Eynsham Racey Lady Roadrunner 2006 3-Peaks Experience:

Team Leaders Report

Wednesday 21^st June 2006

There was frantic last minute running around but I, (Denise), was ready when Kate rang the door bell at 7.00am. We had allowed ourselves 10 minutes for the short but invariably traffic strewn trip from Eynsham to Cassington to meet up with the rest of the team…2 minutes later we arrived.

Our kit outside the Breaker residence.

The bottles of beer were our raffle prize and didn’t get drunk by us!

The bags of 5 walkers: Kate, Julia, Jenny, Linda and I, were piled up outside the Breaker residence as we waited for our transport to arrive. Ben the Boy Wonder Breaker, not expecting a gaggle of women to be present in the house at that time of the morning, staggered down the stairs and through to the kitchen in what can only be described as “Old Man” Wallace and Gromit slippers. He then sat huddled in the corner of the sofa listening to the excited ramblings of the assembled team clutching his bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes. Mr Breaker Senior had wisely made sure he was required at work at this time so missed this chaos.

The bus arrived and out jumped our drivers for the trip, Ellen, Hannah and Jane. They had sweet talked the nice people at TVR van rentals, Kidlington and obtained a gleaming new minibus, “with only 3000 on the clock and extra comfy seats”. It had already been used by Kidlington Fire Crew for the A-event earlier in the week, “so it already knew the way.”

Our Wheels!

We clambered in, “Ok, who knows how to get to Katherine’s?” The neat piled up bags were disrupted in seconds to find a map of Oxford! However, we negotiated our way through Yarnton to Begbroke and loaded our final member into the bus.

Traffic and so progress was good and soon we stopped at Charnock Richards services north of Manchester. A scrum ensued between us and a group of pensioners as both parties raced towards the restaurant. The sprint training down Cassi Lane meant the Eynsham ladies were more prepared for the final push and emerged triumphant with their bacon butties, cake and coffee first.

Onwards to Scotland and “HILLS, PROPER HILLS” came the scream from the front. We stared out at the jagged terrain that is the Lake District. “If Peter or Larry were here they’d be pointing out which mountain is Sca Fell”. Jane and I decided it was likely to be one of them…over there somewhere…maybe.

Mystical stories of the last 3 Peaks were told including the one about the lean firemen who ran panther like up and down each mountain and clearly impressed Hannah. A phone call from Peter and he asks if there are been any fights yet. We report that we’ve only had to separate Kate and Katherine the once so far.

A cheer goes up as we enter Scotland at about 1pm. The driving rain and gale force wind follows soon after. Jenny eyes up some soldiers in a lorry we pass and requests we slow down so we can pass them again, however, our drivers are deep in discussion about, what to the outsider, sounds like the Cassington equivalent of desperate house wives.

Scotland! Note how the trees are being blown about a bit!

We pass a sign for Ecclefechan, “that’s one of my most favourite words”, declares Ellen. “It’s like a Scottish swear word”, remarks Hannah.

“SCOTTISH HILLS!” comes the cry from the front.

The minibus only has a tape deck.

Ellen: “Where can you get tapes now?”

Hannah: “Charity shop.”

Ellen: “We could get Andy Stewart Hogmanay 1987. I’m going to be picky about which Hogmanay we have”.

Hannah: “I wouldn’t touch Hogmanay 1974, Moira wasn’t there.”

We go past a field of cows with shaggy coats and big horns. “PROPER, PROPER, PROPER COWS”!

We stop at another services and watch as a minibus pulls into the car park and a team of women jump out. We eye them suspiciously, and hackles rise, this could be the competition for the Ladies team prize. A man jumps out, it’s ok, they’re a mixed team, the good humour resumes.

Onwards and the motorway runs out and the twisty roads take over, the last part of the journey drags but eventually we arrive at the Alexandra Hotel, Fort William and find the car park is already full of minibuses and firemen! Hannah stalls the bus in front of them. The driver for the Caernarfon firemen takes over and parks it for us, scared that we might take out every other bus in the vicinity if we’re left to do it ourselves.

