KIMM 2005
Leaving the startAbove startKIMM 2005 was held on the south side of Borrowdale, 2 miles south of Pooley Bridge in the Lake District.

This year we enter the medium score course - 6 hours on day one and 5 on day two. David and I choose a shorter course with lots of checkpoints - more orienteering but less running.
Route - day 1At the start
















Our day 1 route zigzags across the area between Ulswater and Haweswater. Fitter runners go around the west end of Haweswater to pick up high scoring controls south of the lake. We work out that we should get a good score in a shorter distance and stick to our plan.

Near the 3rd checkpointmap day 1The terrain is spectacular. After the first few miles working the Eastern end of the course we head back over towards Ulswater and get fantastic views over the lake and the ridges beyond.

The weather holds for the whole of day 1 and is not until later in the evening that the wind and rain hit us.
Climbing up from the checkpointAbove HaweswaterNavigation is greatly helped by the good visibility and wealth of features. We are pretty much spot on with our checkpoints - uncertainties are soon resolved by looking at the shape of the valleys, positions of streams, woods and fences.

This means that we hit one of our last planned checkpoints above Haweswater over 2 hours before the finishing time. We decide to make a major detour to pick up another 40 points and head down to the far end of the lake followed by a very steep climb to the control.
Above HaweswaterDavid at the finishWe make the finish with 10 minutes to spare. By now the wind is picking up and an hour later the finishing post blows away!

Legs are very tired at this stage but at least it is dry and mild as we put up the tent and get our breath back.
Downloading resultsMark and Steve at finishThe KIMM is fully computerised these days and after downloading your memory stick you queue for a print out of your times.

Mark and Steve arrive looking tough and fresh and we are very impressed by the ground they have covered - shame that they did not find any controls on the way around!
David puts a brew onBoys at the finishMeanwhile the rest of the crew have already settled in to camp and are enjoying a third cup of tea.

David decides to follow suit and soon has a brew on.

Click the teamaker for day 2 action.