End of another October in Scotland

The weather here has been pretty rotten for the past couple of weeks with torrential rain and strong winds. I have been out doing my local 10-15km routes almost everyday. It's been a bit of a slog in some of the weather but it needs to be done. I have also managed to run a couple of Munro's up near Callander in what was also horrendous weather and a few days ago I went for my annual run up the Cobbler in Arrochar to be greeted near the summit with gale force winds. I was car to car in 1hr 18mins. I can't say it was super fun but I do feel I still need to get out in these conditions just so when it happens on a race I am used to it. It really is one thing I don't think a lot of Americans do. From what I seen it is usually amazing weather over there especially in the Denver area and foothills. I am sure it gets cold in winter but the driving rain and gale force winds is something I reckon they never venture out in. For sure I would prefer to always run in good weather but that's impossible here so now and then it's good to get out and battle with the weather.

Heading up Ben Vorlich near Callander just
before the weather turned absolutely foul

I have still been getting the shin pain creeping back on me from RRR. It always starts around the hour mark and just gets worse and worse. It seems more aggravated on the tarmac. It's funny how it never really happened on the Lakes 3x3 race but since then it comes back on almost every run. I am icing it in the evenings and from next week my running will fall back to 2 or 3 times a week so I am hoping that all it needs is just a long rest.

Time for an epic mud run to the car

So for now it's back to Chamonix for yet one more winter. I was all ready to say bye bye to Chamonix for a good while when I left in June for Colorado but having now been back in Scotland for a month and having just a week of great weather and raced at the awesome Lakes 80k. The monsoon arrived and I had been offered my job back in France so I couldn't really say no. I had no other plans in Scotland for work and I need £££££££'s after my long long summer so Chamonix it is. I am not complaining about going back there but I was feeling like I needed a change for a while but Scotland is not it. It's great to come back here and see some friends and run some Munro's but when reality kicks in I realize Scotland is not the place for me to be living right now. I am excited to get skiing again and I will be doing more and more touring this season to keep my fitness level as high as I can. All I am thinking about is working as much as I can this winter to fund another summer in the States and pay for my flights and race entries and I really hope it is all going to work out.

A rare sight recently. Blue skies appeared
so I shot out the door and went for a lovely 20kms

So I set off for Cham again in a couple of days and once I get settled into my new place I am sure the trail shoes will be going back on until the snow arrives. I must admit I am pretty excited about doing a couple of my usual runs back there next week.

Arran , Skye and The Ben

Well it's that time of year again and I am sitting back in Scotland wondering what's next. After a truly amazing summer , training , exploring and racing I am now currently at home not really ready to be resting and all I am doing is thinking about what to do next.

Anyway it's almost two weeks since the Lakes 80km and I am still feeling strong. My running has eased off a little but I have still been out in the Scottish Highlands due to some rather strange stable weather. I made a trip over to the Isle of Arran to do a little circuit there I have always been meaning to do. Normally I like the loop from the ferry slip , Goatfell , Saddle , Cir Mhor , A'Chir Ridge , Glen Rosa and back to the boat home. This time however from the top of Cir Mhor I headed north up to Caisteal Abhail , over the witches step and along the ridge down to Sannox Bay. It's a cracking loop. The run up Goatfell is always brilliant. I love the normal trail up there as it's never too steep and you can run the entire line up.

Summit of Goatfell looking out towards the rest of the days peaks

The summit was a touch blustery but as usual the North Goatfell ridge and down to the saddle was tremendous with some techy terrain and a bit of scrambling if you stick true to the crest. The steep haul up Cir Mhor is always a good workout and even pushing on up to Caisteal Abhail was tough on the old legs. The next section along the ridge to the witches step is a joy to run. The descent down into the gap below the step is pretty damn steep and for sure you don't wanna trip.

Running along this is awesome

The climb up the step direct is about an easy Diff climb but seeing as it was soaking wet and the hardest move is on a slab with zero handholds I chose the option of the easier scramble on the north side. Once past the step the ridge line all the way along is great with a cracking narrow trail all the way to the last peak. From there it's a direct muddy , boggy , horrible descent down to the Glen Sannox trail and back to Sannox bay and the bus back to the slip or you can choose to run the 6 miles back to Brodick but since this consists of nothing but road I opted to sit by the edge of water and wait for the bus to arrive. All in all a cracking day. Sunny morning then a pretty cold and rainy afternoon.

Another Goatfell summit selfie

My other couple of more notable days out here since I've been back have to be Nevis and Skye. On Monday I headed up to Fort William with the idea to run up Ben Nevis assuming the weather was okay. I didn't have a route in mind but was going to see what it all looked like once up there. I arrived at the north face car park around 11am and the sun was out. I grabbed a very lightweight set-up and threw my 7mm 30m rope , harness and a sling into my running back and set off. My plan was tower ridge. I have done tower ridge a few times in the past so I know the way up. I took the gear in the off chance something went wrong and I could escape but to be honest given the ridges fierce reputation it really is not hard. For sure the average walker would have a nightmare on it but even an average scrambler would be fine on the thing assuming they don't mind exposure. I think the difficulty of the route is built up way way too much but it keeps it quiet.

