Berghaus was one of the outdoor companies to support the group in their venture which involved descending some of the biggest canyons in the world.

The canyons total 131km in length and 28km in height and are amongst the most technical, challenging and impressive canyons in the world.  The fearless foursome overcame 140m waterfalls, 25m jumps and 15m toboggans during their three week journey through one of the most amazing waterparks mother nature has to offer.

And if that isn’t enough this year the theatre will also host the Berghaus Live for Adventure Challenge – a live version of our Adventure Challenge where shortlisted entrants will be presenting a live pitch of their adventure.  The contestants will pitch their idea to an expert panel of judges, including Mick Fowler and Sir Chris Bonington, with the chance to win £1000 cash support towards their adventure plus £1000 worth of gear.

The Berghaus Live for Adventure Challenge event starts from 3pm on Saturday 19^th May.

Find out more about the Live for Adventure Theatre programme here.

Helene, the Dragon’s Back is a daunting race with an almost mythical status, how does it feel entering the race again?

It’s very, very scary. I have forgotten most of the pain involved in it which is why I probably have entered again. I am very much looking forward to being there and taking part without any pressure or expectation. I really want to go out and have 5 really nice days of running in wales. I have 2 aims; firstly to get to the start line. Secondly, I would very much like to get across that finish line. Neither are foregone conclusions.

In the twenty years since the original race you have had a family. How do you balance training with your family?

As best I can. I get up early to fit sessions in so it affects the family and work less. I have a very understanding husband who wants me to do the Dragon’s Back. That makes all the difference. I am very lucky and I know it.
I have never been one to do millions of miles, even when doing long races years ago – my body didn’t like it … and I got bored too. I try to make what I do count. I have always been a firm believer that running slowly for miles makes you good at running slowly for miles. It doesn’t make you faster or better.
I try to mix it with days out the family and combine days out on the hills with walks with them or sometimes I just have to enter races to make myself do harder longer runs.

Training for races such as the Dragon’s Back must mean sacrifices. What is it you miss the most?

It’s good to have something to aim for. I am not sure I sacrifice much – my family makes the sacrifice by giving me time to disappear for long hours at a time and putting up with a shabby heap of sweat that reappears in a grumpy state that’s too sore to play “tig”.
Running for 5 days in the Welsh mountains, with over 45,000ft of ascent must require a massive amount of determination. What keeps you motivated during races?
Finishing!
Actually it is very enjoyable doing long distance travelling across mountains on foot. I love being in the mountains (any mountains…and deserts too for that matter), the views, and the wilderness. I enjoy the navigational challenges and the skill of maximising your own chances. It’s hard to keep body and soul together after a time and how you eat, drink and what you wear makes all the difference.

You’ve obviously got a huge passion for running, how did you get started?

I used to skip PE as I hated volleyball – it hurts you! Then one day we had a new PE teacher who made me go out and actually ran around with us. Kate introduced me to windsurfing, rock climbing and I ran my first marathon with her from Marathon to Athens (where I was at school) in 4.00.25 at the age of 17.

We’re incredibly excited about the Dragon’s Back race and wish Helene and Steve Birkenshaw, our other sponsored athlete, the best of luck.

Hi Steve. We’ll come on to your impressive list of racing achievements soon but could you explain how you got in to competitive running and orienteering?
I started orienteering when I was 7. My brother and older sister were going round courses by themselves so I was also determined to go round by myself. I would get lost loads and there were lots of tears but as long as I completed the course I would be happy. My navigation gradually improved and I competed at a top level throughout the junior age groups coming 33rd in the world junior championship. But I always excelled over the longer, rougher courses so I really enjoyed fell racing and mountain marathons. When Adventure Racing started my endurance and navigation ability meant I also excelled at this sport.

Can you give us an idea of some of the races you’ve competed in?
I have competed at a top level in a range of sports, including: orienteering, mountain marathons, fell running, adventure racing and ultra running. Some of my successes have been:

• 7 times winner of KIMM/OMM elite
• Winner of elite at the following mountain marathons: Saunders, Mourne, Lowe Alpine, Rab and Arctic
• Winner Lakeland 100 (UTLD) – 105 mile trail race
• 2 times winner British Adventure Racing Champs
• 7th World Adventure Racing Champs
• Winner Hebridean Challenge
• British 35+ Orienteering Champion
• British Night Orienteering Champion
• Bob Graham Round (17:09) 6th fastest
• Charlie Ramsay round (21:02) 6th fastest -fastest solo round
• Paddy Buckley round (20:27) 5th fastest
• Adidas Terrex Adventure Race winner

That’s a pretty impressive list of achievements, what is your proudest running achievement?
My seven wins in the KIMM/OMM is my greatest achievement. This is the mountain marathon that everyone wants to win so to have done it seven times is amazing.

