Alan Lucker

6th Nov The Lancaster Half Marathon

2011-11-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

This was mythird successive year of doing the Lancaster Half Marathon. It is hard to turnthis race down, as it one of the few races that I can walk to the start of fromhome. Despite my lack of specific training I decided I was probably fit enoughfrom my UTMB and RRR training to achieve a PB. So I lined up with just over 700other runners to try and beat last years’ time of 1 hour 28 m 40 s, which isalso my Half Marathon PB.

I set offwell doing 6 min 35 s miles in perfect sunny cool weather, on the usual coursewhich is pretty much an out and back to Glasson Dock from Salt Ayre athleticstrack, with a loop at the turn onto a road and then back on the same outward cyclepath. Just after half way there is the only hill on the course, I decided totake it easy on the ascent, as it was here that my race unravelled a bit lastyear. This strategy worked and I managed to maintain my speed all the way to theend, overtaking those that were slowing in the last 3 miles by the river Lune.I had to push in the final mile when I felt the lack of training kicking in,but manage to push through and get a PB of 1 hour 26 m 4. I was pleased withthis new bench mark and with the way I finished. I was 46^th out of706 which is also pretty pleasing.

20th Oct Cumbian Traverse atempt

2011-11-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

It was awhile back now and only 5 days after the RRR 50; but true to form I am slow toreport on failure; this time it was Bill and I having an attempt on theCumbrian Traverse. It is a South to North crossing of the Lakeland hills itincludes 21 tops of and 35 miles and 12,000 feet. Starting from Broughton mills andending at Keswicks Moot Hall.

To summarisewe set off fast in cold weather, it clouded over and got cold at Dow Crag, Genemissed us at our planned rendezvous at 3 shires stone. We carried on withoutenough food, in mist we got lost and cold just after Crinkle crags. Got back ontrack and slowed down until reaching Honister, still no Gene and we had nomobile phone. So now very hungry and worried we stopped at the quarry andcontacted her. She was in Keswick, don’t really know why, but we decided tocall it a day only 9 miles and about 2,000 feet from the end.

It was a bitdisappointing to finish that way, but it leaves me with more desire to do itnext year, either with someone or on my own, and maybe try for a quick one inideal conditions.

15th Oct Rowbothams Round Rotherham 50 Mile Race

2011-10-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Waking up on a Gym floor at 4:15 am is a novel way to prepare for a 50 mile Ultra race. But it is one of the nice quirks of the Rowbotham’s Round Rotherham 50 mile Race. After slowly waking due to the growing noise of the registration of the walkers just yards away for there earlier start of 06:00, I managed to have my breakfast of lukewarm coffee and 3 Alpen cereal bars. It was a very cold morning and I started to turn my attention to the clothes I would start in; I decided on compression shorts, a lightweight Pertex Montane jacket over a t-shirt, and a light hat with a cap over it. This proved to be just about right.

So at 06:50 I reluctantly left the warmth and bright lights of the gym, for the cold and dark of the car park outside. After a short race briefing we were off in the first of glimmers of daylight. I ran with Ross, who I know from the UTMB for the first 2 miles, then settled into a slightly faster pace and went away from him. Unexpectedly I did not see him again until after the finish. I did not know the route, and with no proper route markings I had to hold strip maps in my hand to make sure I was on the correct route. At the start with so many other runners around this wasn’t as necessary as later on, but I still did it just to try and relate the pictorial style maps to what was on the ground, so that I could do it easier when it was more vital later on.

Up to the first checkpoint I was with a large group of runners. But as we neared CP2 I headed off to try and catch a guy that clearly new the route. I never made a great effort but it was enough to drop a group of about 5 runners that I had been with for a while. Once I had earned this break I didn’t want to slow down to make the navigation easier so I followed the red vested runner for about 3 miles, never getting nearer than about 200 meters, which is not quite near enough to mean I could just follow. I continued like this, losing a bit of ground to him as he went through checkpoints slightly quicker than me. After the halfway CP I thought I was closing in on him across the open fields so I took off my jacket and hat. Whilst faffing about I lost more ground to him and decided that I would make an effort to catch him.

I was still enjoying the beautiful day, the mist hanging in the valley, as we moved through countryside to urban areas along canals and through fields. It was a really mixed terrain route, but mainly flat. But the strain of having to read these maps and not being able to close this gap was getting too me. My nice even pace had now been upped to more of a pushed effort. I made a few errors across roads onto new fields, and frustratingly still couldn’t get nearer than 200 meters. It was a bit of a blinkered effort, my whole race had narrowed down to catching this guy in front. Silly really but at the time it seemed to make perfect sense. At this point I was still running at about 7 hour pace. But this was about to change.

I caught him whilst feeling that I had myself slowed and was now feeling too tired for this point in the race. Just before Langold Lake at the 31 mile point, and after actively chasing him for about 10 miles I finally said Hi. I could tell he was going through a bad spell at the same time as me. The 30 mile point must be a tough time in a runnable ultra-race like this. We were both now in “survival mode” still running, as we had the whole way, but at a slower pace. We did walk some of the stiffer climbs. But we ran most of it. At times I felt that I could run faster, but I was worried that the pains in my side from earlier would return ( a lactic acid build up in the abs I think ). So we carried on like this with him navigating effortlessly most of the time apart from one point where I corrected us.

About 2 miles from the end Andy James ran past with some relay runners. It took me a bit too long to think of doing the same as Andy, but eventually I did make a push for the end. I left my running guide behind and made for the finish. I was now moving well and managed a good running rhythm to the finish, which rather quirkily is back in the gym at a desk. The marshal recorded my time of 7 hours 34 mins, and informed me that I was 10^thout of 264 runners and walkers. I am pleased with that. But couldn’t help thinking that if I had, had a good day and not pushed too much at the halfway point I may have been a lot nearer 7 hours. Never mind that’s for next time.

I welcomed my running partner, Ian from Scotland in, he was about 2 minutes behind, then I had a chat with Ian Symmington (a friend of Ross) and found that he had won in 6 hours 43. He overtook the leader Ian Bishop at the 2^nd to last CP and Ian Bishop never knew so was surprised at the final CP to find he was 5 minutes behind the leader. It was a very crafty move by Ian Symmington, great stuff.

Top : About 10 miles in and its still a bit cold.

Bottom left : The strip maps fanned out Bottom right : the proof i did it.

2nd October The Ian Hodgson Relay

2011-10-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

It is always great to compete in relays. Running, in the main is a very individual sport, but the relays give us a chance to compete as a Bowland Fell Runners team. I particularly like the Ian Hodgson Relay as it is a true Fell relay run, on proper fell terrain. I last competed in this in 2007 for an injury / illness hit Bowland A team, and I loved it. So when asked to compete again for a mixed team I was really pleased.

After a less than useful midweek recce of the final leg, I waited with Ali Welsh in squally showers at Hartsop for the leg 3 runners to come in. It was cold and there was mist on the tops so after a discussion with Ali we decided on a low risk strategy of, cutting up off the track early and onto the ridge leading to Hart crag. We also decided to follow the high line around the top of Cofa Pike as the faster line could cost us time in poor visibility.

Soon enough Rowena and Emma were racing towards us with the dibber, and Ali and I were off down the farm track to start the climb of Hart Crag. I was still in a hat jacket and gloves, which would all come off within 10 minutes of running. Over the bridge and then we finally decided to definitely cut up onto the ridge early. This was a tough steep climb, but it did gain us height fast. The jury is still out on whether this is faster than the route straight up the valley. Most teams seemed to think this to be the case as they chose that route. Only 2 other teams near us chose the same line. As we neared Hart Crag we entered the mist, which we would be in until the descent of St Sunday Crag, making the top difficult to spot; but after this Ali found some good lines around to and over Fairfield.

We were both running strong at times battling the wind and mist to spot the lines. But we made it to St Sundays crag in good enough nick to run the ascent and catch a few teams, and one at the very top. Ali picked a great descent line, allowing them to go first and choose a bad line, and we overtook that team without seeing them again. It was good to see the finish fields below and after checking over our shoulders we knew that our position was safe. So we ran relaxed into the finish field; which unexpectedly evoked memories of foot races at junior school; to finish the Bowland mixed relay team’s effort. It was a good effort too as we came 5^th Mixed team, 30^THoverallin 4 hours 52, and collected some prizes for it too. So that capped off a great day, the slate coaster is always a good memento of the day too

Most of the happy mixed team at the finsh in Patterdale. Sarah, Rowena, Me, Ali and Emma

24th September The Sca Fell Pike Race

2011-10-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

It had takenme 3 years to get back to having a go at the Sca Fell Pike race. Encouraged bymy friend Bill Williamsons invite to join him in having a few beers and campingafter the race. To do one of the best fell races and to catch up with a friendwas too good an opportunity to miss.

So onSaturday at 1 pm I found myself lined up with about 70 others ready to race upto the highest point in England and back. Bill and I mused over why this raceis nowhere near as popular as the Ben and Snowdon race. They attract 500 (limited)and 350 runners respectively every year. My thought on it was that it is a veryawkward place to reach; it takes me an hour longer than most other places inthe lake district to drive to. This means most people have to make a longjourney to it. The other problem, or benefit depending on your view, is that thereis no village or town nearby, Wasdale only has a campsite and a pub. I thinkthis adds to the atmosphere of the race but it does not lend itself to a largefield of runners. Soon enough we were off racing through the bottom fields tostart the climb up Lingmel. The lower section of Lingmel is initially climbedbefore traversing across Lingmel col and then up the top section of Sca Fellpike.

I set offquite strong and was soon over the style part way up then I slowed as I hit thesteep rocky section, in order to get my breathing back under control. I couldstill see the leader about 50 meters ahead of the field, I was about 100 metersbehind the leader. Over the brow and onto the flatter section, I was now gladto be running but not long after starting running I was faced with a dilemma. Justas we entered into the mist half the field infront of me (about 20 runners) went straight on and half went right.I decided to follow right, thinking at the time it didn’t feel correct, andwrong it proved to be. The ground I had left was firm and nice to run on, theground I was now on was uneven with tussocks. It was hard graft. After about400 meters of this I was gassed and when we finally joined the proper pathagain I felt like giving up. I felt like I had made a serious error.

I joined thepath just behind Bill and he told me I had only lost 50 meters. I decided that wasn’ttoo bad and carried on. But my race head was now gone. I was more just keepinga steady pace going, not really racing. I followed Bill to the summit and thendown to the bottom of the slippery rocks. When we hit Lingmel col I decided torace to the bottom and picked up a few places. But my heart wasn’t in it. Icould have overtook a runner right near the finish, but just couldn’t bebothered with the extra effort knowing I had stuffed up so badly.

Although thecourse was slightly shorter than 2008, my finishing time was of 1 hour 12 wasstill fairly good, and my position of 20^th was the same with a similarsized field. So not a bad run, but if it wasn’t for the silly error it couldhave been much better.

13th September : Run for fun : The up and down relay

2011-09-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

After the seriousness of the UTMB it was nice to have a goat a purely fun event. A driving force behind Bowland Fell runners club eventsis Andy Walmsley, who inspired by other similar events decided to organise anup and down relay. It is a beautifully simple idea for a relay race; one runnerruns to the top of the hill (in the case the Big End on Pendle) and the otherrunner runs down. The most difficultpart of this was the necessity to choose a team name. I came up with “the big 3boys” as both Will and I formed a very unlikely team in that we had both donethe big 3 rounds (Bob Graham, Charlie Ramsey’s, and Paddy Buckley rounds).

On a cold showery Tuesday evening 12 teams amassed at Downhamcar park ready for the race. We walked a mile from the car park to the startline and I waited along with the uphill runners, for the downhill runners toget to the top. I must have clocked up 2 miles of running trying to keep warmwhilst waiting the 30 minutes to start. But soon enough we were off. On thelower easier gradient I ran slightly conservative and slotted in behind frontrunner Clive Davis and 2^nd place Declan O’Duffy. After about 400meters Declan ushered me on as a steeper ramp appeared. I pushed on to closethe 50 meter gap that Clive had pulled out. I climbed well and when the courseflattened out again at about half way I caught Clive up. Trying to steadymyself, and not being sure of the route, I held onto the back of Clive as thecourse steepened. I started power walking so as not to overtake, and Cliveeventually did the same. We then came to the left traverse that I thought wasthe line. As Clive turned left I started running first and got In front. ChristI was leading a race, fair enough it wasn’t a top level fell race but I willtake it, I was still leading some good runners and I vowed to not let it slip.So digging in I ran the reasonably steep traverse and never looked back. Therewas no point in doing so as I was working as hard as I could anyway. If I gotcaught well so be it. After about 200 meters the course flattened out andeventually I saw the changeover point a further 200 meters away. A throng ofdownhill runners were waiting in full waterproofs getting buffeted by thestrong wind. But where was Will. I pushed hard into the side wind to reach thegate for the changeover.

I had managed to pull out a 21 (19.02) second lead on the1.7 mile 1,250 feet ascent, but all this was lost as my partner Will Houghton wasn’tready. He never expected me to be first to the changeover (neither did I) andwas sheltering in a hollow 50 meters to the left. So by the time he came overand took his winter gear off Clive had made the time up and Will and Lee Dowthwaiteset off together. Unfortunately Lee better at descending and he proved thiseventually beating us into 2^nd by 47 seconds. In truth I would haveneeded about a 45 second lead for Will to stand a chance of victory. But it wasa really fun event and everyone enjoyed it and 2^nd in 28.54 is far from a bad result. A drink andchat in the Calf’s head rounded off a great club event. Roll on next year.Remember Will I am the downhill runner!

The UTMB 2011 a few after thoughts and photos

2011-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Having had a break from running over the last week, I have had time to mullover the race and also my last ultra-race, the Highland Fling back in April.Yes I did do the Highland Fling. I had to look through my Blog to see if I hadposted on it. It wasn’t a shock to discover that I hadn’t. I meant this Blog tobe about the highs and lows of running, so I was a little disappointed inmyself for not reporting this disappointing performance. The main reason forthe poor run was a chest infection which lasted about 3 months, spanningChristmas and continuing up to late February. I could not train at all throughthis period and lost most of my base fitness. I didn’t have enough time to gainany fitness other than my base level. This resulted in a finishing time of 10 hours23 and 79^th place, my personal worst by 54 minutes to a point whereI nearly missed my bus back to Milngavie!

Ultra running is all about the preparation both physical and mental. Theyare both trained at the same time. So without the long runs to facilitate thisphysical and mental training it is very hard to get the best out of yourself.It wasn’t that I didn’t try, at the end of the Fling I was shattered, but thiswas at a much slower pace than I knew I was capable of running. In essence Iwas running much less efficiently and had a depleted cardio system to deal withit.

It was good to get back to a good performance at the UTMB. I had had a gooduninterrupted stint of training leading up to it. This gave me confidence toperform and get the best out of myself. I even coped well with theuncertainties that surrounded the event. Firstly the start time being delayed 5hours and the course shortened, and secondly finding out the course had beenre-routed, and extended to miss out Bovine, and whilst at the point in the runwhere it had changed.

The delayed start ruined my race plan. Which was to try to finish in 28hours (or better) thus meaning that I would have only 1 long period of nightand then finish just as it would be getting dark (22:30). I would maybe havehad about 9 hours of dark on this proper UTMB course and correct start time.But with the delay and the extra Matigny section it meant I would have two longperiods of darkness totalling about 13 hours. The 5 extra hours definitely costme some time, maybe 40 minutes couple this with an extra 5 km and 200m ascentand I think that I would have made that 28 hours target.

So taking all this into account I can only be pleased with my effort. Ithink I will have another go in 2013 but I will hopefully drag some supportover there with me to try and compete with the sharp end of the field. I thinkI spent about 1 hour 40 minutes in CPs. With support I think I could get thisdown to 20 minutes. This combined with a bit more specific training and moreconfidence in my ability should equal a faster time.

I had my first run today. It was only 7 miles but I managed it reasonablycomfortably. My legs ached a little around the quads and my right big toe was abit sore but generally I was o.k. Things are looking good for a quick recoveryso I will have to think of another race later in the year.

Below are a few pictures from Chamonix, highlighting the tendency for theweather to be nice in the day then stormy into the evening, also showing thestart of the long PTL kind of race. Lastly my damaged right toe nail, the leftlooked much the same. This was taken straight after the run. I’ll have topractice at not kicking rocks for next time!

26th-28th August The UTMB 2011

2011-08-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

The definition of adventure is “the undertaking of a task with an uncertain outcome” this describes perfectly my experience of this year’s Ultra Trail Tour Du Mont Blanc race…

At 11.30 am on race day I was congratulating Ross on his magnificent sub 20 hours run and 30^th place in the TDS race, whilst cheering Catherine (Ross’s wife) home to a 306^th place finish in 25 hours 49. Catherine had to walk the last 10 miles showing how well she was going in the early part of the run, so it was a good result for both. Whilst chatting to a very tired Catherine about her run, one of their friends received a Facebook alert on his laptop stating that the start time of the UTMB had been delayed due to a storm from 18:30 to 23:30 hours, this news was a little unsettling. Also in the message was the fact that the end of the run would now be “straight down the valley” instead of the normal Tete au Vent and La Flagere route back to Chamonix. Well I thought; trying to find the positives; at least the route would be a little easier to make up for the tougher start time. However it didn’t turn out that way.

So I killed off the extra time with an attempt at a nap, that didn’t work too well it was more of a lie down in a darkened room. So after watching some TV and noting the rain start to come down outside, I started to think about what clothes would be best to start in. I decided cycling length tights with a t-shirt and Haglofs jacket would suit the conditions best, combined with a thin X-termite’s hat to keep my head warm. I delayed going to the start line until as late as possible to avoid standing around too long in what was now steady rain. The only problem with this was that I was stuck at the back with no gaps at all to move towards the front. I didn’t want to be lined up alongside Killian and co, but I thought that I deserved not to be almost at the back. But it was one of those irking things I just had to block out.