First Chimney of Tower Ridge

Don't get me wrong here it's not just a walk but as I said , if you scramble fairly competently or rock climb at all then Tower Ridge should not pose any problems(the gap is awkward but not hard) when conditions are good. In winter however it can be a different story. Anyway I ran up and was at the base of the ridge in around 45-50 minutes. From then it's up the lovely first little chimney then it's time to run again until the little tower is reached and the good fun begins. From just after the little tower a lot of the route started to get very very frosty with ice in many places. I managed fine on this stuff but my pace really slowed as I was just being safe. The climbing was easy but a slip would not have been nice. Especially the big blocks heading up onto the great tower. Then it was over to the gap. Again this is not hard but very exposed and the whole place was covered in frost and incredibly slippy in a pair of Salomon Sense. I love these shoes , they are simply the best fit of any trail runner I have ever had , they are so so good for technical terrain and super light but not the best when you need lot's of grip and I for sure couldn't run 100 miles in one go in a pair but they are my go to training shoe and for any races up to 50 miles.

Just past the gap. Nice and frosty!

I managed to lower myself down into the gap admittedly with some worrying but I got my foot on the ledge below just as my grip started to slip from the hold. Once down in the gap it was an easy yet again slippy scramble up out of the gap and easy terrain to the end of the ridge. The sun was out and I ran the last couple of minutes to the trig point on the summit hitting it 1hr 35mins after I had left the bottom car park. The descent was down the tourist path to the little Lochain then over towards the CIC hut and back down to the car. Overall a cracking afternoon out. 18Km's , 1200m+ in 2hrs 30mins car to car. I was well pleased with this time and for sure could get that down when I next hit the ridge in proper dry conditions. It's a cracking ridge route and easily one of the best in the UK. Some people think it's overrated as the climbing isn't continuous all the way to the top but what climbing is there is quality and the situation of the entire line is impressive. I love it and it's a must do for anyone who heads to the Ben but don't be afraid to take a long sling to loop around the block on the gap and lower yourself down.

Can't beat the Ben on a sunny day

I left Fort William and headed for the Isle of Skye. I had a rather uncomfortable nights sleep in the car and headed off to get another mountain run in. Obviously whenever you mention Skye you think Cuillin Ridge but I have done it twice already and given it was again a blue sky day I quite fancied doing something else and something that gave me a good view of the ridge.

Blaven

Bla Bheinn (Blaven) was the answer. I had a look at the guidebook and maps for the best lines to take then left them in the car and just headed off ready to pick my own way up. I left the car park at the head of Loch Lapin and ran off up a great trail passing some pretty impressive waterfalls until I got close up to the cliffs of the mountain. The normal line up goes up a very steep loose gully to the right. To me this way up looked a bit rubbish and unrunnable so I chose to just keep heading straight up ahead of me to the Col.

Heading up to the Col

A little bit of loose scree didn't cause any problems then I was on a broad ridge which rose all the way up to the west summit. The view going up here out to the sea and over to the Cullin ridge was tremendous. I popped over to the east summit to properly tag the peak and then headed down possibly the steepest and loosest gully I have ever ran. I must admit I loved going down it but I am glad I never came up it. Very very steep and loose with some seriously nasty fall potential. It was however a rapid descent and I was back at the car having done the loop in 1hr 36mins.

What a view of the Cuillin Ridge

The horrendous scree gully is just to the right of my head

It's been great having had these three great days out running in some of Scotlands best spots and to have the blue sky weather on Nevis and in Skye was pretty special. For sure I know I have been a bit spoilt all this summer and I know very well how lucky I have been to be able to run so much of Colorado and then come back to Scotland and get some great stuff done but now is time to go back to work and try to make enough cash to see me through winter and hopefully have some change in my pocket to get back to CO in June/July. This lifestyle will not/can not last forever but I am not willing to give it up just yet. I am not far away from wanting to have something more stable but there is just way too much more for me to do in the US. My name is in the hat for Hardrock and I will be putting my name in the hat for Western States also. Both races get drawn on the same day this year. December 6th so I will be glued to twitter watching and preying my name comes up in one of them and god I hope it is Hardrock. In the high chance I don't get either of these races I will go back to scouring the web to find one that sticks out at me. 100% I want to run another 100 next summer and possible even two. I will defo be going back to pace Leadville and Hardrock(if I don't get in) and would like to pace Run Rabbit Run or I may even run it again. I have nothing certain at the moment except from Transvulcania in May which I am excited to be kicking off my running season with. Races are now over for this year and I will continue to go out exploring and taking it easy until the snow arrives then it's time to ski!

