SportsShoes Blog

Wow I’m excited - I know it doesn’t take much….

But take a look at the new Adidas Kanadia 4 trail shoes - they look awesome.

I’m on my 3rd pair of Kanadias and think they’re the best shoes I’ve ever owned - I just hope the 4th generation work as well as the TR3s.

My yellow TR3s have just completed a Bob Graham Round and matched to a pair of Hilly Mono Skin trail socks they were quite simply the best things I could have wished for on my feet. Not a blister or a rub to be seen - in fact with all the water that was around at the weekend I think my feet are in better shape now than they were when I started!!

Can’t wait to try out the Kanadia 4s - better get down to see Russ before they sell out of my size.

Bob Graham Round – 15^th / 16^th July
2011

Andy Nicoll and Dave Stephenson – Bingley Harriers

Following a traditional ultra runner’s meal of fish and
chips, myself and Dave Stephenson tapped the door of the Moot Hall at 7pm on
Friday 15^th July 2011 and set off in a clockwise direction to
attempt the Bob Graham Round.

Despite the weather forecasts all being bad and the MWIS
suggesting that the chance of cloud free summits was just 10%, the weather was
kind – cool with high cloud and little wind, perfect for a BG.

Leg 1 went without a hitch and good time up Skiddaw, Calva
and Blencathra put us ahead of schedule at Threlkeld. Not needing head-torches
to descend Halls Fell was a bonus.

Following a quick changeover we headed up Clough Head but as
we neared the summit the weather turned. Low cloud, wind and driving rain would
now be with us for the next 19 hours!

Leg 2 was very tough and slow in the cloud and with viz down
to around 20 meters, running on bearings was the only option. A lengthy stop at
the Helvellyn shelter to add layers and food cost us time but was much needed
and the climb up Fairfield via Cofa Pike helped to keep us warm. We veered
right off Seat Sandal by mistake but our line down Raise Beck appeared to be
quicker than another team who we saw battling down through the bracken.

A great navigator on leg 3 helped us pull back time but
again the weather made the going very heavy. Although we had a rope on Broad
Stand the fact that neither of us were climbers and there was a waterfall
coming over the slippery crag made our ascent to Scafell summit very slow. We
then had to descend to Wasdale via the walkers’ path as Lingmell Gill was too
broad and too fast to cross.

At this point I thought our chance of a sub 24 had gone but
we both still felt physically strong so there was no thought of quitting.
Instead we gritted teeth and decided to pull out all the stops and go for it. A
fantastic bit of leading on leg 4 from a virtually unknown pacer delivered us
to Honister with 3.5 hours to spare. Only at this point did I truly believe it
was back on.

Remembering the note on the BG map ‘if time is tight, don’t
stop’ I grabbed some grub and set off up Dale Head without breaking stride.

The weather on leg 5 eased a little allowing us to make good
time and a great line off Robinson to the reservoir left just the road section
to complete. An army of supporters at Newlands raised the spirits and as the
sun started to shine after 20 hours of hiding I jogged up Keswick main street
to hit the Moot Hall door at 6.09pm 23 hours and 9 minutes after we’d left it.
(Dave finished 14 minutes later at 6.23pm).

Andy Nicoll

Bingley Harriers

Now this is weired…..

There was a chap by the name of Fred Rogerson who was the only official member of the Bob Graham club that had never actually completed the round. The reason for this was that Fred had been involved with the Bob Graham club / round for over forty years and assisted with literally hundreds of attempts.

Regrettably Fred died a while ago and as a tribute to him a plan has been hatched by his family and friends to send him (or more specifically his ashes) on a final journey around the 42 lakeland peaks of the Bob Graham round.

What is really spooky is that they’ve chosen the exact same weekend as me to make the trip and Fred’s team are setting off at 10pm, 3 hours after me…..

They are sending him round in a relay so the runners will have fresh legs but they don’t plan to finish at keswick until 7.30pm so with those few hours in hand I should keep ahead of him but can you imagine the stick I’m going to get from my pals if I get beaten by a dead chap!

I’ve recently discovered that

First some new news – I’m going to be joined on my Bob
Graham attempt with a friend of mine Dave Stephenson, also a Bingley Harrier.

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I went up to the lakes for a
look at most of legs 3 and 4 of the BG.

We left home in the full knowledge that West Yorkshire was
destined to be bathed in sunshine whilst the Cumbrian mountains would be
swathed in cloud. When we got to Wasdale it was clear that the forecasters were
just about spot on.

