Latest / RunThrough Trails / #Ep56 - Charlotte Fisher | From Her First Ultra to UTMB

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#Ep56 - Charlotte Fisher | From Her First Ultra to UTMB · RunThrough Trails

• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone, welcome back to the Run Through Trails Podcast.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Beth, and I'm your host, and today we have the lovely Charlotte Fish with us.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: So she is a trail runner from the Isle of White, completed UTS 100 Milo three times, which is incredible in itself, came second this year, second at Arch Patrician also this year, and recently completed UTMB in sub 30 hours, which is an amazing result coming joint second, Brett.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just really excited for this conversation.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hello Charlotte, how are you?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, thanks for having me on.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really good, thanks.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I'm good, thank you.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get straight into the trail running, obviously.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, why trail running?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: What led you to trail running?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, to any of my audience that are coming onto this episode, they're probably really sick of hearing this story.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: But for everyone new, I'll give a bit of a backstory.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so three years ago now, just over three years ago in February, um, I signed up to do um uh a local ultra, so around the coast of the Isle of Wight, and that was with no experience of being a runner at all.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was just uh you can you can walk it or you can run it.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd basically been challenged by my aunt on her deathbed to do something to raise money for the hospice that she was in and not just walk the white, and walk the white is a walk that goes across the island every year, it's like a marathon.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she said, not that, it has to be something harder, hence why I went for the circumference of the island.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um, initially I thought, well, you can walk it, but I hired a coach at that time because I was like, I want to try and do it as much justice um as I could, and that's where my trail running journey started, actually.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that was February 2023, and I had 12 weeks to train for this Ultra coming off the back of not even doing a park run, like complete novice runner, and I just fell in love with it, it became just the glue to my life.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: The training I thought was going to be a challenge, which it was, but I loved it so much.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'd I'd done like fitness runs before, like actually, funny enough, the 5k that I just did was kind of like the one run that I would ever do, and it was only ever to try and lose weight, and it was never getting faster or anything like that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd I'd done like five or ten K's sporadically in my life to try and lose weight, but nothing like trail running where you're actually out for an adventure, and I yeah, like I say, I found it challenging, but I I loved it.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: I loved discovering new trails, new routes, and just being able to get myself to places I thought you could only ever really drive to on the Isle of Wight, which was um yeah, it's just a great experience.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, basically it's quite a wholesome story, really.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, apart from the the death of my aunt, but um at least she kind of put me on this good trail-winning path.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, so it all started local for me.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, I love that, and I love the fact that like, although it's a negative what happens, like a positive came from it, and like a real strong positive that has effectively changed your life, and to train for a 100k raise in the space of 12 weeks, like that shows a lot of mental resilience, like fair play because uh I think ignorance is bliss, actually.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think I just had no idea what I was getting myself in for.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's incredible.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And 2023, like it's not that long ago to go from having never ran properly to getting a coach, doing 100k, to have now completed UTS three times, which is known to be the toughest hundred miler in the world.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that that is some journey.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what kind of then led you on from the Isle of White to then taking on things like UTS?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So the second I finished the Isle of White Ultra, so I won it, which was like, well, no one expected me to because now obviously I have this reputation that luckily I've rebranded my image.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I am known as like this healthy, sober runner, but I was a mess.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was a party girl, um, I'd been quite overweight at one point, and you know, I wasn't known for being athletically capable.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I really locked in on the training, and then I and I did train, like I didn't miss a session as well because coaching's expensive.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like I wanted to make sure if I'm getting told to do something, I'm gonna do it.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a lot of money.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so once I finished and won, it was just like the best day of my life.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was so nice to have my family at the end as well, because it was like my aunt had taught me to do it in a way, and it was just this great feeling.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: However, when I finished, I was like, wow, I'm not an ultra one until I do 100 miles.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So straight away I started researching which 100 miles were available to do like as soon as possible.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: So then I signed up for the Centurion North Down Way, which was so I I think the race that I the Island Ultra was end of April, start of May time, and then I did the North Down Way, so 100 Miler in the August.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yes, from starting running in February, I did my first 100 miler in the August, and um after I did that is when I then decided, um, well, I've done my hundred regular 100 miles, it's time to do 100 mountain miles.