Safely checked in we meet in the bar and order our first drink of the night and discuss the rooms. It turns out that those with twin rooms have fared well as they are on the first floor and were refurbished this year. Unfortunately, the triple room was on the second floor and is due to be refurbished next year. There is hope that they will replace the length-challenged curtains and tatty divan at this time.

After dinner, a tired team sit down and discuss tomorrow, the Caernarfon driver tries to join in, but is deemed too loud by the uptight American woman sat next to us and is shooed away! We need our beds and disperse agreeing to meet up for breakfast at 8.30am.

Thursday 22nd June 2006

Jenny and I are roomies. Jenny has borrowed Boy Wonder’s waterproof trousers, but he is at least 6’7” whilst Jenny is 5’5”. They are too big and come up past her waist and are still too long. Jenny decides she needs to buy waterproofs though has no intentions of wearing them as they aren’t fashionable enough.

Jenny in her brothers waterproofs!

The breakfast room is packed full of firemen. Jenny and I scan the room for fit firemen for Jenny to like, but she decides most of them are too old.

After breakfast, most of the team head off to Fort William fire station for registration. Unfortunately, we get lost and find ourselves at the Glen Nevis car park where the race starts and have to ask the team from Manchester where to go. Our Caernarfon driver spots us and takes us under his wing and shows us the way!

At registration, we have the opportunity to add to our team and buy a Blaze Bear. If we carry it up all 3 mountains, it gets a medal. The team club together and buy “Sweaty Betty”, the Eynsham Roadrunner Blaze Bear.

It’s now 12 noon, and our start time means we need to get to the start for 5pm. We have dinner, go back to the hotel, take over their drawing room and cover their floor with food, bags, clothing and gear. A last minute kit check, reorganisation of the bus and we are ready to go. We thank the hotel for their tolerance, as we sort of took over and head off to the start.

One more loo stop, a last minute yoga class and we are on the start line and being counted down, 17:42 we’re off!

Ben Nevis:

We start off well and march up to the first point Linda leading, with me just behind, however, behind us Julia is starting to struggle. She has trekked Kilimanjaro, but at a slower pace due to the altitude and is unused to walking as quickly as the rest of us. We re-group and Linda is relegated to the back because she keeps getting ahead whilst Julia is brought to the front flanked by Katherine and Kate.

We continue up the mountain and share banter with some of the other teams that pass us. Some of them are sprinting! As we approach the summit snow is lying on the ground and we slip and slide before negotiating this hurdle. We reach the summit, but it has taken us 3 hours, an hour slower than expected. It is 20:42 and I am concerned we are still going to be on the mountain when it gets dark and so insist we have to be quicker.

We start down the mountain again and everyone is jogging where possible, but Julia is starting to suffer. Kate takes her rucksack and water is handed over along with apricots. More jogging, but Julia is now shaking and feeling faint. We get to the 2^nd check point and ring the minibus. The instructions suggest it should take us 45 minutes to the bottom from this point, but we are still a long way out after this time. Other members of the team are starting to get frustrated, me included, but Julia is at her limit and is unable to go any faster.

Its getting dark, and a figure can be seen coming out of the light, its Jane. She and Linda take Julia by the arms and help her down to the end. Katherine is at the back of the group panicking that we won’t achieve our goal and is starting to get upset. At the finish point, Julia is handed over to firemen, who carry her to a chair, then drive her back to our minibus, while the rest of us jog back. A quick loo stop and drinks are thrust into our hands by Hannah and Ellen who are working overtime in an effort to boost morale. We can most probably still achieve the bronze, but our team objective of silver is looking unlikely. A final time of Ben Nevis is 5:52, 1.5 hours slower than the previous Eynsham ladies team.

Julia climbs back into the bus and apologises for letting us down, we acknowledge her apology and settle down to some food and sleep. I start to think of the task that lies ahead of us at Sca Fell and I’m concerned we won’t achieve a medal at all despite our best efforts.

Friday 23rd June 2006

Sca Fell

Ellen drives through the night. “WE’RE HERE, WE’RE HERE” she screams at Ludo the organiser as we pull in to Greengarth Industrial Estate, “Are you open to bribery?” He gives us 15 minutes to go the loo.

We give a lift to an abandoned walker who injured himself on Ben Nevis. He gives us a pep talk of what to expect on the next mountain. I keep burying my head in my pillow as the lanes are really winding up to Wasdale and I feel travel sick.

