The SiEntries website had my details from past running events, so they used their mailing list in December 2017 to announce that the 2018 LAMM event would be taking place in Harris. This was going to be a unique event, not to be missed. In organiser Martin Stone's words:
"I feel very privileged and super excited to be organising the 2018 event on a Scottish island again. It's been far too long - 14 years since Isle of Mull and 21 years since the 1997 Isle of Jura Classic. Watch this historic 1997 Jura video Part 1 & Part 2) and feel the vibe of an island LAMM. The LAMM will be the biggest sporting event ever held on the Outer Hebrides - the Connoisseurs Mountain Marathon. It is the first time since 1997 that I have released the location more than 36 hours before the event but this year is far too big a deal to keep the location secret! I want you to have plenty of time to plan and make the most of your adventure on the beguiling Outer Hebrides."
Sally and I were captive and quickly arranged partners to team up with. My previous mountain marathons had all been in Class C, so this time I wanted to up the level to Class B. I entered with Andy J. Sally entered with a friend in Class C.
As 2018 progressed, I made plans for a 'Training Weekend' in April to try out gear and practice navigation. Unfortunately, Andy decided to announce that it was his parents' Golden Wedding anniversary on the same weekend at the LAMM, and that he must attend. Bah!
After some deliberation, a compromise was met. Andy would drop out. Sally's partner would also drop out, but only because she had not made any travel arrangements to get to Harris (from London) and that her fitness level might not be sufficient. I contacted Martin Stone querying how to rejig the teams, but he was unflappable and explained the flexibility of the SiEntries site. I made the adjustment and joined Sally in Class C. Martin then refunded Andy and my entry fee.
Due to the traditional Sunday sabbath on Harris, Martin had decided to hold the 2-day event over the Friday and Saturday. This meant that we'd have to take two days off work, and travel north on the Thursday.
On Thursday 31st May, we left Edinburgh at 9ish and headed north up the A9, stopping at Perth Tiso to pick up a replacement water bladder. We ate lunch in a stationary roadworks convoy on the A82 near Invergarry. Once we arrived in Glen Shiel, I parked the car just short of the Cluanie Inn. The temperature was in the mid 20s. Changing into shorts and running gear, I set off onto the hillside and up the Corbett of Am Bathach reaching the summit in 39minutes. I was peching!
My descent took me off the NW ridge and then back east and south along the glen to the car. Sally waited patiently for the 80mins I was away. At Shiel Bridge we stopped for an ice cream where a loaded VW Passat estate pulled up and disgorged four athletic looking men in their forties. They all stretched their limbs in a way that suggested the car had travelled a long distance. One of them turned out to be Steve Birkinshaw, winner of the Elite class.
After another 90mins we arrived in a sweltering Uig where the LAMM organisation was on display outside the ferry terminal. We picked up ferry tickets and dumped the car in the campsite. Cooked some fresh pasta for dinner and then wandered down to the pier to wait in the scorching sun for the boat. It was obviously late, and the 200 or so other LAMMers were getting restless.
Eventually it sailed in, passengers and cars disembarked, we boarded and set off for Tarbert. We chose to sit on deck watching the sun on the silvery Minch. A couple of Skye beers later, a flock of Puffins escorted us into Tarbert.
We strode purposefully to the school football pitch at the west side of the village, where marshals directed us to find a pitch in a grid system on the flat grass. It was going to be cosy!!! As we put the tent up, the midges made their presence known and out came the midge nets. Next it was back to the village community hall to register and pick up the all important plastic bag boots. We were also given our bus departure time for the morning.
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| Football pitch campsite |
Day One
We were up at 6am the following morning (Friday), and after porridge, tent packed, we headed back to the Community Hall to get some breakfast rolls. Then it was time to depart and we queued for our bus, being handed two enormous maps as we boarded. This was a real pain - on the Highlander we had been given A3 maps, but these were A1. On a bus with rucsacs, walking poles and two pieces of A1 paper, things were not great.
