John's Ultramarathon

It’s beef and potato hotpot, but not as you know it.

February 15, 2019 by johnhunsley9911

There are a lot of different things I need to do to prepare for the Marathon des Sables. I have to run, to build fitness and endurance to cover the distance. I have to get used to carrying everything I need on my back, and try to arrange my backpack to keep the weight down. I have to take enough calories with me to see me through the expedition – I’m going to lose weight over those 6 days, there’s no way to avoid it. I’ll use a lot more calories than I can replace.

I’ll eat every thing I take with me: there will be no waste on this trip! So, I’ve practiced preparing and eating my specialist freeze-dried food in the comfort of my own kitchen, but in exactly the same way as I’ll be doing it in the desert. First, I heat the water on the solid fuel stove I’ll carry with me.

I have a lightweight pan/mug for heating water. The freeze-dried meals can be made up with cold water but I’m going to want hot food in the evenings where possible. Although it’s hot during the day, the desert can get cold at night. Also, who wants cold hotpot?

Once the water has boiled, I add it to my pouch of food and leave it to sit, while it re-hydrates. Then I eat. I can eat the food straight from the pouch. I’ve got a long-handled spoon so I can avoid touching my food with my hands. I’ll need to be careful with hygiene. There will be water provided for drinking but not really for washing – I’ll be relying on wet wipes and hand sanitiser and I really won’t want to deal with an upset stomach on top of scorching heat and demanding runs.

My long-handled spoon will help me keep my (possibly not very clean) hands away from my food

So there you have it – my whole cooking process, which I’ll go through each night in the desert, even when I’m exhausted and can’t be bothered. Any of you who’ve ever run a long race might have enjoyed a nice cooked meal afterwards. Just compare that with my fare…

Does it taste better than it looks? Well, since I’ve shown you pictures of the package I’ll avoid saying anything which might upset the manufacturers. Lets just say that some freeze-dried meals are more tempting than others. It’s probably a matter of personal taste! Before I go, I thought I’d share with you a photo my sister found of me when I first started running marathons (a while ago).

Then
Now

If you’d told me then that I’d keep running for decades, and eventually tackle 150 miles across the desert, I doubt very much if I’d have believed you.

Number 470

February 8, 2019 by johnhunsley9911

Things are getting real now. My number has arrived (I’m number 470)! Thankfully, training is going well, despite a cough which has been troubling me over the last week or so. It’s a worry if I catch even the slightest cold, since I really can’t afford any interruptions to my running schedule at this stage in my preparations. I really need to stay healthy.

I’ve done a bit of running on the banks of the Humber. There’s plenty of sand, but I don’t think it’s much like the Sahara! I’ll be running in temperatures of up to 50 degrees Centigrade, so the conditions are pretty different.

In other news, I’ve been practicing cooking my freeze-dried meals, just as I will be doing in the desert. I have to boil water on a solid fuel stove, which I’ll carry in my pack. Then I use that to rehydrate the food. Some of it tastes pretty good. Some of it, not so good!

The Marathon des Sables organisers have released this video. It gives you an idea of what I’ll be facing. On their webpage, Marathon des Sables also provide an overview of the race, with the length of each stage.

Day 1: 30.3km

Day 2: 39km

Day 3: 31.6km

Day 4: 86.2km

Day 5: 42.2km

Day 6: 7.7km

Have you noticed how far we’ll be running on day 4? For those of you who prefer to think in miles, that’s over 52 miles. We will run from morning till night, and many of us won’t finish till well into the next day. Helpfully, the information on the website also states, “your feet will swell, crack and bleed under the pressure and the heat”. Does anyone want to trade places with me?

No? Well then, I’ll just need to keep reminding myself what I’m doing it for.

My beautiful wife, outside her workplace of 40+ years

Snow, ice, and the cat who got the sleeping bag

January 31, 2019 by johnhunsley9911

It’s been interesting, trying to keep my training going through the cold weather. Just recently, it’s been really icy and the danger of slipping and causing myself the sort of injury which could stop me in my tracks is always there at the back of my mind. So far, so good though; I’ve stayed on my feet, covering about 75 miles every week. The not-very-cheery-looking selfie at the top of this post was taken when I got home exhausted, after a 20 mile run with a full backpack.

I wear a heart rate monitor when I’m running, so that I can keep check on how hard I’m working. It’s a much better way of measuring effort than just looking at distance or speed. Lots of things impact on a training session, like the terrain, weather conditions, inclines and of course that heavy pack. I aim to keep my heart rate up at around 150bpm for 3-4 hours at a time. In the photo above, my heart rate had dropped a little while I was getting my camera ready.

This week I decided to practice packing everything I’ll need to carry while I’m running the Marathon des Sables. Once I had it all set out on the floor in my lounge, Donald (my cat) offered to test how comfortable my sleeping bag is. He seems quite satisfied with it. And I’ve discovered that everything can be loaded into my pack – I just have to make sure I don’t pack Donald!

My runs take me all over the Lincolnshire countryside, which really isn’t as flat as you might expect. I took this photo when I’d already run 15 miles, looking back to Grimsby in the distance. It was still a long way back home. Long distance running can be lonely. It really helps to know that I have your support.

