You know it's Christmas when...

Fab long run in the Peaks, to try and shake off some Christmas lethargy.

You know it's Christmas when you've got chocolate orange to eat on your run

Once again, the solitude and quiet overwhelmed me: a welcome break after the clamour of the Christmas festivities.

A huge happy Christmas and New Year : hope all dreams come true.

Ice ultra Feb 2020

I think this means I'm committed to this.... It looks insanely incredible. 230k in the Arctic???? Woah..

Now that's not a 10k down the river mersey

Stroud half marathon, 2019

This beautiful sunshiney morning saw myself and a couple of family members run in the Stroud half marathon race. A lovely race, quite flat, well supported.

This race was about completing, not racing, due to personal reasons. Playing Name that Tune helped get us through.

So proud to do this, so proud to be there.

Long live the long runs

A very funny article, Mind the Woods Trolls - A Reasonable Guide to Finishing Your First Ultra- was published on the on-line Runners World website recently, by a chap called Moriel Rothman-Zecher. He offers some humorous insights into long distance training, and concludes:

...'Because let's face it, it's quite strange to be alive, to be human, but in the midst of all this strangeness, it's a pretty damn beautiful gift to get to spend hours running, on pavement or on treadmills or on trails, alone or with company, for 100 miles or for one, laughing as you go. '


Brilliant thought.

I feel like I have been training all my life for some of these big events, not just the preceding months leading up to a mammoth race. Every training session works towards completing the race, or coping with a possible dnf.

But if I carry on laughing as I go, surely that keeps it real, and still keeps it special.

Grand Raid de Pyrenees 2019- things I , er, didn't like

There is no doubt that this event is massive, and I hope it will continue to be so, as ultra running continues to gain popularity. The organisation was incredible: I have no idea how difficult this set of races would be, to logistically arrange . A brilliant event in a beautiful environment.

I did find traveling to the area quite difficult, although not impossible. I would definitely get a morning flight and either hire a car or give myself more time to travel out there . As the event is held out of ski season, public transport and connections are more limited.

At a few of the checkpoints on the second day, I felt that the food was starting to run low . I was desperate for pasta or a proper meal , but I could only find snacks. Again, a lesson to myself, to always take more food then I think I might need.

This event was not runnable in the last third. There were numerous difficult climbs, at the stage when your energy levels had been depleted . Even the last 'down' stage into the village was a slippy, tricky, trail path. Stupidly, I did not anticipate that the race was going to be this hard! Another lesson for me; just the fact that the race held a 44 hour cut off, should have been a clue about how hard it would be.


What I absolutely loved about this race, is that it took me (and a couple of friends), to an area where we would not have visited. It took us completely off our beaten track, and allowed us to see an incredible, amazing, stunning part of France. Through running, we have once again been lucky enough to have novel experiences, interesting stories to tell. No amount of blisters and achey legs will diminish the pleasure of that. Grand Raid de Pyrenees, I am grateful for that.


That's my last big race of this year. Each one has been fantastic in a different way. I feel it has been a good running year for me; I know I haven't hit any podiums (and never will), but I've had an absolute blast. Time to kick back a bit, and think about what may come. Brilliant times indeed, with brilliant people. I couldn't ask for much more in life, and am still hugely thankful to friends and family who support, feign interest, and facilitate, these great running adventures of mine.

You all rock, guys.

Grand Raid de Pyrenees 2019- things I liked

Well, things I really enjoyed about this event....

It was such a beautiful place to run ! Exceptionally beautiful out there.

I found it a really friendly race, the staff were lovely, and other competitors were fun to be around. As far as I can work out, there were very few or no other Brits on the Circus tour. I had many interesting snippets of conversation in my limited French, and of course there were many comments about Brexit. It made the race all the more interesting for me.

The 10.00 a.m.start was ideal, as it meant only one night out on the race course. The whole event was very well marked with reflective strips every ten feet or so.

The finish of the race, at Vielle Aure, was absolutely electric, and probably the highlight . The village was filled with supporters, and running to the finish was an emotional, tremendous moment. Every finisher was made to feel like a superstar by the crowd. Sensational ending.

Grand Raid de Pyrenees 2019

Grand Raid de Pyrenees - Circus Trail-- this race is a magnificent monster. It is probably the hardest one stage I have run, to date. Add the Ccc with the Lavaredo, take the difficult parts of both, and there we are. I loved every minute of the first 80 k, then hated every minute thereafter. Moaning in my head - constantly.
This morning, I am so proud to have achieved this. I have blister on blisters, and needed painkillers just to try and sleep. Approx a third dropped out of the race I was in. I have no idea how competitors managed 220k. There was absolutely no running possible after 80k, just climbing, plodding, and a little bit of crying thrown in. My word.
Yesterday I thought never again..... Today, already, I think respect the challenge.

