OMM2015

[Jethro]

Ravinous you are being a bit of a prophet of doom regarding the OMM - not something we are used to experiencing on NopeSport

Can I repeat - the 2015 OMM WAS GOOD!

Perhaps the OMM team are learning and we should be encouraging people to compete next year in what will of course be the 50th running of this venerable event.

[Scott]

A decrease in numbers might actually help persuade orienteers back to the OMM. My memories of OMM Sundays mainly involve being somewhere in the middle of a long snake of people stretching from one control to another, even when running the score courses. If I wanted that I could go and do a fell race for about a tenth of the cost.

It was a good OMM/KIMM this year [...] plenty of portaloos

Another reason I gave up on the OMM a few years ago was the pitifully poor toilet provision at the overnight camp compared to other MMs. It was as if the organisers considered spending an hour queueing in the rain at the start of day two to be an integral part of the event. Good to hear they might be doing something about that.

I think the OMM also suffers from being relatively unsociable. One of the draws of MMs is sitting around chatting to people at the overnight camp, in the sun at the Saunders and LAMM or in the marquee at the Highlander.

[SeanC]

I do agree that OMM lite isn't ideal for nav training. The rab mini mountain marathon series seems much better. However there's some merit in them. I think there are thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of people who could do the OMM and would want to do it, but don't have the confidence, or don't know about it. OMM lite down south can be used to market the 'real' omm to people who won't travel up north for a mini mountain marathon. Once they've done a lite, then they will have the confidence that they can do the distance necessary for a short score/D course.

One thing that's always puzzles me is why mountain marathons aren't on the BOF fixture list and (from my memory) rarely feature in Focus. I know the fixture list needs registered events, but the OMM (and other mountain marathons) needs orienteering and orienteering needs the OMM. Orienteering (in the UK) doesn't really have any good "challenge" events for the punter, I know orienteering is challenging, but it's not quite the same thing. People want something big to aim for. A more popular OMM could attract lots of younger people into orienteering as nav training for OMM or other mountain marathons. Obviously the mountain marathons need orienteers as volunteers and as competitors.

After seeing the nice video on the OMM website, I posted a link to it on my running club Facebook page. To my surprise someone posted back saying they were doing it for the first time next year. After sharing the Facebook event link for the next KNC (Kent Night Cup orienteering), he (and his OMM partner) are planning to go to KNC's as training.

So here's my plan of things the OMM organisers and orienteers can do to help each other:

1) Clubs - put OMM and other mm's (and OMM lite) on your event list.
2) On orienteering event details make it clear that running in pairs or groups is encouraged/allowed (because OMM people will want to train in pairs).
3) Share details of mountain marathons on your running club facebook page.
4) BOF should approach OMM and other mountain marathon organisers (or visa versa) and offer to put mountain marathon event details on the BOF fixture list, and promotion in focus. In return mountain marathon organisers should promote orienteering as a form of training for OMM, giving out fliers, sending emails etc. Mountain marathon events don't need to be registered, the event list software just needs to be changed to allow "other/supported events" etc.

[Kitch]

Sounds like the world is going soft.
All this crap about OMM lite and encouraging newcomers by doing this that or the other. Why was that not necessary for the first 45 years of the event ?

The whole point of the OMM is to spend a miserable weekend battling whatever vile weather is thrown at you by October's end
You are supposed to be squashed in a minute tent trying to cook some awful food and keep warm in your damp clothes / sleeping bag while some smart arse tortures you with the smell of their frying bacon, brought only for the purposes of psychological warfare and hang the weight of it.
I mean they even make it on the weekend the clocks go back just to prolong the misery.

MTFU people

[Kitch]

and if you are wondering where all the orienteers went
they are most likely to be found flitting round some town centre doing the "Urban" thing these days, rather than slogging up some mountain in a storm getting their feet all muddy.

[Jethro]

Well said that man!

[lucy]

The whole point of the OMM is to spend a miserable weekend battling whatever vile weather is thrown at you by October's end
You are supposed to be squashed in a minute tent trying to cook some awful food and keep warm in your damp clothes / sleeping bag while some smart arse tortures you with the smell of their frying bacon, brought only for the purposes of psychological warfare and hang the weight of it.
I mean they even make it on the weekend the clocks go back just to prolong the misery.

