M2M ULTRA 2017 - PROLOGUE

M2M Entry

A lot has happened since I wrote a post in my Offa’s Dyke blog about bringing my running activities to a close. Best of all I married my best friend and inspiration on a perfect day in our beautiful garden. I then started but did not finish the 3-day Ring of Fire 135mile ultra around Anglesey, mainly due to very poor foot preparation (I know!) and then started and finished the inaugural Offa’s Dyke race completing the 185mile course 5 hours inside the 96hr cut-off. With all that out of the way I was now ready to put my feet up and retire from running…except I wasn’t!

 “Can I do a race in Hawaii please?” I asked Claire one day in an off the cuff manner via a Facebook post together with a link for the event and then followed that up with a pic of Puss In Boots from Shrek and the comment “pleeeeeease..” I was just trying my arm as I realised what a big ask this was. To my surprise and obvious delight, Claire didn’t have any problem with this other than me potentially battling for my life against the World’s most active volcano!! Once I had assured her that I was certain that volcano related hazards would be more than covered by the organisation risk assessment, we formally agreed I could go and my deposit was paid.

THE INAUGURAL M2M ULTRA

On the face of it, this would seem to be a jolly jaunt around one of the World’s most exotic locations but face value is never something to trust and I get the feeling this could be a cheeky one. Mother Earth apparently has 13 climate zones and Hawaii Big Island alone has 11 of those. The course is 250km long and has 16,742ft of ascent with most of those on the first 3 days. So all in all I think it’s safe to say this could be a grizz and weather could play a big part in performances.

STEEP!!

M2M Preparation - Training

Training and me are not comfortable bedfellows. I wrote in my Offa’s Dyke blog last year about how much I disliked running or more accurately the inconvenience of training on everything.  It’s not so much the training itself but all the things that surround it. Fitting it in around a busy work and homelife for starters. Then there’s the seeming age that it takes to even get out the front door. All in all training is a bit of a drag.

Claire, however, has other ideas. If I am to do this event, I am to do it properly. So, although she knows how much it will impact her, she has been quite forceful in ensuring I make the effort to get out the door and put in the hard miles. I have committed to a programme with an 85% completion rate which is a feat I have never come close to before. This has culminated in me covering almost 350km in April. This might be small beans to some of my fellow M2M competitors but for me it is, once again, unknown territory. The only time I have ever done anything remotely similar was during a training break in Portugal prior to G2G 2014 when I covered 100 miles in a week. Then I had no distractions, now I have them all but have still committed.

On the Coastal Path

I have run with varying pack weights culminating with 3 back runs last week totalling 54 miles with my full M2M pack. I know I’m never going to be challenging for top honours but I feel in good enough condition that I can negotiate the course without too much discomfort. That’s the plan anyway and I’m happy to now begin tapering.

M2M Preparation – Kit and food

This is the bit I like most about these races as I get to use spreadsheets. I’m not normally a geek but there’s just something about a spreadsheet, especially one that I’ve built myself!!

The obvious consideration is weight. People talk about a gram to calorie ratio with food, which I’ve done pretty well this time with almost 15,000kCals weighing just the wrong side of 3.5kg. What is not immediately noticeable to the novice runner but something that is quickly found out is the gram to currency ratio for mandatory kit. It is possible to get sleeping bags that weigh less than 500g and other such lightweight extremes. These come at a cost though and one I can’t really justify when I only do one of these events once every couple of years. The only other times I am really out in the wilderness is when training with the Army reserve and I have my own Land Rover then so weight is not an issue.

Although some of my mandatory kit does weigh a little more than some, I’ve managed to squeeze all of my kit, including a couple of comfy items into a total of 9.5kg, which, as I have already mentioned, I have carried across some decent distances without any real fuss.

The main concern on M2M, I feel, is waterproofing and I have taken every precaution in this area. Hawaii may not be cold and windswept in the way Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons can be but there is still every likelihood that we will be rained upon at some point. This is not a concern for me on the course as I will be enjoying the views whatever the weather. It will become a concern if I get to camp and my camp clothes and sleeping bag are wet.

M2M – The G2G Reunion

Another bonus about this race is that I get to hook up with a number of great folk I met on G2G 2014 and I am sure I will meet many more new friends as the event unfolds.

For now, I must bring this post to a close and finish packing. I am out the door at 06:00 tomorrow morning to begin an epic journey to the start line of yet another epic journey.

Aloha