Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Information => Outdoor News and Events => Topic started by: LandyLiam on July 24, 2011
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yes its on red arrows day, i'm planning to have a go, don't think i'll get back in time to see the red arrows though :(
MOURNE SEVEN SEVENS CHALLENGE
Saturday 6th August 2011
Objective: To climb all seven peaks in the Mourne Mountains that are 700m+ above sea level.
Distance.......18 miles (29km)
Ascent/Descent.......8,100 feet (2,495m)
Typical Duration.......10-12 hours
Starting Time............7.00-9.00am
Entrance Fee............£10.00 stg.
info here: http://www.walkersassociation.ie/node/246
entry form here: http://home.btconnect.com/spartanredsox/
seems that you just print it out and bring on the day, no pre-boking needed
anyone else up for this? i'd rather have a walking partner, if i don't get one i'll just stalk one of the other entrants ;D i'll be doing the 7am start hopefully and maybe running the downhill bits
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I would of joined you untill you said that horrible word running.
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Its one i've been looking to do but i'm doing the tour of the lough with Hand cycling NI that day.
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Thought I was going to be free for this but they changed the rota in work :(
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The Red Arrows display is at 2.15pm, now i've no idea how long it will take me to do the 7 summits (don't think i've ever done more than 2 summits in a day), but if i start at 7am from Donard car park, bypass Donard and Commedagh and go straight to the Brandy Pad to Bearnagh, Meelmore, Meelbeg, Ben Crom Dam, Binnion & Lamagan, then go straight to Commedagh via Cove & Beg, watch the planes, then do Donard last. In the unlikely event i get there early i could do Donard before Commedagh, If i'm running late I could leave out Binnion.
Hopefully on Commedagh i'll be lighting a cigar at 2pm and saying "I like it when a plan comes together" 8)
Also have to decide to do this in boots or trainers ??? gonna be boggy from Meelbeg to Ben Crom Dam :(
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Best of luck for everyone doing this!
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all ready for a 7am start, hopefully will do it in 7 hours ::) although with the amount of low cloud clinging to the mournes at the moment this is gonna be more of a navigation exercise :o
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Looks like were gonna have to rename this the 4 sevens! Well I completed the circuit but left out 3 peaks, went the wrong way twice, had 1 medium fall (waist high hole), loust 4 pounds in weight, found 2 geocaches, eaten by midges at ben crom but back to donard park in 7hrs15mins in time to see some of the red arrows (although by that stage I was more interested in a cup of tea and a sandwich). Will have some pics and a write up later but hats off to anyone who completes that event, it's tough, and then there's the bionic people that run it :o
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no pre-boking needed
... only boke after you've ran a mile or two!
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oops, well spooted 8)
no boking was done and no blisters either :o the socks i use actually guarantee no blisters, so far so good
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some pics
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060493Small.jpg)
the queue to sign on at 7am !!! a popular event
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060502Small.jpg)
donard first for many, although this was as far as i went, straight to the brandy pad for me
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060503Small.jpg)
when i get onto the brandy pad (that wee path you see) i'm greeted with this view, slieve beg and cove are in there, now this is a bit worrying as i've never crossed these mountains and low cloud will make it difficult, especially as they have some steep cliffs at one side :o
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060506Small.jpg)
the cloud clears 5 mins later, lets hope it stays that way, look at those steep drops :o
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060518Small.jpg)
i pass by the castles, very impressive
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060519Small.jpg)
spotted this bird which just hovered in the one spot, at first i thought it must be a kite
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060529Small.jpg)
view of ben crom reservoir, home of the man-eating mourne midges >:( more of them later
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060531Small.jpg)
slieve bernagh abovem i've taken the wrong path and ended up too low (distracted by a geocache ;D ) so now have to climb that steep hill
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060538Small.jpg)
going up meelmore, look at that steep descent from bearnagh in the background, rather down than up!
