OVER 3,000 competitors travelled by road and ferry to the Ardintinny Outdoor Centre, 13 miles north of Dunoon for the 1999 Karrimor International Mountain Marathon.

Sponsored by the Accrington endurance clothing specialists, the event comprised a weekend of hard running through the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll which was part of the first Forest Park to be established in Britain.

The race organisers described the terrain as "very physical with a lot of steep climbs and descents" and "very demanding."

The runners also had to contend with rain on Saturday and hail and gale force winds on Sunday.

Athletes run in pairs carrying lightweight tents for their overnight stop, and a mandatory equipment list including enough food and clothing for safety in the worst possible weather.

The venue changes each year, and the entrants are not given route maps in advance which makes it a true test of route planning, teamwork and navigation. There are six courses, ranging from Elite over a distance of 80k through A, B and C Classes over shorter distances down to 45k. There are also two score classes, long and short, where competitors must visit the maximum number of checkpoints within the time allowed.

As always, there was plenty of East Lancashire interest with the harriers of Rossendale, Clayton and Todmorden taking part. Slightly more surprising was the appearance of three teams from Accrington Road Runners, Jane and Lewis Grundy, third mixed pair in the Elite Class, Ken Bridge and Dave Fielding 60th of 270 pairs in the B Class, and Ian Wilcock and John Shaughnessy 126th of 299 in the Short Score.

Contenders for overall victory in the Long Score were veterans Phil Taylor and Mervyn Keys, featured on this page last week. The race organiser returned to Scotland to re-check the score cards following queries in the marking and the final results have just been posted over a week after the event. The pair were credited with two extra checkpoints, and the time penalty points on the second day were re-credited to all teams as most had lost time looking for a checkpoint which had been washed away. Unfortunately, the Rossendale men were still denied the win because rivals Craig Harwood and Mark Elsegood were also credited with two extra controls. Consolation for the pair was double victory in the veteran class, they were the first veteran pair home, and won the veterans' handicap. Phil's wife Karen had less luck with partner Judith Wood as they were forced to retire from the Long Score event, but one Rossendale ladies team did complete the weekend, Julie Feeney and Linda Hannah were 245th in the Short Score.

Clayton's Brian Jackson partnered Stella Lewsley to 31st in the Long Score, finishing third mixed pair. Brian's team-mates, the husband and wife team Katy and George Thompson, completed their ninth Karrimor 67th in the same class.

Twenty-one-year-old Catherine Ashton, daughter of Clayton's Maureen Ashton, took overall victory in the C Class with partner Steve Wilson. Their mixed team beat the first all-male team home by 36 minutes. Brian Schofield and Andy Wrench were fourth for Todmorden and Mark Harris of Rossendale was 20th with partner Gary Proctor. Lakeland-based Clayton Harrier Wendy Dodds paired with Alan Duncan in the A Class were second in the mixed vets category.

The Elite event was won by the remarkable Mark Seddon, his seventh successive victory, and the third with Steve Birkenhsaw. Best from our area were Clayton Harriers Tim Laney and Willy Sullivan, but they were rivals not partners. After over 13 hours of racing, just over three minutes separated the two, Tim finishing 14th with Jim Hutton, and Willy 15th with Gavin Williams.

Rossendale Harriers Derek Schofield and Andy Hewitt were fourth veterans, and Mandy Goff and Phil Hodgson were the only mixed veteran team to complete the distance. Todmorden chairman Mandy married Phil a week later.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.