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that is when I discovered, wow, UTMB.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I had at the time our petition wasn't actually a UTMB event, and the only UK UTMB event was Snowdia.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why I went for that one because I'd heard about UTMB.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'd done my first 100 miler and then I thought I was capable of doing UTMB clearly.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I need to do one of the I need to do like the UK race, which can get me into UTMB.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that was like the mentality of it all.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, how I got into mountain running.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was just UTMB is great propag propaganda, doesn't it?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: It becomes like the pinnacle that everyone wants to do.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I fell straight into the trap at like as soon because I did my 100 miler uh North Town Way start of August, and then by the end of August is when I discovered UTMB.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know what it was.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I did my first two ultras before even I didn't even know who Courtney DeWalter was.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: That was the first time like that UTMB came on the scene, and you know, like Courtney won it, and she'd just done the triple, and all of a sudden I went from just doing these events and I didn't know anything about the community or other races, and all of a sudden I was like, whoa, I'm getting obsessed with this, I'm gonna find out everything about this sport, and I'm I'm gonna go to UTMB.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that's basically yeah, how it all came about.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love that, and like what a journey! Like, that is incredible.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: But going on to your first ever time doing UTS, I don't wanna sound like you know, you were humbled, but let's say like I can imagine it could be a very humbling experience because first of all, to be fair, doing those two races incredibly hard, I personally would have been humbled.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: But did you find it really hard going then to UTS?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um like the North Damway is hilly, so I saw it had like 4,000 metres of elevation.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So by doing Snowdonia, which is 10,000, I was like, it's not that much more.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but I'd never run a mountain trail before, I'd never been to the mountains, and I'd never been specifically to Snowdonia.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the I I had the same coach at the time.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: I used him for about a year.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm uncoached now, I just coach myself, but I used the same coach for the first year, and he did say to me at the time, I don't suggest you doing the 100 mile there, do the 100k.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's just as hard.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: The 100k will be as hard as the last 100 miler you did, the flat one.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, No way, I'm I'm not doing 100k.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a hundred mile girl, like I'm going straight in for the 100 miler.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't listen to his advice, but he was like, Well, whatever, we'd I'll write you a plan.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in my defense, I went there for three three or four weekends.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, dedicated a lot of time to doing a recce.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: The first day, oh my god, I I was like, I went up Snowden, I was like, this is easy.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: What's everyone on about?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then the next section up after Penny Pass, um, my partner thought he was gonna have to call Mount Rescue on me because I disappeared, there's no signal, it took like three hours longer than I thought.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um it that was a big, yeah, humbling experience.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I um I did I did think that I could put like probably do quite well in it, but I got super ill um 10 days whilst I was on my taper just before that race, and I was in hospital on a drip with suspected sepsis.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but so many people told me that I wouldn't be able to do UTS 100 mile, and I was just really adamant, especially because I'd driven all the way to Wales like three weekends in a row with my partner, dedicated so much time to it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Even though I wasn't well, I really wanted to get on the start line.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um that meant that race took me 47 and a half hours.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I was like chasing cutoffs because I just wasn't well, but I did finish it, so um, that's why this UTS loop that I'm stuck in um has kept going.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because after I um obviously just scraped through that year, I knew that wasn't like my actual potential there, which is why I went back to race it again and came third.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then since then it's been kind of like a goal to win it, which then this year um I was leading, but then I had some unfortunate um like bad luck basically.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I lost the shoe in the bog.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: That was probably one of the lows of the race, and then I didn't manage myself in the really cold, wet conditions when the storm blew in.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, that's why I keep returning there because that I just want to get I've not had a good race there.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I know I've had um a third place and a second place there, but even they were they were bad races, in my opinion.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I would like a really good UTS one year.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think it can be done.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I had a quite good UTMB um as it goes.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want the same for UTS.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: If I can run UTS the way I just ran UT uh UTMB, I think it yeah, it would be quite good.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is like absolute respect to be honest, because like running in Wales, it is tough.