You work (nearly) full-time. Could you explain your job and how you balance training with work?
I work as a research scientist at Newcastle University. My job is a hydrologist which basically involves understanding and explaining how water travels through the ground and into rivers. My boss at the university is flexible as to where I work as he knows I will get the work done. This means I can work at home (in the Lake District) most of the time and this allows me to go running during the day and fit my work around it. Running as training is also a very efficient use of time, I can go for a 1 hour hard fell run and come back exhausted and quickly be ready to start work again.

As well as work you also have a family. How do you juggle competing interests and does it ever cause problems?
I have a wife (Emma) and three children: James (8), Matthew (6) and Hannah (3). Emma also used to compete at a top level in orienteering, mountain marathons and fell running but had to stop due to injuries. So she is very supportive and understanding of my running. She also knows that if I do not go out running I get grumpy and frustrated, whereas if I do go out running I come back happy.
The Dragon’s Back clashes with Hannah’s first week of school. It was a really difficult decision to miss this and do the race but Emma was supportive of me doing the race.
Since we have had children I have modified my sporting interest. Before then I was seriously involved in Adventure Racing doing races in other countries and with lots of mountain biking, kayak training etc. Since we have had children I have concentrated on running as it is a much more efficient use of time and I rarely do any races outside the Lake District. There are plenty of fell races and orienteering races in the Lake District to keep me happy.

The Dragon’s Back has an almost legendary status after a gap of 20 years. What is it that motivates you personally to compete in such a gruelling race?
I enjoy racing against other people and I also enjoy long days running out on the fells – the rougher and longer the better. So the Dragons Back is the perfect race for me. There will also be a navigation element in the Dragons Back, finding the best lines between the checkpoints will be really important and I really enjoy and excel at this aspect.

Races over such long distances that require constant concentration must be difficult to prepare for mentally. How do you go about getting your mind in shape for the challenge?
Before the race it is a matter of doing the hours of training. But I also have a long background of endurance races and training so I know I have the ability to complete this sort of race. Mentally it is harder during the race; there will be high points and low points. Getting through the low points is tough, but again, having done it before gives me the strength to carry on at those points knowing that I will eventually start to feel better again.

Thanks Steve and the very best of luck for the race. You can keep up to date with Steve’s latest blogs on our athlete blog area.

You can also read a Q&A with Helene Whitaker who is also a Berghaus sponsored athlete in the Dragon’s Back, and also won the original race 20 years ago here.

Next month, hundreds of people from across Britain will take to the fells to raise money for research into this debilitating disease.

Yvonne Booth decided to organise the ‘10 in 10 Challenge’ after her husband Duncan was diagnosed with MS in June 2010.

Last summer saw the inaugural event above Buttermere in which 120 participants raised an outstanding £24,000. As the walkers took to the skyline, Duncan took to the water and swam across ten lakes. His brother Simon Booth, a one-time British fell running champion, did himself proud too by completing the challenge as a run in two and a half hours.

This year’s event takes place on Saturday 23rd June 2012 when 150 walkers will leave the Swinside Inn, in the Newlands Valley, at 6.30am and head up the first peak – Causey Pike followed by Sail, Crag Hill, Wandope, Whiteless Pike, High Snockrigg, Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy and Maiden Moor.

Yvonne Booth said: ”The ten peak challenge, to be completed in ten hours, is a charity event to raise money for the MS Society to use for research into Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not a competition, just a challenge, and it is encouraging to see so many people in training for this year’s event. I hope one day the MS Society find a cure for this nasty, debilitating and unpredictable disease. We’re so grateful to Sir Chris Bonington, who is fully supporting the event and kindly asked Berghaus to sponsor it.”

Before MS struck, Duncan Booth was a very keen climber and alpinist. His illness has affected his balance and so he has swapped climbing mountains for more aquatic pursuits of open water swimming and sculling.

Duncan noticed after his diagnosis that taking a dip in a cold lake had quite a positive effect on the feeling in his legs. He got equipped with wetsuit and goggles and began swimming every day in the local lakes. Duncan now swims all year round and had to break the ice in order to get in throughout December of last year.

Not wishing to be left out of the 10 in 10 challenge 2012, Duncan plans to scull up and down Derwentwater throughout the night staring on Friday 22nd June.  He will attempt to clock as many kilometres as possible in his Sculling boat during the 10 hours.

Anyone wishing to donate to the 10 in 10 challenge can do so here.

I need mental molly coddling and a fell runner rings me to chivvy me up, sends me silly cards and emails reassuring positive murmurings. I need exercising so another fell runner sorts out his own job and family commitments to take me out on a bike to join me doing hill reps. Then just as I need some medical guidance another fell runner is there with sound advice, suggestions and practical tips for the way forward.