I need to give a big shout out to Larabar , Nectar Fuel and For Goodness Shakes for helping me out this past summer with my nutrition. Their products fuel me through all these epic races and training days and long may it continue. Thanks guys!!!

And finally I managed to get some of Woody's Colorado pictures off of her so I have attached some at the bottom here for y'all to have a look........

Canyonlands , Utah

This picture makes me smile every time I see it

More Canyonlands epicness

The Needles area

Probably the best mornings run ever

Running up Mt Sneffels in the San Juan's CO

More Needles area

Canyonlands. Pictures just don't do this place justice!!

About to embark on my 2nd 100 miler. What a race it ended up being.
Bring on 100 miler number 3 next year.

Lakes 3x3000 80km Ultra

We arrived at the race start at 4.30am on Saturday. The weather was horrendous. It had been pouring with rain all night long and there was no sign of it letting up just yet. The race briefing was kept short and sweet. The organisers had taken the decision to cut out the summit of Scafell Pike due to the weather. We would go some of the way up but then cut off early taking about 3kms and 350m off of the race totals. So around 77km and 3650m of climbing. Still pretty reasonable. I was a bit gutted about this however later on I heard the section was cut out not because of the summit conditions but because we couldn't actually get to it due to the river crossings on the way up. There was so much rain it was impossible to pass these sections so a pretty good call from the organisers. I think there were 300 registered. Over 250 picked up their numbers the night before at registration but I think less than 200 actually started the race. Some not even getting out of their beds due to the weather. Poor show if you want my opinion. It's the UK it's going to be wet. So my last race of the summer and Woodys first Ultra.......

Race prep the day before. No cocktails were ordered!

Off we went at 5am. We must have ran about 1km until we hit the first big puddle that some people were still trying to avoid. God knows why because we all knew it was going to get a hell of a lot worse. It must have been about 5k in when it started getting proper interesting. The entire trail was just a river. Most of the time well over shoe depth and at one section both myself and Lauren thought we were in the actual river. It had burst it banks and everything was submerged. I looked to our left and could see the race maker sign floating in the river and at this point we all ended up waist deep in the water and wading through and this was us up on side above where the actual trail should have been. This went on for quite some time and to be honest I didn't really mind it. It did get a bit annoying that we couldn't just get a proper run on but we had to laugh about it as it was ridiculous just how bad it was and at the end of the day nobody was making us do this. We were there because we wanted to be. This all went on for the first hour and then it started to ease off and the trails became kind of runnable.

Last one of the year

Once clear of the rivers it was time to climb up towards Scafell Pike from Seathwaite. This went fine for both of us and I was feeling strong on the climbing. We hit the Styhead checkpoint Km 18 in 2hrs 28mins. I am pretty sure we could have taken easily 30 mins off of that if we could have actually properly ran any of the first 10km. Anyway neither of us were looking for a time on this race. I was just hoping to get round feeling good and it was Laurens first Ultra so she just wanted to get round the thing. From this checkpoint we cut off towards Esk Hause on a lovely bit of trail. We continued along here for a while before making a little descent where I stacked it big time slap bang onto a rock with my hip. From here we again followed an awesome muddy , techy ridge line and started our climb up to High Raise. This section was completely off trail. Straight up the side of the Mountain we went. Excellent! Lauren started to slow a little on this climb but she was still moving fine. Just over halfway up a problem arose. Most of the sole from Laurens right shoe had come clean off! Panic time! We were still a good 15km from the next checkpoint where she had a spare pair but we had to get there and the next 15km's was all off trail through bogs , marsh......pretty much horrendous underfoot. Once on top of High Raise I found us some pathetic shelter from the wind and began to work on the shoe. I got out my bandage and started to wrap it around the sole that was hanging off and attached it to her leg using some tape. It wasn't great but it had to do. It was mighty cold up here at this point and we both needed to get warm fast so off we went for the long descent. Our pace obviously dropped here as we couldn't risk the whole sole coming off or it was race over so we gently made our way down. Again I slipped and fell another two times and both absolute belters. The terrain was just awful. Knee deep marsh and bogs. Again we had to just laugh about it any time one of us sunk to our hips in whatever dirt or animal waste we came across.

Slight problem

We made it to Wythburn car park at Km 37 in 5hrs 03mins. Here we got Woody some new shoes and we both changed into some dry socks and tops. We must have spent a good 10-15mins here just getting warm and fuelling up but it was worth it. I was still feeling great here with no problems at all. I was pretty amazed just how strong I felt and if I had wanted a time on this race I would have set off here but I just really wanted to run this with Woody so I decided to wait. Next was the steep climb up to Helvellyn. I was plodding up here fine however Woody was starting to slow a little and I could tell her legs were not enjoying the climbs. We got to the incredibly windy summit at 41km into the race in a time of 6hrs 17mins. From here on the ridge is amazing. It was pretty damn windy but the long winding ridge line as far as we could see was amazing. We started to get the odd view here through breaks in the clouds. It was 9km along here on rolling terrain to Clough Head where we would descend. This took us a bit longer than we expected. Woody started to experience what a proper downer is like on a race. Again though she never stopped moving but was finding it hard work to keep her legs going. I think she had a bit of a word with herself and she seemed to pop out of it when we hit Clough Head at Km 50 , 7hrs 37min in.