We climbed Yewbarrow and once we reached about 200 meters of
altitude we were well and truly in the clag. Visibility was down to maybe 20
meters in all directions. This was going to be fun…..

We came off Yewbarrow and found the path below Stirrup Crag
to Dore Head and as we climbed Red Pike all appeared to be going well. Red Pike
summit took some finding but I now know why and we won’t make the same mistake
on the day. We then headed off to find Steeple and here’s where it all went
wrong….

Through a combination of thinking we knew were we were (having
done the Wasdale race), not looking carefully enough at the map and compass and
the 20 meter visibility we made a howling error. We thought we’d reached
Steeple (but now know it was cairn above Wind Gap) and then tried to find the
track to take us to Pillar (we were actually already on it!!). After a few
minutes fumbling in the cloud we convinced ourselves we were on track and
started to make our way towards Pillar. As we progressed my internal compass
started suggesting we were wrong but we pressed on. We eventually came to a
saddle which we took to be Wind Gap but it was MUCH bigger than Dave or I could
remember from the Wasdale race. We climbed out the other side up a steep
scramble and again I was thinking ‘I certainly don’t remember this bit’. As we
reached the summit the cloud lifted for the first time in around 3 hours and
valleys began to appear all around us. The problem was we couldn’t work out
which they were and they certainly didn’t match the ones on our map!

To our left appeared two walkers and I had to embarrassingly
ask which the mountin was that they’d just come off – ‘Yewbarrow’ was their
response (the one we’d climbed 2 hours earlier!!!). They then asked where we
wanted to be and when we reluctantly admitted that we thought we were on Pillar
they did well to stifle their grins….

We had actually managed to completely retrace our steps down
Red Pike and then gone on to climb up Stirrup Crag – easily the worst
navigational error I’ve ever made but another big lesson learnt – never assume
you know where you are!

Anyway, after a rather scary descent back into the Wasdale
Valley we ditched the idea of getting to Steeple and Pillar and went up
Blacksail Pass (from Wasdale Head) then up Kirk Fell. From here things got much
better and despite heading back into the clag which at one point reduced vis to
less than 10 meters we never put a foot wrong.

From Kirk we went to Great Gable then on to Green Gable then
we back tracked and went down to Syhead before climbing up to Esk Hause and
doing Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, Scafell Pike and Scafell (via Foxes
Tarn) before dropping back down to Wasdale and heading to the pub for a well
earned pie and a pint.

All in all a pretty disastrous reccy but great time on feet
and some map reading lessons learned.

Dave’s Blackberry charted our actual path so we could
quickly see our mistake and plans have been laid to prevent the same happening
on the day – time will tell if they work.

Just one week to go now – can’t wait to get going.         

Yesterday I took advantage of a day off work
and nipped up to the Lakes again to take a look at Leg 1 of the Bob Graham
round.

I was joined by my friend Iain Taylor who
completed his winter BG back in January and who knows just about every inch of
the lakes.

Going clockwise, leg 1 takes in just 3 summits
but as I found out yesterday it’s not a leg that should be underestimated. Despite
running a lot in the lakes over the years, the mountains I did yesterday were
all new to me so it really was a journey into the unknown and as such a very
valuable reccy.

Leg 1 goes from Keswick to Threlkeld which, as
the crow flies, are only about 4 miles apart but, as the BG runner ‘flies’ are
a lot further away from each other.

The mountains covered were Skiddaw, Great
Calva and Blencathra and the heat of the day made the long slog up Skiddaw a
real energy sapper. From the top it’s a quick blast down into the valley bottom
before going straight back up again to Great Calva one of the most Northerly
lakes mountains.

A steep descent off Calva took us to the foot
of Mungrisdale Common at the North side of Blencathra where a very long slog up
through rough ground commenced. The climb toward Blencathra seemed like it
would go on forever but we eventually made it to the summit ridge and on to the
summit itself which was covered by a flock of ramblers.

The views from here were simply stunning
looking South across Keswick and down Derwent Water towards Borrowdale with the
whole of the Lakeland mountain range spread out before us - the scary part was
knowing the BG round crossed the summit of just about all the mountains I was
looking at!!

We skipped our way down Halls Fell which is
pretty sketchy in the warm and dry - what it must be like when it’s wet and
dark I can only guess….

