Stumbling through the snow at –25C, I’d a vague recollection of a sleep survey saying that short naps worked best.   Now, at 3am on Day 4 of the Yukon Arctic Ultra, it was time to test the theory.

Setting my watch alarm with frost-nipped fingers, I pulled my coat-hood tight and curled up on the trail.

It was –25C, and exactly quarter of an hour later I woke, shall we say, ‘refreshed’.  Time to move.

THE Yukon Arctic Ultra is no ordinary ultra race.   Billed as the world’s coldest multi-day event, it follows the same route as the Yukon Quest dog-sled race, offering marathon, 100 mile and 328 mile route options.  Competitors haul essential kit on sleds, logging into remote checkpoints every 40 miles or so.

For rookies, a compulsory pre-race training course covers subjects like bear attack and fire-making, and tests competitors’ ability to spot the symptoms of hypothermia and frostbite.   Race director Robert Pollhammer explains: “It’s vital that competitors know what sort of environment they’re going into.  It’s an adventure that tests people to their limits, but we want everyone to come back with all their fingers and toes.”

DAY 1

Forty competitors, from the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the UK, line up on February 15^th beneath the start gantry in Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon.  It’s a balmy –12C, and everyone’s keen to get going on the 26.2-mile marathon leg to North Country Ranch, where there’s a 4-hour mandatory campout.   The gun fires, and we snake out onto the frozen Yukon River.   The hares clock 4:45, but most of us are long-haulers and pace ourselves at around 6:30.    Checkers ensure we can light our stoves and have warm sleeping bags, and we’re back out at 9pm for the 37-mile leg to Dog Grave Lake.

DAY 2

The first ‘all-nighter’ sees me pull into Dog Grave at 11.30am in 4^th place.  It’s been a long night, but a couple of bowls of soup at the checkpoint tent revives the pace for the next 34 mile section.   A blizzard descends as Braeburn Lake looms into view at 10pm, and the reflective marker stakes prove their worth.  I grovel into the roadhouse at midnight with 97 miles under my belt and a couple of very sore shins.

DAY 3

Six hours sleep and one of Braeburn’s famous mega-burgers later, it’s time to chase Italian Stefano Miglietti out into the fresh snow.  The 41 miles to Ken Lake cabin is on narrow, undulating trail with several long lake sections, plus a first taste of the dreaded ‘overflow’, which occurs when water flows above the frozen layer beneath.   It’s a long, long day, and I stumble into the cabin after midnight in third place behind Stefano and German biker Thomas.   News comes in that several racers have scratched, including one German runner whose camelbak burst inside his sleeping bag at –20C.

DAY 4

Soup and sleep revive me once more for the 34 mile leg to Carmacks.  The sun shines on spectacular forest and lake scenery, but some fiercesomely steep climbs in the last ten miles are distracting.    Its 10pm by the time I roll into Carmacks, where the community centre kitchen is gearing up its lasagne production-line. I dry ice-encrusted kit and try to elevate my swollen legs and sleep at the same time.  Not easy.

DAY 5

Just three hours fitful kip and out by 3am, chasing Stefano the 43 miles towards McCabe.  Not a good start when I’m directed the wrong way and spend nearly an hour trail-hunting before returning to the checkpoint.  Have the first of several 15-minute naps between 4-6am to keep me going, but shun using my 40-below sleeping bag, knowing I’d sleep too long.  ‘Small sleeping bag – big alarm clock’ goes the ultra-marathon mantra.  Getting colder, nearly 30 below.  Several sections weave through jumble ice on the Yukon, stepping round distorted slabs and skirting the swift-flowing sections of open water.  A wonderful moment as I later cross the misty Yukon under a full moon.

DAY 6

Another ‘short-stay’ checkpoint – just four hours at McCabe and out before 1am as rumours circulate that Stefano is struggling.  Trouble is, so am I, and the sleep monsters are out in force.  On the boughs of fir trees, lumps of snow turn into zoo animals of every description, then start waving to me.  Other competitors, I discover later, see unicorns and accordion players.    I finally roll into Pelly Crossing at noon, to find Stefano gathering his kit for the last 60 miles.    Fifty-five minutes after he leaves, I give chase – but we both nearly come unstuck when overflow on the Pelly River catches us out.  We both go in up to our knees, but thankfully it’s a mild –12C and an increase in pace generates enough heat to stave off frostbite.   As the temperature plummets, we both struggle on the 30-mile leg to Pelly Farm, but Stefano somehow opens the gap to two hours and takes off again as he sees my headlamp appear up-river.  By the time I stagger in at 1am, he’s gone, and the race is over.

DAY 7

Four hours sleep should be enough, but sure doesn’t feel it as I sit zombie-like at the Pelly kitchen table trying to eat porridge.  My feet are swollen and sore, and it takes several miles before I can walk/run in a straight line.  By daybreak, I’m well into the infamous hills of the final 30-mile leg back along the farm road, and longing for a section steep enough to let me ride my sled for the first time in the race.   Two swooping downhill’s give me chance to take the weight off my feet, but they also allow Thomas, the race’s lone mountain biker, to overtake.   Finally, at just after 6pm, the finish line appears, marking the end of 328 miles racing and just over six days on the trail.   I’m second runner, third overall, sore but happy.  Time for a beer…

Race website: http://www.arcticultra.de/

Accommodation: http://www.highcountryinn.yk.ca/

Activities: http://www.yukonadventures.com/

Kit list:

Montrail Hurricane Ridge Goretex-XCR running shoes

Plastic sled (£22)

Rab Summit 5-season sleeping bag

Thermarest z-rest sleeping mat

Platypus 3-litre Water Chest w/ insulated hose

Rab Quantum down jacket

Mountain Equipment windproof jacket

Patagonia base layer, mid-layer and fleece tights

Polaris liner shorts

Smartwool liner and expedition socks

PHD down mitts

Berghaus Goretex hat

MSR Whisperlite International stove

MSR 2-litre titanium pan

Black Diamond carbon fibre trekking poles

Adidas Elevation Climacool glasses and goggles

Well, how does one train for multiday races? Answer – send in the entry form and show up. So once again I am at a Sri Chinmoy race. By now I should know everyone but only Mark Dorion from El Paso has that ability.
But the faces are familiar even if – with my poor memory – the names escape me.

Don Winkley by Alakananda

Now to pack for the race in 6hrs. A quick reminder of how not to pack for a race. I failed to take a sleeping bag (good for minus 10 degrees min.), arctic pants and coat. But most important Russian rain gear tested in Siberia to protect from drenching freezing cold driving rain. Obviously this guy from Corpus Christi, TX has never owned any of this gear. It’s not going to be fun.

Off we go. How did I get a ticket involving an overnight stay in Dallas?
Even my old age defense did not get me a ticket exchange. So a layover night in Dallas. Fortunately there was a Motel 6 with a shuttle from/to the airport. Inexpensive and the good nights rest (I slept 12-16hrs). I was really tired and this layover was a God send.

Arrived at the race 2 hrs before the start. Ran fairly good day 1 but froze at night under two blankets. Fortunately I purchased a Sri Chinmoy STAFF sweat shirt XXL which saved my life. My Sri friends found a loaner sleeping bag and supplied me with 12 two liter bottles of Diet Pepsi.

Day 2 to day 5 I ran 50 miles per day. Actually I waddled but found I was not the only one. Walking or waddling was the norm for almost everyone after the brief running period of day 1. I would get up about 6AM and get in 18 miles before lunch and get the last 32 miles in the afternoon/evening.

Frequently it took to 3 AM at night to finish my 50 miles.

Day 6 I got to 46 miles at 3AM but it was over. I wanted to get to 50 miles for the prior 24 hrs but I couldn’t even make one more mile. Went to bed and then the rains came down. It was over – over – over. I was a wet, freezing dog, tail down, dragging myself around the track, wishing I had entered the 6 day and it had started with the 10 day. Now I must suffer the indignity of mileage barely respectable for training.

But everyone was kind to me – Luis Rios who was a real stud in his day with outstanding 100 mile times and 140 miles for 24hrs. Mark Dorion shared stories based on his great knowledge of ultra races especially multiday races.
Markus Mueller was a Trans Australia finisher and we shared Jesse Riley stories. Bob Oberkehr, Marvin Skagerberg, Chanakhya Jakovic and Shashanka Karlen, Fredric Davis III, John Geesler, Pete Stringer ran walked with me and we exchanged tales of days ago and dreams of the future.

I made the 150 mile cut-off day 3 and the 300 mile cut-off day 6. This during reasonable weather. To be a good multiday runner you must be willing to suffer.

In terms of multiday racing I will hang my head to few. After all my split after 10 days during my 1000 mile race in 1997 was 701 miles and I averaged 67 miles per day for the remaining 4 days. My 701 mile 10 day split in 1997 would have won this years race. Even then I was not so young at 59 years old.

So, a good training run for Comrades. I will have to work on my foot strength/conditioning. My toes hurt and the bottoms of my feet were sensitive. The left foot/ankle had some soreness. Back to training. Share your stories.

Until we meet.

UltraDon
Don Winkley
5/2/2010

Race website:us.srichinmoyraces.org/events/10-day-race-2010

Posted on the Ultralist:
Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 15:49:49 -0400
From: Don Winkley
Subject: 10 Day NYC race report

Germany

1-7. 08.04

08.30 a.m.
Saturday July 31st found me struggling with two full holdalls of running gear towards the bus stop. A passerby asked where I was going on holiday “Off to Heathrow and flying to Germany” was my reply. “I flew to Germany regularly” he replied, “I was an Airgunner.” We both agreed that times had changed since then!

As the bus went through my local town all the streets had been sealed off and there were Police everywhere; I thought that they must definitely want to make sure that I left the country but it turned out that the local army regiment was being given the Freedom of the Borough after 300 years of being there.

Arrived at Heathrow, checked in and went for a quiet drink, made happy by the sight of Brian Lara being out in the 2nd Test Match, probably would not know the result until I returned to U.K. a week later, that turned out to be correct.

Uneventful flight to Dusseldorf where I was met by Conny Bullig who was also collecting two Swedish runners, Andreas and Matthias who were taking part in the Six Day race. She was also going to run!

The reason for my being there transpired when I saw an item in the Road Runner’s Club newsletter six months earlier and had written to the organisers to send me results of their race as it was the first one to be held in Germany; they invited me to  take part and I stupidly accepted; it was 20 years since I had last done a Six Day; there was a further challenge in that the track was a 400 meter cinder track. I had forgotten what those little bits of grit did to one’s feet when they got into  the shoes.

30 kms to Erkrath from the airport and met Sigi, the organiser whom I had been in touch with regularly. Everything seemed to have been thought of, the amount of time spent in planning must have been enormous.