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like anyone who's been out there and done UTS, I was um volunteering as on the aid stations for both years actually on the hundred-mile route that you did it.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's brutal out there.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Which one were you at?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was uh two years ago I was at Dolly Dolidian.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and then this year I was at I want to stay aid station two.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Aid station two, yes.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: We were oh no, that's one.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: The next, I can't remember what it's called.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's on the road.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, yeah.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And supported, yeah.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So and it is just like well, the c conditions this year were particularly horrific after two hot years, but to like I've only been in sport for like three years, like that is genuinely like absolute respect because it is technical, it is brutal.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, baptism and fire, definitely.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like it it really is like very, very impressive.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like um that's why I didn't find UTMB like that hard, you know.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, UTMB is so hard.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, compared to Snowdenia in last year's weather, I don't think anything's like gonna be as hard.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Ever this is what I told a lot of people about.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like no matter what happens, UTMB is quite a safe race, so it doesn't really scare you.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Snowdonia, you die in it, like you make a mistake.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: The Nantle Ridge last year in a storm.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was genuinely having your breakdown that I might slip and die.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, Snowdia is definitely a lot, a lot of a humbling experience.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and yeah, because I did Tour de Mont Blanc last year, and not quite the same as UTMB because I did it over many days, but I was expecting it to be really hard and like UTS.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I got there, I was like, these are beautiful smooth trails, like they're fast.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, lovely.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like at UTS, like you can easily get stuck and like you're doing a 20-30 minute kilometre because you're just scrambling.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas at least with UTMB, you genuinely do keep moving quite well.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So well, not that I've ever done it, but one day I will.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but moving on to UTMB, so you got direct qualification from UTF last year, correct?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh oh, I think I got UTS last year and UTMB Miorca as well.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yes.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So direct qualification in.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Was the plan were you always like straight away like, yes, I'm gonna do UTMB as soon as I get direct qualification?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Funny enough, the first year that I came last in UTS, that was I wanted to do UTMB.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'm gonna put my stones in, like I'll I'll do anything to do UTMB.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: But by the time I the second year where I came third, I kind of thought to myself, I only really want to do UTMB when I'm good enough.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: But then because I got third, I was like, oh, I guess I'm gonna be doing it sooner than I thought.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because I I kind of wanted to do like give it a bit more justice.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like realistically, where I am in my running career wasn't I'm not at the stage.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I told people this year when I was going into it.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, don't get your hopes up because I'm not where I want to be to properly race this race yet.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can't just make that up overnight.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I it was a bit early, but it's one of those things where it's an opportunity you can't really turn down.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: What if I never qualify again?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like after I'm I'm in for next year as well, but like you know, things can happen.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I could be permanently injured this year or never get the opportunity again.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I'm gonna just because I don't feel like I'm ready or good enough, it doesn't mean I shouldn't do it.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I will do it this year, um, to the best of my ability currently, and um and it it took the pressure off a lot this year because I actually went more to enjoy the experience and the and the adventure, and after like I think I must have done six or seven hundred milers this year, there's been a lot, and they've all been competitively raced.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it was nice to go into one actually with like the pressure off and enjoy it and have like a different experience.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't nervous before it, which was a really nice feeling.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was just before, just before the start line, but like the lead off, I wasn't that nervous, it was more just um exciting to get it done.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it is good also to like, well, first of all, your performance was very good, like it was a great first UTMB, and also it's like good to gain experience with the course, I feel like.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: So then when you are kind of a bit happier with where you're at and like feeling like you can be more competitive, you've already got that baseline experience.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like no one's first UTMB is perfect, so it's good to get everyone says that, and like if you go in racing too competitively, I think the the line the line is so fine of pushing yourself a bit too far, and there's so many DNFs statistically for athletes' first attempts, and I just I spent too much money on it this year to like DNF it.