.

Another, earlier but probably more local is the http://www.highlandermountainmarathon.org.uk Again a bit more like the LAMM, but with the addition of a CEILIDH and BEER on the saturday night. Jon again partnered by his brother sucessfully took part this year. 2008 dates early April. Jon also took part in the the Saunders http://www.slmm.org.uk/ and Rab Mountain Marathons, held in the Lake District in July and September, which he can recommend. There are even walking
classes at the Saunders to really let you in gently.

Bruce originally moved here as a mountain guide and if people were keen would organise some mountain navigation training / route selection for this type of event if people were interested for next year, as well as going through kit and nutrition.