There was a football tournament going on at the time with a number of teams competing and the final would take place on Sunday morning before the start of the Six Day. Two football pitches, one of which appeared to be an all weather grass covered pitch.

The club had been in existence since 1920 and had hosted International football tournaments regularly.

I noticed that a couple of small boys who were watching were wearing a shirt that seemed familiar; I discovered that it was a red number 7 Beckham shirt (Man.United), before he moved to Real Madrid!

That evening was spent in a hotel close to the track and meeting other runners, I shared a room with Felix Kainz from Berlin; we got on very well but both apprehensive how we would do in the race.

Finally it was Sunday afternoon and there was a briefing meeting in German with translators in English and Italian; recording would be done by electronic chip in the number with all laps also recorded manually.

All the runners were introduced to the crowd who had gathered and the media when photographs were taken, then it was time to start.

The weather was very warm with cloudless skies and during the next six days stayed the same except that it got steadily warmer each day. One day there was a rumour of thunderstorms arriving but by the following morning they had come and gone farther South leaving Erkrath still bathed in glorious sunlight.  The hotpoint of most days was about 90oF. But the track temperature was probably higher.

My original plan had been to have a go at Cliff Young’s 48 hour record and then hang on for the next four days. After several hours on the first day I knew that it was too hot for me and drastically altered my race plan…as the days went on it became more of a survival plan to use in the Sahara rather than Northern Germany!

There were 26 starters, 6 women and 20 men, from 10 different countries and it speaks volumes for the superb organisation that nobody dropped out or failed to cover the required distance each day.

There was an army of volunteers coming and going each day with a number of good folk who appeared to be there all the time.  I got to know some of them very well and their English was much better than my poor German, I will not mention any by name as I do not want to miss anybody out but a very big “Thank You” for all your valuable help; without your aid we could not do the sport that we love!

Hot meals were served at regular times and there was a large refreshment tent with little nibbles, cold and warm drinks and any extra that a runner needed.  After three days I had actually got English tea which was very acceptable.

Halfway through the race ice cream lollies were supplied which were very popular.

Evenings always saw a crowd of spectators at the trackside cheering on the runners.

Local and national media often appeared at the track , radio and television, and there was superb coverage in the papers.

The track was brilliantly sited so that one could see the town square and all the people, also the buses pulled in there and I got quite attached to them particularly the Dusseldorf bus as I tried to imagine one day being back at the Airport, 144 hours in very hot conditions is a very long time and I was feeling more like a hamster every day! There were other highlights too, one was watching the dawn arrive and counting how many more there were to go.

Also the first bus out at 5 A.M. which I never managed to catch, then waiting for noon and knowing that there were only three hours to go to the end of a day and wondering just how hot the next few hours would become.

Zoltan Kiss from Hungary was taking part and had brought his 7 month old son, Benedict, and his wife to the race and I got a lot of enjoyment getting a big smile out of Benedict each day.

Many of the runners had helpers with them who seemed to manage on very little sleep but always seemed on hand to encourage everybody taking part yet still looking after their respective charges!

Then the best part of the race came each night as it became cooler and I was able to move more freely until the next hot day.

Lastly, counting the days down, after three days halfway there, then only one full day of 24 hours left… there are supposed to be 60  minutes in each hour but I am convinced that these were extended on the last day.  Finally into the last quarter of an hour when national flags were given to leading runners of each country and we formed up to go round the track as one very happy family.

Now what of the progress of the other runners?  This was made very much easier for me as an hourly result sheet was given to all of us during the day and at night was posted on the leader board with the previous hour’s results also attached. Even though one tended to look at where one was personally and whether gains or losses on those closest to you had been achieved, it was easier to see the race unfold further up the field.

Paul Beckers of Belgium had obviously decided to go all out on the first day but was passed by Achim Heukemes of Germany who had a 5km advantage, Vincenzo Tarascio of Italy was 3rd, a further 45 km behind.   I have always been of the opinion that a slow starter will progress over a six day event but was very surprised that it was a runner who was 80 km behind should make such enormous progress. More of him later!

By the end of the third day Achim had maintained his lead in front on 441 km Paul was still 2nd 27km back and Vincenzo 3rd on 365 km.

Day 4 saw Antonio Mazzio Italy  replace Vincenzo for 3rd spot.

Remember I had mentioned a slow starter? Well Claude Hardel of France had put in some very hard work and was closing on Paul Beckers rapidly. Paul had been suffering from nosebleeds but gamely pressed on.

The final result was a very popular win for Achim who is over 50  years young with 822.730 km. 2nd Claude Hardel with 782.694 km and 3rd, Paul Beckers wth 763.077 km. The 4th place was taken by the Italian Lucio Bazzana with 741.457 km – a new Italian record.

In the Women’s race at the close of the 1st day Heike Pawzik, Germany, led from Conny Bullig by 9km. With Maria-Teresa Nardin a further 13 km back.

By the end of the 3rd day it was Conny with 343 km from Heike 333 km and 3rd, Else Bayer, a mere 65 years at 308 km.

The final result was as follows. Conny won with 666.991 km. 2nd another slow starter, Christine Bodet of France with 609,340 km and 3rd was Heike with 581.315 km.

With a World Age best was Else Bayer in 4th with 552.890 km. Some result!! I hope that the above has not bored the reader but one has to be at such an event in order to say in years to come “I was there” like St. Crispin’s Day?

Finally I have worked out that if I do another Six Day in 20 years time I should cover a quarter of my distance in 1984 using this year’s result. Must start to train towards that target!

Dan Coffey   a young 73 year novice.

Article originally published in Multiday Running magazine Vol.2 October 2004.

In the evening of Saturday May 1st, Day 1 of the 2005 Self-Transcendence 6 Day race in Flushing-Corona Park (Queens, NY), I joked with legendary Brooklyn runner Luis Rios, Utah’s Fred Riemer and others that “I saw the ghost of Jackie Robinson out at the south end of the loop!”  Not only did they catch my reference to the classic Harvey Keitel/ Paul Auster film BLUE IN THE FACE (in which the ghost of Jackie R. really does appear in the middle of Brooklyn!), Luis quickly quipped “You’ll be seeing Jackie Robisnon all right sometime on Day 3!”

I survived Day 3 as well as the rest of the 6 day race, one of the great running experiences in my 34 years in the sport.  With thoughts of Jackie Robinson in my mind, I knew that somewhere at home in our huge family library of sagging bookcases and boxes of dusty antique hardbacks was something Brooklyn Dodgers’ General Manager Branch Rickey– the man who first broke baseball’s color barrier by signing Jackie R.– had written that for me summed up some of my feelings about the 6 day experience.

I have heard plenty of ultrarunners over the decades attribute their poor performances or DNFs to “bad luck” or “being snake-bitten.”  But do what extent do we make our own “luck” and control our destinies in taxing endurance events?

Branch Rickey observed that
“The more we compress and confine the element of luck– luck has its place in games; it is in the English language; it is in the dictionary, and we ought to keep it there– and put it in a small area, just to that extent do you enlarge the area for the exercise of a man’s own functions in controlling his workings, his destinies, and his game.
What is the greatest single thing in the character of a successful enterprise, in the character of a boy, in the character of a great baseball player?  I think it is the desire, a desire that dominates him, a desire that is so strong that it does not admit of anything that runs counter to it, a desire to excel that so confines him to a single purpose that nothing else matters.
That thing . . . makes men have good health, … makes men change their bad technique to good technique, … makes capacity and ability in men.
That (thing) makes a team with 80% possibility come from 60 to 70%, it makes them approach their possibility;  and with a dominant desire to excel, that simply TRANSENDS them into a great spiritual FORCE.”

from Safire, William, ed.  “Branch Rickey Discovers The Quality That Makes a
Ballplayer Great,” GREAT SPEECHES IN HISTORY.  New York:  W.W. Norton
& Co., 1997.

Only once during the entire New York 6 Day Race did anyone directly ask me what made me try the 6 day, what kept me going, etc.  This came from an extremely friendly and intelligent runner from New Zealand, Jade Lynn (Jade’s lovely 2.5 year old daughter was at the race, and contributed to my missing my own daughter Amalia even more than normal).  In my tired state I tried to explain that while I did not call it self-transcendence, there was an inner FORCE inside my head and heart that throughout my life and long running career just seems to take over and drive me.

When the weather isn’t going my way, when my feet ache so much it feels like Jackie Robinson or Willie Mays or even Mike Piazza (who WAS actually swinging his bat for the Mets not a mile from the Meadow Lake path on which we ran!) are hammering them with their bats, when runners like  “Ms. Smooth” Dipali Cunningham or “Mr. Smooth” Martin Wagen are just lapping me endlessly and smilingly, never breaking stride nor seeming to even breathe–  this inner force just seems to kick in and push me onward, sending positive vibes through my mind and body.

This very  talented Swiss runner, Martin, also turned out to be gifted as a poet and philosopher.  While running along next to me on the last morning he looked up at the huge trees that shaded the path and stated emphatically that “We are all so lucky to be out here.  It’s not for me to say, but it seems there are many people sitting inside, unhappy with life.”  This discussion continued on in a similar vein for some minutes before Martin slowly cruised away, always smiling and always looking in control (he would finish with 441 miles, behind the phenomenal 478 of my friend Danny Ripka and Dipali’s 474).

Now, one week later, I am home trying to get back to some sort of “normal” routine!  I am still waking (only once now) in the middle of the night wondering if I can throw my shoes on and go get in a few more miles.  As a longtime race director, I have also started daydreaming about a multi-day “Tour De El Paso” in which we could experience some of the hundreds of miles of scenic canal paths and trails and roads that the southern Rockies offer us.

I believe I am a more full and complete person for having participated in the New York 6 Day event.  I have been fortunate to have done trail and mountain races, track races, runs in different countries etc. in my life.  As writer Gary Cantrell has observed, “I like chocolate, but I wouldn’t want to eat it all the time.”  The corollary to this is “Variety is the spice of life.”  I feel too many USA runners today DO eat chocolate all the time, sticking to trail races, especially the classic 100 mile runs like Western States or Leadville or Vermont, without ever trying a multi-day stage race or “Go-as-you-please,” or an orienteering ultra, or a road or track 24 hour event, or anything new and different.

I can truthfully say that while I brought up the back of the pack at the 6 day (318 erratically-paced miles), my body (especially my knees and feet) was less sore afterwards than after plenty of shorter trail races and all-out road marathons and even 25 and 30Kms.  Sure, I was in sleep debt after the 6 day, and I had some general soreness in my ankles and shoulders that I don’t normally have, but overall I was NOT “beaten up” by my long run on the paved Meadow Lake bikepaths.

