New York Appalachian Trail

Location: Appalachian Trail, New York

Total distance: 88 Miles
Notable features: Point to point course with lots of ascent and descent and scrambling over rocks and tree roots.
Weather: 55º at the start, going down to 37º during the night and then back up to 60’s during the day.
Cutoff Target: 24 hours
Total Elevation Gain: 17,000’
Total Elevation Loss: 18,000’
Average Elevation: 1000’
Max Elevation: 1500’
Min Elevation: 120’
Total runners who started: 2 (not including crew)
Total runners who finished: 0
Goal Time: finish under 24 hours
Distance covered: 71 miles

What started with a random cold and mid winter sunrise run back in January snowballed to the concept of running the New York Appalachian trail. Looking back the unexpected situation with Covid shaking up everyone’s calendar certainly helped convince Greg and myself to look differently at our options for running related challenges in 2020. 

From that initial wintery run there had been a variety of running trips throughout New York and New Hampshire. My summer training plans briefly interrupted by an injury I picked up in June/ July, which along with gyms being shut hampered my progress. It’s safe to say it was tough being patient and letting the healing take its course. Nonetheless I was managing to keep my fitness ticking over with some cycling and strength exercises. Fast forward and we were suddenly in September and counting down the weekends till our inaugural FKT attempt. We had planned out some longer training runs which my incredibly supportive wife, Laura, came out to drive between aid stations. Her supporting was a massive help for my training as well as helping us to fine tune what we would need on the actual day of the run. There is one thing running for 5+ hours but it takes a whole different level of dedication to drive between random spots for 5+ hours and camp up waiting for the 5 - 15 min stops we would take to pass through in.

I spent the last couple of weeks tapering with a mix of yoga, mobility work and making sure I was eating, sleeping and drinking well (I probably should have been doing all of these more often throughout my training) . The final supplies were ordered as I settled on a selection of food and drinks for the run. For drinking I used tailwind the flavourless variety, energy gels by spring energy then I mixed in some solid foods of Lara bars, hummus wraps, beef jerky and a selection of waffles. At the aid station I was able to add in some pedialyte, water and an assortment of cake we were planning on rustling up closer to the day of the run.

Aid Station supplies

The jars were pre-filled tailwind

The plan was to start at 6pm at the edge of the New York and New Jersey border where we would complete the slowest and overall more technical section in the dark whilst we had fresh legs. With the thinking we could catch up some speed on the “smoother” sections during the daylight the following day. The day of the run was spent with the final small pieces of preparation and making sure we had everything. It was certainly different to the Pine to Palm 100 miler (you can read about that here) I did where we were limited by what I could physically fly with to the event. Laura between helping me organise a few bits was busy baking treats for the runners and crew. Driving out to the start line my nerves and excitement were starting to build. Meeting up with the rest of the team we transferred kit and food between the cars, took some photos of us looking clean and fresh before hiking up to the start line. The sun was beginning to set, flooding the area with a golden hue. We could not have asked for better conditions! No rain was forecasted, the days were due to be cool. The night was looking to be a cold one!

Greg and myself posed for a few final pictures whilst we tried to look relaxed and fresh. Standing at the line painted on the rock marking the border of New Jersey and New York we were finally ready to set off. After months of training, planning and preparation, all those hours had built up to what we hoped would be the next 24 hours of running. With no fan fare other than just the four of us we did our own count down, started our watches and headed off down the trail. Having run it a few times previously we felt the familiarity as we jogged along. Pausing briefly on top of a ridge line close to the beginning to admire the sun setting across the surrounding area. It was a beautiful sight! Before heading back into the forest and being plunged into growing darkness. As the light died the forest started coming alive with noise from all the bugs, birds and what sounded like a pack of dogs howling as the day came to a close. The odd crashing through the forest with a flashing white tail of deer as they bounded away from us. Not too surprisingly through the early stages of the run we hardly met anyone along the first couple of sections.

Arriving at the second aid station and we picked up the pacers joining us, Dan, Dan and Mike for an extra set of eyes in the dark. Unfortunately Greg’s foot was beginning to cause him some issues and in the midst of it I managed to have a trip hitting my knee and bashing my hand. The skin ripped on my hand with blood beginning to drip down my fingers. Not a great start given we were so early in the milage and the night. We met the crew at a road junction where they helped clean me up. Patched up and we were back on the trail.

During the night we lost time with our pace not being quite what we hoped or expected. We were at third aid station and we had already lost a decent amount of time but there was still the potential to catch up some of the lost time. It was also during this stage where we bumped into a number of camp sites, with dogs barking and growling to the sound of our foot steps. Despite being a dog owner the sound of a dog growling and barking angrily in the darkness wasn’t exactly reassuring, particularly as it became louder and closer. In parts people had set up camp almost immediately off the trail. We past one man asleep in his chair outside of his tent and I am pretty sure his eyes were open, at least it wasn’t halloween….

An extract from Greg’s experience:

“If Nikki can endure great pain daily, I can do it for one day" This is what ran through my head at 1am on the Appalachian Trail on Sunday morning. I was 25 miles into our 88-mile trek to be the first to do the New York Appalachian Trail in a day. My foot had hurt all week (long-time plantar fasciitis), including on a short walk the day before. It was hurting badly by mile 15 of the run, and by mile 25 at our 3rd aid station, I pulled Becca aside who was crewing us throughout the night and said "This is the worst it's ever been. What should I do?" "Greg, all you can do is listen to your body.", she responded. I threw every treatment I could at my foot at the aid station - massage, yoga, CBD cream, new shoes. But none of it really seemed to do too much. I just listened to my brain and my heart instead (those are part of my body, right?) and took it one painful step at a time.“

At the third night stop we ended up pausing for a while with Greg’s foot causing some issues. After sorting out some of the essentials and feeling the temperature plummeting as our bodies cooled in the cold night air, myself and some of the pacers wrapped ourselves in towels round our legs and wore puffy jackets up top. The night had cooled down substantially and by the time we left my teeth chattered away despite being wrapped up with a jacket, gloves and hat on, it was time to get going. Thankfully the immediate uphill helped with warming up quickly and soon we were stripping off the extra layers. The extended break had done Greg a wonder of good. Our pace improved and we were making better progress as we headed towards Bear Mountain. As we headed on up the mountain the sun was beginning to rise. Despite all the extra eyes on the trail we some how cut a section off the trail ending up at the summit prematurely. Realising our error we doubled back before finding the right trail that took us in a long sweeping loop back to the summit of Bear Mountain. We paused briefly along the trail to see a full moon lighting up the valley along with a cloud inversion siting beneath us. The sun was beginning to rise with the dark night sky beginning to turn a blue grey as we made it down the steps of the mountain. The whole area was still and quiet in the early morning hours, a change from the normally full parking lot and bustling paths. There was even a family heading up for sunrise. Unfortunately because of it being early in the morning we were not able to take the route through the zoo. That will have to wait for another day! We were met near the base by the next round of running pacers, Dave and Chris, who had headed out to meet us, they had been there quite a while unfortunately due to us being pretty behind schedule by this stage.

Heading over the bridge and the Hudson river at the fastest we had travelled for quite a while we arrived for breakfast at the aid station at the base of Anthony’s nose. We grabbed a bunch of supplies for our packs and the next stage of the run and most importantly breakfast along with a much needed coffee. It’s amazing how much difference a new day and sunrise makes.

With headlights off we could finally run and see where we were running, which felt like a luxury after the hours of darkness. With the sun up it felt like we were back on familiar ground again as we made our way along the second half of the route. With new pacers the time passed quickly chatting away. Despite already completing one ultra and being about halfway I felt pretty good. Over time we split into two groups with the differing paces. I was looking forward to the next stop where Laura was going to greet me, amazingly she met me mid stage at a road crossing with another cup of coffee. Perfect. I sipped some down as we chatted briefly before crossing the road. Myself and Dave headed off back into the woods on and up the trail. The forest was a beautiful temperature in the morning as we made progress along the trail. Not long later and we arrived at the official aid station. Laura had picked up on the fact that I had misjudged my previous stage on both water and food, so started filling up my running vest with extra goodies for the next stage. We waited around a bit and not long after Greg turned up. He decided to take a bit of a longer stop at this aid station so after getting ready I decided to head on. Dave kindly joined along for the ride (of the running kind). Passing the time talking about his time spent filming in Bhutan and visiting far flung monasteries. Passing along the trails in their full fall colours was an incredible experience. It was mid morning as we came to the point I would not longer have a pacer for a few hours. It had been awesome but I was equally looking forward to a period of just being by myself on the trail.

it also coincided with me beginning to not feel on top form. I just wasn’t feeling particularly hungry or thirsty and was having to try pretty hard to remember to do either. My mouth felt and tasted consistently sweet. I arrived at one of the unplanned aid stations. Laura had decided it would be a great point for a pick me up. Resting under the bridge trying to smile and to get some calories in. I felt ruined. Describing it to Laura with a few choice words on how I felt. Some coffee and a load of water helped kick start me. The next section was uphill for a few a while. I grabbed my running poles and loaded up my pack with a bunch of wraps and some delicious cake Laura had baked up. Feeling slightly sorry for myself I jumped off the back of the car and made my way up the hill. I started to feel better bit by bit as I munched down some food. It wouldn’t be long till I would be joined by Mark who had agreed to come down from Massachusetts to pace for me towards the end of the run. We were massively behind time by this point and after doing the maths I realised it would be a night time finish at the rate I was going. I needed to make up even more time. There were yet more miles of running flowing through the trees as the day progressed I felt stronger and stronger again. Fortunately it was just part of the ebb and flow of these longer runs and the highs and lows that accompany it. I had been a bit worried that it was potentially the same wall I hit of Pine to Palm at mile 80 where everything slowed right down and basically the wheels fell off the cart. Between the running and some force feeding at the aid stations the come back was on.

Soon enough I was joined by Mark for the final sections, he provided the boost to my speed with a huge amount of energy and a definite mental boost. We caught up on how the year had been and of course how the run had shaped up. All in all it seriously helped pass the time. It also gave me the opportunity to reflect on the experience and ultimately what I wanted to do. When I met him there was still about 23 or so miles to go. I did the maths and realised it wasn’t just going to be a late finish but with where we were finishing would likely mean finishing up at home in the early hours of the morning. The FKT by this stage was well and truly not on the cards, it just had not been our time on this occasion. After much discussion over the couple of hours I made my decision on what would happen at the next checkpoint. In many ways it made the rest of the run time to relax and really enjoy the beauty of what we were running through. The scenery was spectacular with flowing trails through the forest and the area covered in fallen leaves. The cherry on top came with the setting sun and yet another gorgeous evening of golden light flooding the forest it was incredible to run through. Some might debate how my “running” looked by this stage but it was still my slow version after almost 24 hours of running and 36 hours of being awake. Mark pulled out one last surprise of swedish fish sweets.

As we came into the final miles we picked up the pace with the prospect of stopping being so close. Coming round the corner to cheers from the crowd of the support crew and the run was over.

We had not completed the planned run or achieved the FKT we envisaged months earlier but I finished after 24 hours of running feeling great. Sure I could have continued and aimed to finish the full distance but I felt the balance of risk and reward for me had shifted. Instead I finished short, I was happy with how the day had shaped up, the overall experience and rather than finishing late into the evening I enjoyed the moment with Laura, Mark and some of the support crew all washed down with a small dram of whisky.

Have you done something which did not go to plan? Or changed plans to enjoy the moment rather than the finish line?

A massive thanks to all the team who supported us, Greg for pulling it all together. Elizabeth for supporting Greg. Mike for your organising of the pacers. John, Becca and family for the night crewing. Dan, Dan, Dave, Chris, Mike and Mark for the pacing! Rachel & Katie for inspiring the Big Run and Nikki’s cause. And of course Laura and Onyx who supported me throughout the training and the run!! The experience was made by the people along the journey.

The Pemi Loop

Possibly one of my favourite trails that I have had the pleasure to run along in the US so far. Sitting in the White Mountains and not far from Mt Washington this perfect loop is an epic challenge whether you run or hike. Sitting at 29 miles (47 km’s) and with almost 10,000ft (3,000m) of ascent including eight of the New Hampshire 48er’s above 4,000ft.

The Pemi Loop

After the Press Traverse we had a pretty casual day recovering with a mixture of good food, a couple of beers at Schillings Brewery in Littleton (link to the brewery is here, it was definitely a worthwhile stop!!) as well as a short run along a river for an evening dip. Once back at the house we spent a happy evening with our supplies spread out across the floor as we worked through all the bits of kit, food and water that we would need over the 10 - 15 hours that it might take to cover the 29 miles. The normal guide is that the hike should take 20 hours normally split over 2 to 4 days where as the fastest time currently sits at 5 hrs 27 mins, there are now records for double pemi loops, super pemi’s and completing 14 of the 4000er’s via the pemi loop. If you are interested check the records out on the link Pemi FKT.

After yet more food and an early ish night was in order for the early start the following morning.

The plan was to reach the trail head around 7 am with us trying to maximise the amount of daylight on the trail. The first difficulty of the day was finding parking as despite our early arrival all the spaces were already filled along with a significant amount of parking going on up the main road. After a walk to the starting area we arrived at the bridge that marked the start of the trail, we took a few pictures before heading on up the trail. We were doing the route in reverse as we wanted to run what we thought to be the more challenging section out the way first. First up was a few miles of no climbing where we made quick progress dodging between groups headed along the pine covered trail, the scent of pine trees in the crisp morning air. The slightly bouncy surface felt like we could run for days on. The climb came to a rather abrupt beginning with a steep and rocky climb up into the mountains. Making progress bit by bit up the mountain towards the first summit of Bond Cliff standing at 4265ft ( 1300m) followed shortly afterwards by Mount Bond 4698ft (1432m). We arrived above the tree line to incredible views, blue skies and wispy clouds drifting over the summits. The views were mind blowing. One of our group made his way towards a cliff edge to check out the climbing potential. Some slightly wobbly runners legs making him think otherwise about going too close to the edge. First summit down and onto the next.

