To Connemara and Beyond ...

Unthought Known

Best of luck N. No pressure, just take it all in and enjoy the experience.

Mrs Mc

Best of luck N will be looking forward to the report

Neady83

Nop should be 5ish hours into his race by now. He's digging deep no doubt positive vibes from everyone on boards winging their way to him.

nop98

Finished in 8h26 (159th out of 218 starters on the day), brutal event but absolutely amazing day. The weather played ball and the event organization and volunteers were superb. The climbs seemed never ending at times. I nearly broke off one of my toes after smashing my foot into rocks/roots several times (one resulting in an embarrassing face-plant in the soft moss (could have been worse). 
I'm back in Seattle at the moment and about to hit the hay, I shall whip up a proper report tomorrow.

The Black Oil

Sleep well, N!

Annie get your Run

Excellent!! Delighted for you, can't wait to read the detailed report!! I doff my hat to you Ultra Runner Norb .

nop98

Orcas Island 50k - Feb 3 2018 - 8:26:07 PB

6 o'clock in the am, the morning after the day before, I'm awake and my legs are hurting properly.. I'll try to write down some notes as it is still fresh in my mind... Apologies if it is a little rambling.

I wrote a couple of posts before about the event itself and some thoughts about prep etc. I also found some nice pictures of the trails on Orcas just a week before our event (unfortunately the snow was gone by the time we got there).

But the short of it is, yesterday I found myself on Orcas Island, WA, a remote spot nestled in the Puget Sound between Vancouver and Seattle, to run a 50k ultra trail event. My first ultra event. There might well be prettier spots in the world, but this one surely ranks as the most wonderful spot I've ever seen.

Pre-race
My two colleagues (we'll call them Mick and Anto) and I head North from Seattle towards Orcas on Friday afternoon. It's a good 90 minute drive towards a hick-town called Anacortes, from which the ferry departs. Unfortunately it's overcast so the views aren't great, but what we can see is amazing. The ferry meanders its way between all these pretty islands. Armed with a map I try to identify all of them until Orcas, with Mount Constitution prominently recognizable, comes into view. It is really impressive, I had never expected it to be so massive.

We're stopping at a couple of places (Lopez Island, Shaw Island) before we arrive in Orcas, where we drive a few miles North to Eastsound, the only town on the island. Mick had organized a hotel and we check-in. It's quaint and Fawlty-tower-esque. Anto and I share a tiny room which made us laugh out loud. So far so good!

I had planned to go for a little leg-loosener run but the village is so tiny you can see all ends of it from our hotel. We decide to just walk about for a bit, stopping in the local shop for some breakfast supplies, as the hotel doesn't do breakfast in the off-season. We grab a beer, some food, and head back to prepare all our gear etc. Mick has decided not to start, he hasn't gotten enough training in and is just looking to have a nice day out. I half expected it and in hindsight, he was right. This race is way too hard to start off too little training.

Lights are out early enough and I catch some sleep, but mostly I am awake, wondering about the curious sequence of events and coincidences that has led me to this place at this time.

At about 5:30am, we're back up. I prepare Tailwind, force down some breakfast and energy bars, get geared up, check my backpack and drop-bag (for the 10th time). After loading everything into our car again, we head towards Moran State Park where the event takes place.

We're checking into the race, collect race-gear goodies and merchandize, look in awe at the super fit looking men and women (the men invariably wear beards). I must look very nervous because Mick keeps telling me that I'll be fine, sure what's the worse that can happen? Anto is aiming for about 6h30 and me for 8 hours, but we have really no idea what we're talking about. Finishing ahead of the 9 hour cut-off is really my only goal.

Just before race start, I even spot Gary Robbins, of oh-so-near Barkley Marathons fame.

We're all bundled outside, where the weather seems to be playing ball. After weeks of relentless rain, it's not raining today and not forecasted until the afternoon. The race-director, James Varner, warns us that we'll be getting very mucky and will be wading through some ankle-deep stuff at certain parts of the course. Nice.

