Everest marathon 30th November - race day

So at last the big day is here. We woke at 4.30 with the alarm but Menai had to push me to wake me up to turn the alarm off. I had at last drifted off into a nice sleep. We were both a bit groggy so the porridge at breakfast was hard to down. Many others were in the same position. So at 6.15 we headed to the start line in the sandy bowl at Gorak Shep and it was not as cold as we had feared.  We still had our down jackets on for the roll call before the race and put them on tarpaulins before the start. The start was delayed because 5 Nepali runners were late.  At 6.33 we were off. As expected the Nepali runners set off at a frantic pace across the bowl and up onto the moraine. We followed and eventually settled into a rhythm. I was following Alison in a small group and she set a sensible pace that at least allowed us to breathe ok.  A couple of faster runners overtook us and we overtook a couple here too. After the moraine I pulled away, first from Alison and then Dan, who both had colds. I was with Nicola Rai by the first aid station at Lobuche but as I stopped to take off my fleece and have a cup of hot water she raced away. After Lobuche I was following TK and feeling good on the flatter ground. I spotted that TK had taken a wrong turn which would have taken him up the wrong valley.  It took me some very loud shouting to warn him as he was listening  to music. I made it to Dungla and Eric, the Marshall, in good time and took on water as well as stowing my gloves. The next leg was familiar as I had run it a few days before but is seemed to take ma an age to get to Pheriche. I was feeling a bit of chafing from my pack at this stage so asked Eamon and Kirsty if they had any Vaseline.  I had to make do with lip salve which did the trick brilliantly.  Then there was quite a long downhill leg to Pangboche and things warmed up nicely.  I was still feeling good at this stage and had not seem another runner since TK going wrong.  In Pangboche Susan at the aid station told me that there was an injured runner back up the track which made me worry  about Menai.  I plodded on down the steep downhill to the river followed by the climb to Tengboche.  I was beginning to suffer a little at this stage but still climbing strongly. I had made sure that I have taken on either a gel or a bar between each aid station so still had energy but at Tengboche Kathy and Nishma provided rice pudding, apple pie and Snicker bars.  I could barely force down the rice pudding. I then had the very steep long downhill to the Dhud Khosi followed by the equally long and steep climb to Kanjuma. On this I ran with a Nepali woman for a little before overtaking her on the hill.  Not before she had outwitted me with short cuts for a while.  Higher up the hill I went past a couple of other Nepali runners suffering for their fast start.  At the top of the hill Nichola was at the aid station where I had a couple of cups of water before plodding onto Namche.  I found this section harder than expected and the hilly sections were a real effort, however I overtook another Nepali runner before Namche where it was good to see Mark.  Then into the last 6 miles on the Thamo loop which was very, very hard and only made better by getting some encouragement from the faster runners.  I saw Simon doing very well followed by a Jamie having a blinder of a race and then Mira Rai and Ken.  I saw one Nepali woman getting assistance and then came to the turn round for the final 3 miles. Scarily Alison seemed to be hard on my heels but she assured me that she was 10 minutes behind me. Nevertheless I really focussed for the final excruciating miles and was very pleased when Ben, coming towards me, told me that Namche was just round the corner. So then the last run down the steps into Namche, through the high street and to the finish.  I was 19th, 6th non Nepali, 1st over 40 vet in a time of 6.26. Feeling shattered I went for a shower and then started to worry about Menai making the cut-off at Namche Bazaar 14:30. So after a quick shower I went up the long long stairs to Mark and the Namche check point.  I needn't worried because Menai had gone through the the checkpoint an hour before the cutoff time. So after a chat with Mark I headed back down the hill for a cup of tea in a vantage point to see Menai coming through the the town at about 3.30 looking remarkably fresh. She finished in a fantastic time of 9.08 in 38th.

Me at the first checkpoint wearing my Nepali hat which I won and wore for the whole race. 

