10 peaks challenge

It has been a long time since I have been in the lake district, more than a year which is longer than I'd normally like to leave it after discovering it's magnificence a few years back. Usually I am not here for an event (unless you count the Anniversary Waltz which I managed to come last in last year). The excuse to nip up there this time was to run the 10 peaks challenge, climbing the 10 biggest peaks in the lake district. 24 hour cut off and I'd have to finish in 16 hours to make it back to Keswick for the famous Cow Pie dinner. 45miles and 5600 meters of elevation. How hard can it be? We had our feet in the clouds. That give me an idea for a book..

We started at 4am at the base of Helvelyn, 951m, one of the bigger peaks. 200 odd runners plodded single file up a steep climb up some rock steps to the summit, it took nearly an hour and by the top by which time the sun had risen and the day looked glorious. one down, a nice down hill bit of running and we were well into this.

I was doing this as Ben Cope wanted to do something epic in his 30th year and what better than smashing your legs on some of Britains finest rock. It wasn't just rock though, there were bogs everywhere. It has pissed it down in England for a month and everywhere was soaked. Luckily the weather today was perfect, glorious sunshine and no rain. In the first running of this event no one finished due to the bad weather.

I was also with Mike Wilcox who was running like a dog who had never been out for a run before, jumping over and into things and generally being stupid. Two of his friends Tim and Oli were with us too, they knew the way along with Ben and so we were determined to stick with them.

We climbed another two significant peaks before being told that those don't count in the 10 peaks they are just smaller peaks that you have to climb to get up the the main peaks. So after 4 hours of climbing up and down and up and down we were still only on one peak. That Cow Pie might not happen now.

It was really hard even on the flat grassy bits as there was water everywhere and I made a very poor choice of shoe. Much as I love these shoes they were certainly not fell shoes and not good for kicking rocks which I was doing a lot. I lost my shoe once and spent much of the time on my arse, at some point sliding down a hill faster than I could ever hope to run down.

Finally we managed to get to the second peak Bowfell, 902m tall. It was frustrating that we had to climb up and down three others to get there.

The terrain here is brutal. It brought back wonderful memories of the Barkley race in April as to just how difficult it is to get any momentumn on here at all. There was some running down Helwelyn but from then on we were just hiking. Going down was hard, we were staggering around like Bambi. I don't think any of us were any good at it. I thought the Bob Graham Round might be doable by me but now I am certain it's not as I can't go down anything at any pace.

I thought about how this compares to Barkley. The climbs are as severe. The distance and total elevation is about a third of the Barkley so the time limit of 24 hours is quite tight. The only difference is that where there are rocks here in Tennesse there are dead trees. On the beautiful clear day you could see all around and it reminded me of Frozen Head Park. This is definitely good training.

We did the next few peaks in quick succession which was great. Great End, 910 m, Ill Crag, 935 m, Broad Crag, 934 m and Scafell Pike, 978 m all seemed to fall away quickly. I had never been up Englands highest mountain before and so getting up Scafell Pike was a novelty. There were a lot of tourists up there. We then headed straight off to climb Scarfel which was a bit lower but a harder climb and one with two options. One involved a rake and another a fox and a tarn. We took the foxes tarn and regretted it as it took a lot longer climbing up a waterfall and up a load of scree. It took ages to get up there. There was an option of not doing this climb and incuring a 1 hour penalty. We did this then had to go up scafell pike again to get back onto the course, taking about 2 and a half hours. At this point we lost Oli and Tim who had gone up the rake.

So, 7 peaks done in about 9 hours, seemed like we were doing well but we were hardly into it yet. The next peak was bloody miles away.

Great Gable, 899 m, was some climb. We could see it in the distance for ages before climbing it. It was here when the estimated finish time went from "guaranteed cow pie" to "no way are we going to get this done before midnight". That made me grumpy. I wanted a cow pie.

Going up Great Gable was hard enough, coming off it was stupid. There was a long line of us scrambling down the scree, trying to stay on our feet but slipping all over the place and kicking rocks down the hill. I though if enough people did this all the rocks would end up on the bottom which would make this a lot easier. I yelled at a rock and told it to fuck off, something I have not done since the Marathon Des Sables a few years back. I had a proper sense of humour failure coming down that hill, we were told at the top that the next checkpoint was only 1k away and it was downhill. Still took us half an hour and at the bottom we were told that after 8 peaks we were still only about half way through the race. Bugger.

The next stop was an epic journey to Pillar, I think the smallest of the peaks but by far the longest hike to get to. We could see it in the distance but it was still over a load of rocks. On the way here we saw Carla Denneny coming the other way who had already down Pillar. I thought she was just ahead but I was not quite prepared for just how far we had to go. We were warned about false peaks on this and we sure did get some of those.

After a load of walking on the flat but still tripping over rocks we headed for the peak in the distance. It drew near and up we went, I commented that at least we were half way up so didn't have to go up a whole peak. It did not seem to make it any easier though and later on their way down we saw Tim and Oli coming off the peak and they told us it's about another half an our to the top. I did not quite believe them as I was pretty sure we were near the top and sure enough about 5 minutes later we were at the top. Of a different peak. Scafel Waterfall

Pillar was way ahead, which meant going down and then back up again. FFS. I was quite grumpy now and my feet were sore from kicking rocks. Itdid indeed take another half an hour to get to the top of the other peak and then back down, back up then back down into the swamp and rocks. They really should have tarmaced this place for some sort of ultra skateboarding event in the Olympics. I think at some point I was resigned to not having anything to eat whenever I crawled back into Keswick later so I texted Gemma to tell her to get me lots of milkshake for the finish. On coming back from Pillar we had a nice section heading to Honiston Pass where we'd get some hot food which we were all looking forward to. Mike had already deicded to drop and I was tempted but the promise of a "nice flat run to Keswick and then only Skidaw left" seemed to keep me in the race.

We got the checkpoint and had a jacket potato and chilli which went down very nice except that we too were getting eaten by the midges. Ben and I waited for about 20 minutes but did not see him come in. He got lost apparently in a dehydrated daze. Ben and I pushed on, and what better way to start the nice flat run into Keswick than with a bloody great big muddy hill.

I think it was a combination of slipping and kicking a rock, really hurting my foot and getting a bounceback from the text message about the milkshake that made me quit. I was done. I fell in love with the idea of getting back to the B&B before midnight and having a normal nights sleep. I felt sorry for Ben who wanted to keep going and I was going to bail on him but I just could not be arsed with this anymore and justified it to myself by saying that I might injure myself on those rocks in the dark and that would make Spartathlon training hard. I really quit because I have become a quitter of late.

So I urged Ben to catch up with a couple of guys in front while I took the road to Keswick. I got back around 11pm and had a cold cow pie waiting for me. I didn't really deserve it but I ate it anyway. The shingle down Great Gable

Ben finished in 23.30, half an hour inside the cut-off having had a miserable time descending Skiddaw with blistered feet. Tim, Oli and Carla finished sometime before. It truely was an apic and difficult event and with perfect weather still a challenge completing inside the cut off. I need to cure my quitters disease before going back but I certainly recommend it.

 

Eat and Run - My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness - Scott Jurek

This was a book eagerly anticipated by lots of runners everywhere. Arguably the best ultra runner of the last 20 years gives his account of how he got there. His record is impressive. 7 successive Western States 100 wins, 2 Badwater wins, 3 Spartathlon wins, Hardrock win and who knows how many others.

The book did not disappoint, it is a refreshingly honest and candid view of how he became such a great runner. Obviously he has a huge amount of natural talent that he has exploited in his running career but he does not hide the fact that to get where he got took huge amounts of hard work and experimentation.

It was great reading about how he figured out his diet, his training, his race strategy, his mental and physical abilities. He studied classic training texts (before the internet told us everything) and was obsessed with being the best and winning the event he entered.

I was suprised by how competitive he is. I shouldn't be really, you can't compete at the top like that for years without having a competitve streak but he was obsessed with pushing himself as hard as he could go which in turn was as hard and anyone else could go.

It starts with a lot about his childhood which involved a lot of work for his father and looking after his mother. His friendship with another kid called Dusty who became his pacer for many of his runs. I loved the stories of the races, I liked the frequent advice boxes which I think make great reading for learning about the different aspects of ultra running. Each chapter has a vegan recipe too. Not sure whether I'll try any of those.