Suddenly we're counting down, the Americans whoop and holler, me and Anto look at each other and shake our heads, wish each other good luck with a fist-bump, and off we go. He heads off and I let him go. I am running my first (and only) ultra martahon.

To the first aid-station
Length: 9.9km
Cut-off: 2 hours
Time taken: 1h30

We go uphill on the (only) road and soon veer off for the trails. The field is about 230-240 runners and I am trundling along towards the back. At this stage, the field is tightly packed along a single-track trail. We're going very slow (suits me fine) and the scenery is just gorgeous. There are all these small rivers coming off the mountains, carrying all the rain water from the past few weeks, through little waterfalls and wild streams. Just awesome.

At some stage, we arrive at the road again and head uphill. It is steep so I walk, so do almost everyone else. Loads of banter between the Americans/Canadians and I mostly just listen, silently.

After several kilometers uphill on the road, we finally reach the trails again, and won't see the road again until the finish. That uphill was hard but nowhere near the hardest of the day. I like going downhill, but this bit is tricky, and the folks around me are much faster and I struggle to keep up. Not that I particularly want to push myself at this stage. I settle in a nice group and negotiate the tricky trail down.

The first aid-station is much further than I expected and consequently, I am a little startled by my time, I had hoped to have banked at least 10-15 minutes more against the cut-offs. I am also ill prepared for the hustle and bustle of the aid-station. Some volunteer checkpoints your bib-number. "Good job two-four-eight!" "TWO FOUR EIGHT is IN THE HOUSE". All volunteers erupt and start doing things for me, filling my water bottles, trying to stuff food into me, asking me where I am from. As a result, I lose track of the little group I was in and I leave the aid-station by myself.

Up Mount Pickett
Length: 13km
Cut-off: 4 hours (2 hours for this section)
Time taken: 3h28 (1h58 for this section)

I find myself running alone for the first time and I don't like it, because of the added responsibility of keeping an eye on the couse markings. You can go for quite a while without seeing any markings and it freaks me out. Finally I catch up with a runner from Seattle and we get caught by 2 other runners. The four of us stay together until the next aid-station. They chat, I listen.

The route is along Mountain Lake which is gorgeous and overflowing onto the trail in spots. Eventually we reach two tiny picturesque lakes north of Mountain Lake, called Twin Lakes, and trail loops tightly around it. After managing to keep my shoes mostly dry up until now, we are finally met with a flooded part of the trail, a dozen meters long and no way around it. No choice but to go straight through the freezing water. The Americans whoop and holler, I just grit my teeth and get through it. Rather unpleasant to run with wet shoes and socks, but I am super happy not to have watertight shoes, as then the water can't come out. Eventually the gear dries enough to not notice it any more.

There are two nasty climbs up Mount Pickett before the aid-station, but the scenery is breathtaking. It's remote, half-dark due to the enormous trees and all their foliage, and the fog gives it an eery Harry Potter-esque feeling. Absolutely stunning, I feel very happy to be able to run along here.

I am keeping an eye on the watch and am again startled by the time elapsed. I don't think I'll get a lot of change out of the allocated 2 hours and again I had hoped to bank some time against the cut-offs.

Eventually we reach the remote Pickett aid-station which is a little less hustly and bustly. I ask a volunteer to make me more Tailwind and we have a little chat. He tries to reassure me that I am 30 minutes ahead of cut-off and that should be plenty. Eventually I am fuelled up and I am on my way. Again I am on my own as I leave the aid-station.

Back to Cascade Lake
Length: 10km
Cut-off: 5.5 hours (1.5 hours for this section)
Time taken: 5h04 (1h36 for this section)

I set off on allegedly the easiest section of the course, 10km along the south and east boundaries of Moran State Park. I am doing math - I need to cover this next session in 90 minutes to make the toughest cut-off at the North Arch aid-station and don't eat any more into my buffer. The toughest sections of the route are still to come after North Arch so I don't want to take any more time than I need to.

The start is a nice downhill section, and fun but I am starting to feel my legs, especially my knees. The track is very narrow, single-track and as it's right on the boundary of the Park, or sometimes even over, you see a couple of houses (or attempts at houses) that are built there (obviously you're not allowed to live in the State Park). I can't imagine living in such a remote place. The scenery remains stunning.

As we climb back over Mount Pickett, towards the camp area near Cascade Lake, I stub my toes a couple of times, but one time, on a clear section of mossy trail, I am momentarily distracted, trip hard and hit the deck. The fall itself doesn't hurt me (just the ego), but the second toe of my right foot feels like its been ripped off and hurts like hell. Some fellow runners are amused but do ask if all is good.

I continue carefully and soon, I run mostly on my own. There are course markings at every major turn but you can be running quite a while before seeing any (just following the trail). That's pretty nerve-wrecking because if you're off-course, you have no choice but to backtrack all the way to the last markers. At some point, I go for ages without seeing a marker and I am freaking out. Finally I see a lovely yellow marker and I celebrate my relief with my one and only comfort break of the day. I actually feel a lot better after that.

I am moving at a steady pace, not fast, but moving along. However, the legs are far from fresh and I feel how the constant stop-start nature (in response to the rolling course) is chipping away at my strength. What was I thinking that this is the easiest section? Eventually I can see Cascade Lake which means I'm closing in on the aid-station. The course keeps rolling back and forward and I run every section I can. There are some walkers on the trails and they are all so encouraging. I stop to get some high fives from some kids out with their parents.

I focus only on getting to North Arch in close to 5 hours and don't think about the rest of the race. Finally I get towards the west-end of the lake and I know I am close. Not quite in 5 hours but close enough, I try to relax.

At the aid-station, "TWO FOUR EIGHT IS IN THE HOUSE" again to lots of whoops from the locals. One of them offers to fill my bottle with "electrolytes" and I agree to fill one of them ("nothing new on race-day" is now out of the window). I collect my drop bag, to take the energy bars I had stacked in it and to drop my soaken wet gloves and hat. However, I forget to collect my dry hat and gloves which I will come to regret later. I take one small zip of the electrolytes and it tastes amazing (cold and fresh) so I ask for my second bottle to be refilled too. As I struggle to stuff everything back in the my drop-bag, one lady takes it all out of my hands, tells me she'll take care of things, and shoos me back out on the trail. The volunteers at the aid-stations were just amazing all day.

Up Mount Consitution
Length: 9km
Cut-off: 7.5 hours (2 hours for this section)
Time taken: 7h07 (2h03 for this section)

I leave the aid-station in the company of a nice woman with whom I'll run together for a bit. She ran the Dublin Marathon a few years ago (she couldn't quite recall the exact year, I was hoping it was 2015, and she apologizes for her no-longer fresh memory). We make our way to the signature badass climb of the race: in 3.5km we will climb 500 meters (known as the infamous Powerline climb), only to rapidly drop 200 of those bad-boys before regaining 300 meters in 2km over a switchback section.

Buoyed by reaching the previous aid-station in time and full of excitement about finally being on this famous part of trail, I soon leave my running buddy behind and set to powerhiking up. It's steep, brutally steep. Several runners ahead of me have to stop and rest or stretch. I don't have any cramp issues this time around and continue to plow up. We have to cross several ankle-deep ad-hoc streams of water coming down the mountain, which I negotiate without too much trouble. I take out my phone to take some pictures to illustrate the steepness (they didn't come out nice) but I notice my better half had sent a text before I got out of cover, to say Ireland had beaten France. "When in Rome", I must have thought, because I let out a few whoops and an "awesome!". Having great craic out there all by myself

I must have overtaken about half a dozen folks as we finally reach the left-hand turn onto the North Boundary trail, marking the start of the downhill section. In my pre-race planning I was obviously thinking I'd roll these couple of kilometers at a nice steady pace and recover in time for the next climb. However at this point I discover not all is well, I have gone too hard in the past few kilometers (insofar 15/16 minutes per kilometer can be considerd 'hard') and my right knee is starting to seize up. Walking is fine, running on the flat is okay-ish, running trickier downhills is not, as I can't really bend my leg. I love the downhills but not when you can't bend your legs.

With a lot of walking-running I manage to make my way downhill but get overtaken by several runners at this stretch. Again I bang my right-toe pretty hard and I have to stop in frustration to let the pain ebb away. A few swearwords might have been spoken at this time.

We finally reach the switchbacks up to the top of Mount Constitution. I was actually really looking forward as I figured my uphill powerwalking will see me through here. The walking was okay (not as good as before) but it was noticably colder here and I now realize my mistake of dropping most my gear at North Arch. Cold hands and a cold head, all I have left was an already wet buff and I wrap it around my head to stay warm. Overthinking things as usual, I am now worrying, not about the time but about the downhills that were to follow once we crest Consitution. That was not going to be fun with a unwilling knee.

Once again, the scenery is breathtaking and even in my detoriating state, I recognize it and admire it. The switchbacks are carved into a real steep, near vertical "wall" and once higher up, I was hearing runners hundreds of meters back below. Awesome awesome, with the woods of Mount Pickett this was my favourite section of the race.

Lovely as they are, the switch-backs are never ending, tough as nails, and the aid-station is further away than I expect. The volunteers at North Arch had said it was 4.9M (8km) but it was well over 9km when I finally reach the parking lot near the Mount Consitution tower, again to plenty of encouragement of some locals and finally the aid-station crew.

It was freezing up top and I huddle into the canopy, which had a heater on. One volunteer starts loading up my bottles with my now favourite electrolytes and another offers me warm soup (which I decline to not upset the stomach). I recognize this woman from a video about the Orcas 100 Mile race and tell her I am star-struck. She tells me to get a grip, we all laugh. It is sooo tempting to hang around here in the warmth and coziness with the volunteers, but Coach Neady's words of advice ring through: Don't stay in the aid-stations too long as you will not leave again.

Down to where there be Beer & Pizza
Length: 9km
Cut-off: 9 hours (1.5 hours for this section)
Time taken: 8h26 (1h20 for this section)

Reluctantly I head back out and hobble along as well as I could. My knee hurts and prevents any sort of decent running, only on smooth, even patches I feel I can run. As I had left the aid-station with about 7h10 on the chrono, I was convinced I would finish easily ahead of cut-off.

The first 3km of this section are high up Consitution's ridge, and on a good day, the views (of Lummi Island, the Cascade range, and the Candian coast) are amazing and I had planned to stop and take pictures. This was not a good day as all you could see was white. To be quite honest, I probably wouldn't have really appreciated it anyway.

I brace myself for the steep switchbacks down as I know it will be agony. At this stage again I hit my right foot of something (probably because I wasn't lifting it at all) and it hurts. I stop, drop a lot of f-bombs and am not enjoying myself at this stage. This was really the lowest point of the day, I slowly walk down and carefully negotiate the switchbacks. At about 44km, I am at almost 8 hours and I see my average pace is 11 min/km and for the first time, I start to panic, as that will not do if I want to get in before the 9h cut-off. And I really, really, really want to get in before the cut-off.

This was exactly the wake-up call I needed. I had to get out of this little pity-party and start to 'manage' myself. Stop feeling sorry for myself, damn it! Yes, I know it hurts but you gotta get going again. I start to run more sections and run it slightly more aggresively. I walk while rounding the switchbacks but unless it looks really slippery, rocky, or wet, I'll run. I don't care if it hurts, lift that damn leg. I even start talking to myself out loud for encouragement (no-one around so no embarassement caused). I lose track of the number of switchbacks (I knew there are 36 in total), but the lower I get, the easier the tracks seem to be and I am slowly getting my legs back. As I warm up (lower elevation and more running), I notice that running a little faster actually seems to avoid the pain in the knee, which is only more encouragement. All I need is a couple of decent (say 7:30 min) kilometers to stave off the danger of getting in too late. Dare I say I even enjoy this again?

Eventually I get down to Cascade Lake again and I know I am close and am okay. The legs are holding up and I am even picking up a couple of places. Again some day-trippers are encouraging and I stop to get high-fives of this cute little kid. A few final "insult climbs" (I had read and heard about them) right at the end slow me down but the trail meanders back to car-park, slowly uphill back to Camp Moran where the finishline awaits. I turn the corner, someone blasts out "TWO FOUR EIGHT IS HOME", I hear the cheers, pump my fists, high-five the race-director, and finish in 8h26 and change. What a super finish to a super day.

Anto had finished in ~7h10 and Mick had returned to watch us finish. They had just gone in to get out of the rain for a bit so missed my finish, so no picture exists, not that I care. I get myself a beer, the lads get me some pizza and more beer. The atmosphere in the camp is amazing with all the finishers, friends, live blue-grass music and all round chill-out feeling. What a sweet sense of accomplishment.

And that, my friends, is the story of me becoming an ultra-marathoner.

Strava Link
Relive
Official Results

diego_b

Great reading for a super bowl halftime there N, seriously well done and you’ve not hidden how difficult that race clearly is. Those cutoffs very tough tbh, glad you got through it and I hope it was all you hoped it would be and more. Recover well!

Annie get your Run

Absolutely delighted for you Norb, it went really well despite the knee issues! So when's the next one??!!!

Younganne

Fantastic achievement and not easy at all but you make it sound amazing. Congrats Nop, recover well and mind the toes.

Neady83

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Absolutely delighted for you Norb, it went really well despite the knee issues! So when's the next one??!!!

My sentiments exactly

A fantastic read Nop and a great race. Your honestly is refreshing and reminded me of all the things that happen in those races that I completely forget about e.g. the falling, the toe stubbing, the freaking out that you're going the wrong way

Well done on a great race, you dug deep when you needed to. I hope the toes are on the end and you're basking in the after glow

eyrie

Incredible! Great reading, and what an achievement. Well done!!

chickey2

Epic! Berkley marathons next!?

Huzzah!

Fantastic, just fantastic! An really excellent read about a great performance. Congratulations!

Bungy Girl

Well whoop whoop and a double holler, hats off to you Nop. What a spectacularly awesome achievement and a super report to boot. I will be reading that again. I don't believe for one second that's your last ultra. Well unless your toes do actually fall off but I assume they're on the mend ?

Wubble Wubble

Brilliant report N, an early contender for race report of the year. What a journey. What an event. It's always much more challenging when you're totally out of your comfort zone - those cutoffs seemed to be very tight.

Recover well, and have a safe journey back. Conn Ultra 2019 on the list, to complete the half/full/ultra trilogy?

The Black Oil

Fantastic report, gripping read! Well done.

Pomplamousse

Wowee, amazing nop! Congrats!:D

Murph_D

Congrats, N - a great read, and a terrific debut!

nop98

Test

nop98

Many thanks for all the kind words, so nice to read all the nice comments.

Some stats:

• 228 started the race, 180 finished. I was back-of-the-pack in place 160.
• My fastest km split was km1: 7:04 min/km (11:22 min/mi) followed by km47 (!!!!): 7:16 min/km (11:41). Now I'm not very fast but I usually manage to clock slightly faster splits than that...!
• Km 40 had most elevation gain (167m), whereas km 45 dropped a sweet 195m down.
• My slowest km was km 41 (19:47) but I think that included a couple of minutes chit-chat at the aid station.

diego_b wrote: »

Great reading for a super bowl halftime there N, seriously well done and you’ve not hidden how difficult that race clearly is. Those cutoffs very tough tbh, glad you got through it and I hope it was all you hoped it would be and more. Recover well!

Thank you Diego - best of luck with your ultra debut yourself. I gave the Superbowl a miss, sure, the local Seahawks were nowhere near it.

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Absolutely delighted for you Norb, it went really well despite the knee issues! So when's the next one??!!!

Thank you AgyR - there won't be a next one for quite a while! Thanks again for the watch, it complained about a low battery towards the end but stood up to the test!

Younganne wrote: »

Fantastic achievement and not easy at all but you make it sound amazing. Congrats Nop, recover well and mind the toes.

Thanks A - the toes are healing, but one of them is turning purple

Neady83 wrote: »

My sentiments exactly

A fantastic read Nop and a great race. Your honestly is refreshing and reminded me of all the things that happen in those races that I completely forget about e.g. the falling, the toe stubbing, the freaking out that you're going the wrong way

Well done on a great race, you dug deep when you needed to. I hope the toes are on the end and you're basking in the after glow

Thank you Neady - I would not have done it without all your advice.

eyrie wrote: »

Incredible! Great reading, and what an achievement. Well done!!

Thank you eyrie! Really appreciate the kudos!

chickey2 wrote: »

Epic! Berkley marathons next!?

Ha ha! No thank you! Gary R, who was 6 seconds (!?) outside the cut-off at the Barkleys last year, was DNF at about mile 15 on Orcas, or so I am told... :eek:

Huzzah! wrote: »

Fantastic, just fantastic! An really excellent read about a great performance. Congratulations!

Thank you Huzzah! Nice of you to comment!

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Well whoop whoop and a double holler, hats off to you Nop. What a spectacularly awesome achievement and a super report to boot. I will be reading that again. I don't believe for one second that's your last ultra. Well unless your toes do actually fall off but I assume they're on the mend ?

Why thank you Bungy G, you must have some American DNA. :cool:

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Brilliant report N, an early contender for race report of the year. What a journey. What an event. It's always much more challenging when you're totally out of your comfort zone - those cutoffs seemed to be very tight.

Recover well, and have a safe journey back. Conn Ultra 2019 on the list, to complete the half/full/ultra trilogy?

Thanks WW - I thank you very much but I don't think the Conn Ultra will be on the agenda anytime soon..

The Black Oil wrote: »

Fantastic report, gripping read! Well done.

Thanks TBO! Appreciate it.

Pomplamousse wrote: »

Wowee, amazing nop! Congrats!:D

Thank you Pompla! Nice to hear from you, hope you're running around a bit yourself!

Murph_D wrote: »

Congrats, N - a great read, and a terrific debut!

Many thanks Murph - hopefully see you around soon.

nop98

This was my first glimpse of Orcas Island, on the left, with her head in the clouds, is Mount Constitution, on the right is Mount Pickett. The picture doesn't do the immense size of either mountain any justice. Believe me, they were huge.


This is the view we saw when we arrived at the tiny ferry-port on Orcas:


And a close-up:


This is the course-map, it might help making some sense of the rambling race report:

Here's TWO FOUR EIGHT, deep in the pain-cave, as I am about to drop down onto the switchbacks down from Mr Constitution ridge at about 44km. Judging from how I am trying to cover my hands I must have been really cold.


Taken right after I finish as the lads are getting me beer and pizza. My poor Hoka's are a bittuva mess, it has taken more than two days to dry out:

Singer

Fantastic report nop, worthy of the effort you put into the race. I hope you recover well!

hot buttered scones

Well done that sounds and looks brutal! Recover well.

annapr

Well done Nop, loved reading this... that course map looks brutal, but fair play to you for hanging in to the end and hitting your goal too. Possibly not the easiest 50k you could have picked to start your ultra career :pac: :pac: but at least the damp and mucky conditions were familiar to you..

...ouch, ouch, ouch for your toes... hope the recovery goes well for you!

denis b

You look like you are a natural in that photograph Nop. Super, gutsy run on a very testy course. I can only imagine how important the mental aspect of this challenge is with the ascent and descent on Mount Constitution when you are so close to empty. Bravo: great effort to train for this and execute it in such style. I enjoyed every bit of this journey.

Just noticed that the course on the map resembles two orcas breaching and face to face.

Unthought Known

Brilliant nop, you should be very proud. Loved the race report. I saved it for the Luas to work, a great read.

Mrs Mc

Oh my god you are amazing what a fantastic report Nop you are some fighter so delighted for you what an amazing achievement and a super report. Well done.

nop98

I am a little overwhelmed by all the nice comments, thanks a lot again, a little too much for a back-of-the-packer, but very much appreciated nonetheless.

Singer wrote: »

Fantastic report nop, worthy of the effort you put into the race. I hope you recover well!

Ha, thanks Singer. The lady in the hotel asked "will we see you again next year" and my immediate response was "are you mad!?". I would love to go back to Orcas again, in fact, I'll retire there now if I could afford it, but I don't want to go through all the effort again 'just' for a run. Of course I fumbled the reply :rolleyes: into some half-polite "who knows!".

Said lady kindly allowed us to use her shower facilities afterwards (much to the relief of my fellow travelers), and I promptly wrecked her bathroom by barging in with my muddied shoes and clothes. Sorry. Anto at least had the decency to leave his shoes at the front door...!

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Well done that sounds and looks brutal! Recover well.

Thank you! Recovery is going well although I am still walking like (well, you can fill in the details here). This to great amusement of my colleagues.

annapr wrote: »

Well done Nop, loved reading this... that course map looks brutal, but fair play to you for hanging in to the end and hitting your goal too. Possibly not the easiest 50k you could have picked to start your ultra career :pac: :pac: but at least the damp and mucky conditions were familiar to you..

...ouch, ouch, ouch for your toes... hope the recovery goes well for you!

Many thanks Anna - indeed not the easiest 50k to start with (in fact, several folks commented on that during the race or in the aid-stations when I mentioned it being my first), but not a bad one to end the ultra-career with!

denis b wrote: »

You look like you are a natural in that photograph Nop. Super, gutsy run on a very testy course. I can only imagine how important the mental aspect of this challenge is with the ascent and descent on Mount Constitution when you are so close to empty. Bravo: great effort to train for this and execute it in such style. I enjoyed every bit of this journey.

Just noticed that the course on the map resembles two orcas breaching and face to face.

Thank you Denis, I think a lot can be helped by preparation. I am not a very talented runner but I prepared a lot by studying the course, having goals for each section, and not being too ambitious. I also managed to get the feeding right (forgot to mention that in the race-report). I had gels and energy bars for each of the first 3 sections and 4 Tailwinds (1 before, 2 to start the race with, and 1 made during the race). I also snacked at the aid-stations (Oreos and orange slices, mainly). Bizarrely, I was not at all hungry afterwards (although the beer and pizza tasted *mighty* fine). We only ate dinner several hours later in Seattle.

Unthought Known wrote: »

Brilliant nop, you should be very proud. Loved the race report. I saved it for the Luas to work, a great read.

Thank you - it amuses me that my ramblings are being consumed on the Luas!

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Oh my god you are amazing what a fantastic report Nop you are some fighter so delighted for you what an amazing achievement and a super report. Well done.

Thank you Mrs Mc! Glad you liked the report, hope your running is going well for you.

hillsiderunner

Your ramblings now being consumed on the ferry, I've been without internet in my house for the best part of a month, and didn't dare settle-in for a read at work. Well worth the wait. I can see from Strava that you have taken toe and knee out for a bit of exercise now.

You did well, I don't believe that's the last ultra for you. Excellent prep and running and mental toughness, but best of all is the report .