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I just want to get this one finished, and then going forward I can take more risks because I've already got like a good solid finish behind me, so I won't feel bad now in the future about DNFing because I know I'm there to race rather than to do UTMB.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's the money that scares me.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, imagine if, like, I don't know, in the first 10k you just sprain your ankle, like that actually scares me.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is that's not the mindset you should go in with, but it's just the cost of these races.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and I went out for 10 days to do a recce in August, so it was like the cost of that as well.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I pay for my partner when he comes out to support me, and for the race, I paid him to come out, so it was just like there was a lot of financial investment behind this to not finish it.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that was my number one priority was finished, and then I had two other goals.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted um sub uh 30 hours, and then I was looking originally I wanted top 20, but when I realised I was ranked 94th because this year the field was so stacked, and I was like, okay, top 40 is the new top 20, and I managed to get in that as well.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I was quite pleased to be honest.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I saw what was on your Instagram story actually about the like the times and like how your time now would have got like top 10 of top 10.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my friend Michelle sent me that um when I was at work the day before yesterday and I'd forgotten about it, and then I was like, oh, let me go look at this because it was raining at the time and I and I didn't properly get a look at it, and then I went to look, and I was like, that makes a lot of sense actually, because like if you'd have told me the day before UTMB, would you take 29 hours?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'd be like, Yeah, like because sub 30 was such a like strong goal, and then the fact that I ended up getting 28, 15 or something was like surpasses what I thought, but it's still only got 37th position, which is like crazy.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, like that time, like comparatively, like if I can do a 28 at UTS, I'll be so chucked.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, crazy.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think they should get the whole of the UTM V star list to go and do UTS now.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: That would be interesting to watch them come across.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think a lot of people would find it very challenging, especially the Americans.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like oh used to the smooth trails.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it humbles so many, so many people go to that race thinking they're gonna have a good race, and they just unless you've done some experience there, you're just shocked by it.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: It just it's so vast.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: It that is a long hundred mile race.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: I just yeah, it's just like not there's a there's hundred milers and then there's that hundred miler.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's crazy.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of talked about you weren't too nervous going into it, going to the start of UTMB.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, the race start was moved back by two hours because of the weather.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: There was lightning, although I think the weather in the actual race wasn't actually too bad in the end.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: But in terms of like mindset and things like that, just like things like when they moved it two hours later, were you just like, oh grey, I've got two more hours to chill, or did it kind of mess up what you were planning?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: All it messed up was um I'm quite bad at remembering like time goals and where I need to be by places, so I use like sunrise and sunsets as a gauge, so it completely threw off me knowing if I was kind of on track or not, which was a bit annoying.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: But other than that, I didn't care too much.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: But what I would say is I think the delayed start, I can't judge from other editions because they didn't do them, but the crowds were so drunk, and like I think that's because they had two more hours, obviously, to drink through um La Houche and Saint-Gervais and up to um where's that um Notre Dame de la Gorge, they were just you know, sort of disrespectful in a way.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: They were just so drunk.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people I had like beer trucked on me, my bum slapped, things like that.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just like I think probably if two hours before they would have two hours less drinking and they wouldn't be so out of control.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing that I think the the two-hour delay was a bit annoying for.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Other than that, I guess you might be a bit more tired, and and it's annoying because I was would have loved to have done a daylight finish on the Saturday, and I think if I was close to daylight, like you can use a sunset finish as like quite a goal to get done a bit quicker.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think where I knew that I was gonna be finishing, I was at sunset at the last aid station, so I kind of I knew I was obviously gonna be in the dark, so you're not pushing as much to that point.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you're chasing a sunset, you probably push a bit harder towards the very end.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd have liked to have had a daylight finish, which obviously the two-hour delay yeah, put that on to bed.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's really cool though.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hadn't actually heard about that from people about drunk people being on the course.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: I saw the video of the colour.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: I had beer trapped on me and everything.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's horrible.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I I almost actually well when I saw uh my partner at the first age station, I was like, I'm just not enjoying this.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I want to carry it on.