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Ultra En Pente Douce Day 4: Saint Benoit du Sault to Eguzon (45.4km)
Oooh that was a tough one! Things did not start out well today: I had another poor sleep, for no particular reason - the accomodation was great, it was quiet, the temperature was perfect, but my brain decided to solve the world's problems and ust wouldn't settle down. I recall still being awake at midnight (after putting my head down around 10pm), and with a couple of bathroom breaks through to the 6am wake-up, I did not wake up feeling refreshed. Thankfully, the coffee was strong and free-flowing at breakfast! A late-ish start today at 8.30am, leaving plenty of time to get ready. The morning temperature was perfect, and our group bounded off enthusiastically from the night's accomodation. Although I set off at good pace, the group quickly split, with most ahead of me and out of sight within 10 minutes. Perhaps it was the shorter day, perhaps they had a better sleep than me, I don't know! But I was not tempted to push things any harder than I needed to. We followed a couple of small trails to emerge on the other side of the old town, granting a last opportunity to get a photo across the river. We were then on to small (sealed) roads winding our way across the countryside. A bit of a change in the scenery today, fewer sunflower fields - although I did notice a lot of the fields had been ploughed-in, so perhaps they'd harvested already. Into the first aid station at around 10km. By this point I'd realised that I wasn't going to be moving as well as the last couple of days. My left shoelaces needed loosening (suggesting some swelling in that foot) and my left achilles initially felt like it had given up on life (but that thankfully came good within a km or two from the start). Having been in this situation before - a tired body and a few nights of bad sleep - I decided early on that it was a day for good decisions: no pushing things hard, or trying to chase down those ahead of me down. It meant going around 20s/km slower, but I think a wise choice given the big day we have tomorrow. And it's been getting warmer by the day (26 today) - having come a cold Perth winter, I've definitely been feeling the heat. A little sunburn yesterday didn't help either. It's all a bit of a blur ... fields, farms, small villages and three aid stations in total today. I slathered myself in sunscreen at aid two, and hunted down every bit of shade along the way. Plenty of undulation, nothing nasty but steep enough to require moving to a walk. I had a conversation with a gaggle of geese - who were not happy about me trying to take a photo & video. When I turned around the farm dog was giving me some side-eye too, I think it was ready to tell me off if I bothered the geese any more! After the final aid station, we had some fairly exposed roads to run along (by this time it was past 1pm, and the sun was blazing), but with about 3km to go dropped onto some single trails the meandered alongside the river as we approached Éguzon. I really enjoyed this bit, although care was required with foot placement in a couple of wet & muddy spots. Looks like a lovely town that clearly draws a lot of water activities. Tonights accomodation is a recently completed hostel, I'm sharing with JB in an air conditioned room with it's own ensuite. Fingers crossed I can get a good night's sleep ahead of tomorrow's 65km. Stats for today: 45.40km , 5:36:12, 712m elevation. Photo Gallery
Ultra En Pente Douce Day 3: Lathus to Saint Benoit du Sault (53.2km)
Of all the nights that I should have had a great sleep it was last night -- room to myself, dead quiet. But it wasn't to be, I tossed, I turned, it was warm and still and I was imaging I was being bitted. Still awake at 11.30am with a planned wakeup at 6am, sleep did not come easy. Ai-yai-yai! A basic breakfast of cereal and (bitter) coffee this morning served in the cafe/restaurant. The coffee may not have been great, but three bowls of it sure did get me wide awake. With a planned start at 8am there was plenty of time to pack up and get myself ready, and I managed a birthday call to Andi on the way to the start line. It was a rather cold start with some wearing long-sleeve tops for the first leg. Following the river briefly as we left the campsite before turning up a sharp hill and climbing out of the valley into a mist. It was a great way to get the day going. A good deal of today's elevation (which, in total, was not actually that much) was on the first leg - I managed a steady shuffle for the most part, only breaking into a walk whenever that proved more efficient that running up the hills. With clear blue skies, the first couple of hours was really enjoyable, passing mostly through farmland and the occasional small village. Aid stations stops have become pretty efficient. Today I used Tailwind between aid stops 1-2 (~10-20km) and stops 3-4 (~30-40km), taking in half an egg, some fruit and bread w/ cheese at each aid station, and usually leaving promptly with a handful of chips and a couple of oatmeal biscuits. Highlights today included a couple of very friendly herds of cows, a selfie with a horse, a dead badger (only because I can't recall ever seeing a badger before), a great chat with Jennifer, and some beautiful buildings in a couple of villages that we passed through. Overall I maintained a really consistent pace today, was a lot more steady than the last two days, and only dropped my overall pace in the last section with had a fair few hilly trail sections. It has warmed to about 25 degrees today, no real cover from clouds. And it was super-still -- we passed quite a few stationary wind turbines. As midday came and went I would move to whatever part of the road offered some shade (thankfully we didn't encounter too many cars, although it was a bit busier on the roads that yesterday -- my understanding is that the French kids went back to school today which might be part of the reason behind that). We finished the last km or so weaving through the town of Saint Benoit du Sault where our wonderful RD Gilles lives. Approaching from one side, we crossed a bridge over the river (that looked a lot like a moat) and climbed up into the town, zigging and zagging down old roads, between beautiful buildings and into the heart of town, before a short downhill run to the campgrounds. It was a relief to be done, the sun felt like it was blazing by this time and I just wanted to get my shoes off and get into the shower. After a brief relax, Jennifer and I wandered into town for a coffee and beer, grabbed some sunscreen & after-care from the pharmacy and hit the local supermarket for some snacks. I introduced her to the absolute delight that are Snickers Gold icecreams - we stood outside the supermarket scoffing them down. I ate three, she ate two. Yummmm. Before dinner we enjoyed appetisers in the accomodation's courtyard: beer, wine, soft drinks, bread, spreads, chips & peanuts, a great time for socialising. Sitting down for an outdoor meal around 7pm, starters was a cucumber dish, grated carrot in a vinaigrette and fresh tomato covered in grated mozzarella. Mains was roast potatoes, sausages and what I assume was pork steaks (I did not partake in the latter). And desert was a small slice of fruit flan. Despite the tough start to the day (with little sleep), it was a great run -- I'm really pleased with how my body is holding together and the small improvements in pace and endurance each day. Stats for today: 53.60km, 6:21:54, 649m elevation. Photo Gallery