I am probably fairly typical of most fell runners. Independent in a way that borders on the anti – social, intolerant of many social ills (litter, dog pooh, bad manners and undies hanging over the top of trousers – for goodness sake what is all that about anyway?) and absolutely convinced I am right in that “boring-old-fart” kind of way my granddad did. However I digress. Its not that I don’t like folk, I just like being in the hills with folk I like. I look after people for a living. I look after people at home. I don’t want to have to look after people when it’s my turn to play. Petulant? Damn right it is. There is nothing like an injury for making you realise what is important. The running? The hills? The friends I choose to play with?

How lucky can a girl get?!

The route down underneath Broad Stand is a very unstable scree slope which, just to make things interesting, is littered with tiny waterfalls which drip down onto you from the rocks of Sca Fell above.  As you slip and slither your way down this route you realise just how big and imposing Sca Fell is; all that scree has to come from somewhere so be sure to take things steady and keep your eyes and ears open the whole time. To be honest I did most of this on my backside and that turned into a bit of a theme for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I have a pretty awful sense of balance so find it best to opt for as many points of contact as possible whenever the going gets slippy.  Unfortunately it means I get through a lot of walking trousers, which is expensive, but at least I remain intact.

At the end of Broad Stand the “path” up Sca Fell leads away to your right.  I say “path” because it’s actually a rock strewn gill with no real discernible path.  If you’re up for a scramble though it’s tremendous fun and there are plenty of hand and footholds along the way.  Of course being a gill means it’s slippy so don’t try anything heroic, this is about getting to the top in one piece and not setting any speed records.  At the top you’ll be rewarded with the tiny but perfectly proportioned Foxes Tarn; a perfectly peaceful sheltered little spot, ideal for the final flask of tea and a spot more chocolate.

Another scree scramble brings you to the summit ridge of Sca Fell.  We took a detour to the summit but sadly as we’d headed up the mist had come down, so there was nothing to see apart from showdy crags as the mist blew across.  So we braced ourselves and headed for Lord’s Rake.  Now, how do you tackle a challenging route if you’ve never done it before?  You keep your sensible head on, take your time and use all the experience you’ve gained from elsewhere to get you through safely.  If the Corridor Route had been easier than expected then this was definitely harder.

We dropped down off the summit via Symonds Knott and along Scafell Crag.  The entrance to Lord’s Rake is easy to spot but intimidating from the off.  If you are at all unsure of your ability to complete this route then stop now, return to the summit and head back via an alternate route. The route drops very steeply down a muddy scree strewn slope, along a narrow path, up a heavily screed gully before the biggest drop which will return you to the main path down from the fell.  The route has been closed on regular occasions in the past due to land slips and it’s easy to see why.

We made our way very slowly and carefully down the first drop, keeping close to the edge and using the solid crags for balance.  The short narrow path at the bottom gives you a little breathing time before the final “up and over”.  I find it a lot easier climbing this stuff than I do descending it and we were soon at the top of the final, gut wrenching, descent.  It’s at moments like this that I question my sanity.  By now it was 7:30pm on a Saturday night and across the breadth of the land millions of people were curled up in front of the TV with a pizza and a glass of wine.  What on earth possessed me to be stood at the top of one of the trickiest descents in the Lake District with a dirty great grin on my face?  Clearly I need help!

It’s not the sort of drop you should stand staring at for too long, you’ll just scare yourself silly, so we set off, slowly and carefully making our way down the gully.  It is a genuinely dangerous route with the very real possibility of getting injured either from slipping on the scree or being knocked by rocks dislodged by the person above you.  Away down below us we could see the clear and stable route down off the fell, all we had to do was keep our heads long enough to reach it.  As we inched our way down it was apparent that there were some very recent rock falls, which didn’t do a lot for our nerves, but we persevered, keeping our wits about us at all times.  As we emerged from the main gully the ground became a lot firmer as we made our way back to the main path.  As I stood and looked back at it I couldn’t quite believe what I’d just done.

After all of that the rest of the descent was very straightforward and uneventful, the path is very clear and mainly paved and we were finally back at the car by 10pm.  Would I do Lord’s Rake again?  I very much doubt it, but I can’t wait to get back to Sca Fell, most definitely my new favourite fell to play on.

Our plan was to head up Scafell Pike but this time via the Corridor Route; after that we would drop down Mickledore to Sca Fell then down underneath Broad Stand and up onto Sca Fell via Foxes Tarn before finally descending via Lord’s Rake.  An ambitious plan but exactly what was needed to put the new rucksack through its paces.

If you’re not familiar with our hikes from my regular blog then you need to know that this time of year we are very late starters and it was 12:15pm before we left the car.  This routine usually works really well for us as we still have daylight until 10pm but most people have headed home long before then, thus giving us the peace and quiet we crave on the fells.

