Challenge Stu

Yesterday Jim Mann and I raced together for the first time, in the Marmot "Dark Mountains" event. The race was a new twist on the Mountain Marathon concept, but instead of two days with an overnight camp we would be squeezing all the racing into one cold, wet January night. The weather did not disappoint... Due to the fact the race took place overnight, I haven't slept since Friday night, so apologies for this short and perhaps confused blog! We had entered the Elite course, meaning 51km and 2200m. On Friday race organiser Shane Ohly took the decision to use bad weather courses, meaning we would actually race less than this distance. With a predicted winning time of 11 hours you can see that the pace is not expected to be high! Jim and I sorted our kit, left Muncaster Castle and walked to the startline for our allotted time of 7:40. Only Kim Collison and Alex Pilkington would be starting afterwards, and were the favourites at the start. Jim and I are both navigat...

I used to have a sticker on my ski helmet which read "Crash and learn"... I wonder if what happened yesterday will teach me anything? I went out to do an hour on the road bike, it was about half past three by I got going to I put the lights on and set off from Crookes, through Crosspool towards Rivelin Dams. Then up Roper Hill to Ringinglow and west, past Burbage Bridge, down The Dale to Hathersage. Just before I descended to Hathersage I stopped for a quick photo of the cloud inversion in the valley. In Hathersage I turned left, up out of the village and back up the other way to Burbage Bridge. From there it was basically downhill to Ringinglow then all the way home. Good ride so far! It was getting dark now so I had the lights on, but as I came down past Lady Canning's plantation I remember noticing the slight sparkling on the tarmac. By the time I'd realised what this meant I was still doing about 50km/h when I noticed the patch of ice in front of me, which ...

Yesterday was the Tour of Helvellyn, a fantastic "low-key" ultra organised by Joe Faulkner and Nav4 events... I did this race last year and despite a disappointing run it was a really nice way to end the year! So I was looking forward to doing it again, though the weather was not quite as nice and Alpine - more torrential rain and windy. I stayed overnight in the van in Askham village hall car park, the rain got steadily heavier during the night but by 8am it was at least daylight! It was good to catch up with Jim Mann and others at the start, and four of us (myself, Jim, Fraser and Chris) decided to set off together. When we did so there was only one man left in the hall. As you might expect, it was a certain Mr. Collison, lurking ominously and looking in no hurry to set off. The twittersphere had been flickering away the previous night, with Kim and Tom Gibbs highlighted as favourites. The route was basically a lollipop - Askham to Howtown, to Patterdale, up and over St...

Last week was a great, with a few changes which could have a big impact on my running life... I have been accepted onto the University of Sheffield Elite Sport Performance Scheme again, which means I have the continued support of the University and access to the gym etc. The awards night on Wednesday was great, we were presented with our certificates by Sheffield Olympians Dave Wetheral and Kieran O'Malley, and the special "Jessica Ennis Scholarship" was awarded to Jazmin Sawyers (who I have just discovered shares my birthday! As does Mark Cavendish), by none other than Tony Minichiello. It was an inspirational evening, though as ever I was crap at 'networking' and stood by myself a lot... Jazmin receives her Jessica Ennis Scholarship The next big thing to happen this week was the acquisition of a Dark Peak Fell Runners hoodie, with the ESPS one that's two this week - sorted for winter! Fast forward to Saturday and I now have a coach, we've iden...

It's only Saturday night, but it has been a busy weekend already! On Friday evening I did a second recce of a Peak District route I am hoping to have a go at this winter... I parked the van near the Strines Inn and planned to use my daily commuter BMX to take me back five miles or so to the crossing of the A57... Unfortunately within about half a mile the chain snapped, so with the bike chained to a fence I set off on foot earlier than predicted... Anyway, from the A57 I had a good run up to Rod Moor, across to the Emlin trig point, then as it started to get dark on a direct line from there to Back Tor. The sunset over Back Tor was spectacular. From there a quick descent took me back to the Strines and off home. Transport malfunction Sunset looking towards Back Tor Last night I was very lucky to be invited by the University Elite Sport Performance Scheme to "An Evening with Jessica Ennis" at Sheffield City Hall. The event was for the benefit of three chari...

I have also just heard that the end of year party will be the end of Runfurther as we know it... Karen, Si and Mark will not be arranging or running (in the organisational sense rather than the foot propulsion sense) the series any more next year. I don't know who will but I hope and am sure they will do as good a job as these guys have. It's clearly a lot of work and the three of them have been very good to us over the years. My grand slam year - 2008 I would personally like to say a massive thank you to each of you for your work behind the scenes! Since I first ran one race in the series in 2007 I have learnt a lot about ultras, but have yet to have an easy one. Sharing these experiences with others through the series is great and makes the whole lot even more enjoyable. Karen seems to be at every single race I do, from ultras to Open 5s... And always with a massive smile, and usually more points than me if there is a map involved! Si has given me so much quiet en...

So, the 2012 Runfurther series has come to an end... It was an exciting finish - before the final race at Round Rotherham both Duncan Harris and Ian Symington had won three races. However, since Ian had completed four races to Duncan's 3, he was in the lead and Duncan had not qualified for a series finish. I was second in the series before Round Rotherham, but we all knew what was probably going to happen! And it did, Duncan won Rotherham in 6:29, Ian was second in 6:53. It was a risky strategy but it certainly worked for Duncan. Resulting in this... So, congratulations to Duncan, Helen, Nick for his 3rd Grand Slam, and everyone else on your achievements! I am very pleased with 3rd in the series, a few years ago I could not have imagined a season where I won a race and finished in the top three overall! It's been a great year and I've had some fantastic experiences. There is going to be a proper end-of-season party again this year, which I hope I can go to, so I'...