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BB2034
: The Man of Iron and Boys
of
Steel
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Wednesday
23rd September 2020
I
am very proud of my nephew,
Ian.
On
Monday of this week he became
an Iron Man.
In
case you don’t know what this
means, in order to become an
Iron Man you have to torture
yourself for 70.3 miles.
The
first 1.2 miles has to be swum.
This
is to be followed by a 56 mile
bike ride.
And,
as if that isn’t sufficient
torture, you then run a half-marathon.
13.1 miles.
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Of
course BOOTboys
played a
crucial part in his training. In 2008
we took Ian and his two lads around the
Langdales (BB0806)
and then, 10 years later, took him and his
younger son, Bradley, up the other side,
Pike o’Blisco - BB1827
: The Penny Farthing.
The Iron Man would definitely not
be riding such a machine.
Today,
Tony feared that, rather than being Men
of Iron, we would need to be Men of Steel.
Steel Fell was our objective but he
flatly refused to contemplate it. I
don’t blame him. I’d have done the
same if I thought we were going up the brutal
direct ascent from the top of Dunmail Riase
as in BB1809
: Men of Steel.
Been there, done that (3 times) and
have no wish to do it again. No, we
would go up by the nose, a longer but much
gentler route. He was then happy to
be a Boy, nay- a BOOTboy
of Steel.
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We
met rather later in the morning than the
time at which Ian had started his misty
dawn epic in Coniston Water and in murkier
weather than we had been promised for days.
Ian thought his swim around an invisible
Peel Island to be almost magical. I
don’t think we felt the same about the prospect
of Steel Fell but at least we could just
about see the summit. Fortunately
the mist cleared as we climbed.
It
is obviously a much longer climb this way
but nowhere near as strenuous as the alternative.
Once at the summit, most of the day’s
hard work is over, unlike Ian who, after
his swim, had to cycle to Ambleside then
down to Ulverston before returning to Coniston
Water. It took rather longer than
he expected because en-route he had two
punctures and no back-up car following him
with spare wheels. Just a puncture repair
kit. And all the time he had
ahead of him his least favourite part- the
run.
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Tony,
Martin, Stan and I had our lunch on a cliff
edge overlooking Greenburn Bottom with the
full range of our return in view- the ridge
that descends from Calf Crag via Gibson
Knott and Helm Crag to complete the circuit
of the Greenburn valley.
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Margaret
and I had arrived to meet Ian just in time
to greet him at the wheel -to-foot change-over
point. He was looking in remarkably
good shape for someone who has just completed
57.2 miles and remarkably cheerful for someone
who had a 13.1 miles on foot circuit of
Coniston Water ahead of him. I should
have mentioned that he was being supported
by three of his pals, who equally looked
remarkably cheerful.
Not
long after Calf Crag we met three ladies
who were lost and sought our help. They
were doing a stage of the Coast to Coast
long distance walk. A rather
long stage from Borrowdale over to Patterdale.
They had been following their route
on a phone but it didn’t cover the area
in which they now found themselves. Not
surprising as they should have been down
in the valley. I offered them a paper
map but they declined as they didn’t know
how to read it. Stan slipped into
Pied Piper mode and guided them along the
ridge.
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We
paused at Helm Crag whilst the ladies continued
down to Grasmere. Sensibly they decided
they would catch a taxi to Patterdale rather
than risk the climb up to and down from
Grisedale Tarn.
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We
(M&I) next met Ian and his pals halfway
round Coniston Water where we were manning
a refreshment station. They were all
still looking in remarkably good shape.
Interestingly what they craved most
wasn’t water but packets of crisps. Topping
up their salts no doubt.
The
other “we” (M,S,T&I) descended from
Helm Crag to Easedale and took the invitational
path that runs through the grounds of the
Lancrigg Hotel which also is a refreshment
station. But not on Wednesdays. Consequently
we made our way back to the cars, three
of us reconvening in the ZOOMbar
later on.
It
was a good outing for the BOOTboys
of Steel but one that pales into insignificance
compared to Ian’s Iron Man adventure.
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The
reason that he chose to do it
in the Lakes is because the
official, mass event had been
cancelled for Corvid reasons.
He
and his team successfully completed
the course and seemed to be
relatively unscathed by the
experience.
One
of his companions who had completed
several such events commented
that this course was by far
the hardest he had experienced.
It had hills in it!
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The
Iron Man achievement is not the only reason
for Ian to be proud this week. Two days
earlier he had become a grandfather. Elder
son George’s partner, Stacey, presented
him with a baby daughter, Clara Esme. Whilst
delighted for them, it provokes a funny
feeling. I am now a great-great-uncle.
Or what sounds even worse, my nephew
is a grandfather. Still, how many folk can
boast that they are an Iron Man’s uncle?
Don,
Wednesday 24th September 2020
PS
Ian had an ulterior motive for putting
himself through this torture. To discover
the reason, visit Ironman
70.3 for The Christie.
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