I signed up to this race a while ago when I knew I would be in Nepal for a couple of months. I planned to treat it as a nice long run and wasn't going to taper, though food poisoning in the days before the race meant I had to! Trailrunning Nepal put on loads of races throughout the year, check them out! Here are my stray observations from the race:
- Most interesting race bib I've got- David Beckham, bananas and a leopard.
- It was also the first time that an ultra running legend has filled out my registration details. Lizzy Hawker was on hand at both the start and finish, and had spent the days before the race out marking the course, less than a week after her 200km Kathmandu Valley loop!
- Nepal is hilly. Kind of obvious! I guess I'd never thought much about the kathmandu valley before, as most of the pictures you see of Nepal is Everest, the Annapurna range etc. But even just a few km from the city, we climbed up to 2300-2500m, and the race packed in a fair amount of vert! And downhill, obviously! Sorry, quads.
- Steps are not my friend. Nepal has a lot of steps. Going up is so slow, and going down is slow. I like to think I'm a decent down hill runner, but trying to fit my size 12 feet on the tiny steps as I descend makes me feel like an arthritic old Labrador lumbering down the stairs.
- The valley is also stunning- you would never think that a huge urban sprawl is just the other side of the ridge line when you're running through this:
- Never before have I felt so bad in the first 10km of a race. I know you're meant to stick to your own pace in the beginning of a race, but when Nepali runners in old football tops and jogging bottoms are gliding past you on stairs it's hard not to have the phrase "all the kit, still shit" ringing round your head. Not the sort of mantra that running advice articles advocate! The major climb of the race (nearly 3,000ft in less than 3 miles, pretty much a VK within a race!) was like a battlefield of walking wounded though, with cramping and exhausted runners sat down on the floor. Slow and steady!
- However, the next 10 miles were some of my most enjoyable racing miles, as I found myself alongside Mira Rei, Nepal's running sensation. From watching her rise to the top of the Skyrunning scene and having read the countless articles detailing her back story, I knew she had a reputation as an exceptionally positive runner; she clearly just loves running, and rolling through the valley's villages with her was great fun. She waited at aid stations for me to finish sorting out my pack, called me back when I took a wrong turn, and manages to race at the sharp end without (seeming) to take it seriously. A lesson to be learnt!
- The heat really caught up with me at mid day, though. Just as I started to struggle and the first signs of dehydration crept in, Mira put on a jacket and ran away from me on the next uphill. A winter's training in the Brecon Beacons doesn't prepare you for 30 degree heat.
- On a related note, if you start thinking your back is getting really sweaty then it might be worth checking your water isn't leaking. The start of a long climb in the heat is not the time to run out of water. The next couple of hours turned into a real suffer fest.
- On another related note, turning a tap on to find no water coming out of it is one of the worst feelings you can have mid race!
- New food strategy: I had a Bounty at the next aid station. Race saved!
- Cool, and technical final descent to the finish line, luckily my quads were able to handle it. So picturesque, too:
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| Pic courtesy of Antti Rautavaara |
- The thing that kept me motivated to the finish line:
Finally, go to Nepal, and do a race there! Such a good experience.
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