Reflections and Looking Ahead

So that's it all over and now back to normal life. It is so strange and I do not know if it will all ever really sink in what happened over in Colorado. I had the most amazing time of my life , met people who I will be friends with forever and really wish I could just keep doing it all over again.

First time up Hope Pass

It really is strange as I had trained so much for the race , planned everything for so long and all of a sudden it's over. Now what. I am totally delighted with having completed the race but now I just feel a little down , What now? Where do I go from here? What's next?

Lovin' It

It's been a week since the race and I have been reading a lot of comments on the Internet about this years LT100 , some good , some bad. There does seem to be a fair bit if criticism towards this years event. I will try my best here to give my opinion on some on the topics. 

 

Anna helping me up Hope 2nd time

First off there are loads of complaints that the aid stations were not stocked well enough and ran out of water , food and cups. To be honest I never noticed any of this except for when I came back over Hope Pass and the aid station had no cups left. For me no big deal , I just drank the rest of the water in my bottle and Anna filled it up again for me , yeah I guess if you wanted soup it was more of an issue but is it really that hard to use your water bottle for soup then just rinse it out. Now running out of food and water later in the race for runners nearer the back really is not good enough and I agree with complaints about this  , that must be fixed for future races. I did see many empty cups littered along the trails but not a huge amount , this should still not happen some of them were only a few hundred metres outside of aid stations , how the runner can't just use a bin that was provided or just put the empty(very lightweight) cup in a pocket I don't know , this is very bad on the racers part. 

About mile 47

Another point was the congestion and how slow it was for crews and pacers to get to checkpoints for their runners. Again I did not see any of this. My crew did say some checkpoints were very very busy with cars but some of the access to some of them is on narrow dirt roads so is obviously going to be hard , they tried to use shuttle buses at Twin Lakes but I don't think this helped too much , I would defend the organisers here as after the race briefing for runners on the Friday they did have a crew briefing and did make it clear that at the aid stations it would get very very busy so be prepared. The drop bag system works really well so I was prepared with a drop bag at every station , I knew I had crew but we just used bags as well just in case something went wrong and they were stuck in traffic , that all just seemed like common sense to me. The halfway checkpoint at Winfield was highlighted as being a major congestion point and we were advised not to drive all the way in with the pacer and to drop them off a mile or two out and let them jog in. That's what Anna and Kim did and it worked fine , so to be honest those who tried to drive in and got held up and missed runners then all I can really say is well we were told about this so stop moaning. Sorry if that sounds harsh but some people I think just expected it all to run smooth and how can it run perfect with 900+ runners plus pacers , plus crew and on top of that add spectators. I just think a lot of these runners and crew really just want their hands held for the entire day and don't realise there is some hard times and a bit of grafting involved , just get on with it.

 

Between Twin Lakes and Fish Hatch

More people were commenting on the race field being too congested , for me 900+ runners on a race is the norm really. Yeah it was a bit congested coming down to Winfield through the trees with runners still descending very slowly and others going back up but it really really didn't bother me. I admit I may have missed the major congestion times but really how hard is it just to step aside , the narrow tricky section really doesn't last that long plus it is a TRAIL race and some trails believe it or not are narrow and single track , shocker eh!

Now I am not out to totally defend the race here , some things can obviously be done to improve some of the issues and Lot's of the criticism came from way more experienced Leadville runners and some top runners too like 2nd place Nick Clark a runner who's blog I have been following for years. I emailed him to give my point of view as I was a bit shocked reading his blog. I was not emailing having a go at him. He knows way more about these races than me. I was just letting him know from a total newbies point of view I loved it but I did totally agree with lots of his comments.

The major talking point he made was that the race over the years had lost a bit of it's soul. Yeah I know Lifetime Fitness have taken over the majority of the organising of the race from the founders but to still have Ken at the race briefing saying welcome to our family , his son Cole give a truly awesome inspirational speech and have Ken's good lady at the finish line to give you a massive hug and medal really is special and yes when the day arrives this disappears it will be tragic. Yes it was my first Leadville so I have zero experience of previous races but again I thought the event had more soul than I have ever felt at any race I have done. Every local family I met before was still so excited for the race and the support they all gave from the start was truly amazing ,  I was hanging out drinking coffee with many locals before and after and had a great time. I do believe though that this race is just growing and growing largely due to the facts that it is not too difficult to get into and the classic running book "Born to Run" elevated the status of the race massively. Now I have obviously read it and I did really enjoy it and it did raise my awareness more of this race but I had been running for years before the book came out and already knew the history of Leadville and was already super keen to try one day to run in it. Now I like races where absolutely anyone can have a go but races like the UTMB and Western States where you need to gain points or have experience of running other Ultras to get accepted is quite a good idea. It just means that everyone doing the race has a pretty decent chance at it and are not going into the race blind. There were many runners at Leadville who to be honest did not have a clue what they were getting into. Again fair play to them for having a go but not the smartest idea to try and run your first race as the very very tough Leadville 100. I am scared that this race will soon become or maybe it has already become a bucket list race for many non trail runners who read in magazines like FHM or Men's Health etc.... in articles about "10 races to do before you die" and all that crap and find Leadville included , now that I do not want to happen , I don't want some guy who can play 5 a side football once week , can run for the whole hour by the way , who goes to his local gym twice a week and is "super tough" because he used to play rugby thinking he wants to run Leadville just to tick it off. Now that really really is not on and it drives me up the wall hearing about these people. I run these races because I love to run , I love to run in Mountains and I love to run with people like me but I do feel Leadville could turn into a bucket list race for many and I really hope they can find a way for this not to happen. Now I know at the end of the day organisers want to make money pure and simple but even adding a small entry requirement like must have completed a 50 miler in previous 2 yrs , reducing the field by a couple of hundred and even putting the race fee up a little to compensate for this would not kill this race off at all , it would still attract the greatest runners on the planet and runners like me with a real passion for running long distances in the Mountains.

