This blog describes Manny Gorman's successful round of all 219 Corbetts in 70 days, in one continuous journey by running, cycling and sailing.

Manny's 70 Day Schedule

The Corbetts are Scottish hills between 2,500 and 3,000ft, with at least 500ft ascent on all sides.

"You're an idiot, but a truly inspirational one!" (Stuart Simpson)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Number crunching instead of bones...

Well, after months of poring over maps, gps routes and endlessly checking contours I have come up with some figures to put against the 70 days.

Sailing approx 200 - 250 miles, no gps confirmation so simply measured off maps.
On foot - 998 miles & 420,673ft of ascent
On road bike - 1115 miles & 91,324ft of ascent
On MTB - 295 miles & 31,645ft of ascent

Total 2408 miles & 543,642ft of ascent

The bike and foot miles are almost exactly what I pre estimated, but the ascent is surprising.
I had thought the on-foot ascent would be considerably more, but have checked it quite carefully so can accept it.
The on-bike ascents were a big shock - 123,000ft!! I hadn't counted on that.
I have been as careful as I can with manual map checks but it is still an amazing figure, but becomes more believeable when you break it down to a per mile figure of only 87ft, despite the lumpy west coast of Scotland!

There have been many happy post mortems & parties of the Round and I hope to soon have a manageable selection of of the some 5000 photos ready for a few slide shows/beers for all my friends who came along and made it possible - and of course anyone else who fancies it!

Since the disasterous bike crash Brenny is slowly on the mend and the last visit to Raigmore confirms the healing is going as well as expected. Yesterday was a huge milestone in that recovery process when she completed (very carefully!) the Meall a Bhuachaile hill race in the Cairngorms to not only complete the Scottish Hill Runners Championship and claim her prized SHR completion mug, but also in the process claimed 1st place in the Westies Summer League hill racing championship! We couldn't have guessed at such a fantastic finish to such a dramtic season for both of us, but now at least Brenny can sit back and soak up her own personal achievement after many weeks of pain!
A note of thanks to JD for being the first person to congratulate her on the line.
It was much appreciated.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at one of the slide shows.

Manny