He opens up a bit about he felt being in the spotlight. The haters and detractors in some running circles. I think this may have got to him more than he'd like to admit. There is an open account of his time in Mexico, running with the Tarahumara which was to become famous in Born to Run. It was great to get his account of that story and also of his 24 hour track race more recently.

This was much more of a refreshing read than many other books. I am not really a fan of the "I turned up and won because I am awesome" books. Scott turned up and won lots of races because he worked so much harder and trained so much smarter than anyone else. There is a lot to learn here.

When does Ultra Running start?

Our survey said....

26.2 miles.

Is getting lost for 100 meters on a road marathon course and clocking up 26.27 miles make an ultra runner out of you? Are the Three Forts 27 mile marathon or various trail marathons where the "artistic licence" of race directors, driven mainly by what's practical mean that the total distance is likely to be a little bit more than 26.2 count as ultra running?

Well according to about 40% of the 200 people who responded to this survey, YES.

Hmmmm, to be honest I am a little suprised.

I don't mean to sound like one of those people who tries to make the sport I love sound more exclusive and harder to attain, quite the opposite, so much I have written on this blog is trying to encourage people to take it up more. However I do think that there is a seperate sport in "ultra" running over say marathon running and the step from one to another is not just crossing the 26.2 mile mark.

Perhaps it needs a different name? Perhaps I am starting to sound like one of those sad people forever banging on about what "counts" and what doesn't. 

No I am not going to become like one of those people. I'll stop that right now.

I think the results are interesting though. In addition to the 40% who say that running 26.3 miles is an ultra marathon another 35% say that 50k is enough. There were only 5 votes in total for "24 hours" and I think they may have all been me.

Regardless of what "it" is called I think there something magical about running all day and all night which is kind of what I was trying to get at with the 24 hours option. 

So what do you think? Does it even matter? 

No it really doesn't.

Running For Their Lives: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's Greatest Ever Distance Runners

These two runners could stake a very good claim on being the greatest British distance runners of all time. Not only did they achieve such great things but they did so at a time when running for sport was relatively unheard of. There were no books to read on how to optimally run long distance, they had to find out via experiementation and much of what they learned and did became the standard practice. 

The two runners are Arthur Newton and Peter Gavuzzi. Newton took up running to protest against his treatment in South Africa and used it first as a means of gaining publicity for his cause. He managed to gain some by winning the first four Comrades races. Peter worked in the docks in Southampton and first met Newton in 1928 in Los Angeles.

The book charts their close relationship over the years from their first meeting in 1928 at the start of the first ever Trans America Footrace. Arthur Newton was invited by the race director CC Pyle to give some credibility to the event as he was perhaps the only known world class runner there. Newton dropped out in the first two weeks with injury but carried on in the race as medical/morale support. While doing so he became close friends with Gavuzzi who was winning the race all the way up until 400 miles to go when he had to drop out with infected gums. He had nothing to eat for days and was wasting away. He was pulled out of the race by the medical team.

Newton and Gavuzzi both vowed to go back the next year, when the race was being run from New York to LA. Newton didn't finish for similar reasons to the previous year. I won't spoil the incredible ending to this race other that to say that Gavuzzi proved himself to be absolutely world class.

After the events of the second trans USA race Newton and Gavuzzi remained close training partners and were a class above everyone else. Newton held the records for everything from 30-100 miles and he and Gavuzzi were a formidable team. They agonised over the choice to become professional runners and try to make a living with thier amazing gift, having plenty of rifts with the UK Amateur Athletics Association as they did.

The book is a great account of many of their adventures, snow shoe races in Canada, record breaking in the UK and France, what they got up to when they were held in France during the war. It is a fascinating insight into how elite runners at the time lived and also contains a huge amount of Newtons own advice and principles on running long distance. 

A brilliant account of two runners who the UK should be immensely proud of. And has inspired me to ahem "organise" a run from Bath to London later in the year to follow the footsteps of Arthur Newton when he broke the world record in 1929 for 100 miles (14.22) then broke it again when he was 51 by running 14.06. 

Amazing runners and amazing story.

Newry City Marathon

I decided to not run the GUCR this year, I didn't think I could give it as much as I should and pulled out so that someone else could have a go at the UK's best race. I have since signed up to the UTSW 100 miler which is in only two weeks now. Anyhoo, another reason I pulled out of the GUCR was to attend a friends wedding in Newcastle in Northern Ireland. I am at that age where my friends are selfishly pairing off meaning that I am often asked to attend an engagement part, a stag do then a wedding, all putting a huge strain on my ability to go running every weekend.

I'm only joking of course and the wedding was fantastic and it was great to see two friends getting hitched. There was a huge amount of cheese to eat instead of a cake and eating cheese and drinking through the night certainly caused some interesting nightmares. I still don't think I've mentioned to James Edgar what we were doing in a boat on some really icy water that night. I'm glad that none of it actually happened.

But it would be rude to go to wedding and not check out the local talent right? And so a few weeks before the big day I had a look on the interweb and found a marathon just 30 miles away. 26.2 through a nice city on a road, two days after the wedding. Perfect for burning off some of the excesses.

I was gluttonous this weekend and went into this marathon near my "LA weight". However I didn't have 3200 miles or diarrheoa to help me drop the pounds.

The weather was perfect, drizzle and cool, like NI should be. We climbed the biggest mountain the day before, the mighty 800m tall Slieve Donnard before having a curry. I was taking Ben through my usual pre-race routine. Amy managed to forget her Garmin which didn't panic her as much as I thought it might. I watched the end of Lord of the Rings the previous night and thought that Garmins are are bit like precious. At first they are a shiny new novelty, oh look you can go invisible. The you start to crave it all the time, need it with you constantly when you run and then the day comes when you are without it and you turn into a slimy, flemmy, balding, twisted blathering mentalist who will bite you to get the thing back. Not that Amy was like that at all but I imagine some are. Tolkien was way ahead of his time. My precious average pace

So Ben and I set out on the Marathon and Amy and Gemma were doing the half and starting 30 minutes later. We set out from the town with about 200 others out onto a river towpath then onto some very quiet and undulating roads.

I kept Ben in sight for about 5 miles but it was clear that he was going for sub 3 and it was clear that I was not going to do that, I was determined to run it quite fast though so was keeping up a good pace. Early on I was passed by Graham who I have not seen for a couple of years and it was great to chat to him for a bit.

The first half was nicely up and down. Nothing hurt too much from the previous day of walking though the groin tightened again and the achilles hurt. I have not been sticking myself too much. It was not long before I was alone, not many in sight. I got passed a few times around the half way mark and tried to stick with a group who were going a bit faster that I wanted to but I tried to keep up anyway. Then that made me need a poo so I had to stop and do what the Pope does in the woods. It was onyl with two miles to go that I asked one of the guys with a silly watch what the time was and he said just coming up to three hours. Awesome, I was on for 3.15, at LA weight. Not bad.

I finished in 3.13.56, Ben had done sub three, both of us had done our third fastest marathons ever and it was my fastest for 4 years. My last PB was after climbing three mountains the day before. Clearly my mistake this time was only climbing one.

Really nice race if you happen to be in Northern Ireland, not quite a PB course with the hills early on but they are great for stopping you running like an idiot in the first half. There is still possibly some speed in the fat dog yet.

And that capped off an awesome weekend. Oh and I got engaged. Now Gemma strokes this ring like precious, I have not seen her wear a Garmin since.

So that will mean an engagement party, a stag do and a wedding, ruining a lot of peoples running schedule. Sorry about that.

Shires and Spires Ultra

Britain is in the grip of a heatwave. No one has seen a cloud for 3 days now. There have been three consecutive days of over 25 degrees Celcius and reports of melted badgers being found in the road are rife. The Government have responded by reversing their ambient pie tax due to the confusion in the temperature. The trick in this weather is to at least look cool

The heat was on everyones mind as we started in the lovely surroundings of some big manor house I've forgotten the name of in Northamption. This was a return to British racing for Ian Sharman, who you might recall as the guy I once beat in a 50 miler. I wondered if he had got any better since then.

