Local Success in the OMM
Last weekend (30th/31st October) Dartmoor was the playground for about 3000 runners and walkers taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon, the first time for 28 years that this premier adventure race has been held here. Several of the local runners had taken part in 1982 and were back for more! Colin Sturmer, Nigel Worsey and Paul Glanville even had their old maps and were hoping they had kept some of their youthful energy in reserve for this weekend. For many local racers a trip to the OMM has meant regular journeys to events held all over northern Britain so being able to compete near home was a delight. For others it was their introduction to adventure racing.
There are two types of courses; Line (controls visited in a pre-designated order) and Score (controls visited in any order within an allocated time). The ethos of the event is to be totally self-reliant, in the wilds, carrying all equipment, with no outside support and without GPS or mobile phone. In this year’s Elite Class competitors covered about 90km and climbed about 2800m, the equivalent of a marathon each day combined with climbing Ben Nevis!
Early on Saturday morning everyone made their way to the event centre at Okehampton Camp. Some started their 2 day challenge from there whilst others were bussed out to Cadover Bridge. The aim was then to navigate your way around the moor visiting controls whilst carrying tent, sleeping bag, food and survival equipment for the weekend and racing the other teams back to the finish.
Saturday was a perfect moorland day, being quite warm with broken skies and great visibility. The controls were located in all parts of the moor, some near iconic tors, and others on streams or similar small moorland features. Sometimes you were able to follow paths; often you were making your way across open moorland and included large swathes of tussock grass or broken peat hag. So a combination of running fitness and the ability to read the maps and the land was needed to get as quickly as possible from control to control. Most local runners made good progress and were in camp at Peak Hill Farm or Wilsworthy Range by late afternoon looking forward to whatever rest they could get before day 2. However the wind blew up and brought with it heavy rainfall making Saturday night very disturbed and quite uncomfortable.
Setting off early on Sunday morning the mist clung to the higher hills making navigation much more difficult and with the overnight rain the rivers were quite swollen. Care was needed crossing the Tavy and West Okement, the water swirling around about waist deep. Jo Meek was even swept off her feet on one crossing! Towards day end many of the competitors had to summon up the last of the strength and energy reserves to make their way home by climbing up to a control set on the summit of Yes Tor before racing down the slopes back into Okehampton Camp.
Most of the local competitors came from Tamar Valley Hash House Harriers, with others from Dartmoor Runners, Tavistock Athletic Club, Okehampton Running Club, Devon Orienteering and a few free spirits. Noteworthy results include Andy Vallance and Nick Pearson competing in their first OMM and completing the Elite event in 25th place. In the A Class Charlie Lloyd and Tony King finished 2nd overall and were the 1st veteran team by almost an hour. In the Long Score Angela Sykes and Sarah Jones had a difficult first day but pulled of a spectacular second day to move up 60 places and finish as the 1st female team and 60th overall. Tom Lawson and Tom Gill, both aged 18 and in their first OMM, were 2nd in the C Class, showing they have great potential for future adventure racing. In the Medium Score Steve Statham and Richard Windemer came an excellent 3rd veteran team whilst Noel Gould (75yrs) and Arthur Vince (70yrs) showed it is possible to compete whatever your age and were even the 15th veteran team. What a performance!
The competitors would like to thank Jen Longbottom and the OMM team for a great event, and the volunteers who camped out over the weekend to man controls and radio stations. We are also grateful to the many landowners who gave permission for the event to cross their land and to Dartmoor National Park and the Army.
Elite
Nick Pearson & Andy Vallance 25th
‘A’
Class
Charlie Lloyd & Tony King 2nd (1st V)
Will Ames & Richard Deardon 12th
James O’Connell & Pete Twyman 19th
‘B’
Class
Paul Ames & Michael Berry 80th
Gavin & Richard Punchard 152nd
‘C’
Class
Tom Lawson & Tom Gill 2nd
Jo & Jon Meek 31st
Adam a & Harry Forrest DNF
‘D’
Class
Tracy Windemer & Wendy Cooper 51st
Brenda Cotterill & Kate Royston 67th
Long
Score
Angela Sykes & Sarah Jones 60th (1st F)
Katie Lenton & Richard Eastwood 114th
Medium
Score
Steve Statham & Richard Windemer 22nd (3rdV)
Kevin Brown & Jon Coupland 35th
Norman Wright & Gary Tubridy 67th
Robin Carter & Lorraine Croome 69th
Simon Snowdon & Nigel Worsey 78th
Andy Parritt & Ally Martin 85th
Mike & Ben Rasdall 96th
Ed Doyle & Spencer Fox 97th
Noel Gould & Arthur Vince 228th (15thV)
Short
Score
Paul Glanville & Colin Sturmer 15th (6th V)
Dave Hargreaves & Sam Clough 37th
Steve Davis & David Sykes 40th
James & Andrew Head 161st
Rebecca & Adrian Fryer 178th