Thursday 26 July 2012

Lakeland 100

The 2011 Lakeland 100 start line

The Lakeland 100 is a classic 104 mile circuit of the Lake District with a 40 hour time limit now in its fifth year. Last year I failed to finish due to a foot injury but the extra mileage and ascent covered during the Tour du Mont Blanc a couple of weeks ago should stand me in good stead. The event starts from Coniston at 5.30 on Friday and heads off towards the Duddon Valley. This year you can follow competitors live at Sport Ident. All being well I'll have completed the route by 9:30 Sunday morning...

The video below is from my efforts last year

Trail Running magazine


Please check out the latest edition of Trail Running magazine available from today. There's a surprisingly good article on Head cams!!

Sunday 22 July 2012

Running the TMB (slowly!)


 Mont Blanc from the Italian side

20 years ago I walked the Tour du Mont Blanc with CCOPS, my college outdoor pursuits society. It was a great trip but an 80 litre rucksack full of camping kit and 4 season boots meant it was a hard challenge spread over 11 days. A quick alpine break has allowed us to trot around the classic 110 mile circuit in under 7 days with a tiny pack and fell shoes.We mixed and matched a few short days with a couple of monsters and took all the high level options we could. Lots more photos on my Flickr page.

Very little snow left on the high passes

Stunning scenery above Contamine



Great views of Mont Blanc on day 3

Mont Blanc from above Courmayer

The climb out on Courmayer


Approaching the Refuge Elena for the world's best chocolate chaud!


Climbing towards the final col


A friendly Ibex

The Aiguillle du Midi from Chamonix at journeys end

Saturday 7 July 2012

Arrochar Alps Fell Race

Race winner Ben Bardsley crossing the dam 

Today I was out with my camera on the Scottish hills supporting runners in the Arrochar Alps fell race, a British Championship counter for 2012. Drizzle and low cloud didn't slow the leaders down on this long and demanding course which summits four Munros from a start at sea level. Borrowdale's Ben Bardsley finished first breaking Billy Bland's record in the process. Full results are here and there's plenty more photos on my Flickr page.
 
Long lines of runners tackle the first of four big climbs