Photos from Vicky,Mike and Ray are now on the Dallam Photo Album and here's a link to Deasey's photos
If anyone else has photos or photo links to add please send them to me at david.g.shinn@gmail.com
Dallam Teams Billy Bland Challenge 2011
A Brief Report by Ray
Dallam Batons make it all the way round and are believed to be not lost, though I only have one.
Text messages fly about at the start, Dawn worries about leg hair and gets cramp, Vicky rubs the legs better, Susan and Sandra make a speedy start, Debbie and Jessica chat at Dunmail, Julie and Helen surprise themselves, Helen S and Helen W storm through and halt the police in order to finish in 23:59.
Martin feels ill, Jarv collects the baton from the tree left by Dawn and Vicky, John and Stephen are happy, Cath showboats down screes and Heapy has rock problems, Mike Smith makes a cairn and Mark Bell sits about, Mike McKenna worries about his car, Ray gets to Moot Hall covered in slobber.
Running a team of girlie VETs from a single club round the Bob Graham course is no mean feat in itself, but to also finish with a time of 23:59 is excellent. This is a new record and 1 minute less than the imagined 24hr barrier. Each leg team did well with no significant delays. In particular Helen Smith and Whitehouse must have arrived at the Moot Hall with steam escaping from every orifice. By all accounts Helen Smith held back the police at a Keswick road junction in order to let Helen Whitehouse have a clear run to the finish. Interestingly Debbie and Jessica chatted to the leg 2 finishers for about 5 minutes before setting off on leg 3, something about giving each other hugs, if only they knew how critical those minutes were, though it added to the excitement in the end. Leg 1 was noticeable due to the number of BGers on the course. Many knew about the Billy Bland Challenge and gave much support to the Dallam team. All seem to have spotted the Dallam baton hanging from the tree left by Dawn and Vicky. One girl from another club huffed when I told her we had 12 woman running the BBC, she had trouble persuading any woman in her club to go on the fells.
Our mixed team started off quite well, with good performances. Leg 1 had a few cramp problems again, probably caused by great speed up Skiddaw pushed on by Jarv, but better to try for speed than play it safe. Steve had some worries before the start but came in at Dunmail elated having done leg 2 in 3:33. Due to an injury of a leg 3 runner, Helen Heap offered to run leg 3 within hours of the race start, nobody else from Dallam could do it. Helen is an excellent runner and had never run leg 3. It turns out Helen is not suited to runs with lots of rocks and like Dawn turns into a snail when balancing from rock to rock .Cathy navigated the course well and did an excellent bit of showboating coming down the scree off Sca Fell. The time was put to good use in Wasdale with the making of a new cairn and extensive water works in the river. Legs 4 and 5 had delayed starts. It was quite funny seeing Mike Smith with his long poles descending Grey Knotts at speed like some sort of giant insect, closely followed by Mark Bell. Leg 4 was completed in 3:51. Mike McKenna and I set off up Dale Head with Mike pulling away toward the summit. Climbing towards Robinson in the mist we had a little trouble finding the top, as did a group of about 12, supporting an Achille Ratti BGer. I suspect those Ratti men shun all navigational aids preferring to depend on shafts of light or burning bushes. In this case the divine light was in the form of a brief glimpse of the angelic Mike McKenna who showed them the way. Our run into Keswick seemed fast, with Mike opening and closing gates for me on the way. On arriving at Keswick we were led in by Mike Smith with his cow bell who rang it out through the centre of Keswick. Our leg time of 1:43 represents a record for the event. Mike could have shaved a few minutes off this. The reception at the Moot Hall was exceptional, the afterglow of the girls achievement was still plain to see.
Thanks to Dawn for her manic production of text messages keeping people informed throughout.
Thank you to all the teams, we did a grand job.
If you wish to write a report for inclusion please send it to me or to Shinny.
Leg 1 Dawn and Vicky 4:52, Martin Benson and Richard Jarvis 3:48
Leg 2: Susan Goodfellow and Sandra Ashton 4:53 John Leech, Steven Jeffs 3:33
Leg 3: Deborah Copley, Jessica Goodfellow 6:22 Catherine Gill, Helen Heap 7:44
Leg 4: Julie Pearcy, Helen Deason 5:21 Mike Smith, Mark Bell 3:51
Leg 5: Helen Smith, Helen Whitehouse 2:31 Raymond Gill, Mike McKenna 1:43
23:59 20:39