So the traditional UTMB music of Vangelis - Conquest of Paradise was played, a lot of French instruction voiced, whilst I chat offering words of wisdom to 2 of Rosses friends and take no notice of any of the former, then all of a sudden we are off….walking, argh. Look for the positive I told myself; well at least I wouldn’t be setting off too fast. It was a bit frustrating walking in a crush down Chamonix high street, but after about 5 minutes (yes I timed it) finally the road widens and I could run at roughly my own pace. I felt nice and controlled to Les Houches where it was like the Tour De France, as the crowds narrowed the street, what amazing support and at 1am and in the rain. The climb over Col de Voza was good. But on the descent it poured down heavily, and even with my jacket hood pulled on I was a bit cold. This was the only time during the run when I considered putting on my full length tights. What made me consider it was a bit of an oversight on my behalf. My rucksack had grabbed my jacket and raised it above my midriff so the water falling off my jacket was going straight to my nether region. That always makes us blokes feel cold. So I pulled the jacket down and never got cold there again.

After sliding down the slippery track to St Gervais, the welcome was as amazing as ever, the rain was lighter but still it was about 02:00 am, and there was a huge crowd of supporters out to cheer us on. A quick water refill and I was off. On the way to Contamines I got chatting to a really nice Australian Lady called Margaretha. We had a nice chat and I tried to share a bit of knowledge of the route. After about 10 minutes, I reminded myself not to, literally and physically, talk myself into someone else’s pace. So I wished her luck and pushed on (she finished in 34 hours 15 mins well done Margaretha) for Contamines. The rain stopped and a starlit sky was revealed, but in the far distance there were still some flashes of lightning now and again; moving away I hoped.

The climbs of Bonhomme, Col de la Seinne and Mont Favre all went well. I even managed to time the necessity for a comfort break with my arrival in Le Chapieux, which is always a bonus on these long races. The daylight coming on the ascent of Bonhomme was special as 1) this is normally traversed in the night and 2) there was a pretty dusting of snow on the hills. I rounded the top of Col De La Seinne feeling good and also the weather was looking set fair for the rest of the day, I was now feeling really positive. On the lower half of the descent it was quite warm but I decided not to waste time taking my jacket off and just rolled the sleeves up. There was lots of cheering and “Bravos” on arrival in Courmayeur. I got my kit bag and decided that although my feet were pretty good I would take the precaution of putting a Compede on the ball of each foot. It was worth it as I was changing socks anyway. I also had a nice plate of pasta, bodyglided up and that was 25 minutes gone.

The climb up to Bertone is always a tough one. But I led another guy up and we kind of pushed each other which made it easier. Bertone to Bonnatti is a beautiful trail to run. Nice and undulating with amazing views of the cliffs towering up to Mont Blanc on the other side of the valley, it is truly spectacular. It was at this point that I realised I must have been doing well. In previous races I have been running with lots of others here but this time apart from overtaking a few, I was mainly on my own. For much of the time to the end this was the case as well, just overtaking 1 or 2 here and there, although I was more racing the clock than the runners.

I also really enjoyed the descent to Arnjuva, where I steeled myself for the ascent of Grand Col Ferret. This ascent was when I felt at my most tired, it was as if the altitude just took the edge off me a little and so I eased off a touch. But on the descent I was back and enjoying the comfortable running that I kept at all the way to the end. La Fouly is still a long way after Grand Col Ferret and I was starting to run out of water. So I was really displeased when I was overtook (a rare event) by a guy on a small climb through a cow crowded field. He had a guy supporting him with a large bottle of lemonade. That should have been a 1hour penalty. He didn’t even try to buy me off with a swig, cheeky bugger. It made it all the more satisfying to speed past him on the descent towards La Fouly CP.

Through La Fouly and on the way to Champex I noted someone running strong just behind me. I was walking the uphill’s so let him past, only to discover it was Ritchie Cunningham. He is a runner that should be well ahead of me, despite the fact that I was having a good run. He told me that he spent 1 hour 20 mins in La Fouly and nearly quit as he was having a bad day. His support team convinced him to carry on. So we ran together most of the way to Champex.

On entering Champex CP an MC announced my arrival over the Tannoy and cheers go up. It feels a bit weird entering a marquee to a load of cheers, you kind of stand there wondering what to do. Senses quickly come back and it’s the usual routine of, water bottles filled nuun tablet dropped in 1 bottle, grab some food to run with, but here it is great pasta so a large plate of beautiful Bolognese is a must. After 15 minutes I am off, leaving Ritchie talking on his mobile to his support. I descended towards Bovine thinking just 2 big climbs left. But 20 minutes out of Champex and the reflective tape, which you follow on the UTMB, guides me to the right. I was sure Bovine was straight on and to the left. Confused but confident that the markers must be correct I carry on, on a lonely long rough descent in the dark. It was here that I started to notice that the cumulative effect of kicking rocks was damaging both my big toes. I carried on following a group of three through a large town and up a climb, being careful, but not succeeding, to kick less rocks. I had to ask them if I was still on the course. They said yes, did you not get the text? We are now going to Martigny instead of Bovine. This was because of the destruction of the drinks station and CP near the top of Bovine by a storm. I had packed my mobile too early and never saw the text message.

Ritchie caught me up on the climb and we discussed what the course is now. We didn’t realise it but we were just climbing up and over a shoulder before dropping into Matigny. Here we asked the CP staff how big the climb is to take us up and over to Trient (and back on the course) he says “1,000”. We ask what feet, knowing that France use metric, we knew the answer, it was 1,000M. I told Ritchie I was going to get a move on, and set off on the long climb. Some of the locals were out with tables and chairs offering biscuits, tea, coffee, pizzas, that really sums up what is so good about this race. The local Swiss had realised the race had been rerouted at the last minute and thought they would help out, again amazing support. The climb went on and on crossing roads then into trees for what seemed like forever. I was glad to make the top knowing after the descent the only significant obstacle is Catogne. I made the descent well and again had the nice, but strange feeling of cheers in the CP. Probably mainly from other runners support teams in a separate part of the marquee. Ritchie came in (sorry if I’m wrong Ritchie) looking a bit spaced out and bewildered. It was the last time I saw Ritchie, I fully expected him to catch me up, but he never did. I made the ascent of Catogne well and was descending pretty well too; even the temptation to warm up next to the fire near the CP didn’t stop me. But towards the bottom a chap told me I was in 48^th place. I wasn’t racing until I heard that, it was like by saying that he flicked on my race button. All I could think off from now until the end, was don’t finish outside the top 50. Silly in a way, but it motivated me to push on. But before I could do that I had to sort out my big toes, which on the very rough descent were now very painful and I had to stop to inspect the most painful one. The nail was badly bruised and blistered but not ready to come off with a little wiggle. So to stop them lifting up in my shoe I had to push the nail back in from its elevated position. It was painful and some puss popped out, but it did the trick. So with my shoe back on I didn’t bother to take the other one off, I simply pressed down on the nail through my shoes, again painful, but better than a lengthy stop in the first aid tent at the CP.

I pushed on and went over Col De Montets paranoid of getting caught up. So tried to spot any headtorches behind, I couldn’t so just kept the pace as high as I could. The ”straight down the valley” route was all that was left. One of the CP staff at Valorcine said it was flat. Boy was I cursing him on that last section. It wasn’t flat but a very undulating Forrest track. In fact it was the same end that I did in the 2005 race. But doing it at night was tough. After what seemed like forever I caught two runners up as the route widened and became familiar. We were almost in Chamonix. When they heard me they responded by running quicker, I could tell they didn’t want to be passed as I took a while to close the last 100 meters on them. As I caught them I was thinking I may chat to them for a bit, safe in the knowledge of a top 50 placing. On the last bit of descent I ran alongside and said hi, no response. That said to me race on. So I ran hard and they never even made it interesting. I pulled out nearly 2 minutes on them in the 1 KM around Chamonix and ran across the line at 4.57 am. Doing that allowed me to finish under the half hour, so I was pleased with my adventurous 29 hours and 29 minutes of the UTMB 2011. It was a truly unique course, but probably even tougher than the normal route. The stats suggest it too, 170KM and 9,700M! Finishing in 44^th place and 3rd Brit was a real bonus. I knew that if I had a good run I could make the top 100, but didn’t think the top 50 likely. I am really pleased with the run, and it only cost me two big toe nails, what a bargain.

28th August UTMB update

2011-08-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say I had a good run at the TMB. The course was changed quiet significantly at the end of the route, due to landslips caused by storms, making for a slightly longer and rougher route. In my opinion this route is tougher than the standard TMB course. So it makes me even more pleased with my finishing time of 29 hours 29 mins and in 44th place. I dreamed of a top 50 place so it is a real bonus to get it. The weather was rough at the start, and combined with rough ground I think will have caused one of the biggest drop out rates ever. We will know when the 21:00 hrs cut off is reached tonight.
I will do a full report when I have had more than 3 hours sleep in 3 days.

25th August 1 day to go to the UTMB

2011-08-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well I am sat here in my hotel in Chamonix trying to think my way through this race. I have thought through a lot of scenario’s, heat, blisters, strains, what happens if I start to suffer fatigue etc. But now after that last few days of heat followed by an afternoon storm, I am forced to start thinking about the cold. Yes the forecasts suggest it could be a wet and cold UTMB this year. I just hope that the forecast is a bit overstated. But it looks certain that we will get wet at some point. Never mind it’s all part of the challenge. I feel well rested and ready for it, whatever the weather.

I did intend watching the first finishers of the TDS race tonight but the overly optimistic first finisher’s time on the website looks to be a bit out. Tracking the race online it appears the winner will finish at about 01:30am not the forecast 11:30pm, a bit past my bed time. So I think I will scrap that idea and just have a stroll over to see if they have any video footage of the start.

14th August TMB training

2011-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well after a bit of a rest from my tour Blogging I am refreshed and ready to Blog again. So here goes….

To catch up, I have been in hard training for the TMB. I have over the past couple of weeks almost run myself into the ground. In the past week I have: run a half marathon on Monday (1:45) followed by a 2 hour bike ride on Tuesday then a hard interval session on Wednesday, then on Thursday another half Marathon (1:50 hard work), Saturday was a repeat of 2009s 3 times up Skiddaw and Sunday was a 10 mile run that felt really tough. I truly am ready for a taper and some rest.

The Skiddaw run seemed to work for the 2009 TMB so I decided to repeat it for this year’s race. I did it on Saturday 13^th August, but this time it was mentally a bit easier as Will Houghton accompanied me for 2 of the reps and did ¾ of a final rep on his own. We split up after the 2^nd ascent because Will was suffering from cramp. Understandable as he has not been doing the long tough runs that I have over the last 3 months. I completed the run in 5 hours 22 minutes, 18 minutes faster than 2009, but this time only with a bum bag, not the 3 kilo pack I will have with me for the TMB. The final rep was the fastest at 1 hour 6 mins up and 36 mins down, so that was pleasing. I have broken all my training times and I feel in good shape for the TMB so I am positive about having a good run in at the TMB. If all goes well I feel that a realistic target is for a sub 30 hour round. If not a fall back of a new PB (under 32h 52m) will do.

28 th July Journneys end, and reflection on the Journey

2011-08-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

I came home via a 2 day stop at Jason’s house in Welwyn Garden City. It was good to have a few beers with my good friend Jason at his flat for the first time on the Friday night, followed by a night out with a couple of Jason’s friends and an Indian with a few beers. All in all it was a good weekend. On the Sunday I travelled home via Rode heath, in order to drop in on Nick and Sue and Brian I also met Gina; all good friends of mine. It made the journey home more interesting, and was good to catch up with some friends that I don’t often get to meet.

Having been home for a couple of weeks now, I have had time to enlighten / bore a few friends with my stories, and reflect on my trip. I look back on it with fondness. It is always easy to forget the tough times, but on balance I really enjoyed the adventure. I don’t think I will become a full time traveller anytime soon, but I will always keep life interesting with challenges and adventures whether it is running, other physical activities or travelling in the same style; which brings about its own adventures.

My next adventure is one that I have had on the horizon since the turn of 2011. It will take me back to Chamonix as it is the North Face Ultra Trail Tour Du Mont Blanc, a race as long as its title. This is a race I have had a go at on 3 previous occasions (2005,2008,2009) and finished twice (2005,2009). So I have a good idea of the race and what it entails. This slightly diminishes the adventure, but to keep it interesting I have given myself the “A” target of beating 28 hours, a “B” target of beating 30 hours and a fall back “C” target of setting a new PB so less than 32 hours 52 minutes. The course is 105 miles and about 32,000 feet of ascent and descent. So having arrived home a stone lighter than I left I was keen to find out how much endurance fitness I had gained, or lost, on my trip. So on Sunday 24^th July I set off on a route I did last year before the Lakeland 100. I ran from home over Clougha Pike and Grit Fell and back on a longer loop than normal, it is about 20 miles and takes about 3 hours. I remember finding it very tough for the last 3 miles last year, but this year I was still feeling good and running strong. Living above 1000 meters for most of the trip and dropping about a stone in weight has had a very positive effect on my endurance fitness. So I now know I have a very good base to build on in the next 2 weeks in the lead up to the TMB.

14th July Thursday Heading for home

2011-07-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

I decided that an overnight stop near Reims would be a good idea to break up the journey home. This would mean a 390 mile journey from Chamonix to Reims followed by a 200 mile from Reims to Calais. Then one of my good friends from my University days, Jason, Is kindly having me stay over at his place in Wellwyn Garden City. All this breaks up the journey into manageable chunks. I was keen to avoid another 520 mile journey (Potes to Mataro).

So after taking down my big tent for the last time I left a damp Chamonix behind. It was a bad start as my sat nav took me on a scenic route through Les Houches and over a mountain pass. I cursed it but then though it may have been my fault. I think that whilst reviewing the route with the rubbish touch screen (apple it definitely isn’t) I may have altered the course then saved it. Ah well it was a nice route, well it would have been had I not had another 370 miles to go.

I went to the first choice site near Reims but found nothing. I wasn’t so sure about the translation in Google, I think it may have meant Champagne, not camping, because there was a nice champagne chateaux. So I put in the next choice which meant another 65 miles, a total of 460 miles. I am glad though as I am at one of the best campsites of the whole trip, and only 12 euros per night. Maybe I will come back and stay longer another time. I’ll have to figure out exactly where I am first though! I know I only have 120 miles tomorrow to Calais then a further 100 miles to Jason’s gaff. I also have a very easy camp to pack into the car, even if it does look like I should be at Glastonbury! Life is good.

I won’t post until I get home now on Saturday or Sunday. But safe to say I have been doing a lot of reminiscing over the last two days. My last post on this trip will be about my gathered thoughts on the whole experience.

13th July Wednesday Climbing competition day 2

2011-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

The day was a wash-out. It rained for most of the day, stopping only in the late afternoon; it then drizzled whilst I joined a good crowd to watch the technical climbing competition. They had to get as high as they could on the wall. Two of the women managed it. But prior to me leaving having had enough of the standing in the drizzle, no man had made it beyond the final overhang.

I spent the rest of the day organising my kit ready for packing up to head home.

12th July Tuesday A long TMB training run

2011-07-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report from Monday, not even worth a post just a hot day resting for a long run on Tuesday.

I decided that instead of doing a climb from Les Houches to the Gouter hut and back, I would be better off doing a long training run that was more like the TMB course. So I got the bus to Col De Montets; again; and did the TMB route to La Flagere; again; but this time I climbed over the Col De la Gliere then descended down to Plan Praz, then ascend to Le Brevent before descending back to Chamonix via Bell Lachat. It was a hot day and by 9am I could feel the heat. Never the less it was an enjoyable 5 hour run even though the trails were a little busy for someone running.

I have tried to estimate the distance and ascent but it is tricky as I don’t have a map that goes beyond Le Brevent. But I think that it was about 1,900 meters and 13 miles in 5 hours 5 mins.

In the evening I watched the speed climbing section of the world cup series. It was good to see these pros climbing at a sprint. The final was between a Czech and a Russian climber. The Russian won it in a world record time of 6.37 seconds, incredible. A Polish lady won the women’s race in 8.5 seconds. Tomorrow night it is the problem wall.

10th July Mont Buet

2011-07-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

I got the early (free) train from Chamonix to Le Buet to have a go at climbing Mont Buet (3,096m). The town of Le Buet is at 1,350m making the ascent a fairly tough 1,746 meters. I decided on an early start as the weather forecast predicted thunder storms anytime in the afternoon. Again I believed the forecast because on Friday night it looked like aliens where trying to blow up Mont Blanc with white lasers. The sky in that area was cloudy but flashes of bright white were to be observed around the Mont Blanc summit area for about 2 hours constantly. It didn’t rain much but there was a lot of lightning.

So at 08:20 I set off for Mont Buet from Le buet train station using the very good mountain signs, and noting the first one saying 6 hours to the summit. I was not intending taking that long and I didn’t. Doing it as kind of a training run and speed being the order of the day, I was surprised that I met a French guy who asked me if I was doing a TMB training run as he was doing the same but on a different route. Maybe there are quite a lot of local people training at the moment as the race nears. I carried on with no navigational issues through a valley and up a rocky section, then a steep rounded ridge to the summit. Or at least I thought it was. It was actually a relay point for the emergency services. The summit was a little further across a small ridge. After 2 hours 35 minutes I was on it and asking a guy to take a photo to mark my first time above 10,000 feet (10,157 feet); without cheating with a cable car anyway (Bellevue to the bottom of the Grand Couloir). I descended in about 1 hour 30 minutes and made the 12:31 train back to Chamonix.

I watched the Grand Prix. Then later went to have a drink with Ali Welsh and a nice family whom he is guiding up Mont Blanc via the 3 Monts route. I enjoyed a couple of drinks and a chat, whished them luck and headed off to meet Vince for a Pizza and a chat. It would be hard to top that day on this holiday. A 10,000 foot summit and great company, if only Lewis Hamilton could have won at Silverstone. Ah well you can’t have everything.

9th July Gaz problems again

2011-07-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Most of my Saturday was taken up, again, by problems with my Camping gaz. After cooking breakfast I started my daily routine of gathering heat sensitive items of food, and also the Butane Camping Gaz cylinder together to put in the shade under the car. The gas cylinder felt very light. I shook it and there was very little liquid in it. Not good after just 2 days use. Thinking at the time that I didn’t switch the gas off properly and let it leak away, I spent the rest of the day tracking a new cylinder down. I eventually found some in a shop in Le Praz, but only after resorting to asking where there is a camping shop at the tourist information centre. I am typing this on a sunny Monday morning after discovering that my stove has been very slowly leaking. I affected a fix on the pressure vessel and it seems o.k. now. Either the screws had worked loose, or the seal is worn and the olive oil I put on it is only going to buy me a bit of time. I will just have to keep a close eye on it, and if it leaks again I will stop using it.

