This post is only really for me , so when I later read back through the events that I have chronicled I want to remember just how angry I was at myself , how mixed up my head was and just how stupid I felt when I realised I had hurt my feet 3 weeks before the race , 5 months of super hard training , running 120+ miles a week over all sorts of terrain and a stupid mistake with my training shoes at Barcelona marathon left me in doubt as to whether I would compete in the Marahton Des Sable ……….so remember Mark when you read this , complacency nearly cost you everything !!!!!!!
So with only 2 weeks to go until I run the Marathon Des Sable I have been looking back at just how I ended up staring down the barrel of a gun about to shoot a 156 mile long Desert torture bullet straight at me !!!
I used to think that the day when Greg from Think fitness walked into my shop and asked me run Edinburgh Half Marathon to help him raise funds for the Jumbulance (a borders charity for sick kids) was the catalyst to it all but looking back I don’t think it was , only a few mornings before I had jumped on the scales and topped 14 stone , now this is the point where over the years I have given myself a kick and put myself back on track , you see my life runs in cycles of challenge , completion and lull … its been that way since my early twenties , I find something I “NEED” to do , be it a river or a rock face and I will become obsessed to the point of madness , read/learn everything I can , train obsessively hard and practice my skills until it is done , another challenge laid to rest then I lull , usually for a month or two and usually eat far to much , hence my 14 stone red line …. once this is hit I know its time for something …In my head I was planning a trip over to Chile with the intent to kayak the Futalefu , the grade 5 Inferno Canyon to be exact, we had been discussing it for a while and I was getting closer all the time to committing to the plan and I thought it was definitely time to hit the gym in preparation…. so when Greg walked in and asked me to run the Half marathon I was already primed to make the move back to fitness and thought that joining him might be an ideal way to get out and do some proper running especially as during my last trip out to the Hiamalaya I had been puffing my lungs out carrying boats over mountain passes !! Some good hard aerobic training won’t go wrong.
The training kicked in late however as the winter of 2010 was a hard one but eventually I hit the road, plans were afoot for Chile and everything was going sweet, I ran the Edinburgh half and enjoyed it deciding to go for a full Marathon in Amsterdam later in the year with a goal to keeping motivated until the Chile Trip. Things were going great , I was fit and headed out to the French Alps in early June for a couple of weeks kayaking with friends , the levels were through the roof , kayaking was hard and we were having a ball until disaster !!! I capsized on a gnarly section of water and rolled up with a dislocated shoulder, fuck me!! so I had to bail from the boat , got swept down stream in horrendously fast flowing water , battered over rocks and sucked into pour over’s all with an arm flailing wildly and hurting like a bitch !!! I eventually grabbed a rock midstream and managed to pull myself up with one arm and stand up, right in the middle of a maelstrom of white water, out of the fire in the frying pan!! however we are a strong team with a lot of years experience, soon my mates were setting up a rope system and extracted me nicely, next was a very long walk/climb back to the vehicles then a ride from hell over rough road to the hospital and over an hour sucking gas and getting traction applied to my arm to ease it back into position, after 4 hours of hanging there it wasnt very keen to go back in , probably the single most painful and torturous event in my life. This though is the whole reason for where I am right now … this very dislocation is why my pending trip to the Marathon Des Sable has came about… for it was here that the doctor told me my dislocation was so severe that there was no way that if I wanted a full recovery would I climb or Kayak until at least 2011, I was devastated, Kayaking and climbing was my life for nearly 20 years, holy shit what will I do…. I was lost and all I was allowed to do was running and maybe later some cycling.
