Kate Ladell and Stuart Little of Beverley Athletic Club teamed up to tackle the first of a series of mini mountain marathons last weekend.
Although Stuart had competed in several mountain marathons previously it was Kate’s first attempt at such an event.
The aim of a mini mountain marathon is to score as many points as possible by visiting as many checkpoints as possible within three hours.
Points are allocated to checkpoints according to distance from the start and difficulty of access. Competitors decide the optimum route based on their fitness and level of ability.
Last Sunday’s event took place at Hayfield on the western edge of the Peak District. Although it was a cold, wet and windy day the rain stopped just before the start and competitors soon warmed up on the challenging course.
Kate and Stuart planned their own route visiting some high value checkpoints but ensuring that they finished within the three-hour time limit to avoid the hefty time penalties. They clocked up around 13 miles over the hilly and often muddy terrain and scored 165 points altogether.
They were really pleased to finish in 92nd place out of 151 teams and 11th out of 22 in the mixed team division despite competing against many top class and experienced orienteers.
Stuart commented afterwards:
“The nice thing about this type of event is that you can go as far as you like within the time, depending on the route choices made.”
Both he and Kate hope to enter more of these events if they fit in with their many other running commitments with Beverley Athletic Club.
Reported by Kay Farrow