Km 37

Clough Head to the next checkpoint at Latrigg was 9km. It was a rather interesting descent from Clough Head. Incredibly steep grass. No trail and it was soaking. After coming close to some more major stacks I decided the best way down this was to get on my arse and go and it really was a quick way down. We then had a a mix of trails , river paths and a tiny bit of tarmac. My legs somehow were still feeling bloody great. Woody was pushing along the flats brilliantly but I knew she was hurting....everywhere! Along here we met another runner. Giles. He pretty much stuck with us from here to the finish line and it was nice to have another person to chat with. I jogged along in front of him and Woody a few times to give them a rest from my constant jibbering which I was sure by then Woody was sick of hearing it. The sun was starting to come out and we got to Latrigg at Km 59 in 8hrs 53mins. All that was left now was 20kms. 10kms round the back side and up to the summit of Skiddaw and then 10kms down the front passing back through this checkpoint again then down to Keswick.

The next 9km up the trail before the climb up Skiddaw was again great. Great views , the sun was out and we were all just chatting. We were mixing between speed walking and jogging. I was trying to get Giles and Woody running as much as I could and most of the time they agreed. I was way too happy about how good I was feeling. Along this section I did get a few little bites from Woody as she was not into doing what I told her to. She was obviously hurting but she was well on her way to finishing so I was just pushing her on as much as possible. There was no way she was going to DNF now. At Dash Fall checkpoint at 68km we were hit by a rather freak hail storm which didn't last very long but it was pretty intense.

Heading to Dash Falls 

Now it was time to climb up Skiddaw. It's actually only a 2km hike up but it was mighty steep and again completely off trail. Woody started to venture into that dark Ultra place yet again here. I was impressed here to see her proper grinding it out on this climb. It was also rather funny as 3 weeks previous she was feeding me energy bars during RRR when I was having a major downer and climbing up here I was now the one feeding her. It was hard work but she kept smiling. Sometimes. The summit was proper gale force winds but it was clearing and the views were amazing. I jogged up a bit ahead of Woody here to get some pics and turning back to see her summit(70km) I could see the relief on her face that she had made it up the last climb and it was just 10km downhill to the finish. I got some more pics here and down we went.

Summit of Skiddaw

The descent went great. Never stopping(except to get jackets off and stash poles) and just looking out at the epic view down to Keswick and over the Lakes. It was such a difference from the mornings wash out. Descending the last peak with the sun out was pretty special. Our good friend Josh appeared as we were descending. He was planning on meeting us at the summit but we were almost back at the checkpoint by the time we seen him. An awesome and unexpected surprise. We got back to Latrigg 75km in 11hrs 52mins. We never stopped here and I was shouting at Woody that it was time to up the pace.

Great views on the way down

Oh how we love our descents. Mile 47.

Off we went for the last 5km to town and there was no hanging around. Woody was hurting but she was sticking with me all the way. After a few confusing sections on the road near Keswick we found our way back to Crow Park and the finish. Running in together we crossed the line in a time of 12hrs 15mins. 70th overall and Woody getting 5th placed female.

12hrs 15mins

This course is amazing. I think there is probably about 1.5 miles maximum on road and the rest trails or open hill side. The conditions in the morning really couldn't have been any worse but it was great how it improved as the day went on. I still cannot believe just how strong I felt over the entire day. Obviously my legs were a little heavy here and there but I still had so much power in them. To feel like that only 3 weeks after a pretty decent 100 mile time I am still a bit speechless. I am sure if I decided to go it on my own I would have got around 10hrs 30mins but that was not the plan at all here. We had planned all along to run it together and that's what we did. I had an awesome time and even though Woody experienced some major lows I know for a fact she will be back for more. She smashed a cracking time on her first Ultra on a very very tough course. I am so happy for her. Big shout out to James for the pics and the help all day long also to High terrain Events for putting on a great race and to every runner that finished on what was an epic days running.

Chuffed

So that's the end of my summer of running and what a summer it's been. I still need to do a full report on my trip to Colorado but I will do that some time soon. For now it's time for a little rest and the odd little run. Next up is winter and many months away(May) my first race of the 2015 summer season. Transvulcania!

