A more detailed write-up of my experiences of this years Berghaus Dragons Back Race will follow shortly but for now, here is a brief photo diary of my five-day journey from Conwy Castle in North Wales to Llandeilo in the south. In all, we covered 320km and climbed over 15,000m as we made our way across some of the roughest…
Well, here we go. At 7am on Monday, I start the biggest mountain race of my running career, The Dragons Back race, covering 315km over five days down the spine of Wales. I’ve struggled to write any meaningful pre-race thoughts all week, as this is a race that both excites and terrifies me in equal measure. For years I’ve wanted…
Once again that I have been really slack at writing these last few months. After my confident declaration at the start of January that I would like to write more regularly, I went in the opposite direction and have written nothing at all. The reason? Yes, you guessed it, injury once again! As you can imagine, this got me quite down and…
2018 marks my third year travelling to Coniston and starting Lakeland 100. With one successful completion under my belt in 2016 and a DNF due to a hip injury in 2017, it was one all on the score sheet and I was keen to make amends for last year and move 2-1 up. I had entered Lakeland before receiving my…
I am not sure where I even begin with this one, such has been the roller coaster ride to get to this point. My build-up Twelve months ago I made the decision to travel north to Coniston for my second running of Lakeland 100. My original plan, to follow-up my successful completion in 2016, was a sub 30-hour attempt in…
Well where do we even begin with this one? As I initially sat down to write this report, I was not even sure I could recollect all of the course, such was the wave of emotion and mental turmoil that I suffered during this race. Don’t get me wrong, the event itself is superb. Professionally organised by the team at…
Well what a twelve months it has been! This time last year I was in my final build towards Pennine Barrier, having had osteitis pubis diagnosed but confident I could still start Lakeland 100. A year later and despite a great run at Pennine Barrier, my hips fell apart shortly afterwards. With a DNF at Lakeland, a stress fracture in…
Well that is another year wrapped. One that started so well and finished in a totally different place than I had originally planned. The racing year 2017 started quickly and within a couple of weeks I was into my first A race of the year, standing in a cold and snow laden Edale on the start line of The Spine…
Well that went spectacularly badly! For those that read my pre-race thoughts on Lakeland 100, you will know that I was carrying a pelvis issue into the race but hoped I had done enough to get myself around the course. How wrong I was and on Friday night I experience my first ever race DNF (did not finish), pulling out…
Well that’s my third race of the 2017 season ticked off and phew, what a scorcher! Prior to the race I outlined my pre-race objectives as usual, and I am pleased to say that I managed to knock them all out of the park, finishing in joint 13th place in a time of 11:13. Right well that is the high…