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like the I don't I didn't and he was like, it's going quiet soon, you're going off into the night.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: And once we left the crowds, I loved it, but yeah, it was too much for me.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I like running in the trails in the mountains by myself, and I don't like that.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I loved the kids being out with the families, giving them high fives and stuff.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's all absolutely fine, and a lot of like the people having drinks were fine, but it's just particular bits where like I'd beer trucked on me, and it's like, why are you doing that?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, you know, it's just yeah.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: No, okay, and it's just so frustrating that people think it's okay.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really frustrated by I don't know you've seen the video of Caitlin Fielder finishing a drunk guy course, and it's like, how the hell is the one?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Ruined her video, yeah, like her her finish line experience was ruined because they just couldn't stop a random man.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, imagine he was dangerous.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: I I think you know that's totally wrong.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: That should not be allowed.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: No, absolutely not, and it's just frustrating that people think it's okay, it's just yeah.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, it's a shame.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: But kind of so you went into the night and got out of the crowds a bit easier.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: How did you find the first night?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Was the weather?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: I loved it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was crispy cold, but it was a full moon, the sky was bright.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: I loved the night.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: I I I had such a great time, and um, I'd like calmed down by then.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I was chatting to it's like you bump into other runners that you've like raced at the front of the pack with in other races.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: So there was a girl that I raced with in New York where I spoke to her.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then do you know Aroa?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: She's quite a famous Spanish runner.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Aroa she came second in Arc 50 to Gemma.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: I I was due to race her in Tenerife in March, but the race got cancelled.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd been like stalking her drama and stuff.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: So when I saw her, I was like, hey you, I was gonna race you in Tenerife.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um we were both in Mad 'cause I I was training in Madeira um before I went to the Tenerife race and I saw that she trains a lot there.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh I was looking at your training and you're an inspiration to me kind of thing.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I spoke to her, and then I was running with Natalie Taylor from the UK that I'd run with at UTS.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And there was just like there was just quite a few people around that like I knew from other races and stuff.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it kind of gave me because I remember I was like 50th or something at that point, like 45th or something like that.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: And but then when you see like these good names around you, you're like, okay, I am actually running where I should be, because if we were in a race together, we'd be at the like the front, and it's nice to see me with these like females, so it kind of put my mind at rest.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you're moving at the right speed.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's just so many people moving at like a very similar speed, so yeah, yeah.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is crazy how stacked these fields are at the finals.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think this year was like on a whole new level, stacked field, like, but it is nice though, like having those conversations and trail races.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I imagine there is still long periods where you don't really talk to people and stuff like that, because it's a long night, but it's the little conversations that kind of keep flying.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think I was just the annoying British girl trying to chat.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's like trying to be like game mode, and I'm like, hello, you did you phone call me?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was just so amazing um having that company and chat and and working together at the end, and it I think it just shows a good camaraderie of like Brits together in the race, and yeah, it was nice as well though.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was thinking, what if we get to um Chamani and then she just sprints, sprints her head?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh my god.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, it's like we were uh I think she's very trustworthy, and so am I, and like we're just not about.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's very different if we were aiming for like top 10 and we were being competitive, but at that point we were both like smashing our time goal.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: We both wanted sub 30, and I think both of us weren't entirely sure we were capable of it.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, hopefully they didn't all find me too annoying around then.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: There was a runner that I ran with in UCNB Mallorca, and she's from New Zealand but lives in Mallorca.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: She ended up winning it, and we ran at the front for a lot of the race together.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: But what was interesting was I saw that she was wearing a Hoker vest with a quiver, like I'd worn um in the Mallorca race with her, and she wasn't wearing that at the time, but I was wearing this compressed sport waistband with um like how the the like the numbers attach, and I'd seen that she'd worn that in the race.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I said to her, I was like, Isn't it funny how you've got and bought my pack, but I've bought your waistband?
