Score classes test your navigation skills far more than chasing classes, where in some instances you simply follow the crocodile over the hills. If you're not too happy about your ability to find checkpoints in a white-out then the chasing classes are for you. We have found that in the short score we rarely end up following others and people we do see are invariably heading in a totally different direction. If you are doing a score class you will need to know exactly how far you can travel in your allotted time - training in similar terrain to the event is the only way you'll be able to work it out. Knowing how fast you go up hill, down hill, on tracks, across heather and over tussocks will be important  in ensuring you make the right decisions on the event and make the most of the time available. 

The Start  - A marshall shouts out your starting time and you stumble out of the gathered crowd towards the starting funnels. You line up with another couple of teams and progress towards the start line under the orders of another marshall. Eventually at the line you are given your laminated map and look eagerly for the overnight camp as the marshalls send you on your way. A little further on the at the planning area hoards of crouched and bemused OMMers are pondering over the route scenarios on their maps. You join them trying to look cool and calm. Take your time - minutes spent here can save you heaps of time later and thus avoid accumulating penalty points.

The string - When you know how far you can go in the time available you can make a piece of string marked off in km's or 5km's to the distance you think you can cover. At hand-out, connect as many checkpoints as you can together on the map with your string and repeat until you've found the route with the most points. Easy isn't it! No - course planners always try and make it difficult for you and .... you never know until you get there what the terrain will be really like. You might choose a route with a leg along sheep paths and short grass or you may have to stumble over tussocks. 

Course adjustments - it may be that your chosen route has taken you over some terrain that has slowed you down horribly. Keep a check on this and possibly miss out a checkpoint later or simply sit down and plan another route with the time available. If you always estimate how long it will take you to get to the next checkpoint based on your training experience then you'll soon know if you are falling behind schedule. Remember also that the last km or so tends to be down hill to overnight or the finish and is mostly on good tracks (route planners do this to avoid the hoards trashing the area on the way into camp/event centre), so the last part of the day will always be quicker. Those few minutes you arrived in early could have been used in gaining another checkpoint.

General navigation hints - Get out there and practice matching up the map with the ground. When you go out training remember to train for navigation as well as worrying about fitness - accurate navigation in the score classes is just as (if not more) important as fitness. When training use the same type of map you will use for the event. Set yourself loads of difficult checkpoints based on small features on the map. Learn what 'aiming-off ' means and how to best to keep in a straight line in a white out. Get to know 'Bob's rule' and how many paces you do for 1/2 km. There are a couple of good books on all this. It's also a good idea to get lost a couple of times so that when and if it happens you know what to do about it. Learn to 'thumb' the map and try to visualise what the terrain will look like before you get there so you recognise it when you do.

Training. 

The physical side - Get out into the kind of terrain the event will be in as much as you can. You may be a good road runner but can you balance down rocky slopes and leap over heather and tussocks? It puts so much more demands on ankles and knees than an even surface. We always do about 6 weeks of one day per weekend training, starting off with a 2-3 hour run/walk and  culminating in the full day1 time of the event. Two weeks before the event we do a two-day effort to simulate exact event timings.  Train with a rucksack on your back - get used to any chaffing or rubbing your sack may cause. Try to train in the rain and mist and not just the nice days. KIMM weather tends to be pretty poor. 

Other considerations - Sleep out in your tent with your limited rations before the event to check out your comfort level and see if you've got enough food. (Make sure you can blow up 7 balloons and tie the knots). Get out with your event partner at least a couple of times - suss things like who will do the main map read. I tend to close-detail navigate whilst my wife does the overall large scale match-up and feel for timings and elevation. This winter get up to Scotland do a long and remote day out on the high mountains in a white-out in 100mph winds throwing horizontal ice crystals at you. Then you'll know just how easy the OMM is and you will never worry about October weather over easy terrain again!

 

Equipment

The lighter the equipment you carry the faster you will go - shaving small amounts off each item you have to take makes a big overall difference. But, cutting down on weight too much can lead to an uncomfortable overnight and a wet and unpleasant start to day 2. Everyone has to make their own decision as to what extent of discomfort they are prepared to put up with in order to go lighter and consequently faster. Do you for instance, take a complete set of clothes for day 2 or do you put on wet clothes again if you got them wet on day 1?

Tent - justifying the expense of specific tent for the event may be a problem for you but it can also be used for other activities like long distance walking or lightweight alpine adventures. There are a number of tents now available which come in under the 1kg mark. Personally I would go for a two-skin design rather than a single breathable membrane as condensation can be a big problem - as well as making your night uncomfortable it will add weight to your sleeping bag for the second day.

