Jez Bragg

2011 in pictures & 2012 look ahead

2012-01-04T11:00:00.000Z

Like last year, I thought I would put together a few snaps from the year gone by to try and tell a bit of the story. It's the time of year to reflect on how the preceeding year went, and think about the changes which can be made to improve things for the coming year. I've certainly done plenty of reflecting over the past couple of weeks and I would say in summary it was a rather average season by my standards, but I won't bore you with the detail of that here. Anyway, here are a few of my favourite photos.

In terms of plans for the year ahead, my season will once again be based around Western States and UTMB, for which I have already secured places for both. They are, hands down, my favourite races, and motivate me like no others do. Western States suits my running style and strengths almost perfectly, and I still feel there is plenty of room for improvement, even taking into the account the 'fast' nature of the 2011 snow course. And UTMB always draws me back year after year, as a race which tests your inner strength and mental resolve considerably more than any others.

In addition to these two, I am hoping to qualify to run for Great Britain in the World 100km Championships in April, Italy. For the first time in a few years the timing and location both work well for me and I've re-discovered a bit of my road running mojo of late. I'm also fascinated to see whether I can go quicker than my 6h 58m PB of 2009 set in Galway. Of course there's only one way to find out.

There will hopefully be other races too, with a bit of luck starting with The North Face Trans Gran Canaria race at the beginning of March, but that's dependent upon me successfully shaking off an ankle niggle which has been troubling me since the The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler last month. It's nothing too serious, but certainly worth attending to properly at this relatively quiet time in the season. I suspect some time off running will do me a huge amount of good, and in reality forced rest is the only way that could happen. Did I just say rest? Well not really. I mean, rest from running. I'm keeping myself fit by cross training - hiking, swimming and gym work - all good stuff to build the core strength over the winter.

Anyway, we shall see how it all pans out, but needless to say it's going to be another exciting and fiercly competitive season in the ultra world.

The North Face Endurance Challenge Final - 50miles (10,000ft +/-) - San Francisco

2011-12-04T15:49:00.001Z

A very quick report for now. Full results can be found here.

On balance, I'm pretty pleased with my 7th place in 6hrs 49mins 33secs, some 25 minutes quicker than my time from last year (7hrs 14 minutes). The field was deep, we all know about that. I beat many top runners, and was beaten my a handful of top, top runners. The pace was always going to be brutal and it certainly didn't disppoint. Many casualties fell along the way, some were literally sat on the side of the course completely wiped out, from as early as 30 miles in. Many of the best fell, only those right on their game made the podium.

The disappointing thing for me was not really settling in to the race until about 25 miles. Perhaps the sign of a good 100 mile ultra runner, but somewhat fustrating that my recent speedwork hadn't quite had time to kick in. This certainly isn't a race where you can get away with that, you need to be right 'on it' from the gun. But taking a step back, I'm still hitting my long term goal of continued improvement, so I can't feel too down about my run.

The running itself was a real treat. The Marin Headlands is a beautiful place to run on any day, but with blue skies and unusually good visibility, it was a real joy to charge around those trails alongside so many world class runners. Highlights included the views of the Goldon Gate Bridge and San Francisco city at sun rise, cruising the singletrack through the Giant Redwood forests, and the cracking trail conditions underfoot - almost Western States dusty-and-dry.

So all in all a really enjoyable experience. Finally I must just give a special mention to friend and fellow The North Face team mate, Mike Wolfe. What a run he had to take the win in 6hrs 19mins. He completely smashed it, in what must be the performance of his career. Surely enough to claim Ultra Runner of Year given the super competitive nature of the races where he has competed?

Western States 100 - Running Fitness magazine article

2011-11-22T13:47:00.001Z

Click here for the article I wrote earlier in the year for UK running magazine, Running Fitness, about another memorable year racing the Western States 100.

I also write a monthly column for the magazine so do check it out....

October & Snowdonia Marathon

2011-11-08T09:03:00.002Z

October’s highlight came at the end of the month with my firstsignificant race since UTMB, the Snowdonia Marathon. The Snowdonia Marathon isnow in its 29^th year and for many is an annual favourite given itsbeautiful course, great value and impressive organisation. It was founded bythe National Trust who are the major landowner in the area, and they continueto play a big part in its organisation, albeit they are no longer solely incharge. The course is around 90% road and 10% gravel track, following a bigloop around Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, and is always asell out with around 2,000 runners taking part. As has been the case for the lastthree or four events, the weather for this year’s race was pretty grim; strongwinds and heavy rain, not all that unusual for this part of the world. Theconditions, coupled with the challenging course (1,150m ascent/ descent- in aroad marathon!), made for a great workout, which was exactly what I had hopedfor in preparation for The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler at thebeginning of December.

After only ‘freshening up’ for a day or two before the race,I suspected it was going to be a painful affair, but actually I ran a reallystrong, comfortable and controlled race. The only time I didn’t feelcomfortable was in the first few miles during the climb up Llanberis Pass. Thatwas probably just lingering fatigue from recent training - and no taper. Notall that surprising really. Beyond that point I got going nicely and I felt Icould adjust the pace as necessary to overtake people and run a respectablerace. I finished in the solid, ifunspectacular, position of 7^thin a time 2hrs 45mins - only a couple of minutes outside my rather lame andlongstanding marathon PB of 2h 43min set on a flat course at Lochaber in 2007.To give myself a little more credibility a 2h45min performance would have wonthe race on several occasions previously, but this year’s field was prettystacked with top class marathon and shorter distance runners, and so it didn’tprove to be a great hunting ground for a distance hungry ultra runner likemyself. I felt going into the race I was probably in around 2h35min shape forthe marathon and my Snowdonia Marathon result seemed to confirm that – Britishmarathon runners will tell you the ‘Snowdonia factor’ is fairly significant. Itwas also a good sign for me that I ran through to the finish at a consistentand strong pace and, had the weather not been so nasty, could quite happilyhave run a second loop at a pace not much slower than the first. I guess that’sthe ultra runner in me….

So it was a good one for confidence and training, and agreat stepping stone towards the Endurance Challenge next month.

Prior to Snowdonia I put in a decent 4 week block oftraining – basically the month of October – which followed a month off runningin September. The rest from running and conditioning work I did during thatperiod certainly freshened my legs and mind up, putting me in a great place forsome quality training thereafter. It provided a great platform for a freshstart and I’ve been a lot more disciplined about the sessions I’ve been doing,definitely benefitting from the focus and speedwork. I’ve run a 5km time trialand a 12km trail race, again using the ‘races’ as sessions to try and push onmy ultra race pace.

Now well into November, there isn’t a huge amount of timebefore it will be time to taper for the Endurance Challenge. A couple moresolid weeks of training, including some longer runs along the coast path,should conclude preparations nicely.

Hey, the new Jez has turned an even bigger corner – I’vejust joined a running club for the first time in my career. I am now a fullyfledged member of Bournemouth AC who have on their books some of the best roadrunners in the area – particularly their marathon group , with whom I’m lookingforward to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Watch this space…..

See here for the Snowdonia Marathon race report on Mud Sweat & Tears.

September

2011-10-04T17:15:00.000+01:00

I’ve just reached the end of my post-UTMB refresh and I'mdefinitely raring to go again now. After a solid four weeks off running, mySingletracks are now dusted off and back in action and I’m looking forward somegreat autumn trail running around Dorset and the south coast of the UK. Cooler temperatures, the stunningautumn colours in the forests and plenty of mud – happy days.

You may wonder why it’s only four weeks that I’ve taken off,when its actually been five since UTMB – well I was up in the Lake District ona TNF photo shoot immediately after UTMB, and I wasn’t able to rest properlywhen I was up there (running back and forth all day is not really resting), soI thought I would hold back on the proper rest until I got back. Also, whatelse do you do with spare time in the Lakes, other than hit the fells?

The training I put in for Western States and UTMB earlier inthe year was tough, and both races fell relatively close together, so I decidedthe best way to get ready for the final part of the season was to take someproper time out. There were several aims for the time out period, but the keyones were allowing a little time for a small ankle niggle to heal properly,giving my legs a proper rest from running and to do some quality cross training/conditioning work as primary training rather than secondary. Well you didn’tthink it would be complete rest did you?

I loved the change in training – gym sessions, loads ofmiles on my road bike, hiking and swimming. None of it even comes close to theenjoyment I get from trail running, but the benefits have certainly prevailed and it's all given me a renewed spring in my step - both mentally and physically.

So now plans for the final few months of the season/ yearare clicking into place. I’m targeting The North Face Endurance Challenge finalin San Francisco, early December, and in the build-up I will run the Snowdonia Marathon at the end of October.

My training for the Endurance Challenge wasn’t great lastyear, so I’m looking forward to a fresh approach this year. Snowdonia provides agreat build up; it’s a tough, hilly, road marathon, but super-fast and intense,and the best race I have found to replicate the Endurance Challenge course inthe Marin Headlands. It’s not the first time I’ve run it, Snowdonia was thesecond marathon of the three day ‘triple’ which I did several years ago (BeachyHead, Snowdonia & Dublin on consecutive days), although conditions werehorrendous that day, much like it was for my Snowdon reps earlier in thesummer. Hopefully on race day it will be more like it was last Wednesday when I managed aquick afternoon hike up Snowdon before a talk I did for TNF at Plas Y Brenin. So you can sometimes see the top of Snowdon?.....

Snowdon, from the Watkins path - 28/09

View from Snowdon ascent - looking WSW - 28/09

The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2011 - DNF

2011-09-16T16:11:00.000+01:00

Despite pulling out of this year’s UTMB race around twothirds of the way through (at Champex, 124km out of c.170km), I have not felt anypost-race mental negativity. I was forced to pull out due to breathingdifficulties (later diagnosed as a chest infection) which quickly developed from around the half way point and eventuallygot so bad that I was concerned about passing out due to lack of oxygenand doing myself some real damage.

So why am I not disappointed about a DNF – only the third ofmy running career – which probably involves around 150 races? Well, it was afactor completely out of my control. I had a bad cold a couple of weeks beforethe race, it lingered for quite a while, but was 95% clear by race day. Itwasn’t even on the radar as a concern and from experience, it wouldn’t haveimpacted my performance in 9 out of 10 races. But lest we forget – UTMB isdifferent…..

Up to the point at which I pulled out I had run a smart andsolid race, moving through the field steadily in my usual style, and I was upto 12^th place. I can tell you now, I would have completelydifferent feelings about the race if my legs had gone or I had blown up; I would have been in downin the doldrums then. But I didn’t blow up; my legs felt great, or at least asgood as they could do given the 16 odd hours of mountain running I hadcompleted.

So, a quick summary of the race.

After the events of 2010 most of the focus before the racewas on the weather and, low and behold, it kicked off again. In 2010 the 6.30pmFriday night race start coincided almost perfectly with the passing of asignificant weather front. Unbelievably, exactly the same thing happened againthis year, but this time the organisers were well prepared. It was abundantlyclear that the organisers had learnt their lessons and done their homework.There were two clear differences: (1) all ‘trailers’ were required to carry amore comprehensive set of clothing and equipment, designed to ensure the racecould proceed in much more arduous conditions than before with the runnersstill being ‘safe’, and (2) from what I gathered from Race Director, CatherinePoletti, there were over ten course ‘variantes’ which could be employed shouldany given section of the route be blocked or be unsafe to pass. All good stuff I feel.

The several thousand runners converging on Chamonix duringbuild up to race weekend enjoyed clear, sunny and hot weather but as race day(s)arrived that rapidly gave way to wind and rain as a hefty weather front movedacross. The decision was made mid-morning on race day (Friday) to postpone the start ofthe race by five hours. That would allow the worst of the front to move acrossbefore the runners tackled the first main pass of the race, Col du Bonhomme,which would be around 3 hours in. It was a shrewd decision and the weatherforecasting was absolutely spot on.

Gathering in the rain at the race start area in Chamonix,the sense of déjà vu I was already feeling, grew considerably stronger. I tookstrength from the fact that as a British runner I would be better prepared forthe adverse weather conditions than most – particularly after spending most ofthe summer training in wet and windy weather which seemed to follow me whereverI went.

The rain falls at the race start - here we go again.....

Maybe it was just me, but the traditionally emotional build-upat the start of the race seemed to be slightly more muted this year, perhapsdue to the strong sense of the runners just wanting to get going after waitingaround all day and evening. But eventually, we did. The traditional stampedeout of Chamonix was stronger than ever, many runners charging out at sub 6 min/mile pace, at the start of a 100+ mile race. Nuts. I went out pretty quicklytoo, but it was conservative in comparison, settling in at around 30^thplace along the wide trail through the woods paralleling the river,down valley to Les Houches. There is always a huge sense of relief in actuallygetting going in these big races – runners aren’t very good at sitting aroundtapering and resting before a race – but the sense of relief seems to be onanother level with UTMB, probably due to it’s scale and the massive build-upwhich always comes with it. As one of the The North Face guys said to Lizzy andI as we were walking to start “it’s ok, you can just run now!”. That just aboutsummed it up.

Despite it being the early hours, dark, windy, raining andgenerally uninviting for running in the mountains, 2,300 trail runners, all with arelentless enthusiasm and passion for pushing themselves to the limits in someof the most beautiful mountain scenery in the world, were now loose and doingtheir thing!

Despite the race now being underway, what I was really lookingforward to was running solo so I could have some real space to settle in. I’mnot really interested in running in groups with the leaders or whoever else. Iwant to run my own race and at my own pace, rather than feeling dictated to byrunning as part of a group. That’s what works best for me and suits my style. Thankfully,being at the front end, the groups had thinned nicely by the start of the firstclimb up Col du Voza and, whilst the first one is always a bit of a shock tothe system, I felt great.

I reached Delevret (14km), the top of the first climb ofc.750m (all vertical ascent/ descent figures) in 29^th, and thendescended the 1,100m steadily to reach Saint Gervais (21km) in 24^th.Despite picking off a handful of places I didn’t accelerate or push at all,I just maintained the same pace and rhythm.

Saint Gervais is usually a hive of noise and entertainmenton race night, but this year it was sadly a lot quieter, a symptom of the delayedstart time. 1.30am inevitably isn’t half as attractive as 8.30pm for gettingsupporters out. Most were probably doing the sensible thing and savingthemselves for the daytime on Saturday. The rain was still falling heavily butmy body temperature was spot on wearing the Capri tights, a vest, arm warmers,the Triumph anorak and Scully beanie – all by The North Face.

Moving through Saint Gervais alongside Stuart Mills

I started the valley bottom section from Saint Gervais to LesContamines running with Nick Clarke and Stuart Mills, but again I wanted some space sowe were leap frogging each other before Nick pulled away and Stuart droppedback. The rain started to ease so I planned a clothing change at LesContamines, as well as a decent replen on my food supplies as it would be thelast time I would see my crew until Cormayeur some 47km later. I arrived in LesContamines (31km) in good spirits and just a few minutes behind my plannedschedule. I took a pit stop of a couple of minutes, changing into a base layerwith vest over, stashing the jacket and grabbing some bars and gels. And offagain…..

The feeling on leaving Les Contamines, or perhaps more soNotre Dame de la Gorge slightly up valley where there is always a warm welcome from a good crowd,is of solitude, warming adrenaline and apprehension. I find it’s the same eachyear at this stage. This is where the mountain wilderness really starts and Itruly love it. I like being able to forget the race for a while, run in my ownlittle bubble formed from a headtorch, and enjoy the environment.

After being battered by the wind and rain, all of a suddenthere was a serenity to the mountains and the stars began to come out. I madethe climb up to Croix du Bonhomme (45km, 1,300m climb) with relative ease,reaching the top in 19^th place – moving up the field well. Aboveabout 2,200 metres there was a decent dusting of snow making the footingslightly tricky but the beauty of the white carpet far outweighed that negative.The descent into Les Chapieux is never one of my favourites and again I madehard work of it, losing a couple of places coming down. It also seemed unnecessarilyprotracted towards the bottom and I suspected some runners may not havefollowed each and every switchback in the lower section which at the time I found frustrating.However I suspect I wasn’t being completely rational due to tiredness.

Aside from the kit check which I was pleased to see inplace, I didn’t hang around at Les Chapieux (50km), other than to re-fillbottles. I guess I was slightly annoyed to have lost a couple of places so Ivowed to push on during the road section climbing to the base of Col de laSeigne. I suspect I’m not the only one to strongly dislike this road climb whichseems too steep and damaging to run, but too easy to walk. I ran it, and picked off a coupleof guys in doing so. In fact, it seemed to give me a nice bit of momentum leadinginto the crux of the climb where I took another place. The enjoyment cameflooding back, particularly as the light in the sky started to arrive and I wasable to switch off my headtorch to get a true sense of the surroundings. Fellowrunners in front and behind hadn’t done so which helped me determine theirwhereabouts.

The light got stronger and stronger as I reached Col de la Seigne(60km, 2,516m) and again the area was snow covered, this time a few centimetresdeeper. The temperature had also dropped and must have been below freezing dueto the crunch of the trail underfoot. The view from the top was one of the mostbeautiful I have ever experienced, no doubt strengthened by the challengingweather we had passed through. It was cold and sharp, with just a few cloudsdotted around, but the views across to the Italian Alps and beyond werestaggering, lit up by the glow of the rising sun; it felt very special. I wasvery happy to have arrived in Italy :o)

About to ascend Arete Mont Favre

Slightly less technical and better formed, I enjoyeddescending the fast trail to the stunning valley where Lac Combal (65km) issituated, lured on by the thought of some decent sustenance. Noodle soup,pieces of energy bar and chocolate did the trick and refuelled the tanks nicelyready for the final climb before Cormayeur, up to Arret Mont Favre. At thispoint I had caught up with Japanese runner and fellow TNF team mate, TsuyoshiKaburaki, a runner of very similar ability to me from the several races we haveboth run before. It gave me confidence to be running with Kaburaki, knowing mypacing was pretty much spot on, and I hoped we could spur each other on to continueto move through the field together. We leap frogged each other a couple oftimes on the climb, then both picked off Scott Jurek who seemed to be having arough time of it.

Unknown, but beautiful, location en route

The vistas from the top of Arete Mont Favre (69km, 2,435m)were the best yet - by this time we were now in direct sunlight to help warm usthrough properly. The singletrack contouring around to the Cormayeur ski areawas smooth and fast flowing. Kaburaki lead the way, I was a couple of hundredmetres back. We overtook Vincent Delebarre before arriving at Col Checroitwhere I looked forward to the chance to say a quick in-passing ‘hello’ to Jacquemot,the legendary owner of this wonderful mountain refuge. Again, no time to hangaround, just a short (5km, 750m - it’s all relative with UTMB) descent to thefirst major checkpoint at Cormayeur, Italy, where I knew my crew would be waiting.

I arrived in Cormayeur (78km) in 16^th place andin an elapsed time of 9hrs 29mins. If I had written my perfect scenario for thispoint of the race – that was exactly it. I felt strong, confident, well fuelled andexcited. Changing from tights into shorts, removing the base layer and grabbingmore food supplies, I had every reason to be optimistic at the start of thiswonderful new day.

Changing at Cormayeur - ever been filmed getting change before?!

The first benefit of the delayed race start manifested itself onthe cobbled high street in Cormayeur. A compere introduced me and plenty ofpassers by shouted encouragement. 9am this time, compared to 4-5am normally,makes a big difference to numbers! I ran the road climb up to the base of thenext major climb, a nice 800m vertical slog up to Refuge Bertone (82km). I was strongon the climb, hitting the top in just over an hour from Cormayeur – pretty goodgoing. I hadn’t had sight of any other runners for a while now, however as Icontinued on along the contouring trail heading up the side of the stunning ValFerret, I just caught the odd glimpse now and again of Kaburaki doing battlewith another runner ahead. Kaburaki seemed to be pushing it fairly hard however thebuffer between us remained the same and we both gained a couple of places as Imoved up to 13^th by Arnuva (95km).

It was on leaving Arnuva and starting first section of theclimb up to the Grand Col Ferret that I first started to experience breathingdifficulties. I struggled to clear my chest and found myself working muchharder than I should have been for a fast-walk ascent. I didn’t think too muchof it initially, but after making the pass (2,537m, 99km) into Switzerland andbeginning the descent, I really knew something was amiss. Even running downhillbecame a huge effort. Not my leg speed or strength, simply my body’s ability toget enough oxygen in to maintain the pace. I stuck at it, not really knowingwhat was going on, and made it down the big descent into la Fouly (110km)without losing any places, but it was becoming apparent the effort required wascompletely unsustainable.

I decided on a section by section approach, my next focusbeyond la Fouly being Champex. The majority of that section of trail isdownhill, alongside the river, which undoubtedly masked the extent of theproblem somewhat, however it soon showed it’s ugly face again on the stiff climb upto Champex, and then came the shocking realisation that it was rapidly getting worse.I arrived in Champex (124km) still in 12^th place, but I simply didn’thave the heart to pull out from the race. My legs were still working fine sothere was almost a sense of refusal to accept the circumstances - which were sounusual - and like nothing I’veexperienced before.

Soldiering on, I left Champex and hit the trail again. It wasno good though, I simply couldn’t breathe, and on beginning the descent toMartigny – a variante due to Bovine being impassable – I thankfully stumbled acrossmy crew who were by chance trying to intersect me, and I announced mydecision to pull out. What ensued was like a bad dream - a lift back to Chamonix, a trip tothe medical centre, several hours in the hospital. Nightmare.

I knew I couldn’t have gone on running safely, or if I had,then I was at risk of doing lasting damage. It’s not like a painful knee orankle which will patch up or go numb, breathing is a fundamental, a decisionwhich is made for itself. Unfortunately that didn’t make it any easier to cometo terms with at the time.

I was immediately hit by a sense of shock and emptiness. Itdidn’t feel real, but it of course it was. My 2011 race was over and with it somany hard hours of training in the mountains and meticulous preparations. UTMB is a race you live and breathe (great choice of word Jez!); waking upand the race being your first thought of the day, going to sleep and it being thelast. That’s the sort of dedication it takes to be successful but that’s alsowhat makes it hurt more when it doesn’t go right.

For me, like many others, the race is the ultimate dream. Itis without doubt a ruthless race, one which chews runners up and spits themout, but one which teaches us so much about ourselves, as runners, as people,as lovers of the mountains. I was definitely spat out hard this year, but it isall experience which will make me stronger and wiser for future years.

And with that, UTMB winds up for another year. I would like to give special thanks to my support crew,family and friends for all their support at the race which meant a huge amount,and to The North Face team for making it another memorable race week inChamonix.

TNF Team - post race

Had to pull :o(

2011-08-27T23:30:00.002+01:00

No luck with the 5 out of 5. Gutted. Felt strong for the first 10 hours, but started to develop a chest infection soon after Bonatti (c. 83km). It wds probably on the back of a recent cold which seems to have lingered, then running in below freezing conditions, snow and heavy rain has triggered this rather bizzare issue.

My breathing became increasingly laboured to the point at which running downhill had me working as if I was running steeply up. Not good. Endeavoured to soldier on but got to the point where I was in danger of starving my body of oxygen and doing proper damage, so pulled the plug soon out of Champex. I think I was in 12th at the time, had been working my way through the field in my usual style all race and legs felt good enough to be striking higher positions.

Just back from a precautionary trip to the hospital - managed to avoid the overnight stay which they seemed quite keen on!.....

Thanks for all the support from everyone, very touching.

UTMB: Delay to Start Time

2011-08-26T13:50:00.003+01:00

The start time for the race has been put back until 11.30pm (10.30GMT) due to a big weather front which is passing through during the first part of this evening. The only other change is that the final climb to Tete aux Vents/ Flegere is also out, making the finish a relatively quick blast down the valley from Col du Montets to Chamonix, via Argentiere. This means we're effectively back to the 2007 course.

A sound decision by the organisers in my opinion, particularly given that it was made mid morning Friday, allowing the runners plenty of time to adjust their pre-race schedules.

And with that, I'm off to bed.....

Also worth noting that Eurosport are covering the race this year, with a half hour summary programme due to go out at 11.30pm ish on Sunday night. You may even see me being interviewed :o)

UTMB Pre-Race

2011-08-24T13:42:00.004+01:00

The UTMB LIVE race tracking facility is now up and running, ready for the start of the race on Friday at 1830 (1730 GMT).

Follow this link.

There is heaps of other pre-race coverage on the web and a good set of pre-race interviews with the elites from irunfar here.

Lots of talk around town about the new mandatory kit requirements and the weight it's going to add to our packs. I've just put my full race kit together and have managed to fit it all into TNF's Enduro 13 pack - the same one I wore last year. No big deal in my opinion and with the forecast as it is, a very good thing.

Just about to head out to collect race number one at check in. Eeeek!....

More soon.

