I’m not a runner but fancy doing the Ramsey Round in late summer.
How feasible is it for a non runner to achieve this and what training plan should I undertake?
I walk 5 miles a day 2 of which are uphill to 1500ft and swim hard for 5 miles a week.
Achievable or not? Plus I’m fifty.
How much experience of (very) long walks on rough terrain with lots of ascent do you have? That's potentially more relevant than being a runner.
By long I mean 10-12 hrs or more.
I would be interested to follow your progress if you were to embark on such an endeavour.
Also, will you be able to commit time to getting familiar with the route or failing that find people who are familiar to help you out? If you're going to be borderline on the 24hrs one of those is pretty much essential.
The BG might be a better choice in that regard if it's closer to you.
I did my RR at 41 off the back of 3 months training. I hadn't run much for about 6 months before that but had done a couple of Mountain Marathons the year before, quite a few long hill days and a few races. I also had a lot of experience of big days out climbing and ski touring. Those three months were pretty intense from my point of view but not actually massive distances from a regular runner's point of view. My peak week was about 55 miles and 6000m of ascent mainly as two big weekend days which I think is really important.
The key thing in training is time on your feet. You don't need to be a brilliant runner to do the RR or BG but you do need to be able to move relatively quickly and efficiently over rough ground for a long time and that takes a while to build up for most people.
You will hear stories of people doing it on very little training but that's rarely the full story and you'll hear way more stories of people who are regular runners that have prepared thoroughly failing on it.
I don't know you, your history or your circumstances so I wont say it's impossible but it would be a very big ask and many regular hill runners would allow twice the time for preparation.
> I’m not a runner but fancy doing the Ramsey Round in late summer.
Do you mean doing the Ramsay Round in under 24 hrs, or just doing the Ramsay Round? I've not done it (or likely to) but the stamina needed to keep going fast for 24 hrs, over 58 miles and 23 Munros must be quite monumental. I think you'll only find out if its achievable by doing longer and longer runs over the hills.
> Do you mean doing the Ramsay Round in under 24 hrs, or just doing the Ramsay Round?
If it's not under 24 it's not a Ramsay Round!
I did that 3 peaks thing in 18.5 hrs but that was 20 years and 3 stones ago. Recently I don’t walk more than 7 hours in the hills.
> I did that 3 peaks thing in 18.5 hrs but that was 20 years and 3 stones ago. Recently I don’t walk more than 7 hours in the hills.
Not sure what you mean there? Which 3 peaks and are you saying you're 3 stone over your fighting weight now? Sorry, but it's not looking good for you mate!
Thanks. I’ve just realised the enormity of the undertaking and probably need to lower my short term goals/)
> Not sure what you mean there? Which 3 peaks and are you saying you're 3 stone over your fighting weight now? Sorry, but it's not looking good for you mate!
The Ben Nevis etc one. I do think it’s a pipe dream now but never say never . I suppose the first step is getting some new Walshies then out the door
> If it's not under 24 it's not a Ramsay Round!
Its my belief that 'The Ramsay Round' can be done as a walk, possibly over several days, see https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/publications/guidebooks/the_big_rounds_by_d...
The Tranter round is a good intermediate goal. To give you an idea of what's required for a Ramsay, how long would you expect to take to get to the top of Ben Nevis by the tourist path? If you go clockwise on the RR you need to do that in something like 1.5hrs. And then carry on for another 22.5...
> Its my belief that 'The Ramsay Round' can be done as a walk, possibly over several days,
Yes, you can walk the route in as long as you like and it would be a splendid thing but Charlie Ramsay's Round needs to be done in 24hrs.
As I recollect, the Ben took us 3hrs up and down quite a few years ago. I think that I need to rebuild upto this over a few years
You could speed hike a Tranter round in less than the allocated 24hrs. That would give you a feel for how much work you need to do for a Ramsey.
£25 to the lochaber MRT if you manage it*. Can't say fairer than that!
*The Ramsay Round pedants
And as a warm-up to trying the Tranter, maybe just aim for a hike/run around the Mamores first and see how you get on with that.
Why not start training now for a potential attempt in 18 months?
Lots of good advice as usual. I've not done it either, but have run quite a few ultras now of similar and greater distance but have built up to this over the best part of a decade.
The biggest thing I learned was that its not really about running fitness - its about teaching your body that it can go on and there's no short cut to that. I think it's called the Central Governor Theory - basically your brain shuts down your ability to carry on before you do yourself irreparable harm - so the first time you're running 60 miles it freaks out and you fail (well I did anyway). After a few more attempts, you're maybe a bit fitter but not necessarily so, but your brain has realised you can afford to go on and you wonder what all the fuss was about.
