Grafton Notch Loop Trail

Labor Day weekend I ran the Grafton Notch Loop trail in Maine, just North of Bethel.

https://www.matc.org/for-hikers/grafton-loop-trail

It's a 36 mile loop, 12-13,000 feet of ascent, going over Puzzle, Baldpate, Old Speck and Sunday River Whitecap Mountains.

I decided to go unsupported, getting water from the rivers at the designated camp sites. Setting off at 6 am the first 20 miles up the Eastern side went well and I arrived at the notch in just over 6 hrs. There's plenty of reliable water on this half and it went well. I wasn't pushing super hard but thought I'd run around 10.5 hours. I carried all food and used a Katadyn BeFree 1liter filter. I carried about 7 gels, 1 nutella sandwich, 2 PB & J's, 4 granola bars, 2 candy bars, 2 bananas, dried mango and peanuts.

From there it's a steep climb up Old Speck and I should have fully drunk at the river just before the notch, by the top I was out of water and stupidly went across one trickle thinking I'd find more and all future streams were dry until almost 8 miles later. The climb up Sunday River Whitecap with no water in the sun at the hottest part of the day was brutal and I was down to 30 minute miles.

I slowed a lot in the second half, finishing in 11:19.

I made one route error bu I'd some how ran over a pretty clear barrier, but as so many others had a path continued but was very overgrown, but eventually I retraced my steps and worked out the correct route.

The route is generally blue blazed, the top of Puzzle is slightly confusing, but then at Baldpate you pick up the white AT blazes through to just before Old Speck when you take the blue blazes again to the summit and beyond. Strangely at the climb up Sunday River White Cap the blazes turn to red, then just cairns over the top with offshoots to look outs, and then blue blazes appear later.

In general it's a great route, not that technical for most part, certainly less technical than the Pemi loop. Going counter-clockwise means you have really broken the back of the loop by the time you get to Old Speck, it's then just 12-13 miles mainly descending. Had I used water more wisely I'd have been significantly quicker. Certainly one to be done.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2674269072

FKT site: https://fastestknowntime.com/route/grafton-notch-loop-me

Photos:
Early morning view of Puzzle

Eary Morning selfie on Puzzle

View from Puzzle along the route towards the notch

 I think the view back of Baldpate East

 View from East Baldpate over to Old Speck

 Baldpate Summit

Old Speck Summit

Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway Self-Supported FKT

Having lived in NH for 3 years I got to know the 75 mile greenway well and was keen to run the loop as a whole to say good bye to the region. The SRK is a 75 mile loop, with around 14,000 ft of ascent but the main issue is just rough trails rather than ascents as it traverses Bog, Ragged, Kearsarge and Sunapee Mountains in its 75 mile loop. In June I attempted to break Tom Flummerfelt's 17:44 and was ahead of schedule until about the 47 mile point when early season heat got to me.

Having moved to Worcester, MA, this summer I thought it was over but an unseasonably cool forecast of a high of 70 F, and a fairly good moon suggested conditions were great for another attempt. With it being short notice and also the Ragged 3 stage race weekend I decided not to try to arrange support and go for the first self supported round. I still hoped to beat the 17:44 but completion was the main aim.

Although it was the 3 day race weekend my 3:20 am start from Sunapee meant I would be on the same part of the course as the racers were much later in the day so I wouldn't get to run with any runners, nor see aid, and this was how it panned out. I spent the short night on an air mattress in the bed of my truck waiting for the time to start.

I set off from Sunapee Town Offices at 3:20 am and ran up past the elementary school, onto the dark trails and out on to the roads. The first 3-4 miles are on road, then old forestry trails and back onto roads with a final 2-3 miles of forest trails to take me to the 11 mile point at rt114, where I expected to have daylight. There's a beaver dam just before route 114 but this is now easily passed. Here I got my first aid point.

For some reason I wasn't feeling great right from the off and shortly after climbing Royal Arch started to feel sick and had a sustained period of vomiting shortly after leaving Morgan Pond Road. The trails on this section are pretty good, even the recently cleared sections just above route 114. I expected to arrive at the Pleasant Lake ahead up on Tom's FKT paces but was already a good 5 minutes off and lost a few more minutes getting food. But although I'd been ill I felt better and hoped to continue to improve as the morning progressed.

The route now climbs up through Webb Forest, descends, climbs again, and has a fast descent down to route 4A and around 23 miles in I felt pretty good. most of the first 20 miles is good running but the trails now get rougher as I approached Bog, running on rough trails to Stearns Road and then climbed Bog Mountain itself. I was feeling pretty good but was low on water but would get water up at the Ragged rail head so pushed on. The next 4 miles from Wilmot Center through to the Ragged trail head up New Canada Road are good miles and although I was moving OK I just had nothing in my legs and 9-10 minute miles were about as good as it got. This was where I really hoped to get up on Tom's time but I was just grabbing a few seconds and losing it at each food stop.

As I climbed Ragged it was clear I wasn't going to get ahead on this leg but I still climbed strongly and was strict about eating every 30-40 minutes despite still feeling sick. However as I descended Ragged I realized I just couldn't stop drinking and coudln't make my water supply point up on Kearsarge Mountain Road so stopped to spend a few minutes searching to find a hose at Proctor, thankfully finding one at the back of the school. From Proctor you now run out on the rail trail, up Bridge Street and take old forestry roads which undulate for 3.5 miles until you reach Twist Hill Road and eventually the mountain road and another food supply point.