So that’s legs 1, 2 and 5
reccied - I’m planning a BIG day in the hills on the 26th June when hopefully I
can do legs 3 & 4 together - then after that it’s rest rest rest to the
15th July when I’ll try and stitch them all together.

Last week I went to the Lakes to assist Steve Brock from Keighley & Craven on his Bob Graham attempt.

Assiting people on their round is like serving your apprenticeship as by doing so you are learning the route for yourself.

I had offered to help on the last leg, leg 5 which goes from Honnister Slate Quarry to the finish in Keswick.

Throughout the day Steve had encountered all 4 seasons of weather and for our leg rain and wind were very much on the radar.

As we waited for him in the car park at Honnister, the rain beat down heavilyon our nice warm and dry car and the thought of getting out and running up a few big hills didn’t exactly fill us with glee….

Soon enough Steve and his leg 4 pacers came over the hill and after a quick bite to eat in his support car we were off up Dale Head.

Steve was going really well and had around 5 hours of time for the 3.5 hour leg so barring disaster a successful round was on the cards.

As we neared the summit of Dale Head, the wind had increased to gale force and mixed with the driving rain which felt almost like hail it was not the most pleasant place to be. A quick touch of the summit cairn and a check of the watch and we were off to Hindscarth.

By this time the wind was so strong that as we crossed the ridge between the two summits we were literally being blown off our feet and were having to lean into the wind in an attempt to stay upright. At one point, Steve (one of the other pacers) was overtaken by a drinks bottle that had blown out of his own bag.

Hindscarth came and went and it was off to the 42nd and last summit of the day Robinson. It was good to descend and as we got the ridge behind us it provided a temporary barrier to the gusty blasts.

We were soon on the top of Robinson and bagging the last peak brought a broad grin to Steve’s face. A quick pic and off we went down the hill to the finish.

After almost 70 miles of fell and mountain, the last few miles of a clockwise Bob Graham round are on the road and we maintained a steady trot through the Newlands valley back toward Keswick.

As we passed a signpost that said 1 mile to Keswick I looked at my watch and it said 9.50pm. Steve had started his round at Midnight of the night before so I turned to him and said if you can do the last mile in under 10 minutes you can break 22 hours. He was up for the challenge so we shielded him from the elements and upped the pace deliverying him like a tour de France sprinter to the doors of the Moot Hall in Keswick in 21 hours, 59 minutes and 30 seconds!

We left him with his friends and family to revel in his glory, gorged ourselves on some massive Pizzas and drove back home - a brilliant night with a successfull conclusion and a valuable reccy for me.

I’ve not run for more than 30 miles since my injury last
year in April so this year’s Fellsman at 62 miles was always going to be a test
of how well my Plantar Facia had healed.

I’d felt my training and mental preparation for the race had
gone reasonably well and although I’d not anything massive in training I had
managed to get a good few days in the hills to build my stamina.

Going into the race I was more worried about my performance
the last time I’d taken on the Fellsman. Back in 2008 I went to Ingleton with
all intentions of giving the course a sound thrashing and was right royally
dumped on my behind at the 20 mile mark and left staggering and reeling around
the remaining 40 miles. If there was one thing I wanted out of Saturday is was
to avoid a repeat of my disastrous 2008 round.

My kit was honed to perfection – all perfectly within the
rules but stripped to the absolute minimum. I’d even removed the covers from my
maps and trimmed the plastic from around my Ibuprofen tablets to lose more
weight!

Kit is a funny thing at the Fellsman as there’s a mandatory
list which must be carried by all competitors regardless if they’re aiming for
a round of 10 hours or 27 hours. Mine was all either worn or packed into my
tiny 10 litre Karrimor rucksack which has served me well through many a long
adventure. This compared to some folk who looked like they were heading out for
a week with huge 50 litre+ packs.

I wore my new Adidas Kanadia TR3 shoes, some Hilly socks, Skins
shorts (over swimming trunks – never wear them alone or they’ll shred your
jewels!) and my trusty cycling shirt (long sleeve as there was a chilly wind
blowing). Cycling shirts are brilliant for ultra running as they are close
fitting, wicking have a full length zip for venting, pockets on the back for
stashing essentials and a little collar which stops the rucksack straps rubbing
embarrassing marks onto your neck. I topped off with a Ron Hill peaked cap and
a trusty buff round my wrist for snot and sweat mopping duties and ear warming
whilst on the tops.