It makes me think that on that Saturday morning it was leaking whilst I was cleaning my cool bag after discovering some rancid milk in the bottom of it (overpowering any gas smell!). I think whilst I was doing this for 2 hours after breakfast it was slowly discharging 200 grams of gas into my tent. It’s a good job the front was open. But even so later that day I struggled to remember what I had done for the earlier part of the it and where I had been, now I know why. I think I did partly gas myself. Oops.

8th July Friday a trail run to Aiguillette Des Houches and Le Brevent

2011-07-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

As the forecast was for showers in the afternoon I decided to go for a trail run rather than for a planned ascent of Buet (3,070m). I believed the forecsast would be accurate as the dawn was misty, and we had had a violent thunder storm in the middle of the night. I had promised Vince a trip to a shop near St Gervais, as he wanted some energy bars that he said were the best he had ever had, and I needed some Camping gaz, again. That last one can’t have been full. So at the shop I instantly recognised the gas. It was a real stroke of luck as we expected to have to find a large supermarket to buy it. Vince got a vast amount of Quechua energy bars, I did too, thought I might as well try them.

After returning Vince set off for a hike up the side of the Bossons glacier, and at 11 am I set off on the long trail to Aiguillete Des Houches. After 2 hours of traversing the hillside I finally arrived on its summit. It is a new summit for me which is always good, even though I am not really a peak bagger. The clouds looked threatening as they clung to the Mont Blanc Massif so I had a bite to eat and got a move on, this was a TMB training run anyway so “Vite” was the order of the day. I quickly descended to Bell Lachete then re ascended to Le Brevent. A place I have visited many times now, but it is still a nice high spot to appreciate the much higher peaks on the Mont Blanc side of the valley. After a quick break it was time for the descent with rain threatening. I had to go a longer way around as the trail was closed on my usual line back to Chamonix, so it took longer than usual; about 66 minutes; still not bad for a 1,500m ascent. I also saw a 2 foot long black and white snake on the diversion route, and it was a very nice, if overly winding descent track.

I finished in Place du Triangle just as it poured down with rain. But it was only a sharp shower and I was soon off back to the campsite, buying a can of Orangina on the way. This seems to be tradition now, even though they are 1.50 Euro. A small treat for a good run I suppose.

7th July Thursday a run with Vince

2011-07-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

The first person that I spoke to when arriving at the campsite a week ago was, not that I knew it at the time, a 22 year old Canadian guy called Vince. After visiting friends in Switzerland he returned to the campsite as my neighbour. We have been talking ever since.

He asked me if I would like to go for a run. I had little planned for the day so thought why not. We had a nice little jog down the valley towards Argentiere, it was easy for me as Vince hasn’t run for 6 weeks (he did however manage to summit Mont Blanc with his friend). During the run we talked about his ascent, and I have now realised that to get your foot in the door to these high mountains you really need to start off being paired up. Soloing is for the experienced; up to the glaciers is o.k. Beyond it is really a 2 man job. Plus, even if you were to atempt it in one go, without the support that the record breakers get, it would be best to set of at 9pm and get to the Gouter for 3 am. You could then join the masses to the summit. I also told him a bit about Ultra running and about the TMB which he seemed fairly intrigued by.

5th and 6th July Mon and Tuesday rest day then a TMB reccie Col De Montets to Chamonix

2011-07-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

I didn’t do much on Monday. Just rested after the last 2 days exertions and tried to get some advice from friends as to whether to have a go at an ascent of Mont Blanc. After all the kind advice I have come to the conclusion that although I am physically fit to do it (or at least I think I am), I don’t have enough experience of high mountains, especially dangers like soft or very hard snow, rock falls, and crevasses. The ascent in one effort up and down, I think would have to come after the experience of ascending the traditional way. That is to ascend to a hut then overnight and set off early in the morning when the mountain conditions are more stable. I read a guide book, lent to me by a fellow camper, it suggested that Mont Blanc should not be "your first high peak". I am know coming to terms with that advice. I may still (just to get an idea of how tough it would be) set off from Les Houches at 07:30 with my only goal being that of reaching the Gouter hut a 2,850meter ascent I think I can do it with high mountain gear, i.e a fairly heavy pack, in about 5 ½ hours. I may see if I’m right when the forecast is good. That probably means Sunday at the earliest.

Today I got the free bus to Col De Montets and ran back over the Tour Du Mont Blanc trail. The route goes via La Tete au Vente and La Flagere. At La Flagere I spotted an Chamois eating its lunch. Once it realised I posed no threat it carried on eating, barely lifting its head for me to photograph it, how inconsiderate! Not wanting to disturb it too much from its lunch I carried on. Running the from Col De Montets to La Flagere in the light, in fell shoes, was much easier than the last time I did it 2 years ago in the TMB on legs that had done 94 miles and in the dark, with squashed trail shoes. I have run down from La Flagere several times. So this time I decided to see how quick I could do the full TMB route down including the loop in Chamonix. I managed it in 42 minutes. The run took 2 hours 10 minutes with a few photo calls. If only I could do it that quick in 7 weeks’ time at the end of the TMB; no chance.

4th July Mont Blanc Reccie : Les Houches to Bellevue

2011-07-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I reccied the first section of the route. This is from the valley at Les Houches, to where I got the Cable car to yesterday at Bellevue. I then descended a bit to Col De voza and ran the reverse of the TMB route back to Chamonix. Altogether, including a few navigational errors it was about 3 hour day. I ascended the 850 meters to Bellevue in 1 hour 15 minutes, albeit with a lighter pack. But still it gave me a little encouragement. I estimate that I could, if I didn’t suffer fatigue, get from Les Houches to the Gouter hut in about 5 hours. My plan would be to set off at 3am and get to the summit by about 10:30 am. The problem is that I have no idea how long it would take me in the snow from the Gouter hut to the summit, or how the high altitude would effect me. The estimated time would include 2 and a half hours for those last 1,000 meters.

All the time whilst running I was trying to decide whether to forget the idea altogether. It is a daunting prospect on my own. With someone else I wouldn’t hesitate. But on my own I know the safety margins are much tighter. I am not experienced at high altitude mountain tops which are snow covered, and although I know my ability on normal ground is good, I am not so sure how good I will be on snow for that long.

At best I will wait for perfect weather set off at 3am and see how far I can get, with no clear plan to summit. Just to get to the Gouter hut and reassess. I will make my mind up after a chat with mark.

3rd July Mont blanc Reccie : Bellevue to The grand couloir

2011-07-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

The plan today was to get the cable car from Les Houches to Bellevue and then reccie the section from there 1,800m to The Gouter hut 3,800m approx. Two navigational errors lead me onto a ridge ascent instead of an easier tram track, then the second one higher up onto another ridge instead of a small glacier traverse. The first was tough physically but the second was tough mentally which was worse. The problem with the second error was that I was then under an area prone to rock fall. I spotted a few rocks whizzing down so got a shift on to clear it. I was going well until here then I came to a halt at 3,270 m. The problem was that the crossing of the grand couloir had rocks tumbling down. I didn’t take my helmet and was alone. If you were hit by some of the bigger ones they would break bones or knock you out (more likely with no helmet). So after watching for a while I decided to turn back. I estimate about 550 meters below the Gouter hut.

I still did the 1,450 m ascent in less than 3 hours with full kit; the descent was about 1 hour 25. I learned from some climbers that the huts are fully booked all year. During the climb I started thinking of doing it the easier way and having an overnight stay in the gouter hut, especially now that Nick isn’t going to do the climb with me due to a sore knee. But still my preferred simpler option appeals, that of ascending and descending in one effort on one day. It means no last minute reliance on booking the hut on a weather window, then finding there is no room. Plus it will be a really tough challenge. Tomorrow I will reccie the lower section from Les Houches to the Bellevue Cable car station. Then I will wait for good weather, the forecast until Thursday doesn’t look so good.

1st and 2nd July The move From Grindelwald to Chamonix, and my first full day

2011-07-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

My move From Grindelwald to Chamonix Mont Blanc was smooth. It was actually a nice drive. My sat nav even decided to take me on a short cut on some really twisty narrow mountain road. It must have known that I was enjoying it. Even better was that I didn’t have to pay the Swiss road tax. You are meant to purchase it for about 28 Francs on entering. Ignorance is bliss, it works for me. Anyway they can drive for free on U.K roads so why should we have to pay!

My first day in Chamonix has been a fact finding on, in terms of how to get to Les Houches and when, and how to reccie the Mont Blanc route from there. I have a free bus pass to Les Houches as part of the camping cost (amazing for 10,20 / night) so I will use that to get there tomorrow then get the first cable car to Bellevue 1,780m where I hope to ascend to about 3,400m. The tram to point Aigle doesn’t start until Tuesday. If I feel I need to look at the high part of the route again I will use it to get me to a start point of 2,380m. For a look at the route higher up towards the Gouter hut.

After visiting the Tourist Information in Chamonix, I walked to Les Houches on the TMB route to get a sense of what it is like. It is odd being in Chamonix without the TMB being on and having my own car here. As I have only ever run through it on the TMB I thought it prudent to familiarise myself with the area. I found the cable car and walked up the route that I will look at on Monday i.e. the first part of the ascent out of Les Houches. I did a bit of shopping then queued for the bus for 40 minutes on the wrong side of the road, a young lad drove into a stationary me on his bike; slowly thank god; we were both o.k. I then saw the bus going the other way, so chased it, laden with shopping, and just got it before it pulled away. It has been a more adventurous day than I had planned. Now I will have and early night and prepare my kit ready for an early start tomorrow.

The picture top left is the view from my tent, not bad for 10.40 euros a night( I was going to stay at a campsite costing 25 euro a night, but it was too small for my large tent. I am really glad about that now.) It is the popular cable car point of Le Brevent, a place I have run to on several occasions.

30th June A short walk with Matthius

2011-07-01T01:47:00.000-07:00

I had a quiet day today. It rained in the morning so I tried to update the Blogg but a total system failure thwarted my attempt. Then early afternoon, when it finally stopped raining I got talking to a nice German guy called Matthius, from the Black forest area, he is a mountain biker but hikes as well. He was interested in doing the Eiger trail so I filled him in on the details. He wanted to walk up the same valley that I started the Eiger trail on yesterday so I offered to show him the way. I walked up to about 1,400m mark then left him to continue on to Baregg hut. During my descent back to Grindelwald I passed the restaurant. Not unusual that is the route. But there were two old chaps in a hot tub wearing nothing but bowler hats, being photographed drinking cocktails. I just said high and carried on. It must be the air around here.

When I returned I started looking at the map and looking at the next hut on my German friends route, the Shreckhornehutte SAC. I studied the map as best I could (1:60,00 not ideal), and thought that the summit of Lauteraarhorn may have been a possibility. Too late now though, and going into the high hills on your own cuts your safety margins down a lot. So now I turn my attention to Chamonix and a possible attempt on Mont Blanc, I move to Chamonix tomorrow, and I will begin looking at the route on Sunday.

I had a drink with Matthius last night, his English is good, and so we discussed mountain biking and walking routes. I advised him to go to Morzine for the mountain biking as here it isn’t very good for it. The Swiss seem to want the bikers mainly on the roads. He gave me a good German beer to try, Beck Brau I think, it was nice. I shall be sad to leave Grindelwald even though the high street is a mass of road works at the moment, and it is very pricey. The views have more than made up for that.

29th June Wednesday The Eiger Trail

2011-07-01T01:38:00.000-07:00

Today it was either going to be a climb up the Faulhorn 2,683m, or a run down the Eiger trail. Due to the thunderstorms rumbling all morning, I chose the latter. I Just hoped my slightly sore left knee would be o.k. surely it would this was the soft option, right....Wrong.

The start is tough from Grindelwald, you climb about a Scafell before you really get going on the trail. Most people start the trail at the Eigergletscher train station 2,320m run it in the opposite direction and finish in Alpiglen, a much shorter route starting at a good altitude. My route would include about 12 miles and about 4,600 feet of climb and descent. It proved to be a tough trail and one that was a bit scary with thunder rumbling all the time. There where the huge cliffs of the Eiger to the left and some big drops at times to the right. As I was traversing this area it dawned on me that heavy rain with snow melt equals potential land slip. I hurried across these parts.

Eventually as you start to round the north face the trail broadens out and becomes more rocky and barren, and there are few mini glacier ends to cross, as well as a few gushing steams. A nice English chap warned me of a river in about 20 minutes that was difficult to cross, and that he made a large detour up to an easier part. Then he started to mention about getting his boots wet. My trail shoes were wet anyway so as long as it wasn’t dangerous, wet feet weren’t going to bother me. It turned out that I hardly broke stride and carried on running.

This got me thinking about the other day on Monch.” Maybe I have a different level of acceptability of dangerous ground. Maybe they are trying to make it too safe. I still feel a little bitter about Monch, I think the conditions would have made it tougher but I am sure I would have made it. I would like to think that a fell runner’s fitness is superior to that of a guy that needs a mountain guide to make a 450 meter ascent from a hut on a perfect day. That is the comparison that the guide would have made, along with a snide “he doesn’t have a clue look what’s on his feet”. They should have seen Will and I in Scotland with no crampons or ice axes in winter on some slopes as steep as Monch!”

The best part of the trail was seeing where the climb of the Eiger starts from. A small sign marks this with the ascent line on it. After this the trail rounds a ridge and the Eigergletscher train station is just below. I decided that as it had rained a fair bit on the run, and the streams were already quite fast, that I would take the easy trail back to Gridelwald. This proved a nice gentle descent on easy fire trail. A good 4 and a half hour run and the knee feels o.k. too.

27th June Monday and 28th Jungfraujoch the highest train in Europe

2011-06-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

After the Schwarzorn on Sunday, Monday was meant to be a rest day. But this mountain weather is playing tricks on me again. I saw the forecast for tomorrow and it looked bad, particularly in the afternoon. So I decided to take the train up to Jungfraujoch, and try to climb Monch 4,107m today. By this time though it was already 9:30am and the train up to Jungfraujoch 3,545m takes 1 hour and 42 minutes.

I cobbled my high mountain gear together and set off on the 15 minute walk to catch the train. When I got there I almost turned straight back, the ticket is 166 Francs, as the robotic German speaking guy told me. I had to think how much I wanted to take a train up there, knowing full well that; A) I may not even get to a summit, and B) that I would feel like I cheated to get there anyway. I decided that, like Aiguille Du Midi (nowhere near as expensive) the journey up there and spending some time at a high altitude would be good anyway, and the forecast was very good; too good. This I thought was certain to be a one off.

So I forked out the £120 for the ticket and sat on the cramped train, changing once, and then all the way up through the tunnel under the Eiger and Monch to the highest train station in Europe. it is no luxurty train either. Cramped and full of Japanese tourists. Their ineterpreter was non stop chattering all the way up into a microphone for them. Gettiing up on the train without going insane was the sum of my achievements unfortunately.

I exited the station and walked towards the mountain hut about 2 miles away. Having no idea of the ascent line on Monch, as it is not on any maps I have found. I think the snow covers too much of the route for any path to be seen properly. Good for the mountain guides though! Finally after donning lightweight crampons I saw the line of prints off to the left and an obvious ridge line to the summit dotted now and again with climbers.

As I cut off the path to the ridge I sank to my knees and beyond in the snow. It was very soft, and I was soon to realise these were the deep holes left by descending climbers. I struggled to the part stone, but mainly snow covered ridge and scratched up 100 feet of rock in the crampons. I then got my jacket and ice axe out for the snow ridge as a guide and his client came down. They stopped to take crampons off, and he said “it’s late” I told him I knew and had been misled by the weather forecast. He said the snow is soft and dangerous on the ridge further up. Not knowing this climb at all and remembering how soft the snow was at the base, I made a quick decision to not go to the summit, it didn’t mean that much to me in truth. The train did most of the ascent. Next time I could get a helicopter, it might be cheaper! A few more climbers came down, as I put my gear away, and I am pretty sure laughed at my foot wear. They had huge crampons on over solid boots. I must admit boots and gaiters may have been good for the deep snow. But to me this was only 450m and a quick up and down, they were all roped together and moving like snails. They were laughing at my gear, but it’s not the gear but who’s wearing it. Cheeky sods.

Instead I visited the climbing hut and got some good pictures. One of the guide’s recommendations was to spend a night at the hut. But knowing the expense and the fact that I had a day return on the train, it didn’t take long to dismiss this. Nice though the hut turned out to be on inspection.

I then had a run back down to Jungfraujcoh to get a feeling of what high altitude running, whilst laden with gear feels like. It was no problem. This bodes well for Mont Blanc. Recently I have started thinking that overnighting in the Gouter hut, if Nick and I can get space might be most manageable option. If there is one lesson learned from this it is that you need to be high up early on a hot summer’s day. This is a lesson that I will take to the Mont Blanc attempt.

26th June Sun Ascent of Schwarzhorn

2011-06-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well that was a tough ascent. I think that most people I passed on the way to the summit had got the cable car to the “First” station (slightly misleading in that it is actually the last stop) and then set off for the summit, with a 1000 meter head start on me. The” first” cable car stop is at 2,000 meters, and Grindelwald is at 1,000 meters, Schwarzhorn is 2,930m. It is the highest in the Brienz commune.

The first part of the ascent to about 1,800 meters is on roads. So the fact that I was wearing my newly repaired fell shoes didn’t seem to matter (the sole had pulled away slightly). But higher up at about 2,400 meters I was glad I had them as there was some loose scree and the final ridge needed a bit of care too. I enjoyed the ascent although it was a bit on the hot side.
Whilst descending I noticed a sign that I didn’t see on the ascent. Thinking back a large group if hikers were sat covering it up. I can’t help thinking on purpose too, as they never said to me that the route I was taking was towards the rock climbing and via Ferrata route. Luckily I veered off and onto the correct route by following a chap ahead.

The descent was good though and it took me 1hour 10 minutes, the ascent was 2 hours 45 minutes, making it a long day out in the heat. The ascent is 1,950 meters, making it the longest continuous ascent I have ever done. Good training for Mont Blanc, but not enough snow. Maybe a trip up to Jungfraujoch on the train can fill that gap in the training. I will see if the budget will stretch to the £50 round trip.

