Home on the range ……….

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Mark Lyons

Home on the range ……….

After nearly 8 weeks away including a Himalayan mountain race and almost 2 weeks in Cyprus followed by several weekends in London I finally had a free weekend to enjoy the Scottish Borders and its beauty, and I have to say absence makes the heart grow fonder !!  I am lucky to live in a place where beauty is everywhere , you cannot turn a corner without seeing a view fit for a postcard , it may not have the epic grandeur of the Highlands but its in every way its equal in beauty and way more runnable if you crave great trails yet don’t want huge mountains and this weekend I craved just that .

The view from my garden…..

On Thursday night I sat down and  began to plan a run , one that would take me over my favourite local hills and trails and on to the summit of the extinct Volcano that fills the view from my houses every window. I am lucky enough to live  in a converted steading next to a working farm between Hawick and Melrose , sitting high on a hill I wake up to the most glorious views imaginable every morning , its inspiring to say the least. My planned run would have an escape route at 20 miles if I wasn’t feeling the love as this is often when my boredom threshold is hit , if I was buzzing I would continue to the Volcano and make it 31 miles in total.

Friday was a beautiful autumn day , soft light and sunshine , unfortunately it was also one that I spent  looking out my office window stuck at the Uni until after dark !!!  , I awoke on Saturday to gale force winds and light rain , I sat waiting for it to break as the forecast said it would be intermittent and eventually it did , I headed straight out the door , jumped my fence into the fields and headed to the Minto Hills ,after a few fields , a 5 bar gate and a bull  I soon topped out on the first summit before heading over the sheep trods to the second , the view here is amazing , you can see the Eildon hills over at Melrose from here and on a summer’s night its got to be one of the most dreamy views in all the borders , from the second top I headed high up the fields to gain height and followed a horse trail over the hills to Ancrum , the Scottish Borders is horse trail heaven , they are everywhere !! in the Borders horse riding is huge  and nobody who grows up  here escapes it , some time in their life they will ride a horse , even I was schooled in the equestrian arts way back in my youth. Its been a long time since I have been on a horse but now I appreciate it for the amazing trail system that I run on most weeks.

Some times I can’t believe there is no real trail running culture here , yes there are Kenny , Billy and the hardcore hill running beasts , but there is no-one really out hitting these trails … they are beautiful , accessible and 95% runnable , you can go far , climb hills that are hard but never to steep to require a walk , just drop a gear and slowly grind your way to the top. The scope for trail running events has to be huge , the horse trails are epic and there is no access problems , we are already the most travelled to county in the UK for our epic mountain biking so why no trail runners !!! maybe soon …….

Fatlips Castle … check out the new access road that climbs from the fields at the back

After skirting Ancrum I dropped down low and followed the bank of the river Teviot back along the valley floor before I began a steep climb up to Fatlips Castle , this is an old Pele tower and has the most outstanding view from its top .The castle is said to have obtained its unusual name from the habit of the members of the house to greet guests with less discretion than was considered decent at the time. One of the pleasures of a visit to Fatlips used to be that “every gentleman, by indefeasible privilege, kisses one of the ladies on entering the ruin. definitely my kind of castle … 🙂  …… check the view out , I made this a few years back and required me to stitch over 100 images together.

CLICK HERE

There has recently been a £200,000 grant for its renovation and when I approached I discovered there had been a large access road cut through the forest in to it , normally I would go crazy at this  kind of scar but this time it’s for good reason so I followed the new trail to the castle.I stopped here for 5 mins to enjoy the ambience.I looked at my Garmin and I had hit the magic 20 miles , from here I could make it home in 3 miles or I could head south to Ruberslaw the extinct Volcano adding an additional 11 miles , I was having such a good time that I had to think for the whole of 10 seconds , fuck it !! up the Volcano.Onwards !!  , it’s  a cracking climb up and has a full 360 degree vista of the Borders from its summit  , on a cold winters day you can almost see the sea , it’s also reason I get crazy druids at my door !!!  but that’s another story ……