“Mr. Rickey,” the Umpire said then, “listen to me.  Give the boy credit.  He made his own breaks.”

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood;  who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;  and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly ….”

From: Dorion, Mark G
Sent: Wed 5/11/2005 7:12 PM
To: ultra@listserv.dartmouth.edu
Cc: Dorion, Mark G
Subject: 6-Day Race: You’re Running and You’re Running . . .

**Sri Chimnoy 6 Day Race 2005:  “You’re Running and You’re Running and You’re Running Away” **

I arrived at the starting line at noon on Sunday May 1st via a route that was circuitous both literally and figuratively.  After having to cancel my Western States plans due to a long-put off Family reunion the same day, and then finding the Cornbelt 24 hour race to be full, I searched for a race in which to test the results of my hard training of the past 6+ months.  Just a few weeks earlier (c. April 3) I staggered to a horrendous performance at the Barkley in the wilds of eastern Tennessee, suffering through 40 miles (2 loops) well over the 26:40 time cut-off.  I believed I had a much better long race in me.

Several old friends/ advisors had recently told me in so many words that I was wasting my time with trail races and that even though I am old, I had still had decent road speed.  I doubted that (my last local 5Km was over 20:00!), however I do know that I manage to put in some good long runs on the hilly, 4-5,000′ elevation roads around my neighborhood and generally feel less sore than after a long trail run.

I enjoyed the pre-race introductions at the starting line at Meadow Lake in Queens;  the dramatic-voiced announcer reminded me of high school track races and also post-collegiate meets where each runner was announced and expected to jog out a few steps and wave to the crowd.  I felt out of my league at the 6 day as Danny Ripka, Dipali Cunningham, Rimas Jakalaitis (one of just a few people to ever run over 600miles in 6 days– and he did it as a SPLIT in a longer event!) and other horses were announced.

The first 24 hours featured excellent weather and one of the best nights for running I have ever experienced.  We had a lovely orange half-moon shining over the calm lake waters.  A number of us kept waiting for Jackie Gleason’s (OR Cedric The Entertainer’s, who will play Gleason’s role in the NEW Honeymooners) face to appear in the moon.  I ran quite a few laps with my friend Danny Ripka, who I was jealous of not because he is a faster runner or better looking, but because he has the best handlers I have ever seen in any ultra, led by his lovely, indefatigable wife Pat!  We kept remarking that while on paper it might look like we had gone out too hard, in reality we were taking advantage of the fine weather, which was predicted to turn NASTY by the 36 hour mark.

I was over 96 miles at 24 hours, and this included two separate 45 minute attempts to sleep or rest.  In the dorm tent (think MASH, including Korean winter weather) I just could not stay warm even with two sleeping
bags.  In the rental car I got warm and comfy, but still could not sleep (even my teddy bears which my daughter Amalia had packed for me did not help.  I gave up on the teddies and gave one to a charming little girl from New Zealand whose always-smiling Poppa, Jade, was running in the race).

I plugged through 100 miles in about 25:51and still was not sleepy.  But by night #2, and with some off and on heavy rains and winds, my legs and eyelids finally began to get heavy.

Old friend and world class multi-day runner Trishul Cherns and his CUTE puppy Dart had jogged a few laps with me off and on and warned me that Day 2 would be the toughest.  Not only was he correct about this, he was correct about every piece of advice he dispensed to me!  During night 2 I could not stay warm and was depressed and thought repeatedly of throwing in the towel.  BUT with Trishul’s advice in mind and a timely phone pep talk with my wife and coach Helen (she is way smarter than I will ever be, thank goodness), I said– Hey– it is Day 3– I can get out there and do this!

I only put in 41 miles on Day 3, and I was still cold much of the time (the third night was brutal– one local weather station reported wind chills below 40F, with light rain).  In fact, I was much colder in this race than I have ever been in 5 attempts at the Barkley Mountain races in Tennessee, several of which I have run alone, at night, in blowing snow.  The CLIMBS in a big mountain race always warm me up, whereas in the 6-Day we were always in the path of cold winds off the Lake.

Friends gave me good-natured grief but again Trishul and my wife both encouraged my new strategy– to really warm up, maybe I needed to get inside somewhere and into a warm, dry bed.  Coincidentally there was a nice Best Western not .3 of a mile over a walking bridge across the expressway from the start/ finish line (getting there by car was another matter– picture a twisty, one-way street -filled 4+ mile tricky drive!)  I went to the motel and took one of the most refreshing showers of my life, after which I STILL could only doze off for less than an hour!

Getting back into the fray at lunchtime (start of Day 4), my legs felt like someone had attached a tank of high octane gas to them!  I again ran quite a few laps with my friend Danny, who was finally reeling in Rimas (who was a bit sub-par after recent knee surgery but still had the fight of a lion!)  Danny and I discussed who had spent more HOURS– yes, hours– adjusting our shoes, me or him.

As novice 6 day runners but experienced 24 hour runners, we just did not get our shoes large enough, or with the right type of cut-out toe boxes, and as runners passed us they could hear our “dogs barking.”  I noted that old pros like Dipali (womens leader, charming woman from Australia) and Rimas had several pairs of perfectly adjusted shoes lined up neatly not 2 feet off the running path, while Danny and I scrambled to find exacto-kives and scissors and tape and at some points wore different shoes (sometimes a different brand on each foot!) each mile for 4 miles.  Before the race I would not have believed I would end up running in a shoe 1.5 sizes larger than my normal size!

Days 4 and 5 kind of blend in for me, because both nights were cold but somehow I bundled up and ran all night.  I loved the floodlit paths with just a few other runners out and about.  It was also after 180 miles when for the first time in my life I tried a walk-man in a race (I love music, but also love hearing the sounds around me– the birds and ducks and otters– yes we had quite a few river otters on the course– not to mention my fellow competitors).  It is amazing how my pace picked up as I sung along with the Wailers (who I actually met, danced and partied with — pepsi only mind you– and talked soccer with in 1990 when they were in El Paso– good guys) and Third World and “the Doctor of Love,” Barry White.  My singing seemed to catch on with the outgoing and animated night-time lap counting crew.  At one point I even got them singing “Out In The West Texas Town of El Paso”  and “Rock The Boat” with me.

I could not have kept going in this race if not for the encouragement of the Sri Chimnoy Marathon team organizers as well as fellow runners and handlers.  Poor Don Allison from ULTRARUNNING– he cheered us loudly the whole race and yet ended up with a more serious injury than any runner as, while cycling the full 3 mile loop ’round the lake, he took a hard spill and wrenched his back and got scraped up.  Ultra legend Luis Rios, the former President of one of the greatest USA ultra clubs ever, Prospect Park TC, incurred a serious back ailment on Day 4 and had to walk with an extremely painful (just to watch it was painful!)  gait, YET still offered encouragement as well as baseball score updates on each lap.  Danny’s wife Pat took me under her wing as if I were a long lost relative, and even went to the store and got me some pop when I needed it.  Wasatch Fred Riemer offered amazingly long and eloquently spoken quotations from Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and others as we see-sawed back and forth.  Like me, Fred found the nights along the lakeshore to be spiritual and uplifting.

Speaking of soda pop, the drinks (including the best coffee and tea and cocoa I have ever tasted in a race, or in any Starbuck’s or El Paso Cafe for that matter) and FOOD during this whole race were, for me, the best of many fine points about the whole adventure.  The charming woman chef from Australia always had a smile and constant fresh and hot meals ’round the clock.  The TWO kitchens on the course would be the admiration of the Army (and I teach on a US Army base) for their efficiency and quality and quantity of food available.

I took my last warm nap at the end of Day 5, hoping to “kick it in” by running and walking the whole ast 24 hours.  While coming into the race I had no specific goals, I now realized 300 miles was a possibility.  While I realize that by the standards of George Littlewood and Edward Payson Weston and the great athletes of the 1800s, as well as Kouros and George Gardiner and Stu Mittleman and Mary Hanudel and Eleanor Robinson and so many talented ultrarunners of the 1980s, 300 miles would be a warm-up jog, we live in a different age.  As one of my running heroes Steve Ovett stated a few years ago while commentating for the Olympics telecast, “We cannot live in the past.  Maybe I ran a world record mile back in my youth, but that was a LONG time ago.”

I shall post Day 6 notes and after-the-race thoughts later.  Right now the present and reality are pulling me by the arm, and my daughter Amalia wants to chase me around the block.  I think today Poppa will not be hurdling hedges and fire hydrants as usual, will not be very hard to chase down and tag!

“This was one of the greatest running experiences of my 34 year running career.”

“You’re running and you’re running and you’re running away–
But you can’t run away from yourself–”
–Bob Marley and the Wailers

“Some people want to change the world with silly love songs–
And what’s wrong with that?!”
–Paul McCartney and Wings

“He came from Jamaica and he came from QUEENS,
he came in style in a stretch limousine,
Whoa–ho-ho-ho-
Mr. Reggae Ambassador!”

(songs in my head during the cold rain and loneliness of the last night of the 6 Day)Day 6 of Sri Chimnoy 6 Day:

I had told myself for two days that, barring real injury, I would make a big push in the last 24 hours, only leaving the course for clothing changes or restroom breaks.  Only cold, icy rain and wind from about 10PM to 2:30AM slowed me in my effort.

Karnyati Morison, a charming 58-year old woman (and asst RD of one of the best ultras I have ever run– the Ottawa Sri 24 Hour at Terry Fox Stadium) from Ottawa, had told me on the second to last night that “everyone will have trouble sleeping on the last night, and will be out on the course.”  Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

As I bundled up at 11PM to battle the icy wind and rain, runners disappeared into their tents and soon there were but 4 of  us rounding the lakeshore loop.  One of these was my friend Karnyati, who ran as well as anyone in the last 24 hours, seeming to never stop to eat or sleep.  Try as I might, she stayed 6-7 miles ahead of me.

Just before 1AM I came flying past the scorers booth (the Wailers were singing “Wait in Vain,” one of my all-time favorite songs) and did not do a good job of checking in with the young women scorers, who looked rather sleepy and called me “Fred” (at several points in the race I was confused with my friend “Wasatch” Fred Riemer, who in reality is more bearded, a bit taller and much better looking than I)  For the rest of the race I was convinced a lap had been missed, but in the end this was a moot point.

At 1AM my favorite lapcounting crew arrived, led by assistant RD Sihishnu and two always-smiling and chatty bespectacled gentlemen whose names escape me at present.  They seemed to get a kick out of my “announcements” each lap, such as “Now entering the ring– the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world– Muhammed A–li!”  or “Now approaching the finish line– your 1980 Boston Marathon Champion– Bill Roooodgers!”