Some of the runners the morning after. Photo High Terrain Events

One more to go

So my incredible summer has all so quickly come to an end and I now find myself sitting at home in Scotland. The summer was easily the greatest I have ever had. I managed to somehow see so much of Colorado and run in so many spectacular places I am kind of lost as to what was the best. All of my running days were amazing in their own way. There was only one day in 3 months that it rained all day and luckily I had scheduled a rest day then anyway. Boulder , Steamboat , Aspen , Leadville , Crested Butte , Silverton....... and so on. All incredible places I could explore forever. I have way too many highlights with Run Rabbit Run being the obvious although I think the run that sticks out the most in my mind is the afternoon I ran Longs Peak. I left late in the day not expecting to summit but felt so strong the whole way and made it to the top all on my own in a good time. I just loved the speed and style that I got up there. Carrying next to nothing and just giving it a bloody good go and it all paid off. I don't think I have ever been happier on a summit than I was on that one.

An amazing end to my summer
seeing the fall colours in Aspen

Looking back on the race and like all races it really hasn't sunk in what happened. The highs , the lows and everything that goes with that kind of distance. The race went so well for me and even though most out there with think that was the normal outcome due to the summer I had to put in it was still bloody hard work and I trained so so hard to be able to feel like this in the race. I went out to the states to train and improve on my long slow flat running but to be honest although I think I improved a little on it I believe I actually got stronger on my climbing and descending which I was already decent at anyway, Apart from the Leadville 50 miler I really did not do any huge training runs over 20 miles. Most of my training was up and down 14'ers and that kind of shows on my race splits when I got to the climbs and descents. I am feeling really strong right now sitting home back at sea level with the odd little ache and pain here and there after some short runs but this is normal I guess. I do however have one more race to go.

The day after I returned. Running Curved Ridge.
Car to car in 1hr 06mins and to be honest , it felt
so easy running at this low altitude.

I head off down to the Lake District tomorrow for a week to recce the course for the 3x3000 80km.  It's a stunning looking course which is 99% single track and takes in the summits of Scafell Pike , Helvellyn and Skiddaw and has 4000m of climbing. I am really unsure what to expect here. There is no chance I will get a placing like RRR. I just hope my legs can handle that distance just 3 weeks after a 100 miler. I hope I can feel strong and have a nice injury free finish to my summer. Woody is going to be running this as well so I hope to run with her for the entire race unless however she(like she always does) has a blinder and disappears but I will do my best to keep up and if she has a bad day then I am happy to stick with her and help her through assuming I am feeling good. I am a little nervous about it though. I ain't superman and 3 weeks is not really a huge time for recovery from a 100. I haven't really run much since RRR. A few little 5 milers and 6 milers in Scotland but that's it. I will just see how I feel on the day.

My local Largs Hill run. Always good fun.

I am leaving this blog short and sweet as I am off to pack and check I have everything that is on the stupidly huge kit list for the race. Race report and more thoughts on Colorado will be up next weekend once I bring my running season to an end.

Run Rabbit Run 100

So my entire summer of living in Colorado came down to the race on Friday. Being a 100 miler and given the length of time these things take to get done I am afraid this is a rather long blog post but I hope I can keep it as interesting as possible.

Thursday night was the usual with lot's of nerves and little worries about injuries but waking up on Friday at 6am after a reasonable amount of sleep I was ready to run. I grabbed some coffee , ate some cake and then headed out of the hotel to the start area at 7am. Lauren(Woody) , Kim and Angie were my support team and pacers for the journey ahead.....

Ready to go

Start to Long Lake - Mile 11

We started off with a big climb(1300m). I was jogging really well up a lot of this until we went off the trail and headed directly and steeply up the piste and through long grass , rocks , roots etc..I did say before the race I would go slow here but I was feeling great and climbing really is one of my stronger points so I just headed on up how I felt and before I knew it I had made it to the top of the climb in 9th place in 1hr 18mins! Nothing to get excited about as from here I made myself slow down. I knew I would be quite near the front of the pack on the climb and lose places later so it really was no big shock for me to find myself in this position. By this point I was at mile 5 with 6 miles to go until the Long Lake Aid station. The next 6 miles was amazing single track with lots and lots of little ups and downs. I really eased back on my pace here and wasn't bothered being passed  by people who were stronger flat runners than me. I arrived into Long Lake at 10.30am. I grabbed a drink of Coke and headed off to Olympian Hall.

Heading to Long Lake

Long Lake - Mile 11 to Olympian Hall - Mile 20.5

Now this section went very very well for me. I wasn't really feeling myself on the flat and rolling terrain during the early hours and even the start of this section is a mile of flat single track and I just couldn't find my usual rhythm here. I decided not to push as I knew we had a big descent to come so I hung on until it began. I love to descend fast and technical trails and I was in for a treat here. Once the incredibly fun descent began I really took off and flew past people. I was not holding back one bit here and before I knew it I was at the Fish Creek Falls Trail head at mile 16.5 with only 4 miles on road to Olympian Hall.

