The last ever LAMM took place on Harris on the 1st and 2nd June. Twenty(ish) Carnethies were in attendance with at least 1 runner in every class. It was my first mountain marathon and I find it hard to believe that it will be topped by many events in the future. The sun shone for most of the two days and even when it briefly disappeared on Saturday morning it remained hot (and humid). If truth be told it was a bit of a sweat fest.
Registration passed smoothly and runners were given staggered start times for the Friday morning so they could be transported to their start point. All of the routes looked like they passed some stunning scenery over challenging terrain. A massive thank you to planner Angela Mudge and controller Andy Spenceley for their efforts in the weeks and months leading up to the event, where they plotted, scouted and finally placed out the checkpoints for the various courses. Pete Curtis and I navigated our way round the B course with just the one mishap on the Friday and like all runners were rewarded with a truly stunning mid-camp complete with a sandy beach and beautiful loch, providing the brave with an opportunity to swim. As runners arrived throughout the afternoon numerous Carnethy enclaves emerged.
The cloud came in briefly on Saturday morning before the sun made return as the day wore on. Looking at the results there was a decent amount of movement on the leader boards over the two days with many of the female teams moving up rapidly on day 2. Sadly neither Pete nor I possess this feminine grit and so while we were moving slowly to the finish in Tarbert we were quickly sliding down the leader board in class B. Luckily, another day of passing over beautiful hills and skirting gorgeous lochs more than compensated.
Helen Bonsor and Andy Fallas took 2nd place in the Elite class with John Ryan and Alex McVey not too far behind in 4th. Konrad and Jasmin led the score category overnight and extended this lead on day 2. Claire Hopkins and her partner were the first women home in class B. Check out the full results for yourself at http://www.lamm.co.uk/2018/results/
As always a massive thanks to all of the marshals who looked after us over the full weekend. During the prize giving Martin Stone announced that this would be the last LAMM and it was moving to see the audience rise as one to provide a spontaneous round of applause in recognition of the contribution he and his team have made to hill running by putting on this truly unique event over the last 20+ years.
John Busby