 

What a feeling!

So there is my views, sorry if I offended anyone but it's the truth and what I experienced. A totally amazing special race I will never forget for all the good reasons. Now for me , what's next? In October I am back in Scotland and have some small races lined up , a 10k which will be fun to do some speed work again , a 50k in the Lakes District where I have never ran a race and a 17k up in the Highlands which I am looking forward to. After that it will be nearly winter and ski time. Looking to next year and big races I really have no clue. There is loads floating in my mind right now. Pikes Peak Marathon , Western States 100 , Hardrock 100 , Waasatch 100 , Transvulcania the list goes on and on. I will without a doubt be going back to Leadville but to pace(20-30 miles) and crew for Kim so might try and do a smaller Colorado race whilst over. I also have my eye on one closer to home , well actually my home race The West Highland Way , I feel it's about time I did this. I love home and love the highlands so now it makes sense to have a go at it and I should hopefully have the entry requirements for it. It is very similar to Leadville as the distance is the same but it is not at altitude. I don't want to jinx it but I do not feel it will be nearly as hard as Leadville but it will be tough as hell.

Bye for now Leadville

I already miss everyone I met back in Colorado and really do wish I could live there but that most likely will never happen but I will try anyway I can to make it work. Now back in Chamonix my knee has pretty much fully recovered but I am booked into see a specialist this week , I feel it's finally time I did something about this just in case it is a problem that will always come back and haunt me late in a race and something that can be fixed. Also my good friend Graham is running the 100km CCC next week so I am looking forward to finally being the one not running so I can help out and see the joy on someone else's face when they finish a race they have worked so hard for and I have no doubt he will do amazing in it. I thought I would want to climb again but to be honest I don't , I have lost even more passion for climbing and probably because of my summer of not doing any. This passion will most likely come back but as I sit writing this feeling a little down my whole American experience is over I have only one thing on my mind to get a smile back and that is to lace up my trail shoes and go running......and I wish it was alongside my pacers again.

Leadville 100

I woke on Saturday morning at 1.30am after a surprisingly good sleep. Breakfast at the hotel was meant to open at 2am for runners but one of the staff slept in so it was a bit of a delay and some panic as my lift to the start was at 3am. Finally the breakfast room opened at 2.30am and after wolfing down some bagels with jam along with some of my carbo cake I got collected spot on time from some people I had met during the week and we headed to the start line. I was obviously super nervous the night before but somehow managed a good sleep and woke up feeling ready to go with no nerves at all. The start was like always just tons of people running around getting prepared , going to the toilet many times and as I always do tying shoelaces god knows how many times.


Here we go

 

So excited

I was standing around the middle of the pack watching the clock tick for about 15 minutes until 4am arrived and the race founder Ken Chlouber appears on the start line , wishes everyone good luck and BOOOOOM fires off the shotgun. The race starts with a half mile run down the street passing what seemed like the whole town of Leadville out on their lawns in their dressing gowns playing music and dancing and drinking beers and wine(later I found these parties were Bloody Mary and Hash Brownie Parties). It was such an amazing feeling. The entire town really gets behind this whole event. I couldn't really register it in my head , this is it , the bloody Leadville 100 , I am now running this historic race and my first 100 miler. My race then continued like this...

Leadville – Mayqueen – Mile 1 – 13.5

After running down the street we veered off left then sharply right onto a long long dirt road for a couple of miles then we had a very short but very steep little climb up back onto the main road for a few hundred metres and then we were on the trail that was taking us to Mayqueen. Awesome trail that runs along the entire side of Turquoise Lake. The racers were not too congested as everyone managed to get into their own kind of stride going down the roads. It was still not really possible to pass anyone on the trail but the pace was fine for me and we made it the 13.5 miles to Mayqueen in 2hrs 15mins(cut off 3hrs 15mins) I felt okay all the way along but like all long races I have done it takes a while to really get into a good rhythm so I arrived at Mayqueen with the odd little niggle but just because I had not warmed up yet. It was a cup of coke at 6.15am and some watermelon and off I went.

Mayqueen – Fish Hatchery – 13.5 – 23.5

I had hiked some of this trail already in the week so I knew the first 4 odd miles of it. It is a bit of a fast hike up through the trees out onto a wide dirt track that winds its was up to 11'000ft. It was walk/jog on this section and also lot's of chatting to other runners which was really nice. Some guys going sub 25 hour times and some guys back for the 3^rd /4^th / or 5^th time to just try and finish. It was still a mix bag of abilities at this stage. I spoke to a few people at this stage who were determined they were going to get a sub 25 time. Later on I found out that 2 of these people missed the cut off at halfway. Just shows that trying to get a sub 25hr time on Leadville if it is your first time doing it or first 100 miler is super super tough and maybe not the wisest. I enjoyed this section but was still worried about cut-offs. I knew if I could get to Fish Hatch with a good time to spare then that would set me in good stead for pretty much the rest of the course as long as I could keep moving forward. After the trail finally topped out at the high point after many false summits it was a great technical run down the power line section onto the road and then a 2 mile run to Fish Hatch.