This was actually a bonus race for me. I ran the Country to Capital a few months back and entered Gemma into the same race and so put it on the joint account. Gemma decided not to do that race so defered her entry to this one. She then decided not to do this and so transfered the place to me. Brilliant, two races on the joint account. Free running, I like that. I suspect I might have to pay it back in some way though.

I met up with Sam Robson at the start who I had not seen since he fell off his bike and was gradually getting back into it. His physio said don't increase the mileage by more than 10% but did not specify a timeperiod for this. So Sam read this as 7 miles one hour then 7.7 the next, then 8.47 etc. It's a good rule. I also saw fellow Endurance Life ambassador Israel Archuletta who has been awake for about 20 minutes and was trying to drop his eyes open with a large bottle of gatorade.

I ended up running the whole route with Rob Westaway who has a couple of biggies coming up such as the awesome looking Irontrail and then the UTMB. He was a bit non-plussed that the route was mostly on road but I quite liked it and as a mental note for next year this is a great Spartathlon training run, rolling hills through beautiful countryside. I didn't take any photos though so the only evidence I have is me looking like a dick.

We set out a little fast before the heat kicked in and the navigation was fairly easy, well I was just following Rob anyway, he likes reading maps. The checkpoints were about every 7 miles and usually in small towns with lovely houses and churches. At around 15 miles we were cheered by the biggest crowd I have ever seen in an ultra, there were literally almost 20 people clapping at us.

Though we slowed a bit by the end I was happy with the run and walking the hills and making sure my hydration was sound. Having spend over 30 days last summer in 40C temperature I've learned the importance of hydration and electrolytes. Having said that I was spanked in my 7 mile run with the Serpies on Wednesday, probably because all I usually drink is coffee and beer. I guess it might be time to have a glass of water during the day now. Even though we slowed we didn't get passed by other runners generally which means everyone else must have done the same. We were passed by about 15 others when we made a few navigational errors in the last 6 miles. I blame Rob, he was in charge of map reading and I was in charge of scintilating conversation.

So with a target of around 6 hours for the 35 miles and we finished in just under 6.30 so would have been on track probably. It was a lovely run, lots of cake at checkpoints, not too hard to navigate, probably about 2/3 road and 1/3 fields. Perfect first ultra I think and the guys at Go Beyond always put on a great race.

Endurance Life Festival - Flete

This is a proper way to spend a bank holiday. Not traipsing around IKEA looking for stools.

I arrived on Saturday morning with Ian Corless and was immediately getting in the way of an adventure race where runners and cyclists have to travel to far out checkpoints and earn as many points as possible in five hours. The location was great for this, a private estate about 10 miles from Plymouth with very little traffic and great scenery. We bumped into a few of the Endurance Life crew and chatted over coffees and seaweed burgers.

I was tempted to do the Aquatrail, a new format from Endurance Life in the UK based on the O till O race in Sweden where you run across islands and swim between them. However I did not have a wetsuit and though I tried some second hand ones on (and ripped them a bigger backside) I was more worried about the temperature of the water and decided that in my first outing as an Endurance Life Ambassador I probably should avoid situations where I have to be rescued from the sea frozen.

We watched the Aquatrail, it looked horrible. Most of them seemed to be enjoying it though, running in a wetsuit along the beach and then swimming in trainers around a bouy and then heading back out of the sea where the general comments were "that's f****g horrible"  before running some sections swimming more. In total 10k was covered, 2k in water in 9 swims and 9 runs. The winner was Serpie Will Forbes in a time of 1.36 or somewhere there abouts. Neil Bryant did pretty well too despite doing breast stroke in the swim. I would have done breast stroke if I had done it. Doing front crawl makes it harder to chat to people beside you.

It was quite funny watching people running around the estate in cut up old wetsuits. They were clearly boiling.

Later that day we sat beside a campfire and listen to a professional storyteller thrill us the the tale of how the secret of fire was given to the human race from the mouth of a dragon via a wily fox, a nimble squirell, a brave badger and a slippery frog. All seemed to add up to me. Dan Bent was getting excited like a little child about it. I admit I got excited about the badger.

It was great to discover that the beer vans were seeling a couple of local Devon beers as well as the regular Carlspiss Export. Carlsberg don't do beer, cos if they did it will be rubbish. I enjoyed drinking lots and lots of those throughout the day. The food was great too, a choice of veggie burgers or meat burgers. I tried allsorts, chickpea burgers, bean burgers, seaweed burgers as well as the old classics, Cow and baby sheep.

While watching the end of the aquatrail I missed the start and finish of the backwards race which I was keen to do. Later we were treated to the Live More Lectures where people come in and talk about amazings things they have done before. I was honoured to do such a talk a few months ago in Angelssey about my race across the USA. I think I broke the record for "erms" in a talk. It was my first one though and I have got much better since.

Tonights bill started with Richard Askwith, author of Feet in the Clouds and in a typically British and Fell Running understated way he brought the world of fell running to us. It was an amazing talk and I don't think he mentioned his book at all which is great and well worth reading. His talk spoke about the Bob Graham Round, an epic 24 hour challenge in the Lake District that involves climbing the 42 biggest peaks in the area within a day. Yes it's on the list.  In the question and answers session I mentioned a couple of friends of mine James Edgar and Allan Hall were just finishing the Bob Graham Round as we sat and whether he would talk to them at the end when it was confirmed they had finished. He said he would but unfortuately had to leave before they had finished (which they both did in 23 hours). Amazing effort.

Another amazing ultra running effort that concluded that day was Rainer Koch finishing the John O Groats to Lands End race. His time was astonishing, running 10 hour 100ks for 15 days in a row without seeming to break sweat. Neil ran with him a bit earlier in the week and could not believe how effortless he made such a difficult mega multi day race.

Chris Martin then spoke about rowing across the North Pacific. 6 months in a boat with one other guy while rowing 2 hours on and 2 hours off. Mental. Tempting. We then had a presentation from Vic Verdier on natural movement followed by a great talk of a couple of ladies Tori James and Anna Shekdhar who climbed Everest. Not on the list. For now.

Anyhoo I think I had too much beer and we headed back to our hotel at around midnight and had an early start for the main event of the weekend. As usual there were choices of an ultra (36 miles) Marathon (28 miles) Half marathon (15.5 miles) and 10k (13k). I think the Endurance Life measuring wheel is broken.

I woke up, tired from not doing a lot other than talking, listening, drinking and eating. It was time to do something else that I like doing, running in amazing locations. This area of the coast was beautiful like all other events. It's great just how stunning yet varied each of the coastal events are and if you don't believe me look at these great photos from Kris Duffy who took loads across the 7 hitherto Endurance Life races.

I lined up at the start with Oli Sinclair and Neil, with no hope of keeping up with them who in turn had no hope of keeping up with another guy who has represented the UK in the Olympics for the marathon in Syndey. I was hoping to have a good run but it really didn't turn out like that.

The first few miles were on some nice trail and then there were a few muddy sections. There was a wrong turning taken by most early on, mostly by the ambassadors. Never Ever follow them in a race.. The miles just didn't seem to be going by today and it took seemingly ages to get to just 4.9 of them. I ran to the second checkpoint faster getting to about 12 miles in two hours and then I just got a brain piercing headache. It could have been dehydration, I was drinking plenty of water and electrolyte so I suspect it may have been the previous day of drinking nothing but beer and coffee. Actually that is what I normally drink.

A silverlining was that I was given a pair of Wigwam socks by Ed to try out and they were awesome. My feet wouldregularly get immersed in water but only took a few minutes to get warm again. I've never really thought about socks before, I just wear normal socks from M&S but these were really great. Even when my shoe came off in the mud. I was most upset to find out on getting home that I now only have one wigwam sock. Doh.

Well anyway I suffered with a headache for the rest of the run which was beautiful but I decided to "only" do the marathon and skip the last 8 miles. If I needed an excuse it was that I wanted to go back for a nutrition talk that started at 3 and if I did the ultra I would have missed it. I know what you are thinking, "what do I need to learn about nutrition" but it was a great talk and demonstration from Ed Chapman, half of Ed and Phil and I really enjoyed it. Have a look at their website for more info.