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060540Small.jpg)
on my third summit, meelbeg, with a view of meelmore, i struggled to get up here,which is the easiest mountain of the day, so i knew my days were numbered and there was no way i was doing binnion next
going from meelbeg to bn crom dam i made a mistake and followed the wrong river, ben crom mountain was shrouded in cloud and i followed someone else go the wrong way too, and another followed me, this resulted in probably and extra half hour going through some real boggy peat hags, would have been worse if i didn't catch on til later though
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060544Small.jpg)
this was a welcome sight
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060599Small.jpg)
the bog takes it toll (had to put the trousers on as the heather was killing my bare legs)
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060547Small.jpg)
finally at ben crom dam, not a breath of wind here, meaning MIDGES, thousands of them >:(
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060556Small.jpg)
up lamagan next, this was a hard slog, muscles were tightening, sat down a lot and watched the runners pass
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060565Small.jpg)
spotted one of my running clubmates
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060591Small.jpg)
eventually reached lamagan summit, where the lovely lady marshalls fed me with twixes ;D
(a big thank you to any marshalls that read this, especially those that had to suffer the midges on ben crom)
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060601Small.jpg)
then it was over to cove then slieve beg where i spotted the top of the devils coachroad, a very steep scramble, looking forward to trying this some day, also picked up another geocache nearby
then onto the brandy pad and back to the saddle at donard, i tried running the flat brandy pad again but felt leg muscles tightening again, but when i got to the saddle i ended up runing the whole way down to the car park with no bother at all ???
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060609Small.jpg)
the red arrows dispaly started as i got to the ice house
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060628Small.jpg)
at the finish line, 7hrs 15mins later, having only done 4 of the 7s (6 summits total though) and approx 15 miles, sat here for a while with tea and sandwiches (delicious) before popping into town to meet the family and watch the rest of the air show
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060636Small.jpg)
newcastle beach
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060633Small.jpg)
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060651Small.jpg)
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/liams77sroute2011640pw.jpg)
the red line is the route i should have taken, the green one is my estimated actual route, you can see i skipped out donard and commedagh (in the hope of doing them last) and binnion, went too low across bearnagh, and followed the wrong river after meelbeg.
one poor fella did an extra mountain (slieve lough shannagh)
so did i enjoy it? no
am i glad i did it? yes
will i try again next year? definitely
the best bit? doing the brandy pad to the hare's gap, i was the only person on it, very peaceful with great views, a fairly easy i walk i'd really recommend
the worst bit? ascending lamagan, that was tough
what have a learned? practise the routes beforehand, bring more water (had only 750mls, drank about 1.5 litres with refills), plan refill points, don't go too fast at the start, pack some gels (i don't know what these are but the runners seem to have them, they must be good)
p.s. well done to simon who did the full course in 7hrs 55 mins, smoke that man a kipper :)
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Awesome, congrats on an impressive show. Wish I had your energy!!
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Well done that man!!!!!!!
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Well done!!
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thanks for all the well done's, or where they for simon ;D
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... simon ;D
Did someone mention me?!? :o
Well done for getting stuck in to what is one hell of a challenge Liam! Next year you'll be flying round it. Were you walking it with anyone? I started with the guy from work I was telling you about. I was determined to be at Meelbeg at the same time as him so he could show me the optimal route down to Ben Crom Dam. In the end I stuck with him until we came back off Binnian and then I had to take a slightly longer break (all of about 5 minutes!). Coming down off Beg I realized I could get in under the 8 hour mark and ended up with an official finish time of 7:55 - the finish was quite emotional, I realized that much of the last hour or so was done on pure determination and once it was over it was time for Mr Body to become acquainted with Mr Ground.
So did i enjoy it? Yes, although I did develop a severe case of Walker's Tourettes
Am i glad i did it? Absobloodylutely
Will i try again next year? Does a bear shit in the woods
The best bit? Running along the top of Binnian as the clouds parted and the sun appeared.
The worst bit? I'm with Liam ... Lamagan (and maybe the midges at the dam)
What have a learned? Get more hill time in before hand. I only had two training walks in advance. Carry less - my pack (a Talon 22) was too heavy. I had waterproofs, 2.5 litres of water (hydration/energy) and too much food (Liam, the gels are very good, but also look at PSP22 and Go electrolyte, Nuun are also very good as a carb free electrolyte). I wore a merino baselayer top and didn't use the waterproof jacket. The La Sportiva Wildcats did the job, but they are showing serious signs of wear.
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i just wore an old pair of £20 trainers as i didn't want to wear the walshes out ;D they were great, but i didn't run down too many hills
(http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd496/landyliam/2011/20110806%2077s%20and%20red%20arrows/P1060599Small.jpg)
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well done dude that's some going in one day, or a matter of hours!
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Nice one lads!
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Good man Liam great effort
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Liam did you do it again this year ? And if so how did you get on ? I'm so excited to attempt it next year. Unknown to us it was actually taking place this year on our first ever visit to the mournes . After I'd read up about it i knew it was a challenge i definitely fancied and am trying to get myself as familiar as poss with the different sections
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Yes, tried it again this year, managed 5 of them, full story here
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3486.30