So running it was and I ran all summer, entered the Great Scottish, Great North, Amsterdam … I did a lot of running and decided that if I ran off road I could apply my expedition knowledge so entered the Marathon Des Sable , 156 mile stage race across the Sahara in 5 days , one of the worlds toughest stage races …. most people enter 2 years in advance and build it up , I entered 5 months before and have had to go from jogger to ultra runner in what I can only describe as a blink of an eye , it really feels like yesterday I picked up the phone accepted my position and paid my money …… since then a lot has happened and it is already history …… over the years I have done a lot of things , first descents down remote rivers , plunged over huge waterfalls , first ascent and hard repeats on rock but never have I had to cram so much into such a short time as I have had to do to compete in this the most enduring of adventures , The Marathon Des Sable , for years I didn’t even have a camera let alone a diary and I regret this a lot , some of my most amazing adventures are just memories and stories , indeed many people look at me in disbelief and with doubt in their eyes when I tell of my adventures and because of this I sometimes have to hold back but this time I have tried to journal it all and these scribblings can be found here in my blog www.runner786.com …
Those kind guys at Inov8 gave me a Race Pac 25 and Frontpac 2 combo so I could train in it , then test it in the Marathon Des Sable , its not due in the country until the end of March and as a huge Inov8 fan I was delighted to get my hands on one , I have loved their kit since I bought a 12L Race Pro hydration sack for my mountain bike years ago , now I use their socks , shoes and love their rucksacks , however I use a lot of kit from some very good equipment brands and I wont be blinded by the fact its Inov8 , so if it doesn’t measure it wont be coming to the Sahara with me.
My first impression of the sack when it arrived was that it appeared very nicely styled , as does all of Inov8s new gear , it is robust and very well made , especially given its light weight , the front pack appeared light and an unusual shape but once fitted to the sack it all becomes clear as to fit and purpose ….. Inov8 know how to innovate!!!!
Since then I’ve knocked several long 25 mile + off road days and a few short fast 10 mile country lane runs, it has excelled itself and I just love some of its little “inov8-tions”, I especially like the diagonal side pocket/ bottle holders and have found them to be perfect for carrying 2 race bottles on long runs, they are so easily accessible that I cant see the need for shoulder holders for anything short of a desert race.
Externally the sack looks very nice , light weight yet tough rip stop being the main fabric , it has 3 stretch close knit mesh pockets , the 2 afore mentioned diagonal bottle holders and 1 large centre pocket for additional gear or just quickly stashing a coat between rain showers , not that I will have to worry about that in the Sahara !It has a large zipped pocket on the lid and there are compression straps that work very well, I put all my MDS kit in minus the food and it cinched perfectly, so no kit bouncing around on the last few days!!
It has a padded back and cooling mesh on the outer , although the weather is not exactly warm I’m sure it will be as good as the race pro series and it is definitely comfortable to wear , even with a 9kg load I was happy enough after 20 mile of running.
Internally it has a large separate bladder pocket and an inside lid pocket, its 25 litres appears way bigger than my Race Pro 22 and it’s taken my MDS equipment easily, those of you with less technical equipment than me might find the 32 litre version a better option though.I tested the bladder pocket and was able to fit even my largest 3 litre bladder in it easily and there is probably room for a smaller double bladder approach if that’s your thing.The shoulder straps are similar to the Race Pro sacks and are very comfortable and even with a 9kg load I didn’t have any comfort problems on my runs, they have a new clip on them, this is for easy fitting and removal of the new bottle holders and front Pac, it works very well, its easy and they physically click into place so as there is no straps to come loose , once it is clipped in, its in!! The new bottle holders have the same system and they integrate beautifully with the Frontpac , they also have a nice position where I can adjust them perfectly to allow me to drink from my camelbak performance bottles without stooping my head.
The new Front Pac is a thing of genius and when I first looked at it even I was wondering slightly but you slot it easily into the new clips , the waist strap goes through it and it just moulds to your body when you put your sack on , it has a clip on one side that allows it to come off easily , it has 3 pockets and a hidden map sleeve built into the design … fabulous is the only word I want to use , it really is !!! the 3 pockets allow you to balance your gear out , separate it and access it easily , the map pocket is sweet sitting down the back of the3 front pockets and best of all it just doesn’t bounce ..and you can fit this beauty onto all of their sacks , I will still be using this for any significant days out well after the MDS is over Im sure ,and definitely for mountain biking as well.
I have tried the Omm , Salomon and AArn packs , all are excellent but the Racepac25 is a little bit special so it will definetely be the one that is coming to the desert with me ……
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Ding Ding round 1 and the “worst” fell race in Britain.
