unless someone can suggest something else to do!!????
Agreed, any of the Adventure Races (Open 5, Rat Race, there's loads). Or how about something like the Fred Whitton Challenge Sportive (sold out for this year but can do it by yourself/with a team anytime). Any number of challenging Sportives out there and it's something a bit different to MTBing. Have a look at http://www.cyclosport.org for more details and an event calendar.
Marathon? Triathlon? Or something self-organised, Lands End - John O'Groats or Coast to Coast or N->S through Wales (all of these have official on or off-road routes) or make up your own variation on a theme.
For a hard one, how about the Bob Graham round? 
If you want a real challenge..do the welsh fifteen peaks in under 24 hours. Doable if you are fit (we took 16) then you can gaze in awe at the record which is 4 hours something.
My wife has done it and said roughly the same things.
We organise 24hr adventure races here (i race semi-pro) and have started to do cloverleaf events so that there is no need for crew and/or driving. We also operate them on an expenses + donation format so if we have expenses to cover we recoup them and then if people want to donate we specify a charity and give them it. Its normally the local hospice as our mate Tom died in there age 33 from melanoma. Anyway, something like that will be more enjoyable or a Rat Race or an Ace Race or antying other than driving for hours to walk up a mountain.
Blimey, reading this you'd think it was on par to asking for sponsorship for a marathon baby-eating record attempt or something, people need to get a grip.
I did it as a kid in school - it's a great challenge for kids or people who don't get out into the hills much. It's a useful event to promote hill-walking and exercise in that sense.
I couldn't really recommend it to most people on here though, most of whom are fit outdoors people in any case. It's not a challenge, because it's dead easy, it involves huge amounts of driving, and it just won't provide the sense of awe or wonder. Being at the top of Scafell at midnight = Wow! for a 17 year old lad who'd never been up a mountain. Now, not so much.
I guess for me the point is everyone else in the group probably isn't so "outdoorsy" or as fit as I am but they invited me along for the fun and team spirit of it!
I can understand people's views on driving lots, but then most of us drive lots anyway to trail centres, we all fly on holiday so it's not going make any difference to the environment just because I'm not going to do it!
Also erodes the lanscape but the hills are there for walking and enjoying and that's what we would be doing!
As for a marathon far to dull and boring! Think i'd rather enter a 12 hour roadie time trial!!!!!
Blimey, reading this you'd think it was on par to asking for sponsorship for a marathon baby-eating record attempt or something, people need to get a grip.
No, people are just saying that its an irresponsible thing to do, which it is. You need to get a grip if you think that having a jolly time and being able to boast about how extreme you are at work justifies making people's lives a nightmare and spoiling beautiful areas of the country. Half the ppl I know who did this 'for charity' didn't even raise barely any money at all.
so it's not going make any difference to the environment just because I'm not going to do it!
Also erodes the lanscape but the hills are there for walking and enjoying and that's what we would be doing!
Yes but you are ignoring the fact that it's making Wasdale a nightmare for local residents every single weekend in the summer (plus a load more), while not even spending any money to help support the local economy. Why choose to do this?
I can understand people's views on driving lots, but then most of us drive lots anyway to trail centres, we all fly on holiday so it's not going make any difference to the environment just because I'm not going to do it!
I don't think the travelling is really people's main issue with it (other than to point out that it's really a driving challenge rather than a walking challenge).
Read Stu's link again!
A marathon isn't boring if you train hard and actually "race" rather than just aiming to finish. Try and get a good finishing position within your age group, that would be a good challenge.
Also, have you considered trail/fell races? Look at the calendar on
or how about:
http://www.matlockac.org.uk/wpmara.htm
?
If it has to be walking then maybe:
The travelling thing is only part of it - personally I can think of better challenges to do that don't involve being in a car for 14hrs but it's the fact that you're causing large amounts of noise and disruption to rural communities while not giving them any benefit of being there (spending money in B&B's, cafes etc).
You always end up being in a large group whether you want to or not and 400 walkers in the space of 2hrs causes far more damage to the trails and surrounding countryside than 400 walkers over 3 days - there's simply not enough space there for everyone so people end up walking off the path and damaging the ground. It seems weird to be raising money for charity while simultaneously forcing other charities (National Trust etc) to spend their hard-earned money repairing the damage you've caused.
The idea has it's merits but it's the fact that there's no set date for it, it happens EVERY weekend throughout summer and every Monday there's a massive pile of litter round the carparks, the verges are chewed up by the sheer number of vehicles that have charged along the narrow roads and Mtn Rescue will have been called out each time at 3am to rescue some **** who went up there without a headtorch.
At least something like the OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) benefits the local community - it's one weekend of heavy traffic and hassle but loads of people stay there for a week or so, spending their money in the local shops/B&B's etc and it doesn't have the same erosion impact since not everyone is going the same route up the same hills.
To be fair, whilst I'm a lot more into that sort of thing than Munqe-chick, and could actually race one properly if I put my mind to it, I still reckon a marathon is pretty boring. We've suggested plenty of more interesting things though (and good call on the fell races and LDW challenges).
Not sure how you can even mention OMM in the same context, crazy-legs! Nothing at all like it, with people following lots of different routes, taking home their own rubbish and not waking people up in the small hours. Not to mention that 99% of OMM competitors are more capable of looking after themselves in the hills than 99% of 3 peakers.
A mountain marathon is of course another good idea for a challenge - or if you want to stay with biking there is always Polaris.
Our club did it 2 years ago as a charity thing....we took 6 days and cycled between the peaks, 512 miles of cycling from North Wales...Didn't half wipe the smiles off peoples faces when we told them what we were doing!..proper challenge and ace fun.
one van support for 7 of us and train back from Fort Bill before anyone gets precious about our carbon footprint!
In relation to running and marathons I'm just saying that running for more thatn 1 1/2 hours on the road bores me senseless and hence I know I would not train enough to enter a marathon competitively and I don't see the point of running ti just to finish (as I know I could).
I really loved the helly hansen adventure races especially as doing it in a team of 3 was so much more fun. Anything involving MTBing and I'm game! Running off road I like as well however Bicester is sh*** for it and there's no dam hills! Roll on the move back to Cardiff (whenever that may be in the future).
I have taken people's views on board in relation to the 3 peaks so I'll think about it.
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