The rains finally subsided by 3AM and my pace picked up accordingly.  I reached 300 miles soon after 5AM and only then started to feel the effects of my all-night march.  I had suffered from a cold and sore throat since night one of the race, and the throat was now so swollen I could not breathe properly.  At 8AM I entered the medical tent for the first time all race, looking for anything to help my throat.  I ended up falling alseep for 10 minutes on a massage table  (MUCH more comfy and warmer than any cot in the dorm tents) before waking and staggering out for half a lap, only to start shivering and head off to the parking lot and a warm and dry car.  Luckily I had the car radio tuned to a loud funk station and my old friends KC & The Sunshine Band pumped me up and back out onto the course (in 28 years of ultras I have yet to tire of “Do A Little Dance– Make A Little Love– Get Down Tonight!”

Finally, with 2 hours to go, I came out of the doldrums and was able to run my fastest miles of the whole race (believe me– in a race this length, a 9:45 mile feels like a sprint!)

I passed 318 miles with a few minutes to spare and kept running hard down the course, even though I knew only full miles were recorded unless someone was going for a record.  Time expired as I reached the south turnaround near a large and colorful children’s playground, and for the first time all race I was able to go over and
TRY to climb on one of the large, colorful dinosaurs (remnants of the dinosaur-theme of the 1964-65 World’s Fair that I had enjoyed as a young whippersnapper).  My left hamstring had other ideas and I limped off the dinosaur and back to the running path and north to the finish.

POSTRACE:

I had one of the best massages of my life from a very nice man named Mr. Vajra.  I alternately howled in pain AND was tickled till it hurt, but eventually walked out of the medical tent feeling better off than I have after some all-out 25Km and marathon races!  My friend Danny Ripka had a bit more trouble staggering out to the awards ceremony, but again had the support (this time literally– one under each arm) of two MAGNIFICENT handlers, his charming wife Pat and good friend Paul.

One of the nicer awards ceremonies I have ever attended featured just the right length and mix of humor and seriousness.  I found it touching when Sri Chimnoy himself called each of three young children who had been at the race the whole time (they had parents running) up and handed them nice plush animals (as an arctophile I was impressed by the quality of the brand of teddy!) and toys.  I also loved it when Dr. Chimnoy shook hands with my friend Danny (overall winner with 478 miles) and Danny gave him a loud and affectionate thump on the shoulder!

The post-race meal was as gourmet and enjoyable as the wonderful meals served all race.  As a Race Director I was more impressed by the quality and quantity of food served, as well as the wonderful curbside service, than any other aspect of the whole 6 days.  If the Chefs ever want a mid-winter vacation to sunny El Paso and want a weekend job at a fun race, please contact me!

POST- AWARDS:

I managed to drive several other runners and moi back to the Best Western across the street (by foot ti was a 1/4 mile walk, by road a 4 mile roundabout through Queens residential streets).  I slept for 12 hours before forcing myself up and throwing all my bays together for a mad dash to LaGuardia Airport.

While in sleep debt and with a steady dull ache in my ankles and feet, I felt better than after many other ultras (probably because I purposely did not push the first few days), and was able to work out 80% of the NY TIMES Sunday crossword on the flight home (showing I still had some mental faculties). I also remembered to bring gifts for Mothers Day home to my best friend/ Coach and wife, Helen.

On Monday I went out and jogged 5 miles around my neighborhood and apart from “dead legs” felt fine at 11-12 minutes a mile.  The warm, dry sunshine and 75F weather (the NORMAL May 6-7 high in New York!) loosened up my chest.  I plan many complete rest days interspersed with short 3-6 mile runs over the next few weeks, and then will see how things are going. Is it too early to start planning for the 2006 New York Sri Chimnoy 6 Day?!

–Mark Dorion
Tuesday May 10
El Paso, Texas

Photo:Valéry Caussarieu

The Annapurna Mandala Trail is hardly known outside France; so much for ‘globalization’. As in many other sectors, the disconnect between the Anglo-Saxons and the Gallics is near total. France has a large and vibrant mountain and ultrarunning community. Within that community the AMT is well-known, receiving coverage in specialized magazines (e.g. Endurance ) and even on television (TV5).
But when Marjan and I meet the other participants we turn out to be the only two non-French amongst a total of 48 runners and walkers. Apart from the eight Nepali invitees among those participants that is. Of the 48, 43 are going to run the AMT, which means that they carry all they need on their own back. The walkers can hand over 10 kg to a porter of the supporting trekking agency Base Camp Trek (BCT). As it turns out, we are all walkers on the up-hills, although there is walking and walking, and walking as fast uphill as you can is a pretty exhausting discipline; and some of the walkers do not eschew the occasional downhill run.

Next to the language-based Apartheid, running with a full pack is probably a major ingredient in what makes this a very French event. Multistage runs requiring participants to be self-sufficient seem to be a particularly French pastime, with the Marathon des Sables as maybe its best known example. I do not know why this ‘extreme’ – or is it rather ‘pure’? – form of sojourn running seems to appeal to French runners in particular. But that it does seems evident. Outside France, carrying a rucksack seems often to be seen as not for ‘real’ runners. I can now certainly confirm that it is hard work! I can also confirm that the obsession of experienced backpack runners with the weight of their pack makes sense. The surreal rigor with which the Crane brothers, who set the benchmark for running the Himalaya with their 1983 Darjeeling-to-Rawalpindi trip, cut their weight down to the absolute minimum was hilarious to me before (check out Amazon if you can get a second hand copy of their incredible tale). Being Dutch and stingy I thought that a kilo more
or less wouldn’t matter. I now know better. However: the AMT is a real trail RUN.

Bruno Poirier: Chevalier du Vent extraordinaire

In 1994 Frenchmen Paul-Eric Bonneau and Bruno Poirier ran across the breath of Nepal in six weeks. The duo took a mere six days to complete the Annapurna circuit.
By April 2007, Bruno, a journalist for Ouest-France , had run 8.250 kilometers through the Nepal, Himalaya, adding up to 284.000 positive and 278.500 negative altitude meters, figures already superceded by two more stage races since then. He created the Annapurna Mandala Trail in 2000, the longer and even more adventurous Himal race in 2002, and the even higher Lafuma Sky race in 2003.
With a group of friends he started the Chevaliers du Vent Association for the purpose of organizing these races, and participates in all of them himself, consistently scoring top positions. He is an accomplished (ultra) mountain runner in France. With unprecedented drive and care, Bruno has created a universe of its own, for the benefit of many.

More on the ‘why participate in something like this’ in the FAQ on my website . That pre-departure reflection piece already highlighted my worries about what it takes to do this (i.e. if I actually have that…). Mid-March the organizer e-mailed an overview of the running experience of the first 20 on the participant list and that didn’t exactly boost my confidence. The awe that very experienced (i.e. way beyond my limited exploits to date) Dutch multi-stage and ultra-running friends seemed to display when hearing about my plans didn’t help much either. It’s actually somewhat of a mystery to me why I didn’t panic because this info came on top of many well-meaning inquiries if I was out of my mind, or at least questioning the safety of this undertaking. I have a history in the trekking business and several old friends told me that they would never sell an itinerary like this because it goes against accepted wisdom regarding acclimatization to altitude. Also, the closer we got to departure, the more squeamish Marjan became about what she as a walker had signed up to.
Mmmm, expected time needed for the walkers for that stage was 12 hours….However, I remained strangely detached as if sleepwalking to my doom, and taking my wife along for the ride. As it turned out, the itinerary had been vetted by
authoritative altitude specialists, (as with many things in life, experts seem to disagree about what is responsible), and this was the eighth edition. Also, the active selection of participants on prior problem-free experience above 5000 meters –

although with altitude sickness that is no guarantee for the future – did seem to make for a smaller proportion of difficulties than with your average group of trekkers. And in the end altitude did not cause serious problems.

However, getting to meet the rest of the group in Kathmandu and getting to know them a bit during the first couple of easy walk-in days, I am confronted head on with my nagging worries about being ill-prepared. The Nepali participants are the running elite of their country. The French, well, it’s a mix of extensive trail and ultra-running experience that emerges from the chats I have. The UTMB (close to 100 miles around Mont Blanc) and the Marathon des Sables , appear in so many CVs that they might as well have been qualifying races, and the crowd coming from la Reunion has all participated in the Grand Raid , some of them doing it every year. I know Nepal and its trails quite well. My first trek was in 1978 and I’ve lived and worked there for a couple of years. So I know what to expect. But this crowd suggests that it is not going to be a normal trek, or even a normal mountain run. My Freudian talents must be well developed: even these chats do not manage to really wake my worries from their subterranean slumber. What is my confidence based on?

In 2006 I participated in the Mount Kinabalu climbathon , a half marathon in East-Malaysia, starting at 1865 meters, going to 4095, and back down again. That went well. Was that it? Living in Cambodia, as flat as the Netherlands and quite ‘warm’, does not make for an optimal training environment. But that is where I had trained for the climbathon too. However, this was a run like the climbathon, but with a backpack, and then the next day again, and the day after again….Maybe one shouldn’t question things like this. After much pondering I had come to this conclusion regarding the question of ‘why’ (see the FAQ ), it might equally apply to the issue of confidence.

We all arrive in Kathmandu – those flying in from France, la Reunion, and Phnom Penh – on Saturday the 12 ^th of April, and get together in Hotel Manaslu , just off Lazimpath, a bit North of Thamel. The next day starts with a check of the obligatory equipment, a brief medical check, and some paperwork with Base Camp Trek .
Marjan and I had already made a first stroll through the old part of town, and visited our old base, the Summit Hotel and Summit Trekking , the day before. Phnom Penh friends, Brian and Ann and their two daughters stayed at the Summit before departing to Pike danda, and we just cannot be in town and not say hello to Kit Spencer, Sangye Sherpa and others that have been friends for such a long time. Summit also provided us with some gear that non-climbing tropical flatlanders do not have in their cupboard, like crampons. On Sunday afternoon some more street life and paperwork before we return to the Summit to meet up with a lot of De Stoppelaars, family of Cas, who is the hotel’s largest shareholder, the owner of trekking (and thus my former boss), honorary consul of Nepal in the Netherlands, a very gifted storyteller, and the author of a great book of faction on how the Summit came to be.

The AMT2008 according to the GPS of Cédric Charvin

Quite a few runners had a GPS with them and all produced different figures. In general, altitude was underreported, even with continuous calibration. The data below are from Cédric as published on his kikourou-blog .