The first part of the route was very easy, winding past St Olaf’s church, along Lingmell Beck and up to Sty Head tarn.  90 minutes later we were enjoying lunch in the sun overlooking the tarn and admiring the perfectly framed view of Blencathra away in the distance.  There was a cool breeze so we didn’t hang around long, plus we were keen to get stuck into the Corridor Route.  We were both under the impression that this was a tough and challenging route but the reality is that these days it’s a very straightforward and largely paved route up past Lingmell to Scafell Pike.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty, but if you’re after a challenging hike then this isn’t it.  It’s also far from quiet and we were passed by dozens of people as they made their way back down towards the tarn.

As we came up onto Lingmell Col we couldn’t resist quickly nipping up to the top of Lingmell and enjoying the wonderful views of Great Gable – by far my favourite fell to look at.  It just looks like a “proper” fell; when you’re a kid and you draw a picture of a mountain, it looks like Great Gable.  Well mine did anyway.  That’s not to say my favourite cars are the ones that look like the ones I drew as a kid, for a start that would mean they’d all have very oddly shaped wheels… Anyway, back to the hike!

The final haul up to the summit of Scafell Pike is a bit of a scramble in places but still very straightforward and clearly marked.  Each time I ascend Scafell Pike I wonder how the height of the mountain is measured as it appears to be nothing but scree on the top; I wonder where the solid ground begins?  After the obligatory photos we huddled down beside the war memorial for a spot of drink and some chocolate before making our way over towards Mickledore.  (Incidentally, did you know that this whole area was gifted to the Lake District National Park following the death of its owner, Lord Leconfield, in World War I?)

The route down to Mickledore is well marked but you do need to watch your footing on the lose screes.  At the foot of the screes is a short col linking Scafell Pike with Sca Fell, this was easily passed in the good weather we had on Saturday but it’s not a route I’d fancy tackling in torrential rain.  Mind you there aren’t many routes that I think could be improved upon if only there were an apocalyptic downpour.

As you cross the col towards Sca Fell you become immediately aware that you are now dealing with an entirely different type of fell.  Scafell Pike is the famous, sanitised fell that everybody wants to climb; Sca Fell on the other hand is big and brash and makes no concessions for anyone.  It reminded me in an odd way of Princes William and Harry.  Prince William (Scafell Pike) is the public face, the one that has to behave and be accessible to the public; Prince Harry (Sca Fell) on the other hand, can get away with being rather more mischievous and badly behaved.  I immediately warmed to Sca Fell…

Join me in part II when we scramble up a gill, successfully navigate through the mist and finally descend the infamous Lord’s Rake.

So with only 100(ish) days left, I’ve had my head down in training – and when not training, mainly eating, sleeping or collapsing in a heap on the sofa in my local Starbucks (which is opposite the gym – the manager thinks I live in the lift and just pop out every now and again for a hot drink). I did go bike-less for a whole 48 hours – which felt like forever not to ride – and got scared in a sea kayak instead. It’s been too long since I took to the waves so the whitecaps running between the Isle of Skye and the mainland were testing for my weeble factor. I secretly hoped Andy would offer to tow me back around the exposed bit of coast into the head wind on the way home, but when we’d finished he just said “I knew you wanted towing, but it was better you did it yourself – you had to find your super-powers”. He was right – I know I’ll have to find them more and more in the next 100 days.

I’ll be in the lab to be tested soon – pricked with needles, lactate levels in my blood measured, power outputs, oxygen efficiency (VO2) etc. My interesting fact of the week is that apparently race horses go through the same process. They are set to run on a giant treadmill in the lab and have the same fitness tests done on them as we humans. Amazing the lengths we’ll go to in pursuit of medals or simply to try and be the best that we can.

My inspiration of the week has come from Chris Jones. He has been putting my first ever handbike to amazing use. In April he did two major events; an off-road marathon across Dartmoor, where he cycled 27.5 miles to raise over four thousand pounds for the Royal British Legion, and he became the first person in the UK to enter a full downhill mountain bike race on a hand cranked bike! He’s enjoyed it so much that he’s spent the last 5 months starting up a company to design and build off-road hand-cranked bikes. LynxBikes plan to have very reasonably priced off-road handbikes ready later this year. Brilliant!

Meanwhile, there’s a block of racing coming up…Rome World Cup (25-27th May), Swiss European Handbike Circuit race (2-3rd June) and Segovia World Cup (15-17th June), then an open day to ride the Brands Hatch Paralympic race circuit on the 19th June. Kissing goodbye to the coffee shop sofa…

The image below is by Marta Lundby Rekaa.

On Sunday I was over in the Churnet in Staffordshire at a crag called Harston rock. It’s a very esoteric place with two Classic lines! One Chromosomes missing E7 6b and Pair O’Genes E7 6c.

Was great climbing on dry rock in the sun!