We jump out of the bus. We are 5, Kate, Katherine, Jenny, Jane and I. Julia and Linda are not coming.

Jane is leading and starts to boss us up the mountain. It’s very steep and slippery, not helped with a large amount of teams descending and trying to pass us. We cross a stream and Kate loses her peeled satsumas, she looks on ruefully as they are swept away.

We catch one team and then another and are making good progress. The mid-way marshal reckons we will get to the top in about 2:10, he doesn’t understand the attitude and drive behind Eynsham roadrunners…mainly Tony. We keep going, descending teams tell us we have about 15 minutes to the top and we try to go faster but it’s really misty and it’s not clear what the route is. Suddenly, a man in a yellow bib is seen and a big cheer goes up. As we reach the top, he tells us he’s the ¾ point marshal, and our shoulders drop, this can’t be true. “Only joshing, you’re here”, Jane threatens to spank him. Our summit time is 7:50, it’s taken us 1:56, we’re really pleased and start our descent.

We’re going as fast as we possibly can, jogging and sliding down on our bums, (Jane), where appropriate. We get to the last rocky field and jog past a third team before getting to the bottom and running across the field and up the check point. The support team aren’t ready for us, but hear us screaming and shouting as we run in and Ellen races us to the check point. We got down in 1:30, a whole hour better than the last ladies team…we might still achieve silver, but that means doing Snowdon in 1:30. At least we should definitely get the bronze, something I feared we wouldn’t do.

Snowdon

We have 5 hours to get to Snowdon, we leave at 9:26 and negotiate the same winding, twisting lanes to get back to a decent road. More sleep is snatched and some food eaten, but the effort it has taken so far leaves you feeling sick and you don’t know whether to eat or not!

As we approach Snowdon, the 5 hour time limit is getting close, we might get penalty points. We start to pull on our boots and get our kit ready; as we pull up at the check point I jump out of the bus and run over with our tag. We have taken exactly 5 hours!!

We start our accent along the Pyg track. Linda is back in the team, with Jane, Jenny, Katherine, Kate and I. We negotiate the first steep climb that requires scrambling and reach a path we can jog along. We’re still hoping that we can achieve it in 1:30 which would give us silver. However, the easy terrain ends too soon and we are back scrambling. The track continues up and becomes even steeper and we acknowledge we are getting slower. An attempt is made to push on, but then Jenny has to sit down, she is feeling faint. Wine gums and water are handed over, but she is starting to struggle. We can see the top, but it’s getting tougher for all of us and all thoughts of 1:30 evaporate as we accept that it’s not achievable.

We finally reach the summit, and the time of the last person across the line is recorded. (Jane decided to take photos just before the line and got screamed at!) 2:04 for Snowdon, we had completed the challenge!!

You’d think that was the end of the drama, but oh no, we were now concerned about whether we could get the last train back. Engineering works meant it was not coming up to the summit, so we had to go to the next station down. This was 30 minutes walk away and it was leaving in 30 minutes!! If we missed it, it would require another 2 hour walk down, Jenny was definitely not up to it and Katherine and I were worse for wear.

We started down the mountain, but the group wasn’t travelling fast enough, I started to go ahead, but no one followed. I turned around and they had stopped, only later did I learn that Jenny was having a panic attack and problems breathing. We had 10 minutes to go, there was no way the rest of the group were going to make it, so I started to run as fast as possible to the bottom, it was steep and the legs were starting to complain. I thought about playing the girlie card and bursting into tears, but I didn’t have the energy.

As I approached the station, I started to shout at the train people.

Me: “Don’t go, we’ve got distressed people up there”, (typically Oxford, don’t you think!)

Grubby engineer: “Speak to the guard”

Me: “You can’t go”

Grubby engineer: “Speak to the guard, the blonde one”

Me: “Jenny won’t be able to manage much more”

Grubby engineer: “Speak to the blonde one!!”

I turned my attention to the guard and the marshal who knew we were desperate to catch the train. They were holding it up for 15 minutes to allow others to get down. I bought 3 tickets, (I didn’t have enough for any more!) and started to run back up the hill waving them frantically. We were going to be on the train!