The wind was picking up at this point and I decided to get moving , it was pretty much a slow descent for about 3 miles before a long slow climb  followed by a very steep finish on the Volcanoes summit and by the time I hit the ascent path it was blowing a gale force wind right in my face , I normally run this path , its steep then it contours nicely then steep again but the wind necessitated walking and by the time I reached the top it was FIGHTING!!!  I could hardly stand up !  I also noticed a huge black horizon line heading for me across the fields , a storm was coming !!!  I didn’t stay long , just enough to take in what I been missing for these last few weeks , I was buzzing at where I live , it was just breathtaking !! peaks , rolling hills , forests , rivers , fields all stretched out before me …….. beautiful with a capital B !!!!!!  The storm hit me with 5 miles to go but I didn’t care , I pushed on and soon I could see my house , I ran the final field and jumped my fence before sitting in the rain on my patio …… that was what Ultra running was all about for me , a mix of grand adventure, a beautiful journey ran on my feet , under my own power and as nature intended it !!!

I did a bit of tweeting along the way and many thanks to all who were following my progress , it’s always nice to have you onboard !!

remember all my blog posts are my own experiences and my interpretation, if you feel I’m wrong say so in the comments and we can also learn from your experience ………”

if you enjoyed reading this note then please have a further look at www.runner786.com and http://www.justgiving.com/marko3006/ ……….. all donation no matter how small makes a difference ….

 

Posted in Training, Ultrathon | 6 Comments

The Grand Canyon of the Himalaya …………………………

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Mark Lyons

Mark Lyons Himalaya

The Grand Canyon of the Himalaya …………………………

We had been travelling for 17 hours, over mountain passes 20,000 feet high and across a desert that appeared to stretch the entire length of India! , but now I saw it, far below us lay the mighty Tsarap-Zanskar river, this is what we had come for! And the scale of what lay in front made me feel that the life I had led before this trip , my years of kayaking , climbing and mountaineering were merely preparation for what lay ahead , a river so physically and mentally demanding that only a relative handful of people had kayaked it before us , it is a huge volume grade 4-5 torrent that rages through 220 miles of 2000 feet deep  sheer sided canyon , a river where a single mistake could cost a life , where escape was impossible and a river that had a starting point of 14,500 feet in one of the most remote and inhospitable Himalayan regions of India , Kashmir

 The Grand Canyon of the Himalaya …………………………

I have always focused my blog on running with occasional departures into inspirational people or equipment, mainly because I started the blog at the advice of my friend and Irish kayaking legend Adrian Shanahan to help in my MS Society fundraising when I started on my Marathon Des Sable goal , last night I found this old article , one of several that I have written in the past for magazines , after dinner presentations etc and I thought I would share it and some of my photos,  hopefully I will blog more of them if this one is well received ….. for those of you who dont know , I have been a kayaker and climber for nearly 20 years , travelling to many far flung destinations in search of the worlds  best rivers and rock faces , my shoulder injury now means I have had to leave that life behind but in its place is now running and all the adventures it has and is yet to bring so no regrets !!! I hope you enjoy the story, I certainly enjoyed the trip .. Unfortunately Chris Wheeler who was part of this trip later died in kayaking accident , he was an amazing character and an outstanding kayaker having ran many of the worlds hardest rivers , may he rest in peace and never be forgotten ………..

Arty kayak shot .. I was smoking some crazy weed man !!

Neil Farmer, my good friend and companion on many trips and expeditions had started to put all the pieces together a few years previous, he had done the research, worked out the logistics and sat bug-eyed looking at Google for weeks, he had again come up trumps, it looked like it would work, the team he had put together was strong, 7 good friends, all solid boaters with their own areas of expertise, and all great company on a trip. Andy Holtham , ex Ugandan river guide now living in Glasgow , Matt Brook an expedition boater from Stirling , Chris Wheeler a very skilled boater with more trips and experience under his belt than the lot of us put together , Colin Kingswood a guy who has guided on some of the largest rivers in the world including Chile and Austria , Dug Rae a young apprentice on his first big trip , and myself a kayaker who has chased the  dream of far away beautiful white water for nearly 15 years  .The only problem was that Neil and Andy were teachers with set holidays ,  meaning that we would have to enter the gorge during the peak of summer ,most kayak it in September at “low” level , for us though the water levels would be exceptionally high and it could easily be 45 degrees in the sun , the Himalaya is a harsh environment , even more so in the summer heat.

