Original Mountain Marathon

The Original Mountain Marathon (OMM), formerly known as the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon (or KIMM), is a 2-day Mountain event, held in a different region across the UK every year. It was first held in 1968 and continues today. Gerry Charnley, a skilled mountaineer and orienteer, designed the KIMM to test orienteering skills in extreme circumstances; the full-length KIMM course is a double-marathon length race. Each team must carry all their gear, including equipment for an overnight camp. Moreover, the course is not disclosed until the race begins, so each team must have good navigation skills. Some have called the KIMM the forerunner of modern adventure racing.

In January 2010 the ownership of OMM, the event and the products was bought by Ark Consultants UK Ltd. (www.arkconsultants.co.uk).

History

The 2008 OMM was abandoned, for the first time in the race's history, due to ill-informed media coverage which suggested that the very challenging weather conditions (100 mph winds and extremely heavy rain) placed competitors and potential rescuers in danger. Reference was made to '1,700 people unaccounted for in the hills' though in fact all of these were still competing and unaware that anyone was concerned for them; as usual a significant number of competitors were current or former Mountain Rescue Team members. In fact only one competitor needed to be rescued after being swept away in a torrent, slightly injured and stranded on an island, though there were other unconnected rescues in the Lake District at the time which were widely assumed to be connected to the OMM. Flooding did cause considerable disruption and damage at the base camps and the high winds resulted in the abandonment of some of the manned radio checkpoints; this and the genuine risk at river crossings were the principal reasons for cancelling the second day's competition.

List of event locations

Year	Location	Region
2011	Comrie	Scotland
2010	Dartmoor	South West England
2009	Elan Valley	Wales
2008	Borrowdale	Cumbria
2007	Lowther Hills	Scotland
2006	Galloway Forest Park	Scotland
2005	Ullswater	Cumbria
2004	Brecon Beacons	South Wales
2003	Langholme	Scottish Borders
2002	Cheviot	Northumberland
2001	Clydes MuirSheil Regional Park	Scotland
2000	Lake District	Cumbria
1999	Cowal Peninsula Argyll	Scotland
1998	Howgill Fells	North Pennines
1997	Kielder Forest	North East England
1996	Galloway Forest Park and Hills	Scotland
1995	Brecon Beacons	South Wales
1994	St Mary's Loch and Manor	Scotland
1993	Upper Nithsdale & Queensberry Hills	Scotland
1992	Northern Lake District	Cumbria
1991	Arrochar Alps	Scotland
1990	Glen Lyon	Scotland
1989	Howgill Fells	North Pennines
1988	Cheviots	Northumberland
1987	Ffestiniog Snowdonia	North Wales
1986	Galloway Hills	Scotland
1985	Langdale (Lake District)	Cumbria
1984	Peak District	Pennines
1983	Strathyre	Scotland
1982	Dartmoor	South West England
1981	Langdale	Cumbria
1980	Isle of Arran	Scotland
1979	Rhinogs	North Wales
1978	Peebles	Scotland
1977	Howgill Fells	North Pennines
1976	Galloway Highlands	Scotland
1975	Ennerdale	Cumbria
1974	College Valley, Cheviot	Northumberland
1973	Plas Gwynant	North Wales
1972	Tibbie Shiels (Selkirk)	Scottish Borders
1971	Plas-y-Brenin	North Wales
1970	Eskdale	West Cumbria
1969	Troutbeck (Windermere)	Cumbria
1968	Muker	North Pennines

Classes of competition

OMM currently comprises seven competition classes (four line events and three score courses) which vary in length and severity, approximately as follows:

1. Elite 80 km 12 hrs
2. A class 65 km 11 hrs
3. B class 50 km 10 hrs
4. C class 45 km 9 hrs
5. D class 40 km 8 hrs
6. Long Score 7+6 hrs (day 1/2)
7. Medium Score 6+5hrs
8. Short Score 5+4hrs

Compulsory kit list

• Warm Trousers or Leggings
• Shirt or Thermal Top
• Sweater or Fleece Top
• Waterproof Over Trousers (taped seams)
• Waterproof Jacket (taped seams)
• Socks, gloves & hat
• Head Torch
• Whistle
• Food For 36 Hours
• Additional Emergency Rations
• Compass (GPS Not Allowed)
• Sleeping Bag
• Footwear With Adequate Grip For Fell Conditions
• Space Blanket or large heavy gauge polythene bag
• Rucksack
• First-Aid, a minimum of a crepe bandage and small wound dressings.
• Pen Or Pencil
• Tent With Sewn-In Groundsheet
• Cooking Stove with enough fuel at the end of day 2 to make a hot drink

Clothing Brand

OMM have also started producing their own branded outdoor clothing and equipment. Items required on the event, such as waterproof jackets and trousers, backpacks and sleeping bags, have been produced, specially adapted for the event. The Kamleika (from the Aleutian word for a long robe) range of jackets, smocks and trousers have become famous amongst mountain marathon runners and hikers alike. They are unique in that they are specially developed to be stretchy and produce minimal noise when running. OMM are currently planning a larger range of clothing and equipment, also specially created for mountain marathons.

Swiss version

Dieter Wolf brought the Karrimor idea from England to Switzerland: 47 teams were at the start of the first Swiss Karrimor 2-day Mountain Marathon in Muothatal in 1976. Over the years several thousand lovers of the mountains, nature and sport from about twenty countries have been able to participate in 24 different regions of the Swiss Alps. After some structural and personal changes at Karrimor ltd. in England and Salewa Sport ltd. in Switzerland a new partner had to be found for the event in 1997 so as to achieve a balanced account. Arova-Mammut, a Swiss firm manufacturing mountain sport equipment, stepped in spontaneously, so that the event had to be changed only little; under a new name its organization would be secure for the next few years. The long cooperation with Arova-Mammut ltd. came to an end in 2002. R’adys Outdoor & Snowwear in Lachen became a new sponsor in 2004. In 2006, the event changed its name to The Original Mountain Marathon following the end of Karrimor's sponsorship.

The earlier Karrimor 2-day Mountain Marathon, then the MIMM for several years, and today’s Mountain Marathon are unique in Switzerland. Apart from several very successful similar events in England and France there have also been some attempts at organizing such an event in Norway, Australia and New Zealand.

External links

• OMM
• OMM History