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: And she laughed and she was like, I noticed that as well.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just funny that we could like because it because I I don't feel like it felt very competitive.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like when me and her were at the front of the race game, Myorca, it felt really competitive.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: We weren't talking, we were like pushing so hard.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're both like 45th position and you're just doing a climb, you could just kind of like well, I was having trying to have chats with people, so yeah, it was a bit more wholesome actually.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And even to be fair, the front of the pack, like there was a lot of chat even near the front and stuff like that.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like UTMV, you know, it's just good vibes there.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: So overnight, because um I saw you at the aid station at the refuge before you went down into Cormaa, and I think you'd fallen over by that point if I remember correctly.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh did you ever fall overnight?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I fell I fell about 5 a.m.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well that's rough.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Was it?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Did you see me?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh to be fair, you did actually respond to me, but you I imagine you saw a lot of people.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: What did I say?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I just said, well, turn Charlotte, and then you went, Oh, thank you, and then you continued running.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Was it still dark?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess it was dark.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: It was still dark, yeah.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I imagine you saw a lot of people, and you didn't know who I was until about half an hour ago.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you were at the top of the ski slope once?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh okay, cool.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't even get water there actually, because I just went on to go through.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're not far from Cormea at that point.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I was about to see crew, yeah, so I just pushed through that one.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, did the fall affect you, or is it just a get back up and continue?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, even now, it's been two weeks, my knees bad.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it needed two stitches actually, which uh it was it was one of those things where at the time I just tried not to pay attention to it, but obviously I was drenched in blood.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was it was a little bit.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: It looked dramatic.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it was, but I was just trying not to like let it bother me.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But the problem was is this happened in our criticism in January.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't fallen since that race.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I'd broken, you know, the curse of I'm quite clumsy.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a big scar on my elbow from falling as well.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I do like to fall over in races, but haven't done it.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: I've done since that I've done Kiancee, UTS, Lakeland 50.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: I've done quite a few races in between and not fallen, but yeah, stacked it.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then after that, my legs just kept cramping.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think the impact of the fall, well, I when I hit the ground, they cramp, and then after that, every climb they started cramping, and I was like, oh for God's sake.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: I got through so many salt tabs, but I just don't think it's an imbalance, chemical imbalance.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's some sort of like cortisol shock of the fall.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so after that, I de I slowed down considerably and I felt really low because I was like, my I'm the my strength is climbing, and I would cramp on the climbs.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: The climb out of Cormoa, I was so bloody slow.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was feeling sick from taking so many salt tabs.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I was like, what else can you do when you're cramping and then take salt tabs?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I kept trying to take them.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um, a few British people, men actually spoke to me in that section and they recognised me from like British races, and they could like see the muscles in my legs were like full on um cramping out.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think when I'm in a race, I can just like shut off pain.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't actually really notice that the pain of my leg until literally after I crossed the finish line.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like um, I ran with some people and they were like, You didn't moan once about your leg.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I just don't think I allow that part of my brain to focus on pain.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but as soon as like five minutes after I crossed the line, I was like, Oh my god, my knee, what have I done?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a really bad injury.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Went to the medic tent and they were like, Yeah, you need stitches.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then I it just stiffened up and my knee was so painful.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been two weeks of I've only really I this was the longest I've gone without running.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Usually I start running about three or four days after, just little active recovery runs, but because my knee was so bad and I risked splitting it open and stuff, I've just I just took a I think I didn't run until the following Saturday, so a whole week without running, which for me is just like I've never done that before.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Even after UTS, I'm back by the Tuesday, just recovery 5k just to get moving.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: But I left it a whole week because my knee was it was really, really painful.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's just I still can't kneel down right now.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: I can't put any weight on my both my knees hurt.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it seems to be getting there.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, in the race, everyone's saying, Oh, you're so tough, you didn't let it bother you.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: But genuinely, I think I blocked it out because I I I was so concerned about the cramps and my muscles were just like coming out of my my cords.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I uh yeah, I think I just blocked out the fact that my knee had a huge hole in it, and I couldn't really see how bad it was because there was so much blood to actually, I just thought, oh, it's just a you know, some sometimes your knees bleed quite a lot, and it's not actually that bad.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was only when they cleaned it up and I was like, oh my god, look at that.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: I guess sometimes naivety is, you know, the best way forward, not knowing how bad it is until yeah.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, fair play for battling through and out.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: So towards the end, I've seen Instagram, and you and Sarah Page came joint 37th.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: So when did you guys kind of join up and how far did you share miles together?
