Challenge Stu

I remember when I had birthdays as a child, Mum would always ask me "do you feel any older?"... I don't think I ever did, and even on my 30th birthday last thursday I still didn't notice any change in how I felt at around ten past three. However, I am now officially an old man, and I decided a few months ago that I wanted to do something to celebrate my big birthday. The plan: The plan was the Scottish 4000s duathlon. This was organised my Martin Stone as a race in 2001 and 2003, but can obviously be attempted at any time. The general idea is to summit the nine 4000ft peaks in the UK, which are located partly in the Nevis area of Scotland (W) and partly in the Cairngorm area (E), linking the two by a road bike ride across the country (it can also be attempted as a full run instead of the duathlon, for which Spyke holds the current record). The distances are about 11 miles, 60 miles, and 23 miles, and I'd hoped to go for a fast attempt, targetting times of aroun...

This weekend I've been up to Scotland to recce a few sections of this year's birthday treat. After the (ahem) success of last year's "29 at 29", the plan for my 30th is shorter but still very exciting: I'm hoping to complete the Scottish 4000s duathlon. The route involves a run up the four 4000ft summits in the Ben Nevis area, a road bike ride of 60 miles, and a second run over the 5 Cairngorm 4000s.   The plan this weekend was to look at as much of the runs as possible, focussing on the second one, and gently enough to aid my continued recovery! I left Sheffield on Friday afternoon, arriving at Oxenholme station at 5ish, where I was joined by Wil and Lucy Spain. We set off north and were soon in Scotland. By Hamilton we were hungry so went to Pizza Hut. Takeaway ordered we nipped to a supermarket to stock up on hill food then returned to collect what turned out to be (thanks to various special offers) rather a lot of pizza! We arrived at the Rothie...

The last weekend in April normally means one thing for me - the Fellsman. It's a classic, and a race I really love. 61ish miles across the stunning Yorkshire Dales in a big horseshoe from Ingleton to Threshfield. The race has everything a race in the UK should have - big climbs, proper off road bogginess, and amazing views. It's a race I've never quite done as well at as I would like (I can't remember how many times I've been 4th but it's certainly a few), meaning that it has a continued lure to return each year. The Fellsman - why would you do any other race?? However, this year would be different, because in Yorkshire on the same day each year there's another prestigious race going on. The two even cross paths at Hill Inn, in the valley between Whernside and Inglebrough... Which probably gives away which race it is - the 3 Peaks Fell Race. There are similarities to the Fellsman, but this one is shorter (23 miles), less boggy and "off-path" (...

Last weekend I was privelaged to support Nicky Spinks in her most recent of a long line of incredible achievements. It was a great day, and resulted in Nicky's lowering of her own ladies' Bob Graham Round record to 18:06. To put it into perspective, many people who try to get round the "BG" only scrape under the 24 hour time limit by a few minutes, after years of training and hard work. Last Sunday Nicky started at 4am, from Moot Hall. The first leg was supported by Konrad Rawlik, Jasmin Paris and Jon Gay (the "Scottish contingent") and was completed on time without too much drama, apart from a cut hand. This was apparently quite deep, but was wrapped up at Threlkeld and Nicky continued on schedule. Waiting for the start of Leg 3 By the time she reached my alotted starting point at the end of leg 2, Dunmail Raise, she was within a few minutes of the planned 17:15 (!) schedule and looking good. After a couple of minutes stop and a quick re-...

Well that's it, it's summer now! The Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF) took place this weekend, and I raced my first short fell race of the year... both make me feel like the summer has begun so the flip flops are on this morning. Firstly, ShAFF: It's a fantastic event for a city with such a strong link to the outdoors, and the attendance of climbers, runners, bikers, skiers, kayakers, and everyone else over the weekend shows that Sheffield really is the place to be if you enjoy being outside! I was involved in a few talks, watched some films, bought some gear and spent a while chatting to people, but a few highlights for me were: - Meeting (briefly!) Ricky Lightfoot on Friday night - Karen Darke's IMpossible film - Watching the tense end of the rugby in the Accelerate running hub! So thanks very much to Matt and the Heason events team for organising the event and for having me in such illustrious company as an ambassador ... Roll on ShAFF 2016! Maybe ...

So, after a bit of a last minute invitation I ended up in the Caribbean last week! I joined a yacht called Spirit of Juno to take part in the RORC Caribbean 600 race, a 600-ish mile journey around the beautiful Caribbean islands, starting and finishing in Antigua. Caribbean 600 route I flew out on Thursday for a few days of training and preparation before the start of the race on Monday... Having not really sailed since the Fastnet in 2011 (the 3 Peaks last year doesn't really count since I was a runner not a sailor!) this was definitely useful for me. When I arrived, most of the crew were already there so we had a quick introduction and got started sailing. It was also a good opportunity to wander around the marinas and see the other boats - Antigua is one of the world's few gathering places of the lesser-spotted super yacht, boats like the incredible 203ft Athos: The rest of the crew were mostly very experienced sailors, so I ended up taking on the role of enginee...

Next week was supposed to be a nice gentle taper week in preparation for the High Peak Marathon, which takes place next weekend. However, after a late dropout and an unrefusable offer from the skipper of Spirit of Juno, I will be flying to Antigua on Thursday to take part in the RORC Caribbean 600 yacht race. The weather in Sheffield has been pretty good for the last few days and the running from our new house is fantastic, but a trip to the Caribbean to race in such a prestigious event was an opportunity I couldn't turn down... Spirit of Juno is a 65 foot racing yacht operated by OnDeck , and skippered in this race by Paul Jackson, whose own boat Wild Spirit I raced the Fastnet a few years ago. Paul is also my Father-in-law, hence asking me when he needed someone who could take a bit of time off at short notice... Thanks Paul! Spirit of Juno It's all been a bit rushed so to be honest I don't know a great deal about the race at the moment, but it's 600 nauti...