Duncan ArcherAs previewed in my blog post a year ago, this has been a year of change. Pippa had decided the stresses of academic life need not be forever, so she started an 18 month sabbatical to see if a life in the outdoors would suit her, working as a climbing and mountaineering instructor. In May […]
Many will be familiar with the OMM or Original Mountain Marathon (or, for those with longer memories, its predecessor the KIMM or Karrimor International MM). The two day event is held in late October each year, and teams of two compete over linear or score courses, carrying all they need for two long days of […]
After an inaugural annual review of 2021 I thought let’s do that again. So here we go… Orienteering has been somewhat selective this year. As I moved up to M45, I was super pleased to win the British Night Champs for the first time (and only my second ever British O champs title in any […]
My last couple of years have seen various injuries meaning I’ve never put in a solid block of training and had to watch with envy as people do personal challenges and chase FKTs, especially during Covid when there was no racing. However, the last few months have been good and I decided to have a […]
In the absence of any one major thing to write about this year, I thought I’d write a post about everything that has been going on with Pippa and I. It has not been a great year regarding injury and illness. We have both thankfully dodged Covid (so far at least!), but the last year […]
Four years ago I did the Tour de Mont Blanc, 167km, 12,500m ascent, with Shane and Heather Ohly. Similar to the UTMB non-stop race, but we took it at a more leisurely running pace, spread over four days, staying in mountain huts. A wonderful experience, great views and trails, but also very popular for walkers […]
Another runner eases past, making it seem effortless, whilst my trainers slap the tarmac, wasting what little energy I have left. Crowds pass in a blur, not due to my speed but because tunnel vision takes over, just focussing on the road ahead. That light spring in the step an hour ago seems a distant […]
The Tour de Mont Blanc is a trail that circles the Mont Blanc massif (as the name suggests!). Mont Blanc itself stands proud at 4,809m, with the TMB varying from 1000m in the lower valleys up to 2600m cols. Along with Shane and Heather Ohly, we completed the TMB in early September 2015, as a […]
The short version: I did the Bob Graham Round on 6th June in 18hr51. It was very windy. For the longer version, read on… What is it: The Bob Graham Round is a circuit of 42 named peaks in the lake district, starting and finishing at Keswick Moot Hall. The challenge is to complete it in 24 […]
The new year is always a good time to reflect on events gone by, achievements as well as disappointments, and start to make plans for the coming year. So what of my 2014? As far as training goes I did: 2471 km of orienteering + running. That is the most I’ve ever run in a […]