Nearing the end of the season

I can go on and on about the Marathon des Sables 2013. Clearly that was the event of the year for about 1050 people. It was a great event, and I will be back in 2015. I have made great friends. I have also met a few wastes-of-space. But that is life.

Three more events until this year is over. 

06 October, the Bournemouth Marathon, with Colin Brett, Wayde Edwards and John Skinner. I am sure Colin will be back home in London while we are finishing. But hopefully I will get my 03:45. Either way Bournemouth is a fun place so look forward to it.

13 October, Human Race Kingston Run. 8.2 miles, starting 5 minutes from my home at the Kingston market. Nasreen Suleman will be running this with me. Normally a nice event, start at 08:00 back home 09:15. 

20 October, the Amsterdam Marathon. Danny Kendall, Felix Allen and Joop Keizer will be there. This will only be my second event in he Netherlands. Hope it will be fun.

15 September I was able to squeeze in the London Duahlon sprint distance in Richmond Park. 10k run, 22k bike, 5k run. My run started 09:06 and I was back home 12:10. So can't complain. At least a multi-sport event as cycling has been far and between this year. 

Next year so far, 10th of May Transvulcania in La Palma. 83k run on a volcanic island. 

01 June, Switzerland 70.3 Ironman. 

I will do some individual write ups of the last events. 

For now, going for a quick run around the block.

Ultraks - Matterhorn - Zermatt

Above pictures from my event in Zermatt. Route - Zermatt - Ultraks

Obviously being from the Netherlands, where hills are rare and mountains are most likely non-existent. There were 3 distances, 16km, 30km and 46 km.
My time was 6.16
Time and information of my run.

Great event. Lovely city Zermatt. I stayed in the Primavera hotel. Good value for money. I had 2 evenings dinner in Walliserstube. Mainly as it was next to the hotel. Great place. Both recommended if you ever stay in Zermatt.

The run itself was hard. Altitude, height, off road. But some spectacular views. Very well organised. 3 starts. I  missed the start of the 46k. I was glad I only choose the 30k. Hard enough as it was anyway. At the last 30 minutes it started raining. Slowly but surely it changed into a downpour. But at least I was nearly there. The views of the mountains are second to none. It's fully marked, and where the 30K and 46K have to take a different route, it's clearly marked as well. The descents are quite technical sometimes. The climbs are not that technical, just high and long and don't stop.

Flickr with all pictures

This event is the same family as the Transvulcania in La Palma.

I would recommend the event. It's a bit of a trip. Flight to Geneva or Zurich and then a 3 hour train with  a change in Visp. Clearly an outdoor skiing town. Clearly cold, -3 the Sunday 25 August when departing.

I don't want to write loads of things, merely sharing some pictures.

Have fun.