Powerline

Fish Hatch

Fish Hatchery – Twin Lakes – 23.5-39.5

I arrived at Fish Hatch feeling good and was greeted by my team Anna and Kimberley. As usual it was great to see familiar faces. They had my drop bag looked out and ready for me to just dump my gel and bar wrappers and replace what I had used. I also filled up my water bottle again with some more electrolyte mix. It was more watermelon and off I went. After Fish Hatch it is around 6 miles to the small checkpoint and water only aid station of Half Pipe. Half of this section was on a road (a very straight and long road) and was not very nice as by this point the sun was up and it was rather warm with no shade at all. Many runners including myself were relieved that Half Pipe was there as lot's of us were running low on water. It was same old story , more coke and more watermelon and off I went. I had been nibbling on clif bars from an hour and a half into the race and from three and a half hours I started on gels as well. On the road section I was running with a guy who kept saying how he runs 1hr 15mins Half's but was really struggling with this section. Again I just think people expect to be able to run their normal pace but never actually let it register they are going for 100 miles and at this altitude it is not easy. I plodded along to Twin Lakes on a mixture of dirt roads and trails with the final stretch on an amazing single track packed pine needle trail twisting it's way through the forest and then you pop out into the open to a heroes welcome at Twin Lakes as everyone at that checkpoint can see you flying down the final 100 odd metres or so out of the trees. I obviously gave it some gas here just to let everyone know I was feeling good. This was probably the section I felt best on over the whole race. I got into the aid station and again Anna and Kim were waiting with my bag. I had a little bit more food here as next up was the first crossing of Hope Pass.

Horrid

Coming into Twin

I have no idea

Twin Lakes – Winfield – 39.5 – 50

Leaving Twin Lakes it was about a mile of trail through thick long grass then the river crossing. Nothing extreme here. It was a little deep but they had a rope across and walking through the ice cold water was amazing for the sore feet. Once out of the water it was climb time. I had not checked out this climb before as I knew the climb on the other side was the hardest/steepest of the two crossing but this still was not easy. It climbs up and up from 9.200ft to Hope Pass Aid Station at 11.836ft (800ft below the pass) and then up to Hope Pass at 12.600ft and is 5 miles long. 3000ft(1000m) doesn't sound like much compared to France but trust me it was hard. It just went on and on , up and up. Once at the Small Aid Station just below the Pass I got some soup in me and continued on up. It was not cold at all up there so none of my extra layers I carried were needed. The final 800ft didn't take long but the leaders were already by this stage running back past us heading back to Leadville! I felt fine when cresting the Pass and began my descent. The descent went great and I was passing a fair few people on this. Especially lower down in the more technical part that some people could not get their heads around how to run down it. I felt at home here and was loving it. It then makes a right turn and continues for a couple of miles along a really nice new trail with loads of little ups and downs and you then arrive just outside Winfield and head a few hundred metres along the dirt road to the aid station. Anna was waiting and kitted up and ready to start pacing me back over. I managed a little bit of Noodle Soup here but it only just stayed down. I also changed my wet shoes and socks , put on a new running top and grabbed a new head torch out of my drop bag. I also noticed the race Founder Ken Chlouber was sitting right next to me on a quad bike clapping in runners so I went over to him and asked for a picture and told him I was from Scotland. He was so nice and was more than happy to chat away and wish me all the best. Then it was time to do it all over again in reverse. On my way down to halfway I was never ever thinking “oh my god I have to go back all of this” the entire race I just kept thinking get to the next checkpoint , get some food , change some clothes then move on. I must admit it was great to get to 50 miles and know I had company from then on until the end.

Hopeless Aid

Hope Pass Take 1

Winfield – Twin Lakes 50 – 60.5

We started out fast walking this bit as my soup was still not entirely settled in my stomach. We managed some little jogs on and off along the trail to the start of the climb and it was quite a boost passing so many people who were still heading to the turn around some of whom looked already completely finished and ready to pass out. Now this is the climb I had down during the week and found fine but it was a different story here. I was not super slow but my pace was not entirely quick. We marched on up and I only stopped for a rest twice on this climb. The only time in the race I stopped my feet moving with exception of the aid stations. It was great to have someone with me. I had never ran with pacers before and wasn't sure about the whole thing but they were incredible. Anna just chatted away telling me jokes and stories , some of which I admit I didn't listen too very closely but it was just great to finally have some good company and it really was a mental boost. Once at the top of Hope Pass yet again we quickly got some photos then it was time to descend. I took off again on this short descent to the Hopeless Aid Station and Anna couldn't even keep up! I had to turn around to check she was there but she shouted down “just keep going , I will catch up” which she then did when the trail got less technical. I will happily admit I am not that great at running on flat roads but on steep technical down hills I can hold my own. We got to the aid station and I tried to get some noodles down me but my stomach really did not want to eat anything but I really needed to since I was weighed at mile 50 and had lost 4lbs. Not enough to make the doctor worry but I did need to eat. Anna tried her best to get me to eat but I really only wanted more Coca Cola. It was then the long long descent down to the river crossing just before Twin lakes. This section went well and we jogged down the awesome smooth trail just chatting away about pretty much everything , Life , Death , Work , Hedgehogs and Donkeys and a long conversation of me trying to describe what a Mountain Guide was to Anna , I could not understand how she did not understand what I was on about later to find she thought I was saying Mountain Gay's! Again the river crossing was awesome and Anna too was loving it on her feet. As we cruised into Twin lakes I again noticed Ken who was now cheering people on at this section. He had obviously remembered me from a few hours before at Winfield and gave me a good “go on son , keep diggin'”(you wouldn't get that from the race organiser of the UTMB) as I ran past him. Kim was ready to go but I had a quick toilet stop to make and then I had to eat. Anna and Kim kept putting things on the table , soup , noodles , sandwiches(peanut butter bloody sandwiches which they knew I hated) but I just couldn't stomach anything. I managed a tiny amount of soup and some watermelon but no proper food. I again filled up more water into my hydration bladder and electrolyte mix into my bottle , changed my wet shoes yet again and then grabbed my head torch out of my bag as it would soon be dark. Only to discover we had left the batteries back at Winfield. Now I like to climb but not a chance in hell I was climbing back over Hope Pass again! Luckily for me Kim had an extra one with her. Thank God for pacers! Now let's get to Fish Hatch 16 miles away.