Ultra En Pente Douce Day 2: Queaux to Lathus (47.5km)
Had the most amazing sleep last night. Totally unexpected, but probably the best sleep I've had in weeks. No doubt played a large part in the feeling of absolute relaxation that I experienced while running today - at the time I remember thinking that my mind hasn't been this calm in a long time. That's exactly why I do these silly runs! We woke at 6am, with breakfast starting from 6.15am - I was keen enough to get there amongst the very first. Three large bowls of coffee and some puffed wheat was what I needed! I then wandered over to the start line to see the first group of runners off at 7.30am, before heading to the tent to pack everything away. The 8.30am start seemed to come up really quickly -- none of the nervous anticipation from yesterday, just a nagging realisation that the second group had to move at a decent clip to get to the first aid station before it closed. I would have like to start a bit more leisurely, but the whole group seemed to keep each other motivated and moving along. The run started in cool air, and we followed quiet roads through farmland. At around the 7km mark there was a stretch of trail with lots of large tree roots running along side of a river. Rather gorgeous! I got a photo with Stephane & Nathalie who were out hiking (they hosted me in Poitiers last year for one night, feeding me the most amazing food while we struggled to communicate!) The first aid station arrived earlier than I'd expected, so none of earlier concern was needed. Reloaded my water bottle, scoffed some fruits & grabbed a handful of chips. We crossed a large viaduct high up above the river and then navigated a crazy route through the town of L'Isle Jourdain, including running through someone's garage onto back streets. Then climbed up some gnarly stairs and got an amazing view of the town and viaduct from on-high. it was then onto some very small country roads, weaving our way between fields, many of which were hidden by trees and thick undergrowth. Very few photogenic moments from here. I unexpectedly caught up with Jennifer (who's a gun runner), and we ran & walked into the third aid station together having a great chat. I stopped at the dunny, she took off, and it took me until the next aid station to catch her again. With four aid stations today, separated by 8-10km, it never felt like a "long" run. The sun however was coming out to play though and I felt the heat on a few occasions, enjoying the brief moments where shade could be found. unfortunately, it's only going to get warmer as the week goes on, so for me (coming from Perth winter) it's a fast-track introduction to summer! On the last leg we got some overcast conditions and then just enough rain to cool us off, for me it was really welcomed. Finished strong, and it turned out to be at exactly the same pace as yesterday! Uh oh, that might mean it's a trend I need to continue. Accomodation tonight is in a very large activity centre, somehow I snagged a room to myself (with private toilet and shower) - it feels positively luxurious (it's a small thing, but in an event like this you never really know if you'll be sharing a room with a one of two people, or in a room of 15 bunk beds! And a hot water shower is never taken for granted!) So, that's two days down. As I write this, the body feels like I've run back to back ultras. But no niggles to complain about & I'm keeping on top of the hydration and nutrition. I'm trying something a little different this race, using a bit of Tailwind to top up the in-race nutrition (as the aid station food doesn't ever seem to be sufficient), and by rotating Tailwind & Bix hydration, I've so far avoided any flavour fatigue. I've not really used Tailwind in races for 10+ years (nor tried it in the weeks leading up to this event) but it seems to be doing the job quite well. Stats for today: 47.67km, 5:36:49, 620m elevation. Photo Gallery
Ultra En Pente Douce Day 1: Saint Savin to Queaux (45.5km)
A fabulous start to the race today. Mild weather (max around 20), overcast for the most part, and a little rain. I arrived at the campsite on Saturday evening having had a bit of a travel mishap. My train to Poitiers was delayed by 25min, leaving only a small window to find the (regular scheduled) bus to the race start - got myself in a frazzle and struggled to find where the departure point. Eventually I looked up, saw the sign "Bus Depot" (lols), and made my way there only to see the 12.10pm bus driving out. The next opportunity was either a 5pm bus, or a 4.30 train (requiring a pickup from a different location). Went with the train, got collected by Xavier, and made it to the campsite with time to spare. Many familiar faces from my TransEspana last year, so many smiles. Was introduced to a few others, all of whose names I cannot remember (feel like we should have name tags!). The pre-race briefing started around 6pm, with Gilles going through all the details in French while my phone desperately tried to translate it to English -- I got the general idea! Once done, that we headed downstairs for some appetizers (all runners were meant to bring something from their region -- I brought Violet Crumbles, as the vegmite I brought to TE last year didn't see very popular). I cozied up with a few English speakers - one lovely couple from Germany (with a dog named Shiela), a couple of Dutchies, and Jennifer from the UK. Dinner followed - we had a very tasty meat and veg stew with couscous and wrapped up the evening with a local "Fromage Blanc" (that was basically greek yogurt) for desert. I was bunking with Fabrice, who I knew from last year, and we'd been put up in a hotel about 700m from the campgrounds. So we wondered off there. I slept pretty well, though it was a still & warm night - alternating between blanket and no blanket, while imagining I was being eaten by mozzies (Fabrice just had to mention them before sleep time!) Sunday morning finally arrived, race gear on, and we headed to the campground for breakfast at 7.30am. Some large bowls of coffee and caramel puffed wheat, then an hour of nervous pacing by everyone ahead of our mass start at 9am (after the first day, we are divided into two groups, the "slower" group starting an hour earlier). The course today followed quiet country roads, heading south from Saint Savin. In total around 250m of elevation, meaning very few hills to walk up! I took it super easy for the first 20km, shuffling along and