Catching up

2011-08-23T17:02:00.002+01:00

I haven't blogged for ages now. I've been meaning to, but with one thing or another it hasn't happened. You may read something into this, especially remaining quiet after all the excitement of Western States, but there's genuinely nothing to read at all, just plain slackness. You know that scenario when you put something off for a while, then it grows and grows and starts to nag you and eventually turns into a chore – well that’s probably the case here. Anyway, I’m back now and perhaps I’ll make it a post-UTMB resolution of mine to post here more regularly……

Maybe I’m being a little unfair on myself - I did actually write a piece about my Western States experience for British magazine Running Fitness, however it was specifically written for the general running community and therefore probably contains less of the nitty gritty stuff which blog readers are probably interested in. Anyway, once the magazine article is published I shall post it here and you can decide for yourself.

What about the detail then? Well I may consign that to the murky depths of history in the back of my head because I’m not sure I’ve got the will to dig it out right now. Alternatively, buy me a beer after the UTMB race.

I guess the least I can do is muster up a few summary thoughts……

Firstly, as with my 2009 experience, I absolutely loved every moment of Western States this year. Hats off to the WS team for putting on such a brilliant race, perfectly tuned to deliver the best possible experience for the runners. It's slick, it's exciting, it's professional and its got to be cream of the crop in the US.

My race strategy was fairly plain to see; run steadily throughout, at my pace, on my own if necessary, then try to do some damage in the latter stages. None of that is much of a secret, it’s how I bring out the best in myself and it’s the way I have run my best races. It was all perfectly to plan until mile 80/ the Green Gate aid station, at which point I couldn't maintain the pace to enjoy battling it out with the three other guys to the finish. That was a real frustration because I was running completely within myself up to that point and there was just a couple of minutes separating the four of us at the front (Jornet, Wolfe, Clarke & Bragg). A couple of months of reflection has allowed me to pin point the reasons for that blip (I think). I won't bore you with all the detail but needless to say I've made some changes to bring about improvements.

Reading this you've probably gathered I wasn't all that pleased with the 4th place. I was pleased with the time (albeit the revised course was a fast one), but I was targeting better (as I am sure many other guys were). The annoying thing is I'll probably have to go back next year now. Oh, what a shame....

So, what have I been up to since? Heaps of UTMB specific training which has been a lot of fun. Any excuse to get into the mountains hey. I was in the UK to start with, spending a few days running round the Bob Graham Round route in the Lake District, north west England. The BG is classic British long distance challenge, a big loop of around 72 miles taking in 42 of the highest peaks in the Lakes, with a total elevation change of c. 27,000feet. Being only a week after Western States, and the first time I’m been round any of the route before, I split it into three days and stayed overnight at a couple of hostels. The opportunity to get out in the stunningly beautiful Lakes and check out the route for the first time was magical. Definitely one to come back to for a non-stop effort in the future.....

Shortly afterwards I headed out to the Alps for two weeks of bigger stuff which involved a fast pack of the Walkers' Haute Route - Chamonix to Zermatt (c.185km, 14,000m+/-), a three day loop over the full UTMB course (166km, 9,400+/-) with the rest of The North Face team and a load of other single day outings. Back on UK soil I also did my annual Snowdon reps session (4x) in lashing rain (which obviously falls sideways being in Wales) and a night run on the coast path from Shell Bay, Poole to Weymouth. Basically, lots of good stuff in the bag, but more importantly a load of nicely varied and very enjoyable trail running. All I would say looking back on all those outtings is that the rain seemed to follow me wherever I went. I recon around 50% of my training this summer has been on wet days. Sorry in advance to fellow UTMBers if I’ve brought it with me to Chamonix….

So then, I hear there is a little race on this weekend?! I can't quite believe it's that time again. It is of course the big dance in Chamonix, The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. From a quick scan of the entrants list it looks like we've got the deepest ever field lining up (yawn, yes I know, said many times before, but by some margin in my mind). Predictions? No way - impossible. The safest bet is there will be a big battle from the off and probably quite a few big name casualties based on the last few races here.

This is now my 5th time at UTMB, and I've yet to pull, so number one priority has got to be getting to the finish line for 5 out of 5. Whilst I've never run a fast time on the full route, my experience from previous races, at least the same number of training loops and the fact I've improved quite a bit as a runner over the last couple of years, will (hopefully) stand me in good stead.

Whilst there is probably more hype than I like before a race with UTMB (we runners just like to run….), the excitement and general build-up all contribute towards making this the truly great race it is. Chamonix, the mountain haven for so many different sports, is an incredible place to hang out, particularly with all the international runners in town.

Whether you're at home following on the internet, out on the course supporting with your cowbell or running one the races yourself – I hope you ENJOY this weekend’s races.

Western States result

2011-06-26T05:20:00.001+01:00

Wow - that was a race alright. Cat and mouse all the way. I ran very consistently but didn't quite have the legs for the battle at the end. 4th place, 15 hours 55mins. I'll take that.

Thanks for all the brilliant support from the UK.

Jez.

Western States 100 pre-race

2011-06-24T17:21:00.001+01:00

So then, less than 24 hours to go until the big one.

I was hoping to have posted some detailed pre race thoughts but with limited internet access where we're staying at Lake Tahoe I've been forced to keep quiet. Perhaps not a bad thing.

From what I've picked up there has been quite a lot of hype about the race and the deep fields lined up for both men and women. I'm excited to be part of the race, but not really too bothered about the other guys, I will only be concerned with what I can personally control, that's my running and my performance.

So with my drop bags packed, GB badge sown on shorts and glycogen stores bursting, it's time to race!

Follow via the official race webcast linked from www.ws100.com , or via twitter using #ws100 or #irunfar as the search hashtags.

Race starts at 5am US west coast time Saturday 25th, or 1pm GMT same day.

Thanks for the messages of support - much appreciated.

The Fellsman (c.62miles/ 11,000feet)

2011-06-12T17:02:00.008+01:00

A good couple of weeks have now passed since The Fellsman and for one reason or another my write up has been delayed (just a generally busy life really). But better late than never I guess.

So just two weeks after a hard workout at The Highland Fling in Scotland I found myself toeing the start line of another epic, The Fellsman. I’m the first to admit that two big races in two weeks was a tall order, but I’d like to think a carefully calculated one.

These were ‘B’ races for me, planned as part of my build up to two ‘A’ races this summer; The Western States 100 on 25 June and UTMB in late August. My ‘B’ classification of these two races doesn’t mean I don’t take them seriously or put less than 100% effort in - I struggle to do anything less in a race – but is perhaps more from a mental perspective. Essentially I don’t let myself lose sleep over them and probably don’t taper all that much either. The goals further ahead are more important. The aim is to get race pace intensity into my legs and build some confidence in my ability to compete and race full stop, particularly after some lengthy periods of just training and racing shorter distances.

In it's 49th year, The Fellsman is one of the classics on the fell and ultra calendar. It's a truly British race - for the characteristics you will hear about in this piece - and I absolutely love it. The route is around 60miles - depending exactly which one you take (the choice is yours, it’s a point-to-point self navigation race) - in an almighty horseshoe shaped route starting in Ingleton and finishing in Threshfield, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

The route is largely untracked and in quite a few places is knee-deep marsh or bog, sometimes making it more of a trudge rather than a run. For any American or European readers who like a nicely groomed singletrack trail - this is definitely not the race for you…..

Given the possible trail and weather conditions competitors must carry a set of basic safety kit and equipment which includes full waterproofs, emergency food, map, compass, first aid kit, survival bag, spare clothing, head torch etc etc. This necessitates a fairly sizeable pack which also adds to the challenge. See the photo below for my pre-race kit laid out. I used the Spring 11 The North Face Enduro 13 pack which I absolutely love.

Race kit laid out

As I stood on the start line with the other 400 or so competitors, 9am on a late spring Saturday morning, I was admittedly anxious about the day ahead. It would surely be epic; it always is?

I trotted up to the top of Ingleborough with Mark Hartell, 11 times (did I count right?) winner of the event, and we chatted about this, that and the other – generally putting the world to rights. At the top, next to the trig point, was the first of 24 checkpoints, the majority of which are located on the tops like this one. There I got my plastic tally card punched for the first time (who needs electronic chips?), the very traditional but completely effective method of checking participants have visited all the checkpoints, and quickly moved on on. The Fellsman tally card

Mark flew off from the top, taking a very direct line down a greasy rock strewn grassy bank where he showed off his fine descending skills. I followed, but slightly more cautiously. By the run off at the bottom, on the approach to the Hill Inn checkpoint, I had just about reeled him in, but this burst proved to be his undoing, as he tweaked his hamstring which ultimately forced his retirement a couple of checkpoints later at Kingsdale.

Re-fuelling near Kingsdale

By Kingsdale I was in the lead but close behind was Andy Mouncey and Adam Perry, a very talented youngster who had a strong race. I didn’t really look back thereafter, my focus being on running my own race at a pace which felt right to me. If I’m honest, that’s the way I prefer it. Without really consciously trying I started to build a lead that steadily grew over the course of the day.

I enjoyed the solo front running. If it hadn’t been for the checkpoints and occasional supporters then I might have forgotten there was a race on at all!

There was a stiff westerly cross wind, particularly noticeable on the beautiful high level ridge section between Gregareth and Great Coum, but after the turn east to head down towards Dent, it was welcome tail wind for the rest of the day. I felt like I was being swept along……

Dent is one of the bigger checkpoints about 20miles in and at that point, one third into the race, I felt great and very positive. I had also made good time, so started to map out in my head a possible schedule for the remainder. From rudimentary calculations in my head I was on track for sub-ten hours - assuming no slowing down – however there was obviously quite a bit of optimism in that calculation as unfortunately it’s often not quite as simple as that in events like this. Having said that, I have pulled off even or negative splits plenty of times before, so I didn’t think it was completely out the question.

The section from Dent to Stone House went smoothly, I even hit the line off Blea Moor perfectly for the first time ever (its one of the simpler 'lines', but I've never hit the stile into the woods quite right before). At Stone House there was plenty of excitement amongst the checkpoint staff who were running a sweepstake for the time of the first runner. I was about a minute too early apparently. Ooops, sorry. There I wolfed down a bit of plain pasta and grabbed a cheese butty for take out.

For the most part it was all rather uneventful. The all important navigation kept me focused, which I was constantly aware could have screwed up my race if mistakes had been made. Thankfully the visibility on the tops was much better than the last time I took part in 2009.

I hit a good line off Dodd Fell and arrived at Fleet Moss starting to feel a bit jaded but still in good time and maintaining a good pace. I wish I had my splits to share but unfortunately my watch splits messed up. Beyond the Fleet Moss checkpoint is the trickiest section for navigation across the featureless moor (bog?), and even more so this year from a last minute change to the location of the Middle Tongue checkpoint. Usually it’s on the peak next to the trig point, this year it was further south and out of sight due to landowner access issues. This also forced us to follow the southern route variant from Fleet Moss, rather than the direct line across the top. In the main this suited me well as it’s my favoured option anyway, being smoother and more runnable, albeit slightly longer.

I hit the new checkpoint at Middle Tongue without a problem, although I was saved slightly by one of the checkpoint staff being stood up as I approached. I may have struggled to pick out their small khaki green tent otherwise. But on arrival my anxieties had faded. That was the big risk for me, but once successfully negotiated, I knew I was in control of the rest.

It was a single bearing from the new Middle Tongue to Hell Gap which, although long, rough and untracked, was fairly fool proof. I blasted down the vehicle track to Cray and felt a lot more relaxed and confident about finishing in a good time. The real problem I had in trying to keep tabs on progress was not knowing the checkpoint split distances. All I knew was that Fleet Moss was at about 36miles (approximately). Having said that, I think there’s a lot to be said for keeping race plans simple, and mine certainly was…..

The two remaining climbs up Buckden Pike and Great Whernside went well. My legs felt pretty shot on the steep sections but that was to be expected. On the gentler gradients, flatw and downhills they remained fast and didn’t let me down. There were plenty of ankle rolls, trips (x4) and bog wipeouts, but they are all part and parcel of running fast on this kind of terrain. They were quite funny really, one or two fairly spectacular.

Off Great Whernside I started to wind the pace up and realised I was close to record pace. It was however finely balanced and difficult to factor in the fast terrain of the last six miles, in terms of whether I really could pull it off or not.

It was only when I reached the final checkpoint at Yarnbury that realised the record really was on. The checkpoint staff did as well; they were excited and encouraging. The last section was a gradual downhill on the road back to Threshfield and I guess I was probably running c.6min/mile pace down there - very enjoyable - and there is nothing more motivating than the knowledge that the faster you run, the more you will take off the record.

Approaching Yarnbury, on the home straight

I arrived back through the door of the school with a finishing time of 10h 06 mins taking several minutes off the previous record, on a course which was generally felt to be slightly longer. It had been a really enjoyable and satisfying day out, but most importantly I was back in one piece.

Coming away from the race I was pleased with the time on what is a technical and tough course, and one that is not really conducive to quick running. My legs had the pace when they needed to and dealt with the hills with relative ease. Great for confidence heading into Western States.

The final words must be of thanks to the wonderful volunteers and organisers of the event who work tirelessly throughout the year to keep the Fellsman going. It is brilliant to see the event going through a renaissance in recent years and given how successful this year’s event was, I can only see than continuing.

Next stop: California :o)

A Red Hot Fling

2011-05-04T21:28:00.003+01:00

The Highland Fling Race:

53 miles trail, along southern ‘half’ of the West Highland Way, Scotland.
UKA Ultra Trail Championships/ Scottish Ultra Trail Championships/ GB Ultra Trail Team Qualifier.

I had to settle for 2nd place at this year’s Fling. Despite breaking my previous record of 7h19m by 4 minutes, Andrew James went one better and beat it by 7 minutes. It was a great race - one I will certainly remember in years to come. In the couple of days which have past since the race, I have been trying to remember if I’ve ever been pushed so hard in a UK ultra race. The Commonwealth 100km Championships in Keswick, September 2009, is the only race that springs to mind – that day Matt Giles was the culprit, although the difference with that race was that I managed to come good in the end. Whilst I don’t like losing much, I love the competition, and hat’s off to Andrew for running a strong and smart race.

The way the race panned out is simple to report. I was part of a lead group of three for the first 23 odd miles – which included Andrew and Stuart Mills. Stuart’s tactics were fairly indiscreet (which I am sure he will be the first to admit), to run shoulder to shoulder with me for as long as possible. But when Stuart dropped off the pace, it was a simple partnership with Andrew who I had not met or run with before. I felt the pace dropped off a bit along Lomond-side, but I think it had to after the smoky fast first 19 miles to Balmaha. The heat was a big challenge, rising steadily over the course of the day. Despite a coolish breeze, the many sheltered sections of trail made it feel roasting, and there was no respite from cloud cover whatsoever. I knew it was getting a bit warm for me when all I could think about was jumping in Loch Lomond for a decent cool off – I just about managed to resist. Conditions reminded me a bit of Western States/ California – dusty, tinder dry, beautiful single track trail, crystal clear blue skies, and that wonderful scent of pine and timber through the woods. Quite pleasant had it not been for the extreme effort we were putting in.

If it hadn’t been for the high temperatures, I suspect we would have been running faster still, but it was a case of just trying to block it out, and to keep moving at a decent pace section after section. The trail was certainly very busy which also kept us on our toes. And not just from the couple of hundred early race starters who we had to overtake, also big groups of West Highland Way trekkers who were understandably making the best of the stunning spring weather. I was just sorry to be semi-forcefully coming past them all. I shouted ahead to forewarn everyone, and gave my sincerest thanks, but it was a tricky operation in the many narrow sections of trail.

On the approach to Derrydaroch, at c.46miles. Photo courtesy of "MtM".

After an enjoyable stint running with Andrew in which we both had our moments, him taking a couple of impressive tumbles, me acquainting myself with the bushes, we got to the top of Loch Lomond and the Beinglas checkpoint (40.6 miles) pretty much at the same time. I realised this could well be a critical moment of the race, and so it proved to be. He moved through very quickly, not appearing to take much of a water re-supply. I decided to do things properly knowing there was still a tough 12 mile section ahead, and left with a litre-and-a-half of liquid in two handhelds and a waste pack bottle, as well as taking the opportunity for a good dousing courtesy of the kind checkpoint staff. Andrew upped the pace and flew off up the climb towards Derrydaroch, to which I admittedly didn’t have a reply. I was still running well, but not with any spring to keep up. Andrew steadily moved away and was pretty much out of sight by the woods above Crianlarich. I figured he had a 4-5minute lead at this point. With only a handful of miles left to the finish, I thought he probably had a 80% chance of finishing it off for an impressive win. My only hope was a spectacular blow-up, or a navigational error, neither of which prevailed in the end. I picked up and was gaining on him in the last few miles, but I had run out of trail and he finished three minutes ahead. He was a worthy victor and winner of the UKA title as well as a nice course record.

Once again my sincerest thanks go to Ellen, Murdo and Tim who have created a brilliant race in the space of just six years. It’s a true runner’s race; all beautifully thought out and organised, and one which thoroughly deserves its undoubted success. You only had to be there at the finish line this year, seeing all the smiling runners and supporters enjoying the Highland setting and sunshine, to know what I mean. See you next year.

Next up – the Fellsman a week on Saturday. Eeeek!

2010 in Pictures

2011-01-07T14:40:00.005Z

Yes I know - buses and my blog posts - none for ages then two at once.

I was going to write a full 2010 review but it will probably be Christmas 2011 before I get round to it, so here's the best of 2010 in pictures.

Here's the pick of the bunch:

It was of course a year of two very different halves for me; out of action injured for the first half then back with a BOOM! in Chamonix.

Happy New Year everyone. Here's to more great running adventures in 2011......

The Long Mynd 50 Winter Run

2011-01-05T21:19:00.008Z

There is a bit of a theme developing to my pre-Christmas jaunts now. With the weather, that is. Last year's winter West Highland Way record attempt of the same timing was, frankly, bloody freezing, and so too was this year's effort in Shropshire. I thought a mid-winter trip around one of my favourite race routes, The Long Mynd Hike 50, would be a much tamer affair than the Scottish Highlands had been in December 2009. An easy option even? With the winter we've had this year, and it being the coldest December on record, I was of course wrong.

This year I recruited a partner; fellow England and Great Britain team mate Matt Giles no less. It should have been three but that's another story. We did, however, have no support.

The conditions were probably best described as arctic. The ground was deep frozen from what seemed like weeks of sub-zero temperatures, a thick blanket of dry powdery snow covered the valleys and temperatures for the duration of the run ranged between -10°C and -5°C. Lovely.

In the days leading up to the run I was impressed by Matt's unfaltering commitment to give it a go, no matter how snowy, cold and downright unappealing the prospect of running 50 miles around Shropshire three days before Christmas Day was. Good lad. Or perhaps that's a symptom of having two young kids?

The alarm went at 2.50am, I got to Matt's for just after 4am and we were togged up ready to start the run at about just before 6am - an hour behind schedule already. Kit choice would be vital and could have been a drawn out process in itself had it not been for the -10°C temperature as we fumbled through our kit bags in the boot of Matt’s car parked in sleepy Church Stretton, a lovely town nestled in the Shropshire Hills. I went for a pair of tights, windstopper bottoms (by TNF of course, turning out to be a legendary piece of kit), two base layers, a Gore-Tex paclite shell, ski mitts, a buff and three beanies. Footwear was a pair of Singletracks and one pair of socks. I also carried a spare base layer and spare pair of socks, but we had to stay fast and light so it was minimal, and if it went horribly wrong we would still need to keep moving.

In summary, the route is a well established classic: a 50 mile figure-of-eight route over the rugged countryside of South Shropshire and the Welsh Marches, with about 8,000 feet of climbing covering eight summits. Statistically it's fairly tame, but the trails constantly undulate making it impossible to settle in to any rhythm. I always find it’s niggly tough and a solid challenge even in good weather.

Within a mile we were into the first hill, Caer Caradoc, which was horrible. One step forward, half a step back; frozen ground and slippery powdery snow made the steep climb difficult. Cue worries about a long day ahead and me openly stating that we could cut the route short to preserve pub time in the evening. Priorities hey. Freezing fog was another big problem and if we hadn't been on that hill dozens of times before, navigation would have been impossible. But the top's the top and we found it in the end, as well as the descent route for our first spell of foot skiing.

Once we dropped down out of the freezing fog, it was actually the last we saw of it all day. And after that hill, I had no further question marks over our ability to complete the whole route. We got warm, stayed warm, and didn't ever stop longer enough to get cold. That was the trick really – keep moving. The only point we both felt a bit on the edge of being too cold was across Stiperstones ridge with the cold northerly wind coming straight at us. But at that point I just donned all three beanies, sealed myself up in my hood and battled on.

Navigation could have been tricky, particularly as Matt dropped his carefully marked up map somewhere on Stiperstones (not very good as a D of E instructor), but luckily we managed to stay on track almost perfectly all the way round despite the white blanket.

We carried all our provisions for the day in our packs except fluids which required a replen at the shop next to the Stiperstones Inn. The biggest issue was keeping the food and drinks at a suitable temperature to consume, with the tendency being for them to freeze. Matt had a few problems with frozen pipes and bottles.

And the knowledgeable local runner we met outside the Stiperstones Inn who tried to recruit us for the Devils Chair fell race on Boxing day was of course right, his prediction that we would finish before last light was spot on. We got back to Church Stretton just before 4.30pm with no need for the headtorches to come back out again. Our time for the full route was just under 10 hours 30 mins. We were pretty pleased to have got round, and to have run it self sufficiently in such a time. The winning time for the annual October race is just over 8 hours, so more than respectable on that basis.

And of course, the fast time meant we were showered, changed and down the pub in good time to make a proper evening of it. Well, maybe if we hadn’t been quite so knackered.

It begs the question what next year’s jaunt will bring?!…..

The Spirit of the UTMB

2010-09-11T13:08:00.013+01:00

"Energy, passion & emotion - lay it all down when you’re racing on the trails - then you can have no regrets."

The 8th edition of The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc will certainly be well remembered. It was a weekend of twists and turns, lumps and bumps, a complete emotional rollercoaster for all that were involved. The thing that shone through the most for me was the unique spirit of the event which has been present ever since it first started and was immediately apparent to me from the first year I took part back in 2005. It is hard to explain but the factors of extreme human endurance, the jaw-droppingly beautiful alpine environment and the real ‘purpose’ of the classic route itself all contribute.

I’m not really too sure where to start with this one but i’ve decided to keep it fairly brief and factual, hopefully offering an insight into how it was for me. So here we go.......

The race got underway to it’s trademark ‘all singing and dancing’ start on Friday (27 August 2010) evening at 6.30pm. Following blisteringly hot days on the preceding Wednesday and Thursday, the weather had however taken a serious turn for the worse on race day. It was grey and overcast with intermittent heavy showers. The overnight outlook was for more of the same. For me, in preparing my head, it was going to be a wet race, no question about that. The weather did however clear sufficiently for the start to be made without too much drama or the literal dampening of spirits. However soon into the race, beyond the traditional raucous send off from the crowded Chamonix streets, the heavens opened and we got drenched.

I ran down to Les Houches (7.9km) alongside Lizzy (Hawker) and we joked how conditions would well suit the Brits. We agreed that is was actually quite enjoyable – not cold, and quite refreshing. The first climb up Col du Voza is relatively short but is always a slight shock to the system; I tend to find it takes one or two of the nine or ten climbs to really settle in.

But on reaching Saint Gervais about 21km in I felt great and I was in the right place position-wise, not battling it out at the front (not my style, well early on anyway), but not exactly hanging around either. I grabbed a quick top up of one bottle but moved through at speed, enjoying every step of the atmosphere in town which is street carnival come Tour du France.

Out of Saint Gervais, back on to the quiet, now nearly dark, meandering singletrack trails on a gentle valley bottom climb to Les Contamines (31km). I picked off a couple of guys, probably settling in at around 15th place. By this point the rain had eased somewhat but the atmosphere was damp and foggy, particularly along the riverside sections where the icy cold glacial run-off met the warm damp woodland air. Nature was certainly in action; it was an evening of big activity in the mountains, and not just from the event. And then the further hustle and bustle of our last party town atmosphere for the night, Les Contamines. I check-in and am suddenly hit by a bizarre scene. The runners out front are all standing around chatting?! It soon becomes clear the race has been stopped for safety reasons, but the precise reason why is unclear. The reports back from the high mountainous sections ahead are that the rains have been heavy, winds are high and there has been damage to the course/ course markers. Utter shock and devastation is the only way to describe the scenes and my personal feeling. To be just standing there chatting to my support crew in a relaxed manner felt very strange; the race had gone in an instant and I had not expected to be talking to people like that for the best part of 24 hours. People have trained and prepared for this race for several months. Many will have dreamt about it and spent every day getting themselves mentally and physically prepared. The scale, profile and difficulty of the race make this essential for success, but then make it so much harder to come to terms with a scenario like this. After an hour or so of waiting around, for me just satisfying myself that they weren’t going to suddenly re-start the race, I returned to Chamonix with my support crew. We chatted and joked, but in reality everyone was gutted, not just me.

