For those of you who enjoy reading my blog, this one comes hot of the press and straight out of the blue. So as you know, I was taking part in the OMM over the weekend (The Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) was founded in 1968 and is recognised as one of the world’s toughest tests of endurance and navigational skills) and as you also know, the OMM ended up being breaking news over the weekend because of the absolutely awful and dangerous weather conditions.
How strange that in my last blog on Friday, I talked about fear, and the difficult and akward times making you stronger… as this was about to be my hardest challenge yet.. even more fearful than The Royal Navy!!
The OMM is a mountain marathon, better described as a survival, endurance, climbing, orienteering event (a bit like an adult version of a really tough treasure hunt!). It is an extreme event and not for the faint hearted. Some people run it, some walk, but the aim is to basically get from checkpoint to checkpoint as a team of 2 people up and down the mountains before night fall, camp out over night and then resume the race the following day.
Around 4000 people took part (2000 teams), and everyone sets off at different times.. a staggered start. The horn went and it was our time. It had just started to rain, and the wind was high.. off we trek , map in hand, heading for checkpoint 1. It now starts to rain harder… so much so that you cannot even open or spread the map out without it being blown away.
We start climbing ( I repeat CLIMBING) up a mountain next to a running waterfall… 2 men overtake us who are bounding up easily. Our climb takes us higher and higher, although there is no time to stop and admire the view, not that you could see it…you can’t see anything. By this time the rain is torrential and the wind is galeforce… we make it all the way up to checkpoint 1, having falling over about 20 times in the process.. I was not enjoying myself.
Coming down from checkpoint 1 and heading towards checkpoint 2, we have to cross streams that had turned into raging rivers… heading towards a craggy face. We climbed up rocks and down rocks, waded through more water and found checkpoint 2. I was still not enjoying myself. Its now difficult to stand up in the strong winds.
Now we head down a very very steep descent, I fall over countless times, and this time I slide some way also. The mountain rescue are at the bottom and running up towards the top of the mountains. We head for checkpoint 3 and the weather is slowly knocking the stuffing out of me.
We pass people who warn us how dangerous it is up at the top, and to be very careful… we got up this mountain quicker than the others as the wind was behind us… but at the top of that mountain things were looking bleak. The rivers were even worse.. they were becoming uncrossable and extremely dangerous, currents were strong, we were soaked, muddy, and patience was starting to wear thin. Are we just being wimpy if we bail out, or is this just stupidity to continue? I am most definately not enjoying myself and am now shouting it from the top of the mountain. We have been out in these conditions now for nearly 6 hours with no stopping. No food stops… you just eat on the go.
No one else is around… its just you, the elements and your ability to make a decision to quit or continue. We wonder if anyone else has quit, we have absolutely no idea about the flooding we were about to encounter.
We decide to get down the mountain as quickly and safely as possible. I must admit, I felt that we were starting to put ourselves in danger. You do not mess with Mother Nature. However this was just the start of things to come. We started to come down, and it was only then that we saw the sheer power of what had happened. The whole of Borrowdale was pretty much under water.
As we approached the road we met other competitors who had said the event had been abandoned and to make our way back to the HQ of the event. This was where our car was. As we walked along the road towards the car… we hit a massive flood across the whole of the road (see the video below). Cars were flooded. Water was up to the windows of the cars.. our car was on the other side. We made the brave and risky decision to wade through the water which was up to my chest… I was scared.. the water again!!
We got through the flood and thank god our car was safe, but for about 20-30 cars.. they were not so lucky as the water was window level and rising. I’ve not seen anything like this other than on the news.. It was so surreal.
We ended up sleeping in the car overnight and then made progress out of Borrowdale the following morning. The police had shut the village, it was so flooded. Cars were abandoned and had been swept down the roads, trees were knocked down. I did half expect to wake up and be somewhere totally different!!
As we kept driving and tried to get out of the village, more cars were abandoned, more floods… water everywhere.. fields had now become lakes, houses were under water, roads shut off etc.
We managed to get out safely, and it wasn’t until we had phone signal again, that we realised the impact it had had on the rest of the UK. Texts and phonecalls came flooding in from friends and families checking that we were ok.
At the time…I didn’t enjoy it. My partner tells me that this was a “one off extreme weather” case. It’s never been cancelled in all of the years it has taken place… that normally it’s “FUN”.
But… in hindsight something made me enjoy the experience in an appreciative and humble way. It was nothing like “Unbreakable.” This was different. This was complete survival in an uncontrolled environment. Nature has such tremendous power… you do not mess with the elements.
The more and more crazy stuff I do ( like the OMM and Unbreakable) the more it makes me feel alive… really alive. I am not just going through the motions of everyday life, I am getting amongst it. I am not just staring out the window wishing and wondering what to do with my life.. I am taking life with open arms and squeezing as much out of it as I can…
So who’s joining me next year?
Bye for now x
PS Some of the below may interest you:
The 2008 OMM:
OMM Weather:
Some of the highlights from the OMM below:
To give you an idea of what the start of the event is like:
