ARCHIVED RACE: The OMM @ Northern England, Howgills, UK on 27 October 2012

Original Mountain Marathon:
Founded in 1968 by Gerry Charnley (an orienteerer and a member of South Ribble Orienteering Club) the OMM is the originator of the 2 day mountain marathon type event and is for teams of 2, carrying all clothing, equipment, tent, sleeping bag, food for 36 hours, navigating one’s own route and including an overnight camp.

The interest in mountain navigation came on the heels of the arrival of orienteering as a sport in the 1950’s and grew with the support of people like Chris Brasher and John Disley. Gerry Charnley was sadly killed on Helvellyn in 1982 and Jen Longbottom took over the running of the event.

Teams are totally self supporting, no GPS or outside support is allowed and teams NOT arriving at the the overnight camp are assumed to have camped safely.Your team partner is your first source of help and assistance.

There a 8 different classes, (the course distances quoted are over 2 days) the longest being the Elite which is literally 2 consecutive marathon length days or thereabouts and with c2,500m of ascent over 2 days.

There are 2 different types of class; Line (check points in a pre-designated order) which is the Elite, A, B, C and D classes and Score, (long, medium, and short) which needs higher levels of navigation skill to make choices to optimise points scored and which must be completed within the time allocated.

This is the premier UK event to test teamwork, self-reliance, endurance, outdoor and navigational skills. The reputation of the event is worldwide and every year we have entrants from between 12-14 countries.

The ethos of the event is to be totally self-reliant, in the wilds, carrying all equipment, no outside support and without GPS or cell phone. Your first source of help is your partner and if you retire you are responsible for getting yourselves back to base. Any teams not arriving at the overnight camp are assumed to have camped safely. In these days of 24/7 contact and total support this is an event to test and indeed help develop teamwork and self-reliance.