lol Liam, yes - I managed top 10 without even trying
We had quite a few adventures. Day 1 we delayed our start as long as possible chatting to people (as for some reason my partner thought it would be easier with the sun out... I like a bit of patchy mist to keep it interesting). We also decided to leave the 'wildcard' until after the cluster rather than after CP1. Later on, both these decisions would stare at us ominously.
By CP2 we learnt that the co-ordinates given were not very accurate and the description was the closer thing to go by, having wasted 5mins on the wrong side of a river ravine.
Soon we hit Kilbroney and all the map corrections for 'elite only' came into play. Wanting to avoid bog, or mountain bikes yelling at us, we chose the middle way of an old fire break that had been drawn in on the corrections to join the MTB trail further up. It was straight an' all... tussocky grass got thicker and the trees grew closer until we crossed a river and the grass was up to our waists. I finally devined the way and we kept discovering the trail around this tree or through that one. It all seemed magical and you just had to keep the faith, but eventually the mushroom spores must have wore off and we were surrounded by impenetrable forest: trees thick from ankle height with no light beyond. We gave up and backtracked nearly 2km before risking the MTB trail (there must have been signs at the trail head, as none seemed surprised to see us jumping off the trail).
Any competitive notions were dashed early by that unfortunate decision, but we were happy the open mountains would not impede us further and could finish with a respectable time (with delays added on
). Eagle mountain decided not to be so open. The map shows a gap in the crags so we thought we'd have a look rather than run right around the south end. It was mostly a grassy scramble but the slick crux brought on a Michael Burke voiceover and thoughts of helicopter rescue. We chatted to at least 1 other team who took this gully, and we agree all time and energy saved running around was lost through nerves and trepidation. If anything John should have injured himself here....
but he left it until 20mins later at Windy Gap when I heard a holler and looked back to find him upside-down in the scenery. He had got a bit fuzzy and really did his ankle in. It turned out not to be the sort you can run off and the rest of our weekend became a long walk. This is where we still had to pick up the wildcard... and 2 more checkpoints before the time cut-off... now looming due to our late start and mis-adventures!
Thankfully the terrain had improved underfoot and we could at least walk steady. My nav is pretty excellent when I try, so we just dropped straight onto the controls and made the cut-off with 30mins to spare. That just left a nice climb up and over Muck, and that other one by Silent Valley before a late dinner. We laughed at all the fast teams stuck down in Silent Valley missing the spectacular views in the golden sunset
Much to our disappointment, we were still ahead of last place by 18mins; so, still needing to finish to contend for the wooden spoon, John drugged himself up on Day 2 and we marched off to take on a cluster of 7 controls! 4 of these were scattered all over Binnian, and extended as far as Bernagh. I was happy with my nav and route choices and think we could have been very fast if able to run. The slower team dropped to B as they were worried about missing their flight home (although it was as long as the elite Day 2), and a fast team dropped out mid-day (must have been injury) so in a war of attrition we bagged both 10th place and dead-last...nobody remembers 6th
Although 'A-' might be more appropriate than 'elite'... must try harder!
John's ankle looks like a tennis ball so although mine are bit stiff this morning I'm not complaining! It is what it is. Our 2 years of successes almost seem better now we've been reminded that it is demanding and everything has to go right to stand a chance. A great challenge, amazing weather (I slept outside NI-wild style), and great fun with all the other competitors and volunteers.
Well done to all the other NI-wild crews and familiar faces of the MMM! See you next year.
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Topic: Mourne Mountain Marathon (MMM) 21/22 SEPT 2013 (Read 21785 times)