The map was marked with all 70 control points, all numbered. It was a massive area, covering the whole of North Harris. One of the CPs was on the summit of An Cliseam - would we be going up there???
The bus trundled along the road to Stornoway, before turning left onto the single track winder that heads along the south coast of North Harris towards Huisnish. We stopped at Miabhaig, at a car park at the foot of the Glen of the same name. A marshal advised us to get ourselves ready, and then make our way to the start which was 50m up the track. Unfortunately, this was where the planning was slightly spoiled. There were only two classes on our bus, and here at the start point - C and D. Two queues formed, and each pair was allowed to dib at 30 second intervals.
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| The start of day one for C-Class and D. |
This then meant that once we had spent a few seconds looking at the map for the 1st CP, were immediately in a train of other teams. This was to remain the case throughout the day. Nevertheless, we tramped (no running) over the dry heathery bogs onto the first hillside, climbing in the muggy morning air onto a ridge line. Soon enough we hit the first CP, although there had been a slight doubt with my navigation when it wasn't initially where I'd expected it to be. One team obviously didn't understand the 'leave no litter' rule and had dumped some orange peel beside the CP.
The weather was dry and warm with a good breeze on the summits. After this point, navigation was simple and the hardest aspect was the terrain down in the glens. Some of the heather and grassy tussocks were tough going. Our climb to the 5th CP was the lowpoint of the day, when we had to climb about 200m steeply up some loose ground and we noticed our train had rather dispersed. Doubt crept in that we were on the wrong line, or were they on the wrong line?
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| On CP5, putting on a brave face |
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| Heading to CP#6 in the gap |
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| CP#6, perched on a cliff top over the Atlantic |
After 6hours, we finally made it to the midcamp, running around the coast and down to the beach where the refugee camp was evolving.
The usual midcamp activities followed - collecting water, changing socks, tick inspection, moaning about legs, feet, muscles. Eating. Watching other teams arrive after many hours. Sleeping.
27/71 6hr49m53s
Day Two
We had set our alarms for 5.30am, and as we lay there drowsily, we heard the bagpipes start up just metres from the flysheet.
The teams that had arrived late last night were given the option of an early start in order to try finishing before the award presentation. Fortunately, we hadn't been one of those teams, so took our time getting packed up. The hills behind the camp were shrouded in mist, but it looked wispy and likely to burn off as the sun climbed in the sky. We wandered over to the start point, dibbed and then took the Control Point descriptions over to a tussock to study. I already knew (from identifying other Class C pairs, that we would be going into the clouds to start with, so gave the map a cursory glance before we set off up the hill in a SWesterly direction, with at least three pairs ahead of us.
As suspected and as per the MM day two tradition, the first CP will always have a steep climb to wake you up. I was sweating profusely within minutes, the sweat stinging my eyes as I strained my neck to look up at the terrain above. At 400m altitude, the terrain fell back to a grassy plateau, which in the thick clag felt distinctly like the Cairngorms. The air was still and we could hear voices from both sides. Following the compass, the voices became figures, and soon enough we were in a train with pairs joining from both sides, having made their own way to the plateau.
The front pair were female, with one definitely making a strong effort to reach the CP first. The train duly respected this, and we all queued politely to dib. A quick glance at the map, and we were off on a contouring line around the hillside to the next CP. A pair of Score competitors came storming through and disappeared into the mist.
Then our route descended out of the cloud and there was a long leg across wet grass to the east, descending very gradually. This became an enormous train, with at least 15 pairs in front. Some passed us, we passed some. It was just short of CP#3 that I wondered why my bum felt so wet. Surely I wasn't sweating that much?? No, it was my Camelbak...I'd neglected to tighten it properly so that it was slowly leaking into my rucsac and down my back. 2minute stop to fix it.
