Episode 31 - Solo on Lakes Classic Rock Round with Shane Ohly

Go Mountain Goats

Shane Ohly tells me about his incredible record on the Lake District Classic Rock Round, a 50 kilometre route linking 15 classic climbs from the 1978 book 'Classic Rock' by Ken Wilson. In 2020, Will Birkett and Tom Randall battled as they each brought the record down. Shane watched from the sidelines nursing an injury but knowing that he possessed the unique skill set to bring this down even further. Shane left school obsessed with climbing and went on to become a sponsored pro, establishing new routes up to E8 and onsight solos to E7. Living in Cornwall he often ended up climbing alone, and so became a prolific soloist, culminating in his '500 routes in a day' on the Grit with John Arran in 2003. Later, he moved into mountain marathons and endurance running, clocking consistent podium results in Elite length mountain marathons for over a decade. He held the Winter Ramsay's Round record between 2008 and 2012 and broke Martin Stone's record for a solo unsupported midwinter Bob Graham round in 2020. Shane talks about his 3 year meticulous planning process for Classic Rock, which saw him spend over 30 days learning and memorising the rock climbs and running route. Using this approach he was able to keep the risk acceptable for him, and he talks through his logic and justifications. Executing the round in ideal conditions in August 2022 he describes a near perfect day of flow state which saw him reduce Will Birkett's record of 10h 41m to an incredible 9h 22m. Shane is the founder of Ourea Events who provide some of the most challenging mountain running events in the UK such as the Dragon's Back, Cape Wrath Ultra and Glencoe Skyline. Please see Episode 14 for an interview with Josh Jardine (which is weirdly the exact same length as this episode) on the pairs record for the Lakes Classic Rock Round, and Episode 10 for Martin Stone's 1987 solo unsupported mid winter Bob Graham Round.