First walk-in day : On the morning of the 14 ^th we do not have an early morning flight to Pokhara so no rush before departing. We’re such a big group that we need two planes. After both planes are in we board buses – Marjan and I and some others like our cameraman Fabien Brusson actually the roof – and drive to the road head at Nayapul from where we make a start around 13:30 for the first walk-in day to Ghandrung (1970 m). Marjan and I do not stop in Birethanthi (1080 m) for lunch but just after, at a local tea shack. As soon as we sit the rain starts. Now, that wasn’t foreseen in the program. When I say rain, I mean RAIN. We enquire: yes it’s been like that for a while, rain in the afternoons…as seasoned monsoon trekkers we know a bit about rain and are not really bothered. We arrive at our lodge in
Ghandrung totally soaked as some of the last in. The lodge is a bit of an eyesore, but the village is very much a normal village. I’m amazed at this because we are in the heart of the most trekked area of Nepal here! Yes, I’ve been here before and made the same observation then, but that was more than 15 years ago. We arrive so late that it takes some effort to find us a room, but in the end all is sorted out.

Second walk-in day : The next morning we wake up to a spectacular view. The days of mountain views from Kathmandu are largely over. The smog in the valley bowl has taken over. We had some views of the Matterhorn of the Himalaya, the Machhapuchare or ‘Fishtail’, yesterday but this is the first grand panorama of what we’re in for since we’ve arrived. The excitement ripples through our group. The day starts with ‘a bit’ up and down, before making a steep drop to cross the Kimrung river (1800 m). Marjan flies down this descent but starts to feel the Iliotibialis tendon of her left knee. It’s a steep climb up at the other side – a climb rewarded with our first blooming rhododendron tree – to get around an enormous landslide, before arriving at Chhomrong (2100 m) where we stop for lunch. This village has clusters of lodges and houses at several heights. We’re now in the valley of the Modi river draining the Annapurna Sanctuary, and we drop down an endless staircase to a little side-river, indeed, as always in Nepal, before climbing up again to the same height we came from. We’re entering a narrow wild gorge, the weather deteriorates, we are hit by a hail storm and shelter in a lodge in Bamboo (2310 m) before doing the last bit to our night stop Dobhan (2540 m). We huddle together in the dining room, drying clothes and shoes under the table where blazing kerosine burners make for smelly comfort. The rain is relentless.

Third walk-in day : Like yesterday, we wake to a glorious morning with a spectacular view on Fishtail. The mountainsides are dusted with snow. From Dobhan to Machhapuchare Base Camp (MBC; 3700 m) is only a long half day walk. It takes quite a while for the sun to hit the valley floor. The valley gradually starts opening up and becomes more alpine. We cross the river to avoid a landslide area that is dangerous in the spring season. The altitude slows me down a bit but doesn’t hurt.
Marjan is struggling, going up is always hard for her and on top of that the knee gives her great trouble. In the evening the accompanying doctor Maryse Dupré treats her with a series of injections containing a cocktail of a local anesthesia and an anti-inflammatory (‘meso-therapy’ in French). MBC is definitely alpine territory.
Expected time needed for walkers for tomorrow’s first stage is 9 hours. But more than 3000 meters downhill with obviously very painful tendonitis…. I am worried because it looks like Marjan is never going to make it. I cannot face the possibility of splitting up at this early stage. She herself also seems determined to give it a try. All of this is largely implicit. Anything said might make things definite. Let’s give it a night, we’ll see.

First stage of the AMT : On the 4th day the runners leave at five, in a long string of headlamps, for a 75 min walk up to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC; 4130 m). The walkers leave 20 minutes later for the descent. Some of the group, including a couple of walkers, visited ABC yesterday afternoon already. Marjan and I didn’t, having arrived late and not in for more walking. So she misses out on an absolutely spectacular place. All returning trekkers we had met had so far had said as much but one has to be there to feel it. How close can one get to seven and eight thousand! Wow. I arrive in front with Pascal Beaury, a 54 year old with an honorary

‘Sherpa’ attached to his name since his first AMT in 2000, to indicate his unmatched ability to keep up with Sherpa runners when the going gets tough. A cup of tea, a visit to the moraine behind the lodge for the best view, a visit to the toilet. Then to a couple of small and deserted tented camps of (Russian, Czech) expeditions – all are somewhere up on their respective mountain – an AMT banner, a group photo, and another, a fake start for Fabien’s film, and we’re off at 7:00 for our 42 km, + 1993 meters, -3365 meters first day. The trail is in the snow until close to MBC. Like it is going to be from now on, the pack goes off like madmen. As this is downhill I can keep up with the first half. When my legs are not jelly, I’m reasonably OK at descending. After 30 seconds I pass Phu Dorjee Sherpa, sitting on the ground with a pain-distorted face, and two other Sherpa’s sitting next to him, looking worried. Later we hear he tore an ankle ligament when slipping in the snow, and was heli-evacuated that same morning. Phu Dorjee was the expected winner of this race, with an impressive record of previous wins. He had told me that he was tired (like some of the other Nepali runners) because he had raced ATB’s around Annapurna just a month earlier (some kind of eco-challenge race). But he had obviously gone for victory right from the start, and paid for it. This morning, for the first time, I had dressed in more than shorts and t-shirt. After 25 minutes we’re back at MBC and I get out of my long trousers, coat etc. Now we’re in for a long, long descent. My legs feel good and I feel I’m doing OK. But when I pass Marjan she has only just left Dobhan, and she’s not doing well, her knee hurts like hell, and my thoughts are clouded immediately. Fortunately, running downhill requires every bit of attention I have so the cloud drifts by quickly. They return periodically when the going gets tough. Returning the same trail we came I am amazed at a long climb because I do not remember the equivalent descent on the way up. ‘Nepali flat’ – a ‘little bit’ up, a ‘little bit’ down – can play tricks on the mind. I do remember the endless staircase to upper Chhomrong and it is as exhausting as I had expected it to be. At the top there is a checkpoint and I stop for 10 minutes to drink coke, and eat some biscuits. Sitting next to Pascal – what is he doing here? He should be way ahead of me…- without any urge for chitchat and fighting the thought that Marjan is probably going to make it to this point but will then decide to call it a day. When I take off again I immediately get lost and Pascal saves me by calling out. He saves me a second time when I would have taken the wrong trail had he not been around. We stay close to each other until after crossing the Kimrung river again. There a 700 meter climb starts, higher up through the kind of majestic old growth forest, close to the destination flowering rhododendron trees, that always stirs something in me. A third into the climb Pascal remains behind and I continue with Frederic (who later acquires the honorific ‘Fried Egg Sherpa’). That is to say I follow him for the second third until I
catch up with him when he starts slowing down because of hypoglaemia. We do the last stretch together and arrive in 16^th position tired and very satisfied at the couple of lodges called Tadapani (2620 m) after a good 7 and a half hours. The reception is unexpected: most of those already arrived and the staff of BCT cheer and clap and make for quite a spectacle. I’m shown to my room, join the others around the table for food and drink, take a shower, but all of this is interspersed with bouts of restless waits around the finish line. I cannot imagine Marjan is ever going to make it and half hope, half fear she is going to stay in Chhomrong. Around six Jean-Michelle Ferron comes in – he sprained an ankle and can hardly walk. He says Marjan is coming! I start descending immediately, come across the one before last walker, Aurélie, very soon, and after about 15 minutes, there she is. Slow but steady.

After lunch walking had become less painful and she was in good spirits…this is after 13 hours. What perseverance, I am overwhelmed and very happy. Later that evening we hear that three participants, the French organizers call them ‘les ultras’ have decided to quit in Chhomrong. Badwater , the Transgaulle , it apparently did not prepare them for
these trails. Pure , the sirdar – leader of the Nepali support crew – arrives at 10 PM, having arranged the helivac for Phu Dorjee and the walk-out for les ultras. My already profound respect for what it takes to be a good sirdar – one of the inheritances of a couple of years in the trekking business – is reinforced once more.
The view in Tadapani is fabulous, the Annapurna range across a flowering rhododendron forest, with a troupe of langur monkeys playing in some trees down the hill.

Second stage of the AMT : It is uphill through the same beautiful forest, with deforested Poon Hill (3210 m) as the highest point. One very talented but very erratic Nepali runner, Deepak Rai, who came in second yesterday, ‘forgets’ to do Poon Hill, thus arriving way before everyone else at the finish, but with a 2 hour penalty to his name. Before this view point – with today’s checkpoint – we run a ridge that already provides the panorama that makes for Poon Hill’s fame: from Dhaulagiri in the West to the Manaslu range in the east. I am in the top third at the checkpoint and start the long descent to the valley of the Kali Gandaki river. The walkers skip both Ghorepani and Poon hill and take the direct route from Deorali via Chitre. At the end of the day Marjan raves about the incredible forest they went through and that, at walking pace, can really be enjoyed. With my concentration focused on my feet, I am only intermittently aware of both forest and views, it has to be said: running is definitely not the easiest way to appreciate this environment. The descent, unlike yesterday’s succession of ups and downs, is relentlessly downhill and seems endless. It passes various villages and becomes increasingly hotter. The only other runners I see are Pascal and Matthias Gery . Pascal does neither like the heat nor the descent, but deals with it by taking it easy and effortlessly. Mathias suffers visibly from the heat and the ORS I can give him comes at the right moment. The last bit of the descent is incredibly steep. It takes me to a bridge over the Ghar river, and then immediately after that a bridge crossing the Kali Gandaki. At the other side: motorbikes, tractors, and a jeep! Ouf, I wasn’t prepared for that. I had expected the village of Tatopani (1190 m), always lauded in trek descriptions for its luxurious lodges, hot spring baths, and apple pie. Not a dusty road. Tatopani takes another 15 minutes, and then turns out to be by-passed by the road. The baths are right next to the river-lining road, not exactly the most scenic location. I drink a coke in a roadside shack and continue. Our night stop is Dana (1450 m), another half hour over the very gradually climbing road. It’s my first real intro to running flats with the backpack and although it feels sluggish and clumsy, it is running, and it is hard.
A suspension bridge leads into Dana, where yesterday’s reception spectacle is repeated, something I can really appreciate after my 5:50 hours of effort. It was a bit easier than yesterday, as confirmed by the time and the day’s stats: 37km, + 1437 meters, -2806 meters. The lodge has a nice garden and I settle into the routine started yesterday: re-hydrate (limitless quantities of lemonade are waiting for us at each finish line) get installed in the nice room that Bruno has reserved for us, take a shower and wash my clothes, and then food. Exhaustion usually requires a start with soup to get my system geared towards replenishing, but after that I manage to eat at least two more dishes of whatever seems appetizing. Around three I walk off towards Tatopani to pick up Marjan. This afternoon it rains only very lightly. I pass several late arrivals, amongst them Jaganath Bista, a Nepali runner with a fast marathon time to his name, but now struggling with a painful foot, and walk all the way back to the bridge across the Kali Gandaki before meeting up with her, Jean-Michelle, Aurélie Collado (a walker; and physiology student doing a small study on the emotional reaction to an event like this) and their BCT companions. Marjan is doing great again, same story as the day before: before lunch real trouble, afterwards easier. Jean-Michelle decides to take a hot bath, Aurélie waits for him, Marjan and I climb up to Tatopani and have a tea on the roof terrace of one of the lodges. We encounter Pure with some other BCT staff and also Tsering Ghale, a Nepali runner who complained about a sore knee yesterday, and who can now hardly walk. It’s an hour back to Dana, and I love the opportunity this pace offers to take in my environment. The shock of the road gives way to awe at the beauty of the valley. I am tired when we arrive, but the warmth, the candlelit dinner in the garden, great company; it all makes for a very agreeable evening.