After finishing the run I chatted for about 5 minutes, went over to the burger van and then had to lie down in possibly the worst state I have been in after a race (except perhaps my first Spartathlon and some days in New Mexico last year). I don't know what came over me but I felt dizzy and sick and had to lie down, still with the headache. After about an hour and a paracetemol it disappeared.

Later in the evening people were more up for drinking and the local beers ran out leaving us with the fizzy Danish wee. There were more great talks again, kicked off by Anne Daniels who told us about going to the North Pole. She has the most time ofany woman spent in the arctic and it was a very impressive challenge. Next was Ian Corless who stunned the audience with a really gripping tale of running 8 marathons in 8 days during a time of close family crisis. I really wasn't expecting to hear anything quite like that and it was possibly the bravest talk I have heard so far. Amazing.

The talks were finished off with Debra Searle who became famous for rowing with her husband across the Atlantic despite him leaving her after two weeks. She made it to the end on her own and was hilarious. The quality of the talks was amazing.

So all in all a fantastic weekend and I recommend anyone to pencil this in for next year.

Long time no blog

Blimey. It seems like such a long time ago since I've had anything to blog about. I have not done any races in the past month to write about. Actually that's a lie. I did a 10 mile race on the Thames a couple of weeks ago. My PB was fairly soft (1.10) and I thought about having a go at it, even though nowadays I am just a long slow plodder. I ran without a watch which is great because it means that the finish line is the first time you know how well you are doing, it's like a present at the end of a race and I got quite a good one, 1.07.40. Still some speed in the slow dog yet.

Anyway the past month has seen me change my priorities a bit. I so want to finish Barkley and to do so I need three things. To become insanely fit, to become a demon hill climber and a good navigator. Basically I need to become as good as this guy.

Easy.

Oh and I ran a 5k dressed as a badger. It was a fancy dress race. Well fancy dress was the week before so I just looked like an idiot in a badger costume. It was nice overtaking people dressed as a badger though, you could tell it hurt people.My little 9 year old brother ran his first 5k that do too which was cool.

I also ran the EHT NOHTARAM with about 12 Serpies which was pretty cool. Starting at 4am at Big Ben we ran the London Marathon route in reverse, ending at the start and then getting to mock people for being lazy and having not run a marathon yet. We did get a bit lost though, it's hard following it backwards. Not sure where I feel more intimidated, being in the rattle snake infested wilderness of the Frozen Head Park in Tennessee or on the wrong street in Deptford at 6am on a Sunday morning.

Other news I am now an ambassador for Endurance Life. I am really pleased about this as I love their races and events and they are getting bigger and better each year. I was fortunate enough to do one of their talks earlier in the year and am really excited about being more involved with their races and spreading the word of coastal and trail running in the UK.

And on that note I have decided to not do the GUCR this year and instead do the Endurance Life South West Path 100, an awesome looking race over the really tough hills of the coast.

I spent this weekend following the JOGLE ultra and catching up (metaphorically at least) with Rainer who I got to know well from the LANY run. He won that with easy and I think the people following the race here are genuinely amazed with just how easy he is making it look. He can run 10 hour 100k's day after day after day. It was amazing to see him again. He is a truly world class runner, I don't think there is anyone else out there who can do what he can do.

Oh and there is a great new ultra running emag in the UK which I have written a few race reports for. It looks really good and loads of great articles from lots of the characters in the running scene in the UK. Download it here (45m pdf) and get it touch with the editor if you have any contributions.

SO that's about it from me for now, back to racing (well medal collecting) again soon. Starting with the Endurance Life Festival next weekend. I get to learn how to make fire. What could go wrong?

I thought it would be the hardest thing I ever did. It was much worse than that.

 Just some things to post before I forget.

 Taster video from ateam who are going to be covering the event

My Licence plate (on it's way)

Absolutely F****G terryifying videos of Charlie Engels attempt a few years back.

Link to Runners World

Race Report from Laz the Race Director

progress has its disadvantages.
there was a day when the barkley runner need go no further than the trailhead to get out of the comfort zone.

you all know about the comfort zone.
that's where most ultras take place.
running ultras is all about staying in the comfort zone.
all our strategies revolve around staying in the comfort zone.
all our advice is about staying in the comfort zone;

"start slow"

"walk every uphill"

"dont take any chances"

for all the talk about exploring human potential, and seeking our limits, ultrarunners tend to play it safe.
they line up "challenges" they know they can finish.
and run them carefully
well within their "limits".
we believe that success is never failing.

at the barkley success is about over-reaching our abilities,
and living to tell about it.
sometimes success is getting your ass out alive.

some people "get" the barkley. some dont.
but the barkley is all about leaving the comfort zone.
the barkley is about taking our chances with failure.
true success is not the absence of failure,
it is the refusal to surrender.

these days the vandals have cleared so much trail,
and the veterans are so numerous,
the advice so plentiful and sound,
it is sad, but one can go to the barkley
and never leave that comfort zone.

we had our winners and losers last weekend.
the most obvious winner was JB.
you dont finish the barker by living in the comfort zone.
you play that baby in the twighlight zone.
you have to go too fast
(you might blow up)
you have to get too little rest
(you may break down)
and you have to start laps you might not finish
(with or without making mistakes).

but you dont have to finish the barkley
to have "gotten it".
lots of people got it.
those people started loops they couldnt finish.
they ran out of time.
they got lost.
they tried to do something beyond their abilities
and they did not succeed.

but they were not defeated.
just knocked down.
(maybe fed a dose of humility)
they explored the twighlight zone and came back winners.
they got their ass in and then got it back out alive.

some people didnt "get it".
they ran carefully within their abilities.
they clung like glad wrap to the veterans
and never opened their map with doubt in their mind
(and fear in their hearts).
they stopped in camp
never starting that loop that could end up in hell.
or turned back before entering that section
they might not complete.

they were not exactly defeated.
they just gave up.
surrounded by the opportunity to stretch & grow
to explore the "out there"
they were afraid (in the end) to venture out of the comfort zone
and into the twighlight zone.

i was never a particularly talented ultrarunner.
i was not fast.
i was not tough.
still i am proud of having achieved sub-24
at ultra-running's bellweather 100 mile distance.

i am prouder to have tried for sub-20...
and fallen short.
running 80 miles at sub-20 pace and then blowing up
felt a lot more honorable
than running carefully and breaking 24.
i learned more about myself.
and grew more as an athlete and a person.

you dont have to go to barkley to "get it".
"it" is nothing more than putting something on the line
taking a chance
and trying to do something you do not know for certain you can do.

there is no success
if failure is not in the mix.

and this is why the "sick-o's" keep applying and re-applying at barkley. this is why there are so many requests for so few slots. this is why those lucky 35 strap it on and march into a hellish ordeal with a smile on their face and a song in their heart. because we are never so alive as when we put it all on the line. and at barkley the only guarantee is that you will be pushed beyond your limits. everything is on the line.

Tales from Out There - Frozen Ed Furtaw

This is a book written by one of the Barkley "Sickos" "Frozen" Ed Furtaw on the history of the Barkley Marathons. It describes in great detail the past runnings of the race (he has run most and attended some more).

The Barkley Marathons in case you don't know is arguably the toughest race there is. It is 100 miles long (though most others measures of the course clock it at about 130 miles), it's 5 loops around some trails in the Frozen Head National Park in Tennessee. The climbing involved is around 18000m, or twice Everest or twice UTMB. The trail is often overgrown with briars (I think that is American for thorns) and there is no support in the race apart from water left at two points along a loop and the camp ground at the end of each loop. In about 20 runnings of the event 10 people have finished the 100 mile race, the course record is 55 hours. The cut off is 60 hours. Every year someone finishes the race director Laz alters the course to make it harder since this is not a race of man vs man but of man vs that.

The accounts of his own attempts (I won't spoil it by saying how he did) along with the tales from Out There are really gripping and actually quite terrifying. Two things struck me about the race from reading the book, moreso than before.

1 - This race is a war. Or rather it's an arms race. You have probably read lots of stories about a man who gets beaten by a race and then vows to come back fitter and stronger in order to beat the race the next time. There are loads of stories like that right? Here it's just the same, except that when the race gets beaten by a man IT then comes back next time harder and stronger in order to defeat those who beat it the last time. It does not stay the same, does not get complacent, it changes and improves to win, and for this race to win it means all runners losing. I have never been part of an event like that before.