Sleeping gear - down bags are always going to be lighter and pack away smaller. With the new Quantum Pertex material, bags can weigh half as much as equivalent synthetic bags for much greater warmth. We use 300-fill goose down versions - the 200-fill ones look incredibly thin and there doesn't seem enough down to get around the whole bag. A good design with shoulder baffle and wrap-around head drawstrings will keep you snug. Why have a zip? It'll only add weight. Don't be tempted to zip two bags together and snuggle up to each other - air pockets created will simply convect away heat and although the cuddle may make you forget about the howling winds outside you'll end up with less sleep. Ground insulation is important and obviously we feel the Balloonbed is the 'bees knees' in this area as it is comfortable to lie on and offers a good degree of insulation - a good night's sleep will allow you to perform at your best on day 2. Some people use their 'survival bag' for extra warmth but beware the 'crinkling' sounds during the night. A vapour barrier might also add condensation to your sleeping bag. 

Rucksack - the less you carry in it the less important it will be to have a technical/supportive design. The early KIMM sacks were light but merely resembled a bag with a few straps on it - we've used them for years and find them comfortable enough. 

Clothing - having competed in just about the worst ever weather in recent KIMM's (Howgills98) and been comfortable enough, we feel qualified to advise on this. On top - a wicking/thermal base layer, Fleece (Polartec 200) and waist length lightweight wind/waterproof with a hood (this does not need to cost the earth - no breathable fabric has yet been made that can cope with the amount of moisture I release when I'm running). Legs - Ron Hill type tight tracksters and lightweight wind/water proof over trousers. The main thing to remember is that if it's raining enough or cold enough to put on your wind/water proof then you are going to get wet anyway because sweat will not escape out through your outer membrane fast enough - but at least the outer shell will prevent wind-chill and so you will stay warm and wet instead of cold and wet. Thin thermal type hat and thin gloves are important and we always take very lightweight water/wind proof mits. Spare clothing usually consists of extra base layer for top, tracksters, dry socks and thin gloves all double wrapped in tied off poly bags (you don't want them getting wet when swimming through the flooded rivers). We have some home-made down jackets that weigh less than taking a second fleece. If our fleece gets soaked on day 1 then it's not too uncomfortable to put it on over a warm base layer before you start out on day 2. Remember that you can use your sleeping bag for extra warmth while you sit around cooking and brewing at overnight.

Stove, Food and Cooking - We have a small primus LPG stove that weighs 120g and packs away really small in it's own plastic box. The 100 gas canister weighs 190g.  It's clean to use, stable and has a spark ignition built in (no matches/lighter  needed).  We use 1 plastic bowl, a pan with foil lid and 2 plastic spoons all weighing in it at  200g. All the main meal food we carry is dehydrated - why carry the liquid content of a meal when you can get it at the overnight? We eat one meal between two when we get to camp and a couple of hours later cook up one each - both with lashings of quick egg-noodles. We have chocolate drink sachets and not tea bags for drinks - more energy and less dehydrating. During the day we carry 3 bars each for 'on the hoof' food (Power Bars and the like). Breakfast is chocolate ready break with lashings of sugar, another choc sachet drink and possibly some left over chocolate from day 1. Hydration is tricky - if it's sensible weather and you can drink from streams then we carry a 400ml bottle each to keep us going between water sources (you can strap these like AR types to a rucksack strap by your face with tube for easy intake). We always put in a quick sachet of carbo/isotonic powder and half an iodine tablet. If the weather is dry or flooding, then water supply could be dodgy so we carry larger 750ml bottles or go to a bladder system. These big bottles weigh around 750g so slow you down but so will being seriously dehydrated later on in the day. Emergency food is the smallest and lightest choc bar we can find.

Footwear - presently Adidas Swoops are our favourite. Choose shoes you are very comfortable in and hope that they still are after 5 hours. Remember they will get very wet and are likely to stretch (Swoops do alarmingly). Put them on and lace them up wet when you start so that you don't have to re-lace them later. Fell shoes with widely spaced studs shed goo more easily. Fell shoes should be a snug fit all over so that they don't slip around on your feet as you traverse slopes or step on rough ground.

Other lightweight bits and pieces - for headtorch we use a Black Diamond Ion but it wouldn't be any good for classes that might be getting to overnight in the dark. Change heavy metal tent pegs for pieces of plastic rod. Change those heavy guy lines for thinner cord.