Back in Chamonix, I showered and hit the sack, with plans coming together in my head for a 3-4 hour training run the next day to let off some steam. I struggle to sleep, so much flying around my head, but eventually get off and then stir just before 7am. I check my phone; two messages from the organisers – firstly to announce a revised race would be held on Saturday starting in Courmayeur at 10am, secondly to announce logistics.

I was surprised to see that there was a race on even though the rumours had been around the night before. I hadn’t really paid much attention and certainly wasn’t in race mode. I threw some clothes on and headed straight to the hotel breakfast room to find runners to talk to. There weren’t many people around. My initial decision was that I would race - a short race would be better than nothing. But then on reflection, I started to doubt whether it was the right thing for me. Should I save myself for something else later in the year? Would it really be a race? Would the event still be at risk from the weather? How would I be mentally? These thoughts initially reversed my decision before a last minute change back, at around 9am, really just based on a niggling concern in my head that by not taking part I would have serious regrets (how right can a ‘gut’ feeling be).

I had missed the official buses but Bryon Powell from irunfar kindly offered to take me through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur. We exchanged a bit of banter in the car, I don’t think either of us could believe it was ‘race on’ and I arrived at the race start in Italy to beautiful wall-to-wall sunshine which had evidently transformed everyone’s sprits. I hopped the barriers and lined up at the front. Behind me at the start, there were 1,300 other runners, a mixture of ‘fresh’ TDS runners and ‘slightly jaded’ UTMB runners who had been through the turmoil of the previous night. But the atmosphere felt great; there was a clear spirit of determination.

As the UTMB race theme music bleared out once again, it was a complete feeling of déjà vu. My head didn’t know where it was. As we got underway there was a frantic pace leaving town, along the cobbled high street, up the hill past the church and on to road climb to the foot of Bertone. If there were any doubt in people’s minds as to whether this would be a race, they were banished in an instant. The race was most certainly on. The race distance would be 88km with over 5,000m of vertical climb and descent, no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination.

I ran at the front to the foot of the Bertone climb but then settled in to my fast hike once we hit the steep switchbacks. The other front runners were only interested in running so I left them to it. Perhaps it was the mindset of a ‘shorter’ race, or maybe just their competitive instinct. In my mind it was still 88km to cover so plenty of trail to race. At the top of Bertone (4.7km) I was probably in about 25th place. The contouring high level trail along the side of Val Ferret is usually a panoramic treat, but a fast pace and plenty of cloud and mist made it feel less so. I was breathing pretty hard from the pace and altitude, as well as trying to concentrate on what was happening amongst the pack ahead. I started to reign in a string of runners and overtook them soon after the next checkpoint at Bonatti (11.9km). Getting up to the head of Val Ferret, before the mini descent to Arnuva, the rain started to fall. I started to expect pretty grim conditions at the top of the Grand Col Ferret.

Arnuva (16.9km) had a great atmosphere, quite a few spectators and plenty of merriment and positivity around. People were enjoying having a race to support, I was enjoying being part of it. I grabbed a bottle refill and headed straight out again, ready for the climb up to the highpoint of the course the Grand Col du Ferret at 2,537m. Speed through the aid station was the order of the day for me. And in doing so I had picked a couple more runners off.

The climb up the Grand Col is renowned as a nasty one, but I actually quite like it. It’s not all that bad in vertical climb, and seems to be over before you know it. Usually the cracking views help, but the only view I had was of the feet of the runners ahead, although they kept changing because again I was gaining places. It wasn’t a conscious push, just maintaining how I had set off.
As I approached the top, the winds got higher and the temperatures colder. We were running very close to the rain/ snow limit. My hands were numb, it was important to keep moving, and that I did with just a brief pause at the top to get my race chip scanned. 9 places gained, now up to 16th.

The descent was fast and enjoyable, a chance to let go and really charge for the first time. Now I did consciously push, the novelty of entering another country, Switzerland, perhaps also helping my spring. Having not really set off with any race strategy, I decided as things started to pan out en route that the section down to Praz du Fort would be a key one, the fast and runnable trail suiting my style. The aid station at La Fouly (30.8km) had plenty of life to it, and there I met my crew for the first time. Refill bottle, stash a load of gels, a bit of chocolate and then on my way - 30 second tops.

I continued to make good progress and reached the bottom of the climb to Champex probably up to around 8th place by now (according to feedback from supporters). Mid-climb I hooked up with team mate, Mike Wolfe from the US. He was going well. We chatted for a bit as we made the climb and discussed how things were panning out up front. He reported a group of 6 or so runners, all fairly close together, who were 8 mins or so ahead. That was music to my ears. Without any agreed plans to do so we ran together, working as a team to push a bit harder than we perhaps would do if running solo. That little bit of extra speed was reducing our gap on the leaders, again great for morale. Reaching Champex in 7th place (44.9km) was a nice little milestone with plenty of folk clapping us through the checkpoint and along the beautiful lake around which the town is wrapped.

Whilst I was gaining regular boosts from overtaking runners, the real positive feeling and sign of things to come was the strength of my climbing. The next climb, Bovine, was a good example. There, midway up, I started to pull away from Mike and overtook a couple more guys. I didn’t feel I was running much quicker, but perhaps just holding the pace well when the others were feeling the strain of the fast first half.

It was at the wooden gate on the crest of the Bovine (54.5km) climb that things really started to pan out. There I came across Dawa Sherpa who was in the lead. He was clearly surprised to have company, and perhaps I was a tad surprised to be in his company. We exchanged a few words and I cracked on, thinking that whilst I had overtaken him on the climb, he would destroy me on the descent. Nope – I moved away. One of the guys who I had just overtaken, Julien Chorier, did however re-overtake me so I was now in second. But what I had learnt from that previous section was that I was in better shape than him on the flats and climbs, whilst he was the faster descender.

At Col du Forclaz there were more crowds, and cameras lining the trail on the approach. Friendly faces from The North Face team were also popping up everywhere, providing a great boost for morale. It sounds simple, but simple comments like ‘you’re looking good’ help a massive amount, particularly when you feel like a heap of crap inside. They were convincing liars anyway.

After the crazy steep switchbacks through the woods down to Triente I started to feel excited. I could hear the supporter’s applause from Julian moving through the village and checkpoint ahead. I was less than a minute back, in perfect striking distance. A helicopter appeared and started tracking us from overhead - probably filming. In Triente (60.9km) my crew met me and there was an even greater sense of urgency. Penny helped me re-stock superfast, I was in and out in a flash. Even the prospect of another tough climb up to Catogne didn’t seem all that bad.

I was just a few hundred metres behind Julian on leaving the village and hitting the mountain trails again. I know the climb up Catogne well, it’s not technical and is well graded, but certainly a pretty stiff one. I ran the early part, but as it steepened out I broke into a hike. It was then that I moved past Julien who appeared to suffering somewhat. We briefly acknowledged each other as I moved through. I immediately felt a sense of vulnerability on hitting the front for the first time properly. It was going to be a key turning point in the race. I decided to just keep running my own race, at a pace that felt right. I could feel that my blood sugars and energy levels were low from the fact that every gel I took had an immediate effect, but then started to wear off much quicker than earlier in the race. So I kept knocking them back like a sugar junky......

I tried not to but ended up looking over my shoulder far too frequently. I was pulling away, but slowly. I reckoned I had two minutes by the top of the climb. There were film guys at the top and a remote, basic, checkpoint (65.7km). I didn’t stop. There was a big descent ahead to Vallorcine where I would be back into France for the final push to the finish. Just as I feared, it was a pretty mucky one too. The narrow, grassy, singletrack trail was well trodden from the CCC race the night before, and further rain had helped to make it into even more of a mud bath. Some sections were a bit perilous requiring you to run on the ‘edges’ of your shoes to try to cut in and get some grip. My TNF Singletracks were loving it, and coped admirably. It was like a good autumn UK fell race so I felt at home but I suspect others may not have.

The second half of the descent into Vallorcine followed a route I had not taken before, staying higher to traverse the mountainside before dropping down steeply. I quite liked the novelty of not knowing what was ahead for this part, I was well familiar with the rest of the course. And finally I caught a glimpse of the checkpoint from the top of a long grassy bank which was lined with spectators. I can see why they had all congregated there because it was steep and slippery, ideal for watching runners with shot quads coming a cropper! I survived intact. Phew. Then through the final big checkpoint of Vallorcine (70.6km) with another super-quick, F1 style, pit stop.

I hadn’t felt it was quickest descent so I had concerns over the lead I had built (or not). It was about 3 minutes as it turns out, but that was nothing given what lay ahead; the infamous final climb up to Flegere. I ran well up to Col du Montets (74.3km) at the foot of Flegere. There were hoards of people at the road crossing and lining the first part of the climb, obviously eager to watch the final parts of the race pan out. I felt extremely anxious because my crew had relayed to me the cushion was just 3 minutes. From the crowd applause at the bottom section of the climb I actually felt it was less than 3 minutes. I looked back but couldn’t see anyone behind but was almost certain I was in their line of sight. It was another key part of the race. The climb is steep, technical and relentless. It is also very exposed meaning someone chasing from behind would be motivated by seeing me a short distance ahead. I gave it everything, marching up with my usual loping, long, stride. I felt slow, my legs were badly fatigued and weren’t very responsive. It was a simple result of all the fast descending and relentless climbing of the previous nine hours. "Hang in there Jez" I kept telling myself, amongst other out loud self chants.

Finally I hit Tete Aux Vents (78km), the top of the first section - still no sign of anyone behind. Now a chance to get back to some proper running along the technical section of trail which involves plenty of boulder hopping. The views of the Mont Blanc range came and went as the cloud patterns moved around quickly in the wind. A couple of groups of hikers and supporters were located in remote sections, but generally it was just me, the trail and the beautiful views of the Mont Blanc massif and Chamonix valley at dusk. I started to reflect on what an incredible day it had been. I also psyched myself up for the final sections of the race which I needed to nail to wrap it all up. It was these moments when I did actually properly envisage winning for the first time.

On reaching Flegere (81km) it was time to start really enjoying it, all downhill from here, and I decided to just give it everything I possibly had for the long, fast, final descent into Chamonix. I am probably still feeling the effects of that descent now, I really did blast it. The light was fading quickly and the sections through the woods were probably a touch too dark to be running without a headtorch, but I did, still overly paranoid about getting caught. I just got away with it, although the flashes from the camera guys on the final sections didn’t do any favours for my night vision so I shut my eyes whenever I saw them!

And then finally back into Chamonix town, the destination I had focused all my energies towards over the course of the day. It felt strange being back in civilisation after so many hours of solo running on the wild mountain trails. But it was a welcome sight, and an incredible greeting from the spectators which in my experience is completely unique to this race. The spirit of the UTMB was definitely shining through, crowds several deep cheering and welcoming me back. It was something you can’t really prepare yourself for, and in being the first in the race to experience it, a true honour. I crossed the line with in a final time of 10hours 30mins, seven minutes ahead of team mate, Mike Wolfe of the USA. To round off a perfect day for me and the The North Face team, Lizzy Hawker also romped home first in the ladies race. An awesome result all round, and the Sunday headlines of ‘Triomphe Britannique’ said it all...........

So then, plenty to reflect on and ponder over after this one. I’m not going to enter the debate over the cancellation of the race itself and issues which surround it. For me, I was pleased to have had the opportunity to run a revised, albeit shorter, race and it was an honour to have won that. The race was a great success, not just because I won, but because it was a whole-hearted effort from spectators, runners and helpers alike. A race of the same atmosphere and spirit of the UTMB race was created and all involved deserve a great deal of credit for pulling that off.

And finally, I think it’s fair to say that the finishing times show the level of commitment made by the competitors, and from a personal point of view, that I would have been pushing hard over the full distance. I guess that’s something to come back and prove next year.

A big thank you to the whole of The North Face team, but especially to Keith, Helen, Penny, Oli, David C and Gemma for all their support before, during and after the race.

Marathon Talk

2010-09-08T20:23:00.002+01:00

Martin Yelling & Tom Williams run a great weekly podcast via their Marathon Talk website. Check out this week's episode for an interview with me......

Following UTMB

2010-08-23T21:22:00.003+01:00

This year's race is set to have widespread online coverage through a number of different sources. In fact, sitting in front of a computer is likely to provide a more accurate and absorbing experience than being on the course in person!

Here are a couple of links:

The main race website (live mini site will go live shortly before the race, my race number is 2044): http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/88/Supporters.html
The North Face website: http://eu.thenorthface.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thenorthface#!/thenorthface?v=app_17037175766

The race starts on Friday night @ 1730GMT

UTMB - 10 days to go

2010-08-16T21:33:00.003+01:00

After one of my most consistent spells of training ever, I’m now well and truly into my taper for the UTMB race which is less than two weeks away. With hundreds (probably thousands, best not to count) of tough mountain miles completed over the course of the last couple of months, all the hard work is done and there’s little that can really be done to influence performance on the day other than mental preparation, trying to freshen up the legs as far as possible and sorting out kit. The latter is quite a job in itself but a good avenue in which to channel surplus energy!

Out of all the races I’ve done the UTMB is undoubtedly the most daunting. It looms on the horizon like a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. But at the same time it’s definitely the most exciting. In my opinion it simply can’t be beaten for organisation, support, atmosphere, the route and overall race experience. It sits firmly at the top of the world stage of trail based ultra distance races.

I’ve run UTMB three times before but never really put in a performance to be proud of - albeit I have always finished - so there is plenty of unfinished business to address this year. There are various reasons for my below par performances in the previous races which I won’t bore you with, but preparation has played a big part, and if I'm honest I've probably suffered from over racing. This time I’m confident it will be different. I’m dead excited about the race. I've specifically focused on it for several months now. I can hand on heart say I’ve trained as hard as I could have done for it, and now it’s time for the exciting bit – putting it all into action and enjoying the whole experience.

The great thing about this race is that the best form of preparation involves time in the mountains. As if I needed an excuse. I’ve written about some of the trips already, but my final few weeks of training included more memorable outings, not least another full loop of the UTMB course at the end of July, this time as part of The North Face Team’s training weekend. With a support vehicle in tow to carry surplus kit, and decent group of guys out on the trail, there was the opportunity to run some fast splits which provided a great confident boost for the race. Sebastian Chaigneau, last year’s second place finisher, was part of the group. His sense of humour was great, as was his enthusiasm for capturing our training experiences on film for his Get Ready For series which seems to be getting plenty of well deserved coverage.

The second Tour du Mont Blanc training loop was probably my peak week, but my final pre-race session was in Snowdonia knocking out Snowdon reps in the wind and rain. Lovely. Even the sheep were huddling behind the stone walls. Summer in Wales – great huh.

Kit-wise there is plenty to prepare. I fully support this year’s more stringent rules to help ensure there is no opportunity for interpretation when it comes to the compulsory stuff, a factor which can clearly significantly influence at the front end. The 2kg minimum pack weight will play an important role there.

Poles? In short, no. I have carried them before and they just get in the way. Drinking, eating, adjusting kit etc all take a back seat role with poles in hand(s) and for me they simply don’t carry enough advantage to justify using them. I appreciate I’m in the big minority here but I’ve done the tests and taken the decision.

So the final countdown begins. Keep an eye out for all the top runners from The North Face Team at this year’s race who will all be pushing hard for the podium spots. It's going to be a great one to watch, well worth signing up for the various online tracking faclities being run by The North Face and the UTMB organisers. I'll try and post some links in next couple of days.

Best get back to the packing......

Adventures in the Alps

2010-06-28T22:43:00.010+01:00

Last weekend was the first of two key training sessions I’ve specifically planned for UTMB; a couple of days in the Alps - on the course - training for this great race. It was definitely up there in the rankings of action packed weekends (where competition is notably high), one where you just answer 'oh, just a bit of running' to the Monday morning office question, rather than try to explain what you really got up to.

Okay, so the plan was to fly out from Luton Thursday early evening, transfer to Chamonix, run the full UTMB route (166km, 9,500m±) over 3 days, fly back Sunday night, then try to be in some sort of shape to 'work' on Monday.

Unfortunately our dear old friends on the other side of the channel threw an unexpected spanner in the works. On Thursday French air traffic control staff were taking industrial action causing havoc with air travel. As a result I found out on arrival at Luton that my flight was cancelled and I had go through the surprisingly straight forward process of re-booking on to the next available flight which turned out to be 24 hours later. The friendly girl on the Easyjet bookings desk obviously didn't know the real implications of my delayed travel but I suspect the colour had gone from my face from the realisation I would be running 100 ish miles over 2 days, as opposed the 3 that was originally planned. Obviously there were intermediate options of shorter legs, but the logistical complications knocked them into touch.

Unfortunately this wasn't the only problem that I had to contend with. I also managed to book a hotel in Aosta not Cormayeur (lesson: read the small print, not just the price), the airport transfer company couldn't accommodate my revised arrival time necessitating an expensive last minute hire car and I had to re-arrange the other accommodation bookings to piece the trip back together. On the plus side I had 24 hours at home to sort these things out, sort my life out generally (i.e. clean the house for the first time in too long) as well as getting a couple of semi long runs in for good measure.

I knew from a 2 day UTMB effort back in 2007 that it's quite a challenge in itself requiring some very long days so with my sensible hat on (it doesn't come out the cupboard very often) I decided to chop the first 8km (Chamonix to les Houches) and the last 18km (Vallorcine to Chamonix) sections of the route which follow the Chamonix valley, thus resulting in two nicely balanced 70km days:

(Saturday) Les Houches to Cormayeur
(Sunday) Cormayeur to Vallorcine

The final part of my Alps mission would be getting the 6pm train on Sunday evening from Vallorcine to Les Houches to collect the hire car from where I had left it on Saturday morning, bomb it down the A40 to Geneva and hopefully make it on to the last flight home to Luton.

And, having read that, what thoughts spring to mind? Ambitious; cutting it fine; a plan clearly hatched from the comforts of an armchair?! So it will surprise you - as it did me - that it all worked beautifully, almost perfectly.

I could probably write quite a good book on the whole adventure of the run itself but I'll save that for a rainy day. Instead, here are the headlines:

SNOW - still quite a bit of snow on the course, not just on the Cols. I took a pair of Yaktrax and they were great on the climbs. Downhill it was great fun ‘skiing’ down.

THE WEATHER - was incredible. The days started perfectly clear then got better with some fluffy white stuff building in the afternoon to give even more perspective to the views.

MARMOTS - there has been an explosion in marmot numbers. No, really! They seemed to be everywhere; turn a corner and there will be one sat on the trail squawking away to it’s mates. Maybe they are still dozy in June from post-winter hibernation, or maybe they've been multipying like mad over the winter??!!

FOOD - I turned it into a bit of a gourmet tour. French pastries, Italian tiramisu, Swiss chocolate :o) Joking apart, I ate vast quantities, picking up grub at every opportunity. It seemed to work, my energy levels whilst running were always good; consequently I always felt strong.

THE HIKERS - there were zillions of TMB hiker yomping along. It always looks to me like they're carrying the kitchen sink, and probably the plug too. And why the hell do people mountain bike up the big Cols – on trails which aren’t designed for it – crazy!

THE GREAT POLE DEBATE - I will blog separately on this, it needs to be given due consideration. But to summarise they don’t do it for me, but I realised i’m massively in the minority.

RUNNERS - on the course? Very few. Surprising, I thought they would be out in force.

BOVINE - what is it about that flaming climb that makes it so mentally tough? It's only c. 700m vertical. It gets me every time.....

BEST VIEW - Grand Col du Ferret Italian side.

LEGS - they're strengthening up well. My rhythm and speed on the climbs is definitely improving. I think the biggest challenge on UTMB is 'changing gear'. The first few hundred metres of the long climbs seem tough, then your legs settle in again and the rhythm returns. Try this – say to yourself: ‘I love climbing’ (repeat many times until you reach the top).Okay, probably not a good idea, you will go mad, but the message is you’ve got to embrace the climbs otherwise it will be a horrible experience!

All in all it was an absolute belter of a weekend which has got me hugely revved and excited about the race. Without exaggeration it really is one of the most incredible trail race routes imaginable and it’s not hard to see why the race goes from strength to strength each year. Roll on August.

Early bird catches the worm (The Welsh 3000s)

2010-06-21T20:52:00.005+01:00

Another UTMB training jaunt, this time a dash accross the the Welsh 3000s (minus Crib Goch, I wasn't feeling it) a couple of Fridays ago. I headed accross to Snowdonia straight from work on the Thursday, spending the evening at Pen y Pass YHA which was a great place apart from the dorm being super-hot through the night (heating on in June, what's that all about?). Maybe they thought I was still running Western States in which case it would have been great heat training.

Getting up early and to the top of Snowdon for 7am was a good call, it was a sheer joy up there. Not a soul around and the cloud level below the peaks at about 600m creating some incredible views.....

The run went well, I felt strong throughout, maybe all the recent hill (mountain?) work is starting to pay off. I even completed the 'loop' by dropping down to Bethesda and back over to Llanberis on foot making for a total of around 35miles and quite a bit of up and down.

And then back home to the Midlands on Friday night ready for the weekend and more training. Well that's the way we like it :o)

A Weekend in the Highlands

2010-06-01T22:21:00.007+01:00

With a Friday off work to add to the three day Bank Holiday, last weekend presented a great opportunity to get a bit further afield so I decided to head up to the Highlands for a solid few days of UTMB training. Having missed this year’s Fling and being injury-restricted during a week long holiday on Skye in late April, I was chomping at the bit to get out there on the Highland trails, undoubtedly one my favourite places to run.

One of the things I like best about running in Scotland is the true sense of isolation and wilderness. Whilst I didn’t get up into the really wild places of northern Scotland, there were still plenty of views which had zero signs of human intervention; these being the bits I like best. It’s fair to say you simply don’t get the same on any significant scale in England and Wales, perhaps only in parts of Northumberland and mid-Wales.

An early start on Friday got me to Milngavie (north of Glasgow) by mid-morning and after a quick stop-off for supplies, at the foot of Ben Lomond for midday. Now I know it’s a honey pot and it completely contradicts what I’ve just said, but the aim was to get an afternoon run in on accessible and well formed trails, without too much hassle. It was also a Munro I had yet to climb. I got up and down in around 1hour 40mins following the Ptarmigan trail up and the main track down – all in all a nice little loop. The views down Loch Lomond were superb.

Loch Lomond looking south from Ben Lomond

Next I headed up the other side of Lomond to the Arrochar Alps, setting off from the Inveruglas car park to firstly pick off Ben Vorlich, and then Ben Vane. I did have ambitious plans to also take in Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain but time got the better of me, and it was only intended to be a wee afternoon jaunt after a long drive.

So I continued my journey north on the A82, feeling nicely mellow after a reasonable bit of exercise, heading for my base for the weekend, the brilliant By The Way hostel in Tyndrum which I’d stayed at a couple of times previously. It’s a great little setup they’ve got going, always full of friendly folk to chat to and with great facilities for meals/ chilling out.

Saturday’s planned schedule was for seven Munros – Ben Lui and Beinn a’ Chleibh in the Tyndrum hills, and all five of the Bridge of Orchy Hills. The first pair were straight forward navigationally however visibility was poor above about 700m reducing the enjoyment factor somewhat. The weather did however improve as the day went on, and the cloud level just remained above tops of the Bridge of Orchy Hills making for a better afternoon – what a difference having the views makes. I parked at Bridge of Orchy station and hiked up to the ridge via Coire an Dothaidh. Ben Dorain was a great hill to be at the top of, I had seen it some many times on the drive up to the Highlands on the A82 and always admired it’s beautifully symmetrical shape. Four of the five hills linked together well but of course I had to complicate things and also pick off the outlier which was Beinn Mhanach. This certainly pushed it to a full-on afternoon, and I didn’t make it back to the car via Achallader Farm until 7.45pm ish. I had to push the pace even to meet that schedule, perhaps not a bad thing given the training aim.

Sunday’s weather was better still; cloudy with sunny intervals and a brisk breeze on the tops which created an exciting, fast-moving sky, adding another dimension to the views from the hills. I had planned another seven Munros, this time the full set of the Crianlarich hills, starting with Ben More from Benmore Farm. Whilst they are talked about as a set, the Munros actually group themselves into three sets - two pairs and a three. Of course the challenge is to link them which involves big descents and re-ascents across untracked terrain, again turning it into a significant day out. The telltale sign that it had pushed me quite hard was that I took the more direct route to get back to the car having come down off the hills - along the A82 from Derrydarroch to Benmore (via Crianlarich) - when I could have followed the longer but legendary WHW trail!

