Liverpool Marathon 2011 in a Gorilla Suit

In what was a REALLY tough slog, I completed the Liverpool Marathon in 7 hours 16 minutes.  It was one of the hardest days of running I've ever done and really tested my spirit.  The support from Liverpool was fabulous though, the highlights being the young lad who ran with me for 3 or 4 miles to keep me going.  Yes the picture above is of me!

2011: A Gorilla Liverpool Marathon Odyssey

Preston Race Series 2011

Last Sunday I took advantage of a local series of short races to run in the gorilla suit.  I ran the 2k fun run, followed by the 10k and finally the 5k.  My pace was extremely slow due to the suit, but it was great again to raise awareness of autism.  The announcer kept giving me a mention, as you can tell in this video!

1000 miles.....chopping down the tree

My challenge this year has been 1000 miles.  To run it, and to have climbed Stok Kangri on a trip to Indian Himalaya.  Stok Kangri is a 6, 153 metre peak that requires just over a week to ascend, summit and descend.  Because my challenge has been two-fold, I haven't had the full 12 months to run the mileage set.  I was busy July and August to climb Stok Kangri and to prepare physically and mentally for the trek.

So that leaves ten months.  100 miles a month.  25 miles a week.  Along the way, I've set running challenges to raise awareness and keep me focussed and motivated.  There was the ultra, the 3 marathons in 3 days and other races including the Liverpool Half Marathon in a gorilla suit.

At the moment, I'm on track but I've got to keep going.  Mileage is everything.  No matter what, how or even how slow.  It's all about chopping that tree down.

Blimey it's hard keeping going sometimes...

As  someone put on twitter....running is a love/hate thing.  Sometimes you love it, sometimes it's a chore.

Keeping going after 8 months on the go is tough.  I'm looking forward to ticking 1000 miles off.  Don't get me wrong, this year has been fantastic.  The experiences of running in each race and of course the big climb - I wouldn't swap them for the world...but it's the keeping going that's the toughie.

Maybe that's what it's all about....keeping going.  The challenge I've set myself is to run 1000 miles in a year.  To do that, the individual running challenges....the ultra, the 3 in 3, they were all means to an end, to keep me motivated, to set smaller goals so that I could achieve the larger goal - the 1000.

Maybe that's what I need, to break down this final 350 miles.....

Gin Pit Trail Marathon

At the last minute, I entered a local marathon near Wigan and, having not run more than 5 miles, I managed to complete it!  It was a tremendous event, being organised by Malcolm Collins.  

Stok Kangri Summit Day 17th August 2011

Written shortly after returning back to camp...

I’m writing this having successfully summitted Stok Kangri.  I’ve managed to climb to an altitude of 6,150m!

My initial feeling is of relief.  It was so tough.  We set off at 12:30am and returned at 2:30pm – a 14 hour trek!

First steps

We were woken at 11:35am by Deepen to get ready.  I had all my stuff with me so felt ready.  However, it’s hard to judge how many layers you’ll need so I was a bit behind setting off at 12:30.  I had to walk quickly to catch up.  By the time I’d caught up I was out of breath!  Not what you need!  To make matters worse, I’d dropped my head torch and hadn’t even realised.  Deepen handed it back to me.

Reaching Advanced Base Camp

We reached ABC in about 2 hours.  Because of the thick snow that had fallen 24 hours earlier, it was made all the more difficult to get there.  From then on, we were split into 2 groups. 

Crossing the glacier

At the foot of Stok Kangri is an enormous glacier.  I’m guessing it took about an hour and a quarter to cross it.

This the furthest we’d walked towards Stok Kangri, having trekked to ABC 2 days earlier.  I remember thinking how unusual (and to be frank intimidating) it was to be walking in the dark.  In fact, it was only light by 6am.  Crossing the glacier was hard work.  The snow was over 3 feet deep in places.

Steep, steep terrain

What followed after the glacier was exhausting.  It was over 2 hours of steep, steep ascent to the ridge through thick, fresh snow.  Our guide was going at quite a pace.

I remember it getting to 4am and realising how hard this was going to be.  I longed for the sun to rise.

Ridge to summit – madness!

