Mad Max Runs

Edale to Torside I’d taken a position nearish the front in solidarity with the effervescent Women Run Ultras massive, whooping and hollering our way through the crowd, a fair few of us slowing once we reached the car park to allow the racing snakes to fire their engines and bomb on ahead.  In direct contrast to last year, I didn’t faff with my pack a bit after the start – I knew everything was in its correct place, and all the straps on my trusty UD 30 had been sensibly rolled and taped up so they weren’t flying about like great yellow tentacles for the duration. I was moving at a steady clip, probably faster than I wanted to be moving from the off, but that’s little surprise; my adrenaline for this moment had been boiling my blood for weeks and all that energy needed to escape somehow. I could feel my dodgy hamstring and glute reminding me of their presence, but I knew that I’d protect them for the duration and was hopeful it was yet another case of me feeling more pain than act...

My account of finally(!!!) finishing my first century, the 2026 Montane Summer Spine Challenger South, 108 miles, will follow in instalments. Herewith the important parts of the lead up. ___ Will you risk it all? When the open door to greatness comes along,  Will you risk it all? Would you take the shot? If it meant the world would see you at the top,  Would you take the shot?* The only thing that was dead cert going into my second attempt at the Montane Summer Spine Challenger South and its taunting 108 miles is that I was committed to risking everything to finish it. I decided well in advance that I’d fight to the bitter end no matter how much it hurt, no matter how slow I was moving, no matter how ill or overheated I was, I’d finish it. If I had to hold myself together with Rock Tape and Fleecy Web (largely the case in the end) I’d finish it. I decided that I’d gladly lose running indefinitely from the inordinate amount of recovery required to finish it. In fact, I was ...