Coming into Winfield , Mile 50

Trying to stomach Noodles

With my mate Ken

Anna and Me on Hope AGAIN!

45 miles to go

Amazing

Twin Lakes 60.5 – Fish Hatch 76.5

This starts off with a fairly long climb which again we marched up at a pretty good pace. Once it levelled out we managed some on and off jogging but this is when my knee started to slightly hurt when I flicked it back. Oh no I thought to myself , if this gets as bad as the Mont Blanc 80km there is no way I can put up with it for 35+ miles. Kim like Anna was immense. She loves to run on flat roads so was really looking forward to the final section of this which was on horrible long never ending tarmac. Kim kept telling me my pace which was good even though it was not fast. I kept on telling her how I was worried about missing the next few cut off’s only for her to reply every time with “shut the f**k up about times Colin” “you are going to finish this F**king race” “You are well on time to even walk the rest of this thing and make it under 30hrs” “and there is no way we are going to let you quit”. For the record I never once said to anyone over the race I was going to quit or that I couldn't do it any more. Never once did it come into my head to quit. We plodded on through the trees now in total darkness. It did take us a while and once we hit the road for the final few miles I really wanted to run so Kim started a jog and told me to follow. We started off slow and got up to an okay pace but it didn't last long as my knee just said no. I felt so bad as I knew Kim really wanted to run this bit and I also wanted to run it as well but I just could not swing back my leg to run. We walked the rest of this to Fish Hatch where Ben and Anna were waiting to help me out.

Kim and I leaving Twin

 Fish Hatch 76.5 – Mayqueen 86.5

This was the stage where I was not feeling good. To be honest my legs were tired and my left knee really painful but my muscles were not in total agony. My team had done a great job over the day of giving me salt tablets to keep the cramp off and it really worked but at Fish Hatch I was starting to get really really cold , shivering a lot. My team though were amazing. When I got to them they did everything for me. I just kind of stood there shivering in a total daze. They were handing me soup , filling up my water and so on. The one thing they did not do was ask “how you feeling?”, “you don't look good” and I am so grateful for that. They were just so positive they just got on with helping me even though they could see in my face I was on a major downer. Mentally I was never going to give up but if they were not there for me I hate to think what I might have done if I had just sat down there alone. This is where Ben took over from Kim to pace and again he was incredible. I had had enough of carrying all of my kit and just wanted to feel free from everything , Ben was already kitted out for himself but when I said I would prefer not to carry stuff he was like “no problem dude give me everything you want” He stocked up with more gels , bars and water and even put on an extra waist belt to carry more stuff for us. Amazing stuff. We wrapped up with a few layers , stuck on gloves and hats and off we went. I apologised to him that this section might be slow but he didn't care at all , he was there to help me anyway I needed. I was not looking forward to climbing back up Power line but once we hit the climb we totally took off. I was climbing at a great speed and even Ben said that would be his normal speed hiking pace from fresh never mind having come 76.5 miles. I knew I was going to loose time on the descents now so I had to make the most of what I had on the climbs and we were flying past people on the ascent. I know Ben wasn't just trying to make me feel good by saying how good a pace we were going , he was genuinely in shock at our climbing speed. Again we just chatted random stuff and every so often he would just hand me a gel that I would take then he would take the rubbish off me then hand me a bottle to drink , he has never paced for anyone before and he was totally spot on helping to keep me fed and hydrated. The climb was long but once we peaked it was all downhill to Mayqueen and only 13 miles from the finish. The final bit through the trees was tough as my eyes were not really doing great and I could actually feel them wanting to shut so keeping focused on the trail was tough but we got there. Just before we popped out of the trees to the road we came across another runner being carried out! His legs had just given up and he couldn't walk and the medics were there carrying him out to the aid station. So we arrived at Mayqueen around 3.30am in the morning 23 hours into the race with 6hrs 30mins to go before the cut off of 10am at Leadville. I was so close to doing it! Ben then had to leave to drive back to Denver for a job interview in a few hours!

Mayqueen 86.5 - Leadville 100!!