Our Start Line

History: Mount Bond (part of the trio of Bondcliff, West Bond and Mount Bound all of which are official 4000 footers) was named after Professor George Bond from Harvard University an astronomer who in 19th Century suggest the use of photography to measure a stars magnitude. He also surveyed the White Mountains. 

In comparison to the presidential traverse the trail was a beautifully carved out trail at this stage in the journey we moved along at a good pace as a group following the ridge line round the rim of this huge bowl all the while being able to see our final peak of the day. I have historically not enjoyed seeing the finishing point of a run but the spectacular views more than made up for the fact that the final summit teased us with our progress. Our pace ebbed and flowed with the difficulty of the terrain. The route skirted round Mount Guyot 4580ft (1396m), there was a bit of me that wanted to add these additional peaks onto the route for the day, I have since learnt about routes such as the super pemi that do. A tempting challenge for 2021. 

History: The mountain is named after Professor H. Guyot from Princeton University who was a geologist and geographer. The mountain is not an official 4000 footer due to its height above the col to South Twin Mountain.

The next section was the make or break for the day with the route becoming more and more technical all the way to South Twin Mountain. Our pace slowed as we tried to be as delicate as possible hoping between rocks and roots. We started coming across more people who had been camping over night and beginning to make their way round the remainder of the trail. The thought of carrying a large pack on some of the terrain made me appreciate the light and fast approach we had taken. We were still making good progress and I was feeling really good despite having run the Presidential Traverse a couple of days before (you can read about that on this link ). We were also running as a larger group which made for a great run and at least for this first half everyone seemed to be happy with the speed and approach to sticking together.

We reached the summit of South Twin Mountain 4902ft (1494m) but given the length of the day we didn’t pause for long and made the dash towards Gale Head hut. 

Quick fact: South Twin Mountain sits on part of the Appalachian Trail that runs 2,170 miles from Georgia to Maine. I still have no idea how the likes of Karel Sabbe, Scott Jurek, Karl Meltzer, Joe McConaughy and Jennifer Pharr-Davis completed the route in under 50 days. Mind blowing the speed and endurance these athletes have. 

After this summit the route dropped down considerably towards the hut marking our midway point, it was here that the rocks and rugged terrain really took a bit of a toll on the team. I used the last of my water coming into the Gale head hut, perfect timing. We paused here surrounded by other runners and hikers topping up on food and water. Greg grabbed a burrito, I grabbed a brownie for the trail. Meanwhile some of the guys were patching up their feet for the second stage of our run. The sun was out and beamed down on us all as we sat soaking in the rays. It was time to head on and make the most the the day light as we all wanted to minimise risk of spending any time running in the dark. It was this second section where the groups pace differed a little and we naturally broke into two groups as the trail meandered up and down towards the next summit of Mount Garfield 4413 ft (1345m). It was here that the weather started to turn with clouds beginning to build all around us. We had been incredibly lucky with the weather so far on this trip and I was wondering what would be more pleasant sunshine or a touch of rain to cool us down as we ran along. I should have spent my time wishing for the sunshine!

Summit number four complete and now it was time to head onto Mount Lafayette 5249 ft (1600 m). It was here that the number of people out on the trail started to increase and the weather began to really turn. Clouds started to lower over the summits covering them in a veil and as we made our way up a number of false summits the wind and rain started to pick up. Donning jackets to stay slightly warmer, we made our way carefully up the rocky mountain. Behind and below us we were trying to pick out the coloured jackets from Andy and Greg but we couldn’t make them out and in the cold, wet weather we made the decision to continue a head on to stay as warm as possible. Making the summit and there were crowds of people, despite the relatively quite trails to this point the numbers of people were incredible as was the fact that many had minimal gear to deal with the now very different conditions to the beginning of the day. 

History fact: Mt Lafayette is named after General Lafayette a french military hero  who fought during the American Revolutionary war and was an aide to George Washington. 

Next up was 3 rolling summits North Lincoln, Mount Lincoln and little Haystack Mountain, the three of us making good progress along the trail. And as the rain and wind started to albeit I could remove my jacket. All that remained was the final 2 peaks of the day.  Mount liberty and Mount flume. We passed a few other runners along the way and as we arrived at the top of Mount Flume another group kindly took some photos of us before the descent to the finish. 

The final descent was certainly one of the highlights of the day. The trail for the most part felt like a perfectly designed trail carved for us down the mountain, our speed began to naturally pick up on the way down as we inched our way to the finish. Ever expecting the terrain to suddenly change and hamper our progress. Instead the trail became better and better all the way down. Broken up occasionally by some incredibly crafted wooden steps that covered the more challenging sections. The trail soon became a hard packed trail more similar to the one I experienced on the Pine to Palm last year (you can read about that experience here). The final couple of miles were pure elation running freely down the pine tree trails and then onto the hard packed route we initially ran on at the beginning towards the bridge and our finish line. Our pace kicking up a couple of notches for an almost sprint finish. Touching the bridge we had done it (watches stopped to capture the all important finishing time, as they say if its not on strava it didn’t happen….). All that was left was for us to bask in our glory whilst drinking a beer and soaking in the nearby stream.

Stats for the long weekend:

Days: 3

Distance covered: 56 miles

ascent: 20,000ft 

NH 4000 footers completed: 16 

The Presi Traverse

Distance travelled: 20.08 miles

Altitude climbed: 9,469 ft

Total Time: 8hr 7mins

When I arrived in the US 4 years ago I first experienced the wonders of New Hampshire on a cold winters day when I joined the Appalachian Mountain Club for a day skiing trip on the Cog track on Mt Washington. On a side note I would highly recommend joining the Appalachian Mountain Club if you are ever in the North East. My first day with them was especially memorable (link Skiing on Mt Washington) as I had made a very school boy error in forgetting my goggles. My eyelashes froze on the ski down, not convenient. 

The Presi Traverse

Ever since my first visit to New Hampshire I had been wanting to do a winter and summer trek to the summit of Mt Washington. A place renowned for the highest recorded wind speed on earth outside of a tropical storm.  I had heard about an epic running challenge where you traverse length of a ridge line following what’s called the Presidential traverse. At 23 miles (37km) and 9,000 feet of gain (2,700m) it's not for the faint hearted and is rated as one of the toughest running/hiking routes in the north east of the US. 

TOP TIP: learn the US President's names and who each peak is officially named after to make sure you don’t accidentally run an extra peak. ***Hint*** Clay is not a former US President. And Mt Jackson isn’t named after former US president Andrew Jackson. I learnt that at the finish when my friends wondered where I had got to.

My opportunity to run the Presidential Traverse came when a friend invited me on a long weekend running trip in New Hampshire with a bunch of his buddies. Of course I said YES!! immediately.

First was the journey up to New Hampshire. It was meant to be a fairly mundane day. I was feeling a little under the weather (having fainted in the morning, long story…) and was not looking forward to a long drive up to New Hampshire. I ride shared with one other up to my friend’s house in Beacon NY where we pit-stopped for lunch, burritos! They hit the spot. I was finally beginning to feel normal by the time I finished my second. 

After a fairly decent drive we arrived to yet more food - despite not having run yet I was beginning to eat as if I had done a few days of ultras. Let’s call it pre-run prep. The evening was spent munching pizza, assessing the route and packing our bags. There was of course a bit of beer drunk and lots of chatter about how quickly we might be able to run the Traverse.

After the rough morning, the long drive and packing of our equipment However I was too excited to sleep, I tossed and turned through the night until my alarm finally signaled morning. I munched some cold oats and cold brew whilst watching some of the guys working on brewing the perfect batch of drip coffee before hitting the road.

The crew

We dropped a car at the end point before heading back to the start as a group and ready to rock. A quick pee stop, a final drink, photo and it was time to hit the trail. 

It has been a long time since I ran in a group that was not part of a race. I was envisioning our small tribe heading along the wooded trail. The trail started relatively flat and untechnical before kicking up the gears. The group soon dispersed and the poles I had taken out were also stashed away as the trail turned to more of a rock scramble heading up Mt Madison (5,367ft, 1,636m). Despite the early start and the mild temperatures I was beginning to heat up quickly. I climbed higher until I slowly made my way out of the tree line. And then it was onto a large boulder field heading directly to the summit. Hopping from boulder to boulder all the while keeping an eye on the cairns that marked the route that snaked its way up to the summit. I tried not to peek at the incredible view before reaching the top. Mt Madison down, 7 more to go! (or so I thought...) 

History lesson: Mt Madison was named after James Madison, 4th US President from 1809 to 1817. According to Wiki He is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States.

From here the route was laid out in front of us, I could see a few peaks ahead before the pinnacle of Mt Washington sitting high above all the others waiting for our arrival. I could make out one of our group just a head of me as I scrambled down. He had come up a quicker route and already made the summit before heading back down a bit to Madison Spring hut to fill up some water. I grabbed a couple of cups of water and together we headed on. 

Up we climbed, munching on yet more food - breakfast number 2 or maybe 3 of the day.  There wasn’t a huge amount of other people moving about on the mountains at this point allowing us to move  freely along the trail. 

Soon we reached the second peak of the day, Mt Adams (5,735ft, 1,748m). A quick photo and slightly less time admiring the views and on to the next peak. 

History lesson: Mt Adams is named after John Adams, second US President from 1797 to 1801. John Adams was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and he served as the first vice-president of the US.

After the second peak I slowly edged ahead of my running buddy, trying to catch up with a few of the lads further ahead although I anticipated them being considerably further a head. I ticked off Mt Jefferson (5,659ft, 1,725m) and Mt Clay (5,525ft, 1,684m). Mt Clay was an addition to the “basic” 7 peaks of the Presidential Traverse, what can I say, these lads like a challenge! But it was Mt Washington I was looking forward to, it felt like the pinnacle of the route with everything after it being kind of downhill (or at least less of a climb).

History lesson: Mt Jefferson is named after Thomas Jefferson, third US President from 1801 to 1809. Interesting fact from the Washington Post; instead of having “former US President” inscribed on his grave he chose “Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statue of Virginia for religious freedom and Father of the University of Virginia”. Mt Clay is named after Henry Clay, 19th century senator and US Secretary of State from Kentucky - not a US President. But an official peak of the Presidential Traverse nonetheless.

In front of us we could make out the line of cars driving to the summit and the cog train. The track was well trodden allowing for some good progress prior to a small boulder field near the summit. Arriving at the top we joined crowds of people, motorbikes, cars and a queue to stand by the sign marking the peak of Mt Washington (6,288ft, 1,917m). 

History lesson: Mt Washington is named after George Washington the first US President 1789-1797. Random fact from The History Channel; “Washington wasn’t just America’s first president, he was also its first mule breeder.

I lost the Shaun amongst the crowds on Mt Washington so I headed on down as quickly as possible. With my buff pulled over my face (thanks COVID) I ran down the perfectly laid stone path towards the "Lakes of the Clouds" hut to resupply. The hut is operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club - thanks guys! A quick water stop and I was on my way. 

I was up and over Mt Monroe (5,372ft, 1,637m), the 6th peak of the day, by about 2pm.

History lesson: Mt Monroe is named after James Monroe, fifth US President from 1817 to 1825. When Monroe was James Madison’s secretary of state he bought Florida from Spain for about $5 million.

I headed onwards to Mt Eisenhower (4,760ft, 1,450m), my 7th peak, I was pretty sure I only had one left. Looking at the route I had plotted on my phone there appeared to be two more. The rough and technical terrain was starting to take its toll. 

History lesson: Mt Eisenhower is named after Dwight Eisenhower, 34th US President from 1953 to 1961. Eisenhower was apparently the first US President to ride in a helicopter!

Ahead of me I could see a little peak, Mt Pierce (4,291ft, 1,308m) sitting above the trees as I headed along the path. I reached the top knackered and and couldn’t quite believe that there was still one peak to go.

History Lesson: Mt Pierce is named after Franklin Pierce, 14th US President from 1853 to 1857. Wiki notes; Pierce is regularly ranked as one of the worst US Presidents - hopefully in part due to his alienation of anti-slavery groups and enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. 

Then onto my final peak and 9th, Mt Jackson.

History Lesson: This peak wasn’t named after former US President Andrew Jackson who was the seventh US President from 1829 to 1837. It was instead named after Charles Thomas Jackson who served as State Geologist for New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island in the late 19th century. Charles Thomas Jackson is remembered by many for his involvement in a series of bitter conflicts that followed a pattern; a discovery would be announced by someone, Jackson would then claim prior discovery,  and a controversy would ensue. Among the conflicts were the discover of guncotton, the telegraph, the digestive action of the stomach and the anesthetic effects of ether.

In short Jackson was a fraud (both the mountain and apparently Charles)  - this mountain tricked me into believing it was a former US President when I was at my most exhausted.

A few hikers at the top told me there was about a 30 - 45 min trip down to the parking lot. The initial part was straight down a rocky scrambly route. It felt like a fairly brutal section to finish on. Slowly but surely I started to hear the road up ahead and popped out of the trees all of a sudden to see the rest of the group waiting. It turned out that I added a decent amount of distance to the Presi traverse. 

I was delighted to have completed the route and to be finished as I washed down my run with a cold beer and some pickles.  

A Big Run

THE NEW YORK APPALACHIAN TRAIL

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is a global epidemic that continues to quietly plague our homes, getting lost in the noise of the daily news cycle, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. Greg (Benno’s trail running partner) felt that he had a responsibility to raise awareness and discuss domestic violence issues, just as the white populous has an increased awareness to discuss racial issues.

A BIG RUN - RAISING AWARENESS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Text donation: You can also text (202) 858-1233 and enter “abigrun” to pay via Venmo, Paypal, or credit card.

