UTMB and Swimming The CHANNEL

After the excess of August, this last week has been pretty easy. I have run twice a day but no speed and no hills. My runs were steady miles between 7:30 and 8:30 pace. The only exception to this was Sunday when I headed out on local trails and ran for 16.5 miles in the sunshine. It was a nice run but my legs were not as fresh as I would have liked. Just a little ‘tiredness’ in my quads.

To be honest, more important things have happened this last week than me going out for a run.

Firstly it was the UTMB (Ultra Trail Mont Blanc). A mountainous trail over 100 miles that covers several countries. The race has only been going for 7/8 years but it has become ‘one to do’. Obviously it is very tough. You have the terrain to contend with, the distance, changes in weather and altitude. Tough! The race started on Friday evening, the 20^th. By the early hours of Saturday morning the race was stopped!! The organisation decided that conditions had become too dangerous and therefore made the decision to pull the plug on the race and get everybody back to safety. I had friends in the race who had covered appx 31k. Obviously gutted they returned to hotels. However, the organisation made some quick decisions and apparently notified UTMB entrants that they could start the shorter CCC race at 98km at 1000am. So, with no sleep, stress and obvious fatigue approximately 1,000 runners re started. It turned out to be a classic with a British winner in the male and female class – congratulations to Jez Bragg and Lizzie Hawker – stunning.

http://www.ultratrailmb.com/

Jezz Bragg - http://jezbragg.blogspot.com/

Lizzie Hawker - http://lizzyhawker.blogspot.com/

Secondly, my great friend David Granger after 2 years training arrived in Dover on Friday morning to swim the Channel. As you all know, I have done Ironman which entails a 3.8km swim. The Channel though is 21 miles and that is providing you take the shortest route. It is NOT for me. I will have a go at most things but not swimming for that length of time. What makes Dave’s challenge all the more special is that he is in remission from throat cancer. He found out about the illness in 2006/7 and came through the dark times to embrace endurance sport with a new lease of life. After only a few weeks of the ‘all clear’ he cycled the ‘whole’ of the Tour de France route with the Geoff Thomas Foundation. An absolutely awesome undertaking and one that he conquered in true style. Dave was featured in the TV documentary ‘The Wheel Heroes’ that charted the journey of the 3 week journey and urge you all to try and watch it. He achieved the nickname ‘Custard Man’. Why? Well after the throat cancer he basically couldn’t eat normal food. His throat was so sensitive that normal food was just not possible. He needed calories and custard was tasty, liquid and relatively easy to get down, so, this was the food of choice for the 3 week epic journey. Of course he supplemented with gels (provided by SIS) and he drank milk. But his main food was custard. This was featured in an article in The Times newspaper. Please see the link here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/matt_dickinson/article2211157.ece

So as you can see, Dave is a motivated fella. In preparation he swam the Channel as relay in 2009 and the ‘team’ set a new world record for crossing the Channel. The time was appx 9.5 hours – quite stunning. The bit was between his teeth. Dave prepared meticulously and as you can imagine, he has been swimming every day, most days twice and all in open water without a wetsuit; brrrrrrr !

Friday 3^rd Sept was to be the day. He left at 0500 and by all accounts he was making great headway. He was well best halfway when he hit a current.

As you will see from the images I have provided below this current kept him away from the French Coastline. He was basically swimming parallel for hours just waiting for a change.

That change finally came in the evening and you will see from image two that he finally started to head back to land. He had been in the water 16.5 hours when finally his team pulled him from the water, agonisingly less than 1.5 miles from the French Coast.

WHAT A STAR! As Dave said, ‘the swim gods where against him’. He is right. I have no idea of the distance he swam but I am pretty damn sure it was more than 21 miles. He was in the water 16.5 hours. Yes, 16.5 hours!! I can’t imagine.... he will be back. He has already said so.

I don’t see Dave’s swim as a failure. I see it as a triumph. It is an inspirational story that will fuel others to take that step out of the door and put themselves on the line. You have all heard it before but this quote says far more than I ever could:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."