In October 2022 Victoria Thompson and Janie Oates came First in the Female category of the Elite OMM, and were the only female team to finish in this category since 2016. The OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) is a 2 day test of navigation and mountain craft held in late October each year, typically in harsh weather conditions. It was first held in 1968 and occurs in a different geographic area each year, with competitors having to carry all food and equipment such as tent and stove, navigating through a series of checkpoints to a midway camp, then doing it all again on Day 2 after a suboptimal sleep. There are various distance courses (Elite, A, B), as well as Score courses (3 distances - these courses are about choosing checkpoints to collect in a given time).

We talk about what made them want to take on this challenge, the preparation and the wet event weekend itself, as well as getting into some of the potential barriers to women in this type of event, and hill running in general.

This chat was inspired by an interview of Janie and Victoria at Kendal Mountain Festival 2022 by Becky Vale.

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