Some details about the route, and if you wish to follow along our journey on instagram @bennorawlinson or on the trackamap link below

https://trackamap.com/bennosadventures/

Whilst you are out on the trails this weekend use the hashtag to support #NYabigrun

• 88 miles on rocky hiking trails

• 17,000’ of ascent and 18,000’ of descent

• Crosses the Hudson River at the Bear Mountain Bridge, right after snaking through the Bear Mountain Zoo

Pine 2 Palm 100 Miler

Location: Williams, Oregon

Total distance: 100 Miles
Notable features: Point to point course with lots of ascent and descent; parts on the PCT; rock scrambling.
Weather: 55º at the start, going up to 89º at peak and 50’s during the night.
Cutoff: 36 hours
Total Elevation Gain: 20,000’
Total Elevation Loss: 20,000’
Average Elevation: 4872’
Max Elevation: 7448’
Min Elevation: 2042’
Total runners who started: 110
Total runners who finished: 82
Goal Time: finish (pre-training it started at sub 24 hrs then post a lack of sufficient training it increased) 
Finish Time: 28:51:37
Overall Place: 49

https://roguevalleyrunners.com/pages/pine-to-palm

My first 100 mile trail race. I should probably start with how I ended up choosing to do one and equally how I settled on Pine to Palm 100. 

Why run 100 miles?

I get asked this question quite a bit shortly followed by did you stop, sleep and what about the bathroom. All good questions some easier to answer than others. In terms of sleeping, no. Stopping, occasionally. I tried to limit this to the aid stations but towards the end of the race or for a selection of the many spectacular views where I paused to take it all in. In terms of the bathroom, when you have to go you go. More on that later. In terms of the why its always difficult to put it into words. There have been some famous phrases such as George Mallory’s “Because its there”. But that would probably be cutting the story short. I got into ultra running on and off for the last maybe 7 years or so but apart from a charity 100 mile road run I hadn’t dipped my toes into the trail running 100 miler range. I had read and listened to countless stories from team mates, good friends, strangers at races as well as many a blog, magazine, podcast or trail running film. Each little nugget of inspiration budging me ever closer. I wanted to experience the gorgeous views, the crisp mountain air and that feeling before the finish line when you know its yours for the taking but not  quite over yet. Overall I wanted to experience it for myself. Ultimately to see how I got on as well as whether its something I would potentially enjoy doing more than once. After deciding on entering a 100 miler next was the question of which one. I first set my sights on one of the east coast races like the Vermont 100 or eastern states. Both ended up clashing with another engagement that I couldn’t miss. So instead I opened it up to one in the US. I soon came across Pine to Palm, a race on the border of Oregon and California. It boosted gorgeous views, a bunch of mountains and almost of equal importance it was not limited by a lottery system, waiting list or anything like that. Plus it was a qualifier for Western states. It felt like a perfect option. I even thought in September the North West coast would be cooling down a bit more making for some ideal temperatures for running. With a few clicks of some buttons and I was entered. I have read and heard about the doorstep mile being the hardest. Making that initial first step to commit to doing something being the hardest part of the journey. And in some ways it was, roaming the niche corner of the internet devoted to individuals who want to pay money to join some other nutters in seeing how long and potentially painful it will be to travel 100 miles on foot. The training hadn’t really started at this point as I was still very much thinking of skiing whether it was hiking up mountains or cross country skiing around them. Spring time and summer would be the time for the miles to build up and for the task in hand to really sink in.

After deciding and entering to do the race early on in the year I thought I should at least try to structure and tailor my training to be more focussed on this 100 mile goal rather than my usual of doing multiple sports and activities. Post ski season after a short break I got back into training more regularly, slowly the additions of crossfit were replaced with more running sessions. I tried my hand at using one of the generic training programs through training peaks to help prepare me for the race. Training peaks is an online and app platform for training, in particular making use of heart rate information to gauge how you are developing. Overall the program made it pretty easy for each weeks training plan, which for years I have been working out myself. With all of life’s normal commitments  popping up it certainly helped put some much needed structure in place. Despite this the one major challenge I did have was that unlike an actual coach, I wasn’t able to always adapt it to my personal circumstances. Which when I planned on using the program wasn’t much of a consideration but a series of personal commitments throughout the summer particularly over the weekends meant that my plan for regular long runs took the hit. In retrospect I could have opted to compress the mid week training with back to back runs morning and night to try and maintain a balance of quantity and quality. Overall would I recommend training peaks, for me it worked well and for another 100 miler I might be tempted to seek some more advice or input from an actual coach but I was happy enough with the generic program. I think had I followed it exactly I could have achieved an even better result. Saying that if you are using a heart rate monitor during training and with a bit more research you can probably achieve similar feedback through the likes of garmin/ suunto/ strava apps. Feel free to reach out to me or ask questions in the comments.

Onyx a new member to the family

Going back to the run. Despite a slightly more disrupted summer running plan than I originally had planned for, the race was quickly approaching. The ripple effect was that some of  my decisions around nutrition and equipment were made quite late in the day. One big decision was I opted to use poles and for nutrition I would be mainly reliant on First Endurance both of which I chose fairly late in the game. In fact due to some travel arrangements I had to take near to the race, I ended up picking up my first endurance gels and powder just before the race for the first time. This is definitely not recommended but after reading a bunch of reviews and looking around at the various options I took the gamble. Fortunately it worked out for the best generally speaking but more on that later. 

A friend of mine had very kindly agreed to join me out in the depths of Oregon to provide some crewing. Which I was delighted about, as being able to see a friendly face in the early hours of the morning or  the later hours of the race would definitely be a benefit. Having not had a crew before and with it being a far longer race than I had previously entered I realised that there would be additional admin to sort out. Such as being much more organised on what would be required for each drop bag/ aid station, which stop would I require additional clothing/ head lamps and estimated times for each of the aid stations. I will follow up on a blog with my top learnings but overall depending on the race and your objectives I would recommend doing this admin straight after entering a 100 miler particularly if its your first. It will provide you with the time to reflect on what you need to achieve in your training as well as giving some clear ideas on what you will want to test on on various training runs. Doing that at the start of your training whilst the mileage and training time is lower also  means you aren’t trying to do this all last minute or whilst trying to balance life along with a heavier training plan as you get closer to the race. 

With the final few weeks to go I started getting together various supplies, final bits of kit and bagging it all out with a few last minute pieces before flying out west. Leaving the east coast as autumn/ fall was beginning to take full effect with cooler temperatures I arrived on the west coast to positively balmy 32C/ 93F. It was roasting and certainly a lot warmer than I was expecting for that time of year. After a bit of a lie in, I began getting the final bits of kit ready. Laying out the various drop bags and getting all my kit organised. As this was my first 100 miler as well as being crewed I certainly had brought far too much kit. Essentially everything can be brought along including the kitchen sink. Particularly if you are flying with a huge bag. With various spares and back ups in case something didn’t work/ break etc. With the car loaded and kit laid out for the morning, all that was left was for a pre-race evening meal. A hawaiian pizza and a couple of beers to wash it down followed by an early night was exactly what was required for a good nights sleep. I slept like a baby despite the ridiculously early alarm of 3.15 am. Driving through the town of Grants Pass in the early hours of the morning we were surprised by the number of people driving about in the small hours of the night as well as the prolific number of red traffic lights we managed to hit. We arrived at the drop off point to the eerie sounds of Coyotes howling. The sun had not begun to rise yet with a sky full of stars and a bright moon lighting up the area, to the point where a head torch was hardly needed. The temperature in the darkness of dawn was pretty chilly, compared to the highs of 93F (33C) the day before.  If only it could stay this cool morning temperature it would have been perfect. Various groups huddled around waiting in random spots around the parking and drop off point as we debated on where the school bus would turn up. Slowly its lights came up through a swirl of dust off the farm track. We all bundled on board to make the drive to the start line. It turned out the bus would not go the full way to the start line and we end up walking the final stretch up the hill. Which it transpired we were to run back down as part of the start of the race. Nothing like some additional miles for a warm up.

Runners queued outside the port-a-loo’s for their final relief prior to the race start and zero toilets for the coming 100 miles. Head torches shone and swept across the area as runners looked out for friends, support crews, warmed up or looked for an alternative relief area to the long queues of the port-a-loo's. After a speech from Hal the race director we all lined up behind the start line facing down the hill. A count down began, some music blaring and we were off. The start of 100 miles. The initial speed of the group was infectious forgetting that this was merely the start in a long, long day (or two days), at least for those in the mid to rear of the pack. The sides lined with family, supporters, crew and a whole variety of vehicles that had made the drive up. It didn’t take long to reach  the bottom of the hill that we had not long before walked up.  Rounding the corner and it was on for the first ascent of the day. A series of switchbacks up the mountain along a dirt track to the first aid station of a water stop. Soon the pace broke into a speed walk as racers settled into their own strategy. I was certainly swept along by some of the atmosphere and joy of running with others in a new mountain range to help spur me on. As we reached the top of the mountain and began the meander back down the other side the sun began to rise and night transitioned to dawn in the blue and grey colours of the morning light. Head torches still cut through the semi darkness as patches of dense foliage threw us back into almost darkness again.

As the race continued I found myself with a group where we were all paced fairly well. Across the ups and downs we would leap frog one another as we chatted away, the path continually rising up a series of switchbacks up and up the mountain all the while surrounded by towering pine and red cedar trees. The second set of switch backs was where we got to witness the first sunrise of the race. Glorious rays of gold cut through between the trees. Runners would be momentarily bathed in gold before heading back into the shadows.  

Its safe to say the morning kind of flew by, my legs and body felt strong. The pace felt good and my stops at the aid stations thanks to Mark who was crewing me were significantly quicker than if I was doing it by myself. The first surprise of the day was running towards what I thought was a field of rather stumpy looking Christmas trees. However as we got closer and the wind started blowing in our direction the aroma that hit us was surprisingly strong one guy described it almost like the aroma of a hoppy IPA. The aid station was situated right opposite the entrance to the field of marijuana as we paused to take in the views, a quick break and some much needed cooling thanks to an ice bucket and sponge. Once brain freeze was achieved it was time to continue running.

After a relatively flat section along some baking hot tarmac and trails we finally arrived at the check point. A quick transition thanks to Mark before being ushered by him to a kid with a water spray gun. Sprayed down in cold water. It was so refreshing! Like starting the day from scratch (almost). It was time to continue climbing. Heading up to Stein Butte. The day was heating up and the climb seemed to go on and on. I found out later this particular section alone had a 2400 ft elevation gain. The sun was beating down on us to the point where it appeared we weren’t even sweating, it was evaporating so quickly. As we neared the top of the ridge line we popped out from the trees. Running along the mountain we could see all the other peaks around us. The sun at this stage was baking down on us. I hadn’t appreciate that I was not feeling 100% until I arrived at the check point where there was a huge bucket of ice cold water. I grabbed the sponge and doused my head several times with the icy water dripping down my face, neck and back. Instantly cooling me down. I felt far more refreshed and revitalised. After grabbing some water, electrolyte and some food I headed on down the path. I didn’t get far, realising I had left my poles back at the check point I headed back the way I came. Fortunately it was not a large detour. Poles in hand and it was back down the path again. Second time round and slightly further down the track I missed the turn off for the runners. Spotting what I thought was one of the runners markers I ran down the mountain. Despite the route being in my watch the warning signal of being off path did not go off. But something did not feel right. Checking my route on both my watch and phone I quickly worked out that I had gone wrong. Time to run back up the mountain. Nothing like a bit of extra mileage in a 100 mile race. After the joy of running down hill in the shade, turning around and running back up the hill was not what I wanted to be doing. I arrived at the junction after maybe 5 - 10 mins of running and spotted one of the guys who had arrived in the checkpoint after me who was now a head of me. I also realised the stupidity of my mistake with sticks across the road and another marker further up the path I was meant to head up. It was certainly my mistake. The next section was mainly downhill to a lake, it would also be the point to pick up head torches for the next section of the race. I ended up joining a few other runners for this section as we ran towards our next checkpoint. Having a bit of company was fantastic and a good opportunity to pass the time. Arriving at a packed check point with runners and support crew members littered everywhere. With a variety of kit and food laid out waiting for their runners. I stopped off with Mark to grab a few bits and top up on some much needed food before heading on. In retrospect I definitely could have left my vest at the stop given we were doing a loop round the lake before continuing on. It did give me the opportunity to properly top up on some much needed nutrition for the trail a head. Back at the stop it was time to grab torches and head on. We were still a long way from darkness but this was going to be one of the final stops before darkness would set in. 

Time for some more up hill. This did give the opportunity to admire sunset from the mountain tops. With the temperatures beginning to cool I managed to keep the pace with one of the other guys as we headed up the mountain. Coming round the corner and we came across a runner who had minimal supplies and was clearly in a pretty tight spot as he sat down for a rest. We checked he was ok, offered some food and water before heading on into the darkness. Not long after my tracking device beeped as the battery finally died, my watch time gave up due to low battery around the same time defaulting it to resort to time and date only rather than tracking. For a while a bunch of us ran together our headlights bumbling in the darkness. Occasionally we would go close to the various dirt roads which were being used all night by the crew cars running between check points. Dust was being kicked up with each passing car as they slowly drove into the darkness. Their headlights cutting a path up and along the mountainside. At points it gave us hope of being near a check point while at others when we could see them miles a head of us was slightly de-motivating with these pin pricks minutely winding a head of us like lit up ants. After a while the group broke up and I headed on into the darkness by myself. My head wondering amongst the discussions of mountain lions, coyotes, bears and snakes that had been mentioned just before the race started…. I felt like peaking behind every tree and each noise that came out from the darkness got my heart beating faster. 