My day started at the unearthly hour of 4.20am and after a
bowl of porridge and a couple of coffees I picked up Steve at 5 and we made our
way to Threshfield then onto the bus at 6am for a puke inducing ride up to
Ingleton. Following a successful kit check we were given our tallies with 24
checkpoints marked on them that would be punched in sequential order as we
battled our way around the course.

After catching up with a few pals and drinking tea and
energy drink (not mixed!) we were called to the start field at 8.50am.
Following a few words from the organiser at 9am sharp a loud air raid siren
cranked up signally the start of the race.

As we set off I told myself that this year it was all about
steady pacing, not getting injured and laying a good base for my Bob Graham
attempt later in the year. This took away all the pressure and I settled into a
steady rhythm up and over Ingleborough and onto Whernside.

My other ‘note to self’ was to continuously eat and drink
right from the off and that’s exactly what I did, making sure I grabbed a drink
and a few biscuits or flapjack at each checkpoint.

After the warm up of Ingleborough and Whernside the first
real climb is a little know Dales peak called Gragareth at the North side of
Kingsdale. I topped out here feeling good which I took as a good sign and
proceeded to jog along the tops all the way to Great Coum then down to Dent via
Flinter Gill.

A ‘secret’ kit check at Dent threatened to spoil my rhythm
but I was soon on my way heading up the long climb to Blea Moor where I teamed
up with a chap from London who was obviously relieved when I said it was my 4^th
Fellsman and I knew the way. This is where it all went horribly wrong last year
but this time I felt strong as an Ox as I marched up the long climb. I made an
error at the top by choosing to ignore the conventional line and trying one I’d
seen on the map – it didn’t work and we lost about 5 minutes (sorry Tom) –
shan’t be doing that line again!

Blea Moor came and went and we were soon dropping down to
the Turkey farm and then onto the road to Stone House. Here we were greeted by
a posse of marshals dressed in full Mexican regalia but despite sombreros,
ponchos and dodgy tashes, my request for Tequilla could not be met! I settled
for a sarnie, some pasta with cheese and some orange juice and marched off up
Great Knoutberry still carrying my tray of pasta. Steve stayed at the
checkpoint for 10 mins breather so the next and last time I saw him we were
descending of Knoutberry as he was climbing to the summit.

A good line down to Redshaw saw us catch the two chaps ahead
of us and four of us exited the checkpoint tent clutching hotdogs, bananas and
bottle of tea.

Snaizholme came quickly and we were off on the long steady
climb to Dodd Fell where we caught two others as we approached the summit. A good
line off Dodd took us to the Fleet Moss checkpoint where soup and sandwiches
was on the menu and despite losing half of it down my front as we ran down the
road it certainly hit the spot.

Our new group of 4 were happy to stick behind me as I led
them across Fleet Moss and onto Middle Tongue. We made a reasonable job of
finding the new checkpoint but then struggled to get a good line through the
peat hags across to Hell Gap and lost a bit of time and a place. By the time I
got here I was tired, then again we had done around 45 miles, so was glad of
the descent down to Cray and the spaghetti hoops that were on offer in the
tent! These really did the trick and by the time I was nearing the summit of
Buckden Pike I was back on form.

A quick whiz down to Top Mere and we were off along the
track to Park Rash. This is the last checkpoint at which you can get grouped
and a fellow competitor said that if we pushed on we could make the cut off
without being grouped. This was a huge incentive to me as I’d never before got
anywhere near being able to finish solo so we raised our game and upped the
pace all the way to Park Rash. We made the cut with 5 mins to spare and struck
out as individuals up the last climb of the day – Great Whernside. This is a
tough but reasonably short climb and there’s the added incentive of knowing
that once you make the top it’s just about all down hill to the finish – albeit
quite a long way.

We clipped at the summit, which was cold and windy as usual,
then set off quickly to lose some height and gain some warmth.

By the time I reached Capplestone Gate I was tired and, for
the first time in the race I had to resort to walking short sections that were
obviously runnable. I felt pretty grim at this point and as two competitors
came past and disappeared off into the distance, I reached into my emergency
bag and popped a couple of Ibuprofens. As usual, these did the trick and I was
soon trotting again towards the last checkpoint at Yarnbury.

From here it’s a mad dash (or slow hobble) down 2 miles of
steep tarmac – just what the legs need after 60 miles of fell.