View towards Crianlarich from Ben More

Stob Binnein from Ben More

And for the finale on Monday? Well it wasn’t really. I wanted to check my legs could actually still run after all that climbing so I hit the WHW for an out-and-back from Tyndrum to Victoria Bridge - 20 miles exactly. It was a fabulous day, not a cloud in the sky. Running my favourite trail in such perfect conditions had me grinning from ear-to-ear. And reading the Metro paper this morning, it was warmer in the Highlands than Bournemouth on Bank Holiday Monday – perfect!OK, so the drive back down the M6 was a hard slog, but it was certainly one of those great weekends which you really struggle to describe (or don’t know where to begin) when you get the ‘how was your weekend’ question in the office the next day. Happy days.

Beinn Dorain, view north from the WHW

August and Everything After

2010-05-24T21:18:00.001+01:00

Okay, so a confession to start with. I'm a bit of a Counting Crows fan at heart - sad but true (how can you not like a bit of 'Mr Jones'?). I thought this album title of theirs summed up where I'm at pretty well. It's also about time I started blogging again, although you'll soon start to realise why I've been a bit quiet.

The first half of 2010 has been a bumpy ride to say the least. I came off the back of my Winter West Highland Way of late December 2009 feeling pretty strong; I recovered quickly and after a decent break got stuck into some solid winter base training, particularly enjoying the true winter conditions of the UK’s unusually long ‘cold snap’.

Then injury struck, the first significant one of my running life. A fairly innocuous numb-like feeling in my foot which followed a relatively tame midweek 10 miler turned out to be a rather nasty stress fracture of my calcaneus (heel bone). My consultant described it as ‘pretty impressive’ which was enough to convince me that this was going to need some serious attention and discipline to repair. Despite seemingly taking ages to get properly diagnosed, there were definite plus points that I latched on to, really just to stay positive more than anything. Not least I was grateful it wasn’t plantir fasciitis as I feared for a couple of weeks pre-diagnosis - a classic long distance running injury and one which is notoriously difficult to put right. Instead it was a 'structural' injury which would, given the right amount of time, mend strongly, and probably stronger than it was before. On balance I was fairly philosophical about it, and just threw my energy and frustration into other types of non impact endurance training, mostly swimming and road cycling.

Now, before all this happened I hadn't swam properly (as in sessions of lengths) since school, and early parts of my school days at that. So this presented an exciting new challenge to find some technique again (if I ever had any, I can't remember), develop some arm/ shoulder/ core strength (ultra running is not really conducive to this) and work out how to tackle swimming for one hour plus sessions (that’s the ultra running mentality shining through; don’t bother unless it’s long). If nothing else it made sure my feet were planted firmly on the ground because I was painfully poor to start with and I was moving from a sport which I had just about mastered, to one in which I was a complete novice.

There was lots of inefficient splashy swimming to start with, but having swallowed my pride and persevered, eventually it started to come together. It also made me develop a huge respect for the Olympic swimmers who do numerous swim sessions a week and somehow maintain the motivation to train hard despite the tedium of swimming back and forth for hour and hours on end. What a difference to trail running in beautiful parts of the UK? So the first positive outcome of my injury lay-off is a major improvement in my swimming, an achievement I never expected at the start of the year.

On the biking front I've also come on leaps and bounds. Road biking has always been a regular part of my training, particularly during recovery periods from races, but to have the chance to ride every day, including 45 mile round trips to work a couple of times a week has been another great opportunity and one which i’ve really enjoyed. My average speed has gone up 3 or 4 mph, and with those sorts of improvements the motivation is easy. The only downside is the mechanical failures which have plagued my long rides (how can anyone snap a chain four times in as many months?).

Clearly the aim of both these 'cross training' sports has been to maintain fitness through my injury but the mental distraction and positive spin-offs from them have certainly kept me on track when it’s all too easy to get frustrated. As I've started back running in the last couple of weeks the signs are that it’s worked and my fitness has carried through well, but I should reserve full judgement until i’m back to full training.

On the racing front it has of course forced me to re-think my year's plans which has probably been the hardest thing to get my head round. My first ‘A’ race of the year was due to be Western States next month, a race I enjoyed so much last year, particularly the three weeks of Californian sunshine that came with it. Whilst I am back running again and now up to reasonable mileage I certainly won’t be ready for the end of June so I’ve formally withdrawn and surrendered my hard earned M3 race number. It's a great shame because, once again, the field is stacked with the big names who I want to be competing against. There will however be other years, and other opportunities will no doubt present themselves as a result.

One opportunity in particular is for a clean build up to UTMB at the end of August, a race I have never quite performed at but one I plan to run this year as part of The North Face Team. It’s a big one for a comeback race but it makes sense for a lot of reasons I won't go into. Thereafter I will see, but i’m hoping to get a good few other races in before the year’s out - all that’s in still in the planning stages. But in summary the year is now about August and Everything After, cheesy but about right. Until then, it’s time for some more hard training.

**********************

The Pro’s and Con’s of an Injured Ultra Runner:

The Pro’s
- I can swim again
- I can knock out 100 miles on the bike without too much trouble
- I have a full set of toe nails
- My food bill has dropped significantly
- I am more alert at work (good?)
- I save about eight quid in train fares every day I ride into work (although I probably spend the proceeds on ‘extra fuel’)

The Con’s
- If I had a pound for every time I was asked ‘How’s your foot?’
- It is a big psychological shock going from 100 miles per week to zero
- My bike repair bill has been colossal; nothing beats the simplicity of running
- Cycling in the rain and wind is grim to say the least - I now keep a close eye on the forecast
- I still haven’t made much of a dent in my DIY to do list (opportunity missed)

A Winter West Highland Way (95 miles - 4,500m +/-)

2010-01-04T13:33:00.002Z

“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.”
~ George Sheehan

It was an idea conceived several months earlier in the year, when temperatures were warmer, trails easier to run and hours of daylight considerably greater. The concept was pretty simple – to run the West Highland Way in full, in mid-winter, in less than 24hours – something that, to our know knowledge, had not been achieved before. It was potentially another one of those ‘great idea at the time’ challenges, when the chance of failure is greater than success and a good dose of luck is required. But aren’t those the best?......

Mid-winter in long distance challenge terms can mean a few different things, but our take on it, in line with the guidance provided by the well respected Bob Graham Round club, was the weekend closest to the shortest day, this year (2009) Monday 21st December (a mid-winter round is defined as any time from the weekend before the shortest day through to the first period of decent weather after the shortest day but to be completed no later than 10 January). Our attempt was lined up for the weekend immediately preceding the shortest date given the following Saturday was Boxing Day, when families may not have been quite so understanding. Another nice feature of the date was that it fell exactly 6 months after the annual West Highland Way Race during which I set the 'summer', or longest day, record in 2006.

My partner-in-crime was Murdo McEwan, an Edinburgh based friend who is a true WHW enthusiast and a man of great WHW experience, not least from running a time of 19hrs 08mins as a vet in 2008. No further introductions needed. The original intention was for the two of us to run it together, with a target time of around 22 hours, however 10 days before the big day Murdo suffered a reoccurrence of a leg injury which forced his withdrawal. It was of huge disappointment to both of us, particularly given that detailed arrangements were already in place, but with Murdo's selfless enthusiasm for the mission to progress despite his inability to take part, I quickly made the decision to go ahead regardless.

One of the main reasons behind my decision was the quality of the support already in place. Murdo had arranged a first class line-up of support crews, all from Carnethy running club. They were split into three pairs to support the lower, middle and top sections of the route. The quality of these guys provided a reassuringly solid foundation for the challenge and the sort of opportunity that comes around rarely.

As a great bonus Lucy C, a fellow WHW 'summer' record holder, had also decided to have a bash at the challenge. Lucy was originally down to support however had been tempted by the opportunity to fill the vacant running spot left by Murdo’s withdrawal. Lucy and Murdo therefore made a straight swap. Lucy had, however, quite clearly stated that she was only going to 'have a go' as it was a very last minute decision to run, and she had not had opportunity to prepare at all.

By far and away the biggest threat to the project was the weather. The Scottish Highlands aren’t known for being particularly welcoming in late December with possible weather scenarios ranging from storms, snow, below freezing temperatures and not a lot between. This, you will appreciate, is the luck factor I referred to in my first paragraph, which would strongly dictate the outcome of the challenge (or the amount I suffered!). And so my attention in the final few days before the planned start time of 12.01am on Saturday 19th December was firmly focused on the weather forecast, and in particular what would that well-established low pressure weather pattern hugging the British Isles would bring.

The final forecasts turned out to be spot on; temperatures well below freezing for the whole run (-5ºC to 0ºC) and a 2-3hr band of snow passing through early Saturday afternoon. Beforehand I was undecided as to whether this was a good result or not. Positives: not much wind, frozen and dry trail, novelty of winter wonderland feeling, no rain. Negatives: very cold air to breathe for up to 24 hours, difficulty in regulating body temperature, risk of crew not making it to support points due to froze/ snow covered roads, ice all over the place, driving snow. On balance, I was happy with the forecast.

We all met on Friday evening at Murdo and Jo's in Edinburgh for the 'last supper', a brilliant home cooked feast prepared by Jo. I was pretty nervous by that point and my main concern was the weather, the cold in particular, having not run for such a long periods in sub-zero temperatures before. I also wondered whether the support crew guys themselves were quietly questioning my sanity in deciding to go ahead. They later rubbished that thought! The decision did however rest with me. Whilst there were certainly strong doubts and question marks in my mind, not least the potential risk of the crews getting stuck on frozen roads, on balance I felt the goal remained achievable and my outlook was simple; to give it a good go – nothing to lose.

Milngavie just before midnight on the last Friday night before Christmas was not surprisingly quiet. It was strange arriving at the railway station to see the car park deserted having only ever seen it as a hive of activity on Fling or WHW race days before. Previous race memories came flooding back and continued to do so at various points of my journey that day.

We got out the car at the last minute, carried out a final kit check, posed for a couple of photos, then quietly headed off into the cold and darkness for the start of another episode of endurance running madness.

Conditions in Glasgow were certainly an improvement on Edinburgh; no frozen snow to contend with but the trail was frozen solid - tarmac hard - and surface water frozen solid too, making cautious footing the order of the day (well mostly night). The lowland section out of the Glasgow suburbs was gentle and uneventful as it always is; the calm before the storm in many respects. Olly and Jamie met us regularly at the road crossing points - Beechtree Inn and Drymen initially - fuelling us with warm tea, muller rice and crisps. I applied the same golden rule as usual – start eating and drinking early – wait until you feel like it and it’s probably too late. They provided reassuring and calming company at the brief stops we made. Lucy and I chatted a lot and generally put the world to rights, as well as stopping occasionally to appreciate the incredibly clear and star filled sky which was a genuine treat – the perfect night. It certainly felt to me like someone was looking down on us.

Conic Hill was a little tricky, the usual streams flowing down the trail had frozen, sometimes over the rock, making for slow going. For the first time in my dozen or so crossings of the hill it was also near-perfectly still at the top. The descent was unpleasant; icy, steep and dark but before long we had dropped into the Balmaha car park, arriving at around 3.40am, where the calming and assured presence of Olly and Jamie got us patched up and on our way again efficiently.

Loch-side (Lomond) trails provided welcome variety to the running (it’s amazing how much you can see on a clear winter’s night); the trail meandering northwards, mostly through woodland, gently rising and dipping but with a few beach sections and a wee bit of road. We trundled on at a sensible pace enjoying the wildlife sightings, including owls on two occasions, but very little else. Maybe even the wildlife was doing the sensible thing?

On the final leg of the lower section of the route, between Sallochy and Rowardennan, Lucy signalled her intention to call it a day. It was clearly something she had been thinking about for a while because she sounded assured with her decision - and one I respected her for. As Lucy points out in her very honest blog account, it is not really a challenge to take on half-heartedly, and unfortunately her heart just wasn't in it that day for various reasons. Lucy therefore took the brave, but completely sensible, decision to halt at Rowardennan and catch a lift back from there.

Rowardennan was the final meeting place with the lower crew, so there I waved good bye to Olly, Jamie and Lucy and thanked them for all their kindness and help. As I scuttled off into the darkness there was immediately a different feel to the run from running solo; a greater awareness of the distance ahead, the weather conditions and my night time surroundings. Ahead of me was a long unsupported section up to Beinglas Farm at the top of the Loch. It is a notoriously hazardous section of the trail, with many tricky rocky outcrops, lump and bumps to negotiate, so it was a time for caution with many faster, more runnable, sections ahead to save my energy for. The ice-on-rock was the greatest hazard, but despite the odd close shave I managed to get through to Inversnaid without too much drama.

Passing in front of the Inversnaid Hotel presented the greatest test of will power of the whole journey, wafts of freshly cooked bacon and eggs drifted across the trail, enticing me in for a feed-up. It was clearly not a time for such luxuries so I settled on my pocket full of sweets instead, and got my head down towards Beinglas where I knew Murdo and Russ would be waiting with a bucket full of porridge and a gallon of tea.

Dawn finally broke just after 8am, about as late as it ever gets. It had been a lengthy spell of night time running which had required plenty of concentration to prevent rock-trips and slips on the ice. I felt weary and jaded so looked forward to seeing Murdo and Russ, my middle crew, who would help to boost spirits and get me fixed up for the approaching climb up Glenn Falloch into the Highlands. Murdo had run out a mile or so from Beinglas and was a very welcome sight. We exchanged a few words to confirm all was well but I just wanted to get to Beinglas for breakfast without too much delay, and I was now far more conscious of time, so I cracked on.

Beinglas was a significant milestone in my ‘mind-map’ of the challenge. I was looking forward to the scenic but runnable sections of the route northwards of there, particularly the wild and open expanses across the drovers roads, and the novelty of running in the daylight (hmmm, all 8 hours of it).

Departing Beinglas I told the guys it was my intention to step it up a bit. I felt the timings up to Beinglas were a little slow at c 9 hours, but it had felt like I had been running briskly and sensibly given the conditions, so on reflection the pace was probably about right. There was, however, plenty of runnable trail ahead.

I had a good leg to the next meeting place, Carmyle Cottage, running the majority of the stiffly climbing vehicle track up Glenn Falloch. As I looked down at the Falls of Falloch down to my left it struck me just how cold it actually was, there were sheets of ice on slower parts of the river, not something you see every day. It was Russ’s turn to come out to meet me. He took my order, then flew back to the car to start preparing. The way he whizzed off into the distance made me realise I perhaps wasn’t motoring as much as I thought I was but he later told me he thought I was going well.

The farmyard section before the woods above Crianlarich – usually horribly mucky – was frozen solid so I could skip straight across it, a nice bonus. Indeed, having been running for c.10hours, my feet were still dry as a bone. There had been the odd incident of icy puddles giving way underfoot but the majority were frozen solid. Entering the woods at the top of Crianlarich and the descent to the A81 road crossing I started to think about reaching Tyndrum where I would take a proper pit stop for food. From that point I only had one thing on my mind – fish and chips for lunch from the Real Food Cafe. It’s not something I would usually go for but I suspect the cold was making my body work harder than ever to keep going so it was just my body craving high fat calories to help re-fuel. I wasn’t going to fight it so duly with made my request to the guys and spent the final four mile section to Tyndrum with my mouth watering and stomach rumbling.

On reaching Tyndrum at around 11.45am and hearing the news from Murdo that the cafe had not yet opened, I suspect my face was one of utter disappointment. The thought of fish and chips had dragged me through those last few tough miles when I was running out of steam and stuck in a low. There were however alternatives on offer. A nice big juicy a big juicy bacon sarnie, a hot pasty and a big mug of tea. Oh the simple things - all of a sudden the world wasn’t quite such a terrible place. The food was wolfed and charged me up to the max, but the weather had now turned, the band of wind and snow had arrived. So I added more layers - pertex bottoms and a fleecy neck warmer - in preparation for the exposed sections ahead.

I knew from the forecast that the band of snow was only due to last a couple of hours so I felt confident tackling it head on in the knowledge it wouldn’t last forever. I crossed the A81 by Brodies store and consciously tore into the climbing trail ahead leading out of Tyndrum, trying to run every inch I could. Running a quick pace was a natural urge my body seemed to support, it was fighting to keep warm after a prolonged halt. The hill climb certainly seemed to do the trick, my core soon warmed then my extremities quickly followed suit. I enjoyed running in the snow, and before long the fresh powder was accumulating nicely on the trail. In addition to the novelty factor the snow helped to cushion my strides and level out the unevenness underfoot, particularly appreciated after all the rutted and frozen terrain before.

It was real winter wonderland stuff. I felt so lucky to be out there and running in such beautiful surroundings with fabulous support behind me. On the final stretch before Bridge of Orchy it was Alun who came out to meet me. I was in good spirits, we chatted a bit, but the stop at the car in the station car park was minimal, I wanted to crack on and enjoy every moment of the conditions as well as make the best of the remaining daylight.

Over at Victoria Bridge, the start of the Rannoch Moor crossing, I picked up Russ who had kindly offered to run this long, exposed section with me. I was excited about the chance to have some company on the run and he also appeared raring to go. We left through the gate on to the old drover's road running side-by-side and remained so all the way across. In fact, aside from a brief unscheduled pit-stop, we ran the whole leg without stopping covering the 9mile stretch in just over 75mins. It was good going, our inspiration undoubtedly coming from the incredible conditions. The winter skies were gently glowing at the end of the day, several inches of beautiful powder lay on the ground and there were deer roaming all around us. In fact, their tracks in the snow were the only signs of life out there. On meeting the support guys again on the ski centre road before the Kingshouse Hotel we were both grinning ear-to-ear. It was without doubt one of the best bits of running i've ever experienced. I'm sure Russ's sentiments were the same.

Alun and Andy took over support crew duties at Kingshouse, to see me through the all important final stages when the wheels were most likely to fall off. Glen Coe was a beautiful sight in the fading light. The sky glowed various colours against the white and grey of the mountains. I began to appreciate my decision to step the pace up from Beinglas because it gave me the opportunity to run Glen Coe in the last-light and enjoy the fabulous views. I loved every step of this stage of the run, it felt like a real honour to be there, a real treat.

Alun joined me for the climb over the Devil’s Staircase when it was back into a much smaller word evolving around the 10 metre radius of a headtorch beam. We expected to get buffeted at the top by the northerly wind which had accompanied the earlier band of snow, but it must have dropped just as we made the pass, because it was almost perfectly still up there. The snow had obviously been drifting because it lay six inches or so deep in the channel of the trail creating great conditions for the meandering descent. The crunchy powder provided good grip allowing us to skip down at a good lick. However as we dropped down towards Kinlochleven at sea level the snow thinned out, switching instead to ice which was far less grippy and not trustworthy underfoot. The starkly contrasting conditions brought a change in my mood as I struggled to negotiate the ice and found the slower pace and patience required plain frustrating.

The icy conditions and my tiring legs resulted in a significant low point at Kinlochleven where I met the support guys once again. It was all starting to take it’s toll; 81miles into the challenge I felt done and felt fatally glued to the chair I had parked myself in. I scoffed a few bits of food down, but was sick of the sight of the contents of my food box. I started to get settled and nicely comfortable in my down jacket but there was urgency coming from the support guys, they were shimmying me along, conscious it was a crucial stage, and not time for me to start loafing around. It was also getting extremely cold. In the few minutes I stopped my body temperature plummeted, so much so the only sensible thing to do was run. And with that thought I did, heading out of town, up the rocky path to the hanging valley of Lairigmore.

Trail conditions in the valley were awful. Ice, ice, ice, it was everywhere. The mountain streams crossing the track every few hundred yards had obviously recently been in flood, had spilt over the track and were now frozen. Great. It made the going painfully slow and frustrating, my confidence not helped by several falls on the nasty ice. It felt like I was going at crawling pace and that it took an eternity to get across to Lundavra where the guys were waiting.

My sense of humour had now completely gone so I only stopped for a brief moment at Lundavra, sparing the support guys my grumbles, feeling instead that I should get to Fort William without further torment. Andy kindly joined me for this final leg. I wasn’t really in a chatting mood but massively appreciated the company which kept me pushing on which I might not have managed on my own. The conditions were much better through the woods and I managed to pick up a bit of momentum, albeit the effort required to do so was significant. I moaned and groaned quite a bit, mainly jokily, helping to release a bit of the frustration and emotion that had built over the previous leg. Andy must have been wondering about my unusual motivational techniques having never run with me before!

As ever, it was a real relief to emerge on to the main vehicle track which descends all the way into Fort William. There is only one way to run that stretch and it is hard. We had a good blast down there, probably pushing 6 minute miles, but feeling a lot quicker. There was no snow on the track, just the odd icy puddle which I missed in the blur and plunged my foot into. I was back on form, enjoying the run in.

Alun and Murdo were there waiting at the bottom of the hill, joining me for the final stretch along the road into Fort William. The town was quiet and in hibernation, much like Milngavie had been so many hours earlier. Having looked forward to arriving there for so long, and finishing what had been such a big challenge for me, it was a strangely subdued atmosphere, but what was I expecting?

I touched the official WHW finish sign outside the visitor’s centre as I passed, but the endpoint I had in mind was the same as for the race, the Leisure Centre. I ran across the car park and on to the steps of the Leisure Centre, reaching there 21 hours and 14minutes after I had set out from Milngavie, having successfully completed a memorable journey in true winter conditions. I am the first to admit I had a decent dose of luck, that was always going to be needed, but boy did I enjoy it.......

With special thanks to Murdo & Jo McEwan, Lucy, Jamie, Olly, Russ, Andy & Alun who made it all possible.

Western States 2010 Enrolment

2009-10-08T19:34:00.004+01:00

Thought I would post a prompt to those who may have been contemplating having a bash at Western States at some stage. Registration for the lottery is currently open, but only for a period of 2 weeks, ending on 15th October. So far over 1,300 people have signed up. They haven't announced how many slots are available through the lottery, but the total number will be c.400, which includes all the guaranteed entrants such as those who have missed out on the lottery two years running, top 10 male and female runner from 2009, plus a handful of others. The message is, there is only small chance of getting in, so why not just try your luck and go for it if you succeed?

All I can say is that it is an incredible race and surely the best ultra race experience going?

Good luck!

See: http://www.ws100.com/

Commonwealth 100km Championships, Keswick, England

2009-09-21T22:25:00.007+01:00

On the face of it, it probably looked like the perfectly executed race plan; even pacing, negative splits (1st 50km 3h33mins, 2nd 50km 3h31mins) and a nicely timed push to take the lead at the end. I have to be honest - it wasn’t supposed to be quite like that - leaving it to the death, putting doubts in everyone’s minds, having doubts in mine. Let me explain.....

A good night’s sleep was the perfect start to the day with alarms in the England men’s team dormitory room ringing out at around 5.30am. It took a matter of seconds for my mind to switch to race mode and with it came a great surge of adrenaline and a pounding of the heart. Dark outside the hostel, but a frenzy of activity inside, final preparations of kit and equipment were going on for the biggest day of our running careers.

Assembling at the race start was when my nerves really started to kick in. I had been fairly calm up until then, but the presence of all the other international teams – England, Wales, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand & Australia – got me realising what a competition this was going to be. It was the first running of the combined Mountain and Ultra Distance Running Commonwealth Championships being hosted in the picture-perfect surroundings of Keswick, The Lake District.

And at 8am we were on our way, heading out from Keswick on another ultra distance running journey that guaranteed to provide us with the emotional and physical rollercoaster that all these races do.

Photo credit: Stuart Holmes

The initial 15km link section took us out to Thirlmere, firstly on the flat, but soon steeply climbing. Initially the pace was slow but then a couple of guys from Canada and New Zealand picked things up. I was more than happy to settle in a bit further back. As we reached Thirlmere Lake there was a notable increase in the tempo as we all seemed to enjoy the comfort of being on the flat 10km out-and-back ‘loop’ which was to make up the bulk of the distance – to be run seven times in all.

Photo credit: Stuart Holmes

Out at the front was one of the Canadian runners who was clearly pushing hard - because the rest of us weren’t exactly hanging around. The general consensus from chat amongst our group was that he was overcooking it and ultimately that proved to be the case. The comfort of reaching the lake didn’t last long for me because I was soon hearing some serious danger signs – heavy and unresponsive legs. When you’re running long you never really know how your legs are going to be until well into the race. It’s only when you’ve stripped off the outside freshness that you get to know what’s in the core, and 30km or so into Saturday’s race I found there wasn’t much – my legs were near enough hollow. Panic. Memories of the World Championships in 2008 were flooding back, not a race I particularly wanted to replay. The fine line between being well prepared and over-trained is a precariously narrow one in ultra running and I was starting to wonder if I had over-stepped the mark.