Leh …. Himalayan hub

Over the next 6 months all the pieces of an expedition are put together ,emails , telephone calls ,  flights , transport , equipment , maps , food , plans , plans , contingency plans and even more planning !!! And on the 24th of July  we all fly to New Delhi airport and from there on to Leh, a shanty town in the Himalaya sitting at 13,500 feet, built on one of the old trade routes over the Himalaya, cashmere wool, salt, grain and cannabis are apparently the main products still brought across by Donkey trains, this is to be our base for the next 3 weeks….

Walking off the plane in Leh the first thing that hits me is the altitude, nothing can prepare you for this, gentle acclimatization over time is the only way, we have to get all the equipment sorted and loaded into the awaiting transport, this proves a daunting task with limited oxygen, huffing and puffing we carry all our equipment from the airport to the trucks and then onwards to our accommodation.

 

Himalaya ….

Seeing the Himalaya for the first time is breathtaking , its on a scale that you could never imagine from photos , tv programmes , even people’s own description , you just have to see it for yourself to grasp it , it is rugged and  harsh , yet has a jaw dropping beauty that no-one can deny. You get the feeling that you could pick up the entire French Alps and hide it behind just one Himalayan mountain.

Charming … hsssssssss

Days 1 and 2 are spent just lazing around trying to acclimatize ,  looking at maps , taking in a bit of local culture and just getting our heads in gear for the mission ahead , trying to stay positive is very important on a trip where there is no room for fear or negativity .

Fucking remote !!

Day 3 We head off to the river Indus for a warm up, the Indus is a huge volume river originating high up on the Tibetan Plateau and gave India its name. We run two 20km grade 4 sections and get a feel for the style of BIG water paddling , everything goes well and despite still acclimatizing we are all pretty much on form .

Kinda chunky ….

Day 4 Today is to be the final 25 mile section of the Zanskar gorge, this is accessible by road and should give us a real taste of what is to come, it is tough, huge river features, whirlpools and crashing water everywhere, this one started to worry us, if this section was so hard what would the harder more remote sections of river be like.

A long way into nowhere …………

Day 5 is spent preparing our equipment and double checking everything, forgetting something like a water filter would be very serious, once we are all in the gorge there is no going back so nothing can be forgotten, we then set off on our 17 hour journey from hell, the roads in the Himalaya are more dirt tracks than roads and sat in a 6 wheel drive bus bouncing around for hours on end isn’t good for the back!

Travelling over 2 of the highest passes in the world and crossing a desert plain the size of 1000 Wembley stadiums started to give us a real idea of how remote we were going to be in the upper sections of the river, even if we could escape the gorge, how long would we last in the 45 degree heat, we were at least a weeks hike to the nearest tiny village, nothing could go wrong or we were in very serious trouble!

Hmmmm …… lets see now ..

Day 6 It is all go, we get on and kayak down to the start of the gorge, first we must kayak a tributary the Tsarp Chu a technical walled in grade 5 to enter then main gorge as this was inaccessible by trail. A few hours of fast technical paddlinand we wewere on the Zanskar, this was where the walls started to close in and the two mountain ranges come together, here we will camp, a last check of our equipment and then rest up after our long and arduous journey to the drop off point straight into hard grade 5.

Tomorrow the journey into no mans water begins, there wasn’t much chat around the camp, everyone was nervous with anticipation of what was to come.

Its looking gnarly …

Day 7  As soon as we enter the Zanskar upper gorge it all goes crazy, the river is huge, far bigger than we expected, the sides are all washed out so there is nowhere to stop, rest or inspect what lies ahead, we have to read and run from the kayak, It feels like we are being flushed down a giant toilet! , a few lucky escapes ensued and before we know it we have kayaked 30-35 miles of grade 4-5 in one day ! , we manage to find a raised platform above river level so we camp , the air this night is filled with tales of huge waves and man-eating  holes, oh and of course smelly thermals .

Chris negotiates a steep…..