Soon we joined some tarmac, and there was the opportunity to run for a couple of hundred metres. You'd think we would run, but we didn't. Just some fast walking. We were not alone. Over a pipe from a hydro dam outflow, then some water from the river before another rough climb up to CP#4 which was on the side of a wee lochan. It was really midgey here, not a great place to stop for some food but we did 😅
Looking at the map, we had a choice to make to get to CP#5 which was at the foot of a ridge on the east side of the hill we were now at the base of. The west side. Go round it? Or go over it? Going round looked like purgatory - although there wouldn't be any climbing, the terrain of thick tussocks and heather would likely mean harder going than the ground on the hills. We chose to go over it and set off into the mist again. This climb was awful, knee high heather initially with midge clouds in your ears. I hated it. But we kept going, and soon were catching and overtaking many of the pairs that had passed us between CP#1 and CP#2 earlier. On the ridge, we chose the path less travelled for the descent (or it seemed that way - nobody in front of us) and dropped out of the cloud into a lovely wee valley before contouring round the hill to the CP#5. This was at one of the weird Beehive huts unique to the Hebrides, and was also a popular CP for the Score teams who were flying through.
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| Passing CP#5, Jasmin Paris in the background |
At last we were able to descend into the glen and join a stony track heading for the road at Miabhaig where we could see a white coach waiting in the car park. We actually jogged this bit! A marshal told us once we'd dibbed, that was the clock stopped until after the bus ride so we could relax. And we did, noshing as many oatcakes, cheese and Dundee cake as we could stomach. Onto the bus, thankfully air conditioned, and off we trundled to the main road to reach the next stage.
This was a bit weird in a MM, but it was the only way the planners could feasibly get Class C and D back to the event centre within the required distances for a MM. Apparently they had thought long and hard about it, but decided to use the bus.
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| Sweaty & smiling on the bus |
During the actual event, we weren't complaining. It was great to relax for a while away from the pressures of the clock. Yes, ok we were going to be conveyor belted into another train of teams, but the whole two days had already been like that, and the faces were familiar so we knew each other's pace and targets. After another short break, we reluctantly walked over to the dibber to restart the clock and head back onto the hills.
The sun was beating down hard now, and our route found us making a traversing climb across a hillside of burnt heather to the next CP at a river confluence at 400m altitude. Thankfully, that was to be the end of the last major climb. We grabbed some more water and then set off across the west face of Sgaoth Aird to the Bealach Garbh. In the distance I spotted some figures on the horizon, where I expect we should be dropping down, but the teams immediately in front of us didn't head that way. I was certain they were Class C teams, but why were they going that way. Some doubt crept into my route choice, but the terrain allowed for fast progress and we kept on line.
A few metres west of spot height 438m, a narrow bealach marked where I wanted to start the descent to the next CP. We looked down the glen - no other teams! Even more doubt...have we gone too far west?? Stick to the plan...we stumbled down through the deepening heather, and then in the distance I spotted the orange flag of the CP, exactly where the map told me it would be! Happy Days.
Another drink from the river, and another team joined us (having followed us down the glen). We all set off together and they followed us until we were within sight of the final CP when they sped up and vanished. Off to our left, a few hundred metres south, we could just about see Tarbert appearing from the haze.
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| Tarbert appearing from the haze below the final CP |
It was now a race to the finish and I tried to up the pace. We gradually caught up with another pair, one member who was holding his map over his head. His neck was lobster red, and confirmed he was suffering from the sun. They held the hill gate open for us and we stored through, jogging down the tarmac into the village. Unfortunately, we failed to follow the tape-tags that were leading us towards the finish, and had to backtrack to the correct junction. That felt a bit stupid - having just navigated successfully over the hills of North Harris! Anyway, we trotted behind the school and along to the finish in the corner of the football field.
24/69 5h34m39s
We managed to eat some lunch in the school dinner hall (vegetable curry) and drink lots of diluting juice. Then managed to semi-wash with a garden hose. At 4pm, the winners presentations took place in a packed hall and then Martin Stone announced this was to be the last ever LAMM! I think some people were quite shocked, and it certainly made us feel privileged that we'd managed to participate. With hindsight, I think I was content with Class C. The B-course just would have been too tough in those conditions, and I'd not have enjoyed it so much. Perhaps we should try the Score class next time. If there is a next time.
