On Top of the World – The Himalayan 100 mile Ultra Race Report
Joe and Jonnie the ultra boys
Read how the Bug’s ultra boys Jonnie and Joe got on when they tackled the world’s highest event, the super tough Himalayan 100 mile ultra.
Joe and I are back from our 100 mile run
in the Himalayas and what an amazing week. Joe and I had a great time and both
finished the run which was absolutely stunning and in parts very tough. Here is
the race report.
The
Days Before the Run
We had a great introduction to India
which involved going to Delhi's No.1 nightclub!!
It wasn't planned. We arrived at our hotel and
it was about 1am India time so about 8pm our time so Joe and I thought we'd
find the hotel bar and have a little beer to kick off our adventure. We walked
into the Hotel bar and it was a full on club! The music was banging, they were
setting fire to the bar, there were girls dancing on the bar, it was crazy. So
we stayed for a few beers!
3 hours sleep later and we left the
hotel to catch the flight from Delhi to Bagdogra. Bagdogra was about 2 hours
east of Dehli near the Darjeeling region.
After landing we took a bus to Mirik
which is where we stayed for the next two nights. The journey to Mirik was
interesting. We were in an old bus, about 30 years old, driving along roads
with cows and goats on the side and we were weaving in and out of traffic.
Driving in India is unique, there doesn't seem
to be too many rules. Essentially the fastest, biggest or bravest driver wins.
It was definitely best to look out the window and take in the scenery, or at
least that’s what we thought.
The journey got more interesting as we
weaved over 6500ft up into the tea hills of the Darjeeling region. The
landscape got more and more impressive.
This is the view from the Swiss style chalet we stayed
in... Nice!!
Race
Day one - 24 miles
That was not quite what we were
expecting! It was tough, really tough, possibly the hardest single day of
running I have ever done.
There was so much up hills. I would say
about 20 of the 24 miles was uphill. To put it into perspective we ran/walked
up 8500ft of hills today which is equivalent to running up Snowdon 3 times in
one day!
We set off from a small village where
all the locals had come out to give us a special send off. We were blessed and
given a traditional scarf to wish us well for the run.
This is the Mencap Extreme Team at the
start of the race.
(Jonnie and Joe are second and third from the right)
Everyone was getting very excited and you could feel
the trepidation as we all looked up and saw the hill we had to climb to get to
the first checkpoint.
Then we were off. The first 2 miles took 45mins!
At
times we were walking up the hill and I could feel my heart beat in my chest
and head. As we got higher the hills became more and more dramatic and the air
thinned.
The downhill sections, which totaled about 4 miles of the 24 mile run was
across very uneven stony roads so it was hard to go fast.
We finally reach an
altitude of 12000ft after a tough last 4 miles which saw us snake up windy road
after windy road which fortunately for us had big boulders on each corner to
stop traffic falling hundreds of feet down. We used these to rest and catch our
breath and prepare our tired bodies and heads for the next few hundred metres
to the next corner!
The finish was a beautiful sight and it was only a
small walk to our huts where were would stay for the next two nights. Once in
our huts we had time to reflect on the day. It was a very tough but amazing day
and we met loads of lovely friendly locals along the way.
The whole 24 miles took an amazing 7hrs 20mins. Here
are a couple of photos of the place we stayed at and the view from the top of
day one's hill!
Home sweet home View from the start
Race Day 2 - 20
miles
Day 2 was easier than day 1 although still hilly. It
was a 10 mile out and back course along the ridge way of the section of the
Himalayas we were on. The view for the day was 4 out of 5 of the world’s
tallest mountains including Mount Everest. It really was an awesome site in the
true sense of the word.
Speaking to the organizers and helpers it is very rare
to have such a clear day so we were very lucky and took full advantage stopping
to take photos. We stuck some tunes on for a bit and enjoyed the run. My top CD
of the day was Above and Beyond Vol7 disc2.
Sometimes running with music is special. Every time I
hear that CD from now on I’ll remember being one of the most spectacular places
in the world.
We had noodles and ginger tea at the restaurant in the
tiny little village we were staying in which was lovely; really warming. Our
time for the 20 mile run was 4:34.
We were all in bed asleep by 8pm as it was so cold. I
went to bed with 2 layers on my legs and 3 layers on top and I was in a
sleeping bag and had two rugs on me!! We had to get up at 4.45am as we had a
marathon to run the next day.
Here’s a photo of Everest – it’s the high peak in the
middle!! This is also the best toilet in the world...