25th June The Eiger Reveals herself

2011-06-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today my friendly Swiss next door neighbour pointed out to me that the rock face 600 meters from the campsite, which has been mostly covered in clouds the last two days, is in fact the North face of the Eiger. I had thought we were looking at the North East face. But tonight when it finally revealed all of itself I instantly recognised the ascent line from books I have read. We are in fact looking side on to it. It is an impressive sight unfortunately my camera doesn’t do it justice so I will try and get better photos tomorrow from my planned ascent of Schwartzhorn 2928m an ascent of 1,870m. That will keep me out of trouble!

I didn’t do much today. But when I bought a loaf of bread from the local-ish supermarket, I first was almost barged out of the way so she could stock the shelves. Then when I walked off she almost ran me over with her pallet cage. I think she was of the opinion that the people whom effectively pay her wages where getting in the way. Pretty dumb I would say. I also was going to buy a map with a plastic sleeve for the bargain price of £25. When I went to pay she slipped it out of the sleeve, saying it was because it was kept outside the kiosk. Yeah right, I know that they are sold like that; anyway did she think I was going to climb a mountain indoors! So I bought one with no sleave for £18 instead. I also saw a parked up Ferrari Italia that was a sight almost as beautiful as the Eiger this evening

This is not the Eiger but another stunning peak ending in horn I think at the other end of the campsite.

24th June Morzine to Grindelwald Switzerland

2011-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Prior to packing away in Morzine I got chatting to Nick and his wife. They are a really nice couple who I have got to know a little over the last couple of days. I had a post breakfast chat and we discussed my plans for an attempt on Mont Blanc. Nick is a fell runner and also expressed an interest in climbing it with the same philosophical approach as I had. That is to try and do it in one continuous effort from the valley floor to the summit and back down, with no guides (they are seriously expensive). So we loosely made plans to meet in a weeks’ time in Chamonix. I look forward to the prospect of tackling this with someone else. Maybe bringing that 2^nd ice axe was a good idea after all, as he has no winter kit. I think the minimum you need for Mont Blanc is Kahtoola spikes and an ice axe.

Nick also warned me about how expensive Switzerland was, so I decided to go to the supermarket on the way. I missed the planned supermarket Just outside Morzine, don’t know how, but managed to find a huge one about 10 miles from the Swiss border and it was the cheapest place since Andorra, so I struck it lucky. I also managed to get a canister of Camping gaz so this will see me through to mid-July. I think the amount of food I bought will last me almost until the end as well. I could almost feel the car groaning at all the extra weight. She is a true work horse.

Grindelwald is an impressive place, steep high cliffs jut up in front of the campsite and less daunting terrain surrounds the rest of the village. A river provides a soothing back ground noise. The only thing that has took me by surprise; although I knew Switzerland has French, Italian and German as its languages; is that this is a German speaking region of the country. My learning of French has just come to a screeching halt.

23rd June A run up Pointe de Ressachaux

2011-06-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

I delayed my planned run to, and up Pointe de Ressachaux due to the weather playing tricks on us again. The forecast was for worse weather in the afternoon, but it was transpiring to be the other way around. So when my new next door neighbours offered me a lift into Morzine I couldn’t resist. It saved me doing the run to Morzine, I still needed to do the run back but this was a lot better.

So after getting dropped off in the centre of Morzine, I set off for the steep forested slopes of Pointe de Ressachaux. The weather was cool and the clouds were down, but this meant that I didn’t get too hot on the ascent. This was probably the reason for a rapid ascent I reached the top at 2173m in just 1 hour 25 minutes. It was cloudy, cold and drizzly on the summit so I took a couple of pictures and descended using the same ascent route. I was down in 40 minutes and a further 20 minutes running got me back to the campsite.

I had got friendly with a lot of the new arrivals. The campsite, and Morzine has turned into little England, it is kind of nice after 4 weeks of hardly hearing an English voice and struggling with the languages. Now I talk assuming people are English. So instead of Bon Jour it is Hello. Just as I was heading into Morzine, to have a rare treat of a dinner out, my next door neighbours invited me for some dinner. It was very good of them, and it was a beautiful stir fry. They even gave me a glass of wine. Cheers Guys.

Some Video of last nights storm. When it rains in the hills it really does tip it down.

22nd June A quiet day then a storm

2011-06-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

After the previous two days, I needed a rest. My legs were tired and my grazes a bit sore. So I had a walk into Morzine to look for some more Camping Gaz (pictured). I have about a week worth of gas left so I will need 1 more, maybe 2 as Grindelwalds (next destination) weather forecast looks like it could be cold (9c high, 4c low!). It was a fruitless trip, although I could have bought some of that at the outdoor market. So dodging the sun, as I had forgotten my hat and had no sun protection on, I made my way back. Whilst on the way back I noticed a dear sheltering from under the trees out of the strong sun. I fumbled about to get my camera out and he/she didn’t bother at all, hence the fact I got the photo. It was a really chilled out dear.

As I type this in my tent I can barely hear the music playing on my notebook (full volume) for the rain battering on the down on the roof. It was a good day up till about 5 pm when a thunderstorm came in, and it has rained ever since, it is now 10pm!

The main crash wound. A Souvenir to take from Morzine.

21st June a 2nd day of downhill Mountain biking

2011-06-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

On my 2nd day at about the same rate as my fingers blistered I became better and more confident. The key to being fast at Morzine is being good in the berms. Gradually I have become better, and so I can carry more speed out of them. Early in the day I had a go at the straightest lined, and thus steepest black run into Morzine. I had already tried the less steep black run that is parallel to it and found it o.k. But this was in parts very difficult. There are Very steep sections and very steep parts with tree roots mud and wet rocks. It is the toughest track I have ridden. After walking sections through sheer terror I made it down relieved not to have had an off.

That came later in the day. After a 7 mile out and back to the campsite I carried on, and it started to rain as I started my decsent on the red run to Les Gets. A route I have done more times than any other. I was going well until I heard riders closing in behind I then took too many risks and jumped into a berm too late to take it and came off quite badly. The French guys following stopped and retrieved my, or should I say Torricos, bike from the bushes. They were really nice, asking in broken English if I was o.k. After I worked out which way was up, I realised that apart from a badly grazed right knee, arm, and hip I was o.k. I think all those falls from fell running must have helped. The only thing wrong with the bike was that the handle bars were not lined up properly with the front wheel.

So I decided whilst me and the bike were still in one piece, to call it a day. I still did parts of the easier run into Morzine and parts of the black run, as they say you have to get back on the bike.

20th June Mountain biking and mountain running

2011-06-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Having hired a mountain bike last year, I knew what to do with the lifts and passes etc. So on Monday morning, after collecting the bike, I was straight into it. Riding a full on downhill bike for the first time was difficult. They are heavy and have wide handle bars, not good if you lack upper body strength! But after a while I was getting better. Even the muddy rutted areas weren’t too much of a problem. The weather today was good but on some of the routes there was a lot of standing water, especially under the trees. So I learned the best routes to take to avoid these.

I decided that as the weather was so good, I would do 4 hours of downhill nonstop and then run / walk up the local hill Pointe de Nantaux (2170m). So when 2pm came I washed the bike and tried to find an open shop for food. I couldn’t so I rode back to the tent to eat some fruit (not enough). Sorted my mud spattered self out, and headed for the mountain.

I started at 3:15 and the ascent went well I reached the top in 1hour 55 minutes (1200m ascent). The descent was tricky on a mix of slippery rocks and mud. But I took 1 hour to get back to the campsite. I ended the run on a partial bonk. I clearly hadn’t eaten enough during the day and the last 15 minutes of flat and slightly uphill were tougher than they should have been. A total outing of 3 hours.

It was a good day though, I squeezed a lot in. At one point on the mountain bike I thought that I had pulled a tendon. But later on, on inspection a bee’s sting was still sticking out of my leg. I suppose it is better than a damaged tendon.

19th June The Fantasticable

2011-06-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Whilst in the pub last night on the internet; drinking coffee so as not to create more condensation in my tent; I learned that the Zip wire, called the Fantasticable, near Chatel would be open tomorrow (Sunday) then shut until Friday. As I am moving on Friday I decided to alter my plans of tackling the mountain opposite the campsite (Pointe de Nantaux 2170m) and go to the zip wire instead. It was even more important as I don’t think I will go to Locarno to the Goldeneye bungee jump.

The normal route to it is a 56 mile round trip, around the hills. After studying the map I realised that I could head up the valley out of Essert Romand and past Lac de Montriond to Les Lindarets . It would be a round trip of 16 miles. All I had to do was walk up to the zip wire (about 1,300 feet) do it get the cable car back up and then run down to the car. That is exactly what I did, and I am proud of my 40 miles saved. After all I am clocking up enough car miles as it is (about 1700 so far).

After being forced to negotiate a herd of cows on the footpath I found that the zip wire looked closed; it was shrouded in mist and looked eerie. But by the time I figured out that the workers were sheltering in a hut, paid 34 euros, and got suited up, the clouds parted and it was time to worry a little. This is no 190 meter bungee jump, but it still gets the heart going a bit. The rides; I say rides because you do two switching half way; were really enjoyable. Apart from the wind speed it doesn’t feel that fast. The ground being far below sees to that. The ending is a bit jerky but nothing too bad.

It was a good day out and the sun had even dried my tent out when I got back. On that journey back for the first 5 miles I averaged 101 mpg! Needless to say you don’t get figures like that in a Golf GTI unless it is all downhill.

18th June Saturday Rain and more rain

2011-06-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Whilst avoiding my tent so as not to make the condensation worse, I was clocking up the miles walking 1 ½ hours to an internet pub. Along the way I took some photos of the strange weather I was enduring. They were mainly near, or in the case of the one below, from the campsite as it turned out.

16th and 17th June Thur and Fri and Sat am Move form Palavas to Morzine

2011-06-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

The night prior to my move to Morzine I decided to treat Thomas to some pasta accompanied by his recommendation of Greyer cheese. I bought some wine as well; the wine was the same price as the cheese! All in all a good evening, and a late bed time after more strained French – English and English – French conversation. If he was English or Moi French I think we could have discussed everything we talked about since meeting him, in about 1 hour.

Packing my tent and gear away is always more tricky than it looks, and to prove this for Friday mornings move I had a photographer to take some action shots, that photographer was Thomas. There was a whole menagerie of insects living in, or on the tent. Apart from the normal snails spiders and ants; we found a scarab beetle (I didn’t know this Thomas said it was a Scarab) , a frog and I found what looks like a very big moth having a snooze on my tent, he took some waking up to send on his way, and he flew off like a small bird.

On demolition, as Thomas liked to refer to it as, of my tent, it was time to leave Eden Camping and Thomas. I offered him 20 Euro trying to say that in terms of my budgeted 1100 euro a month (which I am currently way exceeding) 20 Euro is very little. Still he didn’t want to accept, until finally he accepted 10 euros, but only after I told him that when he comes to Lancaster he can buy me a drink; a proper pint not a euro measure.

After a 5 ½ hour drive I arrived in a drizzly, cloudy Morzine. I set up the tent in the wet with the inner still attached, not a good idea as I was to find out. As soon as I got it up it started dripping through water into the sleeping area. I managed to wipe the underside of the tent and stop it, but this morning Saturday 18^th, after a whole night of nonstop rain it has started again. I think it is wetting out with the condensation of cooking and my breath on the inside attracting the rain through from the outside. I pray the manager is right and better weather is on its way.

I had a couple of pints, yes pints not mini strong euro beer, in a local English style bar last night. Ialso heard the first English voices for 20 days!

15th June Hottest run of the year

2011-06-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

My new friend, Thomas (pronounced Thoma), joined me for some breakfast in my tent this morning. I offered to up the nutrition of his bread and water with some jam. He appreciated it. I also gave him some peanuts, which I unwittingly bought thinking that they were cashews, in French peanuts is Cacahuets! This added up to making me late setting off for my run. Not that I am on a tight schedule, I just know that it gets hot at 11 o’clock.

By the time I set off it was 11:30 and it was hot. I can safely say it was the most oppressive heat I have run in this year. One and a half hours was tough, and I just about managed it. After the run I talked to Thomas for a while with the aid of computer translation, to make things a bit easier. Later in the evening Thomas met me in the bar and we had a glass of wine and a strained chat. After this we noticed the eclipse of the moon and stood there in awe of the beauty. Eclipses in a warm climate look much better, brighter and clearer. Altogether not a bad day, but seriously hot, about 30c in the shade!

14th June Meeting Thomas and a trip to Montpellier

2011-06-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

A thunder storm late yesterday afternoon cooled things down a bit overnight. But the morning started off much the same as any other, in that it was hot, and I did the same routine of, eating, clearing up, and then sorting myself out. But with a bit of time to kill prior to catching a bus I got talking to Thomas. A nice French guy (23 and an avid Doctor Who fan) a bit down on his luck and living in a small Quechua tent. After a strained conversation, as usual his English being better than my French, we decided to go to Montpellier together.

During the day a learned that he has no fixed abode and after 3 weeks of rough camping has started to live at the campsite. He is very tight for money and has lived on French sticks and water for 2 months. I respect him for that it must be really tough. He reluctantly accepted my invitation to buy him a Macdonalds in Montpellier. I realise it is not the nutrition he needed, but he said he would go wherever I was going, and genuinely that was a planned treat to myself that day. We both enjoyed it and I gave him the change, only about 6 Euros but I suppose all helps.

When I went food shopping I again felt guilty but I need proper food. I would really struggle to do what he is doing however cheap it would turn out to be, and when you have the choice! We missed our bus so whilst waiting for another bus I got us a nice cool drink at a shady bar. He learned that he has a good job in Lattes starting in September during the day, so good news for Thomas at last. He also is going to do some jobs at the site when they get busy in 2 weeks’ time. He is a nice guy and deserves some luck as his family are not; for reasons I didn’t delve into; supporting him. Something I have probably taken for granted. But as he understood all too well I can go home whenever I want by any means I want (I have money to fly o whatever it took) and no I would be welcome when I got there. It reminds me that what I am doing it not tough at all, what he is doing is tough; respect.

12th and 13th Sun, Mon Hot again and some ponderings

2011-06-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well it’s hot and yesterday I had a day of chores. It was a restless night sleep however. The local campsite parties didn’t die down until about 1 am. Then I got a bit freaked out by scratching noises about 2 feet from my head. Eventually I got some sleep, safe in the knowledge that whatever was scratching was on the other side of the inner sheet, and fairly small. Whilst awake listening to the local nightclubs music at 05:30am, I pondered some of the things I haven’t put in this Blog. Either because I tried to wipe the trauma from memory, or I just didn’t see them as significant at the time. Here they are.
1 Getting back from Barcelona having been pick pocketed, to find that cats had dragged my cool bag of food from under the car and ripped big holes in it, Violated twice in one day.

2 Three days ago moved the car back towards my tent, forgetting that, that same repaired bag was under the car, crushing some eggs, and some prized Mcvitties Chocolate digestives.
3 The comedy of trying to have a chat with the local bar man in Font Romue. It was the same strained conversation most nights He looked like a French version of Master chefs Greg Wallace. A nice chap though.
4 The pure horror of going to have a shower at Mataro’s campsite on the 2^nd night and putting my hand in human excrement. Yes you read right. This needs a bit of explaining. There is a ledge to put your bags on in the showers. I noticed what I thought was a pair of rolled up dark briefs, when I went to push them to one side to my utter shock the texture was not that of cloth. Ouch. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with this one.
5 The constant pain of tolls when on your own on a right hand drive car.

In the morning I discovered that 3 beetles had crawled in-between the ground sheet on the tents porch and the footprint groundsheet. So I sprayed lots of insect repellent in the area.
Today I had a run, which was at least as hot as any run I did in Mataro. It wasn’t just me the runners I saw had that pained expression on their faces, as did I I am sure. Tomorrow I will visit Montpellier this time to record its charm. I booked a mountain bike for 2 days in Morzine, and Booked a Hotel and some flights for the Tour of Mont Blanc. I think I will have had enough of the camping lifestyle by then!

11th June Saturday A run in the heat again

2011-06-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

It felt quite strange today running in the heat with a cold. But at least I managed to find somewhere to run. This campsite has fences all around it and the only exit and entry point, at the road, is a busy dual carriageway with no footpath. I did have to dice with death for about 400 meters until I found a track that follows the river.

I ran for an hour and 15 minutes which was a bit longer than intended. I decided to go down the river towards the sea, crossed it at a bridge and follow it back. I knew the next bridge was back up river beyond the campsite, but had no idea how far. With no water and 26c heat it was a bit of a gamble. But luckily the bridge was only another mile there, and a mile back to the campsite. The only notable part of the run really, was the flock of flamingo’s I saw at the estuary near the sea.

As a load of kids (and parents naturally) move in, it has become a lot noisier. I only hope they are local weekend trippers. I long for the mountains even more now. I have to endure / make the best of this place until Friday. Another trip into Montpellier is on the cards as it is a nice city, and this time I will take my camera.

9th and 10th June Thursday, Friday Moving from Font Romeu to Palvaas

2011-06-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have felt low at arriving at all the campsites so far, none more so than when I arrived at the Eden Campsite in Palavas near Monpellier. I think it is the fatigue of driving and setting up camp, as well as expectations being too high; or the expectation that each campsite will be better than the last.

The drive from Font Romeu isn’t far, only about 180 miles, but it is not the distance, but more the roads that you are that is tiring. This drive was about 35 miles of downhill tight and twisty switchbacks. This was to get down to sea level from nearly 6,000 feet up. Followed by about 80 miles of what in England would be an A road.

I also brought a cold with me from Font Romeu, which also didn’t help my mood on arrival. Having had time to reflect though, this is without doubt the poorest site I have visited. No toilet paper, old haggard toilets and showers, not much space for entertainment , no freezing facilities for Ice packs (well not really I got mine done at the bar!). The one thing that looks good is the pool but I haven’t tried it yet. I suppose the free WIFI is good, but I almost daren’t ask if I charge anything up, I am worried the answer will be no. Oh I nearly forgot I saw the cleaner today hosing down the washing areas. No hands on cleaning; this is evident from the stains on all the metal; literally a hose and a spray down. Incredible! I just hope they don’t read this, second thoughts I’m not that bothered if I get chucked out.

I look back at Font Romeu and think it was a brilliant campsite it had a beautiful woodland setting in the hills, and only 12.50 euro a night off peak. Just as I was leaving I finally saw the Woodpecker that I had heard every day whilst being there. The manger who’s name (see picture) I have finally found out to be Mickaul, was also a really nice person, who was a source of information on running the hills and trails around Font Romeu. If I go back to the Pyrenees on another trip I will definitely visit.