What’s it like being a Nepali runner?

Not easy! The mountain runners do not do much specific training. They tend to rely on their natural talents, and often work in the trekking business. The ones (also) running normal races, trying to qualify for international meets with the national selection, face the same difficulties as runners in other poor countries without facilities – like Cambodia. Time in training is time not available for working. Serious training also includes time to rest, more expensive diets, and good shoes. Prize money? Not the races accessible to them. Corporate sponsorship? Forget it. Until now, the AMT (and the other races) has managed to attract the local elite. The Nepali participants get a free ride, received a full set of equipment (shoes, backpack, sleeping bag, etc. etc.) and are compensated for the opportunity costs by being paid a trekking staff salary ($165 for the 14 day trip), but obviously they have en-route expenses like everyone else. Race winners get a ticket to France and are hosted for two weeks by various Chevalier du Vent friends, as well as participate in the Course des Tempeliers .

Third stage of the AMT : Today, we start in two groups, the first 19 in the results list – which includes me – half an hour later than the rest. Like usual the pack takes off in what feels like a sprint to me and I am at the back of the field in no time. Today’s stage is largely ‘gradual up’, and again shorter than the day before (34 km; 1700 meters, -450 meters). It’s quite warm at this altitude and many in the group don’t like that. The combination of heat and running with a pack on flat trails turns this into a tough day for many, also for me, but in relative terms I’m doing fine: with a ninth place in the day’s results list I bag my best placement of the whole event. Training in tropical heat does have some advantages. The leader of the field confirms his dominance, beating everyone again. Deepak seems totally demoralized by yesterday’s penalty and takes a day off as far as running goes, arriving as one of the last. The going is tough but any qualms I had about running a jeep road are gone. What a valley this is! With 8000 meter peaks at either side, the Kali Gandaki has carved the deepest depression on earth, creating a passage between the Tibetan plateau and the Gangetic plane that makes for fierce winds. The views of the Himalayan main range are more than impressive, with the Annapurna I panorama from Lete (2480 m) as the day’s highlight. The route takes a couple of shortcuts
through the increasingly widening river bed and takes us through a couple of villages, but unfortunately not Tukuche (Marjan who walks the required detour confirms we really missed something). Close to Marpha (2680 m), our night spot forthe day, the landscape starts changing dramatically, becoming much dryer: we are entering the rain shadow, the area shielded by the Himalayan main range from the onslaught of the yearly monsoon rains. Very soon we’ll enter what is geologically part of Tibet. In the outskirts of Marpha I catch up with Stephan (‘le Grand’) Bruand, and first placed woman Lakhpa Diki Sherpa. At a crossroad we hesitate: left is signed as ‘Marpha village’, straight seems a fast way to the end of the village.
Stephan and I take a left, Lakhpa stays on what looks like the main trail. Stephan is one of those for whom heat is a killer, and I manage to finish first in 5:18 after what seems an endless stretch through Marpha’s main street (but takes less than 5 minutes). Lakhpa shows up 10 minutes later and is emotionally shaken by her wrong decision. It takes until evening for her normal smile to reappear. Bruno had described Marpha as the most beautiful village in Nepal. That is a debatable statement but it is certainly very scenic, although touristy. The views from the lodge roof are smashing. The offer of delicacies in this ‘apple capital’ of the country is enticing: I drink at least a liter of pure apple juice and the crumble is delicious. The number of runners needing treatment from Maryse increases. Tsering and Jaganath finish but are no competition anymore, and Nigma Yangji Sherpa, the other female runner, is also slowed down by a painful and swollen knee. After the arrival routine – it takes me at least 1.5 to 2 hours to recuperate – I again walk back to pick up Marjan, whom I meet about 45 minutes out of Marpha. She tells me from afar that stopping, even to say hello, is out of the question; breaking her rhythm would mean the end, very sorry, so I fall in line and we return at a brisk pace. Like yesterday I enjoy every step of this opportunity to look around and see all kinds of things that I hadn’t noticed earlier: the desert-like erosion walls before Marpha, the beautiful village at the other side of the river, the views of the main range towering above the sides of the valley.

What logistics does a race like this need?

Just talking the actual event itself, not the preparation: it takes a group of five French Chevaliers du Vent and a much larger Nepali group from Base Camp Trek to make
it all possible. Race director Bruno Poirier , Pascal Beaury and film director/
photographer Fabien Brusson share Bruno’s responsibility to look after the group,
doctor Maryse Dupré does the medical checks and treats every evening, and Gildas
Leugé Maillet takes care of the daily results list. The BCT team, led by ‘sirdar’ Pure ,
is divided into five sub-teams: arrival time-keepers, check-point time-keepers, pack
safety (e.g. being at crossroads to ensure that all take the right trail), tail-end support
and the team looking after accommodation and the provision of breakfast and
evening meals. On top of these 25 Nepali’s there are 7 porters carrying the excess
baggage of the walkers, a heavy load of medical supplies, a Gamow bag , and some
food that is not available in the mountains. Team communication is by walkie-talkie
(when they are not too far apart). The easiest way to picture the complexity of this is
to imagine a 60 people mobile half-board hotel.

Fourth stage of the AMT

Today’s stage doesn’t take the envisioned route via the Lupra valley. It’s not entirely
clear if the quality of the trail (a safety consideration), or the risk of people getting
lost (a logistic consideration: it requires more BCT staff at crucial junctions, and/or
staff to search for lost runners) is to blame. Whatever it may be, I would have
preferred going via Lupra but am not getting upset over changes of plan. I’m not
responsible for this crowd, those who are carry a weighty burden, and I am very
grateful for the happy-go-lucky freedom that their work creates for the rest of us.
Tour leading is one of those professions that is highly undervalued; with a couple of
tour leading friends and a couple of years in the trekking business, that insight is
impossible to avoid. Instead, we take the regular route via Kagbeni. Either route is
relatively short and not very extreme in its positive altitude meters: 24 km, + 1100
meters, -150 meters . After another flying start (of the faster second group), and a
struggling yours truly at the back of the pack, the first part is through the river bed
and over the flat jeep road to Jomosom (2760 m), Eklobhatti (2830 m) and the
checkpoint at the entrance to Kagbeni (2840 m). From there it is a steep ascent into
the valley of the Jhong river that emerges close to the Thorung pass, and then more
gradual, passing the villages of Khingar (3270 m; a coke for me), and Jharkot to a
last short but steep ascent to the entrance of Mukthinath (3710 m). Our lodge is the
very first ugly but comfortable building in the village. The landscape in this valley is
otherworldly, but I struggle with climbing. I arrive exhausted after 3:30, and my very
reasonable 13 ^th position in the day’s results list is more due to bad route choices of a
couple of others (taking shortcuts that turn into detours) than to my own efforts. I’m
happy with the rest day ahead of us, with such a short stage actually a day and a
half. I’ve been here before in the summer 2000 , and changes are evident, but the
overall impression didn’t change that much. Our then time lodge has been
reconverted to a normal family residence: couldn’t compete with the newer larger
guesthouses. A big new gomba (Tibetan Buddhist temple) has been build in the
centre of town, and lots of other gomba building is evident around the village,
strangely enough mostly nunneries, in general very much the exception. Internet has
arrived, a slow satellite connection, three PCs in a first floor room of a traditional
house (such disjointed fusions of old and new always evoke a pleasantly weird state
of mind). And Muktinath now has a Bob Marley restaurant, with befitting music, a
hippie-era interior, ganja-smoking youngsters fiddling with a guitar on the roof at the
back (OK, the pool table is out of place), and a lady boy running the show, very
popular with our group. Without the summer clouds, the grandeur of the valley is
more evident. What an absolutely fabulous place. I don’t have the heart to go search
for Marjan, cannot face another climb, but she arrives early afternoon, and we join
the others in exploring the culinary possibilities of the village and then visit the
temple, which is surrounded by 108 spouts, for which this village is famous. All
afternoon a big helicopter keeps arriving and taking off again and when we are close
to the entrance of the temple compound, it just arrives again, nearly blowing us off
our feet. A group of Indian pilgrims is waiting on the path for the arriving group of
Indians to vacate the thing. I ask the first lady emerging if she indeed is from India,
yes she is, and when will she return, oh, in an hour or so….I think we count at least
five or six flights that afternoon, each spitting out 20+ pilgrims, mostly very, very old
people, supported by one of their children or grand children, clearly a once and final
lifetime visit of penance. It is purnima, full moon, a most auspicious time for such a
pilgrimage. We also visit a nunnery on the temple compound (this is very typical
Nepali, Hindus and Buddhists share sacred places in perfect harmony), which
contains both a spring and a flame of natural gas emerging from the same rock, a
sight I had missed last time.

Rest day : After breakfast the first activity is a photo shoot on the hills behind our
lodge. Bruno and Fabien need pictures for articles in the French press, for sponsors
etc. So, off I go with a couple of the fast young boys – very ego-enhancing such an
invitation – and we all enjoy it, because the views are just stupendous. Marjan goes
along as the photographer of the photographers and we spend a good hour before
returning to the lodge for a medical check and trying on the crampons. The advice is
to go for an acclimatization walk – anywhere to 4000-4500 m – but Marjan and I
decide that we’ve had our walk already and head for Bob Marley’s instead to feed. In
the afternoon we go to a large field full of ammonites (fossils) just beyond Chhongar,
the village just after and below Muktinath, taking Benoit along. On the way back I’m
eager to find out where exactly in 2000 I had crossed the Jhong on my day trip into
Mustang (technically only accessible with a very expensive special permit) and we
venture into the fields outside Chhongar. We come across a large herd of mountain
goats. The landscape is dotted with enormous walls indicating community
boundaries. It does remind us of the geologically very similar Nar-Phu region that we
also visited in 2000. The visit to Chhongar itself is another highlight, half deserted,
but what magic architecture! Some of the buildings seem to walk straight of the
pages of Robert Powell’s drawings of Mustang : The ochres, yellows, mud-plastered chortens, the woodwork and dark passageways. On the way back, once
more hippie fare, a quick visit to the new gomba, beautifully painted, and back for an
early night, because tomorrow’s start is going to be early. Marjan has decided to stay
at this side of the pass. She loves this arid, eroded landscape with its Tibetan
villages off the main trail. Jean-Michel will climb to the pass but return to Muktinath
and the two of them will do some unhurried exploration and wait for us in Jomosom.