Best summary of the OMM I've read. Would like to add those gits who camped next to me in Kielder and produced not only a bottle of red, but wine glasses as well. If they had produced bacon not sure they would have survived.

[Scott]

It's difficult to build a good reputation and easy to lose one, particularly when there are more races like this out there than there were a few years ago.

My memories of recent OMMs - bearing in mind that I haven't done one for a couple of years now - are of huge crowds, inaccurate maps, underwhelming planning and massive toilet queues. My appetite (and budget) for mountain marathons aren't unlimited, so if there are other MMs offering fewer competitors, better maps, better courses and better facilities for lower entry fees, I'm probably going to do those instead.

The OMM has the potential to be a great event, and I hope the organisers can turn it back in to one. But sadly it's going to take a few years of positive word-of-mouth reviews before I try it again.

And if I want to make myself feel like some kind of toughguy by plodding up some hills in the rain, I can always go and do that without paying £130 for the privilege.

[Jethro]

Scott said
The OMM has the potential to be a great event, and I hope the organisers can turn it back in to one.

If this year is anything to go by I think the organisers have got it pretty much spot on. It certainly ticked all your boxes regarding maps, planning and toilet queues. As regards crowds - there were enough people taking part to make it feel like a big event but certainly on Long Score you were never in a "crocodile". There needs to be a decent entry to make it feel like something special and to give a genuine competitive edge.

[greywolf]

The whole point of the OMM is to spend a miserable weekend battling whatever vile weather is thrown at you by October's end
You are supposed to be squashed in a minute tent trying to cook some awful food and keep warm in your damp clothes / sleeping bag while some smart arse tortures you with the smell of their frying bacon, brought only for the purposes of psychological warfare and hang the weight of it.
I mean they even make it on the weekend the clocks go back just to prolong the misery.

How much are they paying you for marketing?

[plain lazy]

My memories of recent OMMs - bearing in mind that I haven't done one for a couple of years now - are of huge crowds, inaccurate maps, underwhelming planning and massive toilet queues. My appetite (and budget) for mountain marathons aren't unlimited, so if there are other MMs offering fewer competitors, better maps, better courses and better facilities for lower entry fees, I'm probably going to do those instead.

Then you should keep an eye out for the Grampian Mountain Challenge, which will return again in late Autumn 2016 and include the dual disciplines of Foot Orienteering (1:10,000 map) and Mountain Marathon navigation (1:40,000 map) each day, overnight camp where your kit for the camp is delivered for you (you only carry what you need for each day on the hill), a marquee with heaters, hot meal, beer, tea and coffee, and even the chance to buy a bacon roll the next morning before you start Day 2.

Costs are always relatively low compared to OMM or LAMM and you get a race technical tee as part of the deal.

[graeme]

MTFU people

Make Time For Urban?

So how many Karrimors/KIMMs/OMMs have you done?

[mharky]

[DeerTick]

The whole point of the OMM is to spend a miserable weekend battling whatever vile weather is thrown at you by October's end
You are supposed to be squashed in a minute tent trying to cook some awful food and keep warm in your damp clothes / sleeping bag while some smart arse tortures you with the smell of their frying bacon, brought only for the purposes of psychological warfare and hang the weight of it.

Absolutely spot on! (Apart from the bacon.)

But crappy meals can be superb under certain circumstances, e.g. a MM

My best ever meals were in Donostia/San Sebastian (Arzac - cost an arm, a leg, a torso and much more) and on the moor above Darvel training for KIMM 77. We had to pitch in horrible weather with hypothermia a real worry (Police came looking for us next morning), but the dried food was utterly amazing.

AP

[mykind]

[quote="Kitch".
while some smart arse tortures you with the smell of their frying bacon, brought only for the purposes of psychological warfare and hang the weight of it.

Well bacon seems a bit naff. We used to take pre-cooked steak and eat it with dehydrated mash (with the tent door wide open to spread the aroma). Followed by a glass of red (one of those nice plastic bottles they have on airlines and plastic glasses) and a cigar. Comment overheard from neighbouring tent " Those bar stewards next door are scoffing steak and drinking wine and you want me to eat that!"

Happy days