Probably the best toilet in the world
Race
Day 3 - A marathon (apparently!)
Well this turned out to be another tough
day. The distances were measured all wrong and closer to 29 miles in total but
the variety in terrain made it interesting. We started off running back along
the 10 miles ridge we ran the day before so this was all familiar and felt
really comfortable.
The course then took us a further 6
miles along the ridge and after a relatively gentle downhill section there was
a steep, 2 mile climb to reach the halfway checkpoint.
This short but difficult section did
keep us entertained, particularly when we saw a cow that decided enough was
enough and jumped off the edge off the road!
The Himalayan equivalent of free running!
The scenery was continued to amazing us and make us
smile. We started out at 12,000ft with Everest and the other mountains in view
and then 16 miles into the run we dropped 5,500ft.
The idea of lots of downhill appealed at the start of
the day but in keeping with the rest of run this was not easy downhill.
We ran for about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the
bottom of the hill and the terrain included muddy sections, log steps, rough
drainage tracks and stones. Essentially every footstep need to be considered or
you would have ended up on your ass.
We ran through the fir trees to a more dense jungle
where there were apparently red Pandas and Bengal Tigers; I didn't see either of
them.
At the top of the hill we had checked in at the 32km
point. So after over an hour of running we thought we must be pretty close to
the end. However when we got the next checkpoint we were told we had 10k to go;
how does that work?
This was both amusing and demoralising. Anyway we
plodded on running along the river passing houses, schools and men carrying
huge loads in baskets that were held on with straps that went round their
forehead; tough work.
We carried on for at least another 1hr 30 mins before
we got a sight of the finish line. The
marathon took us 9hrs 40 mins. The fantastic thing was that there was chips and
tea at the end and I thoroughly enjoyed both in huge quantities.
Race
Day 4 - Half Marathon
Today was a relatively easy one. We had
a half marathon to complete which included 6 miles of downhill, 3 miles of flat
and then 4 miles of uphill.
Again the scenery was fantastic and
different to the other days. We ran down the long downhill to a river and had a
good relaxing run. This was the first day where you could actually just run and
didn't have to look at every step.
One of the things I love about going to
these new and exciting places is the chance of seeing interesting and hopefully
dangerous creatures and animals. Although we didn’t see anything too exciting
we did run under some huge spider’s webs which housed a number of spiders at a
time.
We took 2:32 mins to complete this stage.
After the run we headed back to the motel and had the afternoon to relax before
the cultural evening and what an entertaining evening it was!
Each country had to do something that
represented their country like sing a song, recite a poem etc! Like true Brit’s
we sat there in reserved manner until one guy who got up and sang head, shoulders,
knees and toes in Dutch!! What?
My Po from Taiwan got my vote by doing
his Michael Jackson impression, it was so funny. Shamown.....eee he!!
Then it got to 8.30 and we left to have our
tea. The food during the week was fantastic. There was always so much to eat
and always a variety of, curry, rice, pasta & tomato sauce, Tibetan breads,
homemade crisps, vegetables and more. Feeling full and content it as time for
bed.
One
more day to go and the last 17 miles.
Race Day 5 - 17 Miles
Well this was our final day and I was
really looking forward to today's run. Today’s run started at the point we
finished at the day before so it was a bus ride from the place where we had
been sleeping.
The route today took us up hill for the first
7 miles and then gave us a lovely gentle downhill for the last 10 miles.
My calves were so tight at the start of
the day and felt really heavy, but as the run went on they started to loosen
and by the time we had reached the top of the hill in around 1hr 25 mins they
were all relaxed and I was ready to go.
Joe and I stuck our tunes on, had a
power bar and half a viper bar and went for it. After 20 minutes all the energy
kicked in and we were flying, loving the last bit of this spectacular run. We
were hammering it down the hill for quite a while and then thought that we
should probably relax a bit. We weren't going to beat any records and this
would be the last time we spend the day running around the Himalayas.
The finish came around quickly and it
was a great welcome. Loads of local children had come out to cheer us on and
high-5 us as we ran past and there was a big welcome as we crossed the finish
line.
Here are some photos from the end of the
run.
We've made it!
Jonnie and some young fans
The whole experience was fantastic and we met some
amazing people from many different countries.
If you have ever wanted to visit a new place with some
of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen and enjoy a week with people of a
similar mentality then this is the run for you.
Cheers Jonnie
Watch out for more from Jonnie and Joer soon, as they take on the World Famous Marathon Des Sables - that's 150 miles across the Sahara Desert.
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