My first steps into ultra

The first time I ever ran longer than marathon was in 2006, in a hill race called the Lairig Ghru. (To this day still one of my favourite races) A stunning race on an old drovers trail between Braemar and Aviemore in the Cairngorms. I entered last minute after a weeks holiday running, biking and canoeing up North. I was happy to finish the race in 9^th position in 3:42.

After that, although not true ultra-distance events I did the LAMM in 2006 and 2008 which is a 2 day mountain marathon where you need to carry all your kit for the 2 days including tent and food and navigate around fixed check points. I loved these events and seemed to feel ok at the end of two long days on the hill. I began to ponder something longer.

At the time I was still working at Run 4 It and at the start of another busy year in 2008 my boss asked me what sort of incentive  would help motivate me to hit the targets set of for the year. As a new business a big bonus and company car weren’t on the cards! Ordinarily I might have had to think of an answer but on that occasion I had just the thing. A few weeks previously I had been playing on the internet and found a rather interesting race with a rather nice promotional video. The 2008 Gore-tex Transalpine Challenge.

I didn’t hesitate, Gore were one of our main suppliers and I thought It might just be possible to swing an entry. As it happened it was. After some initial positive vibes and almost daily viewings of the promo trailer I was over the moon to find out in May that I had a place for the race. That clip still to this day brings a grin to my face.