My reactive strategy was to focus. Focus very hard. I shut out everything from my head and just concentrated on steady and even running, maintaining as much fluidity in my running as I could. But my pace dropped slightly, unfortunately coinciding with a time when the other guys were just finding their stride, and so I drifted back through the field. My 50km split wasn’t as dreadful as I first thought, around 3hrs 34mins, so I drew some comfort from that, but I was back in 8th place at half way with a lot to do, not least running another 50km.

Lap-by-lap I managed to hang in there, running on a combination of stubbornness, determination and sugar (thank you Coca Cola) to keep putting in the same 6m50s/mile pace which would hopefully keep me in the race until crucial stages. First to come back was team mate Allen Smalls, then Grant Jeans of Scotland and finally the two Aussie runners. With Marcus Scotney sadly pulling out at 65km I was suddenly up to 3rd and definitely on the bounce. I certainly wasn’t fully rejuvenated by this point, but I started to think I might saved things sufficiently. The last lap on the ‘loop’ was also a good moral boost - “i’ve never got run down this flaming road again” - was the thought if i’m honest. But it gave me a last look to see how the two Matt’s were fairing up front.

I had closed considerably on Matt Lynas who I soon managed to pull past, but Matt Giles was well into the lead, the best part of 3minutes up on me, a significant margin to claw back so late in the race.

Running off the loop on to the final 15km leg back into Keswick was also a great boost, but even on the longest straights Matt was nowhere to be seen – well ahead by all accounts. So I did the only thing I could do – run as hard as I could to close the gap and track him down. At last I caught sight of him just over two minutes ahead of me on the dam at the end of the lake. At the A591 road crossing the gap was two minutes dead, 12kms to run. Finally I started to make significant headway. On the long straights I managed to time the gap using sign posts and marker points, and the time started to drop and drop until eventually I had it down to less than a minute. Now it seemed on.

It was the final drinks station at 95km when I took the lead. It all seemed very cruel and quite surreal. Matt had run a near perfect race, looked good all the way and well deserved to be where he was, but his legs hadn’t quite responded to the last few hills. I had hung on for most of the race, fought a long and hard battle with myself to keep going and somehow managed to stick it out. I had not even entertained thoughts of winning until the last 10km, so to suddenly be in the lead position right at the end was a real shock. But I wasn’t going to let it slip – it was not like I hadn’t worked for it - so I put my head down to run the final 5km hard as I could in an attempt to secure the race. I refrained from looking back to check the gap to start with, but eventually I gave in and did. It then became a repeated routine every 30 seconds or so until such time as I had a reasonable cushion.

Photo credit: Stuart Holmes

Running back into Fitz Park at the end of the race was simply awesome. Peaceful and quiet alongside the river to start with, then suddenly the crowds, a snaking huddle of cheering and celebrating people! It was a fabulous welcome home, one I will fondly remember, not least because I was running for England, in England, winning my first major championship medal – and it was gold!

England 1, 2 & 3 - (Left - Matt Lynas, Centre - Jez Bragg, Right - Matt Giles)
Photo credit: Stuart Holmes

Full results here

Next up.....

2009-09-11T20:02:00.002+01:00

Well it's been a while since I posted. That can usually be read as me being hard to work at training and that's just about right really. My second 'A' race of the year is the Commonwealth 100km Championships in Keswick next Saturday (19th Sept @ 8am). So, back on the road, back on a multi-lap course and back running quite a bit quicker. Eeek.

Training since the Lakeland 100 has gone well. I had the odd blister here and there plus a few bumps and bruises after my outing in the lakes but it was all relatively superficial and cleared up in a couple of days. Then it was pretty much straight back to it, getting the legs 'freshened up', ramping up for a couple of high mileage weeks, then ramping back down again. Not long to do it, but long enough, I think. I feel in good shape, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, as they say: i.e. the race. I'm dead excitied about toeing the start line, enjoying what is a beautifully scenic course and racing for the chance of a Commonwealth medal. Now that would conclude the year nicely. Come on England!

Western States Caption Competition

2009-08-19T11:09:00.003+01:00

I stumbled accross this photo of Mark Hartell and me at the Foresthill aid station during Western States this year which I found quite amusing. I was in the process of changing tops, but that usually straight forward exercise proved tricky at the time, partly because I was feeling dazed (and fried), but also because I had a recently replenished cap full of ice which I didn't wasn't to lose. So Mark kindly helped me out.

I thought I would invite captions to go with the photo for a bit of fun. Please feel free to post your captions - there will be a prize for the funniest one!

Lakeland 100 (103 miles, 6,300m ascent & descent)

2009-08-08T08:27:00.003+01:00

Five weeks after the Western States 100, four weeks after Osmotherly Phoenix (33miles), I found myself back on the start line of another epic adventure, the Lakeland 100 or Ultra Trail of the Lake District (UTLD). In just it's second year, this is the UK's only official 100mile race, but boy does it pack a punch.

As it's name suggests the event based on the hugely popular, tried and tested format of the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc (UTMB), but with a unique British twist. This year around 100 runners toe-ed the start line of the 100 mile option, a 3 times increase from the inaugural event in 2008, and from what I saw there is every chance the numbers could multiply by the same factor next year.

Chatting to lots of different people before the race, the question on everyone was asking was 'why are you here?'. Charming I thought, but the implication was that it was too soon to be competing after Western States at the end of June. It was quite right that it was too soon to compete, that was proven by the fact I was off the pace from mile 1, but my participation was more about my desire to experience the event, take on the challenge and enjoy some serious adventure rather then necessarily compete for the podium. All those boxes ended up well and truly ticked. The fact that I started the race mentally and physically tired for various reasons was beside the point.

The route was a clockwise loop around the heart of the Lake District, starting and finishing at Coniston. The terrain was, well, vicious. The ascent and descent statistics don't match those of the UTMB, but what it lacks in these areas is made up generously by the underfoot conditions. A prolonged period of wet weather prior to the race probably didn't help for starters, but the incessant rain which started soon after we set off at 7.30pm on Friday evening, and ultimately lasted 14hours, turned the rocky trails into rivers. As one guy described to me afterwards 'it was like someone had covered all the rocks in oil'. It was a perfect analogy. I lost count of the number of times I fell over, in the end it just became part of the process of forward motion in these horrendous conditions. None of the high-tech fell or trail shoes could have achieved grip in these conditions. My saviour was a TNF pack-lite Goretex jacket which I wore with the hood up and face enclosed – in my own little world - for what felt like hours and hours on end. Without it I wouldn't have finished; it kept me dry, warm and in a suitable state to keeping running. I also wore 3/4 length tights which were the right choice, working as I had hoped, much like a wet suit.

I hadn't recce-ed the first 30 miles so, which was unfortunate given it was the night section, but my navigation generally held-up, albeit my lines were poor in places. Trying to find your way across exposed hillside, in the dark, when it's raining and with the wind blowing is far from easy, particularly given the maze of footpaths and sheep trods the Lake District hills seem to be covered with. What I did notice - and I'm sure I wasn't the only one - was the how energy sapping it all was, probably just a combination of all the factors I just mentioned, plus the extremely rough terrain. There aren't many races i’ve experienced which ask quite so many questions of the trail runner.

Beyond Wasdale Head I knew my way, or so I thought. My line off Scarth Gap Pass down into Buttermere was awful and I found myself off track and perilously sliding down steep hillside instead of contouring down the gently descending track. It unnecessarily sapped energy and generally spoilt spirits when I was on the up and thinking that I still had potential. But my spirits were soon revived as I found myself partnering up with Digby Harris, a guy who I had heard plenty about, but had never met. We forged a great team, running together for the rest of the race. I was stronger that Digby on the climbs, but he was faster on the ascents. The net result was a better sustained effort from both of us, as well as the opportunity to share the experience together. From reading write-ups by other runners, it seems many folk ended up forming mini-teams to share the tasks of navigation, pacing and to generally motivate one another. Over the course of c.15hours I certainly got to know Digby very well and it was great to share the experience with someone else.

Even before halfway I was tired, seriously tired. Granted, I had been up for 24hours and been running non-stop for around 10, but I'd done similar type races before and not felt as bad. I suspect it was general fatigue which I carried into in the race. In any event it was going to be a long second half. Mid-morning on Saturday the rain started to clear through leaving a thoroughly soaked Lake District, but some relieved Lakeland 100 competitors. The sun even broke on occasions although I wouldn’t say I ever got that warm. My tiredness was probably my biggest problem during Saturday day. I found my body trying to fall asleep whilst running on several occasions. My body didn’t seem to realise they are two things that don’t go together very well. But to avoid having to snooze on the side of the trail I decided to take a five-minute power nap at Kentmere, where I tasked one of the marshals to wake me after my allotted time. It worked well and I felt ‘fresh’ (er) afterwards.

Given how I was feeling, and the fact it was the longest distance Digby had ever run, we were both pleased to be in 3rd place. At each checkpoint we were told the gap between us and the lead two guys. It grew steadily over the course of the race but it didn’t matter to the two of us. It felt more like a personal challenge rather than a race and the fact it was so quiet along the course added to that feeling.

The Lakes Runner shop checkpoint at Ambleside was good fun although we missed the band who were just setting up as we went through. The final twenty miles or so from there to the finish felt like a wind-down. I was certainly ‘done’ by that point, still not ‘feeling it’, but well and truly driven to complete this epic race. And the final climb up and over the quarries between Tiberwaite and Coniston concluded the race in a very appropriate fashion. Darkness fell for the second night as we made our final upwards effort, the trail was wet and rocky, then the heavens opened like a shower turned on to make the final descent both treacherous and slow.

Back at race HQ it was a low key finish, the time taken just a touch under 27 hours and joint 3rd place. It felt like we had just returned from war, a subdued but proud feeling emanating from the extreme challenge it undoubtedly was. But at long last it was time for the shoes to come off, a painful shower and a pint of Guinness. Great memories of the adventure will last a long time.

Western States Endurance Run (100.2miles/ 18,000feet up, 23,000feet down)

2009-07-05T11:07:00.013+01:00

Squaw Valley in California, just before 5am on a chilly feeling Saturday morning in late June. 400 competitors, including many of the world's best ultra distance trail runners, are preparing to tackle what is still widely acknowledged to be the world's biggest and best 100miler. I've been up since 2.30am although there was no need for an alarm this morning, the adrenaline has kept me awake most of the night. I've been thinking about, and looking forward to, Western States 2009 ever since the race was cancelled due to forest fires in 2008. It's been an unusually long wait for a race, but for the first time in a long while I can honestly say i'm as close as possible to being 100% fit and free from niggles and bugs.

My feelings are mixed. The usual pre-race tensions are stronger than usual; I know there is going to be an intense charge up the 2,500ft mountain immediately in front of us, I know many of the guys I want to compete with will go out hard, I know it's going to be considerably hotter than anything I've experienced before, I know there's a load of intense downhilling in the course to batter my quads and above all else I know there is 100 miles of rocky and technical trail in negotiate. If that's not enough to get the pulse going, I don't know what will. Intense, nerve-wracking and exciting - but I wouldn't swap my place for anything.

Mark (Hartell) kindly drives me up to Squaw from my hideout in Truckee a few miles up the road. I'm not particularly talkative, the enormity of the task ahead almost has me stunned. Squaw Valley resort is a hive of activity reminding me why it has been a good idea to stay clear over the last few days. Most of the registration formalities were complete yesterday, I just need to pick up my race number - 113 – lucky for me. The starting line is the who's who of ultra running, loads of guys upfront near me shake hands and wish each other well. I'm not recognised, in fact all the pre-race talk has not included me because the race traditionally favours the local US runners. Online polls and discussions suggest i'm considered outside of the top 10 equation - but i'm happy with that - it motivates me and provides a clean platform to show what I can do.

The countdown from 20 seconds increases my pulse with every count until such time the hooter goes and we’re straight into the climbing trail heading up to Emigrant Pass. The front 40 or so guys - including me - head up the wrong track within the first few hundred yards although the mistake is quickly corrected with an en-mass backtrack and charge through the rest of the field to the front again. Ego’s are probably a bit dented but soon repaired.

I enjoy the climb up the mountain. I run the majority, just breaking into a walk for the odd steep section. There are a few guys I recognise who I say hello to, but the majority probably think i'm an over-enthusiastic back of the pack runner. I reach the top of Emigrant Pass in about 50minutes, a reasonably quick time, but I feel strong and comfortable after my first proper taper of the year. I glance back at the top to enjoy a beautiful glowing sunrise across Lake Tahoe which is a special sight and very fitting for the start of the special race we’re running. Over the top of the Pass and we enter the Granite Chief Wilderness area. We’re into the wild, remote and beautiful high country terrain that will take us through to the canyons. To start with it's a nice gently descending section of trail to Lyon Ridge (9.5miles), the first full aid station. There are plenty of guys motoring along this first section but I just concentrate on keeping steady, not working too hard, conserving precious energy and keeping cool.

Along Lyon Ridge the trail starts to get a bit more rugged and the undulations start popping up. Whilst the climbs at this stage are relatively small and better graded than we’re used to in the UK, the air is thin from the altitude and it doesn’t take a great deal to make me breathless despite my reasonable period of acclimatisation. The ridge provides me with some impressive far reaching views on both sides, being exposed and less wooded than the rest of the course. I feel great though; calm and comfortable - it's energy conservation time, there shouldn't be too much effort.

At Red Star aid station (16miles) I grab my first drop bag, stash the contents in my waist pack to take out, stuff a load of ice under my cap, fill my bottles with ice and water and i’m quickly on the move again. This is the important routine I will repeat 20 odd times over the course of the day, on my own because I have no dedicated crew to help. I’m happy with my first pit-stop – quick and efficient. Soon after Red Star starts a period of iffy insides which lasts around 60 miles. My stomach is not overjoyed with the amount of liquid i’m asking it to absorb, but hey it’s not surprising given it is about 1.5litres per hour, plus calories.
Soon out of Duncan Canyon aid station I have my first navigational jitters. Yes, I know, the course is well marked and i've run most of it over the last couple of weeks, but the markers are absent for a while and I feel like i'm doubling back on myself. I am, but it is the right way, and having spotted a couple of fellow runners in the distance I march merrily on, relieved about being on course and excited about the opportunities to overtake. On the climb out of the relatively mellow Duncan Canyon, my strength from plenty of UK hill climbing coupled with my long stride length immediately gives me an advantage and I overtake a number of folk, including the leading two ladies who have been battling it out hammer and tong from the start. Big respect and very ballsy. As it transpires one of them, Anita Ortiz, maintains the pace all the way through and wins by a clear margin. Awesome.

I soon land in Robinson Flat (29.7miles) where the atmosphere is electric. It’s obvious when i’m on the approach because photographers line the trail. All the crews are at Robinson awaiting the arrival of their runners and their encouragement puts a renewed spring in my step. I'm now in 12th place, and with a quick pit stop I overtake another on leaving the aid station - now 11th and still on the move.

The next few legs are the link sections between the high country and the canyons (the proper ones). They are long, well groomed, gently descending and fast sections of trail that really let me get me into my stride. I am below 6,000ft now so the breathing is getting easier. I run a good pace, but again the focus is on not putting in too much unneccessary effort. The aid stations at Miller's Defeat, Dusty Corners and Last Chance are probably the best of the lot; first class service. The volunteers are fabulous and really help to keep things quick. I recon I spend a minute-and-a-half in each. It sounds like a reasonable amount of time but i'm as efficient as I can be and i'm confident what i'm doing is well worth the time investment. The food of choice is now salty boiled spuds. They go down a treat. I'm also knocking back the ensure-plus meal replacement shakes like tequila slammers on a night out - at 350 calories a go they provide perfect nutrition. Deadwood Canyon soon arrives and immediately after the 'Warning - Precipitous Trail' sign I hit the heat and i'm grateful for the extra handheld bottle I picked up at Last Chance, using the lovely iced water to keep my vest wet and to cool down my quads. It works a treat in addition to my 'iced head'. I don't see anyone else all the way to Devil's Thumb which makes me wonder how hard the guys in front are pushing. I haven't exactly been slouching around myself.......

I eventually overtake someone on the final few switchbacks leading up to the aid station. I introduce myself, it turns out to be Eric Grossman, a name i've certainly seen banded around. Then I get a bit of banter from some spectators at the top of the climb which brings a smile to my face. 'How do you like the California weather Jez? It's nice and warm huh?'. 'Where the hell is the wind and rain?' I reply. It turns out to be Western States legend (and President), Tim Twietmeyer and John Travers.

At Devil's Thumb aid station I come across the race's first big name casualty. It's Jurek, who is surrounded by folk obviously questioning him about his withdrawal. I feel for him. He's the one everyone expects to deliver but in ultra running there is simply no hiding place with injuries and the like. It wasn't going to be his day and it must have really hurt. I crack on, pretty shocked by the sight of him out of the race.

Eldorado Canyon - with the longer descent and ascent of the two canyons - proves to be hotter than Deadwood, but again I enjoy the cruise down along the switchbacks, across the bridge and into the riverside aid station (52.9miles). Boy these guys have drawn the short straw I think to myself. As ever, the enthusiasm of the helpers is unrelenting, the spirit of this great race seems to rub off on everyone. I power hike out the other side, starting to now think about meeting my pacer, Scott St John, at Bath Road. Again, my uphill speed seems to give me the upper hand on other competitors as I manage to pick off another couple of guys. I have now lost track of my position but I figure it's around 7th.

At Michigan Bluff (55.7miles) I unexpectedly see fellow Brit, Mark Hartell, who has been a great mentor to me in the build up to the race. Mark has done everything he can to get me as well prepared for the race as possible which is already having a significant positive influence on my performance. Mark has my drop bag to hand, so helping another quick transition. 'You look great Jez, you're moving through the field, keep up the good work'. God I wish a feel great I think to myself, but I see another guy who must have arrived into the aid station before me so i'm keen to get moving again. No time for feeling sorry for oneself, get refuelled and get going.

Beyond Michigan the trail turns to fire road. With it's white-ish surfacing and lack of shade, the Western States slow cooker cranks up another notch. There's no getting away from it though so deal with it or drop I tell myself - and I ain’t dropping!

Finally, I hit Bath Road (60.6miles), roughly 15minutes behind my target arrival time of 3pm (10hrs). Pretty good pacing, or just luck? Well I like to keep things simple and that means no detailed pacing chart. The only targets I have set myself are Robinson Flat in 5 hours (achieved perfectly) and Bath Road in another 5 hours (close). My pacer Scott is there with his wife Desi and three girls. And so begins what becomes a fantastic team effort to get me to the finish line with all needs catered for and with next to zero planning (I hadn’t envisaged Desi would be on hand to help out). I eat on the climb up Bath Road with Scott alongside, simply walking the moderate road climb to ensure the food goes down. There’s a guy ahead – Kevin Sullivan I think – who has just overtaken me in the aid station, but there is no point chasing right now. On reaching the main Forest Hill road we’re ready to get running again and we set a quick pace down to the Forest Hill aid station (62 miles). The idea of eating on Bath Road is to move through the busy Forest Hill quickly, just stopping for the mandatory weigh in. The strategy works well and I re-take Kevin who is with his crew.

The next section of the course is known as the Cal Street loop, the link section between Forest Hill and the famous Rucky Chucky river crossing (78 miles). It’s the only section of the course I haven’t managed to run during my time in the US, something I am not massively comfortable with as I always like to know the trail so I can plan how to run it. For front runners, which I now am (up to 5th I think), this section of trail is notoriously hot - we’re not disappointed. There are a number of unshaded sections of the trail and they are just like walls of heat. But there is plenty of flat and downhill running to do which is only thing i’m thinking about. We blast down Cal Street, through the three aid stations and down to the sandy riverside trail which runs into the crossing itself. My main focus along this section is getting down to the river quickly and efficiently. Kevin Sullivan appears right on our tail by the final few miles of Cal Street and eventually pulls past and motors on into the distance. Being overtaken so convincingly – as he did – was a big knock to my confidence, particularly at a time when i’m starting to suffer in the heat and i’ve been pushing a good pace - or so I think.

The river crossing is one of the famous aspects of the race and something i’ve been particularly looking forward to. It turns out to be great fun. It’s a low water year so we’re wading across using a stretched guide rope instead of the back-up rafts. Again, the number of helpers is almost overwhelming – there are dozens actually standing in the river holding the rope, and directing the runners across. This is yet another example of the point that the volunteers truly will do everything in their power to give the runners the best possible support.

Despite being cooled down by the full river drenching i’m feeling dreadful at the Rucky Chucky far side aid station. I feel cooked and the south facing canyon side we’re about to contour along is only going to get hotter. I’m certainly going to feel overcooked very shortly. At this point I also leave Scott to sort out his blisters which are bad from big days out on the Western States trail in the build up to the race whilst he performed his important trail marking duties. I have a brief sit down, knock back an ensure meal replacement shake, drink several cups of coke and part company with the chair (‘beware of the chair’ – very appropriate) to begin the long, lonely hike up the hill. My spirits then take a further turn for the worse when Japanese runner, Kaburaki, comes trotting past on the climb. Losing speed and losing places is not where I want to be at the 80mile stage. Yes, on the positive side i’m 80% done, but the remaining 20% still involves 20miles; no mean feat.

So at Green Gate (79.8miles), the aid station at the top of the hill, I appreciate the urgent need to get myself together as i’m simply not prepared to let all the hard work put in thus far go to waste. Desi offers me a sock and footwear change which I gratefully accept. I’ve been putting it off since Robinson but my feet have throbbed for miles and my shoes are full of debris so it may be just the thing to get me going again. I’m a bit stunned about the speed in which my race has started to go bad although I endeavour to put on a brave face and have a joke with some of the aid station volunteers. I set off from Green Gate with the final, but crucial, 20 mile section of the course ahead of me. It’s make or break time, there’s no doubt about that.

Running is still painful and the heat from the slowly setting sun is worse than ever now it is firing directly at the trail, albeit at a more obtuse angle. My arms are all covered in rash from the heat, my head throbs and feels fried and every step is a painful effort. My mind is however still working because i’m thinking carefully about things I can do to get myself going again. Top of the list is to keep eating and drinking, something I focus on over the next couple of miles. I decide to get a sugar rush going so take a gel every mile or so. By the time I reach Auburn Lake Trails aid station (85.2miles) it seems to be slowly paying dividends because i’m feeling marginally better and i’m also only a few minutes behind the 5th placed runner, whose identity I don’t know. The sun is also nearly down behind the far ridge of the canyon - so is nearly done for the day, phew - providing another great boost to morale. I feel stronger with each step I take towards Brown’s Bar, soon catching and overtaking the guy ahead. In doing so I try to look as strong as possible so hopefully he doesn’t think he can come with me. It means getting through the Brown’s Bar aid station (89.9miles) quickly but that’s no bad thing given the slight chaos of the place. The music is pumping, there are fairy lights flashing, the guys are having a fews beers and are dressed up in drag – quite surreal – am I hallucinating?!

Perhaps the fun vibes have rubbed off on me because i’m now back to life, body temperature somewhere close to normal. Let’s go, time to charge! I run down to the river with real purpose – putting in some quick miles – and then run 80% of the stiff climb up to the Highway 49 aid station (93.5miles) where Scott and Desi are waiting. I’m a little bit surprised I don’t manage to catch other guys during my flurry of speed on that leg, but Scott reassures me they are only a matter of minutes ahead and confirms i’m in 5th place. It’s last light now so I ditch my cap, grab my head torch and load up on gels. There is a short climb up to the meadows from Highway 49 but this my favourite section of the course so I intend to have some fun. The meadows at the top, which remind me of a savannah setting from Africa with golden grass and just a few trees, are bathed in a rich yellowy glow from the setting sun. It’s a beautiful scene which seems to recharge me further. Then a very fast descent of around 3 miles on smooth and firm trails to get me down to No Hands Bridge. At every change of direction i’m on the look out for the head torches of runners ahead. There are way-finding glow sticks hanging from branches along the trail which I regularly mistake as runners. I’ve been running this leg seriously quickly – it feels like sub 6 minute miles – so i’m starting to panic that i’m running out of trail to do what I need to with only 4 miles to go.