The highlight of the night was heading up towards Dutchman peak. Headlights of runners meandered a head and looking up I could see this string of lights heading up to the summit. As I got closer I could hear the music blaring out. It was incredible. I got in, found Mark having transported kit up the mountain. I grabbed a seat for the first time in the race. My body sinking into the seat and enjoying the weight being off my feet. I could feel a hot spot on my heel so I got some tape out to prevent any blister forming. The rest of my feet looked clean and blister free amazingly. After a much needed break it was time to head off. Back down the mountain I passed a runner and his wife who had pulled all of his supplies along with one kid on her front and side. It was inspiring to see and certainly my race was significantly easier In comparison. 

The darkness dragged on and my pace slowed. Finally the miles had caught up with me. My initial speed over the first 60 - 80 miles slowed down. Night wore on running with my light bobbing away and cutting into the darkness amongst the trees and trails. I was counting the time down to reaching Grouse Gap. Reaching grouse and I was definitely feeling it. The offering of a beer or a shot was equally tempting yet equally a terrible idea. It was at this point that my stomach gave up with the gels and powders I had been consuming. Grabbing some toilet paper from the car I dashed to the bushes. This was not how I envisaged finishing my first 100 mile race. 

With my vest filled with supplies it was time for the last 20 miles. Just 20 miles. I knew I could do it. I also knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant. My foot that I had tried to patch up from a risk of a blister was now aching on my achilles. In retrospect I should have pulled the tape off and sucked up the hot spot from the blister. Ultra runners shuffle had certainly set in. First up was an out and back to grab a flag from the top of Butte. I slowly made my way up. It felt like snails pace as I painfully made my way up and up. Pausing to try to suck in some more air into my tired body. Arriving at the top of Butte with the sun rising gave me a burst of energy. I knew I could make it to the finish for the time I had set myself. The rest of the trail was down hill. Step by step I was getting closer to the finish. Despite the distance it was amazing to be so close to so many of the runners I had spent a large portion of the race with. 

With the sun rising and the heat beginning to rise we ran amongst the red woods, these huge towering trees and these tight trails down towards the final check point. After yet another bathroom break and it was on for the final miles. I imagined the loops and trails I had ran back home in New Jersey, Scotland and the rest of the UK. With the end in sight I felt more relaxed to pick up the pace for the final miles into the finish. Coming through the town we could hear the occasional cheers coming from the finish. Suddenly round the corner and there it was. After months of training, hours of running and it was all over. 

Slumping on a seat I soaked in the moment, feet up to help start the recovery.

Relaxing by the Pool whilst icing my foot

Attending the prize giving that evening was a special time, each runner was given the chance to stand or hobble up to say a couple of words about them and their race. Getting a quick snippet into each persons story from those charging at the front to following up at the back of the back was equally inspiring each in their own way.

All that as left was a short and very slow limp to the car and to celebrate with some food, a couple of beers and a warm bath to soak in.

Catamount Trail Skimo Camp

Thank you Aaron Rice for letting me use your photos in this post. On a complete side note he is an awesome guy who climbed and skied 2.5 million feet in a year. Check him out at

https://airandrice.com/

I’m a bit behind writing up about this but back in December I found out about the Catamount Trail Association who not only organised a skimo and backcountry ski camp but also hold a number of ski touring days. There is still plenty of snow out on the trails and trips going on this season. If you are interested in ski touring, backcountry skiing or even for the summer there are options for various tours and routes to check out.

http://catamounttrail.org/

Anyway we headed up late on a friday night. It’s safe to say between work taking slightly longer than expected, as did the drive we arrived and got to sleep a bit after midnight. An ideal bedtime prior to a 5 am wake up to get over to the ski area for a morning tour up the mountain. I rose the next morning trying to be as quiet as possible before Laura my wife kindly drove me over to the venue before heading back for some much needed sleep. The excitement of the day a head certainly helped overcome the tiredness of minimal sleep. As did a spot of a sugar rush as I grabbed a cereal bar to eat on the drive over. 

After a quick briefing in the morning twilight with the other skiers and a few split boarders before we got underway in the blue light of the morning. Although it was just light enough a few people opted probably more sensibly to bring out a head torch as beams of light cut across the trail as we started to hike up. It felt great being out on the skis for the first time of the season. I had unfortunately not been able to make the most of THE snow dump that happened back in November. Many of the skiers regaled tales of some of the best snow and powder days they had seen in seasons. Despite the crisp cold conditions we all soon heated up as we picked up pace heading on up the mountain at Bolton Valley. Having never been there it was a great spot to see with some dedicated uphill trail routes to skin up. This was the warm up of the day and for me a great re-introduction into ski touring, everything kind of felt a bit familiar yet rusty. We headed up past a mountain hut that you can stay in overnight during the winter which looked like an awesome spot for another day! The trail took us further up the mountain weaving between trees and over frozen streams as the sun began to rise. It was a cloudy morning unfortunately, so there was to be no golden sunrise. Rather an overcast blue grey glow. The group slowly spread out up the mountain as micro groups found their rhythm heading up the trail. 

Starting off in the morning twilight

Reaching the top and it was time to strip the skins from the base of our skis and ski down. Helmets on, skins off and we were flying down the mountain side. Having mainly done skimo races where you don’t necessarily take in how everyone else is performing their transitions it was great to start seeing the varying levels of efficiency and proficiency at the top. As we got closer to the base we began passing a number of other ski tourers heading up for their own first lines of the day. Arriving back at base camp we came through the doors of the classroom area to a row of donuts and coffee. Despite the earlier breakfast in the car the caffeine and sugar hit was exactly what was required. This was not to be the breakfast of athletes or champions I expect but it was certainly a welcome treat. 

It was then time for class.

The day was broken down into 2 sections, the morning for some indoor teaching, Here there were a couple of options. Essentially 2 sessions were more focussed on an intro to ski touring and backcountry. Then another 2 which were orientated on performance and race perspective within a ski touring setting. A lot of the principles are completely transferrable to a backcountry setting. I opted for the two focussed on performance. 

First up was transitions. Regardless of the mountain being able to switch from boot packing, skinning or skiing in any combination as quickly as possible it’s hugely beneficial. In a race it allows you to not loose precious and non valued adding time. When you are not in a race it is safer and allows you to stay warm as you keep moving. For those that might like to take photographs, grab a quick summit bite to eat or something this time saving buys you some additional time whilst your mates are faffing to get ready. 

The biggest and most memorable point I came away with was the mantra of boots, bindings then skins. And always doing it in that order. That in itself has made my transitions more organised, deliberate and smoother. 

There were also some tricks of the trade for removing skins as quickly as possible. Below are some examples of some great transitions.

The second part of the morning was more into discussing training and nutrition as part of your training or race day program. There is loads of nutrition advice out on the web and with there being so much I often find the information contradicts one another when it comes to which is the best diet to perform on. Regardless of diets during any activity staying fuelled and hydrated is key and this came through in the presentation also. I haven’t always been that great with specific evening and pre-race nutrition regimes but when I have eaten properly the night before, drank a load of water or sports drink the morning of and then continued to fuel through the race. Unsurprisingly I have felt and performed better.  This presentation was quite fitting though as my evening meal had been grabbed on the go and wasn’t exactly nutritious while breakfast had been a cereal bar, coffee and a couple of donuts. 

If you are interested here are some resources (i am not affiliated with them nor an expert, if its something you would be interested in me doing more about nutrition then let me know!)

https://www.uphillathlete.com/high-fat-low-carb-diet-ultra-endurance-performance/

https://feedzonecookbook.com/

The afternoon was spent testing out equipment and putting into practise what we had been discussing in the morning around up hill technique and transitions. Having the day structured like this so we could hear about how to do it in the warmth and partly see some demonstrations before practising outside was fantastic for really practising good technique. I managed to borrow some Salomon s-lab skis. The comparison to my all mountain skis with a particularly heavy touring setup made a huge difference. I also learnt some key points. Such as them not having brakes to save weight. It is great but when transitioning on a slope you need to keep hold of your skis. In the event of running after them grabbing new skis by the edge is equally not a great plan. I ended up cutting a finger which was a pain but fine. It however then bled everywhere and on everything I touched. The conditions were really quite warm on the day so I had opted to not wear gloves the whole time. So if in doubt always try to wear gloves even if they are incredibly lightweight ones. And always hold onto your skis!

We finished up for the day with a raffle and some epic prizes! I cam away with some gloves and managed along the way to pick up some second hand skimo skis. Missing bindings but I will come onto them later.

All in all I would highly recommend this workshop. I will definitely be checking it out next season. You cant ask much more than to meet a load of super friendly ski touring buddies along with learning some tips and tricks.

Thanks Aaron Rice for letting me use your photos!!

Batona 55 mile Run

After doing a bit of research I finally found a 50 miler to run toward the end of 2018. I had one lined up a couple of weeks after the bike ride i completed up in Canada but coming down with a cold the week before the event was not the pre-race prep that I needed. Deciding that i was probably a bit run down and still recovering I pulled the plug the day before the race. Which was why I found myself searching through the vast web for any 50 mile running race that might be happening on the east coast of the US. And ideally not too far away. 

The Batona 55 Route

I finally came across a 50 miler located a few hours south in New Jersey that was a point to point race following the length of the Pine Barrens, it had minimal elevation gain and technical sections making it a very runable course. 

The 50km run a couple of weeks before had gone pretty well, however I had managed to twist my ankle a bit on some of the more rocky and technical sections. So I had rested up, done a load of yoga and tried to recuperate as much as possible before the race. The down time did allow me to go out to get a load of supplies. Its safe to say i probably over did it with the number of gels, bars, energy and electrolyte drinks but I wanted to test a few of them out to see how I my body reacted to some of them. Over the week i slowly packed everything that I needed with a few of the drop bags for good measure.  The cherry on top of each drop bag was going to be a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Perfect for the mid race munchies.

One of the new items I found was bulk energy gel bags which I could decant into reusable gel pouches. Compared to the energy gels where you end up with sticky wrappers stuck in your pocket as well as throwing out  the sachets I thought these might provide a lower waste solution.

Gu Gel in Bulk

The night before the event wasn’t quite as smooth as I had planned. A few last minute errands changed the prompt departure. Instead I grabbed a pizza from one of our local pizzerias before making the drive into the wet and windy evening. The conditions were not expected to improve with the rain due to continue until the early hours of the morning. 

Arriving at the hotel for the night I spent the remainder of the evening munching down pizza, pre-taping my feet and doing some last minute packing adjustments. It was the first time I had pre-taped the night before a race. Sitting with one foot balanced carefully on the sink whilst I tried to gently pour this yellow antiseptic on my feet prior to putting on the tape. The antiseptic goes slightly tacky after a few minutes allowing the tape to really stick to your skin. It works really well however after completing this procedure I realised it had also potentially stained the sink. Trying to wipe it off and it was still there so rather than having a calm, relaxing end to the evening I spent the remainder furiously scrubbing away. It finally came off as I collapsed into bed a bit after 10. The alarm set for 3.30 am. 

The calm before the storm

It wasn’t my best or longest night sleep in the world nor my worst as I rubbed my eyes. I left the alarm still ringing in a bid to not fall back asleep. Breakfast was my pre-prepared not so cold oats warmed up to ambient room temperature overnight. I could still feel the stodgy pizza is my stomach. Going through my head was maybe the calzone pizza had been an error of judgement in my pre-race nutrition. Dinner had not been washed down with beer or ice cream which would have certainly tasted good but would have been even less ideal. 

Outside and the rain was still coming down as I drove over to the start line. I checked in, chatted with some of the other runners before sitting in the boot of my car waiting for the bus to pick us up and drop us to the start line. As soon as it turned up we bundled into the back. The yellow school bus being a bit of a novelty still although it’s slowly becoming a bit more familiar with each running race where we have been carted to the start. It was filled with excitement as either good friends or strangers met up and shared various stories of running or other adventures with their seat mates. A bit like heading back to school after the summer holidays.

The main piece that stuck out from the race briefing was look out for the markers and don’t get lost. Fairly easy advice but with a multitude of tracks, turns and the race beginning in the dark it would be especially easy to go wrong especially in the early stages of the race. The race began and the group slowly funnelled into the woods. The trees sheltered us from the final hour of rain. As the group slowly elongated out, the head torches bobbing in front and behind snaking through the under growth. There was a bit of chatting but clearly people were still waking up and coupled with concentrating on the route the chat ebbed and flowed as the terrain became easier and wider or narrow and more technical. 

Starting the race

As sun up began the birds started to become more alive about the forest. Dawn was finally arriving with a kind of strange early morning hazy, grey light. It was still cloudy over head and the chance of some golden glow suddenly illuminating our path was highly unlikely. 

The trail twist and turned, my headlight came off and was stuffed into my running vest as it became more than light enough to run without the additional light. All was going well and on track, despite the drizzle of rain,  we couldn’t have asked for better conditions. After some time we came to the first check point. Reading my number to the team arming the check point and it transpired that they thought I had dropped out. It didn’t feel like a great sign or omen. Particularly when I had to have the same conversation at the next few check points. Until either the message got round or the crews rotation meant they had already met me at an earlier station. 

Leaving the aid station and heading on one of the guys proclaimed he was ready to rock as he exited the state parks bathroom. Perfect point and time for a stopping point so I jumped in not wanting to get caught out part way. Continuing on and the trail skirted round some lakes which unlike the Cayuga marathon earlier in the year did not look nearly as tempting to jump in with their brown, cold looking water. A section of wooden boarding weaved amongst the trees above the water line. It was at this point I learnt that my trail running shoes had close to no grip on these. I almost ended up on my arse as my first stride hit the wood. The subsequent steps resembled bambi on ice. Despite the precarious nature of them though it was really cool running through the woods. 

Skating on the wooden boards

The day slowly heated up and each stride was inching me closer to the finish. By late morning the first marathon was complete. I felt good on my feet a few hot spots had quickly calmed down. Not a great sign but given the race length I was not so concerned. Longer or multi day races might have required a bit of an investigation but where they were I knew I would be ok for the duration of this race. The following day or week could be a different story.

