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Showing posts from August, 2017

Equipment of a mediocre ultra-runner

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Under enforced rest I was sulking about my leg and finally cleaning all the kit from last weekend's race and thought of the reasons why I had each piece of kit... and then thought it might make an interesting read. I'm probably mistaken of course. So here's a summary of the sort of kit a mediocre ultra-runner might find useful to carry. Having tried out various bit of kit over several years of both successful (and unsuccessful) ultra runs of various lengths I've settled on a set of equipment that I feel comfortable with and works well* (*for me, caveat runner, your mileage may vary etc etc). Most of it isn't the quite the latest and greatest technology or kit available, despite being a gadget freak I'll stick with something if it works or I can't find anything better. Here I am kitted out at the end of NDW100. The only piece of kit that didn't seem to be living up to previous experiences was the head-torch, but that might just have been down to

NDW100 report

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TL;DR - I finally finished a 100 mile race! OK apologies for the ridiculously long write up, but I ran 100 miles , I think I can be excused for rambling. If you can learn from others mistakes, then I should be able to provide ample material for a degree level education in ultra running. This was to be my sixth attempt at the 100 mile distance - completely ignoring the advice of WC Fields - I was trying more than just again and again. Each time I'd failed I thought I'd figured out what I needed to do the next time. A brief whistle stop tour of my previous attempts and reasons for failure (not forgetting a random scattering of other endurance events, Ironman triathlons and injuries interspersed along the way) were: 2012 - NDW100 (50m) This year there was a dual 50/100 run, so the temptation to stop at the halfway point was just too great, I simply decided I'd had enough and 50 was good enough for me. 2014 - NDW100 (66m) Back and determined to crack it. Gro