As I hit No Hands Bridge aid station (96.8miles) there is still no sign of the two remaining runners who I need to track down to hit the podium. The positive news from Scott is that they are only a couple of minutes ahead and he is ready to re-join me for the final charge. I only hang around long enough for one bottle to be refilled. We fly across the bridge and hit the contouring path alongside the river with our eye’s scouting for head torches in the distance. It’s not long before we come across Kevin Sullivan which gives me 4th place. It’s a great boost but my focus is on a podium spot which is a target Scott and myself set on departing Forest Hill over 35 miles ago. On hitting the short but stiff climb from the river to Robie Point (the edge of Auburn) there is still no sign of Jasper Helekas in 3rd. Scott reminds me of the twists and turns of the trail coming up which helps me to focus on running every inch that is possible (most of it). As we come out on the vehicle track on the final approach to Robie Point aid station (98.9miles) we see finally Jasper ahead. From a turning flash of the headtorch we assume he’s seen us, we’re about 100 yards behind. At Robie Point neither of us stop. I’m closing him down, but we’re now within spitting distance of the stadium, i’m running out of steam and Jasper could easily have a finishing burst in him too. Scott and myself are running shoulder-to-shoulder, almost racing each other up the tarmac road and we come past Jasper. We need to run the whole hill though to gain a clean break before the big downhill to the finish, and it’s a stiff climb to be running after 99miles of running. Jasper asks who I am. I’m so breathless i’m struggling to speak but I tell him. He comes with us for a short period but he’s out of steam and tells me ‘good job’ as we move past him in a great show of sportsmanship.

We reach the top of the hill having made a clean break and now Scott and I start enjoying the moment. It’s been one hell of an effort to get to this position so i’m starting to get emotional. We fly the downhill to the stadium and I hit the final 300metre stretch in the most buoyant mood i’ve ever finished a race. I’m not usually one to show emotion but this is the culmination of a huge amount of time and effort – not just during this race – but over the last 6 months or so having come back from a poor year in 2008. Scott pulls away on the final approach to the line so the moment is all mine. I cross the line to celebrate my Western States 100 finish in a time of 16hours 54mins, 3rd place.

A week on from the race and i’m still beaming ear-to-ear about the whole Western States experience and the big performance I managed to put in. I will write a separate post about my thoughts on ‘what makes Western States great’, but needless to say it convincingly lives up to it’s reputation.

With the biggest thanks to the following people:

Scott St John and family – for pacing and supporting me so enthusiastically throughout the weekend

Mark Hartell & Lynn Schankliess – for sharing race knowledge and experience, helping with course recces, support during the race and helping to put GB on the podium!

Paul Charteris – for great company in the build up to the race and sharing your wealth of race knowledge (sorry your race didn’t quite go to plan Paul, I hope you’ll be back).

Western States - Results

2009-06-28T09:23:00.002+01:00

Well, it was the epic of all epics. I moved through the field and felt very confident of a podium finish when I met my pacer, Scott, at Forest Hill (62 miles). Then we dropped down to the river, and the temperature soared. Scott tells me it was well in the 100s. I managed to hold it together until the river crossing (78miles), but the wheels were starting to wobble big time, I lost a couple of places and fell back to 7th. 80 to 88miles was pretty hellish; the setting sun was pounding the side of the final canyon we were traversing. But as soon as it went down, I got my head down and ran some quick miles. At Highway 49 I was in 5th, not many miles left to reel in the remaining guys who I knew were fairly close in front. I smoked it to No Hands Bridge, still no sign of them. There Scott re-joined me after sorting his blisters and we put our heads down and ran more quick miles. I got into 4th at about mile 98, then hit the podium slot of 3rd in the last mile. It was emtional stuff. I finished in 16h 54 (I think), 3rd place. The finish into the stadium was simply awesome.

There were many high profile drop-outs, probably due to the intensity of the racing and the heat. I amd pleased beyond words with my 3rd place - and with a Japanese runner taking 2nd - for the first time ever there are two foreigners in the top 3. Great stuff.

Thanks to everyone for the support from back home, I was thinking about everyone tracking me online and it was a great motivation aid!

Full report soon!

Jez :0)

Western States (3)

2009-06-24T23:48:00.003+01:00

Race Webcast
A few people have asked about following the race online. There will be a webcast via the Western States website here.

My race number is 113.

The race gets underway at 5am on Saturday 27 June (US Pacific Coast Time, or 1pm GMT).

Many thanks to everyone for the good luck messages.

Enjoy!

Western States (2)

2009-06-23T20:54:00.005+01:00

I’m heavily into my pre-race taper now, the final wind-down/ rest phase before the race gets underway on Saturday. As strange as it might sound to non-runners, this period of little running and little activity is actually a horrible time. We’re runners, we like to run, so not running – or running very little – is a weird feeling. But it’s arguably the most important part of race training, the final charge-up of the muscles and full recovery of the body after all the high mileage training.

I’ve spent the last five nights sleeping high – between 6,500 and 9,500ft – to try and get used to the altitude as best as possible. I’ll continue to do the same until race day on Saturday. The first 30 miles of the race has an average altitude of 7,000ft, so sleeping at a similar height will help my body get used to the reduced levels of oxygen so I can hopefully run more efficiently during the race.

Hanging out in Yosemite - enjoying a bit altitude!

Temperatures; well the race-day forecast for Auburn, the town where the race finishes, is mid-90s so it’s looking like being slightly above average in terms of temperature. Not a super-hot year, but not the cool year I had perhaps hoped for. In the high country early on the temperatures should be cooler, particularly with the early morning start, but in the canyons which I will be tackling during the middle part of the day it will really heat up. Temperatures have hit well over 100 in previous years – smokin’!

The heat is probably my greatest concern going into the race. I know I can run the distance at a decent pace, I know I can deal with the altitude and the terrain is fine. But running in the heat is not something a runner from the UK usually gets much practice at, so I will need to be smart about my nutrition and drinking to keep things on track. I’ve had some decent training in the heat this year and i’ve got a nutrition/ drinks strategy mapped out in my head, I just need to make sure my head doesn’t get fried and I forget to stick to it!

So final preparations are in hand, i’m looking forward to Western States race experience more than anything. Not long to go now.......

A fine Yosemite view at the close of the day, with Half Dome in the background.

Western States 100 (1)

2009-06-15T18:25:00.004+01:00

Auburn, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Less than two weeks to go until the 36th running of the famous Western States Endurance Run – 100 miles in one day.

Spending some time exploring the course, getting to know the trails so there is one less thing to worry about on race day; the big climb out of Squaw Valley ski resort, over the top into the Granite Chief Wilderness area, the high country ridges, the canyons, the famous Rucky Chucky river crossing, the fast downhill sections towards the end.

The view accross Granite Chief Wilderness area from Emigrant Pass, 4 miles into the race. Red Star ridge is on the far side.

The race will be an epic journey for each and every one of the 450 participants. We have all prepared long and hard for this race, most of us for nearly two years following the tragic cancellation of last year’s race due to forest fires. I for one have spent every day since Christmas thinking about the race, often my first thought of the day, always my last. It means so much to everyone who takes part, and when you set foot on the Western States trails you soon realise why. This is an incredible place to run. A place that inspires; the tree clad hillsides, the scent of the pine, the history of the trail, the wildlife, the crisp rays of sunshine breaking through the tree canopy.

It’s a tense time but after all the many hundreds of miles of training I feel ready for the race and excited about the prospect of running against some of the best in the world. The mens field is deeper than ever before, it will be a massive challenge trying to compete against all the US runners in their own back yard. But it is a challenge which motivates and excites me more than anything else, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be here, I must run strong and enjoy the experience, but above all show what I am capable of.

Myself and Simon Mtuy of Tanzania, on the trail between Red Star Ridge and Duncan Canyon.

The Fellsman (60miles ish/ 11,000ft)

2009-05-16T08:04:00.008+01:00

2009 was the third year i’ve entered the Fellsman but the first time i’ve made it to the start line. It is not an event to be taken lightly; 60-odd miles (depending on your route choice) of self-navigation across the Yorkshire Dales from Ingleton to Threshfield, in a mighty big horseshoe. The route goes straight up Ingleborough and thereafter visits many of the sizeable North Yorkshire peaks, several over 700m in height, as well as traversing some seriously inhospitable and trackless moors (bogs!). This is classic ultra distance fell running race and an exciting adventure......

I recce-ed the route in full over the two days the preceding weekend knowing that navigation is absolutely key with the Fellsman and it would be one less thing to worry about come race day. It is all about knowing the right lines off the tops, to avoid the really nasty terrain but get you where you need to go.

After negotiating all the slick but thorough pre-race arrangements I was pleased to make it out on to the starting field with kit checked and body ready to run (I think). The pre-race demons in my head had been working overtime this week fuelled by the Highland Fling race 2 weeks previously, a stiff bout of tonsillitis straight after, then a full recce of the Fellsman over two days finishing 6 days before the race, including additional sections before and after each day for good measure. Would my legs be too heavy for the climbs? Would I remember all the right lines? Would my running style suit the Fellsman generally?

I’m the first to admit that my build-up was suicidal on paper, but how else do you prepare for a race on a course you've never run before? Route knowledge is key for navigation, but more importantly in my opinion, to know in your head how to run the race.

The route took us straight up Ingleborough, then Whernside, Gregareth and Great Coum before dropping down to the first major pit-stop at Dent around 18miles in. The weather had two sides to it; clear, warm and welcoming in the valleys, windy, aggressive and cold on the tops. Unfortunately we were at high level most of the day. After a long and steady climb out of Dent the well trodden trails of the first third (20miles) soon gave way to the infamous track less moors of the middle third. The variety of the terrain struck me more than anything; peat bogs, moorland, streams, waterlogged moss, a truly British array.

I cut a good line up to Blea Moor which is the first time real section of trudging through the bogs. The ‘bog lottery’ is something I always find quite entertaining, by that I mean sometimes you place a foot and get a firm footing allowing your stride to continue, but on other occasions you sink, the worst case on Saturday being up to my waist. Lovely. On the approach to Blea Moor I could just make out the checkpoint tent next to the trig point which helped me to pick a good sightline.

The rain started just as I was arriving at the next valley checkpoint, Stonehouse, so after getting a cheese butty and a handful of biscuits to take out I got my jacket on and trudged upwards on the track beneath the beautiful viaduct towards Great Knoutberry Hill. The rain fell hard, then harder, and harder still. The wind also blew with a similar increasing velocity, driving the rain and making for grim conditions. The final climb to the Great Knoutberry Hill checkpoint turned into a horrible slog. I was heading straight into it and it was simply ferocious. Still with legs exposed and only my lightweight jacket on and still under halfway distance-wise, I was starting to wonder how long this spell of atrocious weather was going to last. If was to be all day then it had the potential to create some serious problems for everyone, not just me.

On reaching Redshaw I dived into the checkpoint tent to grab a few bits to eat but I was too cold to drink, and anyway that would only increase the temptation to stay under shelter when I really needed to crack on. The next few legs were all across the moors through bogs that were often knee deep or more, helping the cold to get a further grip on me and to start winning. I could feel the adrenaline racing round my body, not from the race situation itself, but my body’s reaction to the severe cold, forcing my itself to run fast to keep warm. It ultimately helped to maintain a good pace and as it turned out it was during the two hour spell of grim weather that I broke away at the front and never looked back from, slowly building more of a lead during the second half.

At the Fleet Moss checkpoint I was at my coldest, barely able to speak. I desperately wanted a cup of tea but was too cold and in too much of a hurry to stop and make one, so I decided on hot lucozade sport drink instead. I mixed some of the powder I was carrying up with boiling water in a water bottle providing a great hand warmer if nothing else. Thankfully the rain subsided on the crossing of Fleet Moss, blowing through to leave a fine afternoon. I soon dried out, but I think the weather had taken my sharpness away because I was not decision making well, and my responsiveness was poor. It showed on one of the many dry stone wall crossings, one of which I just fell off! I landed on my wrist which went straight into shock making me think I might have broken it, but it turned out fine, albeit very badly bruised. The better weather was a welcome change and made me think I could finish strongly and maintain my lead if all went to plan. Navigation was the main risk, but with the tops clear the navigation was much more straight forward.

I took the southerly route around Fleet Moss, the low risk option with some good runnable tracks beside the reassuring dry stone wall lines. I got round fine, and even managed to get the Middle Tongue line right, again benefitting from the clearer weather and being able to pick a sight line to the checkpoint tent. I also had a bit of luck on Stake Moss, picking up the quad bike track almost straight away which I hadn’t done on the recce. At Cray one of the race supporters suggested I had 30 or 40 minutes lead which was a great boost, but still too early in the race to sit back on the lead, and it’s also not really my way. It was nice to reach Cray because it signals the end of the really boggy trackless stuff, the final sections taking in the big peaks of Buckden Pike and Great Whernside, with good footpaths to the tops and off again. They were really enjoyable sections, the evening being completely clear and a lot calmer after the earlier excitement.

It gave me plenty of time to reflect on the race, the route and times. It was clear after the severe weather that I would be some way off record pace – not that I had set out to break it – but it made me realise what an impressive benchmark it is (Mark Hartell, 10hrs 13mins). This has been Mark’s race for many years, and his wins at the race year after year for over a decade are simply inspirational. To get down to a time like that the lines have to be perfect, in every instance, to shave a seconds or minutes off at every possible opportunity and squeeze everything out of the course. More detailed route knowledge would therefore be my target for future years.

Towards the end I realised my best bet would be to target a sub-11 hour time which was a nice motivator for the final few sections. I hit the road at Yarnbury and flew the last few miles down to Grassington and finally Threshfield making it back to the event centre at 7.50pm giving me an overall time of 10hrs 50mins for my first Fellsman.

The overall experience had been a memorable one. The event feels like a cross between The Long Mynd Hike in terms of tradition, format and organisation, and the High Peak Marathon in terms of terrain. It’s a great combination and a fabulous event which deserves the full house of 400 participants that it got this year for the first time in a while.

Many thanks to all the organisers for a brilliant day out.

The full results can be found here

A write up and photos can be found on the Grough website here

Keswick Mountain Festival 2009 - talk

2009-05-04T10:28:00.003+01:00

Just in case anyone is in or around the Lake District over the next couple of weeks, I will be doing a talk at the Keswick Mountain Festival (Theatre by the Lake) on Wednesday 13th May at 7.30pm.

See the KMF website for more details: http://www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk/look-whos-talking/jez_bragg/

The talk will cover in three races in particular - The West Highland Way Race, Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc and 100km road races - as well as my general experiences of ultra running over the last couple of years, training and tips on how to tackle an ultra.

There are stacks of others talks, events and races taking place over the course of the festival which promises to be a great event for outdoors enthusiasts.

I hope to see you there.....

The Highland Fling Race (53miles/ trail)

2009-04-28T21:26:00.003+01:00

This was just the 4th running of The Highland Fling, a classic ultra trail race which has grown dramatically year-on-year to become one of the biggest and best in the UK. In 2006 I was one of just 20 or so runners taking part in the first event which was designed to be a training event for the full West Highland Way Race, and just four years later here I am again, this time alongside over 300 runners. Incredible. And if you were lucky enough to be part of the race on Saturday – as a runner, helper or spectator - you will know exactly why the event has taken off like it has. The Highland Fling Race offers pretty much everything you could possibly hope for in a ultra - a classic route, technical trails, a challenging distance, friendly people wherever you turn, reliable support and organisation, a post race party, a medal and goody bag – and all for a tenner.

This year the race also hosted the inaugural UKA ultra distance trail running championships, a trial race for the Great Britain team being sent to the World Trail Running Championships in Serre Chevalier in July, as well as being a series race for the Vasque ultra running championships. Along with this major championship recognition came a strong field of runners from all over the UK.

For me, I should confess, it was a risky race to run. It was still relatively soon after the 100km road race in Galway at the end of March, but even more of a concern was the cold/ bad throat I have been suffering with intermittently since Easter. It came back with avengence on the Wednesday before the race, probably a result of some long days in the Lakes the weekend before, so added to risk the of heavy legs was my body fighting bugs - not a great state to be starting in.

Unusually for me, I slept very badly the night before the race. As I lay in bed thoughts of possible race outcomes span around my head. I was particularly worried that my weakened body may not be up to it and I might have to pull out during the race, although I committed to myself that I would give it everything and run from the heart which was probably my best chance of getting through. The desire was certainly there, could my body match it?

I was relieved when 5am eventually came around so I could get up and get in race mode properly.The senior mens race started at 7am, with the rest of the field, including vets and ladies, starting a hour earlier at 6am. The aim of the staggered starts, as I understand it, was two-fold; to ease congestion at the start and to get people finishing the 53mile course closer together. The congestion precautions certainly worked well.

The start of the race was rather bizarre as one of the runners, Stuart Mills, went tearing off into the distance as if it was a 10km pace. Afterwards he confessed that his tactics were to try and disrupt things amongst the front runners, although no one in the chasing group I was in seemed that bothered, and like me they thought the pace would not be sustainable. As it turned out, Stuart went astray very early in the race and was never able to recover sufficiently to compete like he is capable of. This was a great shame because a runner of his ability was a potentially a great asset to the race.

We all settled down into a brisk pace and chatted away to help pass the early miles. It was a humid morning so straight away I started to get plenty of fluids down knowing it was easier to do so earlier in the race than later. I followed a similar tactic with nutrition, tucking into gels and cake just 7 or 8 miles in, passing thoughts to my own self-amusement that the rest of population would be more sensibly tucking into a fry-up around the same time.

On the climb from Drymen to Conic Hill there was a noticeable drop in conversation as the competition started to build. Allen Smalls and Andy Rankin appeared to be pushing each other hard up the hill with Brian Cole close behind. I was a couple of hundred yards behind, taking it a bit more steadily and trying not to over do it early on. By the end of the descent into Balmaha car park they were out of sight so I just focused on replenishing supplies at the checkpoint and set about re-fuelling properly as I walked the short but stiff climb just beyond.

Now loch-side (Lomond), I continued to run at my own pace, with eventual 2nd place finisher, Scott Bradley, just a few yards behind. From experience, this long 20 mile section is best run at your own pace and following your own rhythm, so I deliberately didn’t worry about the whereabouts of others. I just set my mind to relax and settle in. Mid-way between Balmaha and Rowardennan I caught Brian who reported afterwards that he was feeling way out of sorts so sensibly decided to pull out. Thereafter I was back on my own. I moved quickly through the Rowardennan checkpoint which seemed quite congested, narrowly avoiding road rage with a white transit van who didn’t seem to appreciate my urgency.

I started to pick up and feel a bit stronger. It was useful timing, coinciding with some nice runnable forest tracks rising and dipping along the steep loch side between Rowardennan and Inversnaid. It was a beautiful landscape to be running through, with far reaching views across the loch between breaks in the trees to the left, and a calming sense of enclosure and quiet within the woodland itself.

I came across various folk from the 6am start, many of whom looked incredibly strong and comfortable despite the mileage already run. It provided a fairly unique experience, the opportunity to work through the field from person-to-person, and to exchange a few words of encouragement as I moved through.

Eventually I came across the two remaining guys ahead from the 7am start. It was Andy first (in second), then Allen a few hundred yards beyond who was in the lead. It was a great feeling to move into the lead, and with it came an added adrenaline-fuelled charge which helped me to build a lead which I estimated to be a couple of minutes by the time I had settled back down. The sudden change to being at the front also brought with it a sense of vulnerability and pressure which came as a shock to my previously relaxed mentality. I was conscious those chasing could potentially keep me in sight and reel me in later on. Such thoughts helped with my focus and drive, and I decided to push on again to build more of a buffer, but before long I was into the checkpoint at Inversnaid.

Inversnaid was much quieter in terms of the number of supporters and spectators, it’s relative remoteness probably the reason for that. The low key format of this checkpoint felt very appropriate for the stage in the race, there was still a full 19 miles to go and no time to get carried away. On departing the checkpoint it was straight into the very technical section of trail which involves many ledges, ups, downs, tree-roots, mud and streams. You name it, this narrow and windy section of singletrack throws it at you. I felt rotten leaving Inversnaid, but the concentration required to run this section of trail seemed to quickly wipe away any negative thoughts; no opportunity to feel sorry for oneself here. As always, the focus this section required seemed to make the miles fly by, and before long I was climbing away from the loch after 20 miles in its company. I also came across the lead vet runner, who was comfortably out front on his own, and then it was into Beinglass Farm, the final checkpoint.

Knowing this was the final checkpoint I made the most of the contents of my drop back, a tooth-rotting combination of gels, cake, coke and lucozade. All items were duly pack into my waist pack – or consumed – and I was off again. The coke I drank gave me an instant kick which was welcome to assist with the tough long climb up to the woods above Crianlarich. This is the transition from the lowland to the highlands, and boy is it a drawn out one. Now being clear of the woods and into the open valley, there was a welcome drop in the temperature which my body greatly appreciated. I knew from my hazy head and the pulsing feeling in my arms that I was massively dehydrated, so the cool breeze and fluids were a huge relief, and possibly prevented me pushing my tiring body a step too far.

I knew from experience this section was also the moment of truth in terms of race position. During all the concealed wooded trails up to this point, it was hard to keep track on how close behind the other guys were, but now out in the open it would be plain to see. I couldn’t resist looking over my shoulder every couple of minutes, but thankfully there was nothing to see, I had built a solid cushion. Strangely, this fuelled me further, and I continued to run every possible section of the climb and eventually made it back into the woods above Crianlarich without seeing anyone behind.

With this reassurance my mind then automatically switched to times and records for the first time in the race. Foolishly I had forgotten to make a note of my 2008 splits before the race, as I had intended to do, so in all honesty I didn’t have a clue where I stood in relation to record pace. So there was only one approach left - run hard. That I did. The woodland descent down to the A82 was a great blast and then the final flat section along the valley bottom, I ran like a man possessed. It was a great feeling running home to the finish. It had been a full year since I had last completed the journey on my favourite trail, I was very proud to have completed and won the race again. My final time was 7hrs 19mins, around 5minutes quicker than my previous best.

See here for full results http://www.highlandflingrace.org/

Many thanks to Murdo, Ellen and all the other organisers for putting on another brilliant race - see you next year.

Celtic 100k/ Anglo Celtic Plate Race 2009 (100km)

2009-03-30T21:23:00.001+01:00

Wow, not too sure where to start with this one!

I’ve now had a day or two to reflect on Saturday’s events but the reality is that it hasn’t really sunk in yet. It will probably take quite a while. In fact, I’m struggling to string meaningful thoughts together being pretty exhausted, but I’ll have a go whilst it’s fresh in the mind.

Since the Edinburgh 100km in May 2007 it’s been my ultimate aim to run under seven hours for the 100km. The sub-7 club is one with few members, particularly from the UK over the last 10 years or so. On Saturday I had one of those dream runs, it all came together, I felt strong from start to finish, I had a great second half and ultimately I did it – i’m in the club!

The event itself was superb, not surprising given the experience and enthusiasm of Race Director, Richard Donavon. Richard is also RD for the North Pole and Ice Antarctic Marathons as well as being a multi-record holder for extreme running. The general consensus was that it was the best Anglo Celtic Plate race in the event’s history and from my experience I wouldn’t argue with that. Fittingly, the race also drew a top class field. There were plenty of top names from the various home nations as well as from Germany who sent a development team which included the German trail running champion amongst others.

Dawn on Saturday brought a change to the weather from the preceding week. We arrived in Galway on Friday lunchtime to cloud, wind and showers but race day was perfect from my perspective; cool but sunny with a moderate breeze and occasional showers. A good omen?

Fifty or so toe-ed the start line. There was a clear apprehension amongst the runners to get started but once the hooter had gone, there wasn’t much option. My plan was to run a conservative first 50km, then see what happens in the second half – simple as that. No pressure, no frills. ‘Feel good at fifty’ was my pre-race mantra; get to half way with plenty left in the tank. I ran with England team mate and last year’s winner, Dominic Croft, for most of the first 50km. We ran fairly evenly, I was targeting splits of 8min 24 second per 2km/ 42minute per 10km and Dom was hoping for a touch quicker however the pace seemed to work well for both of us and we ran well together, carrying each other through the early stages.

As we approached 50km Marcus Scotney and Allen Smalls started to speed up and close us down but it was myself and Dom at the front at the 50km stage in a time just a smidgen under 3hrs 30mins. Spot on. Thereafter all four of us had spells at the front and it was then that the drama started to unfold. After the race one member of the England support team likened the race me to a game of chess, and in many respects it was. My target was to maintain an even pace, but the other lads seemed to have plans to shake it up a bit. Marcus seemed the keenest to push on, and eventually did, at one point putting a minute or so on me. Allen made a similar push at one point, but soon the cumulative distance started to play a part causing rough spells for us all. Eventually, at around the 65km point, I started to find a strong rhythm which allowed me to pick the pace up when the others were slowing which was the start of a fast and furious spell that brought a possible sub-7 performance into the equation.

Having not thought about it pre-race various thoughts and emotions were spinning round my head. What if I hit the rocks? What if I push too much too early? Don’t throw away this golden opportunity! Well I realised those were things I could control so I made sure I did. Keep drinking, keep taking the gels, don’t push too hard too early and most importantly don’t blow it. I was constantly trying to stay focused but at the same time trying to run some calculations in my head. Well what a waste of time that was. I’m usually quite good at maths, but after 5 hours running at 6.45/mile pace my head wasn’t in gear. So I put I a request to the support team - let me know when there is 20km to go.