I was carefully making sure to get more than enough electrolyte and food into me as the day progressed. I was using more sugary gels and bars compared to normal. They certainly tasted pretty good although compared to my normal fruit a nut mix. Certainly on a hot day this snack is sometimes pretty hard to swallow as it seems to suck all the remaining moisture from my mouth. However it does provide more natural sustenance than the sugary gels that can after a while taste sickly sweet. This was very much a test though to see how my body reacted to them through the race, ultimately whether or not I could stomach them.

Munching a PB&J sandwich!!

I made my first error in direction. With my head down for a bit I was just plodding a long and came to a soft sandy section. Not wanting to over exert myself through the short section I began to walk. It took some time but it slowly dawned on me that there were no other foot prints. Unless the rest of the field who were in front had all gone wrong, I was on the wrong trail. Tracing my foot steps back and I met another runner making the same mistake as myself. It made me feel less bad and equally fortunate that I had picked it up as soon as I did. As the day crept on my pace slowed overall, not surprisingly, and three of us ended up inter changing positions for a while before I settled on running with one of the guys for a bit. It was great to pass some time chatting away about the day so far and various running adventures. After some time we split and I went a head not expecting to see him till the finish, as one of his legs seemed to be causing him some problems.  

By early afternoon the sun was out and it had truly turned into a beautiful day for running through the woods. One section my mind was pulled from its meandering thoughts by a cacophony of birds calling out clearly disturbed by myself or some other runners a head. The sound they created was amazing. What felt like not long later I was caught back up by one of the runners who had had a second wind. It was great for me having someone to chat about various races and adventures to pass the final hours of running. The definition of technical terrain or a hill had by this stage in the race very much changed in profile and now even some of the more minor slopes were in the bracket for walking up. We were however on track for hitting the sub 12 hour mark. Which was perfect, the sun was still due to be up by the time we finished so at the penultimate check point I ditched the torch in a bid to save some weight for the final miles. I ran out of water just before the final check point which although was close to the finish I felt I should top up just in case. In retrospect I should have just sucked it up for the final miles but hindsight is always 20:20. 

The final few hundred meters were marked with plenty of flags, there was to be no sprint finish and as we crossed the finish line just after the 12 hour mark the race was all of a sudden over. Not wanting to be too sleepy for the drive back I said my thank you to the race organisers, grabbed my drop bags which had magically made their way to the finish before me and made a dash for the drive home. My legs I could feel were slowly stiffening up and I was particularly thankful as I filled up at a New Jersey gas station (petrol station) where someone fills up for you. By the time I was back home, my normal jumping out of the car had transitioned into a slow, steady but fairly uncontrolled slide out of the car. Before making a beeline for the back door and the stairs that had all of a sudden become my Hillary’s step on Everest to getting into the house. Laura found this equally funny and I think concerning as she kindly helped unpack the car whilst I summited the steps. After a shower, food and a good nights sleep my legs slowly began their recuperation. With a 1000 cycle in September, a 50km running race in October and a 50 mile running race in November it is turning into a fairly solid finish for the year! Now just time to plan 2019’s events! 

What events have you got planned for 2019? 

Mt Mitchell - North Carolina

This was the first long holiday of the year and after much debate we had settled on exploring Asheville and the Black Mountain area in North Carolina. Renowned for outdoor activities and a lot of breweries! The first task was for a casual 11 hour drive down to the area from New Jersey. With a car full of people and kit. Loaded up with snacks for the drive we began making our way south.

One of the first spots we visited was a natural slide. Hidden in Pisgah National forest we braved the slightly cooler weather for the chance for a wild swim. By the time we got there their were only a few people milling about and sliding down the rock face into the plunge pool at the bottom. With it being the end of the season we had definitely avoided the crowds which you could imagine being the norm in the heat of the summer. After spending some time sliding down and hiking up it was time to head on back to our base for the next few days. 

Sliding Rock

After checking out the weather that evening and various trails available we settled on heading up Mt Mitchell. Mt Mitchell itself was high on the wish list for our time there. Partly because its the highest peak east of the Mississippi and eastern North America (when you exclude some of the Arctic region) standing at 2,037m or 6,684 feet. Making it about 400ft taller than Mt Washington up in New Hampshire or roughly 2,200 feet taller than Ben Nevis in Scotland. The mountain and surrounding area have an interesting history as well. Originally the Cherokee tribe were one of the more prominent in the Black Mountain region until settlers took over the region. Since then it was first climbed by a French Botanist and Explore named Andre Michaux (who commenced quite a few expeditions from New Jersey & New York). Making a climb to the top all the more relevant having travelled from New Jersey albeit far easier to get there compared to his travels. A Professor from the University of North Carolina, Elisha Mitchell, explored and studied the height of the mountain before confirming it as the highest mountain in the East of the US. He later unfortunately went on to die on the mountain after an accident. 

The trail up Mt Mitchell

In the 1940’s a road was created along a ridge that runs 469 miles between Virginia and North Carolina, with a stop off at the summit of Mt Mitchell, creating the Blue Ridge Parkway. However since then the environment has had a tough time. A mixture of effects have been damaging the eco system. From logging and fires through to foreign invading plants and animals. The more recent effect has been acid rain, which is still to this day severely affecting the forest and killing many of the trees. In 1993 it was declared an International Biosphere by UNESCO. Despite the challenges it still has a rich environment. Its not surprising that its one of the most visited national parks in the US. Due to its popularity there are a variety of options to reach the summit including a drive almost to the summit or horseback ride. We opted to hike from the base starting at the Black Mountain campsite.

Blue Ridge Parkway meandering below us

The adventure started with the drive over there. Plugging the campsite in as the start point for our hike we soon found ourselves driving up a rough track road with ever tighter switch backs. Higher and higher we headed up the mountain. What we had not appreciated when going with the route the GPS suggested was that this would take us the off road route. It showed the importance of having a road map of the local area! It was quite the experience driving up with sheer drops to one side and some fairly impressive pot holes amongst other parts. It turned out the road should have already been closed for the season. We had managed to sneak through for a final ascent whilst they were conducting some maintenance. As we climbed our expected time of arrival got later and later. It felt like we had driven to the top of the mountain as we emerged onto the main and perfectly tarmacked road. Trying to find the second segment for the onward journey, which unfortunately had been closed for the season, we began searching for alternative routes. After trying a few different ones we were finally heading in the right direction on the only remaining route to get to the start of the trail head. The trail started from the Black Mountain camp ground. We soon enough arrived far later than expected but there nonetheless . The campground is tucked in beneath the mountain. Parking up we crossed over a bubbling river to get into the camp group which was filled with campers and surrounded by towering trees. 

Some wooden signs directed us towards the start of the trail, with a fairly flat section to warm us up into the hike a head of us. This however did not last long. We soon found ourselves in amongst the trees and working our way up wards. The cooler weather making for some perfect conditions for hiking. 

One of the plants of interest for the day was poison ivy having spoken to a few people about the various poisonous plants in the US. We had spent some time over breakfast reading a few warnings and articles about poisoned ivy, oak and a few other plants as well as how to spot them. We were on the look out for these plants in a bid to avoid them. Not being your flora expert anything that looked remotely similar suddenly became a hurdle to overcome. Not wanting to be covered in the resin that these plants secrete which waits up to 48 hours before revealing the blisters of the infected area. Unfortunately you can spread it around during this time so in the event of getting it on your hands imagine all the places you might touch during a 48 hour time period….

Slowly but surely we made our way further and further up wards. With most of the mountainside covered in forest we did not have much of an opportunity to take in the views around us. Until we reached a small clearing which had been carved out to make way for a electricity pylon that was strung up the side of the mountain and also headed for the top albeit in a much more direct fashion. Straight up. This gave us a small glimpse into what we would see from the summit and it was already pretty spectacular. 

I find it fascinating seeing how the environment changes as we meandered our way along and higher up the mountain. We passed through thick groves of rhododendron’s as we climbed and the scenery slowly changed from chestnuts and oak trees to fir trees as we made our way higher and higher. Unfortunately we didn’t see any flying squirrels or local black bears. Admittedly not seeing a bear up close although an amazing experience would have been a bit nerve racking for the group and the bear. 
You can read about my last bear experience in the link below

We were not disappointed on reaching the summit. The 360 degree views were pretty awe-inspiring. We even met some cyclist that had made a bid for the summit under their own power as well. Munching away of some snacks before the second leg of the journey we watched large grey clouds moving in on the area. With the weather on the turn and due to it taking longer than expected to reach our actual starting point we made the decision to make a dash for the bottom rather than continue along the ridge to some other nearby peaks. Part the way down the first rain drops started to make their way through the foliage. We stopped briefly for an attempt at some easy bouldering before pressing on quickly to the bottom. We got back down in pretty quick time, with the rest of the evening to explore the nearby town and its array of Breweries and Bars. 

The Weather Turning

If you are interested in reading a bit more on Mt Mitchell and the surrounding area the link below has a bunch of info.
https://www.ncparks.gov/mount-mitchell-state-park/ecology

Views from the Summit

Cayuga Trail Marathon

After much anticipation it was time for the Cayuga trail marathon. Since early on in the year I have been slowly increasing my mileage for this event and despite having to drop from the 50 miler to a marathon so I could make a return journey for a bachelor (stag) party I was very much looking forward to the race. 

The race felt like I went from having weeks and weeks to go to nothing. Booking some last minute accommodation and it was suddenly the day before the event. It was Friday and after finishing up work, the evening quickly switched to travel mode with a decent drive to up state New York. In our haste to get on the road we completely neglected thinking of food. Realising our error within a very short period of leaving the house that we were both pretty hungry and had only just started the drive. This was within 20 mins of starting the journey as we hit the first traffic jam. Not wanting to detour too far from the road we opted for the first available standard burger joint. Possible not be best pre-race nutrition nor did it turn out to be that close to the main highway.

Full now of chips, burger and a small milkshake we made good progress up towards Ithaca. The final part of the journey meandering amongst the mountains. Unfortunately we were not able to take in the beauty of the local area with the sun already set. We finally reached the accommodation for the night. Sitting right next Robert H. Treman state park where the race began. It was a perfectly comfortable pre-race spot and despite being a motel had an almost ski chalet type vibe to the place. The car park filled with trucks a few piled high with BMX bikes. 

I had prepared most of my gear and snacks for the race prior to the drive. The next morning was a strong start, trying to make a coffee the filter broke spilling coffee grinds all over my mug. Half a sleep and not wanting a repeat I gave up at this point and instead loaded up on locally made bread and jam. 

Heading over to the start line before 8am and the temperature was already beginning to soar with runners seeking a bit of pre-race shade, topping up with fluids and having a bit of a warm up before the race began. The 50 miler was a qualifier for the US team, so with that came a number of serious athletes to both it and the marathon. Some had opted to go shirtless right from the start, armed only with a water bottle for the entirety of the event. Finally the time had come as all of us huddled together at the start line. With the blow of a ram’s horn the race began. We started the initial trot. Like many races this initial period is always a bit slow off the mark as runners finally get over the actual start line. It was time to get in front of some of the pack before sections of single track prevented it. It turned out as the race progressed that there were more than enough places to over take or be overtaken. 

The course itself was a gorgeous meandering track through the state park, through Lucifer falls and up towards Buttermilk falls. The route had incredible views especially as the course headed up gorges, past glistening cold water falls and along wooded single track. You certainly couldn’t ask for much more. 

As the day heated up each pool I ran passed became more and more tempting to dive into. Especially as we saw more people out through the day swimming about in these crystal clear blue coloured pools. It was a hard task to run past them. The aid stops came as a perfect treat and distraction from the heat with an array of trays of cut orange, melon and a few other goodies. I have found it pretty interesting over the years how I seem to crave specific foods depending on the event, the weather, terrain and how many miles I have done or am doing. One of the most memorable being a canal race where I gave into my slight sweet tooth. Munching down a whole load of gummy bears at each stop, I later spent the night curled up in a ball with terrible stomach pain. The second day and stage of this event was less than pleasant, the lesson learnt not to always give in to those immediate cravings! Anyway coming out of one of the check points and rounding the corner there was a river to cross. Perfect!!! Despite briefly thinking of the damage that could happen with wet feet I jumped in and dosed my body in some much needed cold stream water. It was invigorating. My feet were going to get wet regardless so why not enjoy the experience. Cooling station down and it was time to jog on, slightly soggy with squelching feet. Back in the UK this would normally mean wet feet for the remainder of the day. However 20 mins or so later and my feet felt bone dry and ready to roll.

With all race you often end up chatting to some of the runners as your paths cross. I was given some insight into the course that was to come up. I hadn’t realised that the course had a large number of steps. I gave up counting not long after starting when i saw them meandering up the hill side and knowing i was doing a loop to come back down them. We crossed paths with some of the 50 mile runners who were leading the pack and had started earlier in the morning as the out and return loop criss crossed and joined at different sections. I was amazed at their speed and at how little some of them carried. Having got used to everyone using a little body vest with pockets for anything and everything you might need, these guys quite often just had a water bottle strapped round their wrist. Maybe i wasn’t taking enough of a risk and carrying too much on a relatively short course given the number of aid stations. 

I ended up with a few runners who seemed to be at a steady pace to myself. We tended to split up a bit on the hills between the up and downs but as soon as it flattened out we bunched back together again. It always helps pass the time chatting to someone new, hearing about their stories of past events, adventures and life in general. The girl in the group worked on a vineyard in the area. So we got a crash course in wine making and how the season was going for the grapes given the unusually wet summer. 

The group dissipated and feeling like i had regained some strength in my legs I sped up. I had a brief spell feeling like i was about to get cramp in my calfs. Particularly after tripping on a couple too many roots, but after munching down some salty nuts I was picking up again. 

