Hitting the peak of fitness is a winner
I am writing this week’s column in a small tent on my own somewhere in North Wales around 150km into a 250km five-day race.
I had forgotten the joy of a five-day race because Covid put a stop to them and the last one I ran was in February 2020.
It’s been like coming home to the ultrarunning community. Everything has been such fun, meeting my fellow competitors, the amazing, varied scenery, the race crew, eating dehydrated food out of foil bags and the contemplative solitude that 30-mile days brings.
Tomorrow is what is known as the “long day“, over 40 miles with around 9,000ft of climbing. It’s the day that everyone worries about as it’s outside of what runners normally train for.
You feel in jeopardy every day but finishing within the time limits and still being able to go out again seven hours later for another 30 miles is a tough challenge.
And that is another reason why I love these events because the lack of certainty over whether I will finish fills me with excitement and dread in equal measures. Let’s face it, there are not many things we do in life today that are not guaranteed success. Challenges where you know completion will require using every ounce of physical and mental energy you have, and even then sometimes that’s still not enough.
When you read this I will hopefully have another medal for finishing but even if I don’t manage it I will probably still be smiling as running is about taking part and not necessarily winning.
I do hope that you too will not shy away from challenges in your life that do not guarantee completion because the satisfaction of giving your all is a wonderful feeling no matter what the result. Until next week, Kev