We jogged it all the way holding our positions and were soon
greeted by the welcome sight of the school. The final clip of the day recorded
my time of 12 hours and 26 mins (joint 9^th place) – a full 2.5 hours
off my PB, which I was VERY pleased with. What’s more, after a short rest and a
long shower, I actually felt reasonably human again and was able to polish off
a huge plate of baked spud and chilli before snuggling up on the school hall
floor for a few hours of kip.

Steve came in shortly after me and was also delighted with
his time and as we munched through our bacon and eggs on Sunday morning we were
already plotting new lines and dreaming up ways of going even quicker next
year.

All in all a great day in the hills and a huge
confidence boost to my Bob Graham plans and Steve’s Lakeland 100 race in July.

This year I didn’t enter the 3 Peaks which is strange as it’s one of my favourite races in the year. Try as I might I can’t find a good reason for not entering so I’m going to stop looking for one.

Anyway, as it turned out it was a master stroke. I’d already been up the lakes the day before to reccy leg 2 of the BG so I hatched a plan to get 2 nice long runs back to back in preparation for the Fellsman.

The plan was to go to the 3 Peaks with a couple of pals who were racing and do a spot of muling by taking drinks around for them whilst at the same time getting a good run in myself.

The plan developed in to me running the entire course in the opposite direction to the race which was actually really good as I got to see everyone I knew who was running and lots of other pals who were out on the course either watching or positioned along the route marshalling - all in all it made for a very sociable trot.

The weather was, once again, very nice indeed but with a wickedly strong wind that was almost strong enough to blow a fully grown adult off their feet on the summit of Whernside.

Despite my 15 miles and umpteen thousand feet of climbing the day before, I felt strong as I trotted round the course and my Garmin indicated a pace of just over 6 minute miling as I scuttled off Pen-y-Ghent on my way back to the finish field / beer tent.

I was back where I’d started in 4.24 which I think was pretty good to say I’d stopped and chatted to everyone I knew around the course, had a cheese butty on the summit of Whernside then dished out drinks to all my buddies whilst I walked back up Whernside with each of them.

My 2 days of windy sunshine also gave me a tan that would not look out of place on David Dickinson. Just think how much some folk spend at gyms and beauty parlours to burn off a few thousand calories and turn brown - and I did it all for the price of couple of cheese sarnies!

Next week - The Fellsman - aaaarrrrggggghhhh!!! 

Last weekend I had my last 2 long runs before the Fellsman next weekend.

On Friday, whilst the rest of the world watched Will n Kate shimmy up the aisle, I headed off to the Lake District to reccy leg 2 of the Bob Graham Round.

To remind you I’m planning an attempt on the 70 mile 42 peaks lake district round in July of this year so once the Fellsman’s out of the way I need to schedule a few more trips to the lakes to check out the lines.

I’m doing a clockwise round so after ditching my car at Dunmail and hitching two lifts - first with a chap who was going to do a paragliding course in Keswick then with a Hungarian car spares delivery man - I set off from Threlkeld and yomped up Clough Head.

The weather was great, nice and bright but very windy on the tops and as I made my way across the Dods I had to swap my peaked cap for a buff or it would have beaten me home!

I summitted Helvelyn at 11am just as the The Arch Bishop was calling for hush and can honestly say I wouldn’t have swapped my location for a place in Westminster for anything.

A qucik jog down to Grisdale and back up and over Fairfield and Seat Sandal saw me back at the car in 3.5 hours so with a bit of time in hand I marched up Steel Fell to see if it really is as steep as it looks - it is!

The quiet roads had me back home for mid afternoon - I missed the kiss but did manage to see Will drive his dad’s Aston the wrong way round the roundabout.

Like all professional athletes I like to schedule a bit of warm weather training into my plan - well actually what I mean is that when I go on holiday I take my trainers……

A couple of weeks ago we went to Majorca for a week and the location and the weather were both perfect for a spot of training on new trails.

I got up early each morning leaving my wife and children snoozing and headed out into the cool morning air to hit the trails and hills around Pollenca. Although most of my runs were on roads or very hard packed trails it felt completely different to running at home and even the long winding hill climbs were enjoyable as the scenery was all new.

The real benefit of running in Majorca is that when you finish you can simply kick off your shoes and wade into the sea up to your waist for an instant ‘ice bath’ - 5 minutes of looking out to sea and you’re as good as new!