All,
Thanks again for the messages😉

Stage 5 was a 71km, 2400m elevation beast of a run, after doing 50km the day before.

Since stage 4 was turned into a 50k, the start of the long day was pushed to 10am. Didn’t really mean that I would be up early and have my pack packed in time… no no, 3minutes before start I was still fixing gear, but made in time😊

Everyone in my tent was a bit nervous, as we had a long day yesterday, but everyone set off in good spirits. My legs felt good, though the quads have started feeling a bit tired. So I set off in a good pace and was able to maintain a top 17position until around 55km, when stomach issues started. It seems like a bug has been around camp as more people have been suffering from bad stomach.

But nevertheless the course was beautiful, started with nearly 15km of flat/slight incline and there after the climbing “hell” started. The first part was possible to run some part of, but the the steep incline towards 2750m started. I got affected a litter by the altitude and was light headed reaching cp4 on the top, so really looked forward to the downhill part. Some of it was steep, so walked that in order to spare my knee, as I felt a little pain after day 4. As we god further down it was perfect for running, and catching up on those who passed me on the steep ones!

The course so far was beautiful with snow covered mountains and lots of animals, including a few dead ones… smells really bad in the sun😠 but enjoying the nature and surroundings was good, and to me it is a part of the adventure.

At cp6 I had a quick snack before setting off for the last 16km… but shortly after my stomach started feeling weird and numerous toilet were a reality…. So I have now marked my territory in China, ha ha. Unfortunately is means that my top 20position was gone… shit happens😉

During the final stretch of the last long uphill, I was forced into the ditch for another toilet visit, and Andrew Espin passed me. I caught up with him shortly after the climb and had a tough last 5km downhill/flat section with him. Due to the stomach issue I had not been eating for nearly 2.5hour and as it was nearly 12hours of running, I was literally drained for energy and hardly could keep myself upright or awake (did not get much sleep the night before… freezing cold). But it is all about getting one foot in front of the other…!

Though I was in before the sun set, it was freezing cold and I jumped straight into the sleeping bag. About an hour later Alexander the Norwegian came, and shortly after Duncan and a Japanese guy showed up. Cristina came shortly after. All freezing and especially Cristina could not get warm, so after trying to for hours it went to get two bottles off warm water, put them into a daypack gave them to her, which saved her sleep😉

So now we are enjoying the rest day in a camp by the lake. Beautiful location, and lots of time spend chatting, eating what is left and planning the FEAST tomorrow will be 😁

Then a 14km final stage on Saturday and FOOD AND BEERS are awaiting us… we have already planned a restaurant crawl around town, prior to the awards banquet… love it, ha ha

The tarahumara approa did not seem to weaker my performance, so no need to change that for future races… just have to hope for no more stomach issues, as that is a killer.

Final update will be when I am back in Denmark… but thanks to my super cool tent for keep the spirit high, the humour crazy and telling lots of stories😉

Now, nap time J

Love,
Martin

Hi all,
Once again thanks for all the messages… always a pleasure running into camp and read them after a long day in the shoes… keep em coming!

As yesterdays stage was cut short due to snow, we had some extra km today, so ended with nearly 50km (49km). The first leg was nearly flat, so had some good running there… then from 10 – 20km was where I really got challenged…!! Two brutal climbs, that was up around 60-70 degrees and took around 20minutes each to climb. 20 minutes does not sound like long, but imagine a little man stabbing you with knifes for 20minutes, then you know how I feltJ my calfs were fried! But nevertheless the course was beautiful, and running looking at the mountains, wild horses etc., was making it all worth it!

After the brutal climbing, there were some rolling landscabe with lots of water crossings and I had my feet wet for 34km of the course, so it was good to get the shoes off and see the were fine, no blisters.

The last 13km was downhill and flat, through a town where the children were giving high 5’s and cheering on us… gave good energy and I was running well. Initially gave it a little too much speed on the first 3km downhill, which I could feel in my quads, so slowed down, which was good. Did run some part of it with Andrew Espin (Bretta, today I got to pullJ) Andrew was low on energy and as he saved my arse the other day I ran with him, until he told me second time to run off… so had the last 4km on my own, holding a good pace and overtook one runner. Think I came in 21 or 22, which I am happy about. So will see what the 65km tomorrow will be like, all I know is that there is nearly 2400 height meters to be climbed/crawled… so will be a long day on the course. But once that is over with, there is only a rest day and a 14km “all out” to the finish line… FOOD are awaitingJ

Richard, I’ll dance like crazy and get in goal in best possible wayJ

After 7hrs 40min on the course it is now time to eat, sleep and get ready for 65km tomorrow… have fun and more news tomorrow (or maybe on the rest day… all depending on how long time on the course tomorrow!!)