Feeling good

This road section was on an unclosed main road so I was allowed someone to run with me here for safety so Kim met me and we cracked out the 4 miles rather well considering I hate roads but we just chatted to each other and it was over in no time. I arrived in Olympian Hall at 12.06pm and in 7th place! Woody and Angie were there shouting at me as I ran in and they helped me get refuelled for the next section. Woody did drop it into my ear how high up the placings I was but I was still not getting excited. We know I can go fast up and down hills so this kind of placing early on was not too big of a shock for us. Plus it was only mile 20 of 100. There was a long long way to go and I told them on this section I would lose places and be slower. I was honestly expecting by the time I had done the next 20 mile loop to Cow Creek and back to Olympian Hall that I would be in the 20-30s. I was more impressed that I had arrived here over 2 hours ahead of my predicted time.

Enjoying Mtn Dew at Olympian Hall

Olympian Hall – Mile 20.5 to Olympian Hall – Mile 41.3(Via Cow Creek)

I had already trained on this loop in the summer so I knew what to expect but it by no means made it easy. It is a 4 mile climb up , then a rolling descent for 5 miles to Cow Creek Aid station then 2 miles of dirt road , another 7 mile climb and finally a 4 mile descent back to Olympian. The first climb went nice and slow and steady but on the next bit I was terrible. My legs didn't feel too great and again I found it hard to get them going on the rolling terrain. I lost a lot of places between here and Cow Creek but was still super happy with my time. The 5 mile single track descent really was one of the race highlights and I did stop here twice(for seconds) to just look around. I arrived into Cow Creek at 2.05pm. Again I was really happy with my time for that section considering the first climb is really tough. I was even more stoked to see my team here as I thought they were going to skip this checkpoint so it really cheered me up seeing them there even if my face didn't tell the same story. It did mean a lot guys! It had taken me 2 hours to get here which was what I expected but I had dropped to 14th place. Next up was the 2 miles of dirt road and this went fine. I met another runner at the start of this and we ran along it together chatting away and this stretch passed in no time. After that was the climb back up and over to Olympian. I wasn't looking forward to this section however it went rather well. I was just speed hiking all of it and nobody was passing me so I was happy with my pace. I arrived at the high point faster than I expected too and then it was a nice cruisy run back down to Olympian Hall and I was feeling really strong on the descent with no knee pain whatsoever.

Heading into Cow Creek

Out I go

Olympian Hall Mile – 41.3 to Dry Lake - 64.5

I felt great coming into Olympian at 4.46pm and was greeted by my awesome and ever enthusiastic team. I just threw down empty gel wrappers and handed over my empty bottles and they refilled them and handed me new gels. I went into the aid station and grabbed some bacon(yes bacon at an aid station!) watermelon and some crisps. From here I could pick up my first pacer and Angie was there ready to go. We left the aid station just walking as I was still finishing my bacon and then downed a can of red bull which was not too wise.

Coming back into Olympian alongside Woody

We started a little jog on the next 4 mile road section but I had to slow right down and even walk a lot of it as my stomach was not agreeing to the mix of Red Bull and Bacon(who would have known!) I didn't feel right on this whole ascent up the road to the next trail head but I never stopped and somehow I wasn't sick even though I tried. We hit the Fish Creek Falls trail and began the long 6.5 mile hike up to Long Lake aid station. The hike went okay. I was still plugging away at it but I just wasn't feeling my usual self climbing up here. My stomach was all over the place but my legs were feeling fine. Angie helped me out a lot here just chatting and feeding me. Just before we hit the Long Lake aid the head torches came out and extra clothes went on as the temperature really started to drop. We got into Long Lake(51.4) at 7.55pm(11hrs 55mins race time) A little longer than I had hoped for but still hours and hours inside of the cut off time. We got some ramen noodle soup here and some coke(both of these are an Ultra runners lifeline) and headed off for Summit Lake at mile 56.9. We were still climbing here. Nothing  steep but it is still uphill to Summit Lake and again I was not feeling too much better. It was getting really cold but that wasn't affecting me too much.

Angie and I heading off

I had enough clothes on but as usual my hands were pretty damn cold but not quite life threatening so I just had to put up with it. Angie spurred me on talking away without much response from me but I was just having a bit of a downer for a lot of this section. I wasn't ever going to quit but I just had to get through this little blip. Eventually we arrived at the amazing Summit Lake Aid 56.9 at 9.40pm and what an Aid Station it was. The volunteers were so so friendly and all the tents had been joined to make some sort of little shack which was stacked to the roof with amazing food and was warm as hell. I didn't want to leave. We set off from here for the long 8 mile descent to Dry Lake. This is again dirt road and goes on and on and on for what seems like forever. I was hoping to run a lot of this descent but by this stage my left shin was getting pretty sore. It was hard to run on and I knew if I pushed it here it could jeopardise my race later so we went for a jog a bit walk a bit routine. I knew Angie hoped to run down this with me but I just wasn't willing to screw up my shin at this stage of the race and possibly DNF so I took it very easy here. We arrived in Dry Lake 64.5 at 11.28pm and had dropped down a few places to 21st.