As soon as I arrived in Mayqueen Kim was straight up to me and threw a massive rug around me and handed me hot chocolate. I had perked up a bit on the last section and was far more with it than I was at Fish Hatch. Kim did finally admit “Yeah dude you were pretty bad at Fish Hatch but your almost home now” Again Anna took over from Ben for the final stretch. I just stood hunched over eating bits of Banana that my team kept handing to me , I tried to eat some noodles but quickly spat them out. Anna stocked up with some Clif Brs and Gels and extra water for me and off we went on the road home. This section is a great trail skirting the edge of the lake but my knee was really bad by now and I was limping along as fast as I could go. Anna kept handing me bits of bar and water which was great as I was beyond the stage of caring for myself. Some of the food I managed to eat and some of it stayed in my mouth trying to dissolve for 15 mins before I spat it back out. There was a little chat on the trail but I must admit I was a bit mute by now but she stuck by me and was always smiling and chatty if I needed her to be. Once we finally broke from the trail we hit the road and it was freezing cold , proper freezing with a real breeze. We stuck on more clothes and pushed on for the final long 5 miles. It took a long time to cover this section. We had to turn to check on a guy who just started being sick , violently sick but we noticed his pacer was just behind him so she was able to help him out. We now hit the little very steep climb from the very start of the race and my god I was pathetic on it , moaning and cursing my way down it at a ridiculously slow pace. Once down though it was a left turn and a straight 2 miles home. We speed walked all of this and the sun was rising in front of us. We were alone going up the road and I was getting a bit emotional but managed to hide my tears. Anna did say a few times “you have done it” “Leadville dude , Leadville” I still couldn't really register it and how long I had been going. I once had to turn away and a little tear did run down my eye but thankfully Anna missed it as if she had seen it I am sure it would have set her off and I would have ended up bubbling like a baby. We were getting closer and I could see the tarmac road and the final mile. I passed a few spectators here and everyone of them was just so happy and smiling at me “amazing” “well done , you have done it dude” “Incredible stuff guys” I lost track of how many people were going mad for us. We hit the road and Kim was there. Normally your pacer has to leave you half a mile from the end but nobody seems to bother so Kim tagged along with us as well for the final stretch. I crested 6^th Street and half a mile ahead could see the finish. People were lined up at the finish. Again I thought I might cry but I ended up spitting out a huge piece of Clif Bar the girls were trying to get me to eat, It had been in my mouth for 5 mins before I decided I couldn't eat it. So that took our minds off of tears as we all laughed with me spewing Clif Bar all down the pavement on the final half mile. 100 metres from the end you hit the red carpet and Anna and Kim ran off to the side and let me run the final metres home. Over the speaker the announcer read out “26hrs 45mins Colin Thornton /Scotland” and I crossed the line with the biggest smile on my face ever and let out a kind of loud “f**king yes!!” The race founders Wife was there to give me a medal and a huge hug. She has hugged everyone who has crossed the line under 30hrs for 31yrs! I then went straight to Anna and Kim for the biggest hugs ever. Then I was ushered off to the medical tent to get weighed in and my heart rate checked. Amazingly after being 4lbs down at Winfield I was exactly the same weight at the end as I was at the weigh in before the race started! My team had done an amazing job of keeping me fed and watered. My heart rate was fine and the doctor gave me a handshake and a “ your fine , well done”

Hell Yeah!!

I had done it. The Leadville 100 in 26hrs 45mins. I couldn't believe it and to be honest still can't.

All So Happy

The rest of the morning we drank coffee , lots of water , watched the rest of runners finish and waited for the awards ceremony at noon. The awards was great and everyone that finishes gets their name read out and they go and collect their belt buckle and finishers jacket. So many amazing people. One guy who has finished 30 of the 31 races! The winner finished in an incredible 16hrs 30mins , that is unbelievable. 10hrs ahead of me!!! After the ceremony we went for pizza , reflected on the race and went our own ways to get some sleep.



The Buckle. Around 950 Started just under 500 finished. I was around 185th

 I will post again with more reflections as this all sinks in but I really have to mention yet again Anna , Kim and Ben. Without those guys I have no idea how I would have got on. I am sure I would still have finished but probably nearer the 30hrs than I would have wanted. They thanked me at the end as they said I made it easy for them as I never once uttered that I was done or I was going to quit. They just had to keep an eye on me and keep me moving which they did. Pacers for the top guys obviously need to actually keep the pace and calculate times etc so they can try and win the race. For guys like me though my pacers were there to get a feel for Leadville. To help a guy they didn't really know finish his first 100 mile race and not just any old 100 miler , the Leadville 100! They had to think for me , chat and make me laugh , feed me and just be there just in case something had gone wrong and I had just passed out. I never thought I was going to pass out but I did have a few fuzzy moments but knew I would be okay as I had a friend at my side. The 3 of them were incredible , Never at any aid station did they look , cold , bored , look like they didn't want to be there. Remember they had left Denver the morning of the race only 2 hours after I started running and they were there until the end and more. Now I don't want to sound too cheesy / corny (for all ya Americans) but they were always on the ball every time and if I could find a way to split this belt buckle I would split it 4 ways as they deserve as much of it as me. One day I will return the favour to all of them and pace them all over the course.

So for now , that's it. The Leadville 100. All that training all that hard work. I did it. Was it hard , hell yeah it was hard. I met Scott Jurek after the race. Arguably the greatest ultra runner ever. He hadn't raced for 2 yrs and finished 8^th this year. I seen him at the finish and just had to go and get a picture. He asked if I had ran “yeah not quite your pace but 26hrs 45mins” He was so nice “amazing dude , well done” , he then asked if it was my first Leadville and to my reply of “yeah and my first 100” to his reply of “ first 100 and it was Leadville in 26hrs 45mins , way to go dude” I am happy with hearing that from Scott Jurek , I won't forget that.

Me and Kim with the Legend that is Jurek

Thank you to everyone for the facebook messages and txts I received. I am overwhelmed by the reaction to it all and I still cannot believe it.

What a race , I met so many amazing people on the course so many I cannot remember names but I had so many good chats and laughs. Every runner I ran past or who past me would give out a big “nice one , keep pushing” or an “awesome dude , you got this” Every single runner was amazing , even the winner who ran past me on his way back to Leadville shouted out to me and a few runners ”way to go guys” , no egos , no bullshit. Everyone just happy to be out running and just seeing if they have what it takes. Greatest race I have ever been a part of and one that I will never forget. Here is to you guys Anna , Kim and Ben!

My Amazing Team Ben , Kim , Anna. At Fish Hatch on the
way home when I was not too great. Can you tell??

This is it

Well this is it. Picked up my race bib today and got weighed. Final briefing tomorrow at 11am then it will be a day of full on carb loading then try and get an early bed. Will be setting the alarm for 2am on Saturday.