8th June Wednesday the changing view from the campsite

2011-06-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had a run up to some of the smaller ski piste tops today. I did a circuit, going around the Lycee sports college 1841m, then up to La Gallinera 2127m, onto Roc de la Clama 2213m then Refuge De la Calma 2117m and then by accident back through the “Foret communale D’Egat” forrest. A few navigational mistakes added to the fun, and extended the run to 2 hours 25 minutes. It’s a good job there was a very cool wind as it was a bit far with no water.

After the heavy pack needed for the assault on a snowy Puig Carlit on Monday, it was good to go out with minimal gear and feel like I could move properly. I have always preferred the fast and light approach; I suppose that comes from fell running. Sometimes however the extra kit is necessary to increase the safety margins. As I start to think ahead to Switzerland (16 days away) and Peaks like Jungfrau, I think minimal kit on these peaks will be impossible or dangerous.

During the morning I took a few shots of the view from the campsite looking towards Camre d’Aze. It is a stunning view and for £11 a night, it beats the hell out of the Festa Brava’s view!

I was looking through some pictures when I found this video taken on one of the first parts of the ridge, on Camre d`Aze. It doesn`t go on long like this. But the most dangerous parts were the traverse lines around the, up and down, ridge, which went on for about half a mile. Without an ice axe it felt a bit nervy.

7th June Some video of Puig Carlit from yesterday

2011-06-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

I am planning a day of chores, all the boring but necessary stuff, laundry, food shopping tidying the tent etc. I will also get my hair cropped for the first time in years by someone other than my sister. Should be intersting.

So I thought I would up load a clip of video that I took on my camera on the summit of Puig Carlit, from my new high point of 9,583 feet.

6th June Puig Carlit 2921 meters

2011-06-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

For my first attempt at Puig Carlit, on Wednesday I optimistically set off from the campsite, probably o.k. in summer mountain conditions. But these are more like winter than summer conditions at the moment. So my new strategy was to drive to the foot of the mountain at La Bolloseta with winter gear and have another go.

The drive there was interesting, first off the sat nav thought it new a shorter route, it would have been if I had an off road vehicle, luckily the road was closed. So after ignoring the sat nav I was finally on the way. The second interesting / annoying part were the amount of wildlife on the road. The local cows and horses seem to have claimed it as their own. Some of them even seemed to weave in front of me; they must be a bit mad. After several encounters with cows and horses and 7 miles of narrow roads I arrived at La Bolloseta.

I got kitted up with a large pack, ice axe, crampons, spare clothing and all the other usual stuff, and then asked at the information kiosk what the snow conditions were like. She said she didn’t know and be careful. It was probably good to have her know I was on my way up on my own anyway, even if I didn’t gain any information.

So heavily laden with gear I made my way along and gently up the beautiful trials to the foot of Carlit. Luckily she didn’t seem to have too much snow on her, Just pockets that needed to be traversed with a bit of care. I got the axe out and did just that making my way across the traverse. Luckily a few others had been the same route, and so I could follow in their steps. It meant I did not need to use the crampons that I was carrying. There were a couple of tricky bits that required a bit of scrambling, 3 points of contact were definitely necessary. In summer this would be less daunting, the snow seems to add that bit of trepidation to the proceedings.

I made my way over these 2 tricky scrambles and hoped that these were the tough bits that the campsite manager was describing. It turned out that they were, and it was much easier, but still needed care, to reach the summit on my left. I had done it, I had reached the highest point in the area of languedoc roussillon. I descended via the couloir, seen in the picture left, as it was much easier in the soft deep snow, than it would be down climbing the tricky side of the arrete.

Puig Cqrlit is by no means the highest of the Pyrenees (they can reach 3,400m or so), but still I am pleased to have ascended one of the larger mountains in the range. The ascent took 2hours 15 and the descent 1 hour 30.

5th June A local (font Romeu) trail run

2011-06-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

I had a nice steady run on the gentle and beautiful trails the surround the campsite. I headed to Egat then looped back around. For a change it didn`t rain whilst I was out. There are some curious statues including a bear holding a bird, and a portly naked lady in a bath robe, on the route. Interesting.
I also took some "different" photos I think I was bored.

4th June Another quiet day, for me not the weather

2011-06-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

The weather today has been a mix of sunny spells and really heavy showers. It is strange at this altitude because when you get rain, more often than not, you are actualy in the clouds, so it is misty with the rain.

I experienced this on a trip to the local-ish supermarket. On the way back up the 500 foot 3 mile hike, laden with a rucsack of shopping, it lashed it down. I think the managers suggestion to drive was a good one.

I did a conversion on 2,750m (Camra d`aze) today it turns out that it is 9,022 Foot. Its kind of nice to know that I have been above 9,000 feet for the first time.

3rd June Cambre d'Aze

2011-06-04T02:11:00.000-07:00

After my previous 2 disappointing efforts at climbing my 3rd Pyrenean Mountain, it was good to succeed this time. It wasn’t easy though the snowfall of the previous few days combined with no view of the mountain to get an idea of how much was lying on the ground, made it real guess work.

I managed to locate a map in the town but after trying several shops the time was already 12:30. However I wasn’t in much of a rush as the mornings weather was awful, wet and windy again! I decided that as I had found a map I would definitely have a go today (the forecast for the next 5 days is for worse weather). So I got my gear together. It was a combination of next to skin base layers and a very protective shell jacket, hat, gloves and I also took Kahtoola spikes – a mesh of small steel spikes that fit around any footwear – as a precaution. I chose this gear so I could be fast and light but still have good protection from what the potential cold high above.

I drove the 7 miles to St Pierre- Dels-Forcats then set off up the ski pistes. It was fairly warm but cloudy. After a few minor errors I was soon out of the woodland and onto a broad ridge. Pockets of snow appeared, so I put the Kahtoola spikes on. These help a lot when the snow is on grass, your feet don’t slip back so much. The ridge narrowed to a fairly steep sided arête that rose up and down like a set of giant sharks teeth. Most of this is missed on the right hand side (in my direction) but this meant traversing a steep snow covered slope, it was a “no slip area” as I warn myself. If you started sliding on that without an ice axe to self-arrest, you would be in big trouble.

It was good to finish the traverse and then make my way onto the final broad summit area. The wind picked up and the wispy snow became more soft hail. I took a hasty picture, and then descended down the other ridge of the mountain .There was no use hanging around as it wasn’t a day for views! I didn’t get an ideal route down but it was good enough to take me down steep rock then through the forests and back to the car.

It is the highest altitude I have been to under my own steam, 2,750m, and it wasn’t the easiest of ascents on a tough day for the weather and underfoot conditions. Plus the final arête is about ½ mile long and it is all at about 2,700m high. So it was a pleasing 3 hour run., 2 hours 10 up and 50 minutes down.

31st of May 1st and 2nd of June

2011-06-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

My journey across the Pyrenees to relocate in Font Romeu went smoothly. The 45 mile journey across passa del cassa was a nice drive. Foggy at times but then I was high up in the mountains. I arrived at the Hutopia campsite just as it started to drizzle. I met a really nice French guy who happened to be the manager, and he filled me in with the details. It is a campsite set in a national park; with a good eco ethic; so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see 3 deer just after putting up the tent. What was a surprise was that the campsite is near empty. It has only just opened but I never expected to be the only person here in a tent. It is like a campsite slowly waking up from hibernation.

I think I am finding out why today. As I type this it is snowing and has been on off for much of the time, apart from a 2 hour midday interlude for some really strong sun. I suppose being at 1,750m has its difficulties.

Earlier today I got a forecast off the really helpful French site manager (sorry still haven’t got his name) which suggested that today was going to be the best day; In the next 3; to have a go at the regions highest peak, Puig Carlit 2921m. So I got my gear together and set off over Coll Del Pam and down to the base of the mountain. I did this on some beautiful trails. But on approaching La Bolloseta the wind picked up and the clouds looked menacing. It was a seriously cold wind and even at my altitude of 2,000m I was really cold. I could just about run into the wind on the flat. I made it to the information point sheltered and put my hat and gloves on. The lady said troi jeurs mal. She spoke broken for me, but I understood it. It means the next 3 days will be no good for ascending Puig Carlit. Beyond that is anyone’s guess.

So, again, I turned back, but this time I headed for another hill, it also made a different route back. The much simpler pisted La Gallinera 2127m. It was disappointing but the weather made Puig Carlit it an impossible summit on the day, and the snow on the mountain looked fairly tricky even if the weather was reasonable.

As I type this I am starting to think that this recent snow fall might make all the hills tricky. I will look at a slightly easier mountain on Friday. The only problem is I haven’t got a map for it yet.

31st May Moving on from Andorra la Vella to Font Romeu

2011-05-31T01:11:00.000-07:00

It’s time to”let go” and move on again, this time its Font Romeu. I have grown quite fond of Andorra la Vella over the last 4 days.

The hotel staff has been an interesting bunch to get to know. The cleaner / waitress can’t speak any language apart from Spanish, at all, but is the nicest person you could ever meet. The receptionists, one of which has given me directions through a maze of streets to a car park I didn’t want. Then I had to go and move the car, next door to the one I did want. Another of the receptionists is an old boy. He was sat down in the cafe type area with his dog, smoking. I walked in asked for dos, tres, dos. This was my room key that I could have leant over the counter to retrieve. He got up, and I am not joking, it took him about 2 minutes to shuffle the 30 feet around to the counter to give me my key. I felt sorry for him as he was relaxing, but I thought I had better stick to Hotel protocol.

Last night I went to an Italian Taverna at the top end of Escalades (a 20 minute walk). I decided it would be a nice spot. It was, they had a Menu of beers from around the world, each with an in depth description. So I tried a few, and got talking to Pablo the bar tender. He is a really nice guy from Argentina, who has travelled all over the world. He has now settled in Andorra with his Italian girlfriend. He works 11 hours a day, with no days off! He ended up paying for one of my drinks, Thanks Pablo, good luck. It tipped it down, so the down side to drinking at this pub was a soaking on the way back to the Hotel.

30th May 2011 A storm in the Pyrenees

2011-05-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

I took my daily post breakfast walk, this time to check on the car in the long stay car park. On my way I noticed a helicopter trailing a long line towards a cliff side. After retrieving my monocle from the Hotel, I could see what seemed to be 2 climbers on a porta-ledge waiting for recue climbers to ascend from bellow. It looked like an emergency, but could equally have been a training exercise. (hard to see but near the middle in the picture left)

The Weather forecast for today wasn’t too good. But I set off in good weather for the 2,658m Tossa del Braibal anyway. It was about a ¾ hour run / walk through the busy escalades high street before I started to ascend a winding road then eventually a track. I had previously plotted a convoluted route that spent less time on winding mountain roads. So I did some long sweeping out and back before closing In on Coll Jovell (1,179M), as I did I heard the unmistakable sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. As it was distant I decided to carry on. But by the time I had ascended to about 2,100M, it suddenly became much louder.

After 2 hours effort I took a breather and decided that I did not know enough about how these steep sided slopes would react in bad weather. Landslips are always a threat. Ultimately it was my own risk assessment that turned me back. On my own, on almost deserted hills, with probably an hour to get to the top and back to where I was, with a storm closing in and just starting to rain, on unfamiliar hills was enough to make me go back down. A little disappointed as this was a much better mountain to take on at speed, the trails were much nicer and less steep. As I descended I saw a lightning strike on a radio mast near the mountain I was on, on Saturday. I have never turned back before but I have never taken on a 2,600M peak before either. If that weather was in the English hills I would have carried on.

As it turned out the bark of this storm was worse that it’s bite. But still a lot of life is about self-preservation, and based on this alone I know it was the correct decision.

29th May Camping versus Hotels

2011-05-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

The party on Friday night in Mataro, and me changing from camping to a Hotel, made me ponder the differences between camping and staying in a Hotel. A Hotel is no doubt easier i.e. you don’t have to walk 200 meters every time you want to go to the toilet, brush your teeth, or wash the dishes; or walk 400 meters every time you want something charging, or to throw your litter away, go to the bar, and buy food. Of course the shelter is better, less prone to the elements. But you don’t meet people in a hotel, especially in Andorra where it seems the Spanish holiday for the duty free shopping!

Camping is cheaper, and you meet like-minded people that love to travel, and when on your own this is an important part of the enjoyment. I have begun to realise that sharing experiences gives them a sense of worth. This Blog goes a little way to that. Camping is also more relaxing. I also had an amazing view in Potes, a reasonable one in Mataro. Here I have a small window that looks down a very narrow alley. I can just make out the light at the end, crap in other words. So from now on I am camping all the way. If I get tired of camping then I’m off home.

Another thought / enigma, I have been texting a lot until I got here, but in Andorra my phone will not pick up a network. No idea why.

28th May acent of Bony de la Pica and Pic d’Enclar

2011-05-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

I bought a map at a local shop 1:40,000 with a guide book in French, Spanish and Catalan, again not ideal and planned my assault on my first Pyrenees Mountain. I decided on the closest one Bony de la Pica 2,402M and its neighbouring peak Pic d’Enclar 2,383M (left of post in picture left). As it turned out this mountain run assaulted me.(Andorra la Vella is at approx 1,000m)

I knew this was going to be a tough day but it turned out to be one of my toughest trips I have ever endured in the mountains. The weather was good all day, perhaps a little too hot. But it was my run of about 1 ½ miles to the start of the track where my malaise caught me out. Reading a map whilst running down a street full of 24 hour garages, I tripped on a small curb on the forecourt. I think it’s the only time I have tripped flat out on a solid surface; as an adult anyway. I used the map to slide my right hand along on but still badly grazed my left hand and clattered my knee and hip. But I was generally o.k. My knee was bleeding, but the embarrassment was the worst thing. Here I am about to take on a large mountain and I trip before I even get to its base, the shame.

Never mind I carried on. I struggled to initially find the trail. Eventually found it and made my way through the trees on a good track. Later on I emerged out of the trees just a few cairns marked the couloir, it got steep and very difficult with a loose surface. I knew that the battle to ascend would be matched by the battle to descend this rough steep route. I struggled my way to the top, thinking if Mont Blanc is anything like this tough I can forget doing it in 1 continuous effort. The top had a nice large wooden marker with the name and height on. The view was pretty good and just about worth the effort. I made the small descent and re-ascent to visit the top of Pic d’Enclar which was easy running. Then I retraced my steps to begin the decent.

It was a very steep skittery decent. I needed fell shoes on this; it was definitely not for the trail shoes I had on. I can’t remember slipping onto my backside and hands (not ideal with a badly grazed hand!) as much as that on 1 descent. So much so that I found the treacherous scree shoot easier and kept dabbling with it. Eventually I made it down to the relatively easy tree shaded route to the bottom. It was enjoyable but it did feel like a battle with the mountain, a draw I think. I picked up a graze on my elbow on the way down, not too bad considering how many times I slipped. It was then just a mile and a half back to the Hotel to cool off. I am going to try and find a less steep Mountain for Monday.

27th May arrrival in Andorra La Vella

2011-05-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

During my stay in Mataro, there were times (post Barcelona trip) when I was itching to leave for. But after becoming friendlier with acouple a met earlier; Marie and Ian and a few others; it made me want to stay. But that’s the nature of travelling people come and go. You strike up very transient relationships, and especially for any of you that watched Lost, you have to “learn let go”.

I did and ended up In Andorra La Vella. In a nutshell, it is a small city crammed between large peaks, that has more shops than you could believe (about 11 motor bike shops in a row), very few pubs but you can smoke anywhere even in shops! On my way here I though car parking would be a rip off and so it is. I parked my car in the wrong car park initially (bad directions by the receptionist, she never apologised either) then had to move it to the cheapest car park, 38 euro for 4 days!

Some things are cheap though like most electrical goods and jewellery, but the duty free is incredible. 1 litre of Smirnoff vodka 7.50 euro! 200 Marlbro 22 euro. The roads are also mental so it was good to start planning my escape up into the Pyrenees on Saturday.

27th May the move to Andorra La Vella

2011-05-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

On my last night in Mataro I arranged to have a few beers with a couple that I had met durring my stay in Mataro. A really cool couple, namely Marie and Ian from Derbyshire. Whilst explaining my tales of woe to a Dutch couple at about 20:30 they appeared on the back of a golf buggy. They had found a cheap bar by the beach got very merry and Ian, fed up with walking, feigned a leg injury at reception and got a lift. It was a brilliant entrance, if it is possible to enter the middle of a load of camping pitches.

We had planned to go to the campsites pub, but never actually made it there. A bottle of rose I had kept in my tent was now UHT treated by the hot and cold over the last 4 days and nights, so it was cracked open. Then a lovely dutch couple Rein, and I can’t remember the ladies name, Joined us. Then a bit later a Belgian guy motor-biking and camping for months, then another couple. It made for a wine fuelled excellent night. We were told off for the noise a couple of times. But compared to the noise on my first night there, we were quiet. Still a top night sat on the floor outside a small tent, theirs not mine of course!

26th MAY MENIAL TASKS

2011-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what I have been doing today. Yes, that is what a weeks-worth of washing looks like. I saved myself 4.50 euro at the laundrette and did it by hand. See I told you I could / would. Must admit though it is a bit of graft, I can see why the washing machine was invented. It is good drying weather though mum. The clothes were dry by 5pm.

Apart from that I had a walk down the beach and got some of my kit arranged into a manor ready for a hotel stay. Not particularly exciting but rigging up a washing line and doing clothes by hand is all new to me. I dabbled a bit in Potes but not on this scale.

A quick thought. I only started thinking about television last night. I haven’t really missed it at all. I had some power left on the lap top so looked up getting the Apprentice on BBC Iplayer. But it came up with a message not available in your area, no idea what that means. It’s the only programme I want to watch. I will look at it again In Andorra where naturally I will be sat in a suitable pub to watch the big match on Saturday!

25th May a Quiet day

2011-05-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

I had a quiet day today, after the unwanted excitement of yesterday. I simply ran down to the beach by the, too close for comfort, train line path. I took the camera this time to show you what Mataro looks like. As you can see on the photos it was another beautiful day and very hot, about 32 I would guess. I am looking forward to a change of scenery now roll on Friday and a trip up to Andorra high in the Pyrenees.

24th May A trip to barcelona

2011-05-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

My trip to Barcelona started off o.k. I got the free bus from Mataro to the city centre (Placa de Catalunya) were I met up with an open top tour bus (23 eur /day) which then proceeded to take me on a trip around the city. You could get on and off wherever you wanted I only chose to get off at the Sagradia Familia. I choosing to see the sites from the roof top of the bus, this took 4 hours. I had planned to go in the Sagradia Familia but the queue was about 600 meters long and not moving very fast. I planned on an early start on Thursday to go back to have a look. I say planned because what happened in the following few hours changed my mind.

I had a look around the Picasso Museum then had a bite to eat and by this time it way 19:30 and my bus back was at 22:00. So I bought some fruit at the huge market and then went for a beer, whilst going to the 2^nd pub, down one of the many narrow (but not the narrowest) lanes a guy bounded up alongside me. “French, German, Dutch, English” I replied English. “Ah great football Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United” naively thinking this was a friendly local (since informed he was probably Moroccan) I said Man United. He puts his arm around me “Barcelona me ha ha ha “ and at the same time pretends to tackle me all the time in good humour laughing. I jump his leg and carry on walking. Thinking that was odd I reached for my Wallet it is not in the pocket I had it in. I shout out no, no not my cards common give me my wallet back as I run towards him he throws my wallet to the floor and takes off. I only run a few paces and then collect my wallet off a guy who stops me running after him and stalls me (im almost certain he was his accomplice) he tells me wait there I will get him, how much was it? I only think he asked that because he wanted to know how much his share was.(no honour amongst thieves!). I ran after them both but looking at the narrowing streets they went down I decide it would be fruitless, especially given the fruit that was weighing my rucsack down.

Luckily earlier in the day I had the presence of mind to put my credit card in a separate zip up pocket on my shorts. Unfortunately I didn’t have the presence of mind to have my wallet in that same zipped up pocket; they may not have tried it then. So I lost 120 euro; I think because I noticed fast enough it meant that I got my Wallet back as a stall tactic. I was left with an empty wallet 4 euro in change and a credit card. Luckily I ended up at the same Irish pub I had been in and San Miguel was 1 euro a bottle, so after a chat with the doorman and him buying me a bottle I stayed there until I needed to walk for the bus home.

It has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Barcelona is a beautiful city just plagued by rats. I hope they choke on it, they truly are verminous cowardly scum, that’s probably doing an injustice to rats, but I want to avoid swearing, I did enough of that on Tuesday. I have pondered that day and I think that I was targeted earlier on as well. Just as I was drawing some money out of a cash machine on La Rambla ((photo)a very busy wide street think o’connell street in Dublin but longer) as I was about to get my card back a guy walked from my left and behind me shouting at me in Spanish, I kept my hands near the machine and he kept walking and shouting as if talking to someone that was following in his footsteps. I am almost certain this was to try and distract me from what I was doing so they could grab the money as it appeared from the cash machine. That is why my photos of the amazing Sagradia Familia will have to do. Barcelona has got all the money it’s getting from me.

23rd May Run in the sun down Mataro beach front

2011-05-23T12:47:00.001-07:00

Mataro is not a fantastic place for a holiday. (and as I keep telling myself I am not strictly speaking on a holiday) The free bus from this campsite into Barcelona make this a good budget base for the city though. The only life that I have found in Mataro has been some sort of drum banging student protest at the town hall. Apart from that it is the least lively big city I have been to (population 150,000). I hold much higher hopes for my birthday treat to Barcelona tomorrow.

Mataro has a reasonably pleasant beach. I explored it today by having a run down the beach front in the midday heat. What is it they say about mad dogs and English men? It was a fairly pleasant start until I was reminded that I was running on a trail between the beach and a railway line. I was startled by a train that was speeding towards me about 4 feet to my right. Apart from that it was a nice run down the beach next to the water (like hill work) and a long a long harbour wall.

I booked my next stop point today. On Friday I will be going to Andora La Vella and staying in a Hotel for 4 nights, with breakfast laid on, oh the luxury. Another birthday treat to myself, aren’t I generous? But it is a budget hotel.

A video from the F1 of Hamilton closing in on Vettel near the end.

A video of the first lap alonso in the lead but only until the first pit stops.

21st and 22nd May The F1 Barcelona Grand Prix

2011-05-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

The summing up of my day at the F1 races would be, hot (it must have been 30c sat in the sun), very loud, and expensive.

The qualifying on Saturday was good, and the other Porsche and GP2 races were good to watch. I did a lap of the track whilst watching these to find the best spot to view the qualifying, and the Grand prix the following day. Eventually I settled for grassy banks with a view of the screen.

On both days I was sat in the sun gently cooking. But the Sunday was particularly hot, people weren’t flooding in to the toilets to use them (dehydration will have seen to that) only to douse themselves down with water. I followed this trend.

Both days were fun but in truth it confirmed what I already knew, in that watching it on the BBC on a TV is the best way to follow the race. At the circuit it was very hot, the screen was a bit too far to see clearly in the bright sun, the radio commentary couldn’t be herd over the car noise and using an ipods radio with ipod earplugs wasn’t enough ear protection. So all this made the race hard to follow, especially during the pit stops. Never the less it was a great experience, and Hamilton2nd and Button 3rd was a pretty good result for the Brits. I think it will be a long time until I go to a Grand Prix again so it will probably be a long time until I pay £3.50 for a cornetto!

19th May A trip up to a very large cross.

2011-05-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

I had a nice run up the mountain at the back of the campsite. It has a huge cross on its summit, it is the most impressive cairn i have seen so far on my travels. On inspection, after sweating mt way up all of Viornas 1088m I found that it has solar panels sympathetically placed on its sides so as to power the lights at night, it makes an impressive sighttowering high up atop the mountain above Potes. My route up their was a little dodgy as my map didnt show the tracks. I ended up short cutting and bushwackering my way through dense clawing vegetation until I eventually intercepted the large forest track I should have been on.

My route down and around the back of the mountain was nice. I got a little lost on the lower slopes at one point, but again a little fortunate bushwackering had me back on track. I then made it to Frama were a lovely old lady from the farm assumed that as I had a map in hand I was lost. i wasnt. But i couldnt help thinking, when it would be usefull to bump intto people you dont around here, but you always get help even if you dont really need it, I think the locals are just very king hearted. The mountains are empty, but so majestic, I dont know why they are so little walked or run. Perhaps it is because they are tough and unforgiving?

I have photos to add to here and Picasa at another time. I am packing up now for a long drive tomeorrow to mataro 23miles NE of Barcelona. It is a long drive so i am going to pack he big tent away and sleep in a pop up tent so that i can get an early start to a 9 hour + journey.

17th May A trip into the Picos de Europa

2011-05-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first forray into the Picos de Europa it was hot but beautiful. I managed to bag one Pico (Pico Soliveno 1226m) despite having a less than great 1:40.000 map (1:25.000 is what I normally use). The true Picos are hard to get at from Potes. It was a fairly tough 4 hour run /walk, and that is to one of the smaller Picos they go upto 2,000 + mteres. It also feels a bit exposed as their are some steep cliffs and in the entire 4 hours i saw one guy about 20 minutes after leaving the road. The lake district it isnt. For solitude its unbeatable. But on you own these could be dangerous hills. Picos sounds cute but these have a bite to them. My next trip will be tomorrow Friday up to Sierra De La Viorna the same name as the campsite I am staying, and looming 1100 meters above.

Earlier today (Wednesday 18th May) I walked to the Monastry about 2 miles uphill from the campsite. It is a beautiful building and very peacefull. Or it was until all the tourist coaches came and emtied out their hoardes. I half expected Brendan (coach trip tv programme C4) and his union jack topped coach to pull up. I then walked to Santa Catalina, I assume it is a dug out relic of an ancient place of worship, all the info was Spanish, so that was me stumped and guessing. Then I met a charming Spanish chap at San Miguel (same deal as Santa Catalina but not a relic, forgot photo) who insisted on showing me Potes far below. He thought me looking at a map meant that I was lost. Half an hour after trying to explain the Pico in the distance that I was on yesterday. I realised I could show him the pictures on my camera. I will look up the Spanish for yesterday. The trip ended with a visit to la Isla the campsite I should be at, but went wrong on the way here. I think I struck lucky though the views here are much better.

I have posted, and will continue to post most of my photos on picasa just go through the folders for the relevant days.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102186521105057411582/

15 th MAY A EUROPEAN ADVENTURE BEGINS

2011-05-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long time since I posted anything, I have done a few runs since late last year, but I think my lack of fitness due to a long illness over the winter (2 month long chest infection = no fitness for 5 months curbed my enthusiasm for it this Blog.

I will update these missing mini adventures at a later date, and slot them in so as to be chronolgically correct. Anyway i thought this would be a good way to keep in touch with friends to let them know what I am upto in Europe. So here goes.......

I didnt start my journey too well I whent to Davenport terminal in Plymouth, queued up and realised that the ferry looked a bit small. It was a small car ferry / barge that goes to Torpoint. Oops. Luckily I had plenty of time and soon arrived in a bigger queue for a much bigger Ferry.

Just after we sailed, as i was having a luck around the impressive Pont Avon ferry, to my amazement Matin Taylor (an ex work collegue) called me over and explained that he was on his way over to Spain on a motor biking holiday with his girlfriend. So we had a couple of drinks and a chat. Most unexpected. A good start. I decided that a "comfy chair" wouldn't be comfy enough for me that night and reluctantly coughed up the extra £80 for a cabin. It turned out that was a good move. It was only a 65 mile drive to Potes (where I am now typing this up) but the roads were mountainous and tricky for much of the way. It was about a 2 hour drive. It is a beautiful place with nice "Picos" or peaks all around. I am lucking forward to having a run in them tomorrow armed with a brand new map.

My overly large 4 man tent was a challenge to put up. It provided some entertainment to a Dutch lady, who seamed to enjoy me wrestle with the tent. No matter, I won and its up.

Bills 4th Ramsay attempt

2010-08-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

21st August 2010

20 miles and 11,000 feet
plus and up and down of the Ben 9 miles and 4,200 feet

The 4th attempt was an epic effort both from Bill, and in the end from Will and I. I can’t remember feeling so tired during and after a support run. Knackered doesn’t even come close to describing how I felt.

Will decided that it would be (it wasn’t) a good idea to join Bill and Andy at the start and accompany them up the Ben. We were already planning to walk in and meet him at allt na Slochdaig and support him on the Mamores ridge to the end at Glen Nevis, and this itself is about a 10 hour stint. So on a cool breezy Saturday morning at 11am we set off up Ben Nevis for Bills 4th attempt on the Ramsay round. The first climb went without incident and Bill held a nice steady pace. Will and I left him to continue to Carn mor Dearg and beyond with Andy as we turned and descended back to Glen Nevis.

We spent the day fuelling up for what we knew would be a tough night. We just didn’t know how tough. We decided to walk in with the mid section support, so we set off earlier than needed in order to help Ian and Rhiannon out. By the time we reached allt na Slochdaig it was 9.45 pm it was dark and had started to rain. As soon as we got there we discovered Yiannis curled up on the floor in a bivi so Will and I copied him and got into our bivi bags (think Orange bin liners with a peep hole). It was the most miserable hour of my life. It was cold, boring, midge ridden, uncomfortable and dark. I could feel the energy being sapped out of me and we hadn’t even begun running yet.

After what seemed a life time huddled in our bivis, but in reality was only about 1 ½ hours, Bill and his pacers head torches appeared. When I got out of the bivi I instantly felt very cold. I was glad when Bill had finished refuelling and we were on our way onto Sgurr Elide Mor. Will Yiannis and I set off at a good pace and soon warmed up on the eastern flanks of this monster climb. Will and I remember this being very tough on our round, we still have mental scars from it. Bill was attacking it more from the eastern ridge to try and ease the gradient. It didn’t make much difference it was still tough. On nearing the summit we could see Bills previous leg and mid section support heading back to Mamore lodge on the track far below. The summit was very cold and windy, especially for this time of year.

We ticked off the peaks nicely and on time, when we approached the long out and back to An Gearnach I made the decision to refill the water bottles at the stream and wait at the col. I knew I would get cold doing this but never realised that for the next ½ an hour I would start to think seriously about not getting hyperthermia. I had to keep moving slowly up the next peak Stob coire a chairn in lea of the ridge just to keep some heat flowing. I was seriously cold and just before dawn it was a very hard place to be. It was a mistake to wait I should have gone with them. I couldn’t believe how miserable I was for the 2nd time in one night. I was so pleased

when I could see their head torches descending the slope opposite.
Re united we continued in cold and ever wetter and windier conditions. Bill was slowing down and not even daylight and the ability to see where we were going made a difference. By the time we reached the last 3 peaks it was obvious that Bill would not make it inside 24 hours, the 11 o’clock Glen Nevis deadline looked impossible. We tried to encourage Bill along but the conditions had drained him. Even meeting Chris Armour on Sgurr a Mahaim didn’t make a difference, although I think it took the strain off will and I, as both of us were feeling very tired. At this point Bill vowed to continue and finish the round.

Will and I found some more energy, and after Stob Ban moved off ahead and carried on, on our own, deciding that Bill had enough help with Chris and Yiannis and that we needed to get off the mountains. We were both at our limits, So when we got to the jumble of logs at the bottom of the last munro were the loggers had made the worlds toughest assault course, we were less than amused. Several cuts from trees later we had cleared it. We then ran the track reminiscing of our round the previous year. We had the dubious task of informing the waiting support that he was o.k. but would be late.

All credit to Bill for toughing out those 26 odd hours. The weather was less than favourable and at this time of the year the longer nights make it tougher. Knackered doesn’t even come close to how I, and Will felt. But compared to Bill when he came in we were full of life, he really had given it everything. As it is his final 1 of the big 3 I’m sure he will be back for a rematch and next time with better conditions I’m sure he will win.

(top image) Me and Bill before the start and the food that proved to be only just enough.

Bills Ramsey Round take 3

2010-08-04T02:31:00.000-07:00

3rd July
11.5 miles and 8,200 feet
plus up Sgurr an Luhair and back down (3,200 feet and 6 miles appx)

It has been a while now since Bill attempted the Ramsay round for his third time. I have taken ages to type this up mostly due to the disappointment of writing a report on another unlucky failure.

The weather on the day started off o.k., not too hot but cloudy, and at midday I set off up a packed (as usual) Ben Nevis with Bill. Bill was rushing when overtaking the tourists, so I reminded him to keep the pace even. We did and by the top of the Ben we were bang on schedule. It was raining and very cold on Ben Nevis, this meant slippery rocks on the roughest part of the round. The traverse to Carn Mor Dearg along its arête was hard going burt we made good progress. By the time we reached the next summit of Aonoch Mor we were just a couple of minutes down. The ascent of Aonoch Beag was good and a steep drop down to Will and Carwyn (who were sheltering in an orange bivvie bag) went without a hitch.

I left Bill here and Carwyn and Will continued the rest of the leg to Loch Treig Dam. I ran into the valley in improving sunny weather, to follow Glen Nevis back to Wills car and drove back to the campsite. Bill made good progress all the way to Loch Treig, but on the next section over the 3 Munroe’s around the loch he lost ½ an hour and by the time he was at the foot of Sgurr elide Mor he was still a ½ hour down.

At first light, on a wild wet Sunday morning Will and I made our way up out of Glen Nevis and onto Sgurr an Lubhair to meet Bill. We tried to time this right as we knew it would be very cold on the top. We were right when we arrived on the top at 08:00 squally gales were blowing through. Will and I huddled into a large orange plastic bag with feet sticking out of the bottom AKA an emergency bivvie bag. 1 hour of trying to keep warm whilst soaking wet, sitting on a rock in rain, driven by a gale, up a 3,200 foot mountain was not easy. My feet and hands were numb despite constantly banging them together. By 09:15 Will and I decided that Bill did not have enough time to finish it form here and made our way down. He needed about 3 ½ hours in those conditions. On the descent to Glen Nevis we pondered how much use we would have been to Bill anyway. The fight had been knocked out of both of us.

I think in reasonable conditions Bill would have succeeded as he only retired on Am Bodach (1/2 an hour away from Will and I) at 09:00 hours. So given the severity of the wind, he was still moving fairly strongly, until he realised that the weather was slowing him down too much, then the mind probably gave in to the fatigue, and it was game over on Am Bodach with only 3 Munroe’s to go. You will do it next time Bill.

Roll on the 21st of August Wynn and I have booked some good weather.

The Lakeland 100

2010-07-29T11:21:00.001-07:00

23rd - 24th July
104 miles and 24,000 feet

Over the last few months I had regularly made visits to the lakes to recce the route of the Lakeland 100. It is actually 103.5 miles which pretty much encircles the Lake District. Starting and finishing in Coniston it visits numerous passes and all the major valleys on mainly rough bridleway paths. During my recces I had realised that the roughness of the trails was going to be very difficult on the legs and feet, I only whish that I had given this more consideration prior to setting off.

Section 1: Coniston to Seathwaite (6.4miles)

It felt a privilege to have Joss Naylor start the race, the weather was perfect and 123 runners set off for the first climbed loop over Walner Scar. Some set off fast but I decided on the restrained approach. Running and walking as I intended for the full length of the course. I ran on my own all the way over Walner Scar and down onto Seathwaite. When I reached the road a polite young lad asked me if I knew were a farm was, I politely replied no sorry. Strange what happens in these ultras? Anyway I went with my pre prepared idea of being quick in the first 2 CPs. I spent about a minute eating some cake and filling my water bottle.

1 hour 26

Section 2: Seathwaite to Boot (6.7miles)

On the next section around Wallowbarrow woods was the first boggy wet section through trees. My feet got wet here and would continue to get wet all the way around due to the large amounts of standing water. 2 miles before entering Boot I met a guy whom I would chat to over the next 2 hours. It certainly made the time go faster. We arrived in the CP together and I left just before him.

1 hour 38 : 3 hours 04

Section 3: Boot to Wasdale Head (5.4miles)

On the climb up to Burnmoor Tarn he caught up with me and we chatted again as the sun began to set below the Mosedale hills. We made our way at a steady pace over and down the rough decent to Wasdale head CP. An indication of how much water was around, was that the organizers diverted the route slightly here so instead of going around the back of the campsite we went across the bridge and joined the road to CP3 avoiding a fast flowing Lingmell Beck.

1 hour 15 : 4 hours 19

Section 4: Wasdale Head to Buttermere (6.8miles)

This is a tough section going over Black Sail Pass and then Scarth gap pass before dropping into Buttermere. On the way up Black Sail We latched onto 2 other runners and eventually the guy that I was running with was 300 meters behind, it just happened naturally and I was now chatting to 2 new guys Neil and Simon We stayed together apart from when I got carried away descending Black Sail wearing my head torch for the first time. They were great company and it felt like we were all very evenly matched pace wise and going into the Butteremere I started to feel like we would be together for a long way. I knew the route and they were good company. So we all gained.

2 hour 05 : 6 hours 25

Section 5: Buttermere to Braithwaite (8.6miles)

Another tough section we made a pact whilst leaving to stay together during the rest of the night to make the navigation easier, I was fairly confident of the route, but it is always more difficult at night and collectively we were less likely to go wrong. We made good time and ran well on the long edges of Whitelss Pike and Crag Hill. On the decent around Outerside we came to another 3 runners and made a large group. It was fortunate for them as they nearly overshot the left turn for Barrow Door. Never mind we all made it and descended to Braithwaite CP together.

1 hour 45 : 8 hours 10

Section 6: Braithwaite to Blencathra (8.2miles)

I picked up some Marmite sandwiches here and ate some soup. I thought Marmite sandwiches were going to appear elsewhere as they were good, but sadly that was a one off. I set off before Neil and Simon running slowly down the side of the A66 knowing that they would catch me up, they did and after a long road run, we made our way up the track to Latrigg. I explained that this is one of the few points were the course meets the BG route. On the way up Lonscale Valley we were caught by 3 other runners then we caught 2 others and soon we were a large group making our way to CP7 in the beautifully still night.

2 hours 07 : 10 hours 18

Section 7: Blencathra to Dockray (7.7miles)

We left the CP taking care not to go the wrong way but soon we caught a guy that left just before us and he guided us through a tricky section that I wasn’t totally sure of. We then passed him on the long flat cycle path. Here a badger sprinted out of the undergrowth at the side of the track and off away from us he mustn’t have liked the head torches, I think we really spooked him. Finally on the climb up to the Old coach road we could take our head torches off and I vowed not to put it on again (a good finishing time is needed to avoid this). The sun raised a brilliant red over the Yorkshire dales as we ran to CP 8 the rest of the section was uneventful all the way to Dockray.

1 hour 54 : 12 hours 13

Section 8: Dockray to Dalemain (9.8miles)

After a quick stop to eat a banana we were off, still all going at almost the same pace. My blistered feet were now not just something I could feel but something that was giving me significant pain. I started to run as efficiently as possible and tried to avoid slipping on rocks and standing on the pointy ones. We negotiated Gowbarrow o.k. and the woods and farm and after another long road run we arrived at Dalemain.

2 hours 24 : 14 hours 38

Section 9: Dalemain to Howtown (6.8miles)

It was good to see Will and Ian here. But feeling a bit light headed like I was in a dream, and trying to patch up my feet whilst eating and changing clothes I was a bit preoccupied and probably didn’t show my appreciation enough. So thanks, you were a real boost. After 20 minutes of foot repair and food we were underway. My feet were better and we made good time to Howtown were we met Ian and Will again.

2 hour 04 : 16 hours 41

Section 10: Howtown to Mardale Head (8.3miles)

Will encouraged us to get up out of the comfy armchairs that were in the Bobbin mill and leave. I didn’t need much encouragement as I was now feeling awake again. Neil was pleased as he pointed out his count down of CPs had hit double figures, I preferred just to think of the next CP as a rest and press on to the next. We trudged off up to the high point of the round and I made a couple of small navigation errors that meant we had to contour around to pick the track up again. Not too bad though. We were soon over and down the other side to the shore of Haweswater were we all filled out bottles in the water fall. Whilst running strongly along the shores we very quickly caught a runner. He was suffering and had a jacket on even though it wasn’t cold. We were a little worried about him.

2 hours 57 : 19 hours 39

Section 11: Mardale Head to Kentmere (5.9miles)

As we got up to leave the guy in question came in so at least he was safe. I was just about to set off when Simon said he wanted to sit down on a rock for a bit. So I decided to slowly make my way up Gatescarth Pass. Not long after it started to rain and I donned my jacket. Simon and Neil had now been passed by a strong looking runner with sticks who told me they were on their way. My racing head was telling me to go but morals wouldn’t let me, it would have been rude not to have even said goodbye. Anyway we carried on over the pass together in strengthening wind and a heavy shower. When we started descending it was just on off drizzle and this would carry on the rest of the day.

2 hours 05 : 21 hours 44

Section 12: Kentmere to Ambleside (7.1miles)

This CP was beautifully sereal, jazzy trance type music played in an almost empty village hall. It was nice and relaxing, a total oasis of calm. We spent a nice 6 or 7 minutes here before setting off on the long climb to Garburn pass, this was the only part of the route that I hadn’t recced. However we all made it up the rough ascent, my feet were now complaining and I knew the descent was going to trouble them. A guy in front kept appearing then rapidly disappearing I kept thinking that his poles must be really helping him on the climbs. On the rough decent it rained and I rang Mark my waiting friend in Ambledside to buy me some new socks and compedes and warn the waiting physios that I may need to use the Lakes runner shop to patch my feet up. Whilst going up from the post office at low fold the 2 leading 50 milers went steaming past running the steep incline whilst being cheered on by an over exuberant old chap shouting “go on f*****g give it some”. Not long after I had realized that our pace was too easy and asked Neil and Simon if they were o.k. with me pressing on. They said go for it, I did. At high Skelghyll I caught the chap with the sticks and pointed him the correct way. We ran into Ambleside together.

2 hours 14 : 23 hours 59

Section 13: Ambleside to Chapel Stile (4.8miles)

It was good to see my sister and Adrian with their 2 kids and Mark. It felt like a real support group. I ended up with a long stop of about 25 minutes whilst the L100 team assessed and treated my feet. What an amazing thing to do, thanks again to them for that, and for all the CP marshalls and organisers, it was great. I left the CP just before Neil and simon (they had a more usual length stop). I vowed to run hard to the end, forget the feet and go for it. So I did, powering on over Loughrigg and on to Elterwater. On Loughrigg I got the map out for the first and only time as I was unsure of a turn, but the 3rd placed 50 runner put me right whilst telling me how well I was running. At Elterwater I caught up with the stick guy, we chatted for a while but eventually he stopped running and I carried on running almost all the way to CP 14.

1 hour 19 : 25 hours 18

Section 14: Chapel Stile to Tilberthwaite (7.7miles)

The stew here gets my vote as the best food of the day. I was almost tempted to break my rule and have more than 1 helping. It started raining as I left and I passed the stick man on the way out. I was running strong and never gave much of a thought as to weather anyone in the 100 would catch me. I didn’t really care although I knew that I was now in 7th place and was very pleased about it. I just ran as well as I could so as to maintain my effort to the end. Whilst running through Great Langdale I was passed again by the 4th an 5th 50 runners who were running together this didn’t phase me although I did check to make sure their numbers background were white (white background = 50, yellow = 100). Again they told me I was running really well, whilst easily passing me. I did think that I must be making a good fist of it even with screamingly sore feet. I made a couple of small errors at Side house and at the campsite before the tough climb over to Blea tarn. Blea Moss I knew to be rough but with very painful feet it was torture, I was glad to get on the road and head for Tilberthwaite. This was agony too but I was nearing the end, on the final bit of road before CP 15 I was caught by the 7th placed 50 runner and vowed to try and stick with his pace, sub 28 hours was still on, just, and I had said to Mark I would see him at the finish at 9.30 PM (I don’t like being late).

1 hour 53 : 27 hours 11

Section 15: Tilberthwaite to Coniston (3.5miles)

A quick stop and I set off at the same time as my “pacer” he pulled out a 300 meter gap by the top of the quarry and I kept working hard and ignoring my feet. I ran along most of Hole Rake and was only 100 meters behind on the decent but I then struggled on the rough ground. My feet were screaming, so I hobbled down as best I could and eventually made it to the cinder path that we had gone up on 28 hours earlier. I ran hard to the line but just missed the 28 hours by 4 minutes.

53 mins : 28 hours 04

I am pleased with how I ran from Ambleside. I managed to run it (including foot treatment) faster than any 100 runner and also ran the last 2 sections from Chapel Stile to Coniston faster than anyone. I have to be pleased with that and the overall run. I feel that with more comfort in my feet I could have done better, but that’s for next time. I ended up 42 minutes ahead of 8th place and 50 minutes behind 6th. 7 th is my best ever placing in any race.

Will and Carwyns Paddy Buckley attempt

2010-06-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

5-6 th June
22 miles 10,500 feet

Due to a lack of support for Wills planned Friday 18:00 hrs start he decided to team up with another contender, Carwyn Philips. It was a good plan as it meant if the stuck together they would have enough pooled support. The only down side was that Will had to change to a Saturday start.

Carwyn started his round at Bwlcgwernog so as to get the road section done first, Will decided to wait at Aberglaslyn car park and join Carwyn from here and do, as is tradition, the road section last. I waved Will off on his attempt knowing that his foot had been bothering him lately, but also knowing that unless it got really painful he would finish it in good style.

After some food at the Royal Goat hotel in Beddgelert, we waited at the next road crossing at Pont Caer gors. We spotted them on the Nantle ridge as the completed the last hills of the first leg. I prepared myself for the impending arrival. 45 minutes later they were in and the midges swarmed over the food and the sweaty bodies. Christ was I glad to finally get underway with Carwyn, Will, smudge the dog (who was also unwittingly attempting the round) Bill, Ian and I set off for the first hill of this section, Craig wen.

We soon topped out on Craig Wen and on the way to Yr Aran we had probably the most spectacular view of the ridge ahead. I would go as far as to say it was the most beautiful mountain scene I had laid eyes on. The clouds were draped over the ridge and banked in the valleys with Yr Aran and Snowdon popping out of the clouds ahead, behind was a perfect cloud inversion, only the tops of the highest peaks poking through the clouds, and in the fading light it was spectacular. Good decision not to bring the camera. Ouch. We continued into the night and onto Snowdon a surprisingly busy place at midnight, a troup of walkers were descending and 2 tents were pitched on the summit. Will was a bit slower than Carwyn but held a respectable gap, Bill with Carwyn and Ian and I with Will.

We remained in these groups until the final 2 hills Foel Gron and Moel Ellio, were we joined forces again ready for the long drop into Llanberis. A quick food stop and Bill and I decided to move slowly on up Ellider Fach, so as to make it a touch easier with our newly laden packs. We were soon caught by a Carwyn and Will and a large support group. The peaks came and went. Bill also went as he was struggling a bit so he gave over his liquid and cut the route short via the devils kitchen.

The rest of the leg went well, the first rays of light cheering everyone up. Soon enough we had topped out on Tryfan and were heading down to Llyn Ogwen. We were guided by Carwyns support on a rather convoluted longer route than I had ever done. It was probably a bit slower too. But no matter we were soon down. I was pretty jaded and must have looked it as everyone seamed to be asking if I was alright. I waved Will and Carwyn off whished the luck and proceeded to have a stand up bath in an icy stream.

They both stayed together over the remaining 2 legs and only parted on the final decent of Cnicht. Carwyn raced ahead and Telitha and I spotted them first on the final steep part. This worried Telitha as there was no sign of Will. But soon enough we spotted another group. It was Will and his support group. I knew he would do it. He walked the final 1.2 miles of road as his foot was bothering him. But he had plenty of time, and finished in 23 hours 12 minutes, Carwyn finished in 22:48, and unfortunately Smudge had to retire at Llyn Ogwen tired, and with sore feet. Will has joined myself as one of the few (less than 40 I think) big 3 completers. Nice one Will.

Robs Meirionnydd round attempt

2010-05-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

22nd May
18 miles 5,000 Feet

This was Rob’s second attempt at the Meirionnydd round. Last year he was thwarted by a combination of bad weather and severe fatigue. The round is incredibly tough it is in the very rough hills on the mid west side of Wales. To cover 75 miles and 25,000 feet of this terrain in 24 hours is a real challenge; a serious step up from the big 3 rounds. There is a reason that the only man to complete it in 24 hours is the man that first did the round, and that man is a truly exceptional ultra runner; Yiannis Tridimas.

I helped Rob last year, so whilst running down the side of Llyn Tawsfynydd to meet Rob, I knew that I was in for a tough day. Neil and I ran about 1 ½ miles to the dam to meet Rob with some road shoes. On meeting him he seemed in good spirits. But even at 9am it was apparent that the heat of the cloudless day could be a problem. Rob even said that the night was very hot on the Rhinog section.

Rob had a longer than scheduled break at the main road then Carwyn, Rob and I set off on the section to Arenig Fach. The heat was building and we took every opportunity to dunk Robs hat in any bog water we could find. But on these boggy tusocked hills there was no breeze and at times it was oven like. Carrying enough liquid for Rob was to make for a tough day for support too.

After a long build up on very tough ground eventually we were aiming for a significant hill, rather than the mounds that we had already visited. Arenig Fach proved a tough steep climb on loose scree mixed with heather. We eventually made it up, but it was starting to slow Rob down. We descended well to the next support point. Rob was already suffering with the heat and half heartedly mentioned quitting, but as he said he was going to well to justify it, at this point 20 minutes up I think.

I decided to carry on with a large team over Arenig Fawr and 2 other tops, having agreed a lift with Alan Duncan form a minor road crossing back to my car. The long climb up to Arenig Fawr laden with water started to wear me down. I hadn’t drunk enough and now that I had realised this and started to do something about it, it was too late. Five hours of this heat wore me down and I struggled to keep up, on the last hill I found I had to rest on the nicely angled grassy slope every 2 minutes, I had blown up in a big way. I missed the top out and caught them on the descent. Eventually I met up with Rob and when I asked how he felt, he said he was quitting. The heat had really worn him down and his quads were sore too. At the minor road crossing His support convinced him to finish this section and see if it was just a bad patch. It proved to be more than a bad patch and 3 hours later his attempt was over.

I felt sad for Rob as it was a very antritional day (a high of 29c) for such a tough round. Whilst waiting for Rob at the dam Neil and I mused over how this round would compare to a Bob Graham round, and we agreed that it would be equivalent to moving at a sub 20 hours pace, then doing the 4 plus extra hours at that pace aswell. It has got me thinking of asking Rob if I could have a go at it next year with him. I think it may be possible with him almost as a guide, but I don’t think I could put the time into those hills to be confident at the micro navigation which is needed for most of the route. It would certainly give me a serious challenge, one that would be a true adventure as success would be uncertain at best!

Glyders Recce

2010-05-02T02:03:00.000-07:00

1st May
16 miles 8,000 feet

Ian, Will and I made a much delayed trip to the Glydders and Tryfan section of the Paddy Buckley round. The heavy snow had put us off until now. We had a good day out on the hills, perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold, no rain brilliant and even the route up through the quarries was free now that Clash of the Titans has finished filming there.

We followed the PB route over Elidir Fach, Elidir Fawr, Mynnedd Perfed, Foel Goch, Y Garn, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach to reach our final ascent on the route, Tryfan. We chose a good line up the left hand side to avoid the Far South peak and the knoll prior to the top. The only bad thing about the day was that Ian didn't fee too great on the final part of this ascent. He decided to walk down the valley to the Pinacle Cafe in Cpael Curig. Will and I carried on with the planned route, and ran down off Tryfan and the over the Devils Kitchen down to Gwastadnant then on the road back to the car in Llanberis.

It was a good 6 1/2 hour run in great conditions. We drove back to meet Ian at the Cafe and have a well earned Bacon bun. On the drive home Ian decided to cancel his planned joint attempt at the Paddy Buckley round with Will. It is a shame because he has the ability to do the round, but worries over how he feels on long days has knocked his confidence and made him reassess. It is probably a wise move.

The Montane Highland Fling 2010

2010-05-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

24th April
53 miles 8,400 feet

I spot Will at the other side of the bridge that leads to Beinglas Checkpoint, I feel hot, dehydrated and tired I shake my head in disappointment, I am late, I hate being late. Will knows I am shattered mentally and physically my 6 hour 45 minutes to Beinglas was my only time check and I can’t believe I have missed it by 10 minutes. I now know that my sub 9 hours target will not happen.

After much reflection, 5 days later I am still as disappointed as I was on arriving at Beinglas CP. Irritated that I went out too fast and ended up in a sorry state again at the end. I was not running strong after Inversnaid, but I ran the hills, downhill and flats well at the beginning. Next year I hope to try and run it more evenly in terms of the effort. This will mean having a walking break on Chonic Hill and not running most of it like the last 2 years. What actually happened to leave me disappointed at missing on my goal and mistiming my effort, but happy with my overall placing of 14th. Well ……

A year has passed and I am in Milngavie car park again preparing to start this tough 53 miler. This time Will was my personal support. He is concentrating on a Paddy Buckley round later in the year so decided not to run it. So I hand over my Inversnaid drop bag to the Race organisers and head for the line. I feel fitter this year and have a simple strategy to run as much as I can and walk when I can’t.

I set off strong and tried to settle into a comfortable pace. I ended up just behind two runners that I would see from time to time all day. We made a good link through the gates, each keeping them open for the next, and made Drymen in a swift 1 hour 35 mins. Will was on hand to take my jacket and give me a fresh bottle of lucozade. By now the sun was poking through the clouds and although it was only 09:40, it was quite warm. I ran most of the next section to Conic hill and even ran parts of that, in fact up to this point I had run almost all the way. I ran most of Chonic Hill and enjoyed the descent to Balmaha overtaking a few of the earlier starters as I entered the car park. A quick switch of an empty for a full bottle and I continued walking through the car park chatting to Willl and stuffing food in my mouth and my bum bag then it was off to Rowardenan.

I felt comfortable all the way to Rowardenan and enjoyed the up and down proper trail running. I reached the car park in good shape and had my first sit down and a chat with Will about, possibly being in 8th place (I was 9th), and a rice pudding then I set off for Inversnaid. The long uphill stretch out of Rowardenan was tough I ran some of it and walked some. Then on the long downhill stretch I had my first bad patch. Feeling cramps in my sides and calves. This worried me; it was too early for this. I did my best to slow enough to not let this get a grip, but it did ruin the fluidity of my movement. I became more rigid for a while and worried that this would continue. Luckily by the time I reached Inversnaid I got into a reasonable rhythm. Will did not meet me here because of the long out and back car journey around the mountains that is required.

