M2M ULTRA 2017

Vision of hell We are up and about at 05:00 to get ourselves ready for the bus ride to the start of The Long Stage. As is the norm for multi stage ultras, people are a bit more quiet and reserved of a morning as they try and prepare themselves mentally for the test to come. This course certainly promises to be just that. Not only do we have to cover almost 50 miles but we have to climb almost 11,000ft. To put that into context, that is 38% the height of Mt Everest. We will reach a height of 9,200ft asl as we reach the summit of Mauna Kea so air will be very much thinner than at the start. All in all a pretty tough day ahead, or day and a half for those who will use the 34 hour time limit. We are hollered towards the transport and, if I'm honest, I am not looking forward to an hour cramped up on a mini bus. Fortune is smiling though as there are a number of 4x4s driven by the organisation and I manage to secure a seat on one of these. The convoy revs up and we are off. There i...

It is whispered quietly but we believe it has stopped raining!! A glance out of the tent door confirms this to be the case, although the sky is still a bit foreboding. No matter, this morning we wash and dine without the need for ponchos or dashes during gaps in the downpour. It is not all good news as the ground is still boggy and we are not yet at the point where we can walk barefoot. In spite of the improvement in weather, admin routines have not changed and we all dutifully go through our own processes. The course today is a full loop back to this very camp so there is no danger of arriving to find the camp not ready this time. There is a mere 916mtrs of ascent to deal with Lava, lava everywhere today but the downer is that it is all in the first half of the course!! The course book tells us that the second downhill part is mainly asphalt road, which potentially has its own sharp teeth as tired shins pound into the hard ground. Part of the uphill phase has views of the...

It has rained constantly all night and sleep has been more a series of catnaps than a full blown gonk. The rain does give some measure of comfort knowing that I am nice and snug in my bag. Everyone else seems to be of the same volition and again there has been no obvious snoring. We are supposed to be awakened at 06:00 by the Hawaiian drum beat but one of the volunteer tents has other ideas. They have to be up at 05:00 each morning and on this particular morning they are letting everyone else know about it. We all lie awake and pass the time with some idle chatter before the official wake up noise kicks in. Fortuitously, the rain that has belted down all night stops for just long enough to allow us to get hot water for breakfast and stay dry doing it. Many people are taking no chances though and there are a number of unwrapped ponchos on show. My drying plan has not borne fruit so I am forced to dress in wet clothes. This turns out not to be as bad as expected. Both my ...

We are woken by a Hawai’ian drum beat which, for a very brief moment, reminds me of Jesus Walks by Kanye West. A surreal thought at 0430 in the morning! It is a nice sound to wake up to and is infinitely better than 500 Miles by The Proclaimers! I have had a good, but not great, sleep. I have been bitten and the bites are annoyingly itchy. Tent mates have been moving around in the night, mainly to visit the toilet but, thankfully nobody snores!! Nobody else has complained that I snore so we are immediately off to a winner! It has rained during the night and, on first inspection, my dry bag plan doesn’t seem to have been too successful. They feel wet but not sodden; it may be just morning damp or even cold. In any case, once they are on my feet, they don’t feel too bad. For breakfast I tuck in to what, with one day exception, will be my breakfast of choice – dehydrated fruit muesli moistened with hot water. It is a meal I have sampled before and is tasty enough to convinc...

Despite the comment that the amended bus trip will be a lot shorter than the scenic route, it is still quite a journey.   We pass quite close to Hilo en route and see a number of pink flags alongside the road which give us an idea of at least one part of our near future. Camp 1 is sited close to the Volcano National Park where Kilauea, the World’s most active volcano is to be found. It is reported to have been continually in a state of eruption since 1983! Camp 1 is very pretty and gives no indication of the hell that awaits us. For now we are contented souls and our only gripe is that there are no fire pits a la G2G. Hawai’i has strict fire control rules so no unnecessary fires are allowed. There are 7 of us in tent 7, which is devoted to Mokuali – the God of canoe builders! It doesn’t roll of the tongue the same way that Hualapai did for G2G 2014 and there is not a great deal of background information on Google. Nevertheless, if we have an urge to build a canoe wh...

10 May In the last post I said that I was firmly ensconced in my room at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. This is true but not after a lengthy walk back to the reception desk to have my key card activated This is something I hate and it never happens when you are in a room close to reception. Which bed do I use first? Anyhoo, the room is indeed grand and has a decent view over the ocean. I wouldn't say an unrestricted view and I will find out later in the trip that there is very little difference between an ocean view and a partial ocean view other than lots of dollars! Yes, I can see the ocean I decide that, no matter how swish my room is, it is no place to be so I head down to the beach, which has made World Top 10 lists in one or more publications that decide on these things. It certainly is impressive and not overcrowded. World's Top 10 standard Satisfied that the beach comes up to scratch and, having let my tootsies sample its effects, my stomac...