alternating with a fair amount of walking. Taking photos at every opportunity, I was trying my best to not run too quick and just settle into the run. Aid stations were approx 10km apart (3 in total today) for the 45.5km covered - the general aid station fare included boiled eggs, bread with cheese spread, bananas, oranges and rockmelon, chips, biscuits, and bread with fish. I could easily have just carried a hand-held water bottle, but decided to bring the running vest instead - some extra weight perhaps, but it wasn't a bother. We passed through a couple of really gorgeous towns, it's clearly a popular area during the summer vacation, with a lot of campsites along the riverside. Thankfully everyone is back to school and work, so the area is quiet and there are very few cars on the roads. After the second aid station I started running with a bit more purpose - there was a long straight stretch of road that would have been about 2k long, and I just felt in the zone shuffling along at a constant pace. From there I just tried to maintain the same pace, and started passing one person after another. Got it into my mind that I might be able to get my pace to under 7min/km (at the time it was about 8.1kph, maybe 7.4min/km), which gave me some focus -- didn't quite get there in the end but felt really good about how I was able to just push out the second 20km without too much fuss. After finishing we had to cross a river on a hand-pulled pontoon. This required first pulling the boat across from the other side by dragging a chain (which took quite some time), and then about 8 of us got onboard and pulled the other chain to cross. Pretty cool way to wrap up the day! Accomodation tonight was in a large canvas tent, it's split into a living space, a bedroom with a double bed (shared by a couple with their dog Max), and another room with a single room and a bunk bed. Stats for today: 45.53km, 5:21:34, 326m elevation. Photo Gallery
TransEspana Day 4: Castejon de Valdejasa to Fuendejalon (61km)
A tougher day today. An extra 10km doesn’t sound like much, but it means an earlier start (6.30am today), an extra aid station, and a fair bit more sun exposure from being out longer. Leaving the sports hall in the pre-dawn, we formed a tango line along the long road, shuffling along, not really stretching out that much for the first section. I left with a thermal top under my shirt, thinking it was cold but that only lasted about 30min. I had to strip down to remove it (which proved entertaining for a few other runners, ooh la la!) I settled into an early walk/run routine, trying to temper my enthusiasm to move faster. Had a great chat with Thomas, who’s here for his fourth TransEspana event, and is the organiser of several events in Germany, including Deutschland Lauf – 18 days across Germany, a little longer than this race. Next edition 2026. Note to self to completely forget that conversation as soon as possible. We travelled mostly through farmland again today, quite a few pig farms too, the main change being that much of this land was irrigated, with viaducts criss-crossing through the fields and across the roads. It was interesting to see a number of fields that might have been growing rice (or something else very water-intensive) – many fields had been levelled out to create a stepped landscape. Still extremely green. Shortly before Aid 3, we went through a small town and passed a Pharmacy. Yay! I bought a couple of tubes and some after-care lotion. Cost a small fortune, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. The sunscreen I had been given was the spray-on-clear kind, which I’ve never felt all that great about (you just don’t know if you’ve got good coverage). It was great to get a decent application on, and honestly I just felt a lot of relief in knowing that my sunburn shouldn’t get any worse. It was fields, small towns, aid station, fields etc etc today. The aid station food is working well for me & I’m eating a lot of bananas. My plan is pretty much to just eat as much of everything as I can. I completed today in 8:17, with a target of 8:45. Maybe pushed the last leg a little harder than I needed to, but I’m also trying to ensure I can just keep in a nice slow running rhythm rather than get stuck doing long stretches of walking. Tomorrow it’s 75km. Same the day after, with targets of 11h and 12h15 respectively. I think we have a 6am start, so it’s going to be a tough couple of days without a lot of down-time. I may not post the next couple of days, R&R is more important. Starting to find a bit of a rhythm to this whole adventure.Wake 1h45m before the start, take pills & get dressed in my running gear start packing away my bedding etc, poo eat breakfast (available 1h15 before start) poo finish packing everything up poo & lube application run (the important bit … but doesn’t happen without all the other stuff!) finish find bags find accomodation (if sports hall, find a corner for myself and get bedding setup) shower (please let there be warm showers tomorrow, last two days it’s been cold brr) eat (there’s a “salad” after each day’s run, today it was potatoes, egg, veggies, with bread) have two Bix recovery drinks (really good for avoiding nighttime cramps) get organised for the next day (clothes ready, electrolyes etc, notes on course) do this internet stuff (if time permits) main meal (time varies). We’ve been fed really well so far. lie down to sleep stare at ceiling go to the loo stare more at the ceiling go to the loo eventually drift off (but loo at least two more times through the night, generally after being woken by snoring)Photo Gallery
TransEspana Day 3: Ayerbe to Castejon de Valdejsa (51km)
Today was good. Slept really well last night (in a sports hall in Ayerbe) — there was a little bit of snoring, but I was just so darn tired I reckon I had 4 x 1.5h blocks of decent sleep. We were up at 5.30am, for a 6.15am breakfast and 7.30am departure. Breakfast was simple enough – coffee (served in bowls, I like these French ideas!), cereal, bread with butter & jam, and some fruit. We kicked off at 7.30, heading out of town and it was pretty much downhill 14.6km all the way to the first aid station. The road was a minor one (sealed), but not much traffic, and very straight. We were heading through farming country, with fields on both sides, and passed a couple of very small villages and farms along the way. Everyone seemed to be moving well, and I ran the majority of this first leg. The aid station was the usual fare, and I threw on my arm & neck sleeves, and applied some sunscreen (“borrowed” from one of the other participants). This leg was had some small, sharp, bumps but was generally downhill. We remained on the same road with fields left and right, and could see a wind farm coming up ahead. Through aid 2 at the 28km mark. After a right turn onto a smaller road, we made our way to aid 3. Generally uphill, but very runnable for the most part. As we approached aid 3, I passed a couple of guys, and there were maybe 3 or 4 people