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Cairngorm 4000ers Record

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There were two factors that both worried and excited me in equal measure as I set out to attempt the Cairngorm 4000ers record. The first was the weather: it was fairly blustery and a familiar wall of cloud hugged the plateau around Braeriach, as it often does. Cairngorm itself was clear and despite a few very light showers I hoped the cloud would blow off before I got across the Lairig Ghru. The other factor was that I didn’t know exactly what Ally Beaven’s 2017 record was, having been unorganised and then suffered in the morning from the frustrating technological calamity known as “the internet is broken”. So I set off with Paul Raistrick’s split times and the knowledge that Ally had broken this 2007 record by several minutes, exact quantity unknown! I last ran the route in April 2017 when there was a fair bit of spring snow still around. This made several parts slow going, and some sections of whiteout navigation from Cairn Toul onwards had augmented this. Still, I felt pretty p...
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Tranter's Round Record

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I set out at 0805hrs on Saturday 1st October 2016 and completed an anti-clockwise Tranter's Round in 10hrs 15minutes 30seconds. I have been interested in the Tranter Round for a long time. Last February, myself and Tim Gomersall completed a Winter round on skimo ski mountaineering equipment in 17hrs 35mins (see  http://gomountaingoats.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/skimo-tranter-round.html ) My focus over the past year or so has moved to longer races and runs. Competing in the Tromso Skyrace (3rd place, 6hrs 55mins) and Glencoe Skyline (4th place, 7hrs) as well as long runs in the hills have improved my stamina and distances. Supporting Jasmin Paris on her Ramsay Round Record (I did the third leg which was about 35km I think) was eye opening and sociable. Interest in long distance records seems to be on the increase. I like this: racing is good, but just going out and doing a long route for the challenge / fun of it is probably even more appealing to me. Looking at previous split tim...
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Snowdon Horseshoe Record

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For years I’d wanted to make time to get to know the hills of Snowdonia, having only been down a few times before to race or climb. I also wanted to have a go at the Snowdon Horseshoe record which seemed likely to present a good mix of scrambling and fast ridge running which I was bound to love. I hit the weather right on and arrived to find the Pen y Pass carpark full at 6am on a Saturday - clearly a readjustment was required, even busy Ben Nevis seems deserted in comparison to its Welsh counterpart. Approaching from slightly further away was no hardship in the warming sun, and I enjoyed a leisurely recce of the route, finding some nice fast passages whilst exploring and discounting some alternatives. I was early enough to avoid queuing for the summit block on Snowdon, but later the sight of the orderly line galvanised me to depart for my record attempt at an early hour. The freedom of the flowing hill runner is a beautiful but selfish transience that does not deal well with ex...
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