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I've actually ran with Sarah before.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I caught her up at uh Lakeland 100 last year, and um I love a chat, and she loves a chat.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I did actually I we ran probably 10 or 15k about 50 miles in.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like it we're not going for a podium position.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was literally we're 37th or something.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like we we came across this American as we were descending into Chamonix, and she I saw she saw us, and she started panicking and and like she was obviously in a bad way, and I was like, Don't hurt yourself.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, look, run in with us.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: We don't care like about our position, we just want this done now.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: We're just trying to get to Chamonix as quick as we can.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she tried to stay with us and she was like, Oh, I can't, um, you know, I'm I'm too done kind of thing.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then, but then in our finish line, you can't see she runs in like a little bit behind us, but yeah, we it was just it was a perfect way to end the race because we kept each other company, and I think it would if I was doing that bit by myself, it would have taken me much longer, I think, and just being a bit miserable in the dark.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's so true.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the power of a conversation, like it makes time go so much quicker, and you forget about the pay, and you're suddenly in such a much more positive mindset because it's not the same, nowhere near as long.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I was doing marathon de Mont Blanc, and it was just basically all Europeans, and they just don't like chatting or trying.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: And like I saw this guy with a Liverpool tattoo on the back of his leg, and I was like, Oh, you support Liverpool, and he went, Yes, and then just ran off, and I was just like, okay, that's the end of the conversation then.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, I'm just trying.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to talk to someone right now.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: But no, that's really nice, though, that you managed to run it in with Sarah.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Was there like a particular low moment or a moment where you kind of question, like, am I really gonna make it?
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what's the big climb called?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um Grand Cour Ferre?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, like you say, like I would say I'm a very strong climber.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's my like my what's the word?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, strength, I suppose.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm I'm really good, quick at climbing.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: But because this cramp thing had happened since I fell, the whole way at Grand Cour Fouret, I was having to stop and stretch my legs out because they were cramping, and people were just like passing me.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: I must have been passed by about a hundred men, god knows how many women.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was the heat of the day, and again, this this wouldn't have affected me so much had the start not been put back two hours.
• 32:33
  unknown: Yeah.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because it meant I was there 10 in the morning instead of eight in the morning.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: It would have been a lot cooler had it been like my original time that I planned to be there.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I had to deal with it like I think it was probably about half ten-ish in the morning where the heat was really hot, which obviously, if you're already cramping, it's just like it was just that felt like such a slog.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I I did that twice.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I went out not for recce in June.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: My friend um was doing like a little holiday there, and um Dawn, she did the UTMD, so she was she just was saying come here, and we did some mountain backs at either side of the course.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd gone up once with Dawn back in June, it was still snowy actually, which was pretty cool.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then I did it in my recce back in August with Zoe Murphy, and both times I trotted up like like you could I jogged up it and it felt comfortable.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas in the race, it was a literal death march and cramps and stopping, and I was like, I must have lost so much time to people there, and I was really looking forward to that time in the race, and it just was not what I expected, just because of the state of my cramping.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was pretty much a low because at that point you still have a lot of race to go, and I was like, if it this is happening now, what's gonna happen?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, my race is just gonna slow down and slow down.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: But after that, there is a lot of descending, and they didn't cramp on the downs, it was just the ups.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, although my downs are usually much slower, I managed to make up some time, and um yeah, I mean, you've broken the back of lip once that climb's done, so I was like, I think I should finish now.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: But at that point, I genuinely thought, oh my god, what what if I can't finish it?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Which was yeah, not a nice intrusive thought to have.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I was literally watching my legs, and they were the muscles were coming out, visibly coming out, and I was like, and I was having to like walk and massage as I was going and just be like, Come on, legs, cooperate, you're meant to be good at this.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Give them a pep to all they need.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you made it, you did it, and you still, so yeah, incredible.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: So now you've done UTMB.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing you've got direct qualification again because you came second at UTS.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think I got a few last year.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: I got ARC, UTS, Kianti.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Kianti I came 12th, but I still got it based upon the points.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I got yeah, I got a few last year, so I am in for next year.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I am gonna do it next year.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna do it, yes.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's exciting.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Other than UTMB, have you got any other races?