Today I went for a little hike with 2 of my pacers. Kim and Anna. Ben is working Saturday morning but will be at Fish Hatch ready to pace me when I need him. All absolutely amazing people who I am really looking forward to running with and hopefully having a laugh and lot's of beer with on Sunday. Kim and Anna are also now going to be able to crew for me as well from the 23 mile checkpoint which is amazing news. I can't really describe how grateful I am. They are going to be up so early on Saturday to drive here from Denver to Crew and Pace and remember Anna is running miles 50-60 and then 86.5-99.5! Also Nicola who just arrived yesterday from Oxford joined us to check out a short section of the out trail from Mayqueen to Sugarloaf pass. Again this is an amazing little trail through a forest then climbs up a long winding dirt road until the top and then it descends down towards Fish Hatch. It is actually a fair old climb up but not steep at all and just gradual but long. Quite happy this is on the outward trip as it will all be downhill coming back and a very gradual downhill. The view from the top back over to Leadville around Turquoise Lake is stunning but the 13 miles back around the lake look a very long 13 miles. I have heard people in the race can take 5 hours to cover this on the way back to Leadville! We also scoped out the start of this trail and again it is a very easy going trail all the way around the Lake. Once back in Leadville it is a short up hill on road and once you crest the road you see all the way to the finish line 0.5 mile away. The feeling coming over this road must be unbelievable , I just so hope I get to experience it.

L - R Nicola , Kim(Tully) , Anna

Today I met a man called Harry. He is the Manager at the aid station at Winfield(halfway) and has been for the past 20 years! This is going to be his last race doing the job. I had a great wee chat with him and it really was great hearing all these stories about all the great runners he has seen and also some of the funnier ones with people in way over their heads. Really great guy. Just amazing little community over here during the race. Totally world's apart from the big races I have done in France. You actually feel like one big family here and everyone is so happy to chat and have a laugh and not judge anyone at all. I have been chatting away to sub 20 hour runners and guys who have never finished after many attempts. Just an amazing atmosphere.

 

We decided even though I have crew it's still best
to use drop bags just in case something went wrong as we
got told Winfield checkpoint can get gridlocked.

So it is actually happening! Thanks Nora , the Chamball is in
my final drop bag ready to get me to the finish.

So this is finally my last post before the race. Thank you so much to everyone for all the words of support and your enthusiasm about all of this. I am ready now for this to start and have a right good crack at it. I am not as nervous as I was when I first arrived but still not over confident. There is going to be some really really tough sections on this probably the hardest sections I have ever ran. Without trying to sound like an expert ultra runner(which I am far from) when I walk down to Harrison Ave on Saturday morning and the gun goes off apart from thinking “oh my god I am running the Leadville 100” I will also be thinking this is it ,this is what you do and this is what all those training days have been for so get on with it and enjoy it. I am not looking forward to the long flat sections on road but the trails are what I do and what I love and on these trails I am going to prove to myself how good I can run them. So here goes...

Colorado

Well here I am in Colorado. First thoughts.....I want a Visa! What a truly awesome place. I landed on Saturday evening and after a lengthy wait at customs and then the car rental I finally got to my hotel and managed a reasonable sleep but my body was still on a different time zone.

 

On Sunday morning I drove to just outside the city to the Red Rocks area and met pacers Anna and Ben(Excellent peeps) for a little 10km jog around a brilliant little trail with a great little ridge route overlooking Denver. The trail was very different to anything in Chamonix. Mostly really smooth packed dirt with the odd section of rocks. Not technical like I am used to so the going was easy and really fun. The air however was very very dry. The heat didn't bother me but I did notice how dry the air was. It was then on up to the small town of Minturn which lies just 30 miles from Leadville. An amazing very scenic drive which included many stop off's for photos. It all kind of looks like Scotland on steroids. Not sheer and steep like Chamonix but imagine Glencoe where the Mountains rise to 14,000ft instead of 3,000ft. Minturn is a great little place. The family I am staying with have been so friendly and super helpful with giving me information about the area and most importantly genuinely lovely people.

On Monday I headed to Leadville for a bit of information on the course. It really is like stepping back in time with old ruined mines all over the place , the place is steeped in History. I went into the Leadville Race Series Store and spoke to a super helpful member of staff who advised me to go and hike the backside of Hope Pass. She told me I wouldn't need a map to find the start of the trail. Anyway after a little while on the main road I took the turn off onto a dirt track that went on for 12 miles , so glad I rented a 4x4. If stops at Winfield , the 50 mile turnaround point of the race. I hunted around looking for a trail to have no luck but then remembered that the runners used to have to run a short section the the dirt track to Winfield after coming down the pass so I drove back along the road for about half a mile and found the start at a little parking area called Sheeps Gulch. First impressions when I started on the trail were not good. I really did feel short on breath and this was only 2800m so I took my pace down from Cham speed to Leadville speed and it got much better. The first 20-30 mins of the hike is actually steeper and rockier than I thought but by no means anything new to me. After you break out the trees it is a very smooth dirt track that takes huge zigzags up and up. I bumped into a women from kentucky(also doing a race recce) who was running down. She mentioned how she had a panic when she left the car but then found it easier further up. She was worried however about how technical the descent through the trees was going to be , I didn't have the heart to say I was looking forward to it! She then pointed to the col and “that's it up there” to my reply of “REALLY”. I was amazed how close it was. Not long after I was at the top. It took me only 1hr 4mins. Now as usual I won't get confident at all as when I do it again it will be after 50 miles and I will also have come up the other side which is longer but not as steep but I was surprised how good I found myself on it. Yeah I could certainly notice my breathing as I neared the top at 3800m but I just took my pace down and kept moving. Never had to stop once on the way up. The view from the top was amazing and I could see nearly all the way back to Leadville 45 miles away. It's far away. The run down went great and took a fairly rapid 28 mins , I wasn't going fast but the trails are so good I could keep a good pace. The very bottom section is slower and will require care under tired legs but it really does not last long at all.

Hope Pass 12,600ft

Leadville 45 miles away , somewhere behind me.