2 - Having read 100s of reasons why people drop out the reasons are very different to what I was expecting. There are a few tales of people getting lost, a few getting timed out buy the cut-offs, hardly any of injuries and not too many of complete exhaustion. The main reason people do not finish this race is that they just give up. After each loop you will be at a cosy campsite. You don't have to go back out there. Many chose not to. Then during the whole loop you are always fairly close to the "quitters road", an easy stretch of road going right back to the start. More than any other race I have ever heard of this one really breaks peoples minds.

Really really good read and recommended for anyone wanting to know more about the Barkley. The Barkley gets treated as "not a proper race" by many ultra runners today whereas reading this you may change your mind. You may even think that this is the only race there is, one where the course has a chance of winning too...

Thames Path 100

My Birthday race this year was the Thames Path 100. I am now making a tradition of doing a great event on my Birthday that has seen me over the years running fabulous events such as the Trans-Gran Canaria race, the Glasgow to Edinburgh double marathon and the Berkhampstead Half Marathon. It seemed rude to have a 100 mile race starting so close to where I live and not run it.

And given that it started at 10 it would also be rude not to run the Richmond Parkrun 5k beforehand? What is an extra 5k on a 100 mile day?

SO we drove down to Richmond to register early so that I had enough time to get over to run the park run. The only other takers for the Park Run were Paul Ali and Paul Stout (Avon and Stouty) who were making it even more of a challenge by dressing up as Batman and Robin for both races. They are raising money for a the Cruise Bereavement Care Charity and tried to get some publicity from Guinness World Records for "longest run in costumes" but they would not recognise that over much more worthy feats as "fastest marathon dressed as a character from a childrens audio book".

Anyway the plan was to get a park run time of around 22 minutes and then conformtably beat that in the 100 miler (in hours of course). I ran the Park run in just under 22 but was confident I could run an 18 hour 100. I've run 19 hours twice in splits from longer races, the Thames is flat and there are lots of aid stations. Seemed like a realistic target.

It was great to see so many familiar faces at the start and the promise of more at the checkpoints made this race feel like a long day of little reunions. I was really looking forward to it.

James Elson has built a great series of 100 mile events in the UK and this was the first one I was going to run. In fact it was my first 100 miler. It was great seeing James at the registration area along with Mimi Anderson, Sam Robson, Dino, Phil Smith, Robbie Britton who was one of the favourites for winning and so many others. It was the first time I have seen Nick Lewis since we shared a room in Athens after the Spartathlon and watched Dwarf porn. David Miles was also there having one last blast before a hernia operation. That'sexactly what I was doing this time last year. He told me it was his birthday tomorrow and mine was the next day. This was great news except that now I was worried that he'd finish ahead of me and eat my cake.

It was great to meet Keith Godden who runs the fantastic Ultramarathonrunning.com website which is the biggest single source of ultra marathon races and articles out there. It was great to see Richard Webster there too, disappointed at not getting into Badwater recently but he'll more than compensate by running the Spartathlon later in the year. It really was a great reunion of ultra runners on a damp saturday morning in Richmond.

From the very first steps I sort of regret running the park run. They hurt a bit. I got chatting to some people who wanted to know whether I had scoped out the McDonalds on the course. The path on the first few miles of the Thames is fairly hard and I had decided to wear the minimus trail shoes which are not at all comfortable on hard surfaces. I was looking forward to some mud.

There were a few guys here going for a 100k in 10.30 Spartathlon qualifying time and I got chatting to one such person (Paul?) on the way and really pleased that he wanted to be part of such an amazing race. I always thought 10.30 for 100k was a bit of a soft qualifying critera for such a hard race however I was soon to discover that it wasn't going to happen on this course.

Jen Bradley passed me with ease after about 10 miles and then I lost her while having to do a Benedict in the bushes. About 200 meters after I emerged I ran past a lovely looking toilet block. Doh.

For the first 30 miles or so I was running quite close to Batman and Robin who were rightfully getting loads of attention from those we passed. I bet people had no idea they were running 100 miles, probably just out for a fun run in the woods. Somehow we got diverted from the river and onto Dorney Lake and had no idea where to go. Batman and Robin arrived and said "sorry we only fight crime, we can't help with directions". Austerity is biting hard.

I ran a little way with Trin who was about to run her first night run and is training for the GUCR. She was looking in very good form. As well as the multitude of runners I knew here there were a lot of friends marshalling too. Tim Adams was the first I saw (he didn't enter and so didn'tget no 1 as I did. Actually I got no 1 by entering the race as soon as it was announced, not because I was any good). At 38 miles I saw Mark Cockbain and Alex at a CP making tea. It was great to see them again and Mark was keen to remind me about how I was wasting my money in 4 weeks time and that I'll see him at the easter weekend for his Viking Way race. I said I will run and mark the night section which I will do unless I finish Barkley in which case I'll be doing no such thing. Mark took that as a guarantee that I'll be marking his course.

There was a hail shower quite unexpectedly and then a beautiful rainbow near Bray. I was suffering with the shoes and really loved it when I got to a soft grassy bit. I got chatting to Tim Oliver who is one of the entrants for this years JOGLE ultra and he was looking in very good shape and is putting in a lot of miles. It would be great to see a lot more people finish that this year. Really looking forward to Rainer tearing up the roads in England.

Shortly before Henley at half way I saw Nick who said we were going to miss the 10.30 100k time by some way, not that I was too worried about it, I was just looking forward to changing out of these slippers and putting some proper shoes on. The minimal stuff is great for short distance and soft trail but I forgot the Thames path is mostly tarmac and it was hurting a bit. I stayed at the checkpoint for a while faffing about, it had just got dark and I was trying to put new batteries in my light.

We headed off into the dark, here the Thames Path deviates a lot from the Thames and goes through some nice posh villages like Shiplake and Wargrave. As soon as more tarmac came I felt pleased about my change of shoes. I really should recognise this part of the path as I did run it last yeat though in the opposite direction in the Thames Trot. However that did not stop me having to stop at someones house as confirm I was still on the right path. The villiages were not that big but it was clear that some of the people out were preparing for a "normal" Saturday night. Time like that make you really crave a nice warm pub with a fire and nice beer and a cosy chair.

It felt a bit easier now that I was in new shoes and since these are the ones I intend to crawl the Barkley in 4 weeks I figured it would be good to break them in a bit. It rained a bit during the night and I wasn't really trying too much now, a decent time was now long gone and I just wanted to enjoy the experience of running through the night. I got chatting to a chap called Jay and I asked whether he had run into sunset and then on into sunrise before. He hadn't and I told him it was a magical thing.

Gemma came out to see me at reading at about 60 miles, the miles were going slowly at this point. It was great to see her and she had a pepparami in her hand which was very nice. I loved the food at the checkpoints, hotdogs, sausage rolls and ham in wraps. I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before. I plodded on into the night through Reading and parts of the river that seemed less familiar.

There were a few diversions off the river which felt like a pain to navigate but I don't think I got lost from here on in. I felt tired and a bit sick but always thought that if I am complaining even just a little bit about a flat 100 miler on the Thames then I am absolutely going to get eaten alive in a month. I can't moan even a little bit about this. Around 13 hours into the race and will something like 32 miles to go I realised that I was not going to get near Ian Sharman's 100 mile time of 12.43 last year. I blame the shoes.

I arrived at Streatley where the river cuts through the Ridgeway trail and is going to be the scene of some ultra running evilness later on in the year (watch this space). Dick Kearn was in the room washing the dishes and chatting away. That would be a lovely place to be a marshall. Nick Lewis was just leaving as I arrived and Allan Rumbles turned up here just after me. It felt so cosy and I stayed there much longer that I should have.

At this stage the gap of 8 miles seemed like a marathon each time. I was not going fast at this stage, not much more than 4mph average and trying to keep moving and preferably running but the ground was a bit slippy underfoot and was hard to do so. All I thought about when finding 8 miles in some slightly muddy fields was "you are going to get fucking eaten alive in 4 weeks, pussy". MUST NOT COMPLAIN.

