What made you decide to enter the Tor Des Geants? (Your motivations, goals, aims.)
100 milers just weren’t long enough, the thought of running in the alps of Italy, A good reason to take my first “vacation” to Europe, the food, to run the first TDG, Good value
favourite quote from the race?
“ this monster has a bowl of hardrocks for breakfast”
The Hardrock 100 mile endurance run is the hardest mountain ultra in the U.S.
My thoughts on just the second day
If you had to describe your experience of the Tor Des Geants in a couple of sentences what you say?
You could not oversell this race, it defines the word epic and takes it to an inhuman level.
I really want to sleep now.
Wow, those are some big mountains!
Cows get out of the way I have a race to finish.
Thank you my Italian friends, this is incredible!
What were the biggest challenges on the route?
Sleeping when I had the chance
Dealing with the drop bag
Going up stairs when you didn’t have to (showers and beds were upstairs)
the most spectacular places?
The morning climbing the last col. “The jagged peaks pierced the thick clouds like monstrous teeth” but I escaped!
The view from Refugio Coda, you could see out valley d’Aosta almost to the sea.
The climb up to col de la Crosatie, A picture of this climb is what caught my eye and is why I signed up for the race. It’s a huge granite monolith with a staircase made from thousands of carefully stacked rocks.
How did it feel to finish?Not sure, I’ll tell you when I stop running in my sleep.
Good of course!
How did you prepare for the race?
By pacing at 6 of the toughest 100 mile races in the U.S. and running a 100 miler two weeks before TDG/ this is not advised but i have no brains left.
Which part of your training for the race do you think helped the most?
Time on the feet pacing, running at elevation, massive hill repeats
Having run 10 x 100 mile mountain ultra’s in the last five years.
If you were to take part in the race again what would you do differently?
sleep at the Refugio’s, you are only allowed an hour but it's quite and comfy.
Which item of kit proved the most useful?
Gummy bears and jelly bellies
A high powered headlamp
A wool shirt to regulate the cold temps at night
Overall what did the Tor Des Geants teach you?
I learned that this is hardest race I ever want to run
There are people all over the world just as nuts as I am, and they are good people!
Do you have to be a mega-athlete, with lots of ultras under your belt to tackle a race like this ? Yes! This is not normally my opinion about ultra’s but for this race you must know your ability to endure.
How can ordinary people, maybe runners who’ve just taken part in a few marathons or trail races, get to the stage where they’re ready to take on the Tor Des Geants?
Run, Have fun! Run a little farther, repeat! Become not ordinary
as our Italian translator stated “ Take a moment when you get to the top and look around, you will see something cool” this is what will keep you wanting more
For TDG you should have lost all signs of sanity, your friends should be calling you crazy, you run 100 mile races back to back for fun and you enjoy the buze of being awake for 30+ hours at a time, you think walking for hours is just part of running, and you strike up conversations with imaginary creatures. If you get to the point where this describes you then you are ready for TDG
What would be your top training tips?
Learn to know when you need to eat,drink, sleep,
Train with your drop bag and gear
Run at night
Train on uneven steep rocky stairs, you will really be glad you did.
How has your recovery gone?
Haven’t felt the need to run much but I’m back to it.
It’s taken about a month to get back most of my strength
Luckily very few blisters and the feet have finished peeling
Do you have any post-race tips?
Eat lots
Sleep with someone, so when you wake up in the middle of the night they can tell you the race is over. You will have nightmares for about a week, it’s normal
Some people describe Tor Des Geants as the world’s toughest foot race, do you agree? YES and YES
What’s your next challenge?
Making it in the real world, a much tougher endeavour
Climb Mt Blanc, UTMB self supported then TDG, not my idea but sounds interesting
Will you do it again? Yes, has registration opened yet?
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