Towards the end of the race I came across a few guys who were going at a good speed to finish off the final few miles. I thought this was probably how the race would finish up for us. Chatting all the way to the finish line. This was almost the case until the final mile or so. Slowly but surely i felt like i was dropping off the back of the group. Initially I put this down to beginning to get tired. I put in a burst of effort to catch back up with them and I realised this was not the case. The chat had stopped and instead the pace was slowly being cranked up. Again naively i thought it was good to have a strong finish but at least the three of us would be crossing the line together. I come to this thinking because we were ahead of the mid pack but still a long old way from the leaders. Maybe this is where I go wrong in races as I like to do well but the difference between say 30th and 31st or 32nd is still a long way off top 3, 10 or even top 15. Any way it is safe to say we looked awesome sprinting into the finish. I crossed the finish line just on the tail of one and slightly a head of the other. Elated, incredibly hot but still feeling like i had more than enough in the tank to keep going. Maybe i should have sprinted harder. 

Overall i finished 31st out of 153. 10th in my age group  or 1st scot (I am assuming there were no other recent expats from Scotland at the race!)

Until the next race, it would be great to hear whether you compete against others in races or purely against yourself and the clock. 

Tesla Hertz 50km Ultra Run

After building the training up bit by bit and a half marathon as a warm up the next stage was a 50km ultra marathon out on Long Island. Its called the Tesla Hertz ultra race. Making it sounded like an exceptionally well sponsored event!!

Unlike the last race, being point to point, this was a steady 10mile loop with barely a hill to match. As bizarre as it sounds having some hills makes for a nice change on the body along the route. However with it still being hot and this being one of my first ultra's back in a while not having to carry a huge amount round due to it being laps was definitely going to be a big advantage. 

Friday night and with everything finally packed for the weekend I headed out first to get some last minute supplies and then onwards to Long Island. One of the key things after almost getting cramps at the last race was some electrolytes. Back in the UK I had found the cheapest and best solution to be dioralyte, designed for dodgy stomachs it seemed to hit the spot every time. Searching for something similar in the US I have come across something called pedialyte. Pretty much exactly the same thing with a different name. It's also rumoured to be an excellent hang over cure. I don't think it beats irnbru on that front though.

Arriving at a massive campsite for the night I setup camp for the night with the occasional bug bite in the process before jumping into my sleeping bag. It was incredibly humid and my sleeping bag designed for Scottish summer meant I was roasting. In the process of this restful night's sleep I jumped out mid way through the night for a bathroom break and in the process stubbing my toe on the only curb around. Back into my hot and sweaty sleeping bag with a throbbing toe it felt like no time at all before my alarm was going off in my ear. A slightly unique alarm sound to wake up to. If your interested check it out below.

Getting out I was greeted to a thick blanket of fog wrapped over the forest. Taking the tent down whilst trying not to wake the rest of the campsite. A quick bite to eat and I was ready to  head to the start of the race. I made the short trip to the start of the race, bumping into a few fellow competitors before a quick sign in. As we signed in people who had started in the early hours of the morning doing 50 miles, 100kms or 100 miles crossed over the start line for another lap on route to the finish. Greeted to a round of applause it was inspiring to see. 

The tesla hertz race had a attracted a wide variety of people from all over North America to compete in. Located near the historic site of tesla tower a radio mast that was originally aimed at sending messages back to the UK it was a very fitting event. 

A quick photo from the start and brief before we made a start. Bizarrely I found myself near the front of the race. I say bizarre as I've normally sat around the top third to top half. I was happy enough though and was making good ground. The blanket of fog slowly lifting from the trees and replacing it with an ever increasing amount of humidity. It still felt like pretty ideal conditions. Running through the cushioned hard pack trails past trees starting to show glimmers of fall. The ground littered in a variety of fungi. My knowledge in this areas is low to none (basically don't eat the red ones...) but I'm sure for the experienced picker this could have looked like a natural feast. 

Making to the first check point I was excited to see whiskey and an array of treats. Including Swedish fish and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. This is not an early American conversion but something that had been growing on me for quite a while. Fortunately this is considered a perfectly reasonable lunch request or sandwich/ bagel deli request. For those used to running events particularly road running events these aid stations might seem strange but for longer races the prospect of being sustained on energy gels is not particularly appetising! I made a fairly quick transition through this not wanting to loose much time before heading back the way I came. It was a cool feature of the race being able to see how far behind the next competitors is. The answer was not much. 

Running further along and we started coming across more people out on their morning cycle or run. The day was definitely heating up bit by bit. Coming up the brow of the one and only hill was a perfect little break from the constant flat gradient. Crossing lap one I and they had water melon! I may have ended up eating too much this race but watermelon on a hot day was seriously refreshing! 

Lap two and I could feel I was slowing a little bit. The competitors in front I would briefly see running the opposite way just before the aid station and check point on the lap. But apart from that it felt like I was alone in the woods running round the trails. It was at this stage that the sun had finally broken through at it was hitting the high 70's low 80's (high 20's/ low 30s). My water consumption had suddenly gone through the roof and my top was soaking. It was time for my top to come off. I've generally not had the need to do this back in the UK but the heat was pretty intense. Once it was off I immediately felt cooler.

The one and only hill came and went by slower than the first. Before lining up for lap 3. It was at this point and I am not sure what triggered it maybe the fact I hadn't been passed by anyone but I wondered if a lap was 10km not 10 miles. Checking out my watch and asking a couple of people I pasted about what distance they were doing and I was pretty sure I was on track with it being 10 miles. I grabbed some more electrolyte at the start line for lap 3 and a bit more food and water before the making a start on the next one. Despite not doing an ultra for a while the idea of constantly fuelling the body is something I haven't forgotten. I knew that especially on a hot day like it was missing the opportunity to eat and drink could catch up with me quickly. 

The final lap was by far my slowest, admittedly it was what I was expecting to average for all the laps it just worked out that my first two were much quicker. Being out in front though kept my mind thinking that if I could just keep a steady pace I should finish in a good position and ideally hold where I was. I hadn't seen the guy up a head for quite a while and as I made my way up towards the aid station I wasn't expecting to see him as for the entirety of the race he had been up a head by an ever increasing amount. Just as I reached the station though I reached him. Not only that but I was surprised by my wife, Laura, who had after a red eye flight driven out to Long Island to see me running. The final chunks of watermelon and pb & j sandwiches consumed before heading back out onto the course for the final 5 miles ish. On my way back out I passed a few people who had made ground on me but I was confident I could maintain the gap  for the moment at least. Not long after I came across the guy who had been a head race. We ended up running most of this final stretch together passing the time chatting about various races. Towards the end he managed to pull away, my legs no longer feeling fresh and not much left in the tank I didn't manage to close the gap as we headed up towards the finish line. Finally crossing in 5 hours 27 min.

I was elated about finishing and even more so for being in 2nd place. As we walked back to the car for a celebratory chocolate milkshake I cramped up crossing the road whilst stepping up the curb. Almost falling back in could have been a bit of a disaster but fortunately Laura was there with a helping hand. 

The drive back was long but pain and cramp free!! 

Windiest Place on Earth

Mount Washington The chance to ski on the windiest place on earth. Why wouldn’t I turn that option down.

Not long after moving to the North east I found out about an organisation called the Appalachian mountain club who were organising a ski tour up the Cog railway on mount Washington. Situated in an incredible area known as the white mountains in New Hampshire. Mount Washington I quickly discovered once had (only relatively recently beaten into second place) the highest recorded surface wind speed outside of a tropical storm coming in at 231mph.

It isn’t the closest ski area but with the warmer than usual temperatures in the north east it was always going to be about travelling further north to get the best snow possible. Unlike the previous weekend, the temperatures had certainly begun to cool down. As I started to make the drive north the weather began to change and by the end of the night it was snowing. I was seriously looking forward to getting out the car after a fairly brutal 7 hour drive after a full days work. As much as I wanted the snow I didn’t really fancy the slowing down of the journey.

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Arriving at the lodge I crashed out as soon as I hit the mattress, it didn’t feel like many hours later than the first people began to stir, all trying to get the best conditions for the day. Munching a quick breakfast all washed down with large mugs of coffee, I made my way to the meeting point. Now despite it once having the highest recorded wind speed on earth there is still a railway to the summit along with an access road. Our plan was to follow the train tracks up the mountain and once out of the tree line see what the conditions were like. Summiting was highly unlikely with forecasts of high winds and a thick layer of cloud covering it.

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I had enjoyed the ski mountaineering racing but this was a completely different experience again. The pace obviously much more sedate with the emphasis being on efficiency and trying not to sweat. Compared to my race strategy of trying to go as fast and efficiently as possible. Which was more of a brute strength and endurance exercise. And certainly less care for the amount of sweating going on. It was however a lot colder, hovering around the -5 to -15F , a balmy -20 to -26C and the  wind chill on top. Despite this it still felt quite warm as we meandered up hill surrounded by trees which looked incredible. Like frozen statues dotted all the way up the mountain side. Pausing occasionally to have a drink and admire the views behind and in front of us, despite the large bank of clouds hiding the summit. It wasn’t the blue bird day we had all hoped for but still fantastic being out on the mountain.

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Arriving at the first split point and we soon bundled up as the temperature plummeted. We had come out of the trees and the wind now had us in its sights. The rail line had clearly taken the full force of this onslaught for quite a while as its frozen structure looked like something from another planet. Not even in the arctic had I seen buildings covered in ice to this extent.

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A few of us opted to continue slightly further up the mountainside. It is safe to say we needn’t have bothered. All that proceed was some skating around on an icy surface of wind stripped mountainside. We tried to get purchase on what little friction we could get but despite this effort we hardly made it any further up for a lot more huffing and puffing. With the wind battering our faces and bodies it was only sensible to head back down. There was no chance of a summit today and the possibility of some better powder round the corner was never going to happen without some more hardware of ice axes and crampons. Even then we were not convinced there would be any great powder.

It was a quick turn around to get out the wind. I say quick but the ice and strong winds made it tough work wrapping up our ski skins to get them put away. Its like trying to roll loose duck tape up in a strong gale into a neat organised bundle.

And then the bit we had built up for, the ski down. Despite the odd patch of ice there were some great stretches of powder. The three of us who had tried to go a bit higher made the most of the descent getting in as many tight wee turns to float on the powder. In the hunt for some I managed to find a fairly lightly covered rock. Skiing over it I stopped almost instantly, trying to recover my balance from the forward momentum only to finally pop out of my bindings. Unfortunately one of the guys saw the whole thing unfold in a particularly slow and  inelegant fashion.

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We made it down to the bottom and back to the lodge for a well deserved hot shower and drink.

The next day I headed up to the in famous tuckermanns ravine. You can check out a couple of pro skiers hitting this on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM7YknhIKeU

It isn’t recommended generally to ski it until later in the season but whilst in the area I at least wanted to have a peek at what it was all about. I followed the trail up which is incredibly well marked. Past people snow shoeing up and a number of groups up for the weekend as part of a nearby ice festival learning about avalanche rescue techniques. The wind certainly felt less strong and it was definitely a warmer day than the previous one. Snow occasionally fell from the trees. It was a pretty magical sight.

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Slowly but surely the ravine revealed itself. Each glimpse between the trees showing a bit more until I came round the corner and caught sight of the whole area. With clear views of the summit of mount washington in the background. There in front the huge tuckermanns ravine and the steepest ski descents in the north east, or at least one of the better known ones.

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Arriving at a small cabin and there were groups continuing up as part of their avalanche course as well as some skiers who despite the now windy conditions had opted to try a few routes. It looked pretty incredible and in places pretty intimidating even from a distance. I headed on up the mountain as I wanted to see the full face of it. Some of the slopes are up at 40 - 50 degree range. The wind had certainly picked up though and I was now taking a bit of a beating even if it was warmer than the previous day. Arriving at the bottom of tuckermanns and I could finally take it it. I definitely want to return to the slopes here and take on some of these descents.

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Heading back down the mountain and my legs could finally enjoy a bit of a down hill ski. After trekking up it made for a nice change. Despite this I still had to walk a few bits at the top due to not being able to find a decent route to ski down as well as the path I walked up being really quite tight between rocks, trees and a small stream that with the warmer conditions wasn’t completely covered in snow.

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I soon found myself down the bottom  of the mountain just in time to munch a load of food in the car and before the return journey back down south to new jersey.

Sky Run - Peak District

With trail and ultra running ever growing in the UK it was only a question of time before the sky running series made its way to our shores. Big in the Alps the race formats are normally marathon plus distances in the mountains with the aim of taking in peaks and ridges along the way. At one extreme you have the Salomon sky run along the Aeonach ridge, a grade 3 scramble to others which are much less technical. This weekend was much less technical in comparison but with 29 miles and 2000m of ascent it wasn't to be sniffed at. Especially when this height gain to distance ratio puts it in a slightly more aggressive category than UTMB or the Lakeland 100. Admittedly despite that fact being floated about, those races are a much more incredible feat of human determination and endurance.

A short recce the day before took me to the top of the first climb, Solomons Temple near Buxton with great views over the course of the following day. A final bit of race preparation was enjoying an incredible meal at the Samuel Fox inn, potentially a tad much for a pre-race meal but with this being my first outing back into ultra racing for a couple of years my aim was to enjoy the day and start getting back into it.

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Wondering amongst the competitors it was great to chat and hear stories of competitions completed and planned for the coming year. From quick dash fell runs to the rather more brutal races such as King Offas Dyke 185 mile race or the 268 mile Spine race in January along the pennine way.

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The race commenced and we made our way quickly up to Solomons Temple with short pauses as we were funnelled onto single track. Despite the forecast being of overcast conditions I was glad I had packed some sunglasses for the day with the sun beaming down on us. As we rounded the temple with a bagpiper playing up top we began to spread out as we started our decent already. This was going to set the stage for the day with every ascent marked soon afterwards by a descent and slightly demoralisingly loosing all the height just gained.

The route took a course along ridges, through moorland, bogs and of course up a number of hills.

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With a well marked course we could concentrate on the running and getting our feet in the right spot. With plenty of opportunities for twisted ankles amongst the rocky tracks being light on our feet and an emphasis on twinkle toes was the name of the game.

