Foreboding weather didn’t deter. I snapped as many as I could, but didn’t get everyone and the camera enjoyed it less than I did.
Comments: 0October 29th, 2011 by crispin
Comments: 1October 16th, 2011 by crispin
Just back from an enjoyable weekend at the relays in Kettlewell. We made our various ways to the Yorkshire Dales on Friday, finding out en croute that Angela was pulling out of the Ladies team. Fortunately Naomi’s Mum Sally had come down from Scotland to support, and valiantly agreed to don the hoops. A bit of recceing and interrogation of locals showed us roughly where the navigation leg was going to be – on the flanks of Great Whernside with a long flagged run in. It looked like the navigation might be quite tricky, with rough ground and few features on the upper slopes. This, and a reappraisal of Iain’s likely speed, led us to swap things around a bit in the men’s line up, putting Iain onto the short leg 1 and Mark and Martin onto the navigation leg. The Ladies team re-shuffled to cope with Angela’s absence, giving Sally the last leg. 
Saturday dawned glorious with early frost and hanging mist giving way to clear blue skies and autumn colours. Iain and Sharon lined up with nearly 190 others in the village square to start at 10am. Tim Davies led the charge, with Iain comfortable in mid pack. With little racing experience we were all a little nervous of how he would pace the 4.5 miler with such a fast start, but he got it about right and came into the field in 80th place to hand over the Sean and Matthew.
Sharon appeared a few minutes later in 149th place, to set Anne Marie and Emma on their way for the 9 mile leg 2.
This second leg was crucial with two long climbs, a couple of miles of sapping bog, and fast descents on tracks. I was expecting it to take about the same time as a road half marathon. Mathew and Sean picked up 50 places to pull us up to 30th overall, completing the leg in 1:17:37, 19th fastest on the leg. This was a truly impressive performance for two newbies to the sport who have never run in pairs before, especially when you see the talent that was on display in this leg. For example they were only 2 minutes down on Ian Holmes and Andy Peace.
Anne Marie and Emma got round in 01:39:13, also picking up loads of places, and handing over to Naomi and Louise.
Anne Marie was one of the many runners finishing leg 2 slathered head to toe in the black stuff, after a bit of spontaneous bog snorkelling.
Mark and Martin ran a strong leg 3, pulling us up another 9 places and posting the 15th fastest time for the course. The navigation didn’t sound that tricky in the bright sunshine, but if the clag had been down it would have been a different race entirely.
Harry has not been doing much running this year, but is always fit and strong from cycling, and did not disappoint with a solid leg 4 performance. Unusually our demon descender let someone past on the descent, but it turned out to be Tom Adams who posted the 8th fastest time for the leg, so no disgrace there!
Our men’s team finished 22nd overall in 03:54:45, a few places down on previous years, but still a strong performance given the strength and depth of the competition. Eryri finished 16th.
For the ladies, Naomi and Louise were spot on with the navigation but found the underfoot conditions hard, finishing in 1:45:01. They were faster than 31 other teams on the leg! They handed over to Sally for the big climb up Great Whernside.
At the tender age of 67 Sally is very much a novice fell runner, though she has won the V60 category many times in the Lakeland Trail races. Leg 4 at the relays was certainly a new challenge though, especially as she had not expected to run, and had done 8 miles a couple of days before. In the event she ran way faster than expected, bringing the team home in 05:23:46, and 156th place (I think 30th ladies team overall).
We all had a good time in the Blue Bell that evening, and I’m looking forward to next year already.
Full results and split times can be found on the sportident web site.
Comments: 0October 8th, 2011 by crispin
The time has come to enter the names and numbers. This year they are not allowing any substitutions on the day, so the names have to be in though we can probably shuffle legs around on the day.
Emma is making the tough decisions for the ladies, but the basic selection has been stable for weeks now and everyone is going well. I’m waiting to hear from Emma whether she wants to make any tweaks.