The notification duly came and at the 80km point I was about one minute inside sub-7 pace. I had 1 hr 25mins to complete the final 20km. We’re on! Retaining composure was the hardest part towards the end. The thought of achieving my sub-7 goal made me feel emotional. I had dreamed about it for so long, put so much physical and mental effort into the race and been thinking about the people who I was running strong for along the way. My running rhythm was also better than it’s ever been, and my focus was clear, I had to do it.

The final lap count down at the end was inevitable, something I had fought to avoid doing over the course of the race, my body was now thinking about the end. Third from last lap was when the pure pleasure started. Nothing was going to take it away from me then. And then last lap, I gave it everything, 7mins 56 second and my fastest split of the race by 15 seconds. It was pure elation crossing the line - 6hrs 58mins dead on the clock - the best run of my life - no question.

The memories will be there forever.

Wuthering Hike (32miles/ 4,400ft)

2009-03-16T08:59:00.000Z

Saturday's Wuthering Hike race was an absolute cracker, probably all the more enjoyable because it was the first time I have taken part. I've been meaning to run it for a couple of years now, but for one reason or another it hasn't happened.

As with all these self-navigation events it is a good idea to recce the course before hand, not only to get to know the route, but also to work out how best to run the race, which I fortunately had the opportunity to do 8 days before the event. On the face of it the 'Hike' part of the race's title doesn't seem to do it justice, but like a number of similar events it tells the story of it's origin as more of a challenge event as opposed to a race. Over the years this has changed, it is now very much a competitive race (as well as a hike/ challenge), and previous times confirm that those at the sharp end don't tend to hang around. Also, being part of the Vasque UK Ultra Running series, competition is strong.

The first leg which heads roughly west from the event base in Haworth, Yorkshire, was all about fighting the wind demons. It was a westerly wind and on the exposed moors of Bronte country it made for tough conditions. Whilst I felt strong, there was extra effort being put in to counter the wind, it was unsettling and made it hard to find any good rhythm.

There was however some payback later on. As we turned south-east climbing up on to the Long Causeway at around 14miles we started to get blown gently along. It was like a hand gently pushing your back; very welcome, particularly on the climbs. Into the second half of the race the group of three I was running with - Mark Palmer, Jonathan Wright and myself - started to break clear from the chasing group who up to then had been within sight. We hadn't picked the pace up, but just ran evenly and consistently and continued to do so whilst the others may have started to slow. The three of us seem to develop a silent understanding, sharing the work of front running, chatting at times and generally helping the time and miles to pass by.

Down into 'Tod' and then the stiff climb up to 'Stoodley Pike' to re-join the Pennine Way, I started to get the feeling the race was about to get going. The next climb, out of Hebden Bridge up to Heptonstall, was where it all started to happen. Mark Palmer and myself pushed on the long road climb, running side-by-side, matching each other stride-for-stride. 'Evil hill' I commented. It was. On the trail descent from Heptonstall Mark was quicker than me, showing his strong fell running background, probably putting 20metres or so between us. But there was a long drawn out climb of three miles or so still to go to take us up to the top of 'the stairs' which was effectively the last pass across the moors before the final descent and run-in to Haworth. I reeled Mark in again and we ran the track climb together, then a brief downhill to the final checkpoint before a stiff road climb to 'the stairs'. It was tough, neither of us wanted to fall off the back, we both clearly matched each other for stubborness. The closer to the finish we got, the faster the pace got; up and up the pace went. Moor Side Lane was the final stretch of climb of the race, we still ran side by side up to the quarry, contouring round the far side. It was a mile to go. I decided it was now or never so I pushed the pace towards a sprint. It was a bit risky but thankfully it paid off, I managed to put 10 metres or so between us, or at least that's what it sounded like, but I couldn’t look back for fear of tumbling over! Finally on to the cobbled High Street of Haworth, I was all out sprinting down the hill before the steep turn-off back to the Community Centre, and with it the relief of a hard fought win.

There was a great atmosphere in the centre after the race with a real community feel about it. Events like this are what it's all about; sensible entry fees, a great route, raising money for charity and a great bunch of people to enjoy the experience with.

Thanks to the organisers, marshalls and fellow competitors for a great day out.

See here for results: http://www.keighleyandcravenac.co.uk/kc_races/pdf/hobble/09_haworth_hobble.html

Wye Ultra (30 miles, trail)

2009-03-02T21:28:00.002Z

This was the first running of the Wye Ultra, and also the first of twelve races in the 2009 Vasque Ultra Running Series. The advertised route followed the River Wye south from Ross-on-Wye before heading east into the forest of dean to the turnaround point where runners would re-trace their footsteps back to the start point to finish.

Unfortunately a key footbridge crossing the river at the southern most point of the course was closed by the authorities at the last minute resulting in a change to the route and race format. The organisers opted for a double out and back route instead comprising four legs of 7.5miles. It was a great shame about the forced change which was clearly out of the hands of the organisers, although the feeling amongst the runners was that something a bit more interesting that the one offered could have been achieved even with the late notice, particularly given the wealth of trails the area possesses.

The revised route left Ross Rowing club heading south for a short section along the river bank before breaking off for 3 miles or so along quiet country lanes. It then traversed a wooded bank before dropping back down to re-join the river following lovely trails through woods and fields to the turnaround point. And back to the start again. Repeat.

Once underway the race provided plenty of excitement too. Midway through the first leg there were problems with route marking - it was missing in places - resulting in the chasing group I was in going astray and adding half a mile or so to the route. Not ideal, particularly in a relatively short race. The resulting gap between the lead 2 or 3 runners and us was a tall order to make up, and was maintained until the last leg when things started to change significantly. All Smalls made a well timed push, moving through the field in the last few miles to win by a minute or two. I also started to find the right gears in the last leg but it was all too late so I had to settle for 5th, around four minutes behind Allen. There were also strong performances from Vasque series regulars Andy Davies and Andy Rankin.

It was always going to be a risky race for me to run. I was running on heavy legs straight after a week of snowboarding and hill training in the alps meaning the sharpness wasn't there. In fact I was completely knackered even before I started so all things considered it wasn't a bad performance!

It was a great shame about the teething problems with the race (I have mentioned a couple) but all in all it was a great day out and good to see all the ultra running regulars performing strongly early in the season. We are in for a great season.........

Results:
http://www.blacksheepsports.co.uk/public/results.aspx?raceid=637

Charnwood Hills Fell Race (13.7 miles/ 1,200ft)

2009-02-04T08:23:00.002Z

When you hear that the race took place in the outskirts of Leicester (Anstey), your first reaction will probably the same mine; 'a fell race in Leicestershire, but there aren't any hills?'.

Well that's wrong, there are. Well a few anyway.

The race is well established, run by the Bowline Climbing Club, and is also very well attended. This year around 400 lined for the start of the race which took place on Sunday, including me. This was another 'train-through' race; no taper, lots of miles during the preceeding week, turn up and grim 'n bear the dead legs, aim for a respectable result and benefit from a great work out. Sounds simple, but in practice it's rather painful!

The route was out-and-back, one of my pet hates, but actually it worked very well. There was a decent length loop at the turnaround point which helped to avoid any two way congestion. Conditions were cold, the snow was on it's way, and the wind chill was well below freezing although the sun came out for the odd spell.

I went off fairly quickly and soon regretted it, but eventually settled into a sensible pace which remained fairly even throughout. However it wasn't a day to be competitive, my legs were seriously tired, and perhaps not fully recovered from Portland marathon 8 days before, not to mention training mileage. I worked as hard as could, the amount of effort-in felt huge, but translating into speed; no. I finished in 1hr 35mins, 23rd place. It sounds awful but there were some incredibly quick specialist short distance runners out, so no great shame. And it a great opportunity to push myself in a competitive environment which was what it was all about.

Another well organised and enjoyable local race early in the season.

Portland Coastal Marathon

2009-01-26T21:37:00.000Z

If there’s one thing Britain has got in abundance, it’s dramatic coastline, providing the perfect setting for a series of trail marathons. The venue for stage 3 of the Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series (CTS) was Portland, and fitting perfectly with my build-up for the year, I decided to give it a whirl.

A 4.15am alarm call on Saturday morning was a real shock to the system, but as soon as my mind had triggered there was a race to be run, my heart rate instantly doubled and I was fully awake and getting ready for a 5am departure.

Event HQ was the impressive sailing academy at the end of the causeway between Weymouth and Portland, a cracking facility which will no doubt have an important role to play when the Olympic sailing competition comes to town in 2012. There were three race distance options to choose from: 10km, half marathon and marathon. The marathon it was.

The marathon race start was at 9am, the route being a two laps of the ‘island’, pretty much following the perimeter coastal path with a short out and back section along the causeway at the end of each lap. I started fairly conservatively, admittedly feeling a little rusty after a recent manic period of travel and work, but I made sure I kept in touch with the two guys ahead who were evidently feeling a bit fresher than me. They were roughly a couple minutes ahead of me by half way and if anything, were starting to pull away. Perhaps having shaken away the cobwebs, or gaining a mental boost from starting the second lap, I started to pick up at about 15miles and found some extra strength to push on which I consciously did. As I did so, I started to catch the half marathon runners who set off on the same course 1.5 hours after us.

By this point I was certainly a man on a mission, now into second place, on the hunt for first, but having the problem of overtaking runners on the narrow single-track section of the course. One-by-one I politely asked the runners ahead to give way, but there were hundreds of them! They all kindly allowed me through, but it wasn’t an ideal situation when there was serious racing to do! By about 20 miles I started to reel in the leader, and at 21 miles overtook him, pushed hard to build a lead and held on to win in a time of 3hours 36minutes. It certainly wasn’t a quick time, even for a trail marathon, but the course was technical and the going along the beach sections extremely slow.

All in all it was a great event and well worth the trip down to the south coast. The organisation was excellent, the course well marked, race HQ facilities impressive and Portland provided a perfect setting for some superb trail running.

See results here: http://www.endurancelife.com/assets/results/2009_cts_portland.htm

Cannock Chase Trig Points Race (15 miles/ 1500')

2009-01-12T21:28:00.002Z

I’m not sure the text book of ‘peak performance’ will tell you to run 80 miles in the 6 days before a race, but the opportunity to run the classic Cannock Chase Trig Points race on Sunday seemed too good to miss, so after noticing it in the FRA calendar on Saturday morning (after a 10 miler) I decided to give it a whirl.

The format of the race seems to fit perfectly with the time of year - rolling runnable hills on most well formed tracks and trails - making it not too severe and a great interval training race. Well that’s how I approached it anyway.

Conditions were surprisingly good, much milder than it's been of late, albeit fairly windy on the exposed tops. As expected a couple of guys went blasting off from the start, but I happily settled in with a group further back, reassured to have others with route knowledge around me. I honestly don’t have a clue when it comes to navigation and Cannock Chase area, it was the first time I’d step foot in the area, so I was really in the hands of the goods, or should I say the lad from Mercia Fell Runners who in our group and seem to know all the quick lines. The most part of the route followed the main tracks across the chase, but there were also plenty of the usual cut throughs and fast lines which give added excitement to the fell races (and get the adrenaline going when you go wrong).

I stuck with the group of five or so runners for most of the race. I don’t think I was the only one in the group benefiting from the Mercia FR guide. Despite plenty of mileage during the week I felt pretty strong throughout the race, and probably ran a bit within myself during the second half, but the risk of going astray if I had pushed on was high, and one not really worth taking. It inevitably came to crunch time on the descent from the final trig point – when we all knew where we were going - and the group split by means of an all out sprint down to the finish. I think got a bit caught off guard with it all, but managed to wind it up sufficiently to make 5th place in a time of 1h48mins. I was fairly pleased all things considered.
I have to say that in terms of enjoyment it was up there with the best. No pressure, a great bunch of competitors and well organised race. Looking forward to next year’s race already.

Results:
http://www.merciafellrunners.org.uk/node/921

Mud, Sweat & Tears

2009-01-02T20:22:00.001Z

Just stumbled across this great new website which has loads of interesting material about all things off road running.

http://www.mudsweatandtears.co.uk/

December Ramblings

2008-12-20T21:35:00.000Z

Well December has brought a bit more fun to my running. No regimented twice daily sessions where time splits rule and enjoyment doesn’t. I’ve still been going out quite a bit, trying to build some solid base fitness for next year, but the focus has been on enjoying my running, and not getting too bogged down in speed, times, distance etc.

I ran my first five miler a couple of weeks ago, just for a bit of fun, and found it to be great high intensity training. It was one of a local winter series of five races and I’m hoping to be able to do a couple more and try and chip away at my time. I think one of the most appealing things about running shorter races is that it doesn’t take up a whole day, you can do the travel there, race and travel back in a couple of hours, a bit more manageable compared the usual ultra epics.

Last weekend I hit the Peak District with a couple of friends, Matt Giles & Steve Pope, for one of our regular days out together on the hills. Tradition has established we go for a couple of pints the night before - this time it was four in the space of an hour - so sharpness was lacking somewhat during the early stages of our run from the outskirts of Sheffield to Edale and back. After a long spell of clear chilly weather, we managed to choose a soggy, cold and windy day which made it challenging with the paths turned to streams in most place. We were all soaked through to the bone and freezing cold by the time we reached the Edale café lunch stop after a 20 mile morning, and despite good food and a couple of pots of tea we all struggled to warm up get going again afterwards. My cold decided to make a return towards the end of the day so I wasn’t on the greatest form, bit all-in-all it was a cracking day and very satisfying to reflect on after a long hot bath.

This week I hit the Warwickshire trails for a bit of a mud-ridden running across the fields. Now the ground has thawed out the fields are pretty heavy underfoot so it was slow going, but nice to be out about in the depths of winter.

At the moment I’m busy race planning for next year. The www.runfurther.com races have been announced so hopefully I’ll be able to get a full set of races complete in 2009, along with Western States (take 2) and the Commonwealth 100km Champs in September. It’s going to be a busy year, but exciting with the opportunity explore new places and run different races.

Tarawera Ultra (New Zealand)

2008-12-15T21:15:00.002Z

I just wanted to do a quick plug for a fantastic looking new trail ultra being organised by a friend of mine, Paul Charteris, in New Zealand. The Tarawera Ultra is a 50 mile trail race in the Bay of Plenty area taking place on 21 March 2009. Check it out here:

http://www.taraweraultra.co.nz/

IAU World 100km: A bad day at the office

2008-11-09T22:13:00.002Z

I sat by the side of the road with my head in my hands. It what was a feeling of shock more than anything. I have never experienced real failure during my still relatively brief running career, yet that is what I suddenly faced. I couldn't believe it. It was a horrible and premature end to a race which I had high hopes for. It was also only the second time I have ever pulled out of a race.

The first 37km of the race followed a linear route from Tuscania to Tarquinia (100km NW Rome), along country lanes through pretty rolling countryside. It was very pleasant, if a little more undulating than the organiser's route description had suggested. But the early kilometres passed without too much trouble, albeit it was too warm to be feeling completely comfortable.

At about 30km the first signs of trouble started to show, I lost rhythm and with it the comfort I should have maintained much further into the 100km route before the usual 'dig deep' stage. By 35km I was starting to panic, something was not right and it wasn't like a typical lull that I know well from running ultras. As I hit the 14.5km loop on the outskirts of Tarquinia (to be run 4 times) I suddenly started to slow and my pace dropped by 30odd seconds per mile. I knew then that whatever was up with me was catastrophic. Soon after I had come to the decision to pull out which I did at the 45km aid station.

I know deep down some of the factors that may have contributed to my poor performance but I've now got plenty of time to mull it all over and remedy things before racing again next year. No more ultra races this year; definitely time for some r&r plus time with much neglected girlfriend, friends and family!

Looking at the big picture this is the first time I've really taken a step backwards for the 3 or 4 years I've been running competitively. I've had a good spell and inevitably a blip was going to come at some stage, it was just gut-wrenching that it came when I was wearing my GB vest. Being philosophical maybe it's someone's way of saying I need a rest, or maybe just an event to help re-kindle my motivation? Whatever happens I'm looking forward to a fresh start in 2009 and plenty of race-planning in the interim!

Thanks to all for showing interest and the messages of support.

IAU 100km World Cup - GB team line-up

2008-11-05T13:19:00.001Z

See http://www.ukathletics.net/media/news/november-2008/04-11-08-iau/ for details of the GB line-up for this weekend's race.

Red, White and Blue

2008-11-04T18:22:00.005Z

Well, I'm now the proud owner of a second red, white and blue vest; the colours of our great nation! My GB kit arrived a couple of weeks ago and is now laid on the bedroom floor like some sort of military display. On Saturday I will wear it with pride, running against some of the best ultra runners in the world representing 33 different nations. I will be a proud man.

When I think about it, running an international race over 100kms is probably one of the greatest challenges there is. I can't think of many other international championship events which compete? OK, there is of course the 24 hour event, but that really is nuts. But then again running long is the norm for me, it's what I do best and it's how I can show my true strength. I will go out there on Saturday and run with pride, but at a sensible pace early on to try to achieve my main goal which is a sub 7hour time. It has been a long time since a UK athlete has run sub-7hours for the 100km, and it is about time someone did. I will have a good go.

With a bit of luck I can post the results and some initial thoughts on the race soon after it finishes on Saturday, watch this space......

Here's me doing battle with one of the German runners in Winschoten, September 2007

Night Running

2008-10-11T22:09:00.004+01:00

As sunrise gets later and sundown earlier I find myself a runner of the night all of a sudden! It's that time of year again when one becomes a 'townie' runner again, confined to the lit pavements of urban areas to get the miles in before and after work during the week. On occasions the headtorch will come out to hit the local trails in the dark although it's a bit of a waste of time with vision limited to a c.5metre radius. It's also mentally a tough time of year. My training routine hasn't changed at all, but the daylight hours have, and all of sudden it's dark when it used to be light, and my body is telling me it's not the right time to run.

I do however enjoy running in the autumn and winter months save for those days of extreme weather. On Monday morning of this week I opened the curtains to find the first decent frost of the year and a murky fog lurking out in the darkness. So the running tights were dusted off, so too the beanie and a long sleeve top. Suddenly my usual 6am 5 miler had a completely different feel to it, and I loved every minute of it. I was well wrapped up - nice and warm - which brought about a nice feeling of comfort and self-satisfaction, particularly knowing most folk were still tucked up in bed.

It got me thinking about the timing of races, and when the best time to peak for a race is. For example many people say they don't like running the London marathon in spring due the winter training required. Personally I prefer to train when it's cooler so for me a race in spring or late autumn is fine and probably preferred. Training is never easy whenever/ wherever it's done, I know all about that at the moment.

I'm now in my peak training weeks for the 100km World Cup in November with two sessions most days, the majority on the roads. The biggest challenge has been improving leg speed after Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a race which seems to do the opposite. Having said that, there is no better motivator than the chance to run in a GB vest, so every session i'm putting everything in to get in the best possible shape. I appreciate just how fortunate I am to be able to do what I do, so I have to relish the opportunity.

A lot of people ask how my training is going. The answer if probably the one that most runners give pre-race, a bit up and down really. But thinking back, there are very few races I have run where the build-up has been perfect. It doesn't seem to work like that with ultra running. Training to become fitter and to run faster seems to be like walking a tight-rope, it's very easy to topple over by over doing it. So day-by-day it's a case of keeping well, avoid colds, bugs etc, and putting in quality training with clear purpose. It's easier said than done, particularly with family, friends, work and other 'normal' commitments. But if it was easy, then I probably wouldn't be doing it...........

Happy night running!

The North Face: Athletes' Blog

2008-10-03T13:30:00.002+01:00

Here's a link to The North Face athlete's blog which includes some further thoughts on my UTMB experience this year:

http://thenorthfaceeu.typepad.com/ultratrail/2008/09/the-north-face.html

Western States 2009 (take II)

2008-09-30T21:30:00.004+01:00

Entry in and place confirmed for Western States 2009......

After the cancellation of this year's race due to forest fires the organisers offered places for the 2009 race to all those on the 2008 start list. It wasn't a particularly difficult decision to make, but it still involves a massive commitment both in terms of training and travel, and the decision required some serious thought. It is also the most prestigious ultra in the US and very hard to get a place, so the opportunity had to be taken.

Anyway, I have bitten the bullet and confirmed my entry so I will definitely be there at the start line in Squaw Valley next June. Looking forward to it already......

The Western States trail dropping down from Emigrant's Pass (June 2008)

The final climb up to Watson's monument at the top of Emigrant's Pass (June 2008)

Boddington - 50km Time Trial

2008-09-30T17:06:00.002+01:00

On Saturday I ran what must be one of the UK's smallest ever races. Well technically it was a race, but at the same time it wasn't really. It was a 50km time trial, specifically setup so Lizzy Hawker and myself could 'prove fitness' (UKA rules) for the forthcoming World 100km championships taking place on 08 November in Italy. Prove fitness: we both did. Lizzy ran a superb time of 3hr 29mins, I was just ahead in 3hrs 22mins. Mentally it was a difficult 'race' to run. We were really just against the clock rather than each other, although the target times which we both achieved were not particularly easy.

Despite my admitted scepticism, it turned out to be quite a pleasant affair. The course was the one used for the annual Boddington 50km, just north of Gloucester, on a 3.5km flat road loop along pleasant country lanes which were very peaceful aside from plenty of farm traffic! Conditions were good - foggy and chilly with no breeze - perfect for fast running.

It was really a case of job well done. It is still only four weeks since the Ultra Trail, and to be running that sort of distance, at a brisk-ish pace, is still a bit risky. But we can both now look forward to the event itself in less than six weeks time. Back to the speedwork on the roads.......

Hardmoors (110) Heroes

2008-09-30T16:38:00.007+01:00

The Hardmoors 110 is a new race to the ultra running calendar and from the evidence of it's first running last weekend (26-28 September 2008) it will grow and become a great success in years to come. The UK has very few ultra trail races above 80miles in distance, in fact you could probably count them on one hand, so it is great to see a new event established.

In my view a classic route is the most important criteria for a successful trail race and that's where Hardmoors scores maximum points. There is no doubting the Cleveland Way, which runs 110 miles from Helmsley to Filey, is an absolute classic, and extremely tough at the same time. It combines classic rolling hills, remote moorland, coastal cliff paths and plenty of cumulative ascent/ descent. The runners reported it was more UTMB than WHW, in other words a serious challenge.

I was due to be marshalling a checkpoint for the race but unfortunately had to pull out due to commitments elsewhere, so instead I attended the prizegiving in Filey on Sunday lunchtime where there was a fantastic post race atmosphere, and plenty of talk about a hugely successful race.

The race organisers, Jon and Martin, deserved all the praise they got for putting on an excellent event, and all the signs are that it will grow to be as successful as races like the WHW race which this year filled it's 175 places in a matter of weeks.

L to R: Mike Mason, Jon Steele (Race Director), Julian Pansiot, Mark Barnes, Murdo McEwan, Jez Bragg

Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc - 166km - 9400m +/-

2008-09-06T21:51:00.002+01:00

I’ve now discovered the measure of a bad race; not being able to face the blog write-up for a week…….

My UTMB run was a massive personal disappointment; I finished way off target in 38th place, in a time of 27hours 28 minutes. I had high hopes this year, and for some reason, it just didn’t quite come together. To start with the heat was a big factor. My core body temperature was above what it should have been before the start, and then the humid early evening conditions had me suffering far too early on in the race. The sweat was pouring off on the first climb up Col de Voza, and I simply couldn’t get enough fluids and salts back into my body to keep everything working as it should do. Coupled with the heat my stomach was bad and simply wasn’t playing ball. It is a long standing problem which causes me trouble even when I’m not running, and it was just unfortunate that my recent bad patch coincided with the race. In the end it took nine hours – until Lac Combal – for me to settle down into the race properly, feel as though I was in control and to start running with some purpose.

In and out of Cormayeur I felt great, and at that point I actually felt it wasn’t too late to pull back enough time for a respectable finish. My climb up to Refuge Bertone was strong, and all the way up Val Ferret I was a new man, but perhaps not surprisingly, my troubles returned on the way up to Grand Col de Ferret to the extent that I was just getting plain frustrated. From there I was starting to lose time again when I desperately needed to be pushing on, and so followed a painfully slow down hill to Praz du Fort followed by a crawl up to Champex. There I met my fabulous support crew who tracked me right through to the end including Caroline and members of her family. They provided massive psychological support and dragged me through the final ups and downs of the race to ensure I did see it through. Without them the outcome would have been much worse, that’s for sure.

Without wanting to dwell too much on my personal disappointment, the UTMB race itself is undoubtedly going from strength to strength. It was great to be involved in what has to be the world’s biggest and best 100 miler - what other race comes close? Once again Chamonix had a special buzz from the race being in town and the support, organisation and strength of the field all matched the race's world class status. No doubt the bar will be raised even higher next year and even more people will want to be part of it.