The only slight mistake came when chatting to another competitor about his up coming race in Oman. Taking the wrong turn we led out towards a farm building only to realise we had gone half a mile in the wrong direction. Slightly devastating as was the sight of maybe 20 odd runners who had followed on behind us. Quickly making up the ground we had lost we all made our way back into the course and meandered back down the hill side.

Running through one boggy area I came across a pair of Oakley sunglasses that had clearly dropped off one of the runners in front and were gently perched on some long grass. Picking them up I handed them into a later checkpoint. You never know when you might be in a similar situation. I didn't have to wait long!

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About 10 mins later the course was incredibly beautiful and one I would have certainly wanted to capture more of it wasn't for the fact I dropped my phone. Fortunately it was picked up by one of the other competitors not far behind me. A quick snap and with it firmly packed away for the remainder of the race after learning my lesson and not fancying a repeat before heading on.

The course meandered on and my pace ebbed and flowed as the terrain and distance took its toll. The three food and drink checkpoints on the route hit the spot every time. With the opportunity to refuel on chunks of banana, succulent orange slices, flapjack, soreen and of course a wide array of other goodies. I try to make these as quick as possible and continue to eat as I walk along out of the checkpoint. Partly this is to not get too comfortable and I would much prefer to finish sooner.

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Chatting with some of the fell runners it was great to see them descend in front of me. I still don't understand how they did it so quickly other than through a bit of experience and raw tenacity to descend quickly! I envisaged face planting a rock face first if I tired the same so clearly an area I can improve on.

The route went past quiet a few climbing and bouldering spots with chalk marks on some and people clambering about in the sunshine on others. Unfortunately it would have to be  for another time.

As the day wore on I went over on my ankle. With my run going well this was pretty disappointing but deciding to walk it off for a bit I soon managed to break into a trot again. Some of the rocky ground though became much trickier to negotiate as my ankle seemed to get twisted on even the smallest of stones.

Finally the town of buxton came back into sight. I was delighted despite not being able to increase my pace a huge amount. One guy asked if we were to have a sprint finish. As much as I wanted to my legs and ankles had run out of juice. I was happy to finish the race at a plod.

Within moments of crossing the finish line I was welcome by a flat coke, my trainers coming off and my wife looking at me in a slightly sorry and apparently "grey" looking state.

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Despite the ankle it was awesome getting back into the running again having been out of ultra running for a couple of years. I was remembering all the elements i had learnt about through training runs, competitions and chats with numerous runners and trainers. I finished middle of the pack which may not have been my best result ever but it was one I will certainly remember. I would certainly recommend checking out the sky running series with a greta mix of terrain and distances.

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Marathon des Sables A Year on Reflection

Last week I met up with some of my tent mates from the marathon des sables and chatting to a competitor this year with some last minute tips. It got me thinking about this this time last year and since.

Even before finishing the marathon des sables last year my mind was already whirring with ideas for possible races, expeditions and trips. Just meeting all the people who made it to the start line and hearing many incredibly inspiring stories made we want to experience more challenges.

Since then I completed my 100 mile race, completed an ultra running event called the Hardmoor 55 (still writing the review) and dipped into adventure racing. Also over the last 6 months or so I have spent a wee bit of time researching and discussing various ideas about adventures with some of you (hopefully your reading). I am sure many of you have your own ideas for adventures, challenges and dreams to fulfil over the coming months of 2012 or maybe you have plans for past that point to which is even better. The next challenge will be announced soon....

Whats your next challenge? Have you got plans for the year or maybe a longer term vision? Would be great to hear about them as I know many of you have got them lined up.

Mt Everest

Out in The Scottish Wilderness

After not racing or running much for a while I decided a new aim was needed. I wanted something tough, would only take up a weekend and was in the UK. It didn’t take long before I came across The Original Mountain Marathon otherwise known as the OMM. It is a race with a reputation for being wet, cold and tough and this year’s race was staged in the highland of Scotland between Loch Tay and Loch Earn with the start and finish near Crieff which was handy being near my home. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjWBODfduWk]

The race is done in pairs where you carry everything you might need over the weekend such as food, sleeping equipment, clothing and most importantly food. There are no water stations or food points it is very much about self sufficiency. I was competing in class B with Kov, who was one of my tent mates from the marathon des sables.

After a late night packing and an early start to catch an 8am train including a wee jog down the platform to ensure I actually made my train, we were off on the journey up to Perth. We met my parents and organised all our kit into the stuff we actually needed from the huge pile of stuff we had taken up. My dad made an amazing and vast amount of pre-race spaghetti bolognaise which was quickly demolished before heading up to Crieff the night before the race. The camp was set in a 2nd World War POW camp and after almost getting the car stuck we pitched our tent (in typical fashion it started to rain at this point) and went in search of the beer and registration huts. They had already sold out of beer.

The next morning we woke to yet more rain.

With a coach full of lycra clad people we headed up to the start line, a short drive followed by a very dubious “1 mile” walk to the start line right at the bottom of a valley not far from Loch Earn. The format for these races is that you have no idea where you are going until a minute before the start of the race. At which point you are given a map with various checkpoints which you have to reach in order but the route is up to us. The pre-race nerves began to kick in, a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

The Start of the Omm

On the sound of the horn we were off and within about 5 minutes of starting we had already gone through heather, 1 stream up a bit of a hill and my once dry, clean and white socks (bit of a mistake I admit) were soaked through and covered in mud. It was going to be a long, hard and wet day. As the day wore on the cloud level dropped making map reading up high quite a challenge. We ended up trying to follow the route as the crow flies. On the longest section this resulted in us almost scaling a Corbet (something between a hill and a munro I found out) as well as having to scramble up a fairly miserable, wet and windblown rocky section. My fingers were getting incredibly cold; it was time for gloves and hat. At this point everything was soaked and as we reached the checkpoint Kov was pretty cold too and couldn’t get his gloves on. We decided a bit more running and a bit less scrambling was needed.

We traversed round a hill side and the ground was dropping away quite steeply. It was becoming a bit more of a scramble again and resembled a hillside made up of a series of large steps but we managed to keep the speed up. This was until I came round the corner to see a map on one track and an in pain Kov a few tracks below after slipping on one of them. We made it to the finish of the 1st day knackered, elated but feeling pretty strong, despite having a bit of dip after my energy levels got a bit low. We finished the day in 28th place with a time of 6 hours 29 mins.

As we pitched our tent it started to rain the heaviest it had done all day, typical. After getting water and changing into dry kit we decided to cook and stay in the tent for the rest of the night. I found a great use for my sleeping bag, it has holes around the arms which can be unzipped to make it into a gillet (something I don’t recommend) but it was great for being able to cook whilst completely cocooned in my bag.

The night was quite restless as I couldn’t get comfortable and later on was desperate for a pee but the warmth and comfort of the tent and the rain prevented me from going. It stopped about 5 am and I decided to run for it. I came out the tent and almost fell into another which had been pitched later in the evening right next to ours. It turns out that at 5am in the dark and starting to rain again that a green tent amongst a sea of 400 or so green and the occasional red tents is pretty hard to find. I spent about 20 minutes trying to locate mine before having to revert to calling out to Kov till I found the tent. Not ideal but certainly a learning point.

As it was in Scotland they had organised a piper to play at 6 am. After cooking breakfast and trying to put off the crawling out of the sleeping bags it was time. We slipped back into our wet kit after trying to wring out as much water as possible, except a pair of dry socks the one luxury. As soon as we stepped into the morning air the wind began cooling us in the damp clothing. We trudged off to the start line slightly stiff and trying to avoid the puddles before our feet were guaranteed to get wet.

The route for day 2 was different again but took us towards the campsite from the 1st night. Although the cloud levels were higher today there were still points that were difficult to navigate particularly on a rather flat plateau. I found the day a real challenge as I ended up having a constant battle with something known as “bonking” after allowing my energy levels to drop to low. With the help of Kov and by trying to stuff as much food as I had into my mouth we managed to overcome it. My eyes and mind began coming back from the glazed over state that they had become. The day was a lot drier at least. Instead of the wet conditions though there was more up and down over some big steep sections. This really sapped the energy from our legs.

As we got closer to the end we met some others who were going a similar pace and we constantly switched positions for a while despite not knowing where each other were in the field overall. It was great to have a visual and more competitive influence for a period of time rather than just the sight of hills, heather and a point on the compass. We did go past some incredible views; one that particularly shone out was coming down a hillside to the view on the opposite side the valley of 2 huge waterfalls crashing down the hillside. We were also about to run back up that very hillside which was slightly putting off.

The final sprint to the finish was pretty sickening with even slightest of gradients feeling tough but we knew that that extra effort would pay off. As the finish line came into sight all the negative feelings went and we crossed the line together. Shuffling over to the drink station at the finish we downed a load of sweet tea, think there was about 6 heaps of sugar in mine, and some juice. As we rested it began to sink in what we had been through and achieved it was an incredible feeling and definitely something to have a big grin about. We were 13th in our class on the day, helping us to finish 20th overall.

To view the route maps

4 marathons, 24 hours -The Rampant Run

It all started the day I arrived back in the UKhaving just run 250 km through the Saharadesert. I was in Whsmiths in Euston train station on my way home and picked up a running magazine while waiting for my train. As I flicked through I noticed an article about Ed Stafford, the 1st person to walk the length of theAmazon River. It finished with an invitation to join him and other runners on a 103 mile run from a small village in Leicestershire to the coast ofNorfolk. There was a cycle race following the same course and the plan was to arrive at around the same time. It was in 6 weeks time, so I thought it was more than enough recovery time. After a couple of emails and a phone call I was in business. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kq0VvOFMMs]

6 weeks later and hardly any running miles under my belt since finishing in the desert I was on the train to do my first +100 mile run. It had taken longer to recover but I was more than ready, it wasn’t a competition but a challenge to see if we could do it and finish. I met the other 5 members of the team (Ed, Cho, Rich, James, Charlotte and myself) that was up for the challenge and our support crew from “Rampant Sporting”. Laura and Fred had found themselves having to crew for us for the next 24 hours. After waiting all day for it to start, the start was only 30 mins to go and we still had photos to go, I had to get changed and get my feet prepared. I had left too much too late. Between photos with the local press I was hurriedly getting ready and as the others called me to start I had my socks partly on but had to shove my trainers on regardless and start as I threw my travel clothes into the back of the van that was to be our home for the next 24 hours or so.

As we introduced ourselves to each other having never met or really spoken other than the odd email it became evident that although we were all strong runners but none of us had done anything like this before. Mentally we were in a good place however it was going to be a steep learning curve.

Team Rampant

Having never done a road marathon my 1st one and with still 3 to go was certainly fast at around 4 hours 30mins. I also had the pleasure of visiting ever pub toilet along that section of road as my stomach was doing cartwheels. I wasn’t sure whether it was something I had eaten, drunk or just nerves but it wasn’t pleasant. Trying to rectify this problem on the run was pretty difficult. My stomach didn’t want anything else but I had to try to balance this with the food and water that I needed to keep performing in a couple of hour’s time. It was certainly a challenge that I hadn’t anticipated at such an early stage.

What I had learnt from my running in the desert was the lag between the choices, decisions and actions I make don’t usually have an immediately but do in several hours time by which stage it can be too late and the damage already done. Whether it is the sore spot on your foot or the amount of food and water I was consuming at each stop.

“Every action or more importantly inaction has a reaction.”

We slowed the pace, especially as one of the runners Cho became increasingly sore as he ran. He done incredibly well and run the furthest he had ever done at about 30 miles, but it was over for him as he jumped in the back of the van for some well deserved rest.

Cho in the Van

The sunset was incredible as we watched the sun slowly cross and then sink from the sky. We were eating up the miles. We seemed even quicker in the dark with no points of reference to go by other than what we could see with our head torches and the vans headlights cutting into the darkness. It was a crisp night and the music pumping out of the vans speakers helped pass the time as we became engrossed in our own thoughts as if our minds slept while our bodies continued.

The Longest Night

Sun rise came at about 4am as our beanies and extra clothes that had kept us warm over night began to come off. Morning revealed the flat surroundings as we came into a small village and we were feeling strong.

Perfect for a Morning Run

We were coming up to our next stop and breakfast arrived, which charlotte had prepared consisting of banana sandwiches, wheatabix and 9bar cereal bars. Rich had a quick snooze. As we continued leaving the village behind the smell of cooking bacon was wafting from one of the nearby cottages, it smelt delicious! The day was already heating up and as the day wore on Rich unfortunately had to drop out after reaching a monstrous 70 miles. We were all disappointed.

It wasn’t long after this that we were passed by the first cyclist of the day, what was to be one of many. The day was heating up and after being up for almost 30 hours it was beginning to show. The final marathon was going to be very tough and as the breaks became longer we realised we would be pushing it to reach the 24 hour mark. The now stream of cyclist passing us helped keep our spirits high with them shouting out to us as they shot passed. We increased the pace as we made our way towards the final check point for the cyclists, after a brief chat and top up with mars bars and water we continued on. Passing through the park we tried to get in as much shade under the tall trees as possible.

A Good Long Stop

The final 3 miles were the longest and hardest 3 miles I think I have ever done the heat felt like it was increasing and the final section of the course felt incredibly hilly. Getting treats off some of the support vehicles for the cyclists helped lift our spirits and the addition of charlottes family coming along for the final trundle in the last few miles down to the coast. Our pace at this point was painfully slow but all we could manage.

The finishing line marked by a pub came into view helping us jog it in at a better pace and despite the miles already done, the tiredness we felt remarkably fresh. After 26 hours we had done it, not quite as a full team but Ed, James, Charlotte and I. It had been an incredible effort. The reception by the cyclists was incredible and completely unexpected. Thoughts of a cold pint were swapped to that of a seat and a pint of lemonade in the evening sun. Hobbling round the pub chatting to the cyclists and telling the story of the last 24 or so hours it felt fantastic to be finished.

