I am member of KERNO and organise an event called Marmot Dark Mountains, which is happening in the Peak District in January 2014. The event is an overnight mountain marathon with score and linear courses. It is relatively hardcore and epic and I was wondering whether you would be able to tell you club members about the event?
I have copied a press release I sent out today. Please feel free to copy and paste.
For easy www linking, this press release is available online here: http://www.marmot-dark-mountains.com/news/2013/12/19/2014_Location__Details__Peak_District_National_Park/
Regards, Shane
Shane Ohly
Managing Director - Ourea Events
www.ShaneOhly.com / www.OureaEvents.com
+44 (0)7771 516962
Skype: shane.ohly
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MARMOT DARK MOUNTAINS™ - 2014 PEAK DISTRICT
PRESS RELEASE - THURSDAY 19th DEC 2014 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The second Marmot Dark Mountains™ mountain marathon will take place in the Peak District National Park in January 2014. Race organiser, Shane Ohly from Ourea Events, elaborated on the special allure of this area. "The Peak District has the perfect blend of high moorland areas, challenging terrain and a wonderful sense of wilderness... especially at night. Precisely because of the superb nature of the area, we have had to negotiate over a two year period with the National Trust, National Park and other agencies to secure permission for this event. We have six different courses on offer and they all take advantage of some of the best parts of Bleaklow and Kinder Scout. It promises to a superb test of competitors' mountain running skills.
Marmot Dark Mountains™ takes place on the last weekend of January each year, and the inaugural event took place in what can only be described as diabolical weather (just have a look at the videos on the event website) but Shane Ohly knows this is all part of the attraction. "Obviously, we would all like to have a still, cloud free and moonlit night but competitors don't enter this event unless they are up for an epic mountain running experience and it is our job to deliver this safely without compromising on the nature of the challenge. The knowledge gained from the first event shows that with experienced and vetted competitors, you can run an event in atrocious weather and allow the competitors to make decisions about their own safety. Kenny Leitch, a competitor at the 2013 event summed it up nicely. “What an extraordinary event! I did my first mountain marathon 24 years ago and Marmot Dark Mountains™ definitely had the worst conditions ever.”
As a night mountain marathon, the event presents some unique challenges to both the competitors and the organisers. This year Ourea Events has been working in collaboration with Harvey Maps to produce a bespoke 'high contrast' map of the event area, which shows the contours and other map detail with greater clarity than a standard map.
With the announcement of the event area, the organisers have also released details of the planner's optimum routes. The 2014 planner, Dave Taylor, is a very experienced fell runner and Peak District local so the competitors can expect that his optimum routes really are the quickest way to complete each of the courses.
C Course = Distance 36.3km / Height Gain 1,547m
B Course = Distance 41.1km / Height Gain 1,785m
A Course = Distance 44.4km / Height Gain 1,940m
Elite Course = Distance 55.5km / Height Gain 2,635m
Short Score = 8 hours
Long Score = 10 hours
With the support of sponsorship from Marmot® and Silva® there is a £500 cash prize for the winning elite team at the event. This year the competition is really hotting up, with top elite runners Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near from Team Hagloffs already entered. Tim said, "Elite mountain marathons are hard to finish let alone win; the courses are long, navigation tricky and route choices crucial. So if you take this concept, remove the half-way rest, run it overnight to make the navigation nearly impossible - and then stage it in deepest winter for good measure you have something that will stretch the best to their limit! There's a certain type of person that enjoys a challenge this hard. See you out there!"
ENDS
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NOTES TO EDITORS
FREE ENTRIES
Free entries are available to journalists who have a commissioned feature about the event. Please get in touch if you are interested.
Images and Logos
Attached is a zip file of web resolution images and captions. These can be used royalty free but please credit the photographer. If you require higher resolution images please just ask.
Within this zip file are also Marmot Dark Mountains™, Marmot® and Silva® logos.
Video
The two videos featured in the online version of this press release can embedded with these links:
You can embed these videos into your website by clicking 'Share', the 'Embed'. Use the HTML code provided by YouTube.
Further Information
Marmot Dark Mountains™, please visit www.Marmot-Dark-Mountains.com or contact Shane Ohly on 07771516962 or info@Marmot-Dark-Mountains.com
Marmot®, please visit www.Marmot.eu or contact Hugh Harris on 015395 63616 or hugh@marmotuk.co.uk
Silva®, please visit www.Silva.se or contact Kevin on 01506 406289 or Kevin.Thomson@silva.ltd.uk
Key Event Information
Website: www.Marmot-Dark-Mountains.com
Date: 25th & 26th January 2014
Venue: Peak District National Park
Entry: £45 per person
Courses: Elite, A, B, C, Short Score and Long Score
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