Marathon de Paris, 11th April 2010

Russ joined me in Paris to compete in this marathon, which is part of our training for the Patrouille des Glaciers.

This was to be my first marathon but I had run about 330km over the previous two months, including some regular fartlek training so I was fairly confident of managing a decent time.

The course was excellent - we set off from the Arc de Triomphe, down past the Louvre and to Bastille, over to the Chateau de Vincennes, back to Paris via the quais, a long sweep around the Bois de Boulogne and back to the Arc de Triomphe. There was a great atmosphere with good crowd support and not nearly as much of a circus as the London Marathon. It is virtually impossible to run in the London Marathon. 120,000 people enter a ballot for 20,000 places. The remaining spots are sold to charities for extortionate amounts, meaning that the charities require their runners to raise a minimum amount, the majority of which is pocketed by London Marathon Ltd rather than the charities themselves.

I decided to use the Paris Marathon and the Patrouille des Glaciers as an opportunity to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Please do a search on my justgiving page if you're interested in donating. No part of the donations will be put towards the cost of the two events, meaning that Breakthrough receives 100% directly via the site. People's generosity has been remarkable.

My parents came to watch and it was great to see them at about km 28. Then a couple of km later, my training partners from the office - Pierre, Antoine and François-Xavier spotted me and ran with us for about 500m - that was a massive boost.

Thanks to the timely consumption of gels during the run, and regular hydration, neither Russ nor I ever hit the "wall". Kms 36 to 40 felt very long but there was never a point when either of us was suffering too much. Sadly we lost each other at the "Powerade" stand (at about the 33k mark) and it was a slight shame that we didn't finish together. Nevertheless we were pleased with our times - I clocked 3.43:54; Russ finished in a time of 3.41.18.

Photos below.



















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Morzine, 19 - 22 March 2010

April is going to be a tough month - the Marathon de Paris on the 11th, a six day ski tour the week after (involving a climb of five 4,000m peaks) and the Patrouille des Glaciers on the 23rd). I therefore started training at the beginning of February and, as part of that, alcohol intake has had to be eradicated.

The prospect of a trip with Jon, James and Paul without being able to drink was always going to be a difficult one to get my head around but luckily James was also undergoing a break from alcohol, which would take the pressure off somewhat!

There wasn't much snow in the Portes du Soleil (and we decided to abandon skiing on Sunday on account of the rain...) but it was a good laugh and we were well looked after by Jon's friends at the Alte Neve hotel. The owner, François Diddes, used to be the trainer of the French downhill ski team and to date has scaled forty two 4,000m peaks in the Alps. That shut me up!

Inferno Race Weekend, Muerren, 22 - 24 January 2010

The Inferno Race dates back to 1928 when a group of Englishmen decided it would be a good idea to hike up to the top of the Schilthorn and ski back down to Lauterbrunnen, at the bottom of the valley. Today it is the largest amateur skiing race in the world.

The length of the full course is about 15 kilometres - this year the finish line was in Winteregg (there wasn't enough snow between there and Lauterbrunnen) meaning a race of about 10km.

The race starts just below the 'Kleines Schilthorn', continuing through the Engetal to the Schilthorn Hut. Then follows a long drawn-out "S" to just below the Muttlerenhorn, followed by the challenge of the Kanonenrohr. Next comes a further "Double S" and a sharp right curve. The course climbs into woodland, crossing the path of the Maulerhubel Skilift. A slight ascent then leads to the finish line at Winteregg. A video of someone doing the course in 2008 is here:

Thankfully the clemency of the weather made skiing in tweed a wholly enjoyable experience, and also ensured that we were at all times able to see the tips of our 2.15m racing skis...

As this was our first race we had to start right at the back of the field which, as we found out, is a massive disadvantage because by then the course is completely shredded. Much of the course was therefore a fight for survival, and it was difficult to concentrate on picking the optimal line. Unfortunately due to a combination of maxing out on gas and the uneven iced-up surface, Baxy (19.03:25) was to suffer an enormous wipeout at the top of the course. Nevertheless Dave (11.25:56) won gold in the internal Lower Hardres Ski Touring Club Championship, pipping Russ (11.33.34) to silver by 8 seconds, with myself (11.47:12) a further 14 seconds further back in bronze. By virtue of our rapidity, Dave, Russ and I were all also awarded "Inferno bronze medals", meaning we should get decent start times next year. A bit of work for Baxy though.

The weekend wasn't all about the race though - keeping up the pace with the "Bormio Boys" at the Eiger Guesthouse and propping up the bar of our hotel, the Pension Gimmelwald, was also key.

Here is a clip of us appearing on BBC 1 at 7.30pm on Monday 8th February!

Photos below...