This year’s OMM was based in the grandiose surroundings of Clennell Hall in Northumberland, the courses being spread throughout the Cheviots to the north. Stuart and I got up there on the Friday evening, and managed a reasonable night’s sleep before a not-too-disorganised early morning and a stroll to the start of B class at 08:45 prompt.

Slightly perplexed by the shrunken 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps, we set off westwards. By the first control we were already getting to grips with tussock grass, and by control number three knee-deep heather had become an ever-present companion too. With no major hills anywhere nearby, there were short climbs and descents between every control. We had a brief dalliance with some forestry, before heading back onto exposed higher ground and more heather-bashing. Cross-country routes were possible but onerous, and it paid to detour onto paths wherever possible. As we approached the end of the day I started to tire, but suddenly we were at the mid-camp.

Mid-camp proved to be a blustery affair, which wasn’t helped by me bringing along a tent which spontaneously flattened itself at random intervals! Lashing my running poles to the tent poles seemed to sort it though, and after filling our bellies and establishing our position for the day (39th out of 78 finishers), we settled down to sleep. Like all mountain marathons this involved more lying in bed awake than actual sleeping, but it at least gave the illusion of some kind of rest before the following day’s antics started. Chris and Lou were in the chasing start for A class so set off at 07:00, while Stuart and I had to wait until 08:33 before we could begin. The wind and rain had caused the organisers to revert to bad weather courses for Sunday, so I strode out buoyed by the knowledge that I had two fewer controls to get to than I would have if the sun had been shining!

Day two was slow and steady, with a definite emphasis again on taking paths and tracks wherever possible instead of balancing across tussocks. The final control was a bit of a sting in the tail, but we found it eventually and managed a strong finish. Our final position was 41st out of 93 starters (68 finishers). Chris and Lou had another good day in A class, coming in 4th (narrowly missing out on third) and first mixed team.

I’m still a bit ambivalent about this OMM, which was my second. The courses – probably through necessity by being situated in a smaller area of ‘wilderness’ – felt less varied than LAMM and Highlander, and the ground in general less runnable. Inclement weather can’t be blamed on the organisers, but LAMM (in the middle of summer) feels more relaxed at mid-camp, since there’s more daylight in the evening too. Both OMMs have felt very much like it’s ‘arrive’ > ‘pitch tent’ > ‘batten down the hatches until morning’. This is doubly the case when you have to sit around for another hour when the clocks go back.

On a positive note, I managed 37 miles and 2600m of ascent with barely any soreness in my legs (although my feet were a bit mangled!). Seeing how much gear other people carried has also made me seriously consider going “properly” lightweight for an event next year – I could realistically lose a lot of my gear and still manage perfectly well.

So thanks to Stuart for dragging me around my first ever B Class course (and for flapjacks). Unfortunately it seems OMM 2014 wasn’t sufficiently painful to put me off the idea of mountain marathons permanently, so I suspect there might be a Highlander or LAMM entry at some point next year!