I'm not going to lie, I was close to quitting, 45 miles in, 30 miles to go, no chance of the overall FKT, storm clouds above. But although I wasn't feeling great I was still eating and drinking and moving OK so I pushed on, climbed Kearsarge in cold strong winds, quickly took in the view and started to rough slow descent down to Kearsarge Valley Road. It's then just a flattish rough 1 mile overgrown trail through to Shaker Road, more food and the 50 mile point. Now it's 25 miles to the finish, only one big climb to go. Mentally I've broken the back on the course and can just plod it out but knew I was now facing darkness for a second time. I had left a change of clothes and vaseline here so apologies for anyone who drove past a half dressed guy vaselining up his crotch.. I also re-applied vaseline to my feet and changed my socks.

The trail is pretty flat through to Newbury with the exception of the climb up King Hill. My plan was Newbury by 6:30, buy some food, hike up Sunapee and hit the roads the other side by darkness leaving me with just 4.5 miles of trails to finish. I pretty much managed this and hit Newbury just after 6:30, went to the gas station (allowed on self supported), saw the jerky and bought some nuts and jerky. I ate the jerky and climbed the Newbury trail really well, 18-20 minute miles climbing a steep trail 63 miles in.. then my stomach though sod that and all the jerky and everything else came flying back out. I sat down and took a few minutes to empty my stomach and get it back together and got going again and hit the summit just as the sun was setting. On the summit I was cold, sick and tired and could just have sat in the lodge and called for a lift.. I knew it would be dark soon so I'd be in darkness for most of the last 10 miles.

In the rapidly encroaching darkness the descent was slow but otherwise I felt pretty good. It's a  fairly rough trail so it was a fast walk/jog, hitting around 14-15 minute miles as I descended out to the old road at the top of the ski center. I'd left half a liter of coke at the Suna restaurant on route 103 so I ran down to there, drunk some of the coke and took it with me for the last 5.5 miles. It was now well past 9 pm as I ran down Harding Hill Road to the final 4.5 miles of trails, I had these broken down into 2.3 miles of good trails through to Hells Corner and then 2.2 miles of rough trails through to Sunapee playground. The trails on this last section are narrow, rarely used and pretty poor but with luminescent SRK signs it was actually easier to follow at night. At one point I took a big fall and stopped up confused which way was the correct way but guessed right, but soon enough I was following the old wall and climbing to the ridge before the steep descent to the park. The race route is then sign posted down the road and the official SRK route takes the trail through the harbor, so be careful there, and soon enough I was running down the field by the river to the back of Sunapee Town Offices and my truck.

I sat on the kerb, called the wife and was freezing cold in seconds. 19:04:40 on the watch but I'd accidentally stopped it a few times putting my vest on. Officially it was 19:05:40. I think it's the 3rd completion, second fastest, first self supported solo round.

Happy enough, I was never in trouble, no blisters, but just didn't feel at the races all day for some reason. Maybe it was the poor sleep and early start, maybe it was nerves, maybe it was just a bloody long way, not sure. Anyway it's done and I can't see me going back. Cool experience though, the closest experience I've had to a classic British round since moving here, much less ascent, but far more just rough terrain to run on.

Also thanks to Ben, Marek, Joffrey, Charlie, Andy, Eric, John, Keri and Gwen(and Meri of course) who helped or were due to help on the June attempt.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2610177860
https://fastestknowntime.com/route/sunapee-ragged-kearsarge-greenway-nh

Rock The Ridge 2016

This race was never on the schedule but first Ken then Ben contacted me to see if I would run. I’d never heard of the race until I joined MPF RNR but was really interested in a fast 50 mile ‘trail’ race. I use the inverted comma’s as it is generally a very fast course on the carriage roads of the Mohonk Preserve; however whilst fast it also contains a significant amount of elevation change, albeit very gradually. It certainly appealed but fell at a busy time of year.

However with an upcoming move and increased Daddy day care duties fast approaching, I’m racing far more than I typically do in the early part of 2016. With Ocean Drive Marathon, Naked Bavarian, Springle Track, Breakneck and now Rock the Ridge 50 this is my busiest start to a year for a long time.

Ben kindly invited Gwen, Meredith and I to stay at Steph’s mums house the night before the race so the logistics were all pretty much taken care of. All I had to do was run a solid 50 miler, hopefully stay close to Ben. Having been soundly dropped by Ben and the lead pack at Breakneck only two weeks previously I was far from confident I’d even make half way with Ben and I also haven’t run a runnable 50 miler since Cayuga back in 2014. I was disappointed with my Breakneck run, whilst I didn't expect to compete with Ben there this year I wasn’t happy to be almost 30 minutes behind him, after being with him 10 miles in. Injury issues affected winter training but since the new year I’ve been happy with my training, luckily my inherent selfishness (which my wife will testify to..) has meant having a new born hasn’t overly affected training so I feel fitness is starting to return as we enter the main season.

My plan for the race was pretty simple.. hold on to Ben. We set off and I expected it to be just us but we had a relay runner and then another runner joined us who we thought was in the 50 miler too. Steadily we pulled away and I sat in behind Ben on the long first climb and Ben seemed strong, whilst the pace was a tad hard for me, I felt I wasn’t dipping into the red so just followed along, soon we dropped the other runner and it was just the relay runner and us on the long 3-4 mile climb to the first fluids station. Ben was obviously stronger early on but seemed happy to keep me along for company. Looking at recent results Ben has ran most of his previous 150 miles on this route solo. 

This race is just the perfect hybrid of road and trail, just miles and miles of slowly undulating crushed gravel wide trails, occasional sections of stony and slightly technical ground but it just winds around stunning vistas of the Mohonk Preserve. Having ran at Sprinkle Track and the Ellenville Mountain Running Festival I’d seen small sections of the Mohonk Preserve but this was my first time really seeing all the carriage roads.

Start (credit RockhillHayes)

Ben was powering through the early miles and I just held on. The unspoken idea for me was we’d push to break his old record but with the recent fires in the area I’d expected a changed route and we then found out it was a slightly longer route. With not knowing the course I was happy to just sit in behind Ben. To be honest I was just wondering how far I could follow Ben for.. ‘Make the first aid station’.. then ‘Make 10’.. It wasn’t like a flat race where you can watch pace, so at the start I switched my watch data fields so I couldn’t see time, all I could see was average pace, lap pace and distance. Average pace would give me a rough idea but without knowing the course ahead I couldn’t predict anything. For the whole race I never once looked at my time nor asked Ben how we were going against his previous times.  

Ascending Skytop (credit Stephanie Tenuto Nephew)

We climbed over skycap and enjoyed the views but as we approached 20 miles Ben was struggling with his stomach and didn’t seem as keen to push the pace. Still my view was 45 miles. Keep together if we could, just having someone to pace off, even the occasional words would help time pass but from miles 25 onwards I felt I was actually feeling better. Ben warned me there was a long 6 miles of climbing between miles 24 and 30 up to Castle point, which I doubted. How can they fit 6 miles of climbing? As we climbed past Awosting Falls, steeply but never steep enough to walk, the climb just went on and on, past the lake and then around and over point after point until we finally reached Castle Point. I was definitely feeling my hip flexors by now but Ben said he just felt empty. I did considering making a break around then but I had no real desire to run the last 20-25 miles in unless Ben’s pace really dropped. From there its actually almost all down hill so I was keen to get the pace down into the 7’s which we did and Ben just sat behind me as we started the long run to the finish. On the way back in we were passing the runners heading out so received support from many which helped keep us going. I don’t think either of us said much in return as we were both feeling pretty bashed as we approached the last 10 milers. The consistent running in this race really destroys your legs and I was thankful to have Ben alongside to help keep the pace solid.

I’ve seen Ben produce some impressive runs but this probably ranked as one of the most impressive runs I’ve seen from him, he just sat next to or behind me, from being empty at 25 miles he just kept on going. I was keen to keep the pace high but never red line and see where that took us as we approached 45 miles, with a good few miles of flat running where we managed to hold our pace in the mid 7’s. The sun was well up in the sky now but it was probably only mid 60’s so about ideal temperatures for a long run.

Descending with Ben (credit Stephanie Tenuto Nephew)

The climbs over the last section are all small, rarely that steep until the climb at 45 miles but we still kept on a run going and climbed well before we started the long final descent. I decided with probably no climbs to go I’d attack the last 3-4 miles back to the tower. The descents are smooth and gradual so holding mid- low 6 minute miles over the last section wasn’t too hard, a quick glance back revealed Ben was still hanging on which worried me I’d gone too soon, but I managed to keep the pace up and hoped I’d managed to open up a few minutes gap. There was one worrying section on a long grassy traverse that was quite out of place with the previous well maintained crushed dirt roads which had me worried I’d missed a turn but thankfully I spotted the barn Ben had pointed out on the way and it was just a final retracing on my steps. There is one sting in the tail, a short climb on the road but then a lovely run in down the tree lined grove to the tower. I finished in 6:12, Ben just two minutes back in 6:14. The last 3.5 miles I’d averaged under 6:30 minute miles which was pretty pleasing. Still a good chunk outside of Ben’s record of 5:56 but with the course being slightly longer a respectable enough first effort.

Finish line photo (credit RockhillHayes)

Overall a great final long training run for Cayuga Trails 50 and a bit of a confidence booster after not having a great run at Breakneck. Still work to do for the year ahead but the main thing was my body held up OK and I’m pretty running fit at the moment, but worry I will struggle on the steeper terrain at Cayuga. After two days off I was back running which is always a good sign that I’m finally getting some robustness back.

Gear wise I used the new Ultimate Direction Access 20 waist pack with its very accessible 20 oz water bottle and small pouch which meant I could carry the GU gels that I almost exclusively used, and on my feet I opted for the Hoka Clifton’s due to the hard packed nature of the course. These were perfect, I could feel the occasional stony section, but the cushioning seemed to protect the legs on the long descents.  

The course is very picturesque, very fast, undulating but still fast and it would be great to see it get a stronger field from runners. There are not many more scenic fast 50 milers. Thanks to Ben, Ken and Todd for the encouragement to enter and providing a great race and company. Next up is Cayuga Trails 50 miler, the USA Track and Field 50 mile trail championships. 

Results: http://prtiming.com/rocktheridge-2016results/#/results::146219860061400

Race website link: http://www.mohonkpreserve.org/rock-the-ridge

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/561455297

Winter Great Range Traverse - Adirondacks

Back in February I had attempted a solo Great Range Traverse in the Adirondacks, reversing the typical route and starting with Marcy. The GRT is one of the classic FKT's of the North East and does not get too many winter traverses. Details of the FKT are here. The lack of snow and frequent freeze/thaw cycles left the exposed rocks on the summits covered in thick ice so after a scary few hours I gave in and returned to the Garden Lot in Keene Valley determined for one more go. Reading various reports online I had worries about 3 or 4 of the more serious technical sections and a few of the ladders which can be covered in ice in winter. Since moving to the US this has been on my list of must dos. 

A few weeks later I got to spend some time with Jan Welford, an MPF/RNR teammate, at the Welts’s and Jan invited  us to stay with him and his family in Keene and get a big day out later in the winter. Jan lives in Keene NY, in the heart for the Adirondacks and is one of the most experienced mountain runners in the area, coming from a hiking and climbing background he's totally at home on the serious conditions high up in the ADK High Peaks. A few weeks later and I was back up in the Adirondacks with the Wellford’s. Jan was guiding Saturday so I went for a steady day out but the weather was glorious. Strong cold winds but almost no cloud, the first time I had experienced such conditions in the Adirondacks. The first day I just didn’t want to come off the hill so ended up with a fairly big day going over Wright, Algonquin, Boundary and out to Iroquois and after descending to the Interior Post just couldn’t resist going up to Mount Colden for one more summit, making it a 16 mile with 6000ft of ascent day.

With the forecast suggesting Sunday would be even better with light winds Jan suggested a GRT; a tough 24 mile day with just under 10k of ascent. With little snow and unseasonably warm temperatures we set off very light weight and decided we’d just play it by ear and see how things went. Soon after leaving the car we realized we didn’t even have torches so were pretty much limited to day light hours. We climbed steadily summiting Rooster Comb and then Hedgehog before starting the Wolf Jaws. There was little snow up to around 3000ft but the ice was pretty thick and exposed making it pretty treacherous in places. We were both wearing our waterproof Merrell All Out Terra Ice which allowed us to climb to almost 3000ft without microspikes due to their tungsten tipped studs. Climbing over the Wolf Jaws we hit a few ice covered ledges which were tough to climb. Jan seemed to skip up but I was pretty scared and was dragging myself through trees to try to get up, a fall would have certainly had nasty consequences. Early on I was not at all confident we’d get the route finished as I’d heard the Gothics and Saddleback had exposed steep rock which I worried would be ice covered. The line we took generally runs from the North East to the South West so the faces we were ascending were generally more ice-ridden and ice covered than the faces we were descending, which hopefully meant those harder sections would be snow and ice free.

Pic above: Jan Climbing the final ridge of Gothics

We still moved steadily through and took few breaks, Jan was chatting away and I was just grunting replies already struggling from the day before hoping to finally get some legs later in the day. After the Wolf Jaws we were soon climbing Armstrong and hit the Armstrong Ladder, another section I’d read about on line. That was fairly free of ice apart from the last few rungs which required an unsecured step on to steep ice at the top. Jan confidently made the step but again I bottled it and swung out to a tree to gain that step. The summits were glorious, dream conditions and as we climbed the Gothics the summit ridge was just glorious, its hard to describe how perfect conditions were. We were each in single layer tops and it was comfortable to stand and enjoy the view at over 4000ft in the middle of March.

Pic above: Jan enjoying the view

Next came the major section that was giving me the heebie jeebies all day leading up to them – the Gothic Slabs. Luckily the slabs were all but ice free and the cables were replaced quite recently and pretty reliable leading to a stress free descent – Well for Jan, I was being the road running city boy and using the cables as he walked down nonchalantly. The rock was so bare we removed our microspikes for a section as we descended the exposed slabs. We weren’t too quick up to this point so we started to doubt if we had the day light so we set a target time to be on the summit of Marcy to make sure we could get off in day light. Although Marcy is the last the peak and you only have a final descent, it’s a good 8-9 miles off so can take a good 2 hours, if not more on tired legs. You can drop off before Marcy saving a good chunk at the end of the day, meaning you miss out on a pretty mundane section of the ridge, except for the views of Marcy, but also meaning you haven’t completed the GRT. Jan has completed this route numerous times but for me I was pretty keen to get the full ridge completed and I was finally starting to feel stronger as the day progressed.

Pic above: Descending the Gothics Slabs

Soon after the Gothics slabs we were ascending what was for me the last big obstacle, bar a few ledges on Basin, the south west rock face of Saddleback. For me this was the last big obstacle, I was pretty sure Haystack would be largely free of Snow and Ice and Marcy is technically pretty easy. But reading online comments the rock face on the SW face of Saddleback has a fearsome reputation and again I feared ice would cover vital holds. It was so ice free that yet again we removed our microspikes and descended easily.

Next was Basin which I knew had some serious ledges on but I thought they would go as did previous ledges and they did. At at each hard ice section there was always a handy exposed root or tree to grab onto and soon enough we had descended the last steep section and started the long section out to Haystack.

Pic above: Descending Saddleback

Pic above: Descending Saddleback

By now we’d certainly broken the back of the day. After Basin it is a pretty long descent to a col where we got water before a long climb out to Haystack. The last two peaks have a fair gap between but its mainly just trails apart from the exposed summit rocks of Haystack, which apart from a short step on Little Haystack is pretty untechnical. We moved well through this section, being in pretty good spirits that the full route would be completed and we chatting away about various FKT’s and races etc. The summit of Haystack provides a great panorama of the Western High Peaks so we stood there for a while soaking in the views before trotting off.

Pic above: Looking across to Marcy, our final peak, from Haystack, our penultimate peak

Pic above: Looking back along the GRT from Haystack Summit

Pic above: Jan on Haystack Summit

Despite only having 1 peak to go we actually had almost half the distance to go, but with only 1500 ft of climbing. We descended off Haystack and had one last steep tricky descent down to the junction with the Phelps Trail before the long climb to Marcy. This isn’t too steep so we soon emerged from the trees to see Marcy and were on the summit long before our self imposed deadline. Again we had a sit down and just enjoyed the views. It was pretty late in the afternoon but again it was not too cold, almost no wind at all with stunning views over all the ADK’s, with the full view of the days traverse laid out behind us.

Pic above: The final slopes of Marcy

With just the final descent to go and plenty of daylight we ran down pretty quick. The only potential issue was Jan’s microspike snapping just on the summit rocks of Marcy, but wearing our studded shoes fortunately made that a non-issue – but we discussed the benefits of carrying a spare microspike on future runs for such occasions.  In the soft snow we  comfortably descended what would be a technical descent in the summer and were soon down at the JBL, the last 5 k from there to the Garden Lot is always pretty tedious and despite my rapidly tiring hip flexors we made it out comfortably enough, finishing in about 8:40, a solid time for a winter traverse. Conditions were pretty good but the exposed ice sections higher up made some sections much slower than in summer conditions so care had to be taken. The final descent taking about 1:45, which is a solid time even in summer conditions.

Pic above: Enjoying our final summit

What a great day to complete a winter GRT. Without Jan for moral support I’d have definitely bottled out of a few sections but the day passed quickly as we chatted away about our families and various mountain experiences. It was great to get a few spend a few days with Jan, his wife, Megan, and Finn and Tilly. Thanks for the guiding and hospitality - Jan knows the route like the back of his hand and removed any route finding difficulties. With a 4 month old daughter it’s a great peek into the future when you get to spend time with a family with kids a few years older.. it wasn’t too terrifying :-).  And thanks to my wife for being tolerant of my frequent weekend’s away in the mountains, now that we have a little person in our lives.

Thanks to MPF/RNR for putting the team together and making it so easy to get together with like minded people for great mountain experiences. Thanks to Merrell for the All Out Terra Ice, the ideal shoe for long winter days out with mixed rock and Ice conditions and Ultimate Direction for the PB Adventure Vest. Slightly larger than a  race pack it allowed me to carry enough water food, microspikes and extra clothing to have a comfortable day out, being compact enough to allow me to easily climb steep terrain and struggle between trees and branches.

Just a superb day which will live long in the memory. It’s a stunning action packed route with many fairly serious technical sections which in the wrong conditions will provide a really serious challenge with very serious consequences should things go wrong, but it’s a superb logical traverse and I can’t wait for a summer attempt.

The strava log: https://www.strava.com/activities/516599474

IAU World Champs 2015 - Annecy Maxi Race

 This was a late inclusion in the calendar.

Obviously I was disappointed with my run but it was fantastic. The team always bond and I just loved my time with them. I discuss a few issues I have with the race and issues around it in this blog post bit don't let it detract from how much I loved my time in this race and with my team mates and management. Tom, Kim, Lee, Paul, Paul were just class to be around and it was great fun. I think some imagine more egos but it has always been super relaxed and just a good laugh. Add to those guys and Tracy, Bonnie, Lizzie, Sally and Sarah and it was great. Our management team just could not be flustered; they ooze confidence but also that they care about the person, not just the team. Their treatment of Lee back in 2013 when he was injured, and his rewarding their treatment now was a great testament to how we are treated as people. 

Following the withdrawal of a teammate I was promoted from ‘Non-Traveling Reserve’ into the full squad for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland ultra-distance trail running team. I’d represented GB & NI back in 2013 in this same competition where I finished 4^th, helping the team to the Gold medal on a controversial 5 lap 48 mile course with 2400m of ascent. This time around the course was 53 miles and 5300m of ascent over much more technical terrain surrounding Lake Annecy in the French Alps. This time with the race getting enhanced status and the iconic Maxi-Race route the field was far stronger with around 40 countries represented.

Following my call up I had basically 6 weeks to get mountain fit. Every weekend from then I’d been away in the mountains and had averaged a good 10,000 feet of ascent a week so felt I could handle the climbing. I had hoped to make the GB team outright but to be honest could understand not making the 1^st VI, I also felt I’d had the rub of the green making the team in 2013, but the UK ultra scene is now incredibly competitive. Add to that my base in the US and my lack of top class racing in Alpine settings and I couldn’t really find fault with the selections especially with the class of runner selected, and who also missed out.

The course was spectacular; I went out the week before and checked out a good 80% of the course. It didn’t suit me, I knew that, despite my 4^th place in 2013, I’ve never excelled at ultra-distance mountain trail running. Even my top 50 UTMB finish of 2009 was really just a solid run than anything special. The races I do well at are quicker undulating technical trails with spells of fast running like in Wales, and at the JFK. An Irunfar preview described my 4^th place of 2013 as an ‘outlier’ but I think my 4^th place and sub 6-hour at JFK (at the time that performance put me on the top 20 all time performers at the US’s oldest 50 mile race) demonstrated that it’s those races I can do well at. However I was hoping to put that right at Annecy and perform well in an Alpine setting.

Training went OK, I had the ascent in but was feeling too beaten up cramming the ascent into the weekend’s or multiple reps of Mts Misery and Joy at Valley Forge. Those runs crammed 2500-3000 feet of ascent and descent in 12-14 miles of hill reps but lacked the long quad pounding descents needed for conditioning. Had I been called up earlier I’d have planned more races in preparation and invested more in weekend visits to the Southern snow-free areas. Whilst snow-shoeing in the NE provided me with the ascent I didn’t feel ‘Fell-fit’ as Asquith put it in ‘Feet in the clouds’.

Anyway after a few days rest I met up with the team on the Thursday before the race and as usual with the GB set up everything was spot on. We have a hugely experienced management team in Elenor, Adrian and Walter. These guys just exude calmness, are well organized and go out of the way to remove any stress from the runners. Thursday night we had the opening ceremony and it was a tad chaotic, prolonged and the food not great.. that worried me.

A late change had seen the GB team amongst others (notably not the French) moved further away from Annecy meaning a longer bus journey in for the 3:30 am start on Saturday morning. Friday was pretty relaxing, we sorted out kit, ate and went to bed early. I was sharing with Paul Giblin, with Tom Owens, Kim Collinson, Paul Raithstick and Lee Kemp also in the team. Most of us knew each other so from the off it was just a great laugh.

My concerns proved true on the race morning.. the 2:15 am bus was now, according to the driver, a 2:30 am bus, which eventually left at 2:45 am… after getting to the race and watching the French Athletes warm up we then do a U-turn further on and disembark the coach gone 3:05 am.. less than 25 minutes to get to the actual start, sort our bags out, warm up, stretch etc… it was a shambles. Add to that I could see every shitting gear advert or store in the trail running world but not a toilet. We had 4!! Portaloos for 300 runners. The next race starting at 5:00 am had almost 2000 runners. That is simply appalling and money pinching.

So after not getting my required 3 pre-race number 2’s in, I knew I was in trouble. Sprinting back to the start line at 3:28 and I’m also without water as I forgot to fill up my bottle in the rush and I’ve also done no stretching. With recurrent core/groin/hip issues I know I need a good 1 hour at the start area running, drills and stretches…  then all the toilet and organizing..

The weather had been good all week, bar a Monday storm, but we had unforecasted rain Friday night resulting in wet slippy limestone and muddy trails.

We set off bang on 3:30 am and went off down the road, I really put in a burst to get towards the front and ran hard through the town, up the first hill and then when the race went straight I jumped right into a campsite to fill up water. I knew we had a hard 10-11 miles of ascending before the first water stop so could not risk carrying on. I quickly rejoined and was in an OK position and climbed but didn’t feel great. The race route climbs fairly steeply until about 850 m and then climbs in steps over the next 10 k or so with plenty of technical flatter sections. Early on maybe I slipped on a white piece of limestone, a route or mud I didn’t go down but straight away my groin tightened and from that moment things just got worse. One by one my muscles just ached in that whole right hip region. Climbing I was Ok, but I just couldn’t open my stride on the descents. I hit the summit of Semnoz, the highest point on the course at over 1600m elevation, just ahead of Paul R but he soon passed and sped away on the descent. 10’s of people seemed to pass on the upper ascent and descent on Semnoz.

I tried not to panic and slowly pushed on, now joined by Barry an Irish runner and soon Cassie from the US team. Cassie and I climbed well through the surprisingly muddy trails, it must have really rained up this end of the lake, and I stated to feel better so pushed on but again couldn’t descend as we dropped down to Doussard at the half way point on the course. Even on the final few k’s on the road into Doussard I just was not running freely and was constantly dropping places.

The course had three aid stations and in 85 km’s of tough running this puts a lot of importance on each aid station. The first was at the summit of Semnoz after 11 miles, the 2^nd at Doussard after 27 miles and the 3^rd at Menthon St Bernard after 45 miles. This meant the next aid station was crucial. With calm crew assisting at aid station there was no rushing through so I grabbed my poles, had some smoothie and filled up supplies and set off. The next leg was the toughest. It had a gradual climb up to Col Du Forclaz then a long gradual climb up anther col, before a stunning section up the highest point on this side of the leg at ???, up here I was passing many and feeling better but on the descent I again lost a few places but this time at a less rapid rate. Using the Poles on the ascent I had a nice rhythm and moved through the field well. 

At the final aid station I quickly grabbed one last smoothie and took off past a stunning chateaux and climbed upwards Col du Bluffy to begin the last leg over Mt Veyrier. Here I saw Yassine up ahead who runs for the US. I soon caught him and it turned out he was with Henrik and the three of us had been chatting at the opening ceremony so we had a good few miles together before I pushed on when we entered the forest. The temperatures really climbed later in the day but in the trees it was at least manageable and every time I caught someone, another person enticingly appeared ahead so pushed me on. With just one final descent and with most on very tired legs this was the only descent where I actually held my position and gained a few places. I hit the road just outside of Annecy and swore when I swore the 1km to go sign, I was hoping to nick under the 10:30 time but with this to go I had little chance but seeing a runner ahead gave me a kick, then in the distance one more and he seemed finished so I quickly caught him and finished in 10:30:19. My aim before the race was sub 10, sub 10:30 as the B time. I’d love to go back again, without the groin issue I’m sure sub 10 is feasible, add in the wet muddy trails and heat and a quicker time is certainly plausible.

I was disappointed somewhat in my time but do think with a longer build up I could have been more competitive. In the 6 weeks I’d managed to get strong enough to climb well but just did not have the descending skills nor did I feel ‘fell fit’; when you are ‘fell-fit’ your body can tolerate slips, falls and tiredness, little injuries don’t happen like they did to me here. Maybe for this I actually got my training wrong, I came into it with a strong aerobic base from the Boston marathon training but I think the consecutive weekends of 20-45 mile hilly training runs probably hurt me more than I admitted at the time, such long weekend runs also impacted on my midweek training. I was certainly strong on the ascents and felt I could have kept going but I was too poor descending, especially with the injury and need to race more in future. I’m not going to comment on my personal issues with the late call up. butI broke my golden rule of never running long 16+ trail runs on consecutive weekends and felt too beaten up. I got it wrong, my training was wrong and I need to work on that but, again, late call up, you take risks. I showed in 2013 at the IAU and JFK50 that give me 3-4 months and I can compete… give me 6 weeks and it will be hit and miss.

I’m not going to comment on my personal issues with the late call up. I Well I wasn’t until others had their say, I think it was forgotten that although I was given a great opportunity through an athletes withdrawal, it need not have been so late, I need not have spent so many $100’s on other races. Needless to say I totally disagree with the Solomon stance and their issues with this World Championships being about trail running unity and a single start… it was, I believe, about them wanting their runners to represent their brand at a world championship and not their runners’ countries. They basically wanted to insert a Barcelona into the Soccer World Cup depriving nations of their best runners, then claim to be the trail Running World Champions. The toilet issue was bad enough, add in another 2000 runners and it would have been chaos at the start and subsequent feeding stations.  Regardless of their issues this is one race every two years, keep some perspective, not some huge threat to what we know as trail running. This is a race between runners and their countries, not brands. 99% of trail races are Solomon against some other brand; is one race every two years not being brand centered really the end of the world? If anyone is threatening trail running as we know it, it is those who have somehow caused lapped and out and back trail races to not technically be trail running according to the ITRA (International Trail Running Association), just because such races are not needed in France. Without such races, trail running doesn’t exist for thousands of US runners. Iconic races like IceAge50, TNF 50 San Fran and the new classic of Cayuga Trails 50 are now no longer trail races according to these organisations! So remind me again who is threatening the sport and unity of trail running again?

Regarding all this bullshit about the lapped Welsh race and out and backs? What was the Irish race in 2011? Where were the French complaints then when they were world champs....

Anyway, back to GB & NI success if we add Ricky Lightfoot and Andrew Symonds to this team can be at the forefront for a good few years yet and there are more in the wings to get involved, guys like Paul Navesy, Adam Perry to name a few.. . I’d urge any runners who want to be involved to search for competition, not race wins, not top 3’s, go and search the strongest fields, race in the alps, target the biggest races, be prepared to have your arse handed to you. I still think the UK lacks a true championship race or like TNF 50 SF, provide that top quality race and field in one well advertised official championship race. Before the race I thought we honestly stood little chance of a podium as I expected the Alpine countries to absolutely dominate, those who could train and race in this terrain on a weekly basis. Huge credit must also go to the USA men’s team. Too often USA runners have failed to show their true talent abroad due to a myriad of factors including injury, flights, tiredness, terrain etc (obviously with a few notable exceptions: Sage, Alex and Krissy to name a few), so personally I was pleased to see them excel at this level. I know some have doubted the ability of US runners and have seen it was excessive media hype and this answered those questions and no doubt more US success will come.

Lastly Talk Ultra listed this as a weak field "But the recent Transvulcania Ultramarathon, particularly in the men’s race had a far greater quality of field than what will be assembled in Annecy".. that just was not true. This was one of the strongest 80-100km fields you will see so lets build on this. Look at the times from the winner in the top 20/top 40 in both races.. which is stronger...

The IAU hold the future as one sport.. 

Appalachian Trail Four State Challenge FK

Total Distance: 43 miles

Total Ascent:  7000 feet

Total Time: 7:29:51

Average Pace: 10:28 minute miles

My wife loves a romantic weekend away so when I offered her the chance to spend the night camping on the banks of the Potomac River, roasting marshmallows on an open fire she jumped at it, I then introduced the: ‘well you have to wait for me here, here and here’ concept…

This was to be my first attempt at an Fastest Known Time (FKT) after moving to the US last year. In the North East racing in the main mountainous areas and National Parks is fraught with conservation and erosion issues compared to other areas and so FKT’s have arisen in place of races in many areas. I was pleasantly suprised how keyed in I was in the morning and was basically treating in like a race, even being quite nervous on the drive out because I wanted to set a solid time and get a good hard training run in for the World Trail Running Championships later this month in Annecy, France.

We left South Jersey shortly after 6 am and drove out to Pen Mar Country Park, luckily getting there just as the caretaker opening up the facilities. The forecast was good, almost too good; with temperatures pushing towards 80F by the afternoon.

At the car park I quickly found the AT (Appalachian Trail), used the rest room, and then walked out past the rail tracks to the first state boundary at the Mason Dixon Line, marking the PA/MD state boundary.

After a quick photo I set off, passed the rail tracks and steadily plodded along a good trail feeling pretty happy. I was actually really looking forwards to just a long day on the trail. The first few miles were fairly quick then there was a fairly rough boulder climb but the route from there to the first road crossing at Foxville road was pretty nice and I arrived there already 10 minutes up on the previous FKT schedule. The early miles were all pretty steady but already I was sweating heavily and after approaching the 10 mile point on the second major climb I started to get concerned about water. Again the trail improved and I was back steadily running at 8-9-10 minute miles and was soon at Pogo’s Memorial Campsite. Here I grabbed some water but then realized I was at a campground so poured it away and refilled from a stream a few hundred yards away but again questioned its quality so thought that may mean I’d have to reach the 21-22 mile re-supply point with just the 1 liter of water I was carrying in my Ultimate Direction running vest.. Thankfully at the I-70 crossing I hit a support station for the ‘Hike Across America’ (HAM) challenge hike and after much confusion that I wasn’t showing my number they allowed me to fill up.

The profile does not show that there is actually a fairly steep climb up to Washington Monument but that went quick enough and soon enough I could see Gwen parked in Washington Monument State Park and grabbed food and re-supplies.

This was almost the half way point and I was already 40 minutes up on the previous FKT and knew they slowed a lot over the second half so was pretty confident I’d get close to the 7:30 I was aiming at. During the first half I ate 1 gel, 2 bananas, 2 kind bars and a block of cliff shots and at the car I had a smoothie, 2 sandwiches and drunk some coke. 

The plan was now to meet Gwen somewhere in Harpers Ferry in another 20 miles. This gave me a good chance to get used to running for 3+ hours unsupported which I may have to do at Annecy as re-supply points are much less frequent than at other ultra’s.

Setting off again I felt good but Gwen came sprinting after me with her GPS watch as I was concerned mine would run flat so we had planned that I would take hers from half way. The next stage went through to turners gap and then joined the JFK section of the trail through to Weaverton and then down to Harpers Ferry.  Having ran JFK I was therefore confident I’d take a chunk of time ove the next few miles but what I didn’t realize was the JFK route takes minor roads to avoid the roughest climbs on the AT section here. Although the climbs are only 800 feet at a time the trail is exceptionally rough here and very slow going. Pushing 26 miles in and it now getting to the hottest part of the day I was really chugging through the water.

But soon enough the trail improved and I was back making good time as I descended down to Crampton Gap and again was offered water supply by the HAM group, but again they couldn’t seem to grasp that I was just someone out for a run and not part of their challenge hike.

Mentally I’d broken the run into sections, run the first 21 miles to Gwen, then to the 31 mile point at the Gap, then to 37 mile point after Weaverton, then to mile 40 in Harpers Ferry then the last section up to Loudoun Heights. Getting to the Gap and feeling good on the penultimate climb of the day I felt I’d broken the back of the challenge now and made good time to the long descent from the top of Weaverton cliffs and down to the rail crossing.

From here it’s a quick flat 2-3 miles to the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, over the Godwin Byron Memorial footbridge and into Harpers Ferry where the fun began.

The HAM group called me their way so I went over and they just could not understand that I was not in their challenge, so eventually they pointed me on my way but not on the AT, a cut through to save time, so realizing that I then backtracked into the center of Harpers Ferry and picked up the trail along the cliffs to wards the next bridge where I met Gwen on the trail again.

With just 2-3 miles to go I grabbed some Gatorade, water and a few bars and set off for the final climb but was delayed by being chased by 2 big pit bull/boxer things that were off the lead and chasing me. Obviously just being playful but I was running towards a major road and had to double back to return these dogs and gave the owner a few words about having his dogs under control. I don’t mind dogs but those who aren’t so keen would not have been happy with 2 big dogs chasing them and nipping at them, playful or not.

The final 800 foot climb is short, a tad rough and I broke into a walk in places but soon touched the border post after 7:29:51 of being on the go.  There is a fair bit of debate about where the challenge actually ends. The previous FKT stopped at the signpost at the top of the climb with a sharpie ‘WV/VA’ border sign marked on. Others say it continues another kilometer to the remains of an old post where you can see down left into Virginia proper. After finishing I continued on to see if I could find that point and went up the next day to check. On hiking up the next day we found a National Park Warden erecting a ‘Virginia/West Virginia State Line’ sign on to the post which I originally stopped the watch on so that makes a nice obvious finish location to this FKT. So for now I think that is where the FKT should officially end.

I think sub 7 is possible on knowing the route and better conditions. The AT is fairly well sign posted but before and through Harpers Ferry the sign posts get infrequent and especially in Harpers Ferry itself it is easy to go astray. I think 7:30 is a nice solid time and hopefully it encourages a few more to try to better this time and create more of an FKT scene in the mid-Atlantic States more similar to those in the Catskills, Adirondacks and North East where many FKT’s have now been established.

My watch made it 41.4 miles but all the way through I was coming up short on my GPS mileage against posted mileage in various guidebooks so I think the challenge is nearer 43 miles.

Kit worn:

Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek Vest with 2 x 500ml water bottles

Scott T2 Kinabalu trail shoes

Food eaten:

5 bananas

1 peach

1 strawberry and banana 500ml smoothy

750ml coke

3 x 500 ml Gatorade

2 x ham and cheese sandwiches

2 x GU gels

3 x Kind bars

1 set of cliff Shots

Strava details: https://www.strava.com/activities/297528560

FKT boards page on the challenge: http://fastestknowntime.proboards.com/thread/538/state-challenge-pa-md-wv?page=1&scrollTo=2922

Four state Challenge information page: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1903734

At the PA/MD border and Mason Dixon Line marking the start of the challenge

At the final border post marking the border between VA and WV

The old border sign marked by a sharpie now replaced with an official sign.