Love,
Martin

Hi all,
Thanks for the messages… good motivation.

Can’t really remember what I wrote on my blog after stage two, as I was fried!
But after getting more nausea medication last night, plus I got lots of food down, I felt good today.

We started with 12km of hilly terrain and lots of steep climbs… I eased it a bit to see how the body was feeling and after cp 1, I decided to speed up. The weather was good old fashion Danish weather with rain and hail, so had to get the rain jacket out at cp 1. But it was good, as I was getting cold and even though I increased the pace I did not feel warm, which I liked😉

At cp 2 I heard that the weather was rough on the top of the mountain, and that the course would be cut short… just gave me more motivation to catch up with the people in front, though the might have increased the pace too… but I gave it a try and I passed a few people.

Arriving to cp3 the weather had gotten better and I wanted to get my rain jacket off, while doing so, I was informed that there was only 3km left… a sprint was the first thing that came to my mind, so I set off fast and finished the 3km with an average of 14km/hr over flat, rocky terrain. THAT felt really good looking at how fried I was yesterday… and during those 3km I overtook 3 people and finished around top 20, so happy about a good comeback. Surely hope the body feel the same tomorrow as we will have an extra 10km (that’s the info so far). So we will have 50km tomorrow and 65km the day after. Will be tough, but that is why we are here… don’t think anyone do it for the freeze dried food, blisters and pain… unless they are a little sadomasochistic😁

Last night was rainful and some runners got their sleeping back soaked… so as we are being lodged into huts today, everyone is happy. The sun is out now, so all the wet clothing and gear can be dried for tomorrow and we should be good to go.

The Danes are doing well… second female and we three men all in top 25(30)… I have no idea what position I am overall after stage 3, since yesterday was a bad day. Cristina in my tent is currently 3 woman And getting stronger day by day, so will see if she can overtake Lene, the Danish lady in 2nd. Jan and Asher, the two other Danes are good guys, friendly and humble and damn hard core runners … no chance of catching them! All the beer and food pre-race made me too heavy, ha ha

@Sebastian, super du lob god til vejle lobet… du lober snart fra mig😉

@Susan King, no I did not run the great wall marathon… just a guided tour there and 1.5hour on our own…. So I used them running on the wall and taking photos of course 😊

Will see what tomorrow bring… as Karl, the Austrian military machine says; what will be will be😉 So I will hope for another good day tomorrow and still save some energy for day 5J My feet are still blister free, so it is all up to the energy

Have a great day all and send more motivating messages!!!

Love,
Martin

All,

Thanks for the emails and comments, good motivation, which is needed today!!

The stage today was nearly 40km on a more or less flat course, 700 hm only. The surface was filled with grape size stones though, not making the footing easy. But this was good for me, as I due to the lack of food, continuous nausea and toilet visits on the course, had absolutely no energy… got 9 small small wine gummi bears down over the first 20km, which is far from sufficient.

Got some nausea tablets from the medic at cp2, which helped… shortly after I could eat, resulting in all blood flowing to my stomach and the next 20km was pure struggle… I was being dragged by Andrew, whom also had a bad day, thankful for his patience with my near crawling pace. I made the decision not to push it, though I got little more energy, as tomorrow is a nasty uphill stage.

As I now can eat without feeling like vomiting, I hope I’ll have ‘lots’ of energy tomorrow.

Off to dinner, bed, recovery… more news tomorrow.

Love Martin

Hi all, as mentioned yesterday the course was changed due to bad weather… we were promised to have a rainy night with heavy storms, which turned out to be a night with no rain and lots of stars. So going for an old man night toilet visit was ok, as it was beautiful:0)Also we were “promised” a bit of rain on the course, but no rain and as I finished the 50km, it was 35’C!!