Fifth stage of the AMT

A four o’ clock in the morning start for a ‘stage de liaison’, not timed: all get five
hours added to their time from the top of the Thorung pass to Manang, irrespective
of the real time it takes them to reach the top. The hour of day shows itself in the
irritation visible around the breakfast table when tea arrives fifteen minutes later than
announced during yesterday’s briefing. Shake a very undemanding and accepting
crowd out of the comforts of their beds too early and they turn into a complaining
bunch of spoiled tourists. Anyway, ‘not timed’ makes the most sensible strategy for
the ascent very evident: take it easy, don’t waste unnecessary energy, the race only
starts afterwards. My spineless nature wrecks havoc: As usual I attach myself to the
fastest walker/runner I can keep up with, which turns out to be Pascal Beaury. I start
off with my headlamp but soon follow his advice to switch it off. It’s full moon, light
enough. The field around us gradually thins out and when we reach the pass (5416
m) after 3:30 hours, only this stage’s numbers one and two, Sonam Sherpa and
Deepak Rai, are (just) before us. I am tired and breathless but without nasty
symptoms like nausea, headache, or disorientation. Afterwards I learn that 10 to 12
of the group suffered above 5000, and Fabien had serious trouble, again confirming
that altitude experience is no guarantee whatsoever. Later, in Manang, Bruno is
visibly worried when waiting for the last arrivals, and only relaxes when all are in
sight. Obviously, the back of the pack is never without BCT support, but the race
director’s responsibility weighs heavily on him. Pascal and I only spend a couple of
minutes with the BCT staffs on the top and then start descending, through snow.
The difference between us now shows itself, he flies off and is out of sight in no
time. I am very aware of my tiredness and the associated risk of falling. That
awareness is certainly realistic: one of the young stars of the group, Sylvain Bazin ,
does fall off the trail, all without serious consequences beyond a bruised body and a
shocked mind, but that’s sheer luck. It takes me an hour to reach Thorung Phedi,
where I drink a coke before setting off again. I slow down considerably, feeling totally
drained. Luckily Marjan had given me some spicy dried lapsi of which I devour half a
package (haven’t trained eating while on the move so I can only chew and swallow
at very slow pace…) and that helps a bit. But during the 2:20 it takes me from
Thorung Phedi until Manang (3540 m) I am passed by three runners who reached
the top after me, and of those arriving later than me in Manang a fair number end up
before me in the day’s results list because they need less than my 3:20 from the
pass. The view into the Manang valley is awesome. Many of the trekkers ascending
towards the pass from Manang seem to have heard about us, we’re known as ‘the
marathon’, and all let us pass, many waiting to clap and cheer. The way into Manang
is longer than expected. Once in the valley I first need to run through Tengi, before
reaching old Manang, and find my way through all of its narrow lanes to the lodge
part of town where the finish is exactly opposite the lodge where we stayed during
our 2000 monsoon trek . For me, today’s 35 km were hard ( +2160 m / -2280 m).

Changes in Manang are minor: bigger lodges, bakeries/pie shops, that’s basically it,
and a jeep road, but without motorized traffic yet (the bridges still need to be put in).
It needs to be seen what the road will do. But as it is now, the incursion of modern
life does not ‘ruin’ my experience of the place. It’s actually the third time I’m here,
have seen it in the winter of 1981, three years after the Marsyangdi valley was
opened up to foreign trekkers in 1978. Yes, it was different then, lodging with local
families, most people wearing traditional clothing, nothing much beyond dalbhat, the
prototypical Nepali meal: rice, lentil soup and some vegetables (potatoes and/or
spinach) for food, not many trekkers. I had expected my monkey brain to play the
comparison game. It doesn’t. I’m grateful for that because it is a futile and
emotionally draining game. Don’t know whom or what to be grateful to, but I am. In
2000, monsoon clouds hid the splendor of the peaks surrounding the valley most of
the time. Now they’re out and tower over me. The wind is fierce. Knew that would be
the case in the Kali Gandaki, but had not expected it here. I spend the afternoon
strolling through the tourist part of town, eating, writing and chatting. On my own
now, the contact with other group members intensifies. I very much enjoy that, but it
does feel like a crash course in French and my grey matter is really tired at the end
of the day.

Chi-running the Himalaya

When preparing for the AMT I had discovered chi-running and hoped that this
running technique would help me in the mountains as much as it already did on the
flats of Cambodia (see my FAQ ). Marjan and I where fortunate enough to get some
expert instruction during a one-day workshop by Marion Meesters when we were on
home leave in January. Now did it help? ‘Nepali flat’ is not the easiest terrain for
applying chi-running principles, but I’m convinced that it is a major reason why I got
through the AMT without injuries, well, got through it at all! I cannot claim to have run
most of it in chi-form. But focusing my attention on correct posture (aligned and
leaning forward), on relaxing my leg muscles and ankles, on engaging core muscles,
when the going got rough was an instant ticket to some relief and new resources. My
hill technique certainly needs improvement but whatever I could apply did save
energy (and thus my ass). I’m lucky in that my natural style – or the style that I had
adopted over the years – didn’t need radical change and some basics of chi-running
thus immediately felt OK. I know that less fortunate others are going to have more
difficulty adopting the chi-running technique. However that may be, it does work: I
get a lot more efficiency for the same perceived level of effort and I am a lot less
injury prone.

Sixth stage of the AMT

The day of the ‘Manang marathon’ (every GPS gives different figures; we agree on
35 km). It’s a out and back run: to Upper Pisang (first checkpoint; 3240 m) on the
valley road, passing the airstrip at Hongde (3420 m), then back on the high trail via
Gyaru (3670 m) and Ngawal (2 ^nd checkpoint; 3620 m). A run with an empty
backpack, the emergency food rations, my medical kit, survival blanket, whistle and
water bottles (empty, I decide to do it on coke alone), also, a ‘late’ start, thus
sleeping in, and an unhurried breakfast. We have three local runners joining in. The
pack goes off like usual and within a kilometer I’m toast. An advantage (?) of stage
runs is that one’s personality quirks manifest themselves in undeniable explicitness.
One of mine is that the adrenaline rush at the start does away with any sensible race
plan I might have made before hand. I know this weakness but being affected by it
only once every so often (how many races does an amateur like me run in a year…)
the pattern remains alive and kicking; whatever I resolve to do ‘next time’ is long
gone when ‘next time’ is now. This time, ‘next time’ is ‘next day’ and even my
decaying grey matter starts adjusting. Not that I can avoid the fast start, but I start
looking for a feasible rhythm much earlier and start having some confidence that all
will be fine even if I loose sight of others. But I am tired today and the thought
emerges that I’m nearing the end of my reserves. One of the routines I developed
over the last couple of days has been a semi liquid dump in the morning, which feels
like emptying my body of most of yesterday’s intake. I eat like a pig but not much of
it seems to be absorbed. The ultramarathon that I have planned for next month
seems like a very unattractive prospect now…Today’s course if typical Nepali flat,

Cedric’s GPS gives +/- 1550 meters, with the steep climb from Pisang to Gyaru
being the killer that many have trouble with. No weight on my back, the spectacular
view and some fast runners not disappearing out of view keep me going and despite
the tiredness I am back in a respectable 4:13. This is one of the two stages that
Sonam doesn’t win (he comes in second at both). ERLINK\l”Bruno” Bruno arrives
after me and is extremely tired. I’m sure it’s the stress of feeling responsible for the
well-being of so many people. The rest of the day is spent eating, writing and talking
French and Nepali. I can manage in either but it takes a lot of concentration, I’m
always the only non-native speaker in a crowd and when addressed directly it’s
usually OK but when trying to follow conversations amongst themselves, well….I
start having a ‘Khumbu’ cough , nothing serious, nothing bothersome, but another
indication that my reserves are emptying.

Seventh stage of the AMT

The itinerary for the 7 ^th and 8 ^th stage would originally have been terra incognita for
me: to Tilicho Basecamp, Tilicho lake and via the seldomly crossed Mandala pass
directly to Jomosom. First doubts about the feasibility of this route had already
arisen when we were in the Kali Gandaki valley and wondered what the rains at our
altitude would mean for the snow levels up there. The Thorung pass has large
trekking groups crossing it daily, which means that even with a lot of snow there is
always someone to break trail. The envisioned itinerary had been part of the route of
the 2007 AMT. At that time a trekking group of BCT had broken trail for them. And
the runners had already crossed two difficult 5000 passes, and lost those (couple of)
participants who had trouble with that altitude. When a bunch of us had trouble with
the Thorung pass, Bruno had become very worried and tense. There was no group
crossing before us to break trail, and this other pass required staying above 5000
meters for at least 3 to 4 hours. Thorung is different, basically a jump across and
down again, ensuring that trouble is as short-lived as the time it takes to descend a
couple of hundred meters. I am in two minds about wanting to explore new and
more difficult terrain. How difficult it could be had been made very clear to me by my
friend Kit Spencer, manager of Summit Hotel and Trekking , an accomplished
mountaineer (I got to know him first as a member of an Everest expedition via the
West ridge – the normal route is a walk up compared to that), who told me that his
day from Tilicho lake across the Mandala pass to Jomosom, in bad weather, had
been his worst trekking day ever….Crossing Thorung pass hadn’t exactly been a
walk in the park for me. The Mandala pass is estimated to take 50-75% more time, it
would be hours in (deep?) snow, I am very unsure that this is within my capabilities.
When Bruno decides not to take the risk, a small and irresponsibly macho part of
me is disappointed, but the dominant rest is actually relieved. It takes a couple of
waves of disappointment to ripple through the group before Bruno’s natural authority
prevails and the inevitability of this decision is accepted. So we return on our steps,
and stage seven is a short but intense climb to Thorung Phedi high camp (4700 m). I
am a bit worried about sleeping at that altitude without any intermediary night stops,
but compared to crossing the Mandala pass that is a minor concern. Climbing to the
Thorung pass from the Muktinath side had been trouble free for me, and the only
time I had been among the top five a couple of hours into any day’s stage, but this
climb is a struggle from beginning to end. Especially the last 200 meters, a steep
climb from Phedi to High Camp are utterly exhausting and I arrive looking as I feel:
drained and grey. I take 3:35 hours for the 18 km of this stage and many others do
not fare much better so my position in the results list remains the same. The +1599
meters / -336 meters stats of today in no way reflect how hard it was. However, my
memories are less determined by this than by my amazement about the
environment of High Camp. I had passed this place twice before, in 2000 and just
two days earlier, but I had absolutely not registered. After my normal recovery
routines I climb a viewpoint next to the lodge, together with my closest competitor
Robin Meyer, and am absolutely overwhelmed. One thing exhaustion does is knock
down one’s defenses. Bless those who do not need to be exhausted for their
defenses to come down, it is a laborious and roundabout route, but it is a route, and
the world is a wondrous place when the doors of perception are cleaned of their
normal clutter. Tears trickle down my cheeks and I am not embarrassed, just a bit
worried Robin is. Something that went into this surge of emotion was certainly the
encounter in the lodge with a young American family from Colorado and their two
little girls of 1.5 and 4 years, happily playing and enjoying themselves. The reaction
of most of my companions is covert skepticism but I had been here myself with a 5
year old (and her older siblings), and had carried a one year old across another high
pass (even longer ago) and their presence make me mourn the passage of time, the
absence of my mate, but also the joy of having been with my loved ones right here.
A strange and indefinable mix of emotions, apparently bottled up. Who am I to
question its release?

