This post shouldn't really about my second and failed attempt at the BGR. It should really be about sacrifices. Not my own, but those made by my crew/ pacers again this weekend in the name of allowing me to try to complete a circuit of 42 Lakeland summits in under 24 hours. To them I am extremely thankful for the time, effort and energy expended.
The critical factor for me in this Bob Graham equation, is the 24hrs. My crew overheard a conversation between two past Centurion race competitors at the Lakeland start about how it shouldn't be that difficult to run 100km in that time. Having not seen the route I would have to agree. Having seen the route and been in to the deep end of it twice now, I can safely say it's one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do. This is the kind of route where a decent mile split is the wrong side of 50 minutes on occasions. That's pretty hard to comprehend unless you've tried to hike up Yewbarrow. In many ways, I've come to view the challenge in a similar way to the Spartathlon. I've also come to realise that my training and preparation for it needs to match that which I applied in order to reach that finish line in Sparta. Not simply try to show up and just wing it which is much closer to what I've actually tried to do.
The crux of the matter is this 24hr thing. Twice now I've faced the potential of being physically able to complete the distance, but just not within the time frame. How? Why?
I am not a fast runner, but I'm not slow either. But this has almost nothing to do with running. It's about a much broad range of skills. I alluded to that in my blog of the first attempt a few weeks ago, but this time it was really brought home to me.
Pre Attempt
The attempt this time almost fell foul of some weather considerations once again. The forecast at first looking perfect, turned decidedly sour for Saturday night on the western fells. The Met Office Mountain Forecast was for very low visibility in hill fog and heavy rain down to below 500 metres. Co-inciding with the timings we were due to be out on leg four, a very high level and involved part of the round, we decided to bring the start time forward to Friday night. This was far from ideal, it meant we were all rushing a little to prep in time.
At 10pm we drove out to Penrith to pick up pacer Adam Stirk, a successful BGR finisher. He would be pacing me for leg 1 and 2. We'd never met before but from all our correspondence I knew he was the perfect man for the job. Whilst Drew and I collected Adam, Nici and Claire were off trying to buy the supplies for the effort. Funnily enough there wasn't much open at 10:30pm on Saturday night. And therein lay our first major, and ridiculously amateur issue.
Leg One
11:06pm and Adam and I were off up Skiddaw. There was none of the thick cloud cover from last time, Adam's knowledge of the route was superior to my own and in two places he saved me minutes off of last time. It was a stunning night, the stars were out in force, I felt great and it was exceptionally warm and humid such that we ran the whole leg in t shirts but still sweated buckets. Skiddaw 74 mins, Great Calva 37, Blencathra 69 and a nice runnable descent of Doddick Gill to Threlkeld rather than Halls Fell in 29 mins and we were at the car at just past 2:30am (3hrs30). Text book stuff. I was feeling superb.
Leg Two
Leaving Threlkeld I made a massive error. I took only gels with me out on leg two. Adam and I had both had a few stomach rumblings on leg one thanks perhaps to some fairly metallic tasting water down at the River crossing. At the start of this leg Adam was forced to make a pit stop and I got the first rumblings of some issues. The Lakeland 100 race had started at 1800 the night before and by a weird twist of fate, our paths joined the course just as Paul Tierney emerged on to the route. We had a chat as we hiked up through the fields below the Coach Road, he was feeling rough and I was feeling great but as I pointed out at least he didn't have to hike his way up Clough Head next! We went our separate ways and we took a slow line up Clough Head gaining the top in 54 minutes. From there the run of the Dodds came easy enough, then I began to suffer some slightly more severe stomach problems. Two pit stops in quick succession and a refusal to digest gels led to a rapid slow down in pace. Nevertheless we still made pretty good time over Helvelyn, Nethermost, Dollywagon and the grind up to Fairfield, dropping over Seat Sandal and down to the road in 4:25 or a total of 8hrs. Bang on schedule. Damage was done though, I hadn't eaten for two hours and was in the locker.
Leg Three
The extent of my nutritional woes was brought home as I arrived at Nici's car at Dunmail to find all we had with us was an old pot of baked beans, a pack of biscuits and some gels. This was a disaster. On a stomach that wasn't co-operating we basically had a pack of biscuits for the next 6 - 7.5hrs. I drank the beans, ate a few biscuits and felt marginally better so Paul and I got off up Steel Fell. 24 mins later we were on to Calf Crag, a small mistake and a wasted couple of minutes, then the climb to Sergeant Man. We were stopping for water wherever there was signs of some. It was exceptionally warm and the springs were as dry as I've ever seen them. The next section went ok as we tagged High Raise, Harrison, Pike O'stickle and began the circa 50 minute traverse over to Rossett Pike. The climb to Rossett is punchy and we took a cr*p line up there and then on to Bowfell again shedding some valuable minutes. As we gained the highest plateau of the round I was weaving and bobbing with almost no fuel going in. My strength on the climbs was poor and my control on the descents even worse. Despite that, there were moments when I felt we still had a good chance and that it would all come together and we ground onwards. The climb up Lord's Rake to Scafell and down to Wasdale was shockingly slow, however. With a huge sense of deja vu I came in to the car park at Wastwater feeling almost identical to how I had done 4 weeks previous and in a very similar overall time.
Leg Four
4 weeks ago I'd decided to call it a day at Wasdale. I didn't have enough time to get round and once you are out on leg 3 and your crew have departed, you are in for a very long hike out to Honister if things go wrong. Well this time I decided that come what may I'd commit to leg four and suffer the consequences. It wasn't within the bounds of possibility I could make it in, it was just very unlikely. I ate like a horse at Wasdale. I was starving from the stomach and lack of available food imposed mega bonk. Really all I'd had in 9 hours was a few biscuits, a mule bar and some beans.
The climb up Yewbarrow is the steepest on the BGR. It's roughly 1 in 2. And despite everything, 50 mins in and we were up it. Pretty slow for a 0.9 mile climb but actually bang on schedule. That, however, was the end for me. It completely wiped me out. I became a kind of liability in a way because my sugar starved brain was having trouble with basic functions. I lay on the ground for 5 minutes before we got on and continued the climb to Red Pike. I was moving interminably slowly now and I began to feel it slipping very rapidly away from me. The giants of leg four are imposing at the best of times and I felt their might creeping upon me. My mind was willing my body to keep grinding it out to this point, but my body finally won out and it was with a fairly massive collapse. It took us 84 minutes to gain Red Pike, on a 50 minute schedule. Drew and I sat on the summit and discussed our options. We decided to make the call to quit the attempt. He was encouraging for me to continue and finish outside the 24hrs, I was dead against it. I knew I'd only view that as a failure and worse, was potentially putting him and myself in a fairly risky position on the rocky climbs/ descents of Kirk Fell and Gable.
So that was it, but by far from the end of the day. We'd been out a little over 18 hours, but I realised we'd probably take another three to get down to the crew at Honister. We skirted Steeple and Pillar, the next two summits, people at home therefore would realise we'd abandoned as we missed the tops. We dropped down to Blacksail pass and took the Lakeland course across to Buttermere. It was the safest and quickest way out for us given the weather that blew straight in and completely engulfed the Leg four tops behind us. It simply served to reinforce that we made the right call at the right time. Clearly a failure is not something to pat oneself on the back over, but I am proud of the judgement we exercised. In the mountains, and make no mistake these are mountains in every way shape and form, ones success must primarily be judged in my opinion on the ability to get to safety without the need for external help. I'm sure someone before has said it much better, but that's how I view it anyhow.
We got down to Buttermere and hitched a lift with a rally driver who tried his best to finish us off on the drive back to Honister where we met with Nici and Claire, and the day ended.
Aftermath
Massive disappointment at a second failure to complete the round. But more learnings. I knew this was a hard thing to achieve, but I had until now been naive to the level of difficulty. It is exceptionally hard. I would equate it to running a difficult 100 mile race within 24hrs, with only 4 check points. I was probably 1 - 2 hours out this time overall.
Ultimately the stomach issues I had and lack of food on leg three were my major undoing this time. But ultimately there's something more here. I was probably fit enough to get round, but not fit enough to do so with much margin for error. I knew the route pretty well, but there were still times on leg three when we made silly mistakes or wasted time. And someone with a greater knowledge of the route or sense of mountain craft would easily have wiped a half hour - an hour off that one leg alone I would think, thanks to better lines.
If your knowledge of the route/ navigation skills are not exceptional, the way to get around the BGR is with heavy support. One navigational pacer and one 'mule' pacer for each leg. Possibly more. I see lots of pictures of people doing the round with a number people accompanying each leg. We had a total of one driver and 4 pacers. Basically the equivalent of one or two leg's worth of support. You also need to recce the routes over and over. It's not just a case of knowing the way, it's a case of understanding the ground, knowing where the water sources are such that you carry nothing more than you need on a 4 - 7 hour leg. It's about fell speed. An ability to negotiate incredibly rocky or loose scree descents at pace, for the whole way.
Fitness wise, the climbs are so steep that as long as you are moving forward/ upward, you are working at rate which I would describe as fairly similar to marathon effort in order to proceed at a pace quick enough to get you round. You simply cannot recover unless you stand still. And that isn't conducive to getting around....
Simply put, I wasn't ready in a few different and important ways. Next time rest assured I will be.
This has bitten me in a way I haven't been bitten since Sparta and for that I am exceptionally grateful. Certainly, returning to the Lakes time and again is beginning to feel like coming home.
