ULTRALIGHT SHELTER FOR ULTRA RUNNERS Text: Jenny Wikman
Just like cheese and wine go together, Terra Nova’s iconic Laser Competition tents have become synonymous with ultra running. It’s especially obvious every time the legendary Original Mountain Marathon takes place. Every year, the campsite is dominated by this Guinness World Record-breaking tent. The tent weighs just 970 g for the one-person model and 1230 g for the two-person version. For a classic double-weave tent with connected inner and outer, plus a spacious apsis, that’s not half bad! With a whopping 6000 mm water column on the floor and 5000 mm in the outer weave, Terra Nova beats most of its competitors when it comes down to performance per gram. Black magic, you ask? Not really. The secret is in how the thin fabric walls are treated with a stubborn silicone coating that keeps wet weather at bay. And, of course, the charm of sleeping tightly packed in the tent like anchovies in a tin, with tent fabric flapping about your face on windy nights. Hey, we never said this was a tent for spoiled glampers! On the contrary – this is a no-frills refuge for warriors with GPS watches and aching feet. The legendary race OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) might be the true definition of a suffer-fest. Two days of running up mountain ridges through thick brush and wet bogs – all while carrying a fully loaded backpack for a self-supported night of camping in the
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mountains. And all of this in dismal October weather. In Great Britain. Let’s put it this way: raingear is a must. In 2008, the whole race fell apart, and all competitors were forced to pull out. Some participants got stuck in the mountains overnight since the flooding had cut them off from the base camp and carparks. Despite this, the runners weren’t too far outside their comfort zone – many of them were experienced outdoors people and Mountain Rescue members. 2008 was, of course, an exceptional year and the only time the competition has been cancelled since its beginning in 1968. But it clearly shows how close to the edge this race exists. OMM’s founder Gerry Charnley began the tradition with some alpinists and running friends. He was a big fan of orienteering, a sport that Britain adopted soon after its invention in Scandinavia. The plan was to design the ultimate mix of mountain craft, merging orienteering skills, mountain knowledge and good old-fashioned grit. Apart from physical strength and endurance, how well you do depends
on how well you can deal with technical terrain, demanding weather, the gear you pack and how well you navigate. No GPS devices are allowed – only a traditional compass paired with a classic map that you’re given at the starting line. The map includes several control points that need to be reached and ticked off, but the route you take between them is entirely up to you. OMM is the type of competition where smart gear and route decisions influence the result far more than running technique. Or as triple OMM winner and Laser camper Shane Ohly once put it: “It’s about being very good at lots of things, rather than the best pure runner.” Nowadays, the Laser Competition has evolved into the Laser Compact. The tent stays the same, but the poles have been shortened to decrease total packing length. Small enough to hang from the handlebars, it now suits bikepackers and ultra runners alike. Perhaps it’s time for a new suffer-fest, on two wheels. An Original Mountain Giro? OMG!