Eighth stage of the AMT

The night was not cold. I wake with a slight headache, not feeling great. My bowels
empty themselves again, and the bowl of breakfast porridge feels like a pretty shaky
foundation for what I expect is going to be a long hard day. My mind, clouded by my
empty physical reserves, just cannot believe Bruno’s estimate for the time the
winner is going to take, but obviously he’s pretty close (between 3:30 – 4 hours). We
leave early, hoping to beat the normal trekkers to the narrow trail that makes for
difficult passing. We ourselves also stage our departure into three groups, split up
according to the overall results list, to avoid the fast ones from being held up. Our
strategy does not work, lots of trekkers are already on the trail, but the envisioned
problems do not occur because all immediately give passage, often breathlessly
cheering us along, also breathless, just a bit faster. It takes me an hour to reach the
pass, a very strenuous hour, again emotional because of resurfacing memories of
my son, nearly nine at the time, suffering from the altitude during our 2000
crossing . When I top I know I’m done and I need to be very careful on my way
down. The stats of today’s 33.6 km stage are +868 meters / -2895 meters, and such
a descent on legs of jelly is risky, very risky. I do stumble quite a few times but am
lucky and stay upright, somehow… After an hour of descent I shed my warm cloths
and continue in the gear that I have run most of the AMT in (my yellow shorts and a
t-shirt). Half an hour later I am back in Muktinath and stop for a coke. From
Muktinath, the descent is very gradual, on the jeep road. Finally, the inevitable fall
occurs, on a completely flat and easy stretch. The damage is limited, some wounds
on my hands, a bleeding knee, an egg-like bump on my head (protected by my cap).
Robin, who is a hundred meters ahead of me, returns and helps me back onto my
feet, very welcome assistance because for a moment I just do not know how to get
up and feel quite helpless. But as soon as I am standing, I feel OK and I send him
on his way again, not wanting him to be held up. The fall releases a jolt of adrenaline
and that seems just what I need. In hindsight it feels like I could only finish the last
two hours of this stage because of it. The last hour, after the steeper and very
beautiful descent to Eklobhatti, passing the entry of the Lupra valley, is through the
flat and hot riverbed/jeep road through the Kali Gandaki. I keep jogging with my
heavy backpack, never loosing sight of Robin (yes, he is not going to pass me in the
overall ranking….I am very aware of the silliness of such a thought in the bigger
scheme of things, and of the motivational force it has on my toddler brain). The heat,
the endlessness of the trail, it reminds me of the weekend runs in Cambodia. That
helps, because, however tired I am, I know that I’ll eventually get back to the
‘Japanese bridge’ by putting one foot in front of the other. My tropical training may
not have been the ideal preparation but for stretches like this it certainly pays off. I
know Marjan is waiting out there, which turns out to be a couple of hundred meters
before the finish, a couple of hundred meters that we run together. When reaching
the finish I’m initially a bit numb, just happy to have it over with, but when, after the
usual four, five glasses of lemonade, Marjan shows me our room – in a lodge that is
more a real hotel – the tears that I expected do come, and the relief, the tiredness,
the cleansing feels very good. The afternoon is spent getting a shave, eating momos
(a dumpling-like Tibetan delicacy), getting a police statement for our insurance
(Marjan lost her I-pod somewhere between Kagbeni and Jomosom), more food and
drink, and taking in the stupendous panorama across the valley from our hotel.

The winner: Sonam Gal Sherpa

Sonam definitely establishes himself as a force that mountain runners worldwide
should reckon with – if he would have the means to challenge them. As the younger
brother of Dawa Dachhiri Sherpa that was always a possibility, but its realization is
more than impressive. He is 2.5 hours faster than numbers two and three of the
results list, Nepali Bhimsen Awale and race director Bruno Poirier. And some of his
times of individual stages are otherworldly. In 2005, the AMT followed a similar
itinerary and the first stage was more or less the same as this year’s but a bit easier
because it avoided the climb to upper Chhomrong. That Sonam beat the time of the
2005 winner of this easier version, the Swiss Christophe Jacquerod, the only non-Nepali winner of the AMT ever and considered Europe’s premier trail runner, speaks
to his incredible talent.

Next morning we fly to Pokhara, for a day at lakeside, eating copious quantities of
food and loafing about, and a night in what feels like a very luxurious hotel. A small
number of die-hards go out late afternoon for a two hour ‘recovery’ run, aiming for
the stupa at the top of the hill lining the other shore of the lake. On Sunday, a
morning flight to Kathmandu, saying goodbye to friends, meeting Cas , a bit of
shopping and an evening ceremony-cum-dinner at the hotel. Wow, what a trip!

More info on the AMT 2008

Information on the running experience of all 2008 participants is available on here .

The overall results can be found on the site of BTC . The day-to-day results are
available on my website .

Some GPS info is available on Cédric Charvin’s blog .

Various participants have already posted their photo’s on the web:

Valéry Caussarieu: http://picasaweb.google.fr/v6l9ry

Mathias Gery : http://picasaweb.google.fr/Kikourou

Virginie Duterme: http://picasaweb.google.fr/VirginieSouris

Cédric Charvin: http://picasaweb.google.fr/LeCastorJunior

André Latorre: http://picasaweb.google.fr/latorre.andr

Other participant reports:

Sylvain Bazin: http://sylvainbazin.blogspot.com/

Check my website for updates on info becoming available.

More info on Chevaliers du Vent events

A 10-day race in the Everest area coming autumn, the AMT2009, a 3.5 week Himal
race in 2010….

Base Camp Trek & Expeditions, PO Box 3491 Kathmandu Nepal.

Tel : (977 1) 44 11 504/44 15 573 – Fax – 44 12 337.

E-mail : info@basecamptrk.com

Site : www.basecamptrek.com

Representative of Base Camp Trek & Expeditions in France: Bruno Poirier, 19 Rue
des Douettes,

85130 Saint-Aubin-des-Ormeaux. France.

Tel : 06.81.82.08.01. Fax : 02.51.47.62.26.

E-mail : bruno.poirier@ouest-france.fr

RECORDS FALL AT THE 4^th ANNUAL VIRGINIA 24-HOUR RUN FOR CANCER

The 4^th Edition of the Virginia 24-Hour Run for Cancer was another great success. It was held from 7:00 a.m. 21 April through 7:00 a.m. 22 April, 2007 at the usual site – Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton, Virginia. The weather was near perfect, with sunny skies, low humidity, afternoon highs in the mid-70s and early morning lows in the low 40s. The great weather contributed to new course records for both the men and women. A record amount of money was raised for the American Cancer Society (over $5000.00, with more coming in).

William Allen of Frederick, MD set the men’s new record of 113.5 miles (old record was 110.75). Last year he ran 64 miles (the most he had ever run) and had enough. This year he took off from the start like a “man on a mission.” He kept up a steady, brisk pace all the way until he went over 100 miles. Then he slowed down a lot while adding enough miles to ensure he got the new record. The most amazing thing was this was 49.5 miles more than he had ever run before.

Suzanne Weightman of Greensburg, PA set the new women’s record of 95.5 miles (old record was 90). Suzanne ran strong and steadily all day long with her running buddy, Bill Gentry. Since she has done several 100-milers in under 24 hours, I though for sure she would at least break 100 miles. But the mid-afternoon heat took a toll, putting 100 miles out of reach. However, she was running the strongest all the way to the end, adding as many additional miles as time allowed.

Men’s second place finisher, Dave Snipes of Mechanicsburg, VA, paced last year’s winner, Dustin Groff, to the old men’s record, having run Promised Land 50K early that morning before coming to Sandy Bottom in the evening and running 50 more miles. He said he would come back this year and try for the record if I de-conflicted the 24-hour run from Promised Land (28 April in 2007). He ran strong and steady all day, ending up with 105 miles, but never could quite catch up with William Allen. After he finished, he said “never again,” much preferring hilly trail 100-milers to flat, many-loop 24-hour events. Men’s third place finisher, Dave Huffman of Charleston, WV, ran 101.25 miles, earning the distinction as the only two-time event 100-mile finisher. He ran exactly the same number of miles last year.

Other noteworthy achievements included 73 year old Ray Scharenbrock running his 550^th + marathon or ultra. He and his running buddy Henry Rueden run a marathon or ultra almost ever weekend most of the year. They are currently booked through mid-July. Two 19-year old women (Nia Harrison and Sarah Farrell) each ran over 50 miles, neither having ever run more than a half-marathon before. Canada was represented for the first time at this event by Donald Stephens. He took off very strongly, but unfortunately the mid-afternoon heat also took a toll on him and around 11:00 pm, after running 71.25 miles, he took a “rest break” which lasted over five hours. When he awoke he was only able to add one more lap, ending with a still respectable 75 miles.

A total of 77 runners participated. 35 ran as individuals to see how many miles they could do in 24 hours. The others took turns as part of five relay teams (four local and one from the D.C. area). The event could not have gone so well without the usual great support of the Sandy Bottom Nature Park Ranger staff, or the diligent lap counting volunteers from the local running Club (Peninsula Track Club). Since I received so many positive comments from runners, many of whom said they want to come back, there will definitely be a 5^th edition of the event in April 2008.

Race Director

George Nelsen