I retrieved my drop bag and had a rest for 5 minutes to eat. I even walked 100 yards the wrong way to hand over my litter, it felt like a heroic act. I performed an about turn and headed for Beinglas. This section is very rough and it knocked me out of any rhythm I had and seamed to drain me more than it should have. I reached Will at Bein Glas shaking my head at him as I realised that it was 6 hours 52 minutes in to the run and I had no chance of sub 9 hours, feeling sorry for myself I did not even think about the fact that I was in a race and doing pretty well. I was in 7th at Drymen 9th at Rowardenan and 14th now. After an unnecessarily long 4 minutes on my backside Will told me to get a move on “ as you will on my Paddy” I agreed that I would, and so levered myself up and onwards.

I lacked serious motivation and knew that the 12 miles left to go were going to be painful. The 6 miles of mainly uphill passed with me only running when the trail was virtually flat or downhill, or when a photographer’s camera appeared; strange I know. Will had gone to Tyndum to park up and retrace the trail back to me. As I approached the top of the hill onto the highland plateau I negotiated the cow latrine by snaking passed the rumps of some bloody huge cows (I think I have mentioned on the blog my fear of these creatures) I was too knackered to bother. So I just ploughed my way through the slosh. By now my lucozade had run out and I was getting dehydrated. My 2nd toilet break confirmed my fears, bright green fluid, and I had not eaten any asparagus. Not good. Eventually, after what felt like a long time traversing the rollercoaster path through the woods, Will appeared like a bronzed Adonis descending off a mini summit. Shirt off and proclaiming “I only have water” thank god for that, I was sick of all that energy drink. I ran as much as I could for the last 6 miles with Will.

I felt pathetic, walking any slight incline and jogging the flats slowly. All the time I was imagining myself running up Conic Hill 6 odd hours earlier. Will said he had feared he would struggle to keep up with me. No Chance, more like he was struggling to run slow enough. It felt like he was kidding me about the distance left my glass was half empty and Wills was full. Finally we arrived at the last bit of road. He left me at the start of the last field and semi triumphantly I passed the bagpiper and headed for the finish line. A runner that I had jockeyed position with from Beinglas was 200 yards ahead and for the last 2 miles I could not be bothered to even contest it. He probably deserved it anyway.

14 th in 9 hours 20 mins. I suppose I should be pretty pleased it is a new PB; 9 minutes faster than last year. I know I can do better so it will be interesting to give it a go in a years time, roll on the Highland Fling 2011.

Wyresdale Circuit

2010-04-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

10th April
24 miles and 3,300 feet

As I sat down on the side of Ward’s Stone, cramping, dehydrated hot and tired, I thought to myself, it wasn’t meant to be this hard ……

The Wyresdale circuit was first completed by fellow Bowland Runner Duncan Elliott in the summer of 2006. He decided against the original route which was a horseshoe (Wyresdale Skyline) starting and finishing at the post offices in Scorton and Qeurnmore respectively. This was first completed by Andy Verden in 2005. I decided that the Circuit made more sense, as well as the obvious benefits of starting and finishing in the same location, it made a nice loop of mixed; not just boggy, terrain. After recceing the part from Clougha Pike to Abbeystead Chapel, I decided that starting at Jubilee Tower was the better option, for the large free car park, and the old monument to mark the start and finish with. Originally I had planned to have an easy run around it, but after reading reports and realising that no one had yet beat the 5 hour mark for either the circuit (which is 2 miles longer and 400 feet less ascent) or the horseshoe, I decided to have a go at doing a sub 5 hour round. Fellow Bowland member Ian Cookson joined me for an attempt. We would be together only until the top of Harrisend Fell were we agreed to go at out own paces.

It was hot t-shirt weather at 08:50 as Ian and I touched Jubilee towers modest turret and set off on our round. We made our way through the farms feeling the heat straight away. After about half an hour we reached Abbystead Chapel, this was to keep the same line that Duncan did and be true to his circuit. After a brief stop and a check of the map we set off into what was uncharted land for both of us. Map in hand we negotiated our way to the crossing of the Wyre easily enough; a woodpecker was working hard on a tree and shattering the silence of the Saturday morning. Passed Swainsdale Hall, again being true to Duncan’s Route! And then after crossing the main road we went a bit off track and had to make our own way onto Harrisend Fell. The line wasn’t too bad apart from the fact that we were accidentally trespassing.

On Harrisend Fell (1h 13) I wished Ian good luck and set off on my own gradually pulling away from Ian I made my way on good mown ground to Grizedale Head (1h 21) this is were the familiar peat hags and bogs started. I new this was tough terrain but thought that the land may have dried out a bit. No such luck, it was as boggy as ever and on more than one occasion I had to leaver my knee deep trailing leg out of a deep bog. Never mind at least the weather was good. Too good, no cooling wind and about 17c was a shock to the system after such a long cold extended winter. I continued working hard and sweating hard onto White Moss (1h 30) then turned for Hawthornthwaite I now realised what everyone means about the Trig point. Amazingly it still stands (1.42). As I set off for Holdron Moss I looked back to see Ian was only about 500 meters behind, he was going well, but this was the last time I would see him on the day. I made an effort to keep my legs moving over this particularly sodden section of Holdren Moss, this was tough going and at times I had to walk a bit to regain my momentum. Over Holdren Moss (2h 02) and I could see the last hill before my drop down to the Trough of Bowland. I made sure I drank my ½ litre bottle of Lucozade dry, ready to fill it up at the stream. So over Top of Blaze Moss (2h 15) and then a nice fast descent to the Trough road, I was enjoying this. But my enjoyment ended when the stream that I was relying on was not there. I really should have paid more attention to this.

So annoyed with myself and with no water at all I set off in the baking sun up Whins Brow. No amount of map reading now would locate any drinkable water on this route; I scoured the map trying but, was kidding myself, I knew that I was in trouble. I think about what bear grills would do, and conclude he would read the map better before setting off. Onto Whins Brow (2h 36) trying to forget my hydration problem I decided to just go for it, no sense hanging around wasting time trying to find a stream. My only strategy was to keep wetting my Buff in bog water; the cooler I kept the less I would sweat etc.

Hydration issues still playing in my head, and being mesmerised at following a fence all the way around, well almost, nearly side tracked me from the little summit of Threaphaw Fell (2h 47) So a quick out and back and I powered on passed the serene Canada Geese at Brennard Tarn, and the laughing gulls (yes they must have been laughing at my stupidity) on Brennard Great Hill (3h 07). The tough going continued to the start of the out and back of Wolf Hole crag. Just prior to the out and back I met my first people of the day, I begged some water off 2 guys, they took pity but only had hot water, I was desperate 200 ml of clean water was very much appreciated and needed. I thanked them again as I passed them on the way back off Wolf Hole crag (3 h 25). I was now on familiar ground again, but this was offset by the fact that I was starting to wilt in the midday sun.

On my way over to Ward’s Stone I had my first sip of the now warm water. I knew it was too little too late. I had only drunk ½ a litre of fluid in nearly 4 hours of hard bog trudging work. I found that I was now walking more of the bits that earlier on I was running. The tank was flickering to empty. On the final approach to Ward’s Stone I sat down, legs cramping and feeling a bit rough. This was a hard day, made harder by my serious error with the water. It was never meant to be this hard.

I stretched off the cramp and steeled myself for the final 5 miles. I had an hour left I, in my deteriorating state I knew it would be tight. So I pushed on to Ward’s Stone East (4.02) steeled myself on the flat run to Ward’s Stone West (4.06) then cramps in my sides and legs over cabin flats and I painfully pushed it running up Grit Fell . (Normally a very run able gradient). I couldn’t stop looking at my watch, as if time would slow down. On Grit Fell (4.27) I met another chap who kindly let me have a drink of his water, I knew it was too late but it made me feel a bit better.

Pushing hard to Clougha Pike (4.38) and I now knew I would make it inside 5 hours. So on the sedge and tussock strewn descent I took a couple of walking breaks just to stretch my cramped up calf muscles. My car was shinning like an oasis in the desert as I approached it and Jubilee tower just meters beyond it. I was glad I had plenty of water in the car. I ran passed it and across the main road to touch the tower. I had done it. 4 hours and 52 minutes 50s. I collapsed on the bench feeling rough but happy with my effort. Ian finished in 6 hours 36 minutes and said he enjoyed the day too. Wisely he set off with more water than me.

It may only be 24 miles and 3,300 feet but it is a lot tougher than those statistics suggest. This was originally planned as a training run for my upcoming 53 mile Highland Fling race, but it became much more than that. There is no doubt I made it harder than need be for myself. But either way I never envisaged having to work so hard to duck under 5 hours. It was a really enjoyable, if slightly torturous, day in the Bowland hills.

Carneddau recce take 2

2010-04-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

3rd of April
15 miles and 5,200 feet

We were good to our word and returned to Wales to have (we hoped) a proper recce of this wonderful ridge. This time fellow Bowland member Chris Reade joined us.

It was a much better day and Will and Ian got an expert guidance of the best lines by Chris. This time the weather was beautiful. Apart from a little bit of snow on the ascent of Pen yr ole wen, we had clear visibility. The only thing to slow us down this time was the amount of snow on the ground. It was all the way down to the valley floor in patches. We decided to use the summer lines even though these had deeper snow on them. The reason for this is that they are mostly grassy areas away from the main ridge. Still it gave us all a good work out. As sometimes our feet would hold near the top of the crusty snow and other times we would break through 6 inches down, really energy sapping stuff.

Still we persevered and completed the circuit on 4 hours 50 minutes. Not bad given the 1 hour run to Pen yr ole wen and the underfoot conditions. All in all a great days running in what at times looked like and alpine scene, and was almost as warm as a summers day.

Fiensdale Fell Race

2010-03-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

20th March
8 miles 2500 feet

A dank miserable day didn’t deter Ian and I plus 69 others from having a crack at this BFR arranged Fell race. It was one I have meant to do for a few years but it never quite worked out. So this was my chance to have a go at, a shorter than usual course, due to access issues.

I gave it my best shot but always felt like I should have had more to give, but my lungs were heaving most of the way around. I think I may have still had the tail end of a chest infection. Still I managed to hold a good race together and finish 16th in 1:08:08, and Ian had a good run finishing 25th in 1:14:32 out of 70 runners . Congratulations to fellow club runner Mike Johnson who won in 58:59.

Paddy Buckley Carneddau Recce

2010-03-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

13 March
15.5 miles 5,500 feet

This run could be summed up as Will Ian and I enjoying a nice flattish trail run from Capel Curig to Pont Pen-y-benglog via Llyn Ogwen then a high level run over Pen yr ole wen and the Carnedds on snow covered ground in a freezing windy white out that was horribly cold, followed by a slight thawing over Pen yr Helgi Ddu and Pen llithrig y Wrach, then a major warming up off Pen llithrig y Wrach and back to Capel Curig followed by a feed at the Pinacle Café.

At times the wind chill on the Carnedds must have been about -15 c. We all felt very cold my hands were so numb I could barely get the map out to look at the bearings. We only made 1 mistake and that was going down the wrong ridge off Pen yr Heli Du, still as Will rightly said this was another 20 minutes of training, a grear positive atitude, no wonder he is good at these long challenges.

I have got into a minimalist mind set when going into the hills at the moment, and most of the times that I do, I end up promising myself that next time I wont be so minimalist with the kit. Instead of a Bum Bag I will take a rucksack with a good winter jacket in it. I type this so I am more likely to remember the lesson. It hit home when I was seriously cold whilst ascending a gradual slope up to Carnedd Dafydd., Will and Ian said “we are putting more gear on”. I thought to myself I am freezing and I have no (or next to no) more gear to put on. So I was reduced to running up and down the hill to keep warm, and that didn’t even work. Still once we got on to the descent and out of the wind I gradually warmed up. Note that I did'nt take any photos from the top of Pen yr ole wen all the way to just before Pen yr Helgi Ddu. It was a kick up the arse and a reminder that winter isn’t over in the high hills yet. It’s amazing how debilitating and how rough having numb hands makes you feel. I along with Will had thoughts of going down at this point, but we unbeknown to each other, toughed it out. Ian was as hardy as ever and had no complaints.

It was still fun though. Although I don’t think Ian and Will learned much in those white out conditions, for their impending joint Paddy Buckley attempts. Still it’s a good excuse to go back down ASAP.

Lakeland 100 recce Blencathra to Dalemain

2010-03-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

8th March
26 miles 3,200 feet

I decided to carry on where I left off the recce of this route. By starting at the lead up to the old coach road and going all the way to Dalemain checkpoint. It was a beautiful day and the snow covered Lakeland hills glistened like high alpine peaks. It was a perfect day for running. I thoroughly enjoyed the route it was so peaceful even the long (2 miles ish) of roads were nice and quiet. The only tricky bit of navigation is through a farmers field near High Longthwaite, or at least it would be tricky as this stretch will be at night. I enjoyed a very peaceful rice pudding in the courtyard of Dalemain house, not totally sure if I was meant to be there or not, until I noticed the café. At least I wasn’t trespassing.

The route back in contrast was stressful. I decided to run back along the A66. This was a bad choice. I ran on the grass verge at the side of the road whilst cars and Lorries went past at 60 plus mph only a couple of feet away, not fun. My plan to use the dismantled railway to get back was not too great either. When I eventually found it, a bit further on than intended as the early sections are a horrible looking bog, I joined it to find every ¼ mile a farmer had erected a fence across it. Also the golf club had erected a daddy of all fences. Not quite the nice track back that I had envisaged when using memory map to plot my route back!

So after a bit of trespassing and 26 miles and 3,000 feet I arrived back at the car. The run took 4 hours 36 minutes and the 14 miles to Dalemain took 2 hours 30 minutes. This confirmed to me how good this route is, as this is potentially the least inspiring part of the Lakeland 100 route. It also confirmed that I will never run back from Dlalemain that way again.

All in all a good if tiring day out.

The Bleasdale Fell Race

2010-02-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

27th February
5 miles and 1250 feet

Ian and I had a good run out at the Bleasdale circle fell race. It was cold and clear with not much wind. The route is a nice simple horseshoe starting and finishing at Bleasdale, it visits Fair Snape then Parlick and back to the finish through the farm land. The snow on the ground that started at the level of the farm buildings made the run, probably, a couple of minutes slower. As I came to the flatter part off Parlick I was in 13th place (researched after the race) but I suffered a bit near the end and 3 guys overtook me. I thought the finish was further away than it actually was. So I saved something to try and recover the places but it was too late to use it. Never mind 16th was a good result, my time was 47.09 a bonus was that I was 3rd counter for Bowland for the team prize. It was my 2nd team prize, 4 bottles of Fosters is not to be sniffed at. Ian finished 30th out of 71 starters on 52.28. The winning time was 41.34 Chris Smale.

The First Lakeland 100 Recce Keswick to the Old coach road

2010-02-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

6 February
21 miles 5,500 feet

Due to all the snow recently, we, that is Ian, Will and I, had decided to shelve the original planned trip to recce part of the Paddy Buckley round in Wales and instead go the Keswick for a low level recce of the Lakeland 100. I am taking part in the race in July and part of the challenge (as well as covering 100 miles and 23,000 feet ascent) is navigating the course. So I felt a need to get to know the route better.

We set off out of Keswick on a perfectly clear if chilly, day. We made good progress and only made 1 serious error, when we overshot the right turn whilst going down the valley towards Great Calva. Apart from that and a little confusion when crossing the A66 at the wrong point, it all seamed straight forward. But as I kept reminding myself, this would be a night section.

On the way towards the Old coach road near Clough Head, we met two BG contenders both on a recce. We decided to join them on their ascent of Clough Head and over to Great Doddd. It was a good excuse to finally get up on a top and leave the recce route. That is the only problem with recceing this route (the Lakeland 100) it tends to go over passes rather than the tops. We enjoyed the more normal levels of elevation as the views opened out over far lakes, Great Gable clearly noticeable in the distance. All had lines of snow capping their tops. A few photos and we left 1 contender to complete his run from Keswick via Skiddaw, Great Calve, Clough Head and onto his awaiting family on Raise. We turned back with stuartAnd left him at the bottom of Clough Head, where we proceeded to run back along the old disused railway lines back to the car at Keswick.

We ran at our own paces. I made quicker progress than Ian and will. After about 10 minutes Will came in then we drove to pick up Ian who made a wrong turn and ended up at a petrol station. All in all a cracking day and my first experience of a new challenge that lays ahead for the summer.

Not quite the Anniversary Waltz.

2009-12-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

27th Dec
10.5 miles 3,400 feet

Will and I decided to have a jaunt up to the lakes and go on familiar-ish ground, given the likelihood of tough conditions. We chose to do the Anniversary Waltz Fell race route. The drive up wasn’t too easy and we spent 20 minutes attempting to back track from an ever worsening side road that leads to the Cat Bells car park. I made several attempts to get up an icy incline whilst Will, shod in Fell shoes, pushed from behind. Eventually we made it, and rightly or wrongly we parked at the Stair village hall car park, as it was the only spot we could reach.

The run to the start of Robinson was in fairly shallow snow, so wasn’t too tough. This was to change. As we started up the track onto Robinson the snow got ever deeper and it was now as Will put it “donkey work”. We would normally run this section until the start of the steep bank onto High Snab Bank. But we had to trudge through 10 inch deep snow. This, we now realised, was going to be a tough day. The clouds that shrouded the summits looked ever more threatening and far from thinking of extending the race route, I was now thinking weather we would make It that far.

The steep incline was tough and near the top of High Snab Bank we had to kick steps in 2 feet deep snow; hard graft. Going over the rock steps proved equally tough and in making sure of good hand holds - on the icy rocks under the snow - made for slow but safe progress. By now we were into the clouds and a total white out, at best we could make out a rock now and again for a visual reference. Whilst trying to find the summit, it was hard to tell if we were going up or down. 1 hour and 30 minutes it had taken to reach the top of Robinson. In the race earlier this year I think it had taken me just over 55 minutes. When we descended into a gully that leads to scope beck – the wrong way, and ended up in thigh deep snow, we realised that it was a day that needed to be cut short.

We tracked along the dog leg to Hindscarth and did a few circles of the summit in a confused sort of way. We intended to go straight over the top and down into Newalands valley. After a few hundred yards Will realised that the 2 sets of footprints in the snow were ours from our ascent. So the compass came out and we eventually started going the right way. We then followed the tracks that a couple and there dog had made, off the fell and into the valley. It was a tough day and we only covered about 10 miles in 3 ½ hours, but it was a good final outing for 2009.