Dry Lake Mile – 64.5 to Dry Lake 74.5

I felt a bit better getting into Dry Lake and my team were here to urge me on. Kim took over here from Angie to pace on the next 10 mile out and back section. Kim and myself had already ran this section earlier in the summer and knew I could run the 5 miles downhill single track and then speed hike it back up and to my surprise it went exactly as planned. We jogged down the track chatting and eating and to both of our surprise we rounded a bend and seen the turnaround point. We were both pretty surprised by this but neither of us complained. We stopped here for about 10 mins as Kim stuffed ice into my compression socks to numb the pain of my shin and it worked a treat. Then it was time for the McDonalds! I know some non runners out there will think this is a stupid idea but trust me it ain't. On this kind of distance a bag of lettuce ain't going to do anything for you. You need calories and lots of them. Everyone has their own favourite whether it's pizza , crisps , bagels etc... but for me a McDonalds burger(which Kim had bought earlier in the night for me) tastes bloody good at mile 70 in a race and it's packed with a ton of calories to keep me going.

I'm Lovin' it

Spirits were high here and the medic in the tent was chatting away to me impressed that a Scotsman was doing so well in the race. He then asked if I swear a lot and you can all guess my response which received a lot of laughs. So off I went with Kim on the hike back up to Dry Lake. Again it was just a nice fast pace and in what seemed like no time at all we were back with the rest of the team at Dry Lake 74.5 at around 2am still in 21st place.

Dry Lake – Mile 74.5 to Summit Lake – Mile 81.1

Getting back to Dry Lake I changed into some warmer clothes for the long slow hike ahead. From here I picked up Lauren who was going to see me to the end of the race. It's no surprise that Woody and I like to run together so I was super excited to get to her and then see what we could do with my pace to the end of the race. Off we went up the long dirt road. I and my team expected me to go back up this road in around 3hrs.

Woody and I set off

Over the entire course so far which was 18hrs in I had managed to pee just once! Not a good sign. I was drinking lots but if your not peeing then something is wrong and it can go very very wrong if it stays that way. Kidneys not working well....hospital time! However as we headed up the road I needed to pee! Thank god. I stood at the side of the road and shouted out loud “I have never been so happy to pee” and from then I had to go another 3 times on the climb so the kidneys were doing fine. Panic over. Woody and I just chatted and laughed pretty much all of the way up here and somehow we got to Summit Lake Aid in 2hrs 22mins it was 4.22am and I had moved up to 16th. Spirits were high...but not for long. We grabbed some soup here to warm up and off we went.

Summit Lake – Mile 81.1 to Long Lake – Mile 89.7

We were both excited about this section as it was amazing single track all the way to Long Lake and we were hoping to blast this out if we could. We/I couldn't. Pretty much as soon as I started this section my mind went to shit. My legs were fine , a little heavy but not sore and no cramping. I had done a great job eating and keeping my salt levels good all day. My shin was in agony here and being so tired I kept leaving my foot trailing and my toe would clip rocks and roots and stretch my shin and it was pretty damn sore. It was really really cold and we were out all on our own with not another runner in sight. Woody kept freaking here thinking we would come across a bear but I wasn't giving a damn.  If we had seen one I would probably have tried to hug it. Woody really was great here. She kept feeding me gels and chews as I pathetically just turned to her and opened my mouth and she would ram some in. Another McDonalds burger didn't work so well this time as Woody stuck it in my mouth and I just let it hang there and then fall out. I was getting worse and worse. I was worried we were not running but she assured me we were going at a really strong pace. I kept asking her why nobody was passing us and she kept saying “nobody is passing us because your moving fast and everyone else is destroyed too” This was for sure my lowest point of the race. My eyes were so heavy and even shutting at times. I am sure I freaked Woody out a little more as I said “all the grass on the ground keeps coming into my eyes!” No joke , every time I blinked the ground was jumping out into my face and the grass I swear was getting into my eyes. Woody knows me well enough and could tell I was on a major downer but I wouldn't stop moving. She just kept me moving and eating and just kept telling me we need to get to Long Lake and some food and by that time the sun would be up and I would feel better. The girl did however freak me out a little when somewhere along the trail she all of a sudden shouted "STOP!" I thought she was going nuts. She thought there was an almighty hole in the middle of the trail but it turned out to be a huge puddle as I continued walking and said "it's a f**king puddle Woody". Once we were a mile from Long Lake the sun was coming up and almost instantly my mind changed and I really started to perk up. I only had a half marathon to go and I was done!

