Final countdown for the trip now! The training is almost complete, whilst Patrick has been battering his way to the top of Kilimanjaro, I have been trotting endlessly about the oxygen rich air of the Chilterns. Hard to know which effort will hold us in greatest stead for the race day but at the moment our focus has turned to packing and kit.
So what to take? We are in the happy position that we only need our trekking kit from Jiri to Namchee Bazaar, where we will meet the rest of the Everest Marathon team. They will bring our bags of running kit to Namchee. Always a bonus to be met half way with extra snacks, toiletries and a layer or two. We’ll also have porters from there….pure luxury! See below for full trekking list.
It’s been about one month since our previous blog and, despite being away working on various cycling events overseas, training has been going well! We have completed training runs locally in the Chiltern hills and slightly further afield, enjoying the UK’s many varied mountain areas e.g Brecon Beacons training run (see image). I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you a little more about the Jiri to Namche Bazaar trek and the Everest Marathon route itself.
In early Nov Patrick and I will set off ahead of the main Everest Marathon pack (possibly the only time that we will be ahead of them!) and get a rickety bus from Kathmandu to Changma and trek fromJiri to Namche Bazaar. In Namche we will meet the rest of the gang who will have flown Kathmandu to Lukla. The Jiri to Namche trek will take 8 days and should be excellent training as it traverses the valley systems of the lower Khumbu and therefore provides lots of ups and downs! View the route.
By the time we reach Namche we will be at 3440m and will have an acclimatisation day before setting off on the trek to Everest Base Camp via Gokyo Lakes. View the route.
Finally, on 2nd Dec 2011 we will attempt the 26 mile run from Gorak Shep back to Namche Bazaar and hopefully the Everest Marathon shall be complete! View the route.
From there it is a flight from Luklaback to Kathmandu for fine dining and a knees up before flying home, well…..that’s the plan anyway.
Jen Sinclair – ATD guide is training for the Everest marathon Dec 2011
Welcome to my first blog about the Everest Marathon! Why am I doing it? I’m sure half way through I’ll be asking myself the same question! The event has been on my radar since I spent three months in Nepal and Tibet back in 2006, I decided this year was the year. I’m running the event with my boyfriend Patrick; we’re both keen fitness enthusiasts but wanted a goal in training. To aim for this unique and challenging endurance event whilst also incorporating a trek in this stunning part of the world, fitted the bill perfectly.
I have now managed to clock up a total of 140km. The last 50km really put the shoe to the test on the dusty high trails of the Annapurna region in Nepal, from Birethanti through Gorepani, Tatopani and on to Beni. The trails were steep ascents and descents on rocky, uneven steps, hot and dusty 4×4 tracks and local mountain trails. This is definitely the type of terrain that the shoe excels in. They felt remarkably stable, and had excellent grip. They were cool in the heat, and the sole is looking surprisingly new without any detectable wear and tear. The shoe let in a lot of dirt, but nothing big enough to cause rubbing or blisters. So far I am impressed and thinking of the next place to put them through their paces.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE PT-1000 ROAD AND TRAIL RUNNING SHOE
So far I have covered 90km with equal mix of road and trail running. This also includes the extremely wet and muddy South Devon Costal Marathon in February. First impressions are very good. It appears to be a very robust shoe, perfect for racking up the mileage in training. I love the idea that these shoes are built to last as I always get very attached to good running shoes and often mourn my loss when they disintegrate after a couple of months splashing through the soggy trails of Devon and Somerset
For a robust hard wearing shoe, they are comparatively light and the first thing I noticed is how comfortable and stable they are to run in. Personally I would say that they are better suited to the roads, rather than the winter trails I use. Dry and hard trails would be no problem, but they tread doesn’t cope well with wet, slippy and muddy hills, but you can’t expect a shoe to do everything, and they are a very good all rounder. They are definitely my new choice for racking up the training miles, before putting on a more specialist shoe for grip in muddy trail races. So far so good, and looking forward to putting them thoroughly to the test over the coming year. Next stop this month is the hot dusty trails of Nepal to see how they cope with an adventure race. I imagine that they will do much better in this environment.
Across the Divide expedition doctor and Medical Director of the Namibia Ultra Marathon Dr Amy Hughes describes her role of the Kent Air Ambulance HEMS doctor to ‘She’ magazine in their December issue
Dr Amy Hughes is currently a specialist registrar in pre-hospital care working for the Helicopter Emergency Medical Team (HEMS) in Kent. She has been involved in expedition medicine for the last 7 years, providing medical cover for all extremes of environments, including developing and leading the medical cover for a desert ultra marathon. She is involved extensively in teaching of expedition medicine and recently took over as medical director of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine. Amy completed the Diploma of Tropical Medicine in 2006, has a European Masters in Disaster Medicine and is en route to gaining a Post Graduate Certificate in Aeromedical Retrieval and worked initially as an expedition medic and more recently as the Medical Director for ATD’s Namibia Ultra Marathon.
Cathy Burgess visited Namibia last year with ATD to complete a project in a remote village. Cathy and the team were all fundraising for their own chosen charities and had spent months training and fundraising.
The project was to work on the kitchen which was in a state of disrepair. They had to start by dismantling the existing structure and build a new one to house the kitchen area, which is used to make meals for the 200 day pupils. So a really worthwhile project.
Found out how they got on and the surprise visitors.
Emma Ryan – UK Events Coordinator and Mark Howlett – Flights Manager – took on the mighty OMM last month. They have written up about their experiences and the lessons they learnt!
EMMA – Eyeing up the Shetland ponies quietly munching away at the start line I quickly assessed which one would carry me the fastest to the first check point and beyond. Alas, it was not meant to be and at 9.04 on the dot we were called to the line, thrust a map and set off (clueless, naive and on two feet) into the sparklingly sunny yet still very wet and boggy Dartmoor. We quickly came across our first surprise when, after about 5 minutes, Mark found that he didn’t have any drinking water left in his platypus. Evidently he hadn’t noticed that he had drunk the 2l rations, packed with electrolyte energy mix, between 5.30am and 9.00 am! (Emma – I have to get this bit in now as I don’t know what Mark has written about me!)
MARK – How could something that started off so easily, go so wrong? Emma and I had entered the fun run class of the OMM ( 45km over 2 days on Dartmoor ) without me fully thinking through what we were taking on. Fortunately I was protected by my patented ‘ Cloak of Naivety ‘ which stopped me from worrying about navigating such a distance over Dartmoor at the end of October. How hard could it be?
Our charity challenges are not just about the destination they are about so much more. Here a participant on our recent multi activity charity challenge in Nepal, tells us what motivated him to take up the challenge and why he believes its important to go that extra mile.
Ryan took part in the Namibia Ultra marathon this May - a 126km race to be completed in just 24 hours – our most extreme event!
The race is across the vast expanse of desert, through the endless space of gravel plains framed by distant ridges and mountains, past dramatic upheavals of granite inselbergs and all under the clearest of blue skies during the day and a full moon during the night. Not only that you will be completely self reliant from the start of the marathon til the end, and will need to carry all your food and equipment on their backs. Water stations and medical tents will be provided at 21km intervals along the route. And to top it all off temperatures are in the region of min 5ºc / max 36 ºc but could be more extreme!