26 hours later

Finally a big thank you has to be given to the support provided by Rampant Sporting, check them out http://www.rampantsporting.com/

The Support Crew Cursing on Behind

The Finale of The Worlds Toughest Footrace

Having travelled 250km through the world’s largest desert, running across munro sized sand dunes, over jebels, through wadi’s, in +50°C whilst carrying all our food, equipment and clothing for the week the beginning of the end was approaching. After almost 2 years of dreaming, planning and preparing the end was clearly in sight and yet even though it was close it still seemed far as the effects of the mileage were taking their toll. It had been a rough and restless night but the final day had finally arrived as the sun rose over the camp for the final time. As it was the last day the Berbers left us with the tents for slightly longer than customary upheaval of just after 6am. Instead they and all the volunteers did a victory lap round the camp in the lorries, cars and on quad bikes beeping the horns, clapping and shouting. All the runners stopped their normal routine to join in and soak up the spectacle.

For the final stage the initial section of the run had been marked out to go straight through the centre of the camp and the bottom 50 were given a head start in the hope that the field of competitors would finish closer together. Many of these competitors were in the band of the walking wounded including the two British women who had persevered to finish the long day alone in just over 30 hours (the top guys took just over 20 hours running time for the whole thing). The remaining competitors lined the running track to send them out the camp. Already a bit of a party atmosphere was building.

We got final photos in the desert and of our tent mates before trudging over to the start line for more photos. After 7 days in desert our tent group had gone from a mixture of meeting each other occasionally at a race of two or of never meeting before to being a tight knit group after experiencing the highs, lows and intimacy of being chucked into this environment.

Marathon des Sables 2011

With thoughts of only 17.5kms of arid desert separating me from the finish and the sudden realisation that in a couple of hours time we would leave what had become the norm of eating, sleeping and running made it an incredibly exciting point in the race. The nerves and a restless night had taken their toll and made it very difficult to stomach my final meal, not a mild curried beef but a chicken tikka after trading the previous night. As I strolled to the start line I realised I was feeling the effects of living off minimal calories for the week as I my body felt weak.

No more mild curried beefs left in my pack and the thought of tasty food in a few hours time was something to be very happy about!

We stood on the start line in the group that had formed tent 76 for our last experience of “Highway to Hell” in the desert. The final countdown started “TROIS, DEUX.... UN” and we were off. We were off at a seriously quick pace which I was sure and hoped that people wouldn’t continue it after the 1st mile. It stayed fast for the entire way. It was almost a sprint through the checkpoints, grabbing water, getting the water card punched for the final time, grabbing a quick bite and then continuing on. It was turning out to be one of the toughest days with so many miles already in the legs it was all adrenaline that was pushing and driving me to the finish.

The run was tough but certainly going well and the reintroduction into society saw us travelling from a mixture of sand dunes and rocky, scrubby flats to small and secluded villages. Running past kids that seem to come from no where, wells that just dropped deep into the ground and mud built buildings. The final couple of miles brought us from rural morocco to the outskirts of the town that we were to finish in. Running past kids, chickens, goats and ancient cars and lorries chugging out fumes. The rich mix of smells awakening the senses.

It was quite a sight not only entering civilisation but passing through some incredibly deprived areas with a number of kids begging. We rounded the corner and joined the 1stand only section of tarmac of the race. Running with Si and Karin, two of my tent mates, we ran along the streets passing coffee bars, pizza places and shops selling cold cans of cola. My focus at this point certainly seems to be on one thing only. All that remained was the sprint to the finish; regardless of the miles already covered or how tired our legs felt it had to be done as the 3 of us cranked up the pace to towards the finish line. Besides there were still people to overtake. The last couple of hundred metres were of running through a festival atmosphere passing musicians, locals and family who had come out to welcome in the finishers as we joined other competitors in the finish area.

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The next wee while was a whirl wind of collecting the medal off the organiser of the event Patrick Bauer, being funnelled through quickly to collect the packed lunch, have a quick relax and a bite to eat before jumping on the coach back to the hotel. The next couple of days were spent taking in copious amounts of food, drink and sleeping.

Marathon des Sables 2011

I finished the event in 127th overall, 2nd U25 and 15th Brit with a time of 36 hours, 1 min and 16 seconds.

As it has come to the end of this chapter I would really appreciate it if people left their own comments on anything they have finished, challenges they have done or coming up or any comments on reading about this adventure.

Minty Whiskey in The Desert

It all started on the evening before we had to hand in our extra kit. As we all checked and rechecked our equipment, clothing and food for the week in a bid to ensure we had everything and that it was as light as possible I was feeling how heavy my old faithful hip flask felt. It had been on many challenges with me including upBritain’s three highest peaks amongst other places. As most competitors continued these checks or beginning to look at the map, talking of race strategy and cooking I was hunting round camp for an alternative to old faithful. After carefully consideration and searching the only option was my half used toothpaste tube. With the help from my fellow tent mate Andy we managed to clean it out and make a clever contraption out of a bottle top to fill the tube back up with single malt whiskey, Old Putney if anyone is interested. With only a small toast to the desert (for good luck obviously) followed by one to Andy and myself (also for good fortune) the task was done. Fast forward to the end of the race….

After catching my breath I took out the victory whiskey, unscrewed the top and took a swig. The taste wasn’t quite the same as when I had first filled it. In the heat of the sun the concoction had warmed and over the course of the week had taken on a new minty characteristic. It wasn’t the celebratory drink I had envisaged when I first packed my hip flask in my bag for the journey over to morocco. It still tasted sweet though, especially when it was added to the mint tea that was provided at the end of each stage.

Marathon des Sables - The Forgotten Marathon

Now your probably wondering how can you forget a whole marathon, but it not only happened to me but many of the other competitors. There was so much anticipation and mental preparation followed by serious amounts of physical and mental exertion to finish the "long day" that the focus on the ultimate goal of finishing was momentarily lost. However waking up just before 6 as usual I was brought straight back into the thick of it. The day didn't exactly start well. I woke up to a stomach that felt like it was doing back flips and trying to get down my 3rd from last mild curried beef down was certainly a challenge, made marginally better by it at least being served hot this time.

Now stomach problems seem to be quite a common thing when it comes to ultra running. However when you aren't sure whether its from the fact that you have been running in the desert and this is the effect of the distance and heat plus 10 mild curried beefs, a number of gels and cereal bars as well as an unknown number of salt tablets or the starting of a nasty stomach bug getting ready to cripple my race I decided not to take chances and load myself with antibiotics. This is certainly not the recommended approach medically but a personal twist on making sure I made it to the end.

I reached the start line and wasn't sure whether I was aiming to sprint to the nearest toilet or start the race till I remembered that the toilets had been taken away and what had become the classic and number 1 hit of the week "Highway to Hell" started blasting from the speakers.  I had missed my chance, the race had started.

I got a good trundle on, almost surprisingly good as we made it up and down several hills before tracking a long a ridge towards the 1st of several check points for the day. The views from the hill tops especially as the helicopter shot overhead were spectacular. But even still there was a nagging feeling of imodium or not to imodium, looking back the fact I could even ask myself this question meant there was no need but with only 1 pair of shorts it became a critical decision.

Marathon des Sables 2011

This coincided with the hottest day easily hitting 54°C in the shade which was affecting every competitor except the top few who it seemed were just having a run in the local park. At some check points I saw competitors being led off by doctors . As my diary points out:

"It was unbearably hot and towards the end even a light jog was hard work"

Coming round the final corner I thought they had pitched our camp next to a massive lake... it took a bit too much convincing to put my mind straight.

I was running with another Brit and we guessed that the finish was about 2km according to his watch and my guess on timings. It turned out we were wrong on the distance it was more like 4 or 5. At the time it certainly felt like the longest 2 km I had ever done. This didn't stop a sprint finish to try and overtake a guy in front of us. I cant remember if we did but I can remember that the cup of mint tea on crossing the finish line tasted amazing. I finished in just over 5 hours 20 mins and was lying in 124th overall, I was really chuffed as I was still n the top 150 with only 1 day to go.

Marathon des Sables 2011

As it was the penultimate day sponsors had arrived and a surprise was on the cards. You could tell they weren't racers or organisers by the fact that they weren't limping or covered in bandages but had gel in their hair, aviators on and generally looked far too clean.

It turned out they wanted us to get new numbers on our front and back to look good for the cameras at the finish. Under the circumstances its very difficult to convince a load of tired and weary runners that this is a good idea. So a touch of bribery or a good wee incentive, depending on your thinking, was used in the form of what I hoped was an ice cold can of Fanta. Ok it wasn't ice cold but it was delicious.

The icing on the cake was the surprise, the Paris Orchestra had been brought in and set up with a desert backdrop. It was such a contrast; the desert, a lot of very tired walking wounded men and women and this pristine orchestra. I walked back to my tent under a blanket of stars, with the music in the background and was greeted to a sea of head lights. You cant ask for much more.

Check a video of the opera out, by clicking on this.

A further treat for the night, I managed to swap my last 2 mild curried beefs for a vegetarian curry and a chicken tikka which tasted amazing. It certainly made a very good change, as my tent mates kindly pointed out:

"Variety is the spice of life"

It was the final night and a mixture of emotions was coming with it. Excitement having made it so far, apprehension if I don't finish the final stage (as that would have been soul destroying) and sadness that it would be coming to an end. Sleep wasn't going to come easily.

Marathon des Sables - Resembling A Disaster Zone

You have almost 2 days ( 34 hours) to complete the "Long Day" on the Marathon des Sables, and a number of people do manage to finish before sun up the following day. These lucky individuals then have a day of rest to catch up on sleep, e-mails, eat, drink and chill out watching the day fly by as the remaining competitors demonstrate huge amounts of courage and endurance making their way to the finish. Many of whom will have been on there feet for over 24 hours in the heat of the desert while some choose to bed down for a few hours before finishing the remainder of the distance. I managed along with all my tent mates to finish well before sunrise on the 2nd day, so a rest day for all.

The day went very quickly, however there was a noticeable difference with people hobbling around, covered in bandages (not just on their feet but all over where bits of clothing or bags had rubbed their skin raw) and looking incredibly dirty. It was also the day that saw some tents lining up in a row and using spare water to wash butt naked in the middle of the desert.

I spent a happy day eating (only 3 mild curried beefs were left by the end of the day), watching the hobbling people about camp and a spot of cleaning. I was hoping this would improve my now salt, sweat and dirt encrusted clothing in the and that they would feel as good as new when it came to wearing them the following day.

There was also the need to sort out our feet, with most of our tent now suffering from blisters. However having wondered round the camp I noticed how lucky our tent was I met many who's feet were practically falling apart as blisters developed under more blisters. All the running was definitely taking its toll on people as the medical tent was packed from dawn till well into the night as a stead queue of people entered it suffering from everything from blisters, to upset stomachs and heat exhaustion. I certainly felt very lucky having not suffered too badly.

Marathon des Sables 2011

Marathon des Sables 2011

Marathon des Sables - "The Highway to Hell"

The long day had finally arrived it felt like all my training and preparation had been for this very day. Hence a very restless night thinking of the following day and how it would go. On finishing the stage I felt like having a single line in my diary:

"The long day can only be described as very hot and very long"

However after a wee break (sleeping solidly till the next morning) I managed to fill in the details.

The day started very well with another chorus of "Highway to Hell" as we all ran out under the start line. The biggest issue today being that the top 50 competitors (who knew the route) started at midday. This lead very quickly to a small issue, no one really knew where to go, as 3 groups quickly formed none of which were taking an obvious route. I ended up going with one group who went straight through what felt like several large hedges. It also turned out we were all going out rather quickly, including myself as I bumped into a Scot who was always in the top 100. Normally in a race I would say this is a good sign when your near the front but when  you remember there is still 80 odd km it kind of changes things. Anyway we were off to a flying start with  as the sun kept rising into the sky and the temperature along with it hitting about 50C in the shade (I think), it was just incredibly hot. This along with a few more passes through hills and over them (as if the day wasn't hard enough) was making for a very challenging day.

Marathon des Sables 2011

I passed the time chatting initially with a guy whose experience was in the much colder climate of the Arctic and later on another guy joined us who normally competed in endurance motorbike races. You do really get people from all walks of life. It was too hot during the middle of the day to run, so we ended up briskly walking across the desert. As temperatures cooled (still in the 30's) we reached the dunes and luckily for us before dark. It turned out some local kids moved all the markers come night fall.

The sun began to set over the desert and the first stars became visible, it was an incredible sight but unfortunately the end was still no where in sight and there was still a couple of check points left to go through and a huge laser display to follow into the finish line.

At this stage I realised I had hardly eaten any of my days rations and was beginning to feel the effects of this, the heat and the distance. So I began stuffing my face with the one luxury for the week of cashews nuts. They tasted incredible.

As the night set in I was passed by Britains best hope of making the top 25 Tobias Mews and decided that I had done enough walking through the day and it was time to run to the finish. I started chasing down the  white bobbing lights of the head torches a head of me. I felt strong and the constant changing target of those up a head kept me going. Features and things oozed out of the dark, like the big rock you dont see till you have gone over on your ankle, the odd camel skeleton or the sudden appearance of a 4 * 4 with flashing lights on. I reached the final check point and could finally see the sight I had been wanting to see all day a massive laser shining into the night sky and highlighting the route into the finish line. After a very quick refill and a chat to a fellow Brit I started making my way into the finish now knowing it should be only an hour to 2 hours away at most. Just before the finish I met my fellow Scot who I had run with at the start (who was not only in the top 100 but also had a pacemaker, a truly amazing effort ) and we crossed the line after sheering heat and 82 kms of desert in 12 hours 40 mins. I was over the moon and wondered over to my tent to congratulate 3 of my tent mates who had finished a head of me. This was quickly followed by removing my trainers, which felt incredible to be finally out of them and collapsed into my sleeping bag for the night.

Marathon des Sables 2011