Topic: MMM 14 (Read 13697 times)

clairebear · « **on:** September 23, 2014 »

Entered the C class with paddyman, as we hadn't met before it seemed like a sensible decision.

Great weather and pack was at 9kg with 1.5l of water and food (hip flask too).

Paddyman is machine and we went great on day one but made a blip on the last but one clue and went up pigeon rock. This put on about an hour. But that's the joy of the event, you learn u guess from this.

Us before in a field near killowen outdoor.

Up round the westerly mournes.

5hr 37 day one. Not bad but a big boo boo as I said. This had us in 31place I think.

Bit of food and Craic with spud and rusty and partners. Liam was cramping so walking about as he looked in pain.

Bed at 9wrecked, didn't even drink all the mr beam.

Nice sunrise, porridge water and a day 2 that was looking hotter!!

Over worse ground, few tricky clues in a forest, fell over lots on a bog but the big man did a great job with the map.

Finished day two in 3.43, shorter distance but tough ground again. Placed 21overall. Had to jump into the sea at the end, lovely!

Fantastic weekend, can't wait til next year. Legs sore but loved every minute. Thanks to paddyman for the partnership!

LandyLiam · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Great result Claire, still don't understand how you ended up Pigeon Rock though

at least it was at the end of the day. I imagine a mistake like early on would really demoralise you and you certainley need all the morale you can get for this event. Great to meet up again with yourself, Eamonn, Oisin, Rusty & Spud too.

I struggled myself, my partner was a lot faster (I reckon he could have got a podium finish without me) and my pack was too heavy (over 11kg all in). I tried running everything flat or downhill on day1, it was hard work but didn't feel too bad, only 2 very short stops during the day when climbing Eagle Mountain. Suffered at camp with very sore shoulders and a bad back, I couldn't sit down! Avoided cramps all day but when I got into the tent for the first time both legs went immediately and I had to lie there for a few minutes laughing with the pain

.

Day 2 was a big struggle, just could not walk fast but was able to keep a steady but slow pace. My partner was always a "few" metres ahead of my trying to spur me on, but I think the faster he went the slower I went

(I think when someone is so far ahead of you you tend to give up within, whereas if they are closer you feel you can catch up). Anyhow he was a good navigator so by the time I caught up with him at each flag he had already dibbed and plotted the next course so I just kept follwing him like a lost dog.

Came 27th (5h25) on Day 1, 32nd (4h13) on Day 2 - Overall 28th (9h39) out of 65 (I had hoped for a top 20) maybe if I'd taken less photos we could have made up the necessary 23 mins to achieve that, ah well, something to aim for next year. I can always blame the navigator too of course

So here's the photos

The routes

a few map correction to add, unfortunately we missed an important one

off we go and first task is to plot the route, good weather at this point is crucial, imagine doing this in the wind and rain

Cloughmore Stone

manned checkpoints were dotted along the route, I hope they brought midge nets

The odd time I raised my head I got to appreciate the view, here's Pierce's Castle

Some teams stopped for lunch, not us though, we ate on the move. I remember trying to eat going up a steep hill and the food was falling out of my mouth as I tried to breath deeply

Shanlough catches me out EVERY year - must remember to stay wide of the fence where its deeepest (it smelled as bad as it looked

)

top of Eagle and more great views

finished day 1 and straight to the foot spa to wash Shanlough off me

followed by a wee rest in the tent

and the lovely feeling of nice dry socks

and some delicious dinner

looking for those lost minutes

there's always one (and its usually Rusty)

hmmmm nice

good idea, never thought of that for camp

my wee luxury item, yes it lookslike pee but it tastes like cider

afterburners on and time for supper

warming the paws, it was a really warm weekend, but once the sun dropped it cooled dramatically

supernoodle supper

DAY 2 - a lovely dawn

the usual queue for the loo (and I was touching cloth

)

what a campsite

each class starts together on day 2 so there is a bit of a procession, especially with the good visibility, very tempting to follow the crowd but that caught us out a couple of times

some fog in the valleys below, now that would make an interesting event

some confusion among the teams (the flag was behind that tree)

sometimes the flag is in a wee dip so you can't see it from a distance

this one you could spot from miles away

3rd last flag and what a glorious view, there's Killowen below, our finish point, just have to get down a very very steep hill. It was tricky in the good dry conditions, if it was wet i would have stuck the waterproof trousers on and just slid down (many did so unintentionally)

many teams just walked straight into the sea at the finish

he said it was a shortcut that went wrong!

tempting

pretty in pink

mourne pride

Rich.H · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Congrats folks looks like it was a good (but very toasty) weekend. Disappointed I had to miss it this year as the course looked great with some good views.

Now the important part, 2015 class C partner needed for meetups and training every 8-10 weeks any offers?

Spud · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Great photos guys, was great to see you all there! Well done Claire and Paddy on being top mixed team in class C!

whoRya · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Thanks for sharing folks. Well done to all the NI Wilders who participated. With the ground so dry I'm sure the conditions were perfect for the MMM.

I was fortunate to have spent the weekend in the Mournes too and the weather was exceptional.

What about this guy? There is always a point when turning back and going around is better than keeping going

Quote from: LandyLiam on September 23, 2014

he said it was a shortcut that went wrong!

clairebear · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2014 »

I did laugh at the thought of food falling out of your mouth when climbing and trying to breathe! The weather did make the navigation a lot easier but I did get some more tan lines to add to my already good collection!

Neanderphil · « **Reply #6 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Congrats folks as the kids say I'm well gel.
Anyone want to start training for next years with me

Rich.H · « **Reply #7 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Quote from: Neanderphil on September 23, 2014

Congrats folks as the kids say I'm well gel.
Anyone want to start training for next years with me

Do you have in mind what group you want to enter and what sort of times you would like to be hitting next year?

ChuckMcB · « **Reply #8 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Played folks. Well done!

Neanderphil · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2014 »

Not to sure about the groups or respectable times but I'm fairly fit and competitive. So I'd say the intermediate class but as I said no idea of a time.
Tho I really would love to do this. Can't believe I only found out about it a few weeks ago

Paddyman · « **Reply #10 on:** September 24, 2014 »

Great to see you guys at the campsite in the mourne mountain marathon. spud ,rusty and liam, i had a great time camping and hiking, and i had a great teamate in claire, hopefully me and her can partner up next year all going well and kick ass.

RedLeader · « **Reply #11 on:** September 24, 2014 »

Brilliant, well done to everyone who gave it a whirl!

polroger · « **Reply #12 on:** September 24, 2014 »

top banana - everyone

Spud · « **Reply #13 on:** September 26, 2014 »

Did a writeup of the trip here if anyone's interested! http://www.hikersblog.co.uk/mourne-mountain-marathon-2014/

Windy · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2014 »

Well done guys .The effort required to complete this is quite outstanding .This is something I would like to aim for next year after doing the Extreme causeway half its, lit the fuse. What sort of training plans do you have. I do a half in around 1:50 and the causeway was 2:30 and i have more in the tank if I was after times .

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clairebear

MMM 14

LandyLiam

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Rich.H

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Spud

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whoRya

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clairebear

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Neanderphil

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ChuckMcB

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Neanderphil

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RedLeader

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Spud

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