The Marathon des Sables

Now I have had a chance to ‘road’ test my Aarn pack on last Saturdays Grantham run I thought I would put a few words up about the about it the features that really stood out and make the pack great.

The first is the weight and general construction, it feels lightweight to hold and the construction feels strong … standard boring points but crucial non the less.
When full, the claim it doesn’t round out are well founded and stuffed with cusions (scientific, eh!) the back stays flush with your back so the pressure to specific parts of your back are not increased when full like with some packs.

The next part of the system that I really like is the adjustable clip system between the shoulder straps and the main body of the pack. One advantage of this is that any wobble (and I found this to be very minimal) is not transferred to the shoulder straps so they stay still.

The mesh on the back distributes any pressure well over the whole of your back, its super squishy construction moulds to your back. I didn’t get too sweaty on the run and my guess is it does a good job of venting but a February run will never test that!

One question that has been pondered is the best way to attach a sleeping mat. I have plumped for the Z-Lite by Thermarest and will be cutting 5 panels off.
I ran with it strapped horizontally, using the ice axe straps and the hood clip to strap the mat too. Having looked at a couple of options I have decided I favour the method pictured below. With one strap it’s very secure.

The range of moment the pack gives you is great too and tops of what is a very comfy pack.

Way back in the depths of last October, I went out with a group of (then) complete strangers and ran the recce for this, the inaugural Grantham Canal Run.
I dragged my sorry backside out of the bed at 0630 and took the near 2 hour drive down to Cotsgrave just outside Nottingham and had about 15 minutes to get ready upon arrival, so it was straight off. Laden with most of the MdS kit (about 5kgs ish) in my lovely new Aarn Marathon Magic pack the plan was to take a decent steady run with no heroics and no slacking.

On the start line I bumped into Neil who was part of the group I ran the RR50 with in December, both of us were on our final runs before the MdS. After the off and the entire group going completely the wrong was we reached the canal after about a mile. I fell quickly into my pace of around 10min miles which felt comfortable with the pack on and would allow for a half decent time.

The weather was almost perfect and without and wind it felt quiet warm, my pace was steady and solid which les to the usual cat & mouse with the other runners who opted for the fast/slow method. Charles was good to chat to Charles Cartledge as we kept passing each other by! I managed to keep my pace which meant I was able to appreciate the pleasant surroundings of the Canal.

I spent a lot of time concentrating on my hydration (mostly keeping it), and with the bottles in the side pockets they were constantly in view to keep you reminded about them yet not in the way. I kept nicely hydrated with a constant electrolyte solution in one bottle and plain water in the other.

After a good few miles Martin who I had previously met in Brecon during the Likeys Ultra appeared behind me, he was on a walk run strategy and was setting a good pace during the running. The topic was of course The MdS.

As the last few miles approached I decided to stick in a quick walking mile with Martin, after which I ran the last few miles with Matt who was enjoying his first run above marathon distance. Topics varied from kids to books, to ultra-runners, and from transport to the ultra running scene in general. All of this without loosing pace!

One final push saw us over the finish line in 5hr 8minutes. A drink with Matt and a catch up with Jeremy, who I know from the forum, and a number of other recers from the day I was off.
With big thanks to my good friend Steve I was back at my car in time to drive home and spend about 3.7 seconds in the bath before donning my best togs and heading to the annual Beverley AC dinner. Much in the way of Red Wine and Guinness was to aid recovery.

All of this in one day and I even slotted in an ECG and MdS medical which confirmed what I always suspected, I’m definitely alive!

I got my number a while back but have been busy of late so posting has been slow. With very little time left (only a month!) the whole thing has just become VERY real … more real than it was yesterday … possibly.

Some of the last bits of gear have been arriving recently. Courtesy of Dan, my lovely Aarn pack arrived from Australia last yesterday. The UK supply dried up sadly but for an extra £20 (in the form of import duty & “international handling fee") and one hell of a carbon footprint, one has arrived in my sticky mitts. I will definately be posting more about that after tommorrows test run.

So, one last mini-ultra tomorrow. It’s the inaugural Grantham Ultra tomorrow organised by Andy McMenemy and Rory Coleman. 29.3 miles to try out the new pack and catch up with the guys, no doubt there will be a familier face or two. Scarily this is the last ‘big run’ before the main event itself!

So just one question remains, have you sponsored me yet?

Popped down for a couple of days of training in the salubrious town off Pontypool, Wales, with a number of other MdS ‘09 entrants.
A 15 miler and an 18 miler around the local hills were the order of the weekend. We met early on Friday afternoon and Andy handed us the maps for day one. A cheeky little 15 miler with some serious gradients and some frankly brutal off path gradients and bramble whacking…

Much of this route was conducted in the dark and it was a great way to test out the torches and get some in the dark running practice in. After we had taken the un-recce’d route which involved climbing a seriously steep long climb (which involved hands) on a surface which can only be likened to that of a compost heap. The run was laced with some calf splitting up hill climbs and being shouted at by the youth of Pantside and being shouted at from cars, which seems to be a real pastime around there.

The second day had been recce’d and was a great 18 mile route with some further brutal up hills, I ran half of this after catching Mark up, who’d just gone with what feels good and headed off a little earlier. The weather was spot on with tremendous views across South Wales. I declined the second loop and decided that, still feeling great, this was a great way to top out a high mileage week.

Having a couple of great days out on the hills to top out a high mileage week and still feel good is a great confidence booster.

Some photos can be found here http://picasaweb.google.com/MikeBlamires/PontypoolWeekend

Thanks to Andy for the route planning and everyone else for the great company provided throughout.

It’s a big mileage bonanza this week, I’m having a fairly large mileage week this week, it should be around 91 miles at the very minimum. It’s not too easy to fit it in with the usual bustles of weekly life but it does feel good to do it. So far it’s been mostly on the road (28 with a pack) and I must say … I feel good!

To make it better a few us “MdS class of ‘09″ are meeting up for a couple of nights and a couple of training runs in the glorious town of Pontypridd, Wales. The honorary member of the crew, Andy, has done the route finding and the organisation. I take my hat off to you, sir!

I have been busy of late with kit choice and bar glueing on my gaiters I am almost good to go, courtesy of Dan the backpack is on its way over from Oz.

It’s all getting very exiting!