Hi Mick,
Thanks for your comments, as you know it is yourself that got me started on this C2C thing, and I have to say I have loved every (even the painful bits) minute of it.
As for the Dragons Back race, Damn! it is sold out! At least they don't have to be self sufficient as in most mountain marathons, but then again it is over 5 days and not the usual 2.
Re your 150 mile line, I have meaning to PM you to ask whether you would mind letting me have a copy. I have sort of worked some kind of line, not measured it yet or counted the contours, but it involves going by Fairfield but not over its summit.
I remember your line was by Tebay, Ambleside and Sty Head, so can roughly work out the rest through the Lakes apart from the Dent area, but what about the other side of Tebay?
Dave.

Very territorial too! Especially if any other units tried to have a drink in the pubs they frequented near their bases, as we found out in Aldershot and Osnabruck.
Dave.

Dave, how much food would you need?
Guessing around a kilo a day..?

More than I originally thought is the straight answer!
I didn't think I ate that much during my last two crossings and have always thought that somehow I get away with very Calories.
However after Tonys post about calorie numbers required etc. I sat down and with the help of a nutritional website wrote down all that I consumed, along with the Calorific values, during my last C2C.
It went like this:-
Day 1. Calories - 2,100
2. .. - 2,500
3. .. - 3,700
4. .. - 4,100
5. .. - 1,600 plus a snack and later full
meal after I had finished.
That just shows how my intake need increased with each day giving an average 3,000 calories per day.
However to carry all that lot would come in at around a Kilo a day, so perhaps 4 Kilo in total? That would obviously decrease as time went on, but is a lot to carry for the first two days especially.
I don't know, it will either be something like that or just going for the straightest line as fast as possible.
Dave.

Should read 'very few calories (end 2nd line)

Dave, what about uncooked foods for the four or five days - that way you can ditch the cooking gear and fuel and put that weight into extra food. I recall you mentioned you always want a hot drink in the morning, but the extra calories could give you the edge. You could always boost your morning water by adding an energy supplement too. (Just think 'nice cup of tea' while your slugging it!)

Out of interest, here are some calorie values I got off a lightweight site. (unverified)
Dried fruits (I believe papaya packs a wallop) and mixed nuts seem to be 'tasty' powerhouses. Be fairly monotonous going 'uncooked' but it'd only be four days and you'd survive, and it'd maybe help you achieve your goal. Just a thought.
Cheers, Geo.
These are calories per ounce...

Olive oil.................240
Nuts, mixed..........170
Almonds................165
Peanuts.................160
Peanut Butter.......160
Tortilla Chips..........150
Potato Crisps........150
Chocolate.............140
Snickers Bar..........140
biscuits................130
Ramen Noodles....130
Cereal...................110
Crackers...............110
Granola................110
Noodles...............110
Pasta....................110
Sugar......................110
Fruit, dried............ 90
Raisins................... 90
Cheese.................. 80
Beef Jerky.............. 70
Bread..................... 70
Dried Vegetables... 70
Fruit........................ 20
Vegetables.............. 10




.

Dave,my estimate was based on the amount of calories burned during a marathon.A lot depends on your body weight,the more you weight the more calories you will burn.Add more weight in your pack and you will burn more calories.So if you weigh 140lb you will burn around 2,500 calories in a marathon but if you add a 20lb load you will be burning around 2,800 calories due to the extra amount of work the body has to do.When Fiennes and Stroud crossed Antarctica they burned around 8000 calories a day but part of that was due to having to eat more fat to fend off the extreme cold.Their diet was 55% fat.


Overall your nutritional intake was borderline and averaged itself out at 72 calories a mile.Running a mile in around ten minutes burns around 105 calories,walking a mile used half that,but a fast walk,may be somewhere in the region of 70-80 calories.This is just a rough guess as the weight of the pack and terrain has to be taken into account.If Mick is running he will require far more to eat as he is doing far more work despite covering the same distance.

When I ran a 24 hour track race my calories intake was around 12,000 and even then I lost around 8lb of body fat.To improve your time,perhaps to get inside four days,which you are obviously capable of,might mean increasing your nutritional intake by as much as 50%.

Don't forget jumping out of planes on the way.........

Just out of interest, here's what Geoff Bell carried on his succesful unsupported 5 day Pennine Way back in 1978:

Accolade Excellent - (isotonic drink drink mix) 11 (312gm)
Mars and Bounty Bars 1 12 (795gm)
Raven Savoury Risotto 1 6 1/2 (639gm)
Beef. Batchelors dehydrated 11 (312gm)
Biscuits 2 14 1/2 (1321 gm)
Coffee and Milk 1 1/2 (43gm)
Peanuts 10 (284gm)
Muesli. Home made 1 11 1/4 (774gm)
(Finished with 8 ozs muesli and a few biscuits which he gave to his dog)

4480 in total - less than a kilo a day.
Geoff carried just over 21 lbs in total (9.5kg)

I wonder how much weight he lost during the run? That diet might be adequate if you are going at a normal pace but it looks woefully inadequate for someone who is pushing themselves to their limit.