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is it gonna be UTS again?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: And ARK again.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and Tenerife.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna do um ARK in January just because I think I I like um having something to focus on over winter, it keeps you honest in the bad weather and stuff.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: And um I loved that I know it's like I loved it at the time.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I said that, but I do love it.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: And um I like the challenge of that one.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I love a storm.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, I'm gonna do arc again.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I I might, well, I think next month I'm doing Cappadocia Ultra Trail, which is 120k.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: As long as um the tourist border, I think, supplying the flights, because if not, I can't like financially commit to another race abroad right now because it's been a lot.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a lot this year.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I think next month Cappadocia, then Arc in January, April, 108 Blue Trail, um, which is 100 miles, but it's actually only 110k, but it's got 7,000 metres, so that's why yeah, so it's like the the shortest distance a hundred 100 miler, but it counts because of the elevation profile.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was really wanting to do that this year, but there was like that huge storm blew into the canaries, so they've moved that back a bit, which is very close now to UTS.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think um a month or so, but yeah, I did um Lakeland 50 as a trading run for UTMB, so that's an 80k with six, I don't know, 4,000 metres.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I know I can sort of get away with uh Tenerife.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's obviously gonna be like a very big training run, it'll be like a 16, 17-hour training run, as opposed to Lakeland was eight, but I think I should be able to bounce back then to have a rest week and then do a bit of training before UTS and hopefully not carry the fatigue in.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I'm gonna prioritize Tenerife this year over UTS.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Last year it was a bit different.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: I was using Tenerife just as a training race, and UTS was the goal.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've done a pretty solid UTS now.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to do better.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Tenerife's like the race I'm gonna focus on now for spring because I've got like a big gap between ARC now and then Tenerife, and then UTS will sort of be the bonus race, I suppose, now um, providing everything goes well at Tenerife, and then to UTMB again, and maybe even Lateland 50 again as a training run.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: I just like doing the same race.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you're either you do a race once and then you don't go back, or you go back every year, and it is nice though, because it's I think with the marathon, like you can go back and even if it's a different course, like you can kind of compare like where your fitness is at because you know you you get a better time.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas a trail running, it's it's kind of hard to see whether you're actually progressing because quite often we don't go back to the same race, and even if you go back to the same race, you can get a worse time just because of weather conditions and how things have gone.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it is nice to be able to go back and kind of see how things are going different, learn about the different courses.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I do agree it's nice to go back to different races.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like my UCS, I love to compare it because, like um this year, obviously the weather was terrible, but I was still a couple hours faster than the year before.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, and that was with like losing your shoe and really bad weather, so it still showed that I was faster.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's quite a nice benchmark for me.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it'll be like the year 2040, and I'll be like getting the age category 60-year-old win or something like at UTS because I'll still still be doing it.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: Break the record, the 40-year streak of doing UTS.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: Literally.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, it'll be very fun.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um the only thing is, I wanted I do want to do UTS one day.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put it out there, not for a little while, but I do want to do it.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I just don't need to if it's bad weather, like Ari now.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: A reary, they've renamed it.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know like the bad weather is a killer.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's hard, it's a hard race in good condition.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, like when the bad weather hits, it's like Jesus.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, that scares me, especially if it's like high winds, rain diagonally.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I don't mind it being a little bit wet, but I just don't think I'd be able to do it if it's just when you're up that high, it's like minus 10, minus 15 wind chill.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: It you really feel it.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was oh it was bleak.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: That was bleak.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can imagine it was bleak at sea level, let alone up there.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, no, as to fair play.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of moving on.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: So every week we do a piece of trail news.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I normally bring a piece of trail news, and so does the guest.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: So this week, Charlotte, what is your trail news?
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got Lucy Gossage has just set the FKT on the penine way.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: So the spot she won the spine, obviously, year before last.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but she's gone out now and done the FKT for the Panine Way.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: And is it 70 hours, 47 minutes, and 15 seconds?
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that was under three days.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's pretty incredible.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: I saw quite a bit of it on Instagram, like her friends were out crewing and stuff.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: What an effort.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is crazy.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't imagine 70 hours.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think UTMD UCS sounds ridiculously long to be out of there for that long.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the weather, like, although it's been a dry summer, there would have still been bolts.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: There