Janice in her furry hat with snow in her hair at Yellowstone

Getting started

January 24, 2019 by johnhunsley9911

I made the decision to run the Marathon des Sables in October 2018. That didn’t leave me much time to train – most people undertaking this challenge would train for a year beforehand. The only thing which made it feasible for me to be ready in time is the fact that I am a seasoned runner.

I ran my first marathon in 1981. It was the first ever Humber Bridge marathon, and as I lay on the ground, exhausted from the effort of completing it, I swore I would never put myself through that sort of torture again. But I did. Many times. In fact, I’ve never really stopped running since.

Neither Janice nor I were interested in taking life at an easy pace. Her photograph above was taken on a trip to Yellowstone park, which was far from easy, given her medical condition and the weather we were exposed to. Seeing the wolves and the amazing landscape they inhabit was absolutely worth the effort though. Janice would understand why the Marathon des Sables attracts me. Everything worth having in life involves a bit of work.

Training for the Marathon des Sables involves work all right, but it’s gone as well as I could have hoped, so far. I started off in my normal gear but made a trip to My Race Kit in November to pick up some specialist equipment. That’s when the enormity of the challenge started to become clear.

I bought trail-running shoes (2 sizes to big, because my feet will swell in the heat). I bought gaiters to keep the sand out of my shoes and prevent rubbing. I now also have a special lightweight backpack so I can carry water as I run. The backpack will have my ground mat (for sleeping on) attached to it and will contain my sleeping bag, clothes and all my food for the whole 6 days.

There are strict guidelines for the marathon, and I need to carry enough food to sustain me. I’m taking freeze dried expedition food (the sort of thing astronauts use), with a solid fuel stove to heat water for it, and some ready-to-eat snacks. The good people at My Race Kit have parceled this up for me, so I can see how heavy it makes my pack. The answer is: heavy. But there is no option, I have to carry it all. The only thing the organisers will carry for me is water.

Packages of food wrapped for the Marathon des Sables — My food for the Marathon des Sables

Seeing all the gear was a little overwhelming. I decided to share the experience with friends who attended a celebration of Janice’s life which was held a couple of weeks ago. The celebration was a chance for people to come together and remember her, including some who had been unable to attend her funeral. We drank champagne and ate Christmas cake (2 of Janice’s favourite things) and smiled over old photos, like the ones from Yellowstone. Some friends from Blue Cross even posed with me in my gear!

Blue Cross friends, and me in my desert gear

The support of my friends helps keep me going, although that pack really is heavy! I’m getting used to running with it now, and on Sunday I decided to practice for the Sahara by running on Cleethorpes beach. I got pretty close to the shore.

Never one to let an encounter with the elements stop me (even the North Sea), I went out again on Sunday afternoon, to do some different exercise. It’s important to vary the sort of exercise I do, rather than always relying on running for my training. A bit of cross-training is good for the mind and the body. So I went horse riding.

My preparation for the ultra-marathon is now well underway. It’s a serious challenge but the support of my friends is invaluable. I really appreciate it (including that of my friend who lets me ride her horse – riding helps clear my mind, in a slightly different, more sociable way than running does). If you would like to support me, please leave a comment, or visit my Just Giving page to donate to Blue Cross in Janice’s memory.

The Journey Begins

January 15, 2019February 9, 2019 by johnhunsley9911

Thank you for joining me. On April 5th 2019, I will be setting off on a 6 day ultra-marathon in Morocco, the Marathon des Sables. This journey actually began some time ago.

My wife, Janice, worked for more than 40 years for Blue Cross Animal Hospital in Grimsby. When she died recently, following a long and difficult illness, I wanted to do something special in her memory. A six day ultra-marathon across the Sahara desert seemed like a good idea (at the time…now I’m not so sure!).

Janice suffered with multiple sclerosis and a variety of health issues throughout much of her life. Despite this, she was someone who well knew how to live life to the full. She was a valued member of staff at the animal hospital, where she began as a nurse and was still working full time as nurse manager when she stopped work due to illness. Everyone who came into contact with her has a story to tell about her kindness and compassion. She helped everyone to to work together.

Although Janice’s condition wouldn’t allow her to run any marathons, she never let it get in the way any more than it had to. She and I visited Yellowstone Park on two occasions, to see the wolves. This was something we were both passionate about doing. We traveled there in winter, when it was -30C. It would have been a challenge for anyone, but Janice did it on crutches (with crampons on them!).

I’ve been running for almost as long as Janice worked for Blue Cross. In fact, I’ve run the London marathon twice, to raise money for the charity. Janice always came along to support me, even when she found walking difficult. The last time I ran there, she made her way to the start and finish, to cheer me on, battling through the crowds on her crutches. We were both so exhausted afterwards that we had to hail a rickshaw to take us back down Oxford Street to the Tube station!

Running has been good for me in many ways. I’ve suffered with anxiety over the years and the period surrounding Janice’s death has been particularly difficult. Running helps me to cope. That’s one of the reasons why I thought it might be a good idea to put my miles to good use. I’m running the Marathon des Sables both as a personal challenge and to raise money for Blue Cross in celebration of Janice’s life.