It will be down this then back up this

I then went to Leadville for a coffee and surprise surprise met a fellow Scotsman. Stephen is from Glasgow but has lived here for 8 years. He is going for the Leadman Buckle , finishing the 10km , Marathon , 50 mile , 100 mile and MTB 100 mile! He dropped out of the run last year at 70 miles and gave me some good little tips on some sections of the course. Especially on the return 50 he said don't just think because Hope Pass is out the way that the climbing is over. The powerline section after 70 miles is meant to be a total killer on tired legs and overlooked by many people.

On Tuesday I headed over to Vail just to check out somewhere different. I got the gondola up to 10.500ft and just went a little hike up to just over 11.000ft. Amazing trails here and even though I had only gone for a little hike I couldn't resist getting a little jog on through the trees on probably the best trail I have ever ran. Beautiful packed pine needle trails that are endless. Again my breathing was a little out of synch but nothing major. I sat up there for a couple of hours then went and done the tourist thing wandering Vail.

Vail trails

I left Vail and decided to again drive down to Leadville. This time to check out some other points of the race. I drove first to the Fish Hatch at miles 23.5/76.5. The trail markers were out for the course so I really just stood around looking in both directions trying to get “a feel” for it. After leaving Fish Hatch the trail takes a right turn down a road and this section looks horrendous. It is just a straight road that seems to go on forever. It will not be fun on race day especially if the sun is beating down. No shade at all. I the drove to Twin lakes at miles 39.5/60.5. This is the lowest point of the race at 9.200ft and where the first Hope Pass climb starts. Going 3.400ft in 5.5 miles. Yes I know that is only a Munro but climbing up this altitude after 40 miles will be tough going.

 

Going to be Hell. Hope Pass is the Col miles away between the
first two telephone cable poles

So I have now had a look at all the main checkpoints except Mayqueen at 13.5/86.5 but think myself Kim and Anna will check it out on Thursday. There are a few more along the course but no crew are allowed to access them. I still have no crew for the outward 50 miles so I will be using drop bags with extra Gels , food and drink powder at the 3 main checkpoints until I get to halfway when Anna will have supplies then Kim then Ben at their checkpoints. Still unsure what to carry in my bag on the outward 50 but I am thinking

Wind Shirt

Arm Warmers

Food

Gels

Poles

Hat and gloves but could have them in a drop bag at Twin before going up Hope Pass. Depends on forecast. I am going to have to sit down today and really think about it as I will also like a change of clothes but I may do this at halfway so can let Anna take that stuff for me. From Halfway I will also probably pick up a warm mid layer for the evening ahead then have extra mid layers with Kim and Ben. So still all a bit of a logistical mess with regards to kit but meeting pacers again tomorrow and we can finalise things.

Harrison Avenue

This is just outside of town.

So this is it. I don't know if I will be posting again before the race day. Start is 4am on Saturday and I must be finished by 10 am on Sunday. It is going to be so tough but I will try and enjoy most of it and will just give it all I got. The thought of running up Harrison Avenue on Sunday morning is a long way off but it crosses my mind often at just how good a feeling that could be. Thanks to everyone for the constant support and I hope I can stick up a very very positive post here next week.

I can be tracked from here Number 1087.

http://my1.raceresult.com/details/results.php?eventid=18847&lang=en&page=7&contest=1&name=Participants%7CParticipants+-+Alpha+Order&presort

Ramblin' On

So sitting at Geneva airport this morning I was a mixed bag of emotions. This is it , I am on my way to try and complete 100 bloody miles. Super nervous , very excited , a little confident. Have I trained enough? How will I get on running at these altitudes? Should I have started running sooner during the winter season?

Looking back to January 1^st when I got my place on the race it is so long ago. Yeah I still continued the usual winter antics for a while but it was not as if I didn't exercise at all. I am always doing stuff whether it was skiing, ski touring or some light running. The way I see it is that it's not as if I have been sitting on the sofa and just decided in January that I want to run long distances , I have done a fair few races and have been super active for years. I have always said that for me one of the key reasons I can do this distance stuff is not because I can run particularly well it is due to the fact I have spent years doing long long mountain days in the Alps but more so in Scotland.

It is true that a huge percent of this Ultra stuff is down to the mind. You just need to be able to keep going if your tired , hungry and sore and all my years in Scotland in Summer and Winter really have shaped me well for getting over these things or should I say suffering through these things. Now Ultras are very very hard but sometimes I think they get built up so much by people who spend all their time in nicely air conditioned gyms and plod along on treadmills for maybe an hour then go to attempt Marathons or more and are worried about this wall thing everyone talks about. I can honestly say I have never noticed this wall thing but I am sure I have ploughed through a few of them over the years. My view is Yeah its going to be bloody difficult so get on with it and stop moaning you knew it wouldn't be easy. Now I am not slating these people one bit , good for them but if you spend all your time training in nice little cosy environments and then throw yourself into big races where you will be wet , cold , it's dark and your on your own some people will just not cope and the easy thing to do is give up. A strong mental attitude is absolute key and that only comes with not just training that way but it being a part of your life. I have so much respect for runners who live and work in cities and have families and still manage to go and do really tough races. I live and train in the mountains , on some pretty tough trails , at night and sometimes in horrible weather. I am used to being cold , very very cold. I am used to going for hours without food. How hard can 100 miles really be?? I am under no illusion this will be easy. It is going to be brutally sore at times but mentally I believe I have what it takes. The only factors that I fear are the obvious ones of can I really take my legs 100 miles before they just give up and injury. It is such a long way to take your legs that yes I know they will get completely agony and probably even before halfway but pain really can be dealt with. The worry is and always will be getting an injury. I know if that happens then there is nothing that can be done and sometimes you just have to accept that you gave it your all but if something is just not right then the wise thing to do is stop and not end up turning a minor injury into something that could ruin my running altogether. I would be totally gutted if this happened to me but it should always be remembered that in the long run(no pun intended) the best thing to do is stop. In saying that , if I manage to get through most of it injury free I can assure everyone I will be giving it absolutely everything I can find to finish. I totally expect heaps of moaning and complaining , probably some tears along the way and of course an abundance of swearing.