At 6am, it was a superb feeling to get to the main ridge at 5,900m.  What followed was unexpected and very difficult, climbing up very steep cliff faces with sheer drops either side.  There were some scary manoeuvres to be made!

The biggest cock-up I made was when our guide told us to put our crampons on.  Had the summit day been 4 days earlier, it might not have required them.  I, with hindsight quite stupidly, put mine on myself.  I should have had the guide look at them.

I got myself into a situation where both crampons had fallen off my boots and it was stuck on my own with no grip whatsoever.  One guy from Israel tried to help me but again the crampons fell off.  It felt utterly hopeless and I was almost prepared to give up.

It wasn’t until our guide came back for me and fixed my crampons with my lying on my stomach in the snow that I was able to contine.

My legs were already burning with lactic acid build-up after battling with non-existent grip for 20 minutes.  The final push to the summit, therefore, left me absolutely exhausted.

The arrival at the summit (at 9am by the way) was an exhausting moment.  There was no big feeling of achievement.  It had felt like hell so I just wanted to sit down.  As I reflect on it now, I wished I could have felt a sense of achievement at summit moment.  But there was so many great moments on the challenge, it didn’t matter.

It wasn’t until the 2^nd party of our group arrived that my emotions started to flow.  One of the group, Alex, had shown amazing character and determination.  We all got photos together and I seized the moment – to get a photo taken with my NAS t-shirt and a photo of Peter.

Back down again to the ridge

As I thought about Peter and my motivation for doing it, I truly wept.  Peter has the most amazing smile and finds enjoyment in the most simple of things.  Right there, at over 6,000m altitude, I was humbled and tears flowed.

What followed was quite an exhausting start of the descent.  Four of us and the guide were roped together and we descended over steep, icy terrain.  You kind of forget you have to get down again!

Ridge to camp

It’s a unique position to be sat on a mountain ridge at 11am, when you’ve already physically been on the go for 11 and a half hours, and you’ve got 4 hours or so still to go.

We descended the mighty drop to the glacier with crampons, anxious for a rest.  We crossed the glacier to advanced base camp, stopped for a refreshments and made it back to camp for soup, chips and hot lemon.

I feel so relieved.  I’m not in a rush to do it again!  I do feel extremely pleased that I’ve been able to climb to that altitude using my own two legs.  I suppose after knowing this day was coming I’m glad it’s done and I can now rest!

Stok Kangri Itinerary – August 2011

Thur 4/8/11 – Fly from Heathrow, UK to Delhi, India

Fri 5/8/11 – Arrive in Delhi, sightseeing

Sat 6/8/11– Fly from Delhi, India to Leh, India

Sun 7/8/11– Leh sightseeing, 4 hour accilimatisation walk

Mon 8/8/11 – Jeeps to 5,605 m altitude to acclimatise

Tues 9/8/11 – Drive to Chilling, start point

Weds 10/8/11 Day 1- 5 hour on foot – crossing Zanskar river to Skiu (3,500m)

Thurs 11/8/11 Day 2 – 5 hour on foot – Skiu to Ganda La Base Camp (4,100 m)

Fri 12/8/11 Day 3 – 4 hour on foot – Rumback to Ganda La (4,980 m)

Sat 13/8/11 Day 4 – 6 hour on foot – to Mankarma via Stok La (4,800 m)

Sun 14/8/11 Day 5 – 2.5 hour on foot – Mankarma Valley to Stok Kangri Low Base Camp (4,900m)

Mon 15/8/11 Day 6 – 2.5 hour on foot – to Advanced Base Camp & Acclimatisation (5,200m)

Tues 16^th  Day 7 – 10-13 hour on foot - Summit Day – to 6,100m and back to Low Base Camp

Weds 17^th  Day 8 – 4 hours on foot) Low Base Camp to Stok Leh

Thurs 18^th Rest in Leh

Climbing Stok Kangri Preview - August 2011

Swapping trainer for trekking poles....

Great workout today! Climbed Great Gable in prep for S.K. 2 and 3/4 hours to the top, but over 3 hours to get down after a bit of a bad choice on the descent route. Oh well! Must have been a good workout because I feel s-h-a-t-t-e-r-e-d!