UTMB: final build-up

2008-08-24T14:47:00.002+01:00

Well the final count down has begun, it's now just five days until the biggest, and arguably the hardest, ultra in the European calendar: The North Face Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc.

I've been out in the alps for a couple of days now, staying in a campsite in La Fouly, Switzerland, right next to the TMB route. It's a cracking spot, reasonably high at 1,600m, but wonderfully peaceful and a great place to spend a quiet couple of days gathering thoughts before I head to Chamonix on Tuesday. I've done a couple of easy runs, today up to Grand Col du Ferret which was spectacular with cloudless skies.

The temperature seems cooler than last year when even at night the runners complained of it being too hot for running. Last night there was a ground frost and I suspect it will be the same tonight.

I'm certainly looking forward to running this year, aiming to have a much better run than previous attempts when I haven't trained specifically for the event. Hopefully my leg strength will be better and I can maintain a better pace.

It is such an epic race in so many ways, the important thing is to give the course the respect it deserves by setting out at a sensible pace. With the new 700m climb up to Flegere right at the end, it will be the runner who judges the pace just right who comes out top. Good luck to all the British runners, let's hope we get a few in the top 10 this year!

Battling it out at the 'Devil O' The Highlands' foot race

2008-08-11T21:06:00.003+01:00

Wow, what a race. This year’s Devil O’ the Highlands race was one to remember. I actually wish I could have watched the battle between Marcus Scotney and myself as a spectator because it was an all out, no-holds-barred, crazy-paced clash which provided some great drama.

The first 19 miles or so to the checkpoint at Blackrock Cottage (Glen Coe) were pretty uneventful, although the split time of around 2hrs 11mins was quick and set the tone for some serious record breaking. Five of us ran a pack to that point; Andy Davies, Andy Rankin, Ben Kemp, Marcus Scotney and myself. Thereafter things started to get going.

I was first out of the Glen Coe checkpoint after a quick refill of drinks bottles and I decided to put on a short burst to see if I could split things up a bit. Marcus had other ideas, my mini-break was soon countered and we were back running as pair within a few hundred yards, with Andy Rankin close behind. The faster pace did however continue to the foot of the Devil’s Staircase at which point there was just a few yards separating the three of us.

From the top of the Devil’s Staircase Marcus ran an incredibly fast descent, moving away from me at a remarkable rate. I responded by upping the pace, but I couldn’t match his downhill speed and soon lost sight. Into Kinlochleven his advantage was a solid couple of minutes which helped focus my mind on a fast re-fuel. I probably stood still at the checkpoint for a maximum of 15 seconds, enough time to get some calories poured down my neck and grab a couple of fresh handheld bottles. As I told my checkpoint crew, there was a battle on.

I gathered my thoughts on the climb out of Kinlochleven – 14 miles to go, focusing on a fast crossing of Lairig Mor to close the gap on Marcus well before the descent into Fort William where I new he would have the advantage. The twists, turns and undulations of the vehicle track across Lairig Mor provided a great hunting ground for me. I’m not sure whether Marcus was looking back, but the chances are he wouldn’t see me if he did, yet I had near constant sight of him about 400metres ahead where I could monitor his progress and roughly time the gap. The trouble was, as the miles clocked by, the gap wasn’t closing. I was pushing maxed-out to try and reel him in but he wasn’t having any of it and matched my pace consistently. Finally, on the approach to Lundavra, I started to close him down. His relentless pace finally slowed and I took the lead.

The final section through the woods and down into Fort William brought back some very special memories of my WHW run in 2006. I was in the same situation again, motivated to run all out to ensure I set the fastest possible time I could. 5hours 22minutes was my final time – a new course record - which I was absolutely delighted with as it completes my set of three along with the WHW race (2006) and The Highland Fling Race (2008).

Marcus finished close behind in 5hrs 32mins and local Fort William runner, George Cairns, third in 5hrs 47mins. Remarkably, seven runners finished under the previous course record of 6hrs 08mins, which in my view is down to Saturday’s perfect combination of great running conditions and a highly competitive field.

Having had a few days to reflect on my run, I have come to the conclusion that it was my best performance in a race – ever. I know that is big statement, but I am pretty sure it’s true. Never before have I been pushed so far and so hard in a race. The extent to which the record was broken says it all – 46 minutes, over a mile a minute faster than the previous record. That’s no disrespect to John Kennedy - the previous holder - it just shows what can happen when the right competition, conditions and support are there, and I was very lucky to have all three.

Support is where I would like to end these ramblings on Saturday’s race – a massive thank you to George and Alasdair for their slick support operation on Saturday, what a team! They came in at the last minute, nothing was ever too much trouble and supported me like they had known me for years. I owe them big time……

Check out the full race results at http://www.devilothehighlandsfootrace.co.uk/

Next up – The North Face Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc on 29 August.

Corporate Running

2008-08-06T21:16:00.002+01:00

Despite running being a big time-consumer in my life, one has to earn a living too - for me it's managing construction projects for property consultants, Drivers Jonas. Our marketing team as always been pretty on the ball but when they came up with the idea of me running down a Birmingham canal with a brief case, I wasn't particularly convinced. But they've come up with a rather amusing article which I thought I would share, for entertainment value.....

http://www.driversjonas.com/?doc=28138

.....and yes, I did get some strange looks when we did the photos.

Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc - 3 day training weekend

2008-08-01T22:36:00.006+01:00

Any UTMB veterans returning for this year’s race (29-31 August) may be in for a big shock; one of Europe’s toughest races has just got a whole load harder. Organisers of the UTMB have added a significant final climb at the 152km point of the race so this year, from Col des Montets, the route now goes up, not down. The climb will take the competitors up to the Flegere lift station via the Grand Balcon Sud path, a twist in the tale if there ever was one. This was one of many interesting things I found out in a fabulous three day adventure on the UTMB last weekend.

I travelled over to the alps with Lucy Colquhoun, a fellow WHW record holder, and Allen Smalls, a great training buddy of late. Arriving to beautiful alpine sunshine we camped a night at the picturesque Mer de Glace site just outside Chamonix and made an early start at around 6am on Friday morning. Kit choice was an entertaining debate that lasted well over an hour the night before. We would carry everything we needed for three days out on the trail, although overnight stops would be a hotel the first night and a pension the second, and provisions were topped up regularly en route. The trick was to keep everything to a minimum. That inevitably resulted in below standard hygiene but frankly, we didn’t care. The forecast was good and we would travel as a group of three so we erred on the side of fast and light as opposed to safety first; a joint decision.

The run down valley to Les Houches was very pleasant but we were soon into the not-so-genteel climb up to Col de Voza and La Charme thereafter. We were all quickly awakened to the ‘sharpness’ of the alpine climbs, something that catches a lot of people out in the race, particularly given there are so many major climbs over the course of the race. From La Charme followed a fast descent into the town of Saint-Gervais, the town which knows how to party on race night. It was much quieter last Friday morning around 9am, and a pleasant setting for a quick re-supply of drinks.

The next section along the valley bottom to Les Contamines was surprisingly eventful thanks to some embarrassing navigation errors by me, but we all managed to see the funny side and arrived safely in town where temperatures were really hotting up. We took a generous stop to ensure we were all well re-fuelled for the big climb out of town up to Col du Bonhomme which, given the now scorching conditions, was hugely energy sapping, along with the effects of the altitude. The regular mountains streams that crossed the trail proved to be a saviour as we cooled ourselves down as often as possible. Topping out after the 1,300m (net) climb was a relief to us all, probably the main reason for our blast down the other side which was done in a traditional route one – straight down the mountain – British fell running fashion. It must have been quite a sight because the numerous walkers on that side of the mountain seemed to stop in their tracks, perhaps for safety reasons?

We hit Les Contamines mid-afternoon and were all feeling the affects of the heat but there was still plenty of trail ahead, and our day against the clock had to continue if we were to stand any chance of an evening pizza in Cormayeur. Onwards and upwards, to La Ville de Glaciers following the nagging road climb. Lucy’s ’20 questions’ game seemed to help morale and provide entertainment before the steepness of the final clamber up Col de la Seigne at 2,516m reduced us all to silence. A moment of reflection on the French/ Italian border at the top of the pass was one of the high points of the weekend for me. The mountains were at their finest in the late afternoon sunshine, and fluffy white clouds gave the scenery even more depth. Another fast descent to Lac Combal, this time lead by Lucy, set us up for the final climb of the day up to Arete Mont Favre, and boy was it a grind. We were all feeling it now, and the final factor in the challenge was low blood sugars. We rallied as a team, twice, and coaxed each other well to the top of the final descent into Cormayeur, and eventually made to our hotel after around 14 hours on the hoof. Unfortunately the pizza craving had faded, and the heat had actually made us all not feel like eating, but for function more than anything else it had to be done.

With 78 of the total 166kms under our belts the three of us felt a little more relaxed about day two, so after a leisurely start to the day we set off from Cormayeur at around 9.30am. In true UTMB fashion there was no opportunity to warm up our heavy feeling legs as we were straight into a steep and compact climb from the start, up the switchbacks and through the woods to Refuge Bertone, the legendary refuge that towers above Cormayeur town. Thankfully the woods provided plenty of shade; we were in for a hot one again. Onto the contouring path running along Val Ferret at high level, the views across to the Mont Blanc massif were incredible, and with just gentle undulations here and there, the opportunity to enjoy the scenery was gratefully taken. We soon closed in on the head of the valley and dropped down to Arnuva for a quick re-fuel before hitting the big climb of the day, Grand Col du Ferret. It’s not the biggest climb on the UTMB route, but it certainly felt like it for the three of us, as we grinded out the relentless switchbacks to take us to the Swiss border at the top. Being a Saturday there were plenty of walkers, runners and MTBers (madness) out on the trail, but we just kept heads down and maintained progress despite the curious looks from onlookers.

We didn’t hang around at the top either, instead descended out of the brisk wind to find a pleasant spot to eat before making our way down to La Peule and eventually the bottom of Val Ferret (Swiss side). Once beyond La Peule we bumped into the back-markers of The North Face team who were out on the UTMB trail following the same three day format as us. It was Keith Byrne and partner Sara who were good spirits despite Sara’s knee troubles. It was at this point we realised we had missed a new section of this year’s route which follows a single track grassy trail from La Peule, in a more direct line to La Fouly, avoiding the prolonged switchbacks along the gravel vehicle track which has never been particularly exciting. We were hundreds of metres below the turn-off point by that point so we opted for the old route, over the river and down the road to La Fouly. More food and drink, then a blast down the gently descending riverside path toward Praz du Fort, surprising a French runner who overtook us hours before as we cruised past. It was Lucy who helped pushed us on. That girl knows how to run, particularly on the flats and descents, leading from the front!

Lucy leads the charge down valley to Praz du Fort

As the day went on, the three of us seemed to get more and more laid back, enjoying the running, adventure and variety of trails. Praz du Fort proved to be our favourite town of the trip, a peaceful group of rustic alpine buildings, many overhanging the narrow road that meanders through. Window boxes, livestock and vegetable patches all made it feel homely and quaint. A dip in the village fountain helped to keep our cool before the prolonged and disorientating final climb of the day up to Champex-Lac, sitting as it does perched on the end of a hanging valley.

Al and myself soak our weary legs in the Champex lake

It was great to reach our overnight stop in good time at around 5.30pm and as we ambled through town were welcomed by Kim and Topher Gaylord (President of The North Face Europe) who dived out of a café to catch us as we passed by. I first met Topher at the West Highland Way race in 2006, and subsequently got in touch when I joined the TNF team. We were delighted to join them for a drink and catch-up, just as Spaniard Sastres was putting the finishing touches to a great Tour du France performance in the final time trial, being shown on TV in the cafe. Topher and Kim were leading a group of ten or so runners around the UTMB course, including the legendary American runner Scott Jurek, who was back in the Alps to prepare for this year’s race.

After an overnight stay in a great pension on the main road in Champex, we re-joined the TNF group first thing at the pre-arranged RV point outside Leon’s patisserie. Leon, as I understand it, is the person behind this year’s ‘Petit Trotte a Leon’ a crazy multi-day, non-stop team event being run prior to this year’s UTMB. Needless to say there was a great welcome from him with so many elite runners hanging out at his shop. After taking the golden opportunity to buy a gourmet lunch from the patisserie we made a start on day three, running in convoy up to the base of Bovine, and straight up to the top without too much time to think. With Topher, Scott, and French superstar Sebastien Chaigneau amongst the ranks the pace was quick, particularly up the climbs from Topher and Sebastien where their alpine fitness and excellent technique using poles clearly shone through. On the descent from Bovine we reformed as a convoy and blasted down to the bottom without too much ado.

L to R - Scott Jurek, Kim Gaylord, Sebastien Chaigneau. At the top of Bovine.

L to R - Topher Gaylord, Jez Bragg, Allen Smalls, Lucy Culqohoun. At the top of Bovine.

Again the group split up on the climb out of Trient, the two guys with ‘four legs’ storming up the quickest, leaving myself and Scott to joke about our naivety at not using poles, although we both found out minds quickly changing as the day went on. The fastest running of the three days came from Catogne down to Vallorcine where the four of us practically raced to the bottom with our competitive streaks shining through. Lunch in Vallorcine as a group also provided an opportunity for the presentation of Topher’s birthday cake, a remarkably intact piece of blackcurrant tart transported by Scott - a great effort. We also grazed and chatted as a group for a short while before the gentle climb up to Col du Montets, the start point for the race’s new ‘twist in the tale’ climb up to Flegere. As with all these alpine climbs, I found the first few hundred metres the worst as my legs struggled to change gear from running on the relative flat. Eventually they did, but once again Topher and Sebastien we were well into the distance, so I settled for my routine position of third (not that I was racing…..). The new climb is nothing less than sadistic, coming at the 152km point, and being roughly 800m in vertical ascent. The other added difficultly is the technical trail that links the top of the climb, Tete aux Vents, with the Flegere cable car station, namely the Grand Balcon Sud. It is certainly not a fast section and awkard drop offs, twist and turns all make for a painfully slow final high level section before the final descent to Chamonix.

All I could think as we descended back down to the Chamonix valley was how massively challenging it will be on race day. The organisers have made a significant change to the route, so even more so than previous years, it will be the smart runner who shines through. I suspect the journey of this year’s race will a hugely emotional one, it will break many hearts and make many dreams. I just hope it will be the latter for me.

Despite it being my fourth Tour du Mont Blanc - two race completions and two training loops - what really strikes me is how much of an epic adventure it always is. The three of us came away from the training weekend with very special memories, as well as the training and experience that will hopefully provide us with the race performance we are looking for.

IAU 100km World Cup, Italy, 08 November 2008

2008-07-20T19:19:00.001+01:00

I am delighted to report I have been selected to represent Great Britain at this year's IAU 100km World Cup taking place in Italy on 08 November. I will be running as an individual as no other male runners have achieve the qualifying standard. This year's race will start in Tuscania, nr Rome, and finish in Tarquinia. I believe the course comprises a linear section of approximately 35km followed by a number of laps of a loop. In any event is sounds more interesting than the pancake flat 10x10km course of last year's event at Winschoten which was mentally extremely tough. I am also hoping there will be some significant undulations to suit my running strengths.

I will begin my build up immediately after the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc race at the end of August and will hopefully provide a good platform for the Commonwealth 100km Championships now confirmed for September 2009.

It certainly doesn't get any better than running for GB and I am delighted to have earned my second GB vest in consecutive years.

A 2 Day Paddy Buckley Round

2008-07-16T23:11:00.001+01:00

Last weekend, with two days clear in my diary, I headed to the hills to do some TMB-specific training in the Snowdonia area with running friend Allen Smalls. We decided to have a bash at the Paddy Buckley Round (PBR) route following a two day format.

The PBR is probably the least known and attempted of the UK rounds, but nevertheless it’s one of the classics. It includes no less than 47 peaks ranging between 466m and 1085m in height, covering a distance of roughly 62miles and 28,000ft of ascent/ descent. The record for the PBR is an impressive 18hours 10mins, held jointly between Mark Hartell and Christopher Near, the runs remarkably being completed on separate occasions.

After a hasty overnight camp in an empty National Trust car park in the village of Nantmor we got off to an early start at just gone six on Saturday morning and were straight into the first climb of the day, Bryn Banog (519m) which forms the shoulder to the more impressive Moel Hebog (782m). Within a few miles we were running fabulous untracked terrain and it soon became clear that this was classic PBR terrain, typical of the less trodden parts of Snowdonia. What struck me was how typically British it all was; sheep tracks, heather, bog, rocky outcrops, damp underfoot, misty rain and non-existent paths. Being very patriotic, there lied a great deal of appeal!

What a contrast to the comparatively manicured trails of California I had been running just a few weeks before. In California the challenge was the heat and altitude but in Snowdonia the challenge of the damp and relative cold, and terrain that just isn’t particularly conducive to a quick progress on the ground.

We soon we had a handful of peaks under out belt and found ourselves on the impressive Nantle ridge which links the peaks of Trum y Ddysgl (709m) and Mynydd Drws y Coad (695m) and providing an exciting level of exposure with good views between the intermittent cloud.

After a short stop-off at Rhyd-Ddu village we pressed on to maintain momentum and soon found ourselves climbing the gentle but rutted slopes of Craig Wen (608m) before joining the ridge up to the more distinctive Yy Aran (747m) and the real start of the Snowdon range. It was obvious we were in vicinity of Snowdon by the streams of hikers we came across traipsing up the well-formed tracks. It was very entertaining to see their reactions to us flying past in shorts and other minimalist kit, despite the cold and wet weather, being quite the opposite to their their head-to-toe Gore Tex outfits. Despite it being mid-July the conditions at the top of Snowdon (1,085m) were grim and wintry but I enjoyed the long climb up taking a different route to my usual from the Llanberis side. Approaching the summit it was a strange feeling to come across so many people, the change from the peace and quiet of the early part of the day was stark and uncomfortable so after a quick touch of the trig point we were down the other side making a fast descent to Cwm Brwynog (674m) via Garnedd Ugain (1,065m). From here we were on to a stunning grassy section starting with Moel Cynghorion (674m) and ending on Moel Eilo (880m) with beautifully graded and even slopes to run between before a long and gentle descent to Llanberis and straight into Pete’s Eats to refuel.

Feeling a little stronger we began the climb up Elider Fach (795m) taking a long-winded and steep route to the summit via Nant Peris – mistake. Whilst this is probably the quickest route avoiding the ‘out of bounds’ quarries, and the one recommended in Allen’s book, we decided that cutting through the quarries and up the inclines was probably the done thing for the PBR – despite not strictly being legal – but an important cut-through to maintain progress and avoid the detour. To compund matters the climb was a brutal one, and we both started to feel it, but we got to the rather disappointing peak eventually and moved straight on to Eildir Fawr (923m) and the start of some superb ridge running across the majestic Glyders range. We worked our way along the ridge, enjoying the many runnable sections, and working our way round to the distinctive standalone peak of Tryfan (915m) with its impressive jagged faces forming a classic glacial pyramidal peak. The sun came out for this, our last climb of day, and somehow rejuvenated us for the final descent of our epic fourteen hour day. It was first time we had been warmed by the sun all day and as I took a moment to enjoy the view at the top of this incredible peak I felt a deep sleep on one of the slabs at the top could easily have been achieved! Allen dragged me on and we took the steep descent down the north face very steadily, eventually reaching our stopover point at Idwal Cottage YH just after 8pm.

Our start to the second day, Sunday, followed much the same pattern at the first. We were out the door just gone 6am, but this time welcome by much clearer skies and higher cloud making us both feel positive despite admitted weariness. The climb up Pen yer Ole Wen (978m) began pretty much opposite the YH, so not much time to warm up, but the steep technical ascent demanded plenty of concentration and not too much time to think about tired legs. We made an impressively fast ascent claiming the first peak of the day within an hour, and followed the ridge to the rocky summits of Carnedd Dafydd (1,044m) and Carnedd Llewelyn (1064m). Dropping off Carnedd Llewelyn to the south east we picked up a new, technical ridge, which lead us across to two further peaks to complete our work on the Carnedds and we then ran hard the descent to the A5 and Capel Curig for more re-fueling at the legendary Pinnacle Café. Nutritionists look away – I managed to put away a bacon and egg bap, several welsh cakes, a bottle of coke and a cup of tea in the space of about 15minutes. All I can say is that my body was craving it.

But it actually seemed to work to kill of the lethargy I had felt all morning, and our ascent of what turned out to be my favourite peak, Moel Siadbod (872m), was impressively efficient. Impressive too were the views from the top, particularly towards the Snowdon range. The majority of the peaks we had climbed so far were visible, and it was fascinating to see them from afar, and to string together the various ridges and lines the PBR follows.

Descending on smooth grass we had bright blue skies to light up a perfect backdrop, and so the sequence of relatively low grassy peaks that connect Moel Siadbod and the Moelywns was for me the most enjoyable section of running of the weekend. We were relatively care free at this stage being close to the end, so we were pushing hard and taking a few risks. We progressed quickly, eventually arriving at Allt Fawr (698m) around 3pm, with time still in hand to finish the remaining six peaks. But this is where it all went horribly wrong. In a moment of navigation madness during a discussion on the best route option to the next peak, Foel Ddu, we fixed it in our heads that it was directly in front of us. It wasn’t, that was in fact Cnicht, our final peak. It was just was on the final push to the summit that I began to feel that something wasn’t quite right, and when the penny finally dropped we were gutted! But it was too late to make amends at that point, we both agreed to call it day and make the journey home before it got too late. So we ended up completing 90% of the route, ending up with a bizarre twist right at the end.

The two days on PBR certainly provided some excellent training for TMB, both routes having similar total ascent/ descent, albeit TMB being longer in distance. For me it was all about building some decent leg strength, and from the evidence of today when I did another day out in Snowdonia, it’s on the way. Leg strength on the climbs and descents is the key thing for the TMB race so I intend to continue my hill focus as the race fast approaches.

Western States 100 mile Endurance Run 2008: the race that never was

2008-07-02T20:45:00.000+01:00

For the first time in the thirty-five year history of the race, this year’s Western States Endurance run was cancelled due to widespread forest fires in Northern California. The fires were caused by a storm of dry lightning strikes which passed over the Sierra Nevada mountains during the weekend of 21/ 22 June. Western States is widely regarded as the premier 100 mile trail race in the US, if not the world. It’s the race that the best trail runners want to run. For me it was a dream opportunity to compete against the world's best, but a dream that was broken by an act of god.

The decision to cancel the race was made by the board of directors on Wednesday (25 June). In my mind there was no doubting it was the right one. Squaw Valley, the starting point for the race and the host venue for the 1960 winter Olympics, was engulfed in smoke and further down the course within a mile of the trail, the fires raged and potentially posed a major safety issue to runners and firefighters alike. The concept of running 100 miles across mountain wilderness, at altitude, in high temperatures and within the 30 hour cut-off is hard enough on it’s own, the runners didn’t need pollution levels recorded to be ten times above safe levels to add to the challenge.

It is only now, having left Squaw Valley to return to the UK, that the impact of the race cancellation has really hit me. For the last six months, since my name was confirmed on the start list – a significant challenge in itself – the race has been at the forefront of my daily thoughts and dreams. Before I had even experienced the atmosphere the race generates in California, I knew from research that this is the one to run, the one to peak for, the one to try and win. And that was my mission for the year, one that was aborted right at the last minute.

So from Wednesday 25 June, after the decision had been made, it was plan B. From the organisers that meant a series of activities to keep those already in Squaw Valley occupied. For me that meant making the best of the remaining time left by running and exploring spectacular trails in and around Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I have run plenty of trails in various parts of the world but to me, these are simply the best. The diversity of terrain is incredible; lush woodland, desert-like stretches of sand, rocky outcrops, patches of snow, scree slopes, creeks, 10,000ft peaks, spectacular vistas, solitude, silence, altitude, everything a trail runner could want and more. There were also some the world’s best trail runners hanging out in the area, all booked into accommodation for the race, so it was also a golden opportunity to meet other runners, run together and share some adventure, stories, advice and beers! I met some great folk, Paul Charteris the massively committed and enthusiastic Kiwi, Simon Mtuy the Mount Kilimanjaro running guide from Tanzania who also happens to hold the ascent/ descent world record for the mountain, plus a host of others all of whom it was a pleasure to meet and share stories with.

There are certainly many memories to take away from the trip, but it is still hugely disappointing that the 2008 Western States will be remembered for all the wrong reasons; the race that never was. I am taking away with me a better knowledge of the terrain, course and likely race conditions and hope to return in 2009 with a better chance of a top performance. Until then, it will be another 12 months of Western States dreams……