Ouch.

Finished at last....

Managed to finish in 36 hours 22mins. Disappointing time, but relieved to get to the end. Hard endurance event. Got there.

Grand Raid Pyrenees - 59 k

Well, sorry I haven't managed to put a pic on, there's no Internet access in the pyrenees....
59k in, a slow race - loads of climbing on stony uneven paths. It's been hot today, but OK up high. Amazing views, as hoped. One of the highlights so far was getting buzzed by the mountain rescue helicopter - brilliant

OK, legs are killing and I've got extra strong coffee to drink
Next checkpoint ages away, ugh.

Just waiting for the buses to the start.... Pre race panic....

Stunning stuff!!!!!

Registered for tomorrow

All registered... Its extremely hot up here....

Off to try and find the Pyrenees!!!!

Let's run with our dreams

Let's run with our dreams indeed guys.....

Excited about the mountains!!!

Getting so very excited about the prospect of running in the mountains again.....

Grand Raid of the Pyrenees - er, hopefully..

Next week, I am due to travel across to France to take part

in one of the races on the Grand Raid of the Pyrenees trail event. This will be the last long race planned this year, and a bit of a sneaky, opportune journey.

However, I say hopefully.... I have got a few very dubious travel arrangements, all my fault through dodgy planning. Despite all my efforts, one day has already been cut short due to no transport - it is a ski resort, and out of season transfers are proving impossible.
I am mentioning all this because it is kind of part of the whole running trip, the whole deal really. Two friends have agreed to tag along with me, so I will not be alone in my travels. It will be a journey indeed, and instead of a short jaunt to Europe, it feels like we are travelling half way across the world.

But, if we get there and I manage to register in time, the races look amazing. Trail running around the Pyrenees? Yippee, is all I can say. I am participating in the 'Circus' tour, a mere 120k, and not the Ultra which is a whopping 220. Elevation in the 120k is similar to the Eiger race, but the time limits are completely different - this race has a generous cut off of 44 hours compared to the tight limit of 26 hours imposed in the Eiger race.

What an opportunity, what an adventure.

Er, if we get there, that is.

Eiger ultra 2019- race stats

So, from what we could work out, 567 men started, 135 dnf'd. 95 females started, 25 dnf'd . First male came in at 11.38: first female at 14.05.

My 24.23 finish gave me a measly 58th finishing position, 25th in my category.

To be honest, I wasn't that interested in my finishing position, as long as I got there. Taking part in this, was reward enough. So very very lucky.

Eiger ultra trail 2019

What a beautiful race !

The weather was good to us : although hot, not too humid. Just a few light showers towards the end of the race, luckily, nothing to make the rocks too slippery to run.

In between mountains, it was pretty runnable. But....those mountains were huge !! As the profile outlined. Nothing apart from plodding for me. I felt well looked after, with continuous monitoring from the live tracking system, and many race staff at strategic tricky points.

The checkpoints were numerous, although I found the food pretty repetitive after a short time. I stuck to drinking the race carb drink, flat coke , and water. Peanuts, crisps, and nut flapjack was the order of my intake at each point. I tucked into my own bars and jelly sweets whilst out on the course.

The encouragement from the race staff was well accepted and enthusiastic.

For me, highlights included running across a skywalk at the First cable car checkpoint; watching the sunrise over the mountain range ; sitting at a checkpoint located at a Swiss train station, while work was being carried out overnight on the carriages ; meeting and chatting to numerous lovely lovely people. Ultimately, making my way across the base of the north face of the Eiger, in the dark, past the Eiger train stop window, was the biggest buzz of all.


Insane, beautiful, glorious, exciting running.

Such an amazing opportunity, such an amazing race.

Massive thanks

Huge thanks for all the good vibes and support I've had for doing this race, there's been alot of love for this.
Especial thanks to the two girlies Roz and Caroline, for succumbing to the idea of travelling out here for race weekend, in the first place. It transpires they have spent practically the whole night watching runners lights come down along the Eiger, and watching my tracking dot. Then they still managed to wait at the finish line at four in the morning, to meet a very smelly and slightly disorientated runner. It would certainly not have been as fun if they hadn't been there : ladies, you're both brilliant. Race pics to come

What an amazing adventure

Finished approx 24.5 hours. Chuffed. What an amazing race

23 k to go

I am at the weirdest checkpoint ever, in a train station - the jungfrau bahn. Brilliant

53k

Just hit 53k check point trying to refuel with pasta and coke

20k in insanely beautiful

Just leaving

They're all finished and looking good!

Eiger trail surprise

The girlies have gone off on the eiger trail surprise event, a 12k race, through.... Er... A nice big mountain pass. Good luck ladies, looking good. A hot start for the race.

Registered

All registered now!!!

Is this one of the most scenic start lines in the world.....