We thankfully took our seats, and who should be there, abandoned walker. He had completed Snowdon too and was impressed by our Sca Fell performance, and attributed it to his pep-talk in the bus beforehand.

As the train set off, Jenny was facing in the opposite direction to the way we were travelling, this finished her off and she was duly sick. Sainsburys bags were handed over, all with holes in! The people sitting opposite her, moved to the other side of the carriage!

We finally got back to Llanberis and the finishing point and handed in our tag. We had achieved 22.27 hours, 27 minutes outside silver, but well within the target for bronze. Medals, photos and certificates were handed round and we trudged off to the hotel for a well earned lie down.

Jenny and I are roomies again, she has recovered now and we’re discussing which bits hurt. I go in the shower first and just as I’m almost undressed the fire alarm goes off…Bl**dy Hell… frantically I get myself decent and we leave the room as hotel staff run down the corridor. It turns out that Kate and Katherine are the cause of the fuss by producing too much steam in their room while having their own showers!

So it’s time for the evening presentation and it’s as exciting as we’ve all led to believe. The results are announced and we gasped in wonderment as the times of the winners are read out. How they achieve Snowdon in less that an hour, I don’t know. We are half expecting Ellen and Hannah to get a special mention for managing to befriend almost every marshal and driver and handing out their special cake, but nothing, Ludo would pay for that the next day. The grand draw continues in the background but we decide its time to toast each other and our great achievement. The champagne finishes us off and we wander off to bed at a 10pm and are asleep within minutes of our heads touching the pillow.

Next morning, Jenny and I made our way to the breakfast room. Stairs!! We have to climb stairs to get to it. We are as nonchalant as possible as we climb them, as if it’s not really hurting, but it is a bit!

We sit with the others who are already assembled and laugh and point at each other when one of us attempts to get out of their seat and seizes up!

So the bus is packed and we’re ready to go home, only one thing left to do, corner Ludo and ask him why Eynsham Racey Ladies Roadrunners didn’t get a mention despite the efforts of Ellen and Hannah. He’d even had some of their cake. He looked rightly ashamed and promised to include a special mention for our drivers in his race report.

So home from Wales and our journey is almost over. We drop Katherine off and leave a 4 pint milk carton in the middle of her road and then drive to Cassington back to the Breaker residence. The Breaker and Bridges men are waiting for us when we arrive and we jump out excitedly shouting “WE’RE HERE, WE’RE HERE”. They look a bit bemused.

So that’s it. That was the Racey Ladies 3 Peaks 2006 experience. I would like to thank Ellen and Hannah for being the best support team/driver combo we could possibly have dreamed of. They kept the amusing conversation going, provided great catering and kept the spirits up when we really needed it.

I would like to apologise to Julia for pushing her so hard on Ben Nevis and leaving her in such a state that she couldn’t get down on her own. None of us appreciated until it was too late that the sort of walker who can get up Kilimanjaro is not necessarily equipped to deal with walking up Ben Nevis at the speed the Eynsham ladies can travel at. However, it’s a credit to Julia that she did try and accommodate the rest of the team and it was this effort that left her in such a mess.

Finally, I would like to thank all the other walkers: Jane for bossing us up Sca Fell and Snowdon, Kate for being the supporting sweeper role staying behind people who were struggling, Jenny for keeping going when it was all going a bit wrong for her, Katherine for being the resident photographer and Linda for being solid throughout.

Was it an enjoyable experience? Overall, but a bit frantic at times. Would we do it again? We have to. The team are capable of silver and with additional and more appropriate training maybe even gold. So I think I can safely say there will be a ladies team next year and if you believe you can run up and down Ben Nevis in less than 3.30 hours, complete Scarfell in under 3.30 and clamber up Snowdon in not much more than 1.45, then come along for the ride. Ellen does great chocolate cake!

Denise

Eynsham Racey Ladies Roadrunner Team Leader for 2006.

Left to right: Hannah, Ellen, Kate with Blaze Bear, Jane, Denise Jenny, Julia, Linda, Katherine and the famous red box at the start of Ben Nevis

Sweaty Betty the Eynsham Roadrunner Blaze Bear with Bronze Medal