I’m standing in a Thai fighting ring looking out at 400 cheering Glaswegians, chants of “go on big man” echo round the hall, there’s a huge powerful bear of guy grimacing at me from the other side of the ring and I have a fighting stick in one hand and a shield in the other, an announcer shouts “We have a 3 round battle in Lombok Stick fighting style”……. Ding ding round 1….. instantly the bear runs at me and leaps high in the air , I instinctively sink down , raise my shield , BANG !! he pummels my shield with a huge hit , my feet sink into the floor as I absorb the blow , Instantly it hits me , fight mode , I spring to my feet and bring up my guard , we attack each other , each time I get in close he overpowers me , I attack him and its like bouncing off a brick wall ,my hits just seem to bounce off him ,yet he hits my shield with monster blows that rock me on my feet , I am faster though and I go underneath his lunge and hit him smack in the forehead but he doesn’t bleed , his granite head takes the full hit .. All I’ve done is succeed in riling him up a bit more … he piles in and we are wrestling… BANG !! He smacks my eye with his shield… the bell goes, I’m bleeding and its all over I’ve lost … first to bleed loses, the only rules…
2 weeks before Dave Scott of Sandbaggers Expedition fame, had asked me to stand in for his friend Jay, a Glasgow enforcer, a no mess hard man who “enforces”…. these two were going to fight it out at a Thai mixed martial arts show , all money going to charity .. however Jay had to cancel and Dave didn’t want to let the show down, I had laughed at him at first when he asked me , not a chance, I mean come on, who would risk that so close to going to the Marathon Des Sable, but the thought of the charity money and the buzz of taking him on gripped me and I couldn’t say no…….I had the fight skills, I just had to hone them to Sticks so it was on … Dave “the grizzler” Scott of Newton Mearns and Mark “mountain goat” Lyons of Hawick would battle it out in Glasgow town hall on Saturday 19th of February … the result a brutal no holds battle, an amazed crowd going nuts for more, a big egg on Dave’s head and a big black eye on mine but a nice charity donation at the end …… result!!
My week leading up to the battle had been a tough one! with over 80 miles ran over the fields and nearly 10 miles swam in the pool… nothing like resting up before a fight, it was all good in the end though and after the fight I dropped Dave in Edinburgh at Dr Andrew Murrays wedding before heading back to the Borders.
the “worst” fell race in Britain ……….
I eventually grabbed about 5 hours kip before Kenny Short arrived bright and Early in the morning for us to travel to Kielder to run in “The Borderer” , reputed to be the “worst” fell race in Britain ,at nearly 18 miles long and with 4500 feet of climbing this is one super tough day out , made even tougher on the day by freezing fog , wind , thick snow and sub zero temperatures.We were met by “KJ” hawicks Keith Murray , this guy is a fell runner of the highest calibre and is often in the top 10 finishers , he really can go some .. Between KJ, Kenny and Billy Fraser , Hawick is certainly well represented in the top 20 of most races.
The first 2 miles raced up a super steep hill into a forest ,think a 2 mile long Millpeth , then it turned a corner and it got steeper!! my legs were on fire , calves were like rocks by the top and I was glad to see the first checkpoint at the mast , from here we raced over the Northumberland fells overlooking Kielder , Englands last great wilderness , from high up on the Deadwater fell we ran through snow , heather and knee deep mud over to Peel , then down to the Kielder stone before a long hard climb to Knox knowe , Grey Knowe and Greys Pike before racing back down to the castle … this was one super tough hillfest of a race , apparently one of the toughest most gruelling races in the fell runner calendar and I certainly wont argue against that .. It was fantastic !
The crowd was great, the usual eclectic mix of fell runners from all over , fell running is a close community and even after only a couple of races I’m getting to know a few faces … its a friendly affair and not as competitive as road running , races are judged on how tough they are and times really don’t come into it for the most part .. and the Ready, Steady Go!!! nature of it all is raw and exciting, just pay your money in the morning , line up and try to make it to the end alive and still uninjured …. amazing , if there is one thing I am sure of , it is that once Ive finished with the deserts and mountains , I will most certainly be Fell running for a long time after.
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The crowd was great, the usual eclectic mix of fell runners from all over , fell running is a close community and even after only a couple of races I’m getting to know a few faces … its a friendly affair and not as competitive as road running , races are judged on how tough they are and times really don’t come into it for the most part .. and the Ready, Steady Go!!! nature of it all is raw and exciting, just pay your money in the morning , line up and try to make it to the end alive and still uninjured …. amazing , if there is one thing I am sure of , it is that once Ive finished with the deserts and mountains , I will most certainly be Fell running for a long time after.