Day 8 Is spent fighting our way through more “toilet bowl” gorges and a long section of very difficult technical white water where I have to dig deep in my psyche and keep cool, even though I know the feeling of fear is trying to fight its way into my head , fear is no good , even a split second of hesitation can prove fatal in this type of environment ,everything must be done positively , fear will only slow your responses down and I have no choice , I must kayak this canyon because I cannot get out , so I must be positive , fear will only spread , your friends do not need to hear it , they’re having their own mental battle , fear has to be boxed and tossed into the back of your mind , the only way is forward , literally in kayaking ! , we made it through, nobody said it was going to be easy and it isn’t but we are all sitting in our boats and most of us are smiling, we grab the next available campsite, with the gorge looming 2000 feet above us it is getting dark within 30 minutes of the sun disappearing, so we had to move quick, still sitting in my boat in the dark was not an option!

Phugtal …

Day 9 After a short hard section the gorge leads us to the Buddhist monastery of Phugtal , the monastery is built into the Cliff-face , high above the river , only accessible by walking up the river when it is frozen in the winter, it is the ultimate refuge and as a wannabe buddhist I was very excited to see it , we climb up and walk around, the monks welcoming us graciously with amazement.

The next day we head back down to the kayaks and head down river to a horrendous section of un-runnable grade 6 called Reru falls , this is a mandatory portage and just one look was enough to know this wasn’t going to go ! , hours later we have portaged over and up huge boulders avoiding the grade 6.

now for some mountaineering …..

Day 10 The upper Gorge has opened out into a desert plain, it’s very weird to be sitting on a huge torrent of white-water snaking its way through a desert , this meant we are already half way , we are really eating up the miles , the huge water levels and continuous nature of the river has pushed us through quickly , we are a full day and a half in front of our schedule , already through the first set of gorges we decide to camp at the mouth of the next gorge , this takes us most of the day to reach and with no mountains to shade us it is hard going , the heat is over 40 degrees , the backs of my hands are blistering before my eyes and my dry-suit was heating up fast , rolling the kayak is the only way to get cool , 40 degree heat into 5 degree water , it was like running out of a sauna and diving in an ice pool.

Camp fire nights <3

a calm before the storm ….

Day 11  We are up early and straight to it , we kayak into the final gorge, keen to get out of the early morning heat , the gorge moves up another notch , tough hard paddling , in one section the gorge which is more than 60 foot wide squeezes  down to 10-12 foot , and I’m shot through it !! , rapid after rapid loomed, there was no stopping!  , 4-5 hours without a chance to stop and we are spat out at a place we recognise , it is the start of the lowest section , the section we had run nearly a week ago , things looked different though , it was much bigger !  , the river had risen considerably , almost 15 feet higher than before , we could camp here or we could go on and complete our journey , doing the final gorge  in one day , this was unheard of , something to be very proud of !! , “If Carlsberg did kayak day trips “ , we decide to go for it and 3 hours later we leave the Zanskar gorge behind us  and float out into the safety of the confluence with the Indus , amazingly 2 days faster than had been planned for.

let us outa here !!!!

That night we celebrate cooked food, rum, and beer and eventually when we can no longer keep our eyes open some uninterrupted sleep in a bed, it had been my finest trip and now, although I was glad to be standing on safe dry land, I was also very sad that the adventure was all over.

 

 

A motley crew ….

 

Leh temple

Leh market

View from Phugtal

 

Posted in Adventure, himalaya, kayaking, Mojo, Motivation, stories from the past | 3 Comments

Movember 10k and the Incline Accelerators ……..

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Mark Lyons

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Running maybe simple but it definitely is not easy , whether you run 5km or 100km it’s all about you and what’s inside you , never judge yourself on another runners ability ,if you are giving everything you have then you are a champion, aspire to be better but never feel that you are no good …. you are the best !!

Movember 10k and the Incline Accelerators ……..

After my UrbanRunning experience with the RunDemCrew one of their stalwarts Glenn Hancock very kindly asked me to run with them at the up-coming Mo-running 10km charity event in Greenwich Park , he had organised a large number of the crew including to represent and had an entry going spare , so after the great time they had shown me previously I was stoked to join them again. I stayed in London the night before and I woke early, there was no time to waste though as I had to be there to meet everyone at 8:30am next to a tea-hut in the park itself ,the first stumbling block was a closure on the DLR at Bank, this required a run to London Bridge to get on the overland , then upon arriving at London I waited on the next train, I met a bubbly RDC girl by the name of Bridget , she was also on her way to Greenwich and was waiting on another crew member named Candie ,this young lady I already knew through reading her blog The Tortoise with No Hair and being amazed at her 7 Half marathons in 7 continents challenge that she is undertaking , great article about it here: Run the World… Eventually we made it to Greenwich where another illustrious blogger and RDC member Bangsandabun was waiting for us , bloggers of the world unite for we are many!!  Soon we all rocked up and found Glenn , he had done a great job as there were 44 runners here from RDC and we all registered then blew time as we prepared to race ..

There was a great atmosphere near the starting line , almost like a small half marathon with lots of fancy dress. We met up with the rest of the runners from RDC and they to were all super excited and raring to go, I was impressed with a young guy called Atticus who humbly said he was going for 55 minute’s but finished with a PB of 45 minutes I believe , good going Atticus .. soon we were all lined up and I stood ready , the music turned up a notch and off we went , 2 laps round the park , I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice couple of steep hills in there to keep me happy , I soaked in the atmosphere, it was a real fun event and I thoroughly enjoyed myself … we finished together with a sprint across the line … there was a bit of after race buzz and some photos , Charlie Dark although not running in the event had come to see his prodigies cross the line and some photos were taken , all the runners will be congratulated, awarded their Medals and applauded back at their 1948 headquarters before their next Tuesday night outing , that’s what RunDemCrew is about after all , support and encouragement …. Thanks again guys .. yet again I had an amazing time.

Glenn being interviewed after the event by Men Running uk’s foxy roving reporter Rhalou Allerhand

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The Incline Accelerators , London’s Uphill Elite …………..

On the Sunday I joined the Incline Accelerators , a group of runners dedicated to getting better at running uphill , this was right up my street and after a short run over to Dalston , I was introduced to Linda , an attractive Scots lass and founder of the group , I knew it had to be someone Scottish who could be so dedicated to running up hill !! we ran a few more miles to Springfield Park and I met the rest of the gang , some pretty fit people including Algy and his girlfriend Caroline , both very fast road runners … Linda gave us our first set of hill reps which we ran on a gradually steepening path which seemed perfect for the job , I really enjoy running up hill for some reason , maybe because I’m so bad at running on flat roads .. we progressed through our reps and Linda asked me if I had any favourites , they’re all my favorites to tell the truth , if I’m puffing and my calves are aching I love it !! I suggested a little one that Kenny gives me where you run a hill then come back to 3/4 then run harder back up , then come back to half before going back up hard then coming to 1/4 and giving it everything you have !! it’s a beauty and everyone seemed to enjoy it .. Algy sure had some turn of speed in his legs at the end and coasted by me at the top .. brilliant … after this we ran back to a little corner Creperie and had lunch … a great day again …. so my weekend with the Urban runners of both the RunDemCrew and Incline Accelerators was a brilliant one …. Runner786 thanking all of you .. now I really need to go run up some mountains soon

aparently its all about triangles …..

remember all my blog posts are my own experiences and my interpretation, if you feel I’m wrong say so in the comments and we can also learn from your experience ………”

if you enjoyed reading this note then please have a further look at www.runner786.com and http://www.justgiving.com/marko3006/ ……….. all donation no matter how small makes a difference ….

 

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Urban Running with the RunDemCrew …………..

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Mark Lyons

It is the simplest most accessible of sports and running has now taken me to some of the worlds most far-flung places , given me wild adventures and made me dig deeper at times than even my craziest kayaking Epics… it is a sport where anyone from any walk of life can enjoy themselves, just go find a pair of trainers and then only you set the limits of what you can achieve or where you can go !! but first you must have the desire , the energy and ultimately the motivation to keep at it and this , not the running is the hardest part ... where do we find this motivation ?

Charlie Dark runs to the beat with some of his crew ..