At 91 miles there was a checkpoint at a cricket club where Neil Thrubon on XNRG events was and it was great to see him. I said I was going to try to get down to the second half of the Pony Express race and then hopefully on his Round The Isle (of Wight) race in the summer. 91 miles into a 100 mile race and I am arranging future races. It doesn't even occur to me that it's weird anymore. Around this time I passed David Miles who was sleeping on his feet. He looked very tired but was going to finish it off. I wished him a happy birthday and was pleased that I looked like I was going to make it to the end and get the cake first.

I left that place as the sun was rising and then onto some more muddy path. At 95 miles was the last checkpoint and here is where I saw Claire Shelley and Drew Sheffield who immedaitely mocked me for getting beaten by Jen. I said what did they expect when there are hotdogs at the checkpoints? You'll notice that most runners I have mentioned here I have put a link to their blog. Claire and Drew don't even have blogs which makes me wonder whether they are proper ultra runners at all.

Anyhoo, it was great to see them and being only 5 miles from the end felt good. It took a little longer to get there than I thought and was hoping to finish in good time to get some sleep for some hardcorre drinking later on. The last few miles were painful though, I got shin splints and bad chaffing and had to walk the last 3 miles. If only I had not done that parkrun in the morning. I joked before about falling apart after 97 miles and not being able to finish, it seemed that was almost true.

So I staggered into the finish in Oxford in 22.22, slower than my parkrun time but I was pleased with the effort. It was great to see James at the finish and get the buckle for the sub 24 hour finish. I think this is going to be a great race in the calendar for future years and was superbly organised. Unfortunately later on the race had to be pulled as the conditions were too bad which was a shame but the right decision. Poor Alex Pearson got to 95 miles and got pulled out of the race though speaking to him he did say that he shouldn't have been allowed to continue as he was in a state. I was in a car home as Matt Mahoney turned up at the finish and said he was driving to London. That was the most awesome news ever.

So in summary this was an awesome race, not run particularly well by me but I am pleased nonetheless with some training in suffering. I have forgot loads already so apologies for that. I was great seeing everyone and a particular well done to Avon and Stouty for both breaking 24 hours in Batman and Robin costumes and it's a shame the Guinness Book of Jokes won't recognise this. Anyhoo, I am going to make a claim as the first person EVER to run a 5k race and a 100 mile race in the same 24 hour period. I will add it to my "I am awesome" page.

And at least I'll get another stab at a 100 mile pb in a few weeks.

http://www.flickr.com//photos/centurionrunning/show/with/6809597236/

Videos of Los Angeles to New York Footrace 2011

Part One - Mostly California and Arizona (days 1 - 15)

Part two (short video) Arizona and entering New Mexico with the infamous Burger Scene

Part 3 - Oklahoma through to Ohio

Part 4 - Pennsylvania to NEW YORK :)

Race Across America Talk

Can you count how many times I say "UMMMM"?

Relentless Forward Progress - Bryon Powell

I didn't think I would like a book like this so much. Where we you five years ago when I was first getting into this? Reading this may have saved me a lot of miles spend staggering around in a daze due to lack of something called "electrolytes", or have prevented those huge purple bulbs appearing on my feet, and would have saved yards of skin on my unmentionables. Second thoughts I am glad that I experienced all that.

That said this is as good a "general guide to running ultra marathons" as I have seen. I get asked the "how" question a lot. In all honesty I don't really know what to say. I wrote this article ages ago on some mental tricks I have picked up over the years but my answer to the practical question as to how to run ultras is always met with a lot of "erms". Well that's normal anyway, even on my expert subjects.

So I was really pleased to read this book and I will recommend it to anyone who asks me how to run these things. It strikes a great balance with giving a lot of advice without being too prescriptive. There are training plans in there and I know a lot of people like to have that kind of structure but there is so much more than that.

Great chapters on how the body deals with stress, heat, altitude and cold as well as two side of some ongoing arguments in the sport such as speedwork vs no speedwork or barefoot vs support. There are details of nutrition and hydration as well as some medical stuff on blisters and drugs. There will always be debate as to what is right and what is wrong, that is not going to be resolved any time soon (or ever) but some of the physiological information here is really useful to know.

All the way through there are guest articles from some of the famous names in Ultra Running such as Geoff Roes, Mike Wardian, David Horton and others.

Like with everything in Ultra Running you can take the advice or leave it. I think this book covers all that you need to know to get through an ultra and have a safe and enjoyable experience. Obviously you'll pick more much more as you go along but this is a great start.

So in summary, don't ask me, read this :)

Pilgrims Challenge 2012

Here's an idea. This cold weather normally happens around the same time of the year doesn't it? It's quite common that say between the 21st December and 21st March that there are low temperatures, ice, snow, chilly winds and fog. It often comes as a shock to everyone, you only have to look at facebook updates, BBC news reports and bewildered geese walking on rivers to see the confusion that reigns.

But I have an idea, one that will eliminate this suprise we suffer every year. How about we just give this period of time a name? Something that's short and snappy but sounds cold and grim. Something to refer to when talking about this particular time so that we are not all completely unprepared when it comes. I even have an idea for a name. Lets call it...... Winter.

There we go, problem solved.

It was minus 9 degrees (the melting point of Bromine) as we headed out on the train to Farnam for the start of the two day XNRG Pilgrims Challenge where we'd be covering 33 miles of the beautiful North Downs way each day. Allan Rumbles said at the start that Surrey was his favourite county to run in and it's hard to disagree, even if it does have the highest population of Man Utd fans in the UK. Beautiful hills and trees and trails. There is no mention of something that'll kill yer here, it's lovely.

What is less lovely is the sight of so many men in tights. I think I was one of two runners at the start wearing shorts. So long as it's sunny it's still shorts weather. I was sporting a week long beard though, I like a warm face in this cold weather and that's what beards are for. And come Valentines day I will shave it off at that can be Gemma's present. Two birds and all that.

I started at a nice pace and would have been happy to get around without getting lost. I settled into a small group with some guys I just met, Richard, Bill and a girl whose name I don't think I got. She was running her first ultra though which must have been pretty exciting. There are only a few slight gradients on in the first half before we hit the steps of Box Hill.

I caught up with Jen Bradley around half way who as always was having Garmin problems. This time it was stuck on "map" mode meaning she knew that she was on course but not how far she had gone or how long she had been running for. Or the actual time but then no one wearing a Garmin ever knows that.

At around 18 miles we ran into the Denbies wine estate. I remember this from last year when I was marshalling at this point and we dropped the tortill chips all over the floor."Quick, scoop them up and put them back, they'll never know and they'll be delierious by then anyway". At this checkpoint were Ed and Phil and it was great to see them. I don't think Phil recognised me and was worried that I was not dressed correctly and thought I was a bit out of my depth.

I struggled a little with the asthma which flares in cold weather. The hills started, a runner near me commented "wow, this is the hill that just keep on giving". It did give a lot until the notorious Box Hill steps. I can't remember how many million there are but there are lots and certainly enough to make be briefly reconsider my choice of bodyweight.

Not long after the hill there was a lovely section of trail that led to a junction where a sign had been removed. Left or Right? Who knows but in these situations I was always tought that if in doubt go uphill. I did and a few guys followed me. Not long after we arrived at another sign which did not mention the North Downs Way on it at all. By this point we were a bigger group getting bigger by the minute. The more people who were there the more confused everyone got. It was obvious that if we are not not on the NDW then we should have turned right at that junction and not left. However as soon as you get a committee involved everyone becomes incapable of logical thought. At some stage it was suggested that we phone Neil. But all we would be able to tell him was that we were on a path that was not the North Downs Way. Not very helpful.

Anyway I went back down the other way with some others and soon we were back on track. I was pretty lonely in the last section but I didn't mind because the views were so nice. I plodded into the finish in just over 6 hours, pretty pedestrian but still quite pleased.

I love the atmosphere at the end of these races. Some time to put your feet up, have a beer, find a place to sleep and just chat to others who you may not have seen for a while. I caught up with Mark Collinson and Mimi Andersen and it was great talking to them. Mimi and I were plotting a cool thing to do next year. I also met Sam Robson for the first time and later discovered he was the chap who ran the London Marathon and then ran back home to Cambridge. He is a very quick runner with lots on this year.

