Red Screes
Soon after dawn and Heather I are doing hill reps on Red Screes for our friend Ben Winston. He is a professional photographer and today we are his models. It was a special day in the wonderful Lake District mountains.
photo © Ben Winston
Running
During the early 2000s I made a transition from a sporting life focused on climbing, to one focused on mountain running. For many years my focus has definitely been mountain marathons and I have competed at an elite level. I love all types of running challenges and find the lure of racing, whether along the road, through the woods or up a mountain almost irresistible. Career highlights include:
2017 1st High Peak Marathon
2014 1st Copeland Chase
2013 3rd Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon
2013 2nd Three Peaks Yacht Race
2013 3rd X70 Nordisk eXtreme Marathon
2013 1st Highlander Mountain Marathon
2013 2nd Southern Great Britain Orienteering Championships (Classic - M35 age class)
2013 1st South West Great Britain Orienteering Championship (Middle - M35 age class)
2012 2nd Elite Original Mountain Marathon
2010 1st South West Great Britain Elite Orienteering Championship (Sprint)
2010 5th Elite Original Mountain Marathon
2010 4th Elite Rab Mountain Marathon
2010 2nd Elite Dartmoor Mountain Marathon
2008 Winter Ramsay Round Record (2008-2012)
2007 1st Elite Mixed in the High Peak Marathon, Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon and Original Mountain Marathon
Ras yr Aran
2020
Ras yr Arran Fell Race was the first counter in the 2020 British Fell Running Championships. Six days before I’d finished 3rd at the Cautley Spout and was delighted to have found some early season form. However, I’d over cooked it at Cautley, and was still suffering from muscle soreness as I warmed up for Ras yr Arran: I went as hard as I could, but my legs said no!
Sierre Zinal
2019
Skyline Scotland® has had races in the Skyrunning World Series®, hosted the Skyrunning World Championships®, and currently has a race in the Golden Trail World Series®. It has become the UK’s biggest mountain running festival and to ensure the quality of our races matches the best events in the world I’ve made it my job to race internationally every year to experience some of greatest mountain and trail running races. And it is hard to beat Sierre Zinal! You can read about my Trofeo Kima (hospitalisation) experience HERE.
Original Mountain Marathon
2017
I knew 2017 was going to be a very challenging year for me work wise, so I decided from the outset that I would have only one A race, and that would be defending our 2016 OMM elite win at the 50th anniversary event. During the year, I raced as much as I could, but regularly the weeks passed when I would not have time to run. If I did manage a decent training week, I couldn’t afford to be fussy about whether there was a race on the weekend, so as a result, I often turned up fell races - even the championship races - either knackered from work, or knackered from training. Read the full article HERE.
Original Mountain Marathon
2011
The OMM is the oldest and most prestigious of the World’s mountain marathons and as such it attracts the strongest elite field. As seven-time winner Steve Birkinshaw recently said on his Berghaus blog, “This is the mountain marathon that everyone wants to win”. Duncan and I knew we were going well and would be in with a chance of winning but we also recognised we were an outside bet. It was a dramatic weekend of racing for the leading elite teams, but Duncan and I ran a controlled and focused race to win by just 13 seconds. You can read an account of our first OMM Elite win HERE. Photo: RandR Photos
Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon
2011
Back to full fitness after a 2-year battle with illness, I was just pleased to be at the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon in 2011. My first day was a disaster though, and I felt bloated and lethargic as a result of over hydrating in the hot conditions. I was an hour down on the leader and in 5th place overnight. However, day-2 was one of those perfect running days, the weather was stunning and I seemed to have boundless energy, which enabled me to overturn a 40-minute deficit to move up to 2nd place. It was a game-changing run for me, as I realised for the first time that I could run (and navigate) as well as the best. You can read my blog HERE. Photo: RandR Photos
JK Orienteering Festival
2010
Jenny Johnson, who worked with me at planetFear, introduced me to orienteering. My first event was on Loxley Common and it took me a staggering 88 minutes to complete the 4.4km green course (the winner finished in half the time)! Despite spending most of my time lost in the woods, I realised I had discovered a sport that I instantly loved and could also translate to better mountain running. By making a concerted effort to improve my orienteering skills, my concept of efficient navigation in the mountains was transformed. I realised that elite orienteers and mountain marathon competitors - often one and the same - measured their mistakes in seconds, not minutes (or occasionally hours in my case…). Although I am still prone to running faster than I can navigate whilst orienteering, the slower overall pace of mountain marathons and my life long familiarity with the mountain landscape has combined perfectly and allowed me to succeed at elite level mountain marathons.
Original Mountain Marathon
2007
Having survived a wet and wild overnight camp in a tiny, damp and cold tent, Heather Dawe and I were itching to get going and warm up at the start of Day 2. Neither of us had managed to finish the KIMM/OMM Elite before despite two attempts each with different partners. We were therefore both highly motivated and having raced together before we knew we would make a good team… and we did, finishing 24th overall and taking the Mixed Elite win. Photo: SleepMonsters
Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon
2007
My mountain marathon career hit a brick wall in 2006 when I ran my first elite races. It was big step up and it quickly became clear that I couldn’t navigate well enough and my fitness was borderline to be a contender. That year I failed to finish a single elite race and I was frustrated. In 2007, I adopted a new strategy and teamed up with some of the UK’s best female mountain runners with the simple goal of finishing elite races in good order. Here, Karen Davison and I are heading up the hill from the Day 2 start on our way to a Mixed Elite win. Photo: Jon Brooke / RightPlaceRightTime
Karrimor International Mountain Marathon
2004
I’d always enjoyed running about whilst playing various sports or just to maintain my fitness, but when I discovered mountain marathons in 2002 I was immediately hooked. With my regular partner, Rich Parry, we worked our way up through the classes each year, always staying in the top ten but never actually winning anything. This photo was taken just a few minutes before the end of Day 2 (B class) as we approached the final control; Rich is checking the control code to make sure we don’t mispunch. Photo: Rob Howard / SleepMonsters