Urban Running with the RunDemCrew ……………..

I had asked me to come and run in London on the “RunDem” night , I will tell no lies here , I was apprehensive to say the least and not keen on the idea at all, mainly because I’m no road runner and when I do hit the tarmac it’s on country lanes with some of the most beautiful views in the U.K , not the traffic congested streets of our busiest city , but I really wanted to keep her happy and she was certainly keen for me to come along , so the week after my Himalayan100 race I arrived at the Nike1948 concept store in Shoredtich to run with London’s coolest running collective the RunDemCrew and despite my reservations I was both inspired and impressed !! What I found was a group of like minded people from all walks of life , they group together depending on their pace then head out into the London streets for 6-7 miles of street running, but this is not where it ends , definitely not !! the feeling I had when I entered that room in Shoreditch was one of excitement , friendship , mutual respect , support and admiration , family even , there was a real warmth here and noticeably so …….

On my arrival I was led to one of the large rooms that Nike uses as a showroom , I  grabbed a seat and I started to take in where I was , there must be nearly 100 runners gathered together , a buzz fills the room and Charlie Dark the founder is the guy standing in front of us , he’s cool , articulate ,a natural motivator and in his eyes I see the delight when he begins to talk , first he searches out new members and we introduce ourselves so everyone knows our names and what we do, RunDemCrew is about familiarity , he then moves to the runners who recently ran in races , individually they are congratulated , awarded their medals , the whole room claps at their success , there is an intense feeling of encouragement , affection and admiration , I have rarely witnessed such a good predilection to outwardly good feeling from so many at one time. Rhalou tells me about the RunDemCrew youngers project , a main part of RunDemCrews focus and one of Charlie’s great loves is to promote running among young people , to give them reason , interest and motivation to run ,to make them proud , help them to achieve and ultimately to give them the strength to avoid some of the pitfalls of life … My father has run a boxing club for over 30 years , I have seen what this takes , respect to any organisation or individual who has the strength and is prepared to give the personal sacrifice needed to achieve this .. respect to Charlie and all at RDC.

Eventually Charlie explains the groups , you join Tortoises, Hares, Greyhounds and cheetahs depending on your pace .. I joined the greyhounds for my inner London running experience and I was shown my leader for the night and told to follow him out into the street in preparation for our run , every group has a leader and rear guard (someone experienced runs at the back to make sure no stragglers are left behind) … perfect I thought !! I’m just back from the Himalayas and if my legs go to Jelly at least I wont have to find a taxi to find my way back to 1948 🙂 … My run was to be the “Bridge run” , from Shoreditch we would cross the Thames , run the Embankment and head back over Tower Bridge .. I was expecting traffic , more traffic and even more !! but what I found was a beautiful brightly lit run through some amazing architecture and across a spectacularly lit Tower Bridge .. at night it is a real eye opener and I was enjoying myself immensely ,at this point taking in one of the sights of London by running over it at night with newly made running friends was feeling rather special :).. I’ve worked in London on and off for years , I thought I had seen most of what it has to offer a long time ago , my night-time endeavours were normally seen through a taxi window , with an inebriated mind while falling about Knightsbridge with my customers , recently though I have seen a side to London that is very normal yet ultimately fantastic , this run was one of those fantastics !! After the bridge we followed the streets, underpasses , high-rise buildings , roundabouts and they all seemed to have a unique beauty when seen at night , a little rain helped make it all nice and shiny and soon we had arrived on the final stretch home , I was looking up a long street finishing at 1948 .. everyone is expected to give it their all up here and we sprinted home , the Cheetahs had made it there first and were lined up cheering us home .. it was uplifting , a great experience and the best part for me was running with these urban runners, everyone so friendly , everyone made me feel very at home from start to finish , thank you very much , if ever there was motivation to run , then it is right there at 1948 Shoreditch with Charlie Dark and his Run Dem Crew !!!

remember all my blog posts are my own experiences and my interpretation, if you feel I’m wrong say so in the comments and we can also learn from your experience ………”

if you enjoyed reading this note then please have a further look at www.runner786.com and http://www.justgiving.com/marko3006/ ……….. all donation no matter how small makes a difference ….

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