or just leaving the aid station. For reasons unknown, I’d had enough of looking at people in front of me, so went through this station very quickly (just grabbing bananas and muffins and chips), and went out rapidly. The course profile showed this leg as a steep uphill for about 7km, then downhill for 6. But it was quite runnable for the first 2.5k or so, and then I engaged “uphill walk mode” and powered up the hill. I was really enjoying this climb and didn’t want it to end — the views of the farmland and wind farm(s) were incredible as we got higher up, but all to soon it switched to downhill. I’d not seen any of those behind me for a while, but decided no-one was catching me and ran down the final 6.5km. Urgh. Into the finish line in 6:22, well ahead of the planned 7:07. Whoops. Might end up paying for that later. Note to self: take tomorrow super easy — we have 61km tomorrow, that looks like an easy descent to commence, and ascent at the end, nothing too steep. My plans have me really slowing down, which I will because following that it’s two days of 76km. We are starting tomorrow at 6.30am, not sure why but it’s likely a combination of “smart people will take longer” (per above), and maybe to give us more time to rest tomorrow night. Accomodation is again at a sports hall, this town looks really small – didn’t see any sign of shops on the way in. On arrival it was a cold communal shower (there was a fair bit of shrieking, it was so cold), then I washed the last three days of running gear and hung that out. Today’s post-run “salad” was a pasta salad, couscous and chicken drumsticks. Naturally, I ate a lot of the pasta. We have Apéritif’s at 6pm, dinner at 7pm, and then an early to-bed. Breakfast tomorrow is at 5.15, eeek! Photo Gallery
TransEspana Day 2: Jaca to Ayerbe (60km)
Sunday night we stayed in a hostel, five to a room. The meal wasn’t anything to write home about, but I did eat two full serves (risotto, chicken drumsticks & salad). As the Europeans seem to do, it was a late meal (starting at 7.30), and once everyone had eaten it was pretty much straight to sleep. Because I was the last one there, I ended up on a top bunk, and found it nearly impossible to sleep: a combination of worrying about tossing & turning (thus disturbing the guy under me), the snoring (it was next level … not from me), and the guy under me getting up 5 or 6 times during the night for a toilet break (which was actually handy, as it gave me an opportunity to slip out of the bunk knowing that I wasn’t disturbing him). My earplugs are great, but, uncomfortable when lying on my side. And I can only sleep on my side … so yeh, I’d say maybe 3h sleep in total. Never mind – it seems to just be a thing for me, running when tired! We woke at 5.30, breakfast at 6.15, and then prepared for the 7.30am start. Clear skies and warm weather were forecast (8 degrees at the start, 21 for the end), so I left only wearing a shirt and carrying a rain jacket “just in case”. We started with a very brief downhill before a ~6km climb. The climb wasn’t as challenging as yesterday though, and I was able to maintain a reasonably good run/walk rhythm. We had some great views of the mountain behind Jaca, and then the view back to Jaca. From the summit, it was ~8km to the first aid station, all downhill, and other than stopping for photos it was all running (oh, and my first race-poo). The same fair at the aid station – fruit (bananas, watermelon), bread (with cheese spread, cheese spread & brie, cheese spread & sardines, cheese spread & tuna), mini-muffins, sandwiches and chips. I’m trying to consume as much fluid between aid stations as is practical, so fill up my two 600ml bottles and popping an electrolyte into one (or both), so it takes me a few minutes at each. We’d been in cool temps to this point, but I decided to throw on my arm sleeves and neck protector at this point, as yesterday I’d really suffered in the afternoon from sun exposure. Through to aid 2 at 30km it was all downhill, and I ran the whole way — not quick, but just kept turning the legs over. Through to aid 3, the views weren’t much to write home about, it was just left foot/right food shuffling along, a lot of twisty road, generally downhill but I’d settled into a good run/walk rythym at this point. And it was warming up. We were running alonside a river that had the most beautiful clear (blue/green) water, and it was continually filling, presumably because of the mountain streams on the other side. But other than that I was beginning to think “meh” regarding the scenery until we were about 2km from the aid station when the landscape really opened up. At this point I saw a bridge across the river, and a tunnel, disappearing into the mountains. I was really hoping that’s where we were headed … and yep! Just after the aid station, it was across the bridge, through the small tunnel, and onto a busier, narrower, twisty road that was rather undulating. Christian caught me up here and mentioned that there were some spectacular views to come, and my goodness was he right. There was this amazing mountain and rock face to our right (Punto Común), and then another 2km along Riglos came into view on our left. Absolutely mindblowingly spectacular. It loomed larger and larger as we continued on, and looks to be a very popular destination (rock climbing perhaps?) We were still following a river and had been thinking “that looks like it’d be awesome to raft along”, and sure enough just before aid 4 I spotted a bunch of rafts setting up to head downstream (the direction we were running). Over the next couple of kms, a few vehicles with rafts passed us, stacked high and weaving through the air — I worried at one point , when a vehicle swayed around the runner in front and then moved back into his lane, that the rafts might fall off and take me out. I’m still here, so I guess they didn’t (I might think back to this in a few days and wish they had!) Through aid 4, and it was just 10km left to end the day. At this point I saw our first olive trees (actually, might have been a little earlier), with the landscape changing, but still a number of fields filled with wheat (oats? barley? and canola crops that were just starting to flower. The green-ness was amazing. Christian was around 500m ahead of me, and I spent that 10km gradually chipping away at his lead until I caught up with him maybe 500m from the finish line. We ran to the end, and crossed the line, together. Overall, a great day. The body is still feeling good (though, it “feels” like I’ve just run a couple of ultras). In town, I tried to track down some sunscreen but the pharmacy and supermarket were shut because the whole town is without power, doh! I’ll see if one of the run-supporters, with a camper, can source me some tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll run in calf compression socks tomorrow to provide a little more protection for my legs. (update: have been able to “borrow” some sunscreen from one runner which will hopefully be enough until we hit the next decently-sized town) I had a planned target time of 8:30, and finished the day in 7:54 ; there was a lot more downhill (running) than I’d anticipated, and I made good use of the opportunity to just keep moving. Yet, I’m still near-enough to back of the pack, which is fine. Not here to win or set any records, I just want to ensure I can get up tomorrow and the day after and get those runs done. We had our first DNF today (“young” Tristan), and there’s a lot of people in the sports hall tonight moving around awkwardly. I just gotta stay nimble enough to keep on moving! Photo Gallery
TransEspana Day 1: Urdos to Jaca (46km)
Wow, what a day. Everything I hope for, and more. My expectation was that this would be the day of snow-capped mountain vistas. I was not disappointed. After a 7am breakfast, everyone was fidgeting around getting ready for the 9am start (the only day to start so late, from here it’ll be 7.30 or 8.30 for the faster folks). The weather was as expected — cold and wet, so everyone was rugged up in their thermals and wearing rain jackets. It’s good to know that I wasn’t the only one slightly freaking out regarding the weather on day 1, but it turned out to be a non-event. We gathered in the town square for a very quick pre-race briefing, and the count-down to 9am went by quickly. And we were off. Starting with a quick lap around town (possibly the most exciting thing to happen in Urdos each year), we then hit the road for the long (1000m, 15km) climb to Col de Somport and the French/Spain border. It was a fairly steady climb, so it was just run-a-bit, walk-a-bit, and do whatever was necessary to maintain a good body temperature (run too much, it got hot, walk to much it got cold). It wasn’t so much rain as light drizzle — just enough to get the phone wet, but really not enough to otherwise worry us. There wasn’t much in the way of traffic to worry about, which was great, and I snapped dozens of photos every time the view changed. Then, about 200m before the first aid station (at Col de Somport) I looked up to see my first snow-capped mountain. MIND BLOWN. I’d been smiling a lot before this, but this really stretch my smile from ear to ear. There was a fair amount of low-level fog around the place so the views at this point weren’t perfect, but I wasn’t complaining. The first aid station (14.8km) was a welcome sight. Different to anything I’ve experienced before: yes, the usual oranges & bananas, but this one also had lindt ball chocolated, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, chunks of brie on big chunks of bread, cheese sandwiches, and cheese/fish sandwiches. There was some salt next to the orange, and I was thinking “oh, they’re into the salted oranges thing”. But no, there were looks of surprise when I sprinkled on the salt! Pretty damn good tho. I left that aid station with Thomas & Nina, but they soon disappeared ’cause I kept stopping to take more photos. I didn’t spend a lot of time running with anyone, Thomas and I went back and forth throughout the rest of the day, and I saw one or two other runners, but I think I was so far towards back of pack all the action was unfolding out ahead. It was a very cruisy run down to Canfranc Estation (once the largest train station in Europe, it’s now a 5* hotel). I met Stephane who was taking some photos, and did a quick strip-down removing my heavy thermal. Just out of there, we left the road and joined the Canfranc trail … that was slightly harder going with a lot of rocks and quite a a bit of mud (which my road shoes weren’t particularly good for). A couple of kms further along was the second aid station (26.8km). I again stuffed my face with brie and eggs and potatoes, and dropped my jacket and thermal to lighten the load a little. From there it was trails, trails, trails. The downhill was replaced with steady ups and downs, easy enough going, and there was a nice wind to my back. We meandered along the river at times, and the big mountains were slowly replaced by meadows and lower hills. Lots of running on, or nearby, the Camino de Santiago (the Camino Aragones route). Just after aid 3 (35.6km) I came across a hiker (Xavier, from Spain) and had a good chat about his adventure. He had been following the Pyrenees route, but there was a bit too much soft snow and cold weather, so he’d decided to abort that and head for the lowlands. He had a good 800+km left to walk yet, but seemed to be loving it. Gotta say that doing a multi-day run on the Camino de Santiago sounds like a fun future destination! The last 10km from aid 3 followed some back roads, not a lot of great scenery to talk about here. It was just a matter of getting the day done, but doing it easy and not pushing myself too hard. I did feel a little short on energy through here — note to self: eat more at the aid stations. Into the town of Jaca for the finish line. We had to run through the whole town pretty much, and then finished at the bottom of a hill. Greeted by many smiling faces, and it was straight into a beer and some finish line food (which I thought was a meat dish, but no, it was fish… whoops). Had a chat with a few of the other runners, and then made my way to the hostel. It’s five to a room tonight, and ’cause I was last in I get a top bunk (apologies to the guy under me … I’ll be up and down all night!) I finished today in 6:26, my plan was for 6:30, so really happy with how that went. Tomorrow we have just under 60km planned, so a longer day for sure. Looking forward to a feed and (hopefully) a better night’s sleep tonight. Photo Gallery
King Alfred's Way 2023
Stoked to finally tick off a 200 miler … completed the King Alfred’s Way 350km race over the weekend, starting and finishing in Winchester (England). With a bonus of finishing in third place ! I was ably supported and crewed by Eric Bremner, who was just amazing. DNFs were high – of 42 starters, just 14 finished the journey. My time of 67:45 probably isn’t worthy of a podium, but you gotta finish it to be in it! The course was stunning. Look up “King Alfred’s Way cycle route” for details. The terrain would be tough on a bike, and a lot of it just wasn’t suited to running. Which likely explains the attrition rate – RD said most people pulled out due to foot issues (I had one smallish blister, only discovered after removing shoes, so happy my foot care strategy was on the money). And there were only seven checkpoints (ranging from 25km to 56km), so doing this without crew (as many did), meant nutrition and hydration would be a struggle. We were blessed by warm and dry conditions for the most part. There were many fields to cross and large parts of the track would have been wet or muddy if the rain hadn’t stopped two days prior. So very grateful for that! I’d say “sign up and give it a try”, but it was a one-time only event. That said, the RDs (Mark Cockbain and Richard Weremiuk) were very friendly and professional (although kinda tough!) and the volunteers were just amazing – look these guys up if you’re ever looking for a UK-based race. A huge thanks to Rob Donkersloot who’s coached me for the last couple of years and really changed the way I prepare and tackle these events. I’m a much better runner for what I have learnt. Photo Gallery
Tarawera Ultra 100km 2016
Ultra running: if it was meant to be easy, everyone would do it. And everyone would finish. With smiles. But it’s not easy. It takes more than just training, guts and determination to get across that finishing line: the body also has to co-operate, the weather be in your favour, and it really helps if you’re prepared for the terrain. I ran for four hours yesterday (by ran, I mean tip-toed up and down gnarly, slippery, mud-soaked hills) thinking “that’s it, I’m out at 60k”, and the more I had negative thoughts, the harder it was to keep moving forward. Knowing so early in the race that my time goal was blown, with un-cooperative legs and all energy gone, I just kept thinking “what’s the bloody point? Running long races sucks!!” I just kept thinking “what’s the bloody point? Running long races sucks!!” Back to the beginning. The Tarawera Ultra Marathon is more than just another race. It’s a celebration of local culture that embraces the natural landscape. Paul Charteris, the event organiser has done an amazing job to get the entire community of Rotorua and surround behind the event, and it was such a joy to see landholders and government embrace it so positively. Part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour, the event attracted over 300 overseas competitors with around 1300 total registrants tackling distances of 60, 85 & 100km in both solo and relay teams. With everyone beginning at the same time, it was busy at the start line, and I found it difficult to work out where to position myself in the crowd. It’s self-seeded, which might be ok for a couple of hundred people, but with so many toeing the start-line, it was bound to cause some headaches. I was maybe 15m from the start line, but with the start line being 30-40 people wide, it wasn’t the right place to be. It took around 90 seconds to cross the start line, and I found myself in the middle of a large number of shufflers. The race starts slightly uphill on a nice 5m wide trail, and after maybe 600m turns left onto a 2m wide trail, before narrowing to single trail by the 2km mark. While I tried my best to get past as many as I could in the first couple of km, I wasn’t the only one trying and it became self-defeating to even attempt it, especially in the dark when footing off the trail was unknown. At around 2.5km the single trail weaves up and down a hill and there were some real path-hogs, causing frustration for many. I was alternating between “argh, this is annoying” and “hey, there’s no chance of me blowing up early at this pace”. I tried to stay with that positive though, but unfortunately the frustration was the dominant emotion. The first real fun came at 3km when there was a rather steep downhill bit. It was slippery — well, it was just mud, there was no chance of getting down in control of oneself. Now is probably a good time to mention the weather. It was wet. No getting around it. It started with light drizzle on Friday morning, and gradually got heavier during the day and into the night. The trails were slippery underfoot. That steep downhill I just mentioned: I paused momentarily, then saw one guy just take it on at full speed and kind of slip and slide down on his feet. This was while many were doddering about trying to get down the hill slowly but still with no control. Faced with a choice, I went for the cool option, prepared to eat some mud, and threw myself down the hill. It was AWESOME! I was totally out of control sliding all over the place, but somehow, I got to the bottom still upright, with a great big grin and powered along. With the first aid station at 16km or so, I worked hard over the next few km to try to make up some lost time. Coming out of the single trail at 4km (where we dumped our headlamps), there was a sweeping down, up, then long downhill on a wide fire trail. I took to the down hills with gusto, thinking simultaneously “whee, this is quick” and “dude, you’re going to smash your legs, back off a bit”. Again, the fun part of my brain won that particular battle, and I just kept powering along. Coming into Blue Lake we got to see a crowd for the first time, which was fantastic, and the track around the lake was mostly runnable and I was having fun. As I came into the Blue Lake aid station at 16.4km (after the pop-up “seam sealed jacket check point”), I was ready to grab my drop bag, quickly refill with tailwind, and push on. However I saw no sign of the drop bags, and when I enquired I got the reply “no, they’re at the next aid station”. Slightly confused, I just nodded, used my one spare tailwind sachet and pushed on. In hindsight, I think the guy I asked probably didn’t hear my question properly. I was most likely muttering. There was a fair amount of bitumen road through to the next aid station at Millar Road (22.8k), fairly easy going and I cruised along happily, looking forard to getting my drop bag and keeping on top of my nutrition. Coming into the aid station though, there were no drop bags, and I was out of tailwind. I’d been on-track to that point (200cal/hr), but the next 17km were going to be a challenge without my normal liquid calories. I took on some watermelon and bananas, filled up my bottles with water, and moved on. Coming out of the aid station, I looked at my pacing chart and it indicated that a 12h finish was looking unlikely, but 13h was maybe still do-able (I’ll be honest – although I never intended to race hard, 12h seemed like a respectable time, somewhere around the 25th percentile for the previous year, and a target I thought would be well within my reach). The next 17km were just miserable. It was relentless single trail, through sloppy mud going up up up, down down, up up up some more. As I crossed the tallest part of the course (725m) I was completely spent, and had lost all faith in the ability of my feet to obey simple commands (such as “don’t step on that slippery wet tree root”). I’d twisted my right angle pretty badly about four weeks ago, and it was still a bit swollen entering the race. At this point, I was feeling overly protective of the ankle, my glutes were wrecked, my quads were shaking, and my legs just weren’t functioning as they should. I continued on with a great deal of trepidation, and by the Okataina aid station at 39.4km, I was in a bad place in my head. It had taken me 2h15min for 16.7km, and although my race wasn’t quite over, I was definitely on the edge of self-destruction. The Okataina aid station at 39.4km was a real relief. I took a moment to sit down, refill my bottles with tailwind (yay, dropbags!) and have a chat with Vince who was unfortunately done for the day (at least, I think it was at this aid station). I know I was feeling pretty wrecked by this stage, and probably said something along the lines of “I’m out at 60” to Vince, but I kind of felt that I’d be able to turn things around. This was the first aid station where I tried ginger beer, and WOW! it was the magic elixer drink that I’ve been missing. So much gingery goodness. With lots of watermelon and some chips and bananas on-board, off I went. With the next aid station a touch under 10km away, I figured how hard can it be? Well, remember the mud and the hills? It was a constant slog. The mud was not only slippery, it was also heavy under foot. Like running in soft sand, only wet. Every step sucked more energy than it should, and every time I thought my feet were drying off there’d be another mud puddle that would weigh down my shoes. The middle toe on my right foot wasn’t impressed by all this moisture and decided to cramp up, for about the next four hours (not really an issue, but it was sticking “up” while the other toes were pointing down, so it was rather weird and uncomfortable). The mud really sucked. I took 1h45min for that next 9.8km to the Humphries Bay aid station, and a further 1h21min for the 8.1km to Tarawera Outlet aid station. This has has not happened to me before, and I started to freak out. It was during that leg to Tarawera Outlet that my dark place became that much darker. At around 7 hours my brain slowly turned some random thoughts into a rational one along the lines of “hey, you’ve only peed once in 7h. That’s a little unusual for you”. I’m a “pee every 20min” guy – I know that’s a bit personal perhaps, but it meant that body-wise, things probably weren’t quite right. Although I didn’t really have a desire to go, I force myself to, and out came a rather pathetic, quite painful, stream of reddy/brown urine. This has has not happened to me before, and I started to freak out. I mean, I’d taken on around 4l of hydration over 7.5hrs, which seemed to be around the right figure. I’d not been doubling-down so much on electrolytes (there’s another story to that, but not relevant), so I was worried. I thought it was probably blood, which wasn’t a good sign, and perhaps there was my out to withdraw at the 60km finish point (where I’d still get a finishers medal and another ultra ticked off). At the Tarawera Outlet aid station, I didn’t want to, but knew I had to, ask to speak with a medic (hesitantly, because if they decided to pull me out, I was still 5km short of the 60!) But it was the best conversation I could have had. He listened, he asked questions, he nodded, he poked me, and concluded that I was probably just having an off-day in my digestive system, my skin showed that my hydration was ok, and that the humidity was likely just messing with me. He was kind, positive, and said I had nothing to worry about, but that if I was still concerned at the next aid station, to speak further with the medical team there. We both agreed at that point that tailwind probably wasn’t doing it for me, to switch to water and gels, to suck it up (everyone was having a tough day), and keep on going. And that was the turning point. I felt a weight coming off my shoulders. The 5km into Tarawera Falls aid station was not only a turning point in my head, it was also where the trail changed from muddy, hilly, sticky and just horrible (for me) to smoother, flatter, more runnable terrain. I wasn’t moving fast, but I was enjoying traversing the trail along this amazing river. It was crystal clear, rapid, noisy, and just beautiful. My eyes started to take in the natural beauty of the area, and I felt a weight coming off my shoulders. During this section, I cancelled any plans to withdraw at 60km, and started doing the sums in my head on finishing times. If things didn’t improve, I could always switch to the 85k (though if going really bad, 85km might not work out as I wouldn’t have access to my headlamp on that course). Coming in to the 60km finish area / aid station, there was no question of turning left and running through the finishers shoot – in my mind, it was not a pretty place: it was narrow, crowded, and didn’t look like a fun place to stop. I’d also realized “hey, if I finish at 60k, I’m going to go back to the hotel and do what? I’m not in any kind of rush. Who cares if the next 40k takes 8hrs, you’ve got nothing better to do”. It took me 1hr23min for a touch under 10km through to the Titoki aid station (72.2km). I wasn’t doing too badly considering how slow I’d been earlier. The tracks were much more runnable, and I’d found an nice rhythm in a run/walk strategy (basically run from one marker flag to the next, then walk to the following one etc). This aid station was the decision point for 85k vs 100k, and honestly, it was a no brainer by this stage. By then that I didn’t care how long it took, a 100k finish was a 100k finish, I wasn’t in any serious discomfort, and how much longer would an extra 15km take anyway? I loaded up again on ginger beer (so good!), watermelon, a handful or two of chips and grabbed a Hammer gel to take on the way. This was where I discovered the new Hammer gel that is basically nutella (hazelnut chocolate) – I used to like Hammer gels, but had gone off them (one too many apple cinnamon and vanilla flavours for my liking). But this nutella-like one was to die for! So good. And the gels were actually working, I felt like I had a lot more energy. My legs still didn’t want to co-operate, but my brain and legs seemed to have reached a happy agreement with the run/walk approach. I’d come up with goals for how long to the next aid station (taking into consideration hills etc). The next 7.7km I allowed 1h (it took 1:05, though that included a proper toilet break — thanks Hammer for waking that part of my body up) and a lot of pfaffing about at the aid station. Then came the dreaded out-and-back climb that I’d overheard many people saying was tough. I gave myself 45min for this 5km section, and honestly, it was a doddle compared to what we’d already done, and I knocked it out in around 35min. Feeling pretty positive now, and with under 20km to go (and no big hills, in fact, it was basically all flat or downhill) my pace picked up, knocking out the next 8km in 1h, then 5km to the final aid station in around 40min (bang on the goals I was setting myself at this point). That final aid station at River Road was amazing – Star Wars themed, there were cardboard cut-outs of storm troopers lining one side of the road and large quotes on the left (my favourite: “Do. Or do not. There is no try”). The vollies were all dressed up in theme, music was blasting away, and the atmosphere was party-like. At this stage, the 85 and 100km runners had merged, and there were a lot of people ahead and just behind me. Everyone walked into the aid station, I just looked, checked my bottles for enough water, and kept on going. As I counted down through 5 … 4 … 3 to go, I was passing people easily with my walk/run strategy, and was busting out longer run segments. Although I’d pulled out my torch ready for use, as I crossed the bridge into Kawerau, I tucked it away unused, and took in the surroundings. With the river flowing on my right, it was just as I’d imagined it would be(although a bit darker than I’d planned). I was moving along at a decent pace until I looked over my shoulder and saw one lady who I’d passed not to long ago starting to catch up. And when I heard a spectator behind me say “go on love, you can catch him”, I was off like a rocket for the last little bit. As soon as that finish line came into sight, I was sprinting (in my head at least, though I suspect I looked like a two legged dog dragging itself along the ground). Up through the finishers shoot, lots of clapping, something that sounded like my name over the loudspeaker, and over the finishing line, arms in the air, so so glad to get to the end. Paul Charteris was standing there, arms wide, offering a hug, and I took it gladly! He asked how I found the course, and I think the words I managed were “brutal. amazing. epic. thank you”. Kerry Suter was handing out the 100km medals, and he took the time to chat with me found about five minutes, it was just amazing! Just so stoked to finish, and I’m very very happy that I persevered and got to the end. 14:31:06, a couple of hours slower than I would have liked, but hey, who cares? At the presentations on Sunday, Paul made the comment that it was the toughest the course had ever been. I’ll take his word on it (I figured that perhaps the year of the cyclone would have been similar with the mud/wet factor). Certainly, the conditions were difficult – it rained pretty much all day, though I’m happy that it did so. It’s summer, and rain+heat=humidity. The humidity was as hard to cope with as the muddy, slippery terrain, and had a real impact on my body. There was a point around midday where the rain eased up and it started getting warmer, and I started thinking “uh oh, this is going to be bad”. But no sooner had it eased, it returned with some intensity. Although there was never a time when I wanted to put on my rain jacket (it was high-teens to low-twenties for most of the day), there was a moment or two when I felt chills if I allowed myself to cool down too much. Honestly though, I enjoyed being kept cool by the rain. The mud, not so much. Just briefly, back to earlier when I peed red/brown. I’ve had some time to think on it, and have worked out the cause. I took several Shotz electrolye tablets, the fizzy kind, the day before the race. They were Berry flavoured, and therefore red. That’s why the reddish pee. And the lack of pee, it’s obviously how my body works: at the Track Ultra WA event last year, it was hot for the first 4-5 hours, and I remember distinctly that I drank a lot then, and got a really distended belly and wasn’t going. It wasn’t until the evening when things cooled right down when I needed to pee regularly. So there you go, I learnt something else about myself during this race too! Stats:Distance:102.8km Elevation: +2755m/ –3055m Time: 14:31:06 Position: mid-packish (160th when I last checked, still being finalised). Blisters: none Sore spots: none Chafing: none Falls: none Rocks in shoes: none 100k medal: ONE Hugs from Paul: ONE
Australia Day Ultra 2015
The inaugural ADU event was held on Saturday January 24th, 2015, on a 12.5km out-and-back course along the Australind foreshore (south of Perth). The brain-child of local running stalwart and race director, Ron McGlinn, the event has IAU Bronze status, and is one of only four road events in Australia with an official measurement – giving competitors an opportunity to set age-group records and/or qualify for Australian teams. Attracting a predominantly West Australian entry list this first year, there were 32 starters in the 50km event, and 11 for the 100k. With both events commencing at 3am, it was quite a sight watching the field stretch out quickly, with the front runners setting a blistering pace. Thanks to the local council who replaced several sections of concrete path in support of the event, the initial 3km’s were safe underfoot in the dark of the night and all competitors were quickly onto the bitumen section and heading to the turnaround at 6.25km. With parts of this latter section covered by trees, it was good to know there’d be some relief for those planning to be on the course past midday. With four out-n-back’s for the 50k, and eight for the 100, there were plenty of opportunities for high-fives! In the men’s 50km event, it was Andrew Wait who led the pack all day with Tony Smith and Grant Wholey around six minutes back at the half way point. In what was a finish to remember, Andrew collapsed with less than 300m to go, and struggled to get going again. His lead of ~3min at the last turnaround had been lost, and Tony reached him just as he started running again. Being the consummate gentleman, Tony asked after Andrew and queried whether it was ok to pass before they both kicked for the finishing line. Unfortunately Andrew again fell, with Tony crossing in 3:48:13, 20s ahead of Andrew. Grant crossed in 3:55:29 for 3rd place. In the women’s 50km, Andrea Harris had a comfortable lead throughout the race, winning in a time of 4:26:29. Amanda Bowman and Kelly Robinson remained very close up to the last lap, before Amanda pulled away to finish 2nd in a time of 4:42:56 with Kelly in 3rd in 4:45:28. With a much smaller field in the 100km event, the race was hotly contested between Bernadette Benson, Ben Treasure and Nathan Fawkes for the first 50km. Nathan held a 30s lead over Ben with Bernadette a further 18s behind at the half way point. Nathan maintained the lead throughout the next lap, but it was from there that Bernadette’s experience kicked in, leading by 17min at the 75km mark. She extended that to 40min by the end, finishing in an AUS & CDN W45 record time of 8:32:00. Ben and Nathan ran together through to the last lap, after which Ben powered on to finish first male in 9:12:31, with Nathan across the line in 9:15:59 (a new AUS M30 record). Barbara Fieberg ran a very strong race to finish 2nd female in 9:17:58, with Kate Bodill 3rd in 11:26:28. I ran the 100km event, and was supported by Jo and the kids. Looking back on it, the first 80km I got through in 7:54, but then the wheels fell off a bit. 90km in 9:03, and the last 10km there was a lot of walking, finishing in 10:30:18. My best ever 100km though. Ron did an amazing job of organising this event in a very short time frame, and expressed his gratitude for the high level of support received from the local Shire of Harvey. The Shire provided significant sponsorship in the form of signage, assistance in preparing a traffic management plan, and repairs to the footpath ahead of the race. For anyone looking to set an age-group record, qualify for the Australian team, or set a PB, ADU is positioned as a great season-opener. The next event is on Jan 23, 2016, with entries opening in July. And for parkrun fans, with a 3am start, you can run a fast 50k, and drive to Bunbury parkrun in time for 8am (kudos to Tony, Grant, Shaun and Ben Harris for achieving the double this year!)