Obviously everyone is different so I would expect there to be variations on how affected by this different people are, but it seems to hold with my experience.
Anyway, good luck in whatever you do - the fun in trail running isn't in the race goal, it should be in the hundreds of hours of time out in the hills training
Why not sit down and make a list of hill days that you can do as training. Roughly speaking you can order them by total ascent and distance. You can then work through them ticking them off each weekend and see how far you get towards the RR.
I can't imagine you'd progress fast enough unless you also ran mid week, maybe three days.
> I can't imagine you'd progress fast enough unless you also ran mid week, maybe three days.
Highly unlikely that someone with little to no running background would be able to do that sort of training.
> If it's not under 24 it's not a Ramsay Round!
Not sure why some people have disliked this, that's what the round is, the route within the time. If you finish in 24hrs and one second you've still done a difficult thing and depending on your expectations something to be proud of but you haven't done Charlie Ramsay's Round!
> Highly unlikely that someone with little to no running background would be able to do that sort of training.
Depends how far they run.
It really depends on your strength and general robustness.
Have you read Feet in the Clouds? he talks about fit V fell fit. It's that fell fitness you need.
I'm pretty fit at the moment but have lost my mountain fitness somewhat. I can still go out and put in 12-20 hour days but it hurts more than it used to than when I lived in the mountains. If you have a bigger hiking/mountaineering background in many ways that is better than a running background. Especially for the Ramsay which is pretty much a hard hike over rough terrain. There's not much running on these rounds.
> Depends how far they run.
I think that the point was doing the amount of running you would need to do, in six months, from zero, is basically injury waiting to happen.
> Not sure why some people have disliked this, that's what the round is, the route within the time. If you finish in 24hrs and one second you've still done a difficult thing and depending on your expectations something to be proud of but you haven't done Charlie Ramsay's Round!
Quote from The Big Rounds "Charlie is clear that the round does not have to be completed in 24 hours"
> Quote from The Big Rounds "Charlie is clear that the round does not have to be completed in 24 hours"
That's a bit out of context.
I'm pretty sure Charlie would be delighted to hear of anyone doing his route in whatever time but if you want your name on his list of Ramsay Round finishers it needs to be in under 24 hrs. Look at the title of his webpage "The Classic Sub 24hr Scottish Mountain Challenge"
The BG is the same. The Paddy Buckley is slightly different in that no maximum time is specified
Hmm. I may just manage it in under 24 years, piecemeal like, if I get my skates on. Actually, I may already be too late....
Thanks so much everyone for your time and advice.
My background is mainly hillwalking and never for more than 8 hours per day.
I’ve taken a reality check and have a plan.....
Ok.
Firstly await the delivery of some suitable footwear.
Start the 3 mile hilly wooded run that I used to do with my last dog. Plenty of Fartlek training on that route. Say 3x per week for a month.
Then add in once a week a five miler that I used to do on Moel Famau.
Once my legs are moving a bit, then I will run bits in my boots on my monthly hill walks until February when I’m in the Lakes for a week.
Here, I will do a couple of the local horseshoes running where ever I can.
By this stage I should be a stone lighter/).
Main plan for next year is the Fisherfield Munro’s over 2 days, walk in and complete the hills then wild camp and out.
Sounds good.
> Once my legs are moving a bit, then I will run bits in my boots on my monthly hill walks
I'd say ditch the boots and do the hill walks in your fell shoes. Or if you want to keep the boots on concentrate on going up hill faster rather than running flats or downs in them.
> I'd say ditch the boots and do the hill walks in your fell shoes. Or if you want to keep the boots on concentrate on going up hill faster rather than running flats or downs in them.
I was going to say that as well.
I wear Sealskinz with my running shoes when it's a bit wet or snowy. I once even waded a burn with them. Never boots.
Thanks, that’s what I will do weather depending. I did the 3 peaks in walshies.
> Then add in once a week a five miler that I used to do on Moel Famau.
If the Clwyds are handy for you, there’s all sorts of possibilities to build up to. Look up any of the summer fell race routes - Hotfoot, Green Grass, Llangynhafnal, Beast, Druid etc. A bit longer - Excalibur half and full, end to end, sea to summit. Famau’s Five - 5 ways to the summit. The gully is memorable!
> Main plan for next year is the Fisherfield Munro’s over 2 days, walk in and complete the hills then wild camp and out
If you're going to manage the RR then you should aim to do the Fisherfield 6 in comfortably less than a single day...
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