Bob Graham Round - Tips

Selective memory is an amazing thing. After my successful Round in May 2006 I had almost convinced myself that the BGR was a pretty straight forward affair. After pacing an unsuccessful attempt this Saturday, Some of the forgotten painful memories were dug back up.

Rob had decided that 2am morning start for a clockwise round was for him. For me, that meant a very early start after only arriving in the Lakes at midnight from Inverness. Unsurprisingly I was not feeling wonderful at Moot Hall and after trying for a while to make Rob slow his pace up, I let him go up ahead on the climb to Skiddaw. At the top the wind was bitterly cold and I regretted leaving my gloves at home whist navigating through thick cloud in the dark. Route-wise everything went pretty much to plan and after srambling down Hall's Fell in the early morning light we reached Threkeld about 30 minutes up. I was glad to get rid of my fell shoes and changed to trail shoes (dumped along with food and water previously at the village green) which were much more suited to the dry conditions. Much of the Round is on hard stoney tracks where fell shoes are a major disadvantage and it is only Leg 1 and the start of Leg 3 which has any real off-track sections.

In comparison to 2006, I felt absolutely fine. Taking on about 1.5l of water and a load of food for the next leg made the bag uncomfortably heavy. The Dodds did not flow past as easily ashoped and despite the cloud clearing, the strong wind put a downer on motivation. After 4 hs of running I could feel my last race was still in my legs and decided then and there that two legs of support would have to do me.

The downhills were agony and I let Rob go off up Fairfield and Seat Sandal so as not to slow him down and put his attempt at risk. Perhaps it was that I had already completed the round that I had no compulsion to push myself any further and glady took the option of a lift back to the campsite which was offered to me at Dunmail.

The last I saw of Rob was as he plodded up Steel Fell still on schedule and after food and a rest, myself and the rest of the support crew headed over to Wasdale. Being a Bank Holiday every idiot was out on the roads. I have never seen so many examples of incompetent driving in such a short space of time. So it was a pretty stressed support crew that arrived in Wasdale where we settled down to wait for Rob to appear down Scafell. We waited and waited. No-one had seen Rob and when he was over an hour overdue, Steffi drove back up the road to get a signal on her phone. Rob was back at Langdale. Barely an hour after leaving us at Dunmail Raise he had taken a wrong turning and headed up to Ullscarf and beyond to Low Saddle. About an 4km trip in the wrong direction. Heat, exhaustion and lack of food intake seemed to have all played a part. Understandably he had decided to call it a day. A big dissappointment for not only himself but for the rest of us too.

I know it is very easy to be critical, but to be successful with minimal support does mean that you have to know the route well. However harsh it may sound a mistake like this under the prevailing conditions was almost comic. But in no way am I saying that I am myself immune from such mishaps!

My tips for normal would-be BGRers are:

• Know the route off by heart. You never know if a pacer may drop out or get lost.
• Start when you feel good - 2am I think is a bad time for anyone's body clock. 10pm worked for me and even 8pm could be good as you are on an easy section in the dark.
• Get the feed and drink strategy right. I always eat and drink at least every 30mins on the dot even if I feel sick. More often if I feel thirsty or hungry.
• Be kind to your support team by splitting road support between drivers.
• Have a good base camp i.e. Threkeld / Keswick area.
• If you lack sufficient pacers, save them for the later legs when you are more tired.
• Don't pick a Bank Holiday weekend!
• Be organised and make sure you have a detailed schedule for everyone. I know this may be a pain in the backside, but it does really help.

The rest of the weekend was great and I am sure Rob will have learnt from this attempt and will cruise it sometime later this year.