Training Run - Leg 1 of Bob Graham Round

Whilst Mick and Paul where pounding the bogs of Yorkshire, Alex could not resist the opportunity to spend some time guiding a budding BGer round the 1st leg of this well known challenge. Having enjoyed both summer and winter rounds, the Bob Graham Round holds a special place with in me, not just for my own personal achievements but supporting and helping other people achieve theirs.

The going was surprisingly tough after a benign start in Keswick, the summit conditions where inhospitable, mainly due to a savage wind whipping in from the west. We had the intention of doing the reccie at a 23hr pace - which would be a very steady outing for just one leg, so we upped the pace and got back to Threlkeld in 3.25hr equating to about a 20hr pace. Completing the run back into Keswick we pushed up the cadence to finish in a tidy 4hrs. We both underestimated our kit for the summit conditions and ended piling on all we had, and for the majority of the outing I was wearing my Oz Pullover, which as always performed admirably.

Blubberhouse 25 Mile Run

On Sunday 28 March Mick and Paul had a run round a LDWA (long distance walkers association) event. An extra early start due to the clocks going forward on a windy Sunday morning jaunt round a lovely North Yorkshire route named after the local village of Blubberhouses. The first 12 miles or so was into a fierce chilly headwind but the going was on good off road tracks and the threatening rain showers never came. The Paul chose his Zap longs where as Mick thought it was BST and went for shorts, both ran in the Intense tops with the Halo II vests giving just the right combination of warmth and breathability. The second half was over typical Yorkshire moorland with lots of bog hopping. 4 hours and 5 mins and the route was completed. A great friendly event well organised with good food at checkpoints and at the finish line. The LDWA really are fantastic events to get some training done and such good value (£9 to enter on the day including all refreshments).

Team Training Friday 26 March

A good days training was had by the team. 09:30 start for a couple of hours on lake Windemere in tandem kayaks (double), conditions were choppy and with blustery wind it gave good conditions to brush up on our paddle stroke techniques (but too cold to practice our rescue drills!). It was our first chance to see how we all compared to each other, we were very pleased with the results with a good balance in both speed and technique. After a quick lunch we moved into the hills for a Mountain bike ride on the fantastic trails of Kentmere and a chance to test some of the Haglofs fast and light kit. Apart from its great looks we were very very impressed with its technical performance. A real good to be alive day and we were all thoroughly happy with the Team and kit.

Map Attack

Sunday 21 March. Mick along with his partner Sue entered the map attack in Stainforth. It was the first event Sue had done so it was a great opportunity for Mick to practice his towing techniques. The race was over some great terrain, they concentrated mostly on the running section clearing all but one checkpoint. With local knowledge they pushed on to win the mixed pairs category and came 5th overall...Mick