It was a beautiful but tough course… the 50km had nearly 1000 height meters and 850meters downhill. The first 10km I was good running, but then my stomach started to give me trouble and I had to toilets visit, squatting, as I master to perfection… if I have a stone wall to lean againstJ so the distance from 10 – 25km was tough, as I was drained for energy and did not really feel like eat or drink. After 25km the stomach started to feel ok and I hope for more running, but at this time we (Andrew Espin and I) hit the technical hill climbs, so the pace was reduced to walking… but as long as we move forward it all countsJ the last 14km was flat with lots of little dried out rivers to be crossed. At one time two guys came up to us, Christoff from Austria and Alexander from my tent… Christoff t tall and I looks like he is running in slow motion being infornt of you. My mind simply could not handle that, so I had to spped up and ran the last 9-10km alone and finished in 23 position in little under 7 hours… not fast not slow, as it was 50km in tough terrain and warm weather… and energy hopefully saved for tomorrow.

Now time to re-fuel and kick the legs up… the electrolyte water will have to go for a beer and the freezedried food will as always be enjoyd big timeJ

Love,
Martin

P.S it is stupid to forget sun screen running 50km in baking sun……. you get the punishment right away!!!!

Finally the action is on… we arrived at camp 1 after a few days in Bole. I meet up with a few other runners and have been carb loading on (light) beers and lots of food, as thee was not much else to do in Bole! As always it did not talk long to start discuss “squatting” strategies for the hole in the ground toilet and possible scarfing etc… just to get it out of the way and make room for more intelligent conversations once the race are on, ha ha

By the way, Beijing and running on the great wall of china as pre-race training was good and lots of interesting things to see. Sadly, as no internet available to foreigners in Bole (long story, so will not bother you with that…) no photos until I’m back in DK.

There has been some changes to the course due to weather conditions (heavy rain and winds), so we start with nearly 50km on stage 1, just to get started. But with all the food I’ve this week it might suit me to lose a bit of weight!!! Will be a good challenge, as it has almost 1000height meter and nearly the same downhill… !

My tents seems to be a good one, with a colleague from Singapore, a Norwegian and a British guy and some Japanese runners.

The forecast for the night is rain and heavy winds, so glad we have been put into some mining houses, instead of tents… and then the weather should get better as the week goes on!!!

More interesting updates will follow once the running starts and I have blisters and agony to tell about.

Have fun back home and be good with the comments J 

Love,

Martin

7 days from now and the race will start. I am excited and looking forward to levee for Beijing tonight at be a tourist for a few days before heading towards Bole on Wednesday. I'm gonna catch up with a fellow runner and carb load on a few beers. If the Tarahumara can run on corn beer, maybe a few beers can turn me into a super runner too, uhmmmm maybe not... But one thing is important and that is not to start the race dehydrated. Have fun in you living rooms, while I enjoy the camp fire, freeze dried food and daily pedicures in the tent:) More info, once in China... but the "weather forecast rumor" is that it will be 37*C in Beijing Monday and Tuesday...!

As always I am asking myself; I’m proper prepared for running 250km
in hilly and rough terrain? Do I have the optimal gear setup and 
sufficient food not to starve? 

One thing I know for sure is that it is extremely difficult to do 
outdoor hill reps in Copenhagen, as it is flat as a pancake, so 
here I miss living in Norway, but at the same time I’m glad that 
someone invented the treadmill, for my hill training.  

I have had some minor hip issues, but hopefully they will be sorted
by the time I’m in camp 1, enjoying a freeze dried meal and 
anxiously waiting for stage 1 to start. 

I have managed to get my backpack down to 6,4kg including a warmer
sleeping bag/liner, a thicker sleeping pad and more food than 
normal. I still find it a little heavy for all the uphill running, 
but a warmer sleeping bag was prioritized due to the cold nights 
during last year’s race, and this combined with the minor additions
of extra mandatory gear all give weight. So it will be interesting 
to see, what the additional comfort and more food will do to my 
performance, though having more weight to carry around.

This week will be my last long training week, thereafter 2 +/- 80km
week, plus gym and then a week of holiday in Beijing and Bole. 
When in Beijing relaxing in the hotel spa, having a few massages, 
lots of food (and wineJ) and some sightseeing will be key words. 
The when I have arrived in Bole, I can start looking at re-packing 
my food and preparing the backpack for the race.

Haven’t done much running with the backpack, due to the hip issue…
But the few runs I had with it on, is enough to know that it fits 
well and will not cause any scarfing. I used the same model of 
backpack in Jordan and it was good (Raidlight OLMO 20L – Old model).

Ready or not, here I come… I hope the weather will be gentle to us!

See you all in China.