Long Lake – Mile 89.7 to Finish – Mile 102.5

I was so so happy to get here. It was 6.44am. Apparently here I was down to 23rd place but not a soul passed us between Summit Lake and here and at Summit Lake I was in 16th so I am guessing there was a problem somewhere with the timings. Anyway I sat down next to the camp fire here and started to change from my warm clothes back into some cooler stuff. Woody handed me coffee , crisps and noodle soup. The transformation here from zombie to eager runner was incredible. I was a totally different person once I got that coffee and changed into new clothes and shoes. I don't normally have a strategy for an Ultra but before this race we had planned that if I got to here and felt good then we would give it a hell of a go. That is preciously the reason I held back on a lot of the dirt roads earlier on. I wasn't having the best time at those stages so I knew to slow it down and not push and burn out and to try and keep some gas for a fun finish. I knew if I got here and had anything left then Woody was the person to get it out of me. So off we went for the finish. We started jogging. The shin was sore like really bloody sore but I knew it would get me 13 miles to the end albeit with a lot of moaning.

Not holding back

The first few miles of this section is rolling terrain with the odd little climb. Woody asked me what I wanted to do and I said let's try running the flats , definitely run the downs and speed hike the climbs. It all went to plan. We were doing great and started passing more and more runners here. Woody was a bit scared I was going to have one almighty bonk at some stage so kept insisting on me eating and drinking which I kind of agreed to. My head was so focused here on running. The flat and downhill running then turned into me continuing it on the climbs. Woody would occasionally say “easy now Thornton” she wasn't trying to slow me down but she was just not wanting me to drain myself as we still had 9 miles to go but I felt good. We knew the last 6 miles was all downhill and I had to keep some gas for that. We caught sight of the final Aid Station at the top of Mount Werner at mile 96.1. It was a small climb up to it and two other runners with their pacers were hauling themselves up the small climb. We were still running and my legs felt so strong that I managed to run up this climb and passed the two surprised runners.

Following Woody to finish

Our original plan was to stop here at this station and get a photo of the two of us before the last descent but I felt so so good we got to the aid station and I shouted to Woody “we are going, we are going” we didn't stop and shouted to the aid crew my number and told them we weren't stopping. They too were surprised but gave us massive cheers as we both smashed it through the last checkpoint and headed on down. We both LOVE to run downhill and we took off here. I was running as fast here as I would run fresh. I kept saying to Woody I had no idea how my legs were doing this. We were really smashing it down and couldn't really keep the smiles off our faces.

Couldn't have been happier

This descent went on forever and we did slow a little in the middle to make sure we were going the right way. The dirt road winds away and away from Steamboat before heading back over in the right direction. Near the bottom another runner and pacer appeared ahead of us. It was a quick glance to Woody as we both nodded and then headed to pick off the next runner. We then left the road and onto the mtn bike trail. Rounding this corner we seen Angie and Kim waiting a mile from the finish to run in with us. I put on a bit of speed here as Woody muttered a little “uh here we go , christ” She then took off and was yelling at me too keep up. We got closer to Kim and Angie and they realised our speed and told us not to wait on them that we should go go go. I was chasing Woody and we were hitting the little techy single track at an alarming pace. I was loving it. My shin was a mess but my legs were powering on. It was such a great feeling running with my friend at this speed at mile 101 of a race. All along this was our plan and it worked so so well. We ran to the finish and up the steps to be greeted by the race director who gave me a massive hug. Woody then came bouncing up the steps and grabbed me and was going wild. Kim and Angie were close behind and Kim arrived also going wild. I had done it. 102.5 miles , 25hrs 23mins , 13th/188.

With the amazing race director

What a race. Amazing course , amazing volunteers , aid stations and spectators. Too many people to thank who I met over the course of the day who made me laugh , spurred me on and helped out so much. I really can't describe how grateful I am to have had the best crew and pacers out there. Each one of them was brilliant in their own way. They too had been up from 6am Friday and never got back to sleep until 8pm Saturday. I really can't believe that time or placing on a 100 mile race. Yes for sure I trained all summer for this but I trained aiming for a middle of the pack 30hr finish. Not quite a finish like this. I also can't believe our race strategy worked so well to hold back and not blow up in the middle , I knew I was having a bad time so there was no point pushing and we knew my strong point would be with Woody on the final descent if I had anything left. From looking at the timings we were only 7 minutes slower than the elite winner(Rob Krar) on the final 6 mile descent! I haven't looked at everyone's times but I think we were in the top 3 fastest times overall on that descent. The final mile I ran with Woody was a 6.25 min mile! The shin is still bloody sore so it will be rest rest rest until it heals , I have a 50 miler in 2 weeks in the Lake District!

We smashed it pal!

I have so much more to tell but I will bring this blog to a close now before it gets way way too long and boring. Thanks to everyone out there for the messages. I was getting updated all through the day from my team about all the FB messages and every time I heard something it really meant a lot and kept me pushing hard.

Kim , Angie and Woody. Total legends. That time would never have happened if I never had you guys there with me. GAS GAS GAS!!!

Kim , Angie , Woody , Me. The day before the race.