I was giving a presentation later on may LANY race and it seemed fitting that this felt like some of those places we camped in the USA. More people but the same set up of sleeping bags and food in a canteen. The difference here is that I had so much more time. There was no rush, I'd finished by 4 and had all the time in the world to faff and eat and chat before going to bed at 10 and not having to be up till 6 in the morning. A lie in.

I think the talk went well, I felt like I missed loads of bits out. In the Q&A section Mimi asked me how I get out of the low points and I said I thought about my own funeral. It really works a treat. Imagine yourself in a box while everyone else is just banging about how awesome you are. No one is going to say anything bad are they? You can go on a complete ego trip. "James Adams was possibly the most important person ever to live on earth, and he was a snazzy dresser too". No one is going to call you a dick are they? And if they do they are not invited.

Anyway I didn't sleep too well on my punctured mat (I forgot that). It was like a nights sleep in the USA so was not too worried about not being able to run. The ground had been covered with snow and facebook had been covered with "My road race has been cancelled". There was not chance of this happening here though. Neil had worked through the night to keep this event going and it was going to. He admitted that even if he'd cancelled he knew half of us wouldset out anyway to get back to Farnham.

The trail was wonderful, it was like were were running on a completely different path. The trees were bowing under the weight of the snow and I ran with Dan De Belder who was complaining about having to crouch so much. It looked magical though and it was a little warmer than yesterday which was good for my chest. I was still in shorts as per the rules.

There were a lot of MDS runners here and this was great training for them. You don't really need heat or sand just tough conditions and snow definitely counts. I caught up with Mimi who looked like she was struggling a bit with her asthma. She admitted later she just needed to be told to man up. She did around half way and flew off into the distance.

I was thrilled to see that the girl I was running with yesterday (whose name I still don't know, sorry again) had decided to celebrate running her first ultra by running her second ultra the next day. Awesome.

The descent of box hill was interesting, trying to to fatally slide down the steps and soon were were on a big open field where hundreds of kids and parents were there hurling themselves down on sleighs. It looked great fun. I was going ok in the snow, my new bomb proof Columbia trail shoes holding out quite well. They are not that comfortable to run in but I am breaking them in for the end of March where I need something I can hurl bricks at and not feel a thing.

Towards the end of the day the snow turned to slush which wasn't so nice to run on but I was still glad I was out here rather than anywhere else. It was great weather for penguins, great weather for me. I thought about Oklahoma quite a lot though.

I finished the second day in about 7 hours, an hour slower than yesterday which seemed to be the norm. There were no McDonalds on the route but there was a good burger van at the end as well as cake and coffee. Great rewards for a job well done.

I can't recommend enough the XNRG events. I've done about 5 of them now and they are always a blast. Great for the first timers as well as giving the quicker guys a chance to race. The courses are always great and the scene at either ends of the races are great too. The extra work they had to put in to see that we had a good event to run on Sunday was immense. Thanks guys and see you at the next one.

Anglesey Ultra - Endurance life

It's been such a long time since I went to the British coast for a run and even longer for an Endurance Life event. Shameful really. I did several EL events years ago and really loved them and the only thing that put me off was that they are all so far away from West London that it does not seem worth it to trek out there. However I have decided that they are really worth the effort getting there. Even the ones in Wales.

Holyhead has a chip shop for every five houses which made carb loading the night before quite simple. We stayed in a B&B just a short distance from the start at a sailing club where the huge Endurance Life tents and registration area was. These events have certainly grown in the past efw years, there will be over 600 people running in the half marathon/10k/marathon and ultra.

There were only 50 or so starting the 32 mile ultra which consisted of the marathon followed by the 10k loop at the end. We were told we were to climb the "mountain" of Anglesey. It didn't look that big though but then it was quite far away. It was nearly a disasterous start for Jen Bradley who managed to lock her Garmin and was unable to get it to start. It's hard to imagine how anyone can do a run without a big beeeping contraption telling them how slow they are moving. Anyway all was averted as someone knew the magic combination to get it working.

Kris Duffy was here too, he is taking part in all 7 EL coastal events because there is a special T-shirt for doing so. He likes dorky things like that. The 50 or so of us started down a road into a car park and then onto the lovely trail of Anglesey.

I was wearing three layers. I think this was a record. I don't think I have ever worn three layers. Within a few minutes I was roasting and had to faff around with my bag to get by coat back into it and the entire field overtook me. It was windy and overcast as we plodded through some fields and then onto the rocks of the coastal path. I was wearing the NB minimus again which had faired well for 43 miles last weekend but was a little worried that they might not be as comfortable on sharp rocks. Jen had opted for a pair of canoes which were great for sailing across puddles.

The rain switched on and off all say, there was loads of great trail, some road that my shoes also struggled on. I have this theory that if I smash my feet on hard surfaces in minimal shoes it might strengthen my calves and feet like hill training would, without the hills. I suspect I will actually have to do some hill training at some point as I am still really shit at going up and even worse at coming down. If there is anyone out there who can make me a black belt downhill runner in 8 weeks, preferably in the sytle ofMr Miagi then please get in touch.

I felt pretty good running on my own and was amazed at just how well the route was marked. I did not take a map but every twist and turn had an arrow saying exactly where to go, it was impossible to get lost. I did try once but that would have involved jumping off a cliff so I knew I was going wrong. I was overtaken by Richard Webster who was 2nd in the marathon (I thought he was 1st cos I didn't believe that the guy who overtook ages before was in the marathon) and then later by Ian Corless (who I said was in 3rd but he was in 4th). Ian has just launched an Ultra Podcast Talkultra with Ian Sharman which looks cool. I was also very pleased to hear that Richard has sent off his entry for the Spartathlon this year too. It's going to be an awesome race for the Brits. And the boys are going to win this time.

The "Mountain" was much harder than anticipated the second time. I had left Jen and ran on, feeling pretty good at halfway and suprised it was going so fast. She said "say hello to Kris when you catch him, he always sets out too fast". I thought I would but after about 20 miles I had a bit of a down but perked up a little when the route joined the half marathon course. They had 6 miles left and were all moving quicker than I was. Then there was the second climb of the mountain that coincided with the really heavy wind and rain. Going up was hard, coming down was harder again, the wind actually pushing us back up the hill and the rain hitting like bullets. There were lots of coastguards up there making sure none of us got into any trouble. After that is was a long hard descent to the marathon finish, which I had to ignore to going round and do the 10k loop in addition.

I did not have a finish time in mind as I had no idea how hard this would be but I would have liked to have finished in 6 hours so that I had time at the end to faff a bit and not have to rush to get into town for the talk about LANY I was giving later. I was following the arrows for the 10k which were the same as the Marathon and started to get paranoid that I was going to end up doing the marathon again. I was completely alone out there. Fortunately I hit the checkpoint which signalled 3 miles to go, via that nasty mountain again. Thanks Israel Archuletta for this great photo which realistically captures my average pace.

But this time it was easy though hours of pounding hard rocks with little on my feet felt like I'd been wandering around lots in barefoot treading on lego. I think it's cos my feet are not hard enough yet. Give them time. Feeling the ground beneath your feet is wonderful, apart from when there's lego on it.

I crawled in in a time of 6.33, not far from last and way behind Kris. I had to rush a bit to get back to the B&B and then on to talk about what I did last summer.

I have not really done public speaking before and I still can't really believe that people would be that interested in what I've done. I love banging on about it and can talk to death in the pub to my friends but it still suprised me that people who don't know me would sit down and listen to what I have to say. I was a bit nervous about it but think I have enough silly tales to at least raise a giggle in the audience. I think it went well (despite Ian and Gemma telling me I "ummed" all the time) It was great talking for Endurance Life and no doubt I will come back and tell them how I lost an eye or a limb in Barkley later this year.

It was really good to meet the other talkers too. Gary spoke about a brilliant event in Sweden called the OtillO which involves running and swimming from island to island. Billy Isherwood then gave a great talk about his battle with alcoholism and how he was written off by his doctors before taking up marathon running and eventually running the Atacama Crossing. Dave Cornthwaite came on last to talk about all the mad things he has done, skateboarding across Australia, paddle boarding down the Mississippi and dating 100 girls in 100 days. Gemma was less than impressed with me suggesting I might try to break one of those records.

Anyway, great weekend with great race organisation and friends and a wake up call to do some hill training.

And I wish my proper trail shoes would f****G arrive.

