The Bob Graham Round (how not to provide support)
By Mark Garrod
It was a good plan. Dave's attempt at the extremely challenging Bob Graham was being well supported on all legs, so Michelle and I chose to accompany him on leg 4 from Brackenclose to Honister, via all the summits in between. Just to make a logistically easier and fuller day, we decided to walk the direct Moses trod way from Honister, under Great Gable, down to Wasdale and Brackenclose (only about 2½ hours), join Trish and co. for soup, then pick up with Dave when he passed through at 3-4pm. OK, so the forecast wasn't brilliant, but the winds were due to drop and the showers pass over by mid-afternoon.
News came through from Katie that Dave was slightly up on schedule at Dunmail Raise, and going well, so we parked up at Honister and set off in light rain and strong winds. As we contoured around Grey Knotts and Brandreth, the wind got even more gusty, and the rain seemed to keep coming, meaning we were already soaked through, having not really planned for a winter day out on the hill. No problem - we had a change of gear for the run once we got to the hut. We fought the winds to gain the col between Great Gable and Kirkfell, only to be greeted by horizontal hail, even stronger winds directly into our faces, and the news, from party being blown in the opposite direction, that the winds didn't ease up even when we got lower. I was very wet and cold - what to do, carry on down into Wasdale and hope we didn't get hypothermia before reaching the hut, and maybe recover in time to support Dave if he hadn't given up (oh we of little faith!), or reverse our steps back to the car and café at Honister, and leave Dave with whatever other support he had for that leg. For those that don't know, mobile reception at Honister and in Wasdale is non-existent - hence we had no way of checking what was happening. We dipped out!
It took us about 2-3 hours to thaw out, even after a change of clothes and 3 hot drinks in 2 different cafes, but by then the weather was improving, so we set off from Honister again, to see if we could meet up with Dave plus support en route. We walked and ran a bit over to Kirkfell, hoping to get a view across Pillar and beyond, to see where they were, but the clouds refused to rise off the tops, and the cold wind kept blowing (no rain or hail mercifully), and although Michelle was keen to go on to Pillar to give ourselves a better chance of meeting them, the wimp decided he was knackered, and back we went to Honister - again! Met up with Katie there at ~8pm, who was waiting for Dave, so after a cup of tea we made our final excuses and apologies and retreated to Keswick for a hot shower, food and a couple of drinks in a nice cosy pub.
Our final attempt at support came with 2 visits to the Moot Hall to see if there was anyone there waiting to welcome Dave in, but after the 2nd visit at 00.30am Sunday, we hit the sack, and hence were fast asleep when he came in at ~2am.
We can both bear testament to the fact that the weather, for at least a 3-4 hour spell, was diabolical, and how Dave kept going, and finished it, is beyond us - a fantastic effort! Full marks as well to those supporters who actually managed to support.