I had best stop rambling and go get some coffee before my flight. Next stop Denver.

Flight Time Approaches

So it's Flight time in 3 days. Am I feeling ready?? Good question. I suppose as ready as I could ever be. Since I last posted I have really cut down on distance and been going out on shorter runs maximum of 15kms. They have just been the usual Brevent to Flegere and back to Chamonix either on the Balcon Trails or over the back trail to Col Gliere. Again weather has been fantastic and pretty hot but all good training. Friday 9 miles , Saturday 9 miles , Sunday 7 miles , Tuesday 7 miles , Today(Wednesday) 8 miles. As I said , not too bothered about distance now as it is only 10 days to the race so at the moment it is just go out for shorter runs , don't get injured and just set a nice pace and not feel at all tired after these runs which fortunately I am not. After all of them I am feeling super fresh so that's a good sign , who knows how I will feel with another 90 ahead of me.

Probably my favourite run of the week was after work on Saturday. I went up the steep zigzag path to Planpraz up behind my house , it's a 1000m climb which I managed in a respectable 52 mins(my record is 43) after that I ran across to Flegere with the head torch on and descended to Chamonix centre all in 2 hours. I didn't go out looking for a fast time but just managed to keep a really good pace for the whole thing so was super happy with that.

Planpraz to Flegere after work

I have also managed to get up high to sleep a couple of nights which was great. The plan to was sleep up high Sun , Mon and head up Mont Blanc with Graham today but the weather turned and put Blanc out of the picture so I had to settle for sleeping up high Sun and Mon. I got the last midi lift on Sunday after an early work finish and sat on the terrace outside at 3800m and cooked up some noodles and chorizo did some reading then moved to my bed in the toilets! You are not really meant to sleep up in the station but the lifties didn't seem to bother when they told me the last lift was leaving and I said I was staying to sleep they didn't really mind. I have many friends who have been caught out on routes up high and had pretty uncomfortable nights in the toilets but I was well prepared with heaps of water , food and a comfy sleeping mat. I am renowned for not doing to great at altitude after around 8 hours of being up but this time I was fine. A little niggle of a headache at the start of the night but that soon passed and I got a decent nights sleep and then got the first lift down at 6am after watching an incredible sunrise. I was up there for a good 13 hours and felt really good.

Sleeping in Toilets - Not the training I had in mind

What a morning though

So to follow that up I headed up high again the following night. This time to the top of the Grand Montets at 3300m. Again I got the last lift up and unlike the midi where the lifties can be a bit funny about you staying it was complete opposite at Grand Montets where they even showed me the staff room was unlocked all night and that I could sleep in it if I wanted which was great. Again I felt great up there. The numerous steps outside to the different platforms provided a nice little workout by trying to run up and down them but it really is hard work at that kind of altitude to keep running up steps and not get totally out of breath.

Another Awesome Sunrise

Really glad I managed to get up high to sleep. Although I will never run at this altitude in Leadville for very long as I only pass over these kind of heights and then descend it really is no harm preparing my body this way.

So I land in Denver on Saturday night and then go to meet 2 of my pacers (Anna + Ben) on Sunday morning at the Red Rocks area to go for a run with them and have a chat about the race. I am meeting my third pacer Kimberley on the Thursday before the race to do a bit of hiking on some of the course. So all pacers are eager to go and really excited about it all. On the crew side of things though it ain't so good. One of them had to cancel and the other has kind of disappeared so I am currently on the hunt for more. Anna will be able to help at some stages and there is a chance the family I am staying with over there may be able to help out on some of the course. Worst case scenario is I just use drop bags on the outward 50 miles of the race to drop off kit and pick up new stuff. I don't really like doing this as you never know when and what you will need at certain stages but if I need to do that then so be it. The main thing is I have 3 awesome pacers to help me out on the second half of the race. They will be running with me on the following sections

Mile 1 – 50 – On my own

Mile 50 – 63 – Winfield to Twin Lakes(over Hope Pass 3800m) - ANNA

Mile 63 – 76.5 – Twin lakes to Fish Hatchery – KIMBERLEY

Mile 76.5 – 86.5 – Fish Hatchery to Mayqueen – BEN

Mile 86.5 – 99 – Mayqueen to Leadville - ANNA

The cut off times and race info still has not been released yet but I will put up another post on here probably on Wednesday or Thursday with better estimates on the course and how you can track me on the race. I have said to my pacers I am looking at roughly a 27 hour finish but this is by no means a goal , the goal is to finish and that's it. If I cross the line in 29hrs 59mins then that's fine with me. I have asked Anna to be ready at halfway at 3pm next Saturday(17th) meaning I was thinking of 50 miles in 11hrs(last years cut off here was 14hrs) meaning 16hrs for the return trip. As I keep saying this is all very very rough , I have no idea what the trails are like over there and how technical or non technical they are. For all I know I could get to halfway in sub 10 hours but then run the risk of going out too fast and having a hellish return and a DNF. I really just don't know yet but I will have a much better idea when I get over and see some of the course.

 

I am currently packing to go and you would think that a runner wouldn't have much kit to take but you would be wrong. I have so much stuff. I just do not want to get caught out if the race day weather is horrible(like last years CCC) so I have been packing for all weather conditions.

 

Flying the Scottish Flag

Thank you to everyone who has so far donated on my Just Giving page for Chest , Heart and Stroke Scotland. Blown away that I have so far raised over a thousand pounds for them so thank you all for the support.

Nervous , Excited , Worried , Confident.....the list could go on and on.....