Country to Capital - 2012

It was hard trying to remember what to take with me on a 43 mile run through the countryside and canal. It's been more than 4 months now since I have run more than a marathon. What do I need? $10 dollars and a cuddly badger were my previous most important items. I decided to go with the bag that had been on my back across the entire LANY race. It's still in good condition though the strap across my belly seemed to be a lot shorter. I lengthened the strap, then had another bacon sandwich.

Claire, Drew and I got to the start pub early before the train from London arrived where more than 50 others would pile in and block up the toilets. One of the two toilers got blocked anyway and we still had to queue. Ahhh toilet queues I have missed you. The strained faces on those who are waiting, the relaxed strutting of those on their way out, the idiot who only needs a wee and queues with everyone else despite all the urinals being free. The strange moment when you hold the door open for the next person to go in, as if you are asking "do you approve of what I have done here? Smell that". UK Ultra running I have missed you.

It was freezing. -3C as we parked. The UK has escaped a proper winter so far but this was the coldest it's been for a while. It was great bumping into some guys I've not seen for ages again, like Steve Gorden and James Elson.The usual suspects were there, Oli, Tim, Dave Ross and loads of others who I didn't see because there were more than 200 people there. I saw Robin Harvie in the crowd too who looked nervous from doing his first long run since the double London Marathon last April and also a chap called George who said I gave him advice about the UTMB in a race last year. I remember it now, he said I told him not to use sticks cos it's cheating and he didn't use them and finished the race respite the horrific conditions. He spoke about wanting to run the Spartathlon this year which was great, using it to qualify for Badwater. I'd suggest doing them the other way round.

Thanks to Ian Berry for the photo. And thanks for getting at least one of me running. Kind of.

Anyhoo, the race started and the key here is to get ahead of everyone else in the first 400 meters so that you can get over the gates that lead into the narrow paths. Hold back and you risk having to queue for ages while everyone else lifts their creaky body parts over a stile. I ran ahead near Tim, James and Oli and managed to get into the fields before most of the others. I was then free to run at my own pace, after an asthma attack.

I ran behind James, Drew, Claire and Danny who all seemed to be going fast. Drew usually sets out fast in this, trying to impress some girl. I was trying to keep up as I had no intention of getting the maps out and these guys seemed to know the way. I was struggling though, I'd like to think it's because I was a bit poorly and had a cough, or that I was wearing the minimus shoes again and they were not quite working but the most likely explanation is that I am just a fat unfit bastard.

I slowed briefly to mourn a dead badger on the road and soon after I lost everyone and started walking along what I thought was the right way just to wait for someone to catch up. I got the map out but realised I had no idea where I was on the map. Fortunately Dave ROss and a group of others came bounding along (Dave had got lost and added a few miles). I followed these new guys.

Given how crap I was feeling in conparison to last year I thought my time would be much slower. The second half of this was on canal and last year as soon as I hit the canal I increased the pace and overtook quite a few people. Now as soon as I hit it I just stalled, knackered and groin really hurting as I mentally prepared myself for the 3+ hour slog to the finish.

The checkpoints on the canal had a lot more food which was great. Sausages, sausage rolls and pork pies were being scoffed and I drank a lot more water than usual, the sky was clear and the reflection on the water meant that we had two suns glaring at us. It still wasn't as bad as Okalhoma. I passed a guy running who said he was having trouble keeping his heart rate below 170. I didn't really know what to suggest other than "take the HRM off".

At the left turn on the canal, 13 miles to go I unexpectedly caught up with Claire and Drew. Obviously they had set out too fast too and the easy running of the canal was now difficult. I shuffled past, expecting them to come bounding along again later.

This was such a contrast to the last year where I just felt myself getting stronger over the last miles. I took a few walking breaks and had to sit down a few times to stretch but fortunatley the familiar last few miles of the canal came and it started to go quickly again. Trin caught up with me with a couple of miles to go and we chatted about future plans. She has a lot on this year including the amazing GUCR which I am really looking forward to running again. Even though I feel knackered now I will be a whole lot more knackered after 143 miles of canal come June. I said to Trin that the lead woman was just ahead of us, we could see here and whether she fancied a sprint for it. She didn't but still managed to pull ahead of me.

Completely unexpectedly I finished under 7 hours and only a few minutes slower than last year where I thought I'd run well. I then found out that James had run it in 6 hours flat and I was with him for the first 20 miles. Obviously we smashed it in the first half and most of us struggled for the second half. The pub at the end was good though. Nice steak and chips and several pints and chatted to James, Tim, Danny and others. It was a great day overall.

All in all not a horrific day. How on earth I did that every day for 70 is currently unthinkable.

100 Marathon Club AGM Handicap Marathon

For some reason I had the silly idea that I might be able to run this one fast. Dunno why. I am back up to my Los Angeles weight, which is a bit more than my usual London weight and a lot more than my New York weight. I did somehow manage to get a 5k PB a week ago though that's probably just because I've run more 5k races in the past month than in the rest of my life.

I did this race 3 years ago and it's quite good fun. It's a marathon that everyone is supposed to finish at 2.30 and your start time is determined by your average time from your last 7 road marathons (removing the fastest and slowest). I had to go back a long way to actually get to 7 road marathons, London 2008 in fact. I just don't do them anymore. My list was thus;

Oct 11 - Leicester - 4.09
Feb 11 - Enigma Quadzilla day 1 - 3.33
Dec 10 - Enigma Winter - 3.39
Dec 10 - Portsmouth Coastal - 3.17
Apr 10 - Brighton - 4.44
Apr 10 - Paris - 3.17
Apr 09 - London - 3.18

And this somehow got me a start time of 10.47, giving me 3.43 to finish. I thought this was a bit soft. Silly me. I had a healthier breakfast than usual, a McDonalds bacon bagel (instead of the usual double sausage McMuffin). Well actually I had two bagels. I was running a whole marathon.

I got there and saw Dave Ross for the first time in ages and chatted to him (he was due to start 40 minutes after me) about stuff. Pam Storey was her usual excitable self and Allan Rumbles was in charge of making tea. There were loads of runners already out on the course and as soon as I started the 5 lap race I was passing some of the early starters.

It was great bumping into some people I have not seen for a while. Anna Finn has been out injured for a while but she was back, Ruth was looking quite ill but still having a go anyway. Plus loads of the usual 100 marathon club people who I always bump into at any flat 26.2 mile race in the UK.

This was the first time I was going to run more than 10 miles in my New Balance Minimus that I have been wearing all the time since I got back from the states. They are the train version and I have the road version in the post which should arrive just in time for when I stop doing any more road running this year. It was a risk wearing them, my achilles feel like they are going to snap any day now. A few miles usually gets them sorted though.

The course is quite nice in a weird way, about a mile along a road then into a farm for a couple of miles then a park for a couple of miles then back to the running track for a jelly baby and then out again.

After the marathon they were holding the AGM where there has been a lot of debate about what "counts" as a marathon. Views vary, from "It should only count if it is officially certified, exactly 26.2 miles long, on a road, in a big city with at least 10 celebrities running and validated with overpriced photography" to "Just take the total horizontal distance you have travelled in your life and divide it by 25". All fun and games.

I've decided not to join the club proper till I have done 100 26.2 mile races (or at least those advertised as a "marathon", some might end up being long). It might take me a while, I do about 5 a year now. I think I am on around 70 and on about 50 ultras (Trans USA only counts as 1 ultra).

Anyhoo, stamp collecting aside the race felt much harder than it should. It's always good to know how fat and unfit you are at the start of the year and this was telling me plainly. My lap splits were something like 40, 41, 42, 44, 48. The last lap was a great relief and we all started to crowd together reaching the finish. Lots of "last lap", "Home straight" and "Nearly theres" were being expressed until one chap said "Nope, I've still got another lap to do".

I finished in around 3.35, got my medal from Pam and then noticed that everyone else seemed to be running around the track. "Do we have to run around the track?" I asked. "Yes, have you not run around the track". Doh. I handed back my medal and then did a lap of the track. I don't want to be accused of coming from Sunderland.

So, a nice painful slow one to start the year. Somehow I did this in 3.14 a few years ago?

Five laps of a park in Kent. I imagine Barkley will be similar.