OMM Readiness
OMM… no, I haven’t taken up some sort of Hindu spiritual chanting! I have however been talked into signing up for the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM).
I’m not taking full responsibility of course, it’s all Lawrence’s fault. He twisted my arm and badgered me into saying I’d do it with him.
It started with a text message from him saying “would you be interested in running the OMM with me in October?” You know what I’m like, I don’t like to say “no”, so that was that. I paid my money and we were signed up. See, all his fault, how could I not succumb to such heavy-handed persuasion!
So, what is the OMM?
The OMM is a weekend fell running race. Kind of orienteering on steroids I guess. It’s held at different venues each year and you don’t get to know the course until you cross the start line. From there it’s all about picking your route, finding checkpoints and covering the distance between them as quickly as you can. You also have to carry all the kit and supplies you’ll need to spend a night in the mountains so that you can do it all again the following day. All we know at the moment is that it will be in North Wales somewhere this year.
The official OMM website says:
“The OMM is designed to test your abilities in the mountains. Anyone can get up Scafell Pike on a sunny day, but can you make good decisions when the clag comes in, visibility has gone, you’re tired, you’re wet, cold & there’s no paths to follow?”
Sounds like fun hey?
OMM Flavours
There are two varieties. First is a ‘line course’ where you have to get from point to point visiting checkpoints on the way in the shortest time possible. The other option is a ‘points course’ where the map consists of a whole load of checkpoints each worth a varying number of points. The challenge here is to gain as many points as you can in a set period of time. Both varieties of the OMM have a choice of distances/durations.
I’m not really sure what I’m capable of these days. Certainly not what I used to be before my heart attack so I didn’t want to bite off far too much. We’ve therefore signed up for the ‘short points’ course. This feels less like a race than the line course as there is the option to visit as many or as few checkpoints as we can. It’ll be a challenge however we look at it, but the points course gives us more options depending on how we (I) feel on the day.
The short course is 5 hours on the Saturday and 4 hours on the Sunday.
What to Expect
Again, back to the official OMM website which says:
“Held at the end of October to guarantee bad weather. To compete you’ll need a team mate, mountain experience & dogged resilience.
It’s all about decision making, what kit you’ll need, what route to take, how hard to push & what to do when you get lost… which you will.”
Based on that I’m expecting first to spend more money than I have on lots of new ultra-lightweight technical mountain kit. After that, I’ll expect to get cold, wet, muddy, tired and grumpy!! I guess the subsequent discomfort will be a small price to pay for the preceding retail therapy.
Finally, the OMM website sums it up by saying:
“It’s not easy, at times it’s soul destroying, but the experience is unmissable!”
Suitability
I don’t really know Lawrence that well. I’ve never done any running or hill walking with him. I only know him from the beach where he is often out kitesurfing while I’m windsurfing. I’d chatted to him a few times and get on well with him but that was about it. He did also offer to come out and help me replace the anemometer on the weather station just after my heart attack when I was unable to get up the pole myself. (He was actually the perfect candidate for the job thanks to the fact that he runs Vertica Ltd, a company that specialises in ‘Rope Access and Height Safety solutions’.)
He’s obviously into Watersports too and doesn’t shy away from the crazy full-on days when it’s blowing a hoolie and pouring with rain. He’s also into slightly more hardcore pursuits such as sky-diving and seems to have spent quite a lot of time in the mountains too.
I was therefore a little worried that I’d be a bit of a disappointment to him as a team-mate. I’m not used to being the weaker link in an event like this but Lawrence knows about my recent ‘issues’ and doesn’t seem to mind. He says he’s just happy to be out there ‘doing it’ without worrying too much about the competitive side of things. We’ll see.
Getting Out There Training for the OMM
I might not be quite up to scratch as far as my speed, stamina and strength in the mountains are concerned. I do think however that Lawrence was quite pleased that I not only said yes to doing it but that I then immediately organised to get out in the hills for a run with him. It might not have been a fast and furious run, it may not have been particularly hardcore from a terrain perspective. But, we were out there ‘doing it’ and that’s what it’s all about.
We met on a suitably cold, gloomy and wet Sunday morning for a 7 mile loop in the hills above Machynlleth. It’s a route I’ve done before and is essentially a climb to the top on muddy trails followed by a fire-road descent. Nothing too long or challenging and it certainly pales in comparison to what we’ll face in the OMM but we have to start somewhere. I did take a small rucksack with me just to make it a little bit more OMM specific.
The run went well. I’m obviously a lot slower than I used to be and slower than Lawrence but I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much. There’s a long way to go and I’ll need to work on my stamina and durability but the training is the fun bit.
OMM Equipment
I’ll need some lightweight kit, but I don’t need much of an excuse to buy new technical clothing! I’ll write a full blog post on my kit list soon, but top of my shopping list is a lightweight sleeping bag, waterproof running trousers and some packable insulated clothing for ‘camp’. Maybe a new lightweight version of my favourite rucksack too.
Researching and purchasing kit is always fun. After that it’s even more fun dialling it all in and making it work for me. There’ll hopefully be plenty of opportunity to do that on training runs over the next few months. We’ll have to get out for a few over-nighters too. I’m hoping we’ll both fit into Lawrence’s tent as I don’t think I can afford one of those.
October will come around quicker than we imagine so there’s no time to delay. I’ve got lots of improvements to make before the event, lots of equipment to test and lots of miles to cover. It’ll be a case of tempering my enthusiasm though so as to remain fit, healthy and injury free. No doubt I’ll be keeping you up to date with progress here.
1 Response
[…] you may have read from a previous blog post, I’ve signed up to do ‘The OMM’ later in the year. This could prove to be quite a challenge for me these days. I’m obviously […]