The men’s team selection has been a bit of a rollercoaster, with key performers picking up injuries but talented newcomers filling the gaps. I’ve set up a spreadsheet to calculate best leg combinations, but the problem is I don’t have much idea of the current form of Harry, Martin, and particularly Iain Shaw. Here are a few guiding principles though:
Navigation leg: needs to be safe – better to lose 10 minutes with slower runners than 30 minutes with lost runners. Many top clubs blow the whole event on this leg.
Leg 2 – this should be our fastest runners who match each other well over the distance. Apart from leg 3, this leg has highest potential to lose time if one runner falls to bits.
Leg 4 – longer than leg 1 with a lot more climb so needs faster runner. Needs experience because might be running solo with few other runners to follow or catch.
Leg 1 – some people say you should put a top runner on leg 1 to be up with fast teams from then on. I don’t think that works overall, and wastes the talent; even with a modest start there are other factors like getting the psychological boost of passing people rather than being passed. Note that in 2008 we were 42nd after leg 1 (worst ever leg placing) and still came 11th overall. And for the navigation leg it is an advantage to be starting behind a few more teams.
I’ve used two main inputs. First the relative speed of all runners over a notional 10 miles, taking account known abilities on the fells:
| Runner | Time Estimate |
| Mark Palmer MP | 53 |
| Martin Shaw MSH | 55 |
| Harry Matthews HM | 56 |
| Iain Shaw IS | 58 |
| Matthew Symes MSY | 59 |
| Sean Taylor ST | 59 |
Second, estimated time for each leg, if it was being run by Mark P:
| Leg | Time in Minutes |
| 1: 4.5 miles 1100 | 32 |
| 2: 9 miles 2500 feet | 70 |
| 3: 7 miles 1550 feet | 50 |
| 4: 5.5 miles 1600 feet | 40 |
| Total | 213 (3 hours 23 mins) |
These times might be a bit optimistic, but the running around Kettlewell is pretty good. From these figures it is possible to work out the overall time of all leg combinations. Of course, this assumes equivalent performance by all runners over all distances – more on that later. The one fixed point I have held onto is Iain Shaw on the navigation leg, coz he used to map minefields.
I calculated a lot of different permutations, but one came out top. Here are four examples, with the winning combination last:
| Leg | Option 1 | Time | Option 2 | Time | Option 3 | Time | Option 4 | Time |
| 1 | MSH | 33.2 | MSY | 35.6 | MSH | 33.2 | MSY | 35.6 |
| 2 | ST + HM | 77.9 | MP + MSH | 72.6 | ST + MSY | 77.9 | MSH + HM | 74.0 |
| 3 | IS + MSY | 55.7 | IS + HM | 54.7 | IS + HM | 55.7 | IS + ST | 55.7 |
| 4 | MP | 40 | ST | 44.5 | MP | 40 | MP | 40 |
| 206.8 | 207.5 | 205.8 | 205.2 |
I was a bit surprised by the last one here coming out top, but it was clearly the best even if I altered the individual leg time estimates a bit. These options might all look very close to each other, but at this level in the relays 40 seconds can make a difference of one or two places.
The weakness of this model is the relative ranking of the runners which is a bit of a guess. Also it ignores any preferences of individual runners for different distances. I reckon that over 5 to 9 mile legs like these, that doesn’t amount to much in fit runners, but my worry about option 4 is whether Harry is fit enough for 9 miles with Martin!
If anyone thinks the runner ranking above is badly wrong, let me know asap. But as things stand this gives us:
Mynydd Du A
Leg 1 Matthew Symes
Leg 2 Martin Shaw & Harry Matthews
Leg 3 Iain Shaw & Sean Taylor
Leg 4 Mark Palmer
Reserves: Ricky McWilliams and Crispin Flower
Comments: 0September 3rd, 2011 by crispin
Having made passing reference to our glorious history in the relays, I thought I’d better do some research to back this up, because I don’t think we have this recorded anywhere other than folk memory…
Actually – I’ve now moved all the fascinating stats to a more permanent place under the “Results” page. T’is here: http://www.mynydd-du.org.uk/?page_id=616
Summary
| Year / Location | Overall Position | Position in Category |
| 2010 Lomonds of Fife | 9 | 8 |
| 2009 Ennerdale | 13 | 10 |
| 2008 Clwydian Hills | 11 | 10 |
| 2007 Forest of Bowland | 11 | 8 |
| 2006 Castle Carr | 13 | 10 |
Comments: 0September 3rd, 2011 by crispin
As usual Mynydd Du intend to take the UK Fell Relays by storm in 2011. Every year since 2006 we have somehow been in or around the top 10, scalping many unsuspecting big guys, and this exposure at the very pinnacle of the sport means that by now several gritty northerners can pronounce our name. We’ve entered three teams this year: blokes A, ladies, and odds-and-sods B. The precise components of these teams are still uncertain, with Damon preferring a holiday in the Aegean, and Martin W preferring to stay at home eating birthday cake, but the ladies team is looking strong and composed. On the other hand we have some promising new recruits, including Martin Shaw’s baby bro Iain – rumoured to be even faster and more mental than the original.
Training and preparation are reaching a frenzy already – here’s me showing that a full-length plaster cast need not be considered any impediment. Well, the consultant said not to put any weight on it. Needless to say, I’m not in the A team this year! In fact I’m not even certain I’ll be able to do anything at all, but plaster comes off 7th Sept so plenty of time to rebuild my shrivelled muscles.
Here’s how the teams are lining up as of September 1st (allocation to legs likely to change!):
Newsflash @ 6th September… both A and B team leg 1 runners have been struck down with “other commitments”. Three more runners now required…
Newsflash @ 8th September… Ben Buckle’s now in the B team; with a few Marathon des Sables etc under his belt, the relays nav leg should be a doddle. Crispin’s prognosis is gloomy though – knee won’t bend and walking = v diff.
Newsflash @ 24th September… ‘B’ team entry rejected! I’ve just been told our B team entry did not make the cut, despite having our entry in weeks ago. Seems a bit odd when clubs like Calder Valley, Mercia and Helm Hill are given five team entries, but I’m sure they had a system. So now it’s all about selection for the ‘A’ team, which may or may not remain as shown below.
Newsflash @ 29th September… Rob Gordon and Ade Woods struck down; ‘A’ team now revised below. Iain Shaw used to map land mines apparently, so no worries for the nav leg!
Mynydd Du Ladies
leg 1 (Solo, 4.5m, 1100’ ascent, flagged all the way) Emma Bayliss
leg 2 (Pairs, 9.5m, 2500’ ascent, partly flagged) Sharon Woods + Anne Marie Harris
leg 3 (Pairs, navigation, 8m ) Naomi Law + Louise Massey
leg 4 (Solo, 5.5m, 1600’ ascent, partly flagged) Angela Jones
Mynydd Du A
Leg 1 Mark Palmer
Leg 2 Harry Matthews & Matthew Symes
Leg 3 Martin Shaw & Iain Shaw
Leg 4 Ricky McWilliams
Reserves: Ben Buckle and Crispin Flower
Mynydd Du B
1 Sam Rhyall ??? Mystery Runner
2 Ricky McWilliams & Matthew Simes
3 Ben Buckle & ???
4 Crispin Flower
If you would like to run and are not on this list, please get in touch.
Full details of the event here http://www.relay.bingleyharriers.org.uk/index.html
Route maps (except leg 3) are available here http://www.relay.bingleyharriers.org.uk/courses.html
Comments: 0August 22nd, 2011 by Rob
Mynydd Du’s very own Emma Bayliss has been selected to
run for Wales in the Commonwealth Mountain Running Championships (Up & Down).
Emma travelled all the way to Blackburn to take part in the qualifier race but had no difficulty in beating off some stiff competition to secure her place in the Welsh team. The race will take part in Llanberis on the 24th September.
Comments: 0August 22nd, 2011 by Rob
It takes some doing to choose your holiday on the very week that
the Swiss Franc reached an all-time high, but we managed it. We arrived at Davos, some 5,000 feet up in the Alps with a week to go before the race and that turned out to be a good thing, because manufacturing those extra red blood corpuscles to cope with reduced oxygen at that altitude is tiring and until that is complete running is hard work. Straight off the train we had a gentle 6k jog around the lake and repeated that before breakfast the next morning. Then we spent the week running and walking in the mountains, one day listening to the marmot sentries giving their shrill warning whistles as we climbed up to the Sertigpass at some 9,000 feet, before a magnificent descent to take apfelstrudel, (mit schlagobers of course), at an alpine meadow far below. Shortly after we arrived at the restaurant the heavens opened and one of the farm donkeys decided he didn’t like the rain, so he walked over to the door and began hitting the mat with a hoof until he triggered the automatic door and let himself into the restaurant. It must have been something they put in the mountain water, for on two separate occasions on the local bus Colin was accosted by the same elderly Swiss lady runner and invited for coffee and high fives while I was chatted up by a charming Spanish lady runner who invited me round for paella.
the Swiss Franc reached an all-time high, but we managed it. We arrived at Davos, some 5,000 feet up in the Alps with a week to go before the race and that turned out to be a good thing, because manufacturing those extra red blood corpuscles to cope with reduced oxygen at that altitude is tiring and until that is complete running is hard work. Straight off the train we had a gentle 6k jog around the lake and repeated that before breakfast the next morning. Then we spent the week running and walking in the mountains, one day listening to the marmot sentries giving their shrill warning whistles as we climbed up to the Sertigpass at some 9,000 feet, before a magnificent descent to take apfelstrudel, (mit schlagobers of course), at an alpine meadow far below. Shortly after we arrived at the restaurant the heavens opened and one of the farm donkeys decided he didn’t like the rain, so he walked over to the door and began hitting the mat with a hoof until he triggered the automatic door and let himself into the restaurant. It must have been something they put in the mountain water, for on two separate occasions on the local bus Colin was accosted by the same elderly Swiss lady runner and invited for coffee and high fives while I was chatted up by a charming Spanish lady runner who invited me round for paella.
Shed a small tear, for much as expected, that wrinkly old Swiss guy, Wilhelm Tell came home first M75+, so that’s yet another British dream washed away in an alpine torrent. But who is that in the Mynydd Du singlet running sure-foot down from the mountain and across the alpine pasture to come steaming into Tiefencastel with a time of 4:51:11? OK, so I left it rather late as it was not until the 41k marker that I passed the third guy, leaving him to totter home a whole 1:27 minutes later. No orchids for coming home second, (out of 4 M75+s), however, but that’s how it is folks. Still 113th out of 157 runners can’t be all bad. So modified rapture and much happiness at not having tripped over endless tree roots or plunged down gorges to a certain fate. But what a course! Some 3,000 runners started at 7am from 
the Sports Centre in Davos with the 31k folk wearing green numbers; while the 42.2k folk had blue numbers and the 79.1k folk were with brown numbers. The route circled Davos and then took off onto farm tracks between Alpine pastures, brilliant blue gentians on all sides and nutcrackers swooping overhead. Many runners were from the flat lands of Northern Europe and it showed as they insisted on running up all the steep bits only to exhaust themselves by the time they reached the top and then they proved to be rubbish at running down hill. Both Colin and I overtook dozens on the descents, (or maybe they were the 79k folk taking it easy?) Around the 20k mark the path narrowed and we ran through the Zuegen Gorge, not the point to put a foot wrong. A narrow footbridge was attached to the side of the railway line at Wiesen as it crossed the gorge several hundred feet above the river and then we went down and down to be greeted by goats and pigs at a small inn with 1983 London Marathon winner, Mike Gratton and the British 2:09 Events contingent cheering us on from the verandah. Here I was delayed for a couple of minutes by the barrier coming down at the level crossing and then the path came out of the pine forest to a spectacular view of the mountains and the descent ahead. Colin came in to the 31k finish at Filisur in 2:26:02, that brought him home 7th M50+ and 36th out of 264 runners. He had just over an hour to recover his breath and in order to cheer me through for my final 12k to the 42k finish at Tiefencastel.
the Sports Centre in Davos with the 31k folk wearing green numbers; while the 42.2k folk had blue numbers and the 79.1k folk were with brown numbers. The route circled Davos and then took off onto farm tracks between Alpine pastures, brilliant blue gentians on all sides and nutcrackers swooping overhead. Many runners were from the flat lands of Northern Europe and it showed as they insisted on running up all the steep bits only to exhaust themselves by the time they reached the top and then they proved to be rubbish at running down hill. Both Colin and I overtook dozens on the descents, (or maybe they were the 79k folk taking it easy?) Around the 20k mark the path narrowed and we ran through the Zuegen Gorge, not the point to put a foot wrong. A narrow footbridge was attached to the side of the railway line at Wiesen as it crossed the gorge several hundred feet above the river and then we went down and down to be greeted by goats and pigs at a small inn with 1983 London Marathon winner, Mike Gratton and the British 2:09 Events contingent cheering us on from the verandah. Here I was delayed for a couple of minutes by the barrier coming down at the level crossing and then the path came out of the pine forest to a spectacular view of the mountains and the descent ahead. Colin came in to the 31k finish at Filisur in 2:26:02, that brought him home 7th M50+ and 36th out of 264 runners. He had just over an hour to recover his breath and in order to cheer me through for my final 12k to the 42k finish at Tiefencastel. So that is the third marathon chalked up, now there is just the bog snorkel to come. Many thanks again folks for your support for my Age UK fund raising.
virginmoneygiving.com/tomharrison
Comments: 1July 6th, 2011 by Rob
Most days in the fells are memorable, even the cold and wet ones are cherished in an insane way. Occasionally we are rewarded with an exceptional day when everything is perfect, the weather, the company and boundless energy. I was extremely fortunate that my reward came on 11th June 2011.
The dawn had already arrived as we departed Moot Hall at 4am. The overnight rain clouds were gradually dispersing to reveal patches of blue sky, whilst the cool morning air was welcomed as we made our ascent of Skiddaw. I had planned an 18:30hr schedule that would give my support teams and myself a comfortable day out on the fells, but secretly felt I might have a 17hr round in me.
With a Borrowdale trio of Steve Birkinshaw, Paul Cornforth and Chris Steel we were soon crossing the first summit of the day two minutes down on schedule, fast starts have never been my strength! The low cloud hanging around the tops was of no hindrance to Steve’s navigational skills and Great Calva was bagged ahead of schedule. I’m not fond of the open grassy moorland between Calva and Mungrisdale Common and was glad to reach the trod leading to Blencathra. All that separated me from my porridge was Halls Fell ridge and in the daylight it proved to be no problem.
A quick change of shirt and partners and we were heading up Cough Head. My Clayton duo of Dave Nuttal and Mike Wallis were not familiar with clockwise rounds but had little difficulty in adapting as we made good progress over the Dodds and up to Helvellyn. Reaching the top at 0840 ensured we had the mountain to ourselves, which is always a pleasure. With Nethermost and Dollywaggon ticked off it was a fast descent to the west side of Grisdale Tarn to start the climb up Fairfield. With summits 14 and 15 also safely in the bag it was time for a PBJ buttie at Dunmail.
Leg 3 has always been a favourite of mine, I have supported attempts in both directions and reccied it on numerous occasions. Climbing up Steel Fell with fresh shoes and socks it felt like an old friend. My fresh support legs belonged to old friends too, Andy Schofield and Tom Brunt. The clear visibility made navigation easy and sightseeing ideal, although the pace and concentration required for the rocky terrain allowed little time to enjoy the panoramic views. I felt strong on the climbs and comfortable on the descents, summits came and went until we were just 3 other people on a crowded Scafell Pike. With Broad Stand scaled and Scafell peaked we headed down to the Wasdale Valley, another favourite of mine.
I was now 2 hours up on my schedule. This was a big surprise for me but an even bigger one for my support team who had just arrived. Having supported countless runners before, this professional outfit soon had me fed, watered, cleaned and on my way with team 4: Ozzy Kershaw and Tim Whittacker. I had heard stories of Wasdale being a graveyard for many BG attempts so was glad to get the climb up Yewbarrow out the way. Reaching Red Pike at 1500 hrs it suddenly registered that I was now 11 hours into my BG; I had 3 legs in the bag, a comfortable 2-hour cushion and was still feeling relatively good. Perhaps a 16hr round was within grasp. That thought safely tucked away we push on to Steeple. On route to Pillar Mark Roberts and Mike and Hazel Robinson join us. They had planned a Wasdale rendezvous but arrived after my departure, undeterred they raced after me, Mark straight up Dore Head and the Robinson’s up Wind Gap. Efforts like this and the support throughout was enormously humbling and formed a big part of my BG experience. With Pillar now a distant rock we ascended Kirk Fell and now my legs were starting to notice the steep climbs. Mentally I boxed this feeling and tuned into the wit and wisdom of my support team and before long Kirk Fell was just another mountain to view from the rocky lump of Great Gable. For me this was the end of leg 4, from here it was a homeward run back to Keswick. Running on enthusiastic encouragement from support team 4 we had soon knocked off the three remaining peaks of the penultimate leg and were heading for the slate mines.
Honister crew were ready and my transition into dry top and trail shoes was complete before I’d finished my soup. I had mixed feeling as we climbed out of the valley, relieved to be on the final leg but sad that my fantastic day in the fells was drawing to an end. The good weather that prevailed was also ending as dark clouds loomed in the west. However, with fresh banter and subtle words of encouragement from my two anchormen, Ben Abdelnoor and Paul Cornforth, Dale Head was behind us and we were running across to Hindscarth with only Robinson remaining. And so at 1759 I touched my 42nd peak, big smile, and big emotional gulp! With Paul finding all the grassy lines off the summit we had rapidly descended into the Newlands Valley. The rain finally came but did little to dampen the high spirits as we hit the tarmac, mission almost complete.
Crossing the River Dewent I asked Paul if “a sub 15 was possible”. The informed reply was positive but came with conditions.
“Yes, but you need to pick the pace up!”
The fantastic effort of my support teams throughout the day was inspirational and without them I would not have had such a perfect day. And so for them I gladly picked my pace up, touching Moot Hall at 1859 to complete my 14:59 Bob Graham Round.
No man is an island and I am extremely grateful to the following for giving up their time and energy. Without them I would not have had such a successful day.
On the road – Jane & Richard Leonard, Janet & Dave Makin, Tony Chanely and Jeff Lea.
On the mountain – Steve Birkinshaw, Chris Steel, Paul Cornfort, Dave Nuttal, Mike Wallis, Andy Schofield, Tom Brunt, Ozzy Kershaw, Tim Whittacker, Mark Roberts, Mike & Hazel Robinson and Ben Abdelnoor.
Comments: 0June 12th, 2011 by emma
Mynydd Du ladies team make second place at Man V Horse on sunday.
Sharon, Chris and Emma completed the race in a respectable 3hr10 and picked up 2nd ladies relay team. The going was heavy underfoot with rain before during and after the race. Sam Ryall did the whole thing in an excellent 2hr50 and Louise also made it around the course on good form to finish a great 3rd place in her cat. Stefan Simms came an impresive 3rd overall and 1st male vet to finish in 2.35. Adrian W and Sean Taylor also took part in a nearly all (soon to be) Mynydd Du mens tean who came in 4th in an amazing 2hr28!!!!!!!!!!!
(will add photos when i can)
Comments: 0March 25th, 2011 by emma
Hi all,
Training this week will be from Llnabedr village at 7pm.
We aim to do a route up and around PCC and Pen alt mawr.
Please let me know if you are coming and if you need/want a lift from abergavenny, as there will be afew cars going from that direction.
Thanks
Emma