Everest marathon 29th November

Today we had a slow slow walk back up to Gorak Shep where we would be staying the night before the race. Beforehand we had to see one of the doctors for a medical check which we both passed. Our O2 saturation and pulse were fine. We then had a kit inspection which caused a few problems for some of the runners and they ended borrowing kit from others. After this we were issued with our numbers. I was number 3 and Menai was 27. It was quite useful to remind ourselves of the route and pick out faster paths.  We got to Gorak Shep at about 11:30 and settled into our rooms in not a great lodge but our porters provided a good lunch. In the afternoon we got our kit ready for the race as there was a practice start at 3.30. We took a couple of staged shots in our running gear before the practice start.  This was a bit of a chaotic affair with the Nepali runners jumping the gun. The BBC wanted some shots of Mira Rai at the start so we had to stage quite a few starts for them.  Then we had a long afternoon and evening of waiting. The Race starts at 6.30 in the morning with a very early start for breakfast.  We slept in our race gear. We both had a pretty awful night with me getting a headache from the altitude.

Everest marathon 28th November

Everything was frozen in the morning but despite this we both had a good night's sleep.  After breakfast we set off for Gorak Shep ( the start of the race 5100m) where we will be sleeping the night before the race. We have the chance to climb Kalar Pattar (5623m) after getting to Gorak Shep but we were not sure if we really felt like it.  The walk up to Gorak Shep was really rough with some pretty awful moraine to cross and will make for a pretty tough couple of miles of the race. It took a couple of hours to get up to Gorak Shep and we were both a little tired. However after a coffee we both set off for the top of Kalar Pattar with Menai unsure if she would get to the top. We both plugged on to the top. I took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the top where it was very windy and a bit precipitous.  I took the obligatory photos including a couple with Nima and then headed down. After about 15 minutes I met Menai so went back up to the top with her.  We had a gentle descent and then had lunch before heading back to Lobuche. We got back at about 3.45, so quite a long day. 

Everest marathon 27th November

An early cold start and a medical demonstration of what to do in case of an emergency. Basically if someone is hurt you have to stop and help if you have to stop for a long time your time will be adjusted. We then set off up the valley retracing my run the morning before. I took Menai a long time to warm up and she found the climb up to Dungla difficult. We had a tea break at Dugla before taking on the toughclimb up to the terminal moraine of the Khumbu glacier. At the top there were some sobering memorials to those who have died on Everest- there were lines of memorials going into the distance.  We then had a steady climb up to Lobuche for an hour. On the way we saw a huge eagle and a rescue helicopter on a mission up to Lobuche. After a good lunch a few of us headed to the moraine wall to look at the glacier which was pretty ugly, covered in moraine, pitted with lakes and deep crevasses. At we went along the ridge of the moraine we saw more of the western ridge of Everest, Lho La into Tibet but the scene was dominated by the beautiful Pumori to the west of Everest.

Everest marathon 26th November

It was really very cold in the morning until the sun rose over Ama Dhablam. As it was a rest day timings were quite relaxed. In the morning we headed up the ridge above the camp at 9.30. At the top of the ridge Menai continued with the main group whilst I decided to follow the top ridge path to Dungla which is a refreshment post on the race day. I then ran down the race route back to Pheriche. The route is stony, wet and muddy but on race day it will probably be icy! After lunch we had a lie down as we were a bit tired before heading off down the valley to make sure we knew the best route from Pheriche on race day. In the evening we had a bit of a sing song and dance with the sherpas and porters.  Surprisingly we both slept very well despite the cold and dogs barking.  The campsite was pretty awful really with yak dung all over the place and smoke from numerous yak dung burning fires.

Everest marathon 25th November

uAs we were still on the race route we had to make sure we knew the route today. The first thing we noticed after about 30 minutes walk through lovely woods was that a big girder bridge had been destroyed in the earthquake. We had to cross the river by a smaller bridge and then climb up the other side of the river. This will be a tricky descent on race day.  The rest of the route to Pangboche was a comfortable traverse. In Pangboche, which is a refreshment stop, three of us decided to go with Nima to look at the monastery in the upper village. It was a nice walk via a mass of mani stones to the village which was very different to the lower village with little farmsteads spread amongst the fields. Inevitably the monastery was closed so we headed back down to the race route to walk for another hour to the lunch stop. On the way we passed the BBC crew with Mira Rai. After lunch we only had a shortish one hour walk to our night stop in Pheriche. On the way we had to be careful to make sure we identified the right route because of yet another washed out bridge. Pheriche is a bit of a one horse town and a bit grim placed in the middle of a wide valley. It was cold when the the sun disappeared at 3.30 but the lodge was warm even if the toilet facilities were primitive.
We had a great night's sleep getting up at 7.30 the next morning.

Everest marathon 24th November

I thought that it had rained in the night as I had heard what i thought was the sound of rain on the tent.  It was actually the wind in the prayer flags above our tent. It was a beautiful morning but as we were  in the shadow of Thamserku we were in the shade and it was pretty cold.  Menai had to attend a marshall meeting and i wrote up the journal as I waited.  Luckily the sun came up out and warmed things up. We had a long walk down from Kyangjuma down to the river and as this was the race route we knew that we would have to climb up the slope on race day. Apparently this is the hardest part of the route coming at about 15 miles into the race.  From now on we will be paying careful attention to the route.  After the river we had a long 75 minute climb to Tengboche (3867m) where there is a monastery and on race day there will be an aid station. We picked at an uninspiring packed lunch but did buy coffee and cake which made up for the packed lunch. We wanted to look around the  monastery but had to wait about 40 minutes for it to be opened. There were no monks in the monastery so the look round was a little boring. There were lovely views from Tengboche up the valley towards Everest, down towards Namche and up the Gokyo valley. We headed down to our camp site at Debouche (3757m)  which had a lovely lodge and views. We all seemed to be really hungry so appreciated the veggie momos.  We both had a great night's sleep.

Everest marathon 23rd November

Our last morning in Macherno and after breakfast some of the team decided to run part of the route for the day. I decided to run the approximately 6k to Dole and meet Menai for a coffee there.  It was a pleasant run but the uphills needed quite a bit of effort.  I managed to get a little lost coming into Dole and came a cropper trying to rectify the error.  There was not too much lasting damage and the worst thing was a cut to the little finger on my right hand.  After a bit Menai came storming in having run the downhills in her boots. We then decided that after lunch we would go back down to Namche to buy her some decent running shoes. After our coffee in Dole we walked down to Phortse Tenga for a lovely early picnic lunch. At 11.50 we set off on the long trek to Namche via the big hill up to Mong La. Interestingly the climb took us the same time as the decent took us 5 days ago! This must be a sign of our improving fitness and acclimatisation.  We plodded onto Namche getting the at 2.45 and bought the shoes, had a coffee and apple pie, bought a few odds and ends before heading back to Kyangjuma. We got back into camp having covered about 25k for the day. The camp site was lovely with a really warm lodge to eat in.  We both had a wonderful warm shower - my first for 10 days. A great night's sleep at this lower altitude.  

The Everest Marathon - runners

There are about 40 non-Nepali runners in the Everest Marathon and they come from all sorts of different running backgrounds. At the top end there are top class athletes who have competed at the very highest level.  For example, one runner has come 13th in UTMB and another who is sponsored by Brooks. We have runners who have run over 90 marathons and some who are more walkers. it will be interesting to see how the different people do.

Everest marathon 22nd November

A rest day today with Bed tea after 7. I got up early and did the washing in freezing water to make sure we could get it dry during the day. Most of is was dry apart from the socks. After breakfast and a bit of personal administration Heather, Menai and I set off up the Machermo valley for a little walk. We still puffed on the uphill even though we have been at this altitude or higher for 4 days. It was very peaceful and we stopped at a rock where we had a  good view of Everest. On the rock there were the remains of a dead bird and nearby there were foot prints we did not recognise.  We took photos and the Sherpas of course said it was a Yeti but the rescue centre doctors thought it was a fox. We got back in time for lunch and the afternoon was spent washing and sorting out our stuff for a possibly early morning start. Menai want for a shower and I went to the river. I did manage to wash my hair using the solar camping shower we had brought with us. This evening I have to give a talk about the Gurkhas - twice.

Everest marathon 21st November

Bed tea at 5.45 and then breakfast to be on the road to Gokyo by 7am.  The route took us up the Dhud Khosi river along the lateral moraine until we had a stiff climb into the Gokyo valley and it's famous lakes.  We went   past three beautiful lakes which had ducks on with spectacular views all around.  I got to Gokyo (4730m)  in 1.45 hours with Menai coming in 30 minutes later. We had a coffee Gokyo before setting off for the 5370m Gokyo Ri.  This was a tough climb at altitude that took me 1 hour 15 to get to the top with Menai 30 minutes later. The views were spectacular being able to see Choy Oyu, Everest, Nuptse and Makalu all over 8000m.  we spent quite a bit of time on the top eating our packed lunch and taking pictures. It was quite a long slog back down to the village but we were rewarded by some coffee and chocolate. After about 30 minutes rest we set off back to Machermo getting back for 4pm. We had a strange meal of pasta, rice and potato cake for supper and then quite early bed. We both slept really well.

Everest marathon 20th November

Today was a rest day so a later start but very cold until the sun came over the hill at 7.30. We did a bit of washing and then set off for a walk up the nearby hill. A larger group had gone ahead earlier so we followed them up. Once on the ridge we had a lovely grassy path up to a cliff. Along the path there were lots of prayer flags and cairns.  The cliffs were at 4600m but some of us pushed on up to a better view at 4800m. We were with some of the younger runners and they decided to run down.  I jogged down until I caught up with Menai. We had a great lunch with home made spring rolls. in the afternoon we went up to the Machermo Rescue centre for a talk and to met the volunteer doctors. We were back in time for tea and a fantastic buffalo burger. It was an early night because we had a 5.45am start the next morning. Menai had a decent night even if she woke with a puffy face but I had a bad night I think.

Everest marathon 19th November

We woke up early this morning to make sure we were ready to get off in time. The sad news we heard before breakfast was that Mark had to be evacuated with HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema) We had pancakes and an omelette for breakfast before setting off for the lovely route to Machermo.  It started with a stiff climb out of the Dole valley with some spectacular views back towards Ama Dablam and Kantenga.  After about an hour the route levelled out for about an hour before a tea stop at Luza. We had coffee and chocolate as a nice treat.  The final leg to Machermo was not as hard as originally thought but did include a bit of a climb which at over 4000m was a little tough.  However we arrived into Machermo at 11:30 and managed to get the laundry done in record time.  As it turned out this was a good move because we managed to get things dried out before the sun went over the mountains and things froze within minutes. I had a shave and hair wash in warm water before venturing to the river for an all over wash in the river which was very cold. Menai more sensibly paid 600 rupees for a hot shower. We had a warm evening in the lodge and passed time reading, doing a quiz, hearing about the Antarctic marathon, eating and of course,  drinking tea.

Everest marathon 18th November

It was an early cold start with "bed tea" and getting the bags ready before breakfast.  We both felt a bit groggy probably due to the cold night and lack of sleep. Breakfast of porridge, egg, toast and peanut butter set us up for a trip to the monastery to see the Yeti skull. The only problem was that the Lama was nowhere to be seen. We waited in the sun for a few minutes before heading down to the path to Mong La- without seeing the Yeti skull! We were led by Sherpas who made sure we did not get lost and another Sherpa brought up the tail. It was quite crowded and quiet a climb up to the pass. Apparently this was the birthplace of Lama Serge Dorje who brought bhuddism to the Khumbu valley. We had a nice relaxing cup of tea in a tea house at Mong La before making a steep decent down to Phortse Tenga where we had a lovely picnic lunch in a meadow by the river.  After lunch we had a hard hard climb of about 400 metres to our camp at Dole. This took about 90 minutes through a rhododendron  forest and past frozen waterfalls. Quite a few people suffered on the way including Mark who we walked with in the morning. The campsite was cold and felt colder than the night before but at least the stove in the lodge was alight to keep us warm. We had pasta for supper that was a nice change from dhal bhat.  We felt really tired so headed for bed in our tent by 8.15. The night was not as cold as we had feared and we both slept reasonably.

Our group.

Everest marathon 17th November

We had to get up quite early to get packed and down to breakfast. Menai was feeling much better this morning. The morning was a recce run of about 10k along the marathon route to Thamo. Some people ran it and others walked. I ran and was quite pleased with how it went and seem to be quite acclimatised to this altitude.  Mind you running 10k in 80 minutes is not going to break any records.  Menai walked it and was in good form making her feel confident about possibly walking the race in two weeks. There is a huge variation in ability for the race with some really good runners here. The route was really nice taking us through woods and villages that were a lot less touristy than the Namche area. On getting back to Namche I was able to have a shower before retreating to the Everest Bakery for some lunch. I met up with a "full of beans Menai" there before we all set off for our next camp in Khumjung. This was a 3 hour walk along the marathon route on good tracks some of it was being maintained by locals as we walked.  Our kit bags and tents were carried to our camp site on yaks which arrived about the same time as us in the evening. It clouded over so we only had limited views and it got a lot colder. There was a final one hour climb up to Khumjung that I had to do twice because I left my water bottle in a tea house.  On arrival in Khumjung we were allocated tents and then it was time to settle in before tea and biscuits in a lodge near the tent. We had dhal bhat  and chicken for supper followed by games of cards and pick up sticks. It was a cold night with frost on the inside of the tent. We both had to get up during the night to go to the loo but we both slept on and off.

Everest marathon 15th November

We both woke up a bit groggy this morning with a bit of a headache and queasiness. After breakfast I felt better but Menai was a bit under the weather as we set out for a gentle walk up to the Everest View Hotel. We were accompanied by some Sherpas one of whom, Nima, I had a long Nepali conversation with on the way up. He was lovely. We had great views of Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Everest. We had a nice cup of coffee in the sun with Nima and the others before coming down.  It was on this part that I discovered that my Hoka's were a bit lethal on the sandy gravel resulting in my slipping three times. Others suffered the same too. I walked with the young 20 year old Sherpa, Dawa who had been involved in two disasters on Everest in his short time in the business. After getting back to Namche we went back to the Everest Bakery for lunch. We wrote three postcards using Touchnote and met some nice American tourists from California. I went on the hunt for some grippier shoes and found some in one of the great shops here that seem to sell everything, some fake and some real.  We had dal bhat in the evening and a reasonably early night. Menai slept much better but my sleep was not so good.

Everest marathon 14th November

An early start this morning with breakfast at 7am and off by 7.45. I woke early anyway and went out for a very cold shave and hair wash outside. Menai had a bad night and woke with a headache but took a Fast Melt and it went away,followed by a good breakfast of porridge, eggs, toast and coffee.  The morning was nice taking us along the river Dhud Khosi through small villages.  There was a bit of evidence of earthquake damage on the way but not too much. We met quite a few Trekkers coming toward us and one set of runners. We had a couple of nice tea stops and some nice conversations with others in the group on the way. A nice sociable way of travelling really. At about 12 we got to the crossing of the Dhud Khosi on a high suspension bridge before a sharp 400m climb to Namche Bazaar. En route I managed to get a first glimpse of Everest though the clouds. We got to Namche at about 2pm to be directed to our rooms in the Sherpaland lodge with en suite shower and toilet.  As our kit bags had not arrived we decided to have a quick wash and get some lunch in the Everest Bakery and what a nice lunch it was. Apple pie, coffee and soup complete with Internet.  After a break in the bakery we went shopping for hats to keep us warm as Namche was very cold too and then back to the lodge to wash, do some laundry and change. We went down to the lodge restaurant for food and a really good talk about Mountain Sickness from one of the group doctors, Eamon. Eamon had worked for two years in  the Khumbu working in a high altitude clinic. It was really interesting. We then joined the others for a quiz that by some miracle, we won.

Everest Marathon 13th November 2015

A really early start with a wake up call at 3.30 am and breakfast at 4am to leave the hotel by 5am. We arrived at the airport by about 5.30 to join the queue for security checking in with our bags exactly weighed at 10kg for the kit bag and 5k for the day sack. We then had a long wait because the 6.30 flight was delayed because of a lack of visibility at the Kathmandu airport. We eventually go off at 8.30 in a whirlwind of activity and 18 of us piled onto a small twin propeller plane. The 27 minute flight was a bit bumpy but great views to the west of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manasulu and the Ganesh Himal.  We also spotted a cloudy Everest to the east.  We had a quick land and disembark from the plane to go to the Namaste Lodge garden in Lukla (2800m) for tea and to wait for the rest of the group to arrive in the sun.

After getting a packed lunch we had the leisurely walk to Phakding in the 400m valley below. A lovely walk with prayer wheels, prayer stones and nice tidy villages with vegetable gardens. En route we had two tea stops and met up with the others to have a rest.  In the sun it was warm but as soon as we went into the shade or it clouded over we were cold, very cold. On arrival on arrival at the lodge there was a youth meeting for a festival going on that included dancing, music and various young people doing turns.  Phakding was a cold night in the lodge but some nice food. I had a decent sleep but Menai was a wake quite a bit.

Llangynhafal Loop - 2nd May 2015

This race was not in the plan for the year but it was a local race and quite a few from the club were doing it.  I had done it two years ago in 54 minutes. It is advertised as 5miles and 1500' but on my watch it is a bit shorter with more ascent at 4.7 miles and 1600'.  It was horrible weather from leaving home and really I did not feel up for this at all.  After registration in the Golden Lion in Llangynhafal with the TV showing the news of a new princess it was time to venture outside.  Cagoules were essential kit and hats and gloves were recommended but I took full kit anyway knowing that I would be waiting around at the finish.  So the warm up is a 10 minute jog to the start and then the decision was whether to run in a waterproof or not. In the end I opted for without and then we were off on a nice traversing path for about a mile until the 1,000' climb started to the top of Moel Famau.  I did ok on the less steep section but began to suffer as it steepened and eventually needed hands in the stoney gully. I was overtaken by a couple of people here. Then we were able to run properly again on an undulating section that I really like.  You can get a shift on here and managed to get in front of a couple of runners.  This is where I started to have a bit of a battle with Jeremy from Meirionnydd.  He would go past me on the uphill and I would go past him on the flat and downhill. Then at about 3 miles there is a long  downhill section which is things were kind would take you to the finish but the course has a very nasty steep sting in the tail which is a 300' pimple which has to be climbed before the run in. Here I lost out to Jeremy's superior climbing strength and could not catch him again on the downhill. I came in 16th and 4th in my age group! But 4 minutes faster than last time. On uploading to Strava I discovered that Gary, who I follow but have not met, was in the race just behind me so used the wonderful Flyby feature to see how we compared. It was interesting to see how close we were. See below:

Llantysilio Mountain Fell Race - 28th March 2015

Last year this race was held in beautiful spring conditions. But this year two weeks later into March and Saturday the 28th dawned with rain and wind.  Although the forecast said it was going to clear by the start of the race Duncan, Menai and I walked up to registration in the Sun Inn in the rain with only the most optimistic of us thinking that it was brightening up.  Numbers seemed down on the previous year probably because the race was not part of the WFRA northern series.  However many of the usual suspects were present and nerves jangled a bit before the damp start.  After a brief briefing about the changes to the end of the race we set off fast along the road before climbing to Graig-ddu farm.  Last year we had the whole farm family out supporting the race but this year only the old man of the farm was out.  I said diolch and carried on up the hill.  Having learnt my lesson from last year and getting stuck behind slower runners going up the steep rocky spur to Mynydd Bychan I had pushed on but was suffering by the top. I was being tracked by a runner in blue but managed to lose him on the next section which was gently downhill through gorse and heather before hitting a grassy track.  This is the sort of terrain I love. We were then hit by the long drag up to the ridge path towards Moel Morfudd.  This was hard work and I made no impression n the runners in front although they did not seem that fast.  All of this time we had been in the teeth of the wind which was hard going but on reaching the ridge track it was nice to have the wind behind us. Sadly this was not much help when it came to the long slog up to the top of Moel Morfudd. 

On the top the wind really took hold and pushed me over the top of the hill.  Sadly this meant I could clearly hear the footsteps of a runner behind as I carefully picked my way down the slope and along the ridge.  The footsteps eventually caught me before the climb up to Moel y Gamlin.  Again the Mercia runner did not seem to be going that fast and he looked as if he was about as old as me so I really tried to stay with him.  However it was not to be he got away from me on the climb. More annoyingly although the wind was helping me to run in places on the climb a young lad went past me at the top.  At the top of Moel y Gamlin the wind was awful so it was nice to start down the eastern slopes with about 2 miles to go to the finish. This new route followed very narrow sheep paths that were hard to negotiate with big feet with the wind buffeting from the side. The route then contoured back round Moel y Gamlin into the wind and then down a spur to the lovey grassy track to the finish road.  I was able to get a real move on on this section and avoide being overtaken by e Clwydian runner. I was a bit disappointed by my time being down 3 minutes on the year before but realised that everyones times were down because of the new route and the wind. I was very surprised to find out that the Mercia runner was not in my age group and I ended up winning the M50 category and Menai won the F50.  Our results were: David 13th in 68.19 1st M50, Duncan 29th 78.07 and Menai 92.19 1st W50. 

Yr Aran Fell Race - 21 March 2015

As my build up for the Everest Marathon this race had been looming on the horizon since the New Year and with a couple of short fell races under the belt at Moel y Ci and Pipe Dream it was time for a testing mountain effort.  I had recced the the route a couple of weeks before with Vic Belshaw on a cold and windy day which was a sobering experience in that it took a good 2 hours 45 to cover the 10.5 miles and 3000' foot of ascent - out and back. On the day four of us made the trip from Denbigh: Vic, Emma Collins, Vic's brother Mick and myself.  We met fellow Denbigh Harrier Agnew there who was in the midst of epic Ultra Marathon training and had warmed up for the race with a 10 miler the day before - is that sane?  

The route of the out and back race

The race is well organised by Meirionnydd Running Club and part of a three race winter series. There was a good field for the race with well over 100 lining up for the start as it was a counter for the North Wales series.  The day was glorious with blue skies and a gentle breeze.  We were told that it was minus 5 on the top so I abandoned my initial plan of running in only a vest and put on a thermal and gloves. After 10 minutes of running I regretted this decision. I wasn't the only one as I passed a couple of people en route de-robing.  I took it easy at the start as it was a bit crowded and lost sight of all the Denbigh runners and Mick.  However after 5 minutes of puffing along the farm track I went past Peter.  The first couple of miles of the race is a simple slog uphill along a footpath with most of it runnable.  

The route for the first three miles follows the right side of the ridge. That is Aran Benllyn in the distance

I settled into the familiar battles with other runners adopting run/walk techniques and those who never walk.   My preferred method is to run until it is impossible.  I managed to overtake a few on this stage of the race including Vic who seemed to be throwing his water bottle around.   Then came the steep section up to Aran Benllyn which involved scree, rock and snow. Again I made a few places on this stage of the race which culminates in the heartbreak of seeing the highpoint Aran Fawddwy a good 15 minutes away in the distance.  This is called the plateau which is in effect a rocky, broken and undulating section which requires decent route finding to get the best line. I was a bit taken aback when a group of runners in front of me crossed a stile onto the eastern side but I stuck with my recced route and was relieved after 5 minutes or so to see one of the leaders coming towards me having already reached the summit of Aran Fawddwy. On the plateau I think the recce and route finding gained me about 4 places. Then the really rocky section started up to the summit.  This was more of a scramble than a run which was complicated by the leaders coming down towards us. I think I caught site of Mick but it was a bit of a blur. Eventually I got to the top in about 1 hour and three minutes but didn't take time to look at the spectacular view as I really knew I was only half way through the race. On my way down the rock summit I gave Vic some encouragement and told Peter to stop moaning as he was telling other runners that this was the worst section of the race.  By this stage my route finding was not great and I used the fence line as my marker which meant some pretty awful terrain under foot and plenty of swearing. I managed to hold my own and indeed overtook one person on the way back across the plateau.  However the steep downhill across the scree lost me 4 or 5 places.  Then there was the seemingly never-ending run to the finish.  This is about 3 miles but with tiredness it felt longer.  The final mile and a half is fast but punctuated with steep stiles which seem massive after nearly two hours of tough running.  A few spectators gave some welcome encouragement towards the end and I was delighted to get a finishing time of 1.54.34 and 37th place. The others were Mick 21st in 1.47.36 and first M50, Vic 47th 1.59.54, Peter 53rd 2.03.12 and Emma 77th 2.13.38 1st W50. Full Results are here. In retrospect I enjoyed it and will be back next year I hope. Next is the lovely Llantysilio Fell Race near Llangollen.

The headline says "Too much jogging 'as bad as no exercise at all'"

Some recent research published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology  has been reported as saying that too much running is bad for you.  The research looked at about 1000 runners and 3000 non exercisers and found that all cause mortality did improve with exercise.  It also found that high intensity running did not necessarily improve mortality rates. You have to subscribe to read the whole article but as with all research I am sure there is more to this than just the headline. What worries me more is that the headline is likely to put people off running at all despite the evidence.

It does seem that someone has read the article fully and it seems that this is reheated research from 2012 and is co-authored with a well known "running kills you" academic.  The Runners World article http://www.runnersworld.com/health/the-supposed-dangers-of-running-too-much picks some good holes in the data that seems unbalanced and takes no account of gender.

Parkrun age participation

As I am part of the volunteer team for a new Parkrun in Conwy ( www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/ )I took more than a passing interest in the latest newsletter.  There was an interesting graph showing participation based on age:

I found this shape interesting and fact that numbers of both men and women tailed off so quickly in the 50s and 60s.  More incentive to keep going then.

The Everest Marathon Training Starts Here

For about a year I have been contemplating doing a real adventure race and of course with my time in the Gurkhas, love of mountains and a trip to Far Western Nepal recently this became the target.  So the deed is done.  My entry has been accepted and the race takes place on 30 November this year (2015).  It is apparently a pretty tough route even if it is mainly "downhill" with undulations. the course organiser describes the race as:

"

"The race starts at Gorak Shep (5184m), just below Everest base camp, and finishes in the Sherpa 'capital' of Namche Bazaar (3446m). The course is a measured 26.2 miles/42 km and, although it is basically downhill, the trail undulates and there are two steep uphill sections." 

The altitude will be the main challenge as walking uphill at this altitude is difficult enough let alone running.  Here is the route:

So what is the training regime?  A long hilly run once a week building up time on my feet.  I will do a lot more fell running rather than roads this year.  Apart from that I want to keep up the speed work and shorter races.  I will probably aim for a long fell race at the end of the Summer.