The Green Man Challenge celebrates Bristol, a green city in the midst of the countryside, as part of the Forest of Avon.
The Challenge follows the course of the Community Forest Path around Bristol, with some minor alterations mainly for safety's sake. This scenic route, girdling the city, is advertised as 45 miles long by the Forest of Avon Team, who created and maintain the Path, although G.P.S. measurements have varied from 44.7 to 48.6 miles. Step-by-step directions, in the form of an Adobe Acrobat* PDF file, can be obtained by clicking here. *To download a FREE copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to the WAYFINDER page, see above.
Up until now, all those who have accepted the Green Man Challenge have run the whole 45 miles as individuals or in pairs in under 12 hours to qualify as Woodwoses.
If you have already done this, contact The Gaveller to claim your Woodwose certificate.
But there are at least two other ways to do it.
- Walk the whole course in under 24-hours.
- Run the course as part of a relay team.
These achievements would be equally impressive, but no-one has reported doing either to The Gaveller. Perhaps walkers are too modest and a relay requires too much in the way of organisation. To encourage people to take up these challenges, we suggest that people who walk the course between twelve and twenty-four hours, or take part in a relay team that completes the course in under twelve hours should be known as Wistmen after the mysterious Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor.
If you have already done that, contact The Gaveller to claim your certificate.
It has been suggested that it is possible to walk the course in less than twelve hours and to run it as relay team in less than six hours. If this is true, participants would obviously qualify as Woodwoses.
WARNING: These challenges are a serious undertaking, so it is important to prepare well in advance if you attempt either.
There are three problems: 1) Nutrition, including water; 2) navigation and 3) communication.
1) Your muscles run on glycogen. How far you can run depends on the size of your glycogen stores. These can be increased by training, but no-one has big enough glycogen stores to run 45 miles; so you will need to top up your levels by taking in carbohydrates and water to metabolise the stuff as you go along. You need to train your body to do this in advance otherwise the sugars may just make you feel sick. Personal accounts from people who have completed The Challenge to become Woodwoses contain helpful information about this and can be found on the TACH website and on the Gaveller's weblog.
2) You need to have the map-reading skills to navigate the route safely. It is helpful if you have familiarised yourself with the route by exploring it in stages before you make your attempt. Be aware that road crossings are a particular hazard when you are tired. Step-by-step directions, in the form of an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, can be obtained by clicking here. In addition, take a look at Martin Berkeley's Runreplay site, here, for a view of the entire route from above.
The Gaveller's weblog also indicates where people have gone wrong in the past.
3) You should not attempt these challenges except as part of a team. You may be able to carry all the food and water you need on your back, and you may be the best navigator in the world, but if you break your leg or have a seizure of some sort, you will only get out of the situation if you have some support on the other end of a mobile phone. Therefore, you need a mobile phone and some one you can trust at the other end. If you need such support check out the here. Personal accounts from people who have completed the challenge to become Woodwoses can be found on the TACH website and on the Gaveller's weblog. [To download the latest free version of Adobe Acrobat ReaderTM, go to the Wayfinder page].
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