Eiger ultra trail 2019

As the excitement of the lakeland trail race starts to ebb, it is replaced with this. Next week, I get to fly out to Switzerland with a couple of friends, to attempt the Eiger Ultra trail.

Oh. My. Word.


This trip has been months in the plotting and planning. I have wanted to see the Eiger for a long long time. Get to run there? You have got to be kidding, I cannot believe my luck.

This event looks so hard, to me, that I wasn't going to apply for it. But, dreams should be big. It is 100k with 6,700m overall elevation. That is an humungous amount of up.

Oh. My.

On the Ultra Trail World Tour series. It looks phenomenal, out of this world

Lakeland trails 2019 100k - a few stats

Well, it was a really enjoyable event for me.


According to the website, a distance of around 100k, with approx 10,000 ft elevation, travelling over five mountain passes.

A little more than undulating.

And I seriously felt those passes.


140 competitors started at midnight, unfortunately 38 had to pull as the race unfolded. First male came in at twelve hours, three minutes : first female finisher sixteen hours and forty.
A finishing position of 65 suited me well, with a time of twenty hours and eight minutes.

Loved this, that's all I can say.

Lakeland trails 100k 2019

A difficult, extremely picturesque event.

This year we were so lucky. We had a warm, lovely midnight start. It remained overcast and dry throughout the day, although energy sapping humidity was in abundance. Plenty of food at the checkpoints, lots of happy marshals.

Incredible scenery en route : trotting beside Haweswater at four o'clock in the morning, just at sunrise, proved to be heartbreakingly beautiful. The arduous climbing resulted in backdrops of fells and lakes - what a pleasure to run in the lake district. To me, it is and always will be, a stunning and dramatically beautiful area to run.

We finished at 20.08: once again, I could not have gone any faster. I found it unrunnable for a larger amount than I would have liked. This race would be a difficult introduction to ultra running. The humidity, climbing, and relentless uneven terrain sapped my energy hugely. At a couple of points I felt I had given everything I could manage for the day - but still you continue, as is the true requirement of any endurance event. I was pleased with our finishing time. Many, many good memories from this event.

Finished twenty hours and eight minutes, yikes it was hard