Jon & support runner Oli at the Ambleside start (photo. Ceris Owen)
There is a real buzz around ultra
running in the UK at the moment and nowhere more so than in the Lake
District. New challenges are continually being developed and people are
pushing beyond their own perceived limits..... Midsummer's weekend in the Lakes, plenty of miles in training, an awesome support crew and a very worthy cause. Jon Tomb's plans had all come together for an epic undertaking - The Wainwright Memorial Challenge, a 107 mile route covering 57 summits with 36,000' of ascent. Alfred Wainwright devised and walked this route in six days with three friends over the Whitsuntide holiday in 1931. Following his death his unpublished notes of this walk were turned into eleven more 'manageable' days and published as "The Wainwright Memorial Walk"
A short road section in Borrowdale (photo. Sarah Smith)
Jon walked the route soon after it was published spending those eleven days exploring a new landscape in the rain. It obviously left a huge impression on him because fifteen years later he now works and plays in those very hills. A member of Eden Runners he joined the ranks of the Bob Graham Club last year and completed his fourteenth consecutive London Marathon. Many of his challenges have given him the opportunity to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support, a charity very close to his heart. A staunch supporter this challenge would see Jon go past the £40,000 mark in fifteen years of fundrasining. You can still donate at his Just Giving page...
And so to the route itself. Jon hasn't been able to find any record of
anyone completing a continuous round. Even Wainwright on his successful
six day round was forced to miss out Blencathra and Grasmoor due to time
constraints. The 'official' written version includes 54 Wainwrights
plus Helvellyn Lower Man. Jon added the obvious summits of Thunacar
Knott and Loughrigg to give 57 tops. Over the last few months he's put
the leg work in and recceed the whole route and on the whole it paid
off. In typical Lakeland summer weather he had to contend with driving
rain and high winds for much of the circuit but didn't need to use a map
for the first 18 hours. Terrible conditions on the leg from Buttermere
to Wasdale on Saturday night meant that it took 12 hours for his support
crew to navigate him safely over Red Pike to Great Gable and on to Red
Pike number two. In contrast a steady recce of this route had taken just
over six hours! Many of Jon's supporters had sponsored individual
peaks. Looking for an excuse to end the torment coming off Great Gable
he suddenly realised that one of his pacers had offered £115 for
Kirkfell, the next summit! This extra pressure kept his focus and it
became a mind game ticking off peak by peak. After 45 hours and 18
minutes and at 1:18 on a cold wet morning a small band of supporters
cheered Jon home after an incredible effort.
A couple of moments stood out for Jon. Topping out on Scafell Pike in 1:54 from Wasdale, 6 minutes up on schedule. After a disheartening night it was just the confidence boost he needed to keep his head down and keep plugging away. A few long hours later he was dropping down off his final summit, Loughrigg, when the lights of Ambleside appeared. Not just the end of the challenge but also the first view in a very long time. However in common with many folk who have experienced long days out on the hills supported by their friends it is this friendship that sticks in Jon's mind. Only three of his Bob Graham team had been able to turn out so their was a whole new vibe and plenty of enthusiasm to feed off.
It's always interesting to compare very special experiences. For Jon the Bob Graham Round will always have a bit of magic but this challenge plumbed him to far greater depths than last years efforts. Not having a schedule meant that his mental approach had to be very different. He was able to take longer breaks at the eight road crossings to feed himself and put on dry kit but there was never any excuse for dropping out due to time constraints and he just had to keep going. Sunrise at Black Sail on Sunday morning brought more rain and terrible visibility and it was at this point Jon seriously considered stopping. Fortunately his two support runners were having none of it and didn't give him the option!
A gourmet feast of Muller
rice, Fridj mikshakes, quiche, cocktail sausages, homemade flapjack,
pizza, shot blocks, jelly babies, hobnob bars,
cereal bars, snickers, cheese slice, pepperami, and jelly
beans kept Jon on the move through nearly 46 hours of effort. Almost every
ultra runner will tell you they get cravings for real food and he only
managed to force down two gels throughout the whole epic. A fundamental
point in Jon's planning had been fish and chips in Ambleside at the end
of his round. However the poor weather and conditions underfoot slowed
him considerably and the chippy was most definitely
shut at 1.18am!
Surprisingly his legs are far less tight or fatigued than after this years London Marathon! A swollen right ankle from an argument with a rock and tender right knee seem a small price to pay for an experience like this. He'll be back on the hills this week introducing an Outward Bound group to the delights of camping in the Lake District. Apart from that a few easy runs and short fell races to will give him the opportunity to relive an amazing adventure with an enormous sense of pride.
Jon carried a tracker courtesy of James Thurlow at Open Adventure and his trace can be seen at the two links below;
Starting the steep climb up onto Catbells (photo. Sarah Smith)
A couple of moments stood out for Jon. Topping out on Scafell Pike in 1:54 from Wasdale, 6 minutes up on schedule. After a disheartening night it was just the confidence boost he needed to keep his head down and keep plugging away. A few long hours later he was dropping down off his final summit, Loughrigg, when the lights of Ambleside appeared. Not just the end of the challenge but also the first view in a very long time. However in common with many folk who have experienced long days out on the hills supported by their friends it is this friendship that sticks in Jon's mind. Only three of his Bob Graham team had been able to turn out so their was a whole new vibe and plenty of enthusiasm to feed off.
It's always interesting to compare very special experiences. For Jon the Bob Graham Round will always have a bit of magic but this challenge plumbed him to far greater depths than last years efforts. Not having a schedule meant that his mental approach had to be very different. He was able to take longer breaks at the eight road crossings to feed himself and put on dry kit but there was never any excuse for dropping out due to time constraints and he just had to keep going. Sunrise at Black Sail on Sunday morning brought more rain and terrible visibility and it was at this point Jon seriously considered stopping. Fortunately his two support runners were having none of it and didn't give him the option!
The end in sight... Grasmere after 44 hours (photo. Oli Blomfield)
Surprisingly his legs are far less tight or fatigued than after this years London Marathon! A swollen right ankle from an argument with a rock and tender right knee seem a small price to pay for an experience like this. He'll be back on the hills this week introducing an Outward Bound group to the delights of camping in the Lake District. Apart from that a few easy runs and short fell races to will give him the opportunity to relive an amazing adventure with an enormous sense of pride.
An Ambleside gutter & a shut chippy after 45 hours 18 minutes. Job well done!
The total raised for Macmillan Cancer Support now stands at £3300 in 2013 and an amazing £42,400 in the last 15 years!
Jon's full route and timings are detailed below starting in Windermere and finishing in Ambleside.
Windermere depart 04.01
Windermere depart 04.01
- Yoke 05.28
- Ill Bell 05.40
- Froswick 05.50
- Thornthwaite Crag 06.06
- High Street 06.20
- The Knott 06.36
- Angletarn Pikes 07.10
Patterdale Depart 07.53
- Helvellyn 09.23
- Helvellyn Lower Man 09.31
- Whiteside 09.43
- Raise 09.53
- Stybarrow Dodd 10.10
- Watson's Dodd 10.17
- Great Dodd 10.35
- Clough Head 11.01
Threlkeld Depart 11.54
- Blencathra 12.58
Keswick Depart 14.50
- Catbells 15.53
- Maiden Moor 16.23
- High Spy 16.47
- Dale Head 17.32
- Hindscarth 17.51
- Robinson 18.19
Newlands Depart 18.53
- Knott Rigg 19.16
- Ard Crags 19.32
- Sail 20.10
- Eel Crag 20.22
- Grasmoor 20.46
- Wandope 21.03
- Whiteless Pike 21.16
Buttermere Depart 22.31
- Red Pike (Buttermere) 00.05
- High Stile 00.35
- High Crag 01.30
- Haystacks 02.51
- Brandreth 04.20
- Green Gable 04.59
- Great Gable 05.25
- Kirk Fell 06.30
- Pillar 07.52
- Scoat Fell 08.48
- Red Pike (Wasdale) 09.18
Wasdale Depart 10.53
- Scafell Pike 12.50
- Great End 13.34
- Esk Pike 14.17
- Bowfell 14.49
- Crinkle Crags 15.52
- Cold Pike 16.36
- Pike O'Blisco 17.14
Langdale Depart 18.37
- Pike O' Stickle 20.04
- Harrison Stickle 20.24
- Pavey Ark 20.37
- Thunacar Knott 20.46
- High Raise 21.06
- Sergeant Man 21.20
- Calf Crag 22.02
- Gibson Knott 22.45
- Helm Crag 23.03
Grasmere Depart 23.59
- Loughrigg 00.43
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