Mourne Sky Run

Thursday 22 October, spend a half day and night in Belfast. Seen the Cathedral Quarter as it came recommended by a friend and the taxi driver. Not sure what I saw besides I think Albert Memorial clock. Went into a sports shop,  Jackson Sports Belfast, which I highly recommend. Bumped into a guy working there, not literally of course, who also was doing the Sky run.

Then went to see where the Titanic was build. Seems the Irish are very proud, but I didn't see, on the outside, the operative: But the ship sank and lots of people died. But maybe that's ok. Was cool walking through shipyards. They show an industry that actually builds stuff, and I like that.

Walked back to the hotel, which had schoolclasses of little boys playing the most boring game in the world, Cricket. But hey whatever people like.

Went out for dinner at Ribs and Bibs. Where I had chicken wings and ribs. Not bad, not great.

The Friday morning I went to CrossFit Belfast. What an amazing box. And a great guy. Did 45 minutes of open gym with squats and wall ball shots and a bit of rope climbing. When I asked how much, he said, it's free. So wanted to buy a t-shirt. Sold out. So donated to their charity. If you into CrossFit and go to Belfast, go there.

Went to pick up the car to drive to Killyleagh to meet Rob Jones and Caoimhe his wife and baby girl for the first time. Very welcome at Rob's mother in laws house for lunch. Met his sister in law (that is a bit of a guess tho). Fab house, near the sea, in the middle of nowhere :-).

Then went down to Newcastle where I was staying in the Cherry Hill Lodge. Very nice, proper home cooked French Toast for Breakfast.

Saturday morning the start of the race. It was raining, which would disappear at about 10;00. For some unknown reason I got interviewed by Channel 4. This seems to be on tv sometime in November. It'll be either after 21;00 or some beeps will be in there. Think Rob and Simon thought it was pretty funny they chose me.

So the event Mourne Sky Race, in the Mourne Mountains is pretty tough, 35k and 3,370 meters of climing. Unfortunately I had to DNF at 15k as my right leg kept on refusing going up the hill. And to do something like the race, see below what it looks like, you need both legs. It was very slippery but the scenery was pretty good. Shame I had to bail out, but such is life. I can live with that. I would recommend the event. Well organised, in a great environment. I may have to try again next year.

Was good meeting new people, and seeing old friends.  Ian Corless, was there and it's always a pleasure getting his pictures. Met his lovely girlfriend Niandi for the first time, who herself is a pretty ace runner as well.

When Rob and Simon finished, we went for some food and drinks. It's always a pleasure to see Rob after a race. He looks totally waisted, which is a compliment by the way.

So despite the DNF, great day out in the Mourne Mountains, sun came out, great people, nice food. Rugby (which was also boring).

Had dinner later that evening in a local Newcastle curry house. Seemed very new, and food was good.

Luckily had changed my flight to 07:35, so had to wake up at 04:00 but at least the clocks went back. George Best City Airport Belfast so far has been good to me. BA even managed to land the plane in LHR 30 minutes early. How, I have no clue, but am not complaining.

So good weekend in Ireland. Could have even gone to Martin Muldoons wedding party but that was a little out of the way.

Ok, up to the next event which is Dusseldorf Marathon.

Northern Ireland

I landed at George Best City Airport. As usual BA was late, they are a crap airline. Cannot fly on time. Been to Belfast before, but never really into it. Been here for work a few times and once to go up north to the Giants Causeway. Different blog, May 2013. Great place tho the Giants Causeway. 

In the hotel around 15:00. George Best seems a good airport. Quiet. Took taxi to the Holiday Inn Express, funny street. Not sure what to make of it. Went into town, recommended by taxi driver and my friend Martin was the cathedral quarters. So went there. Not sure but seems nice. Went into a sports shop. Chatting with the guy about how cold or not the Mourne Mountains would be on Saturday for the Sky Run, one of the guys said he did it last year and is doing it again this year. So will see him on Saturday. Seems I have enough kit. Good shop tho, all sorts of outdoor gear I like. But didn't get anything.

Then walked to the Titanic museum. They are very proud of the Titanic here in Belfast. Maybe they missed the news it hit an iceberg and sunk and just about everybody died. Marvel of engineering or not. Dying seems not a good thing in my book.

Tomorrow, that is Friday 23 October, going to try Open Gym in Reebok CrossFit Northern Ireland. Should be good.

Weather forecast seems ace. If you like sleet and cold and wind. Which I don't really.

Had dinner in a strange place. Ribs and Bibs on Botanic. Strange but ok tho, if you like ribs and wings you can't go wrong. Weird inside tho, with pallets, but a cute waitress, so who really cares.

In Ireland the PSNI (that is the police) goes to Starbucks rather than their cousins in Boston to a donut place. They look the part tho in NI. Not like those in England, that look like security staff. 

While I was at LHR (guess this part should really be at the top) went to Giraffe, which is like a food place. My favorite at LHR T5. Also went to WH Smith, where the 5p bag actually is sold for 15p. Seems something strange there. But they claim it's a bag for life, whatever the fuck that means. Bit like warranty for life. Whose life, the thing or you?

Belfast feels remarkably like Boston. Guess no surprise as lots of the Irish went to Boston as they were starving and only had potatoes or something. So I asked an Irish friend, do I need to bring something and she says potato bread. Which they sell in Waitrose anyway. Strange people those Irish, but the girls are pretty stunning. This lady passes me and she is wearing tight trousers made out of what looks like wetsuit rubber and Doc Martens. Now normally I would not really be into that. But I guess in Belfast normally goes out of the window. They are pretty laid back tho, those Irish. Not as up tight as the English. Seems more European. 

So tomorrow chocolate cake at Robert's inlaws (at least that is what he said). Funny I've not met his wife and nor will I tomorrow. Then onto Newcastle, where this 35k and 3,500 meters hight gain is on Saturday. The main reason I am here. Gonna be good, but cold, some old friends and for sure new friends.

No idea how long these 35k going to take but guess I maybe lucky if it's 7 hours.

Funny, I was talking with Martin Muldoon, an Irishman, who just got married to Sarah his sweetheart in Hawaii the week before he did the Ironman World Championships, where I think he came 7th in his age group. Not bad I would think by any stretch of any imagination. He invited me tomorrow or Saturday to his wedding parties about 45 minutes from where I am staying. I would love to, but doubt it's clever the evening before a race and do-able the evening after. So we need a London thing.

Well that is it for now. More on Sunday about the race.

The past, present and future.

It has been a while. Almost 6 months since I posted. Guess I was occupied with other stuff. Has lots happened. Yes it has.

For starters I finished my 2nd Marathon des Sables. Which had its 30th anniversary. How was this special. Well it had the longest long stage, despite the one in the year with the flooding being about 800 meters longer. So typical MdS for you.

This year MdS was special, in the sense that I ended up in a totally random tent with great people from all over the world. Sean (Irish in Ireland), Abdel (Moroccan in Australia) , Leigh (South African in Switzerland , Genis & Tanya (South Africa), James (Australia) and ????? from New Zealand.
We had a special guest, Sir Ranulph Fiennes coached by the always modest Rory Coleman.
The ladies was won by one person. All stages. Elisabeth Barnes.
I ended up in this tent as the evening of the arrival it was dark, didn't know where to go, Leigh and I agreed to be in the same tent. And that was it.

The 91.x km through the night was fun. I created poem for the Dunes. Basically only had the word fuck in there. But it was good fun.

The Friday evening there was a band and music and food and drinks and rest.

My main mistake, probably again, was I walked more than I should have and trained less walking than I should have. So hopefully 2018 will be better.

It was an honour to meet Tanya Pieterse, who came back every evening looking like she had been in the worst bare knuckle fight ever, but finished.

When I was back I signed up for the North Downs Marathon. Didn't really realise it was only two weeks to go. Never been to Box Hill and NDW before. But really liked it. The marathon time was the worst in the world and I was lucky I finished within cut-off. Basically I missed the turn onto Box Hill stairs and went all the way down. So I had to go up, get up the stairs. Meet a friend and we chat a bit (like 10 minutes) continue, get to the half way mark (a backpack on a sandy track). As it was a very nice day, hotter than thought, at the 9 mile checkpoint parking there was a ice cream van. So guess what I got a double 99p. Why not I thought. Going up the stairs again this couple asks if I want to pass, but I can't be that bothered. She then looks at  my buff and states she did the MdS. So guess what another 15 minutes of chatting. In the end, good marathon, shit time, met cool dudes and girls, fab medal, and great day out on Box Hill. What better way to waste a Sunday. :-)

I've spend more time doing CrossFit and I have seen a significant difference. More mobile (knowning full well I should be much better), stronger, leaner, fitter. And great box that I train at. Good group of friends, where we do social and training. Nando's seems to be the place to be for some of us all the time and all of us some of the time, or something like that.

Pretty sure no more events this year. Did the Kingston Garmin Run, which was fun. After that we did a WattBike session at Nijnga Cycling. Thought I was going to die, trying to keep up with the coach. Didn't do half a bad job at it tho.

Next year two events coming up.
Dusseldorf Marathon in April
TransPyrenea - traversing all of Pyrenees 895km on foot.

Ok this is it and I'll be back soon. Will keep it up better.

MdS 2015 30th anniversary

Just one blog about the event and the journey. I am not going into detail of my training, just high level.

So what was my training:

11 sessions in Kingston University Heatchamber of which one with the famous Danny who not only runs fast but talks a lot ;-) as well during that, at about 12k per hour in 39 degrees. Guess is part why he is so good. 

CrossFit

Cycling

Running (with and without 10kg pack or vest). I was lucky that I still lived in Zurich so I had Uetliberg, Zurich Berg and Zollikon Berg at my doorstep.

Healthy food (95% of the time)

In the Heatchamber the later Queen of the Desert, Elisabeth did a good number of sessions after me. Always nice to meet friends at 0700 in the morning.

It is also where I met Gemma, who if not first then for sure 2nd or 3rd to the throne. Later she and I spend 6 hours or so in a bus to the first bivouac, chatting. Hope I didn't bore her too much, but as she accepted my friend request, I guess not too much.

A new friend Farah, joined me for 2 sessions, but unfortunately she had to drop out of the MdS later with a bit of a problem. Not for this blog, but need to give her a call to check up.

This was my 2nd MdS, the first one was 2013. 2014 was a bit too many DNF's, so I had to fix that.

In Zurich I met through the FB page Leigh and we met up a number of times. And been friends since, I would like to add.

So:

Met up with Leigh at Hilton LGW and many others the evening before the flight. We bumped into this gentleman who was there with wife and kids and I asked if he was doing the MdS. He said he was sorry he was not, would love to  but with 3 kids not that easy. We chatted a bit with him and his wife, introductions done. It wasn't till later when talking with Ian Corless who seemed a mutual friend, that I realised the lady was nobody else than Liz Yelling. Let's not go into what I said, but Leigh may remember.

Day 1:

Flight to Ouarzazate, not very full, so my own row. Hooray. Arrival, took a while as there are only 2 immigration desks, and about 500 people is pushing the limit. But the sun was out, so who cares.

Into the bus, to the bivouac 300km or so down the road.

This is where Gemma and I chatted, and she told me she was just going to finish. Well she did. As 5th lady or so (or maybe better, sorry Gemma if I am wrong :-))

Arrival in camp, typical MdS, French, Moroccan, full good intentions, not so well thought through. It was the intention you ended up in a tent with people from the country you live in. In my case that would be UK. As Leigh and I agreed to share a tent, we decided to high jack a AU, SA, NZ tent. So I ended up in a tent with:

Abdelhay - Moroccan living in Australia 

Leigh - South African living in Switzerland

Terri - New Zealand, with a dual NZ/USA passport

Genis and Tanya  - South Africa. Genis and I know eachother from the 2013 edition.

Sean - Irish living in Northern Ireland

James - Australian

Michiel - Dutch living in the UK. I made a point that all above countries one way or the other have enjoyed the dutch ruling the world (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Northern Ireland) but maybe not always so positive, but I leave it to your history knowledge to work out how the Dutch are connected to all these countries and their legacy. So probably the most multi-national tent. 

Day 2:

We get to know eachother, and have to get used to eachother but it seems to go rather well. We learn that James and Terri work in the medical profession, Genis is a consultant, Tanya a mother and wife (apologies if you have a job Tanya), Sean is a police officer, Leigh is in IT in a bank, Abdelhay works in the navy and does some running (like a 2:12 marathon), and I am self employed.

So it is admin day. Which means standing in line. That is fine at least food is provided. Lucky me gets his ECG re-evaluated. Not so bad as the guy who forgot his, pays €200, 2 hour penalty to come back in his tent to find his. So admin done, bag handed in and wait and chat and walk and piss where you like.

Day 3:

36km and a bit. I walk more than I wanted. But such is life. I arrive back after about 7 hours and stage  is done. No blisters, feel good and look forward to stage 2. As the route is very similar to 2013 there is a lot I remember and recognize. Which is both good and bad. You sort of know what to expect and know when there is a CP or even the bivouac.

Day 4:

31km and a bit. Jebels and dunes and the rope. The rope helps you the last 10 or so meters to get to the top and you will see the bivouac. This bivouac is still about 5km away, but as I know it's a long descent over black rocks than some more rocks than some dunes then 500m or so to the end, it's not as torturous as the first time. 6 hours or so or a bit more. You can look that up if  you are interested. And stage 2 is done.

Day 5:

37km which takes me again somewhere between 7 and 8 hours. The mails in the evening are always welcome. I still feel good. No real issues with blisters or feet. But in the back of your mind is that Day 6 is the start of the long stage, 91.7 km. But so be it. Overall the nights are a lot colder and the days are fresher due to a nice wind. Without the wind it is equally hot as in 2013 but as the wind is mostly there it is helpful. We had a sandstorm in the camp, not sure what day, but at least I had one of those as well.

Day 6 and 7:

91.7 km start. Leigh and I decided to do this together. So we jog a bit, run a bit, walk a lot. We agree we will have to go to the 63.3 km CP and would like to arrive around 01:00 on the Thursday. Which we sort of make. Feet needed some TLC so that was done at the first CP. The stretch from CP3 to CP5 sort of 40-63 km is torture. Dunes, dunes and more dunes and wind. Feels like I am near the beach but no sea. I've really had it with the f***ing dunes and sand and want them to go away. However it is called Marathon des Sables, so clearly sand plays a big part. Upon arrival in CP5 there is hot tea as much as you like. Leigh and I sleep for about 3 hours. Well I sleep about 30 minutes as I couldn't sleep until I worked out it was due to my feet being bandaged up to tight. When I remove that I fall asleep to wake up 30 minutes later. To get my feet re-bandaged. We leave again at 05:15 for the last 28k. In the dunes we meet Paddy, who I keep on calling Gary. These dunes lead to CP6 which was the CP I slept in 2013. After that CP it is another 18k or so to the bivouac. Paddy, Leigh and I stay together and around 13:30 we arrive back in the bivouac. 

During the day from CP2 I believe I walk up with Abdelhay, who clearly knows how to do this. Short cut, means a direct line. And we end up at the jebel where I bump into the French firemen and the disabled kids, which is always a beautiful experience. Abdelhay climbs that jebel as if it is flat, it takes me a bit (not much tho) more effort. At the top, there is the rope and Leigh again and the rope is to help us down.

Of course the cold coke at the end of the day is pretty cool

So as I said, back in the camp and between us and the medal is only 42.2k for Day 8.

It must be said, that everytime we worry about Tanya, but the chick is tough as old leather and she keeps on pulling, pushing through and is still with us. Respect.

Day 8:

42.2k - marathon stage and at the end there is a medal. We all decide to do this the way the individual wants it. Too  my surprise I run about 30km and then get lazy for the last 12k. I keep on staring in the distance to see the bivouac but see nothing. Because it is on my right not in front of me.

So I arrive back, and there is the me, finished, 2nd medal.

I need some feet TLC so go to the Doc Trotter tent. When I lay there and keep on falling asleep while the lady doctor does my feet. She asks if I washed them, which I did, but they were still pretty dirty. Until she realises the sand is actually inside the blister. So that is skin cutting. Well cutting skin, cleaning and industrial strength iodine into it. About 90 minutes later, operation successful, patient alive.

I walk outside and as I hadn't smoked, I really want a smoke. I see these 3 people, two ladies and a man having drinks and smoke. So I walk over, ask if I can have a cigarette. They ask me about the event and have to laugh that after 260km through a desert I am asking for a smoke. They also offer me some Pernod, which I actually accept, but clearly just a little. We chat for about an hour, and they say they flew down to listen to the concert. I didn't see the concert, too tired but I actually think they were the artists.

To our surprise at least there are cold drinks and snacks. Later in the evening there are the prices. So Mds finished, just a charity stage to go. The medal was in honor of my father who passed away last year April and was so excited when I did the MdS the first time.

Day 9:

Charity stage 11.5km. We decide with James, Sean, Abdelhay and Leigh to get it over asap so we can get in the bus to the hotel. About 1:45 later we are done. Get in the back of the bus and I fall asleep on the last row that is empty.

So we arrive back in Ouarzazate 7 hours later. Mainly as I think the lead car was holding us back as there as it showed later was an issue with hotels. Not for us but most others. 

We check in, we change the 2 people room to a 3 people room and Leigh, Sean and I share a room. I am given as a veteran of 1 more MdS a room alone. We have some very interesting and personal talks. Which bonds us even more. But we are back in the hotel, food and drinks. Shame that everything I eat wants to get out immediately. No pain, just wants out.

Day 10:

Free day. The guys go to the film studios after we picked up the finisher t shirts (which seem and are very small) and I stay in the hotel. Still not able to eat. Pottering around.

Day 11:

Departure day. Sean, James and Leigh leave early morning. My flight is not till 18:00. So Abdelhay and I go into town, walk around, buy some stuff. I am then dropped of at the hotel as my stomach is still not a happy bunny. I take a taxi with Ian and Michelle to be ahead of the bus, and we check in without queues. Again, plane not very full, so a row to myself. Arrival at LGW, where the incompetence of the UK airport industry strikes. Nobody to open the door and the door doesn't want to open when the person finally arrives. But am home by train and taxi around 23:30 on Monday evening.

And I haven't really slept since Monday evening. 

Notable things:

The bonding between total strangers

Elisabeth's domination of all stages

Shaun asking Susie to marry him

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

The strength of Tanya

The couples argument as one of them wanted and dropped out

Friends for life

Danny being his consistent self in a very strong male field

Hate of the 91.7km to ask the question why not 100km two days after. Am sure tho that if somebody would have said during the long stage it is actually 100 rather than nearly 92 that person would not be with us

The beauty of climbing and descending dunes and jebels. 

So this is basically my story of the 2015 MdS. I will not be back until 2023 which is 10 years after my first MdS. However, I have already been looking at 2017. But actually want an even year to do it the other way around.

That's all folks.

Marathon des Sables 2015 - 30th anniversary

Well they say what goes around comes around. After 2013 MdS where I met the greatest people ever, I am back for more.

A very different training approach. CrossFit, Running in the mountains, the forests and the road. But also 11 sessions in the HeatChamber of Kingston Uni. 

The Sahara is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It brings you back to bare existence of life. I'm glad to leave my mobile in a bag in a truck for 7 days. 

There is a significant number of "celebrity" runners, but normally these people do not have a normal celebrity attitude. Which is cool.

Probably the most famous is Sir Ranulph Fiennes. 

Well this year, it's going to be as much fun as 2 years ago. Well different, as I will miss my fab tent 102. But the Richmond Park mini flag will be there.

I'm not going to bore you with my training, nutrition or other stuff.

So if you want to write me during the event 05-11 April

www.marathondessables.com - subject - 324 (bib), name-michael

tracking http://mds.vigeosport.com