Kong Mini Mountain Marathon Race Report 2nd April

I’m sure I heard a faint sob from Karina above the whir of the finish control printer as it churned out our finishing points after four hours and forty minutes of running in the Coniston Fells. It confirmed our worse fears…that any time above thirty minutes late means an automatic loss of ALL of your hard earned points! This was the 2nd of the Kong Series on MMM’s (formerly RAB) now seemingly relocated to the Lakes due to increasing access issues in the Peaks. They are still though well organised an offer great value for money and a chance to pit yourself against your own navigational frailties. Run over a maximum time of 4 hours, the aim is to collect as many points (Score) as you can without losing them through time penalties. My partner for this event, Karina a well-respected Obstacle Course Racer (OCR) from the lofty mount of St Neots, Cambridgeshire had asked if she could experience some fellrunning in the Lake District. Throwing a newbie into a full blown fell race would be harsh, even for me!, but these events offer a great stepping stone into mountain navigation in the big hills.

 
 Turning the wrong way out the start area was not the best of starts, but we soon got ourselves back up to the Walna Scar Road running underneath the Coniston Fells and amongst the points. A stunning day was in the offing and Karina soon regretted wearing longs as we climbed up to Blind Tarn below Brown Pike. Dropping into the Seathwaite Valley Karina’s choice of footwear became an issue, little grip on steep soggy grass and rock resulted in a number of high profile bum-plants. I used a checkpoint in the valley bottom by the Tarn as a time check to try and ensure we could get back in time, it was going to be tight, but thought going on was our best option. Ooops!
The valley bottom was sodden and even a shuffle was hard to muster being really tough on tiring legs. By the time we started to climb the Col towards Levens Hawse it was clear Cambridge is no place to do your hill training. It took us far longer than planned and poor Karina was really struggling with tight calves and generally tired legs! ‘Don’t worry, it’s all downhill from the Hawse!’ The trouble was the descent to Levens Water below The Old Man proved as problematical as our earlier descent.

 

 We were now already 37 minutes late and Karina had stopped talking to me by the time Paul rushed passed us like the White Rabbit muttering ‘Oh dear oh dear I will be late’. (he was but by less than a minute) Back at the finish, soup and bread, lashings of tea and cake soothed the aches and pains of what had been a truly stunning day in the hills! Result apart some great lessons learned.
 1, HOKA’s are Sh1t for running on the fells
2, Don’t go to St Neots for your hill reps!