When Gary Tompsett became only the second person to complete Ramsay’s Round in winter he put his trust in a ‘lifetime aggregate of aptitude and commitment’. (His faith was well judged: his solo, unsupported time of 33 hours was not eclipsed for five years.) I was a much younger man when I first read Tompsett’s…
Tag: Lake District
Running in the boot marks of Wainwright
‘The face of Place Fell overlooking Patterdale is unremittingly and uncompromisingly steep,’ wrote Alfred Wainwright in his pictorial guide to the Far Eastern Fells of the Lake District. Wainwright recommends any ascent of the 657-metre peak that rises above Ullswater but this. And that is where I find myself, trudging upwards on pathless mountainside, the…
Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon 2012
Having given mountain marathons a wide berth for years, I finally ran my first – the Saunders Lakeland – over the weekend. My running partner, Marc, and I, ran for 11 hours, 18 minutes, covered at least 28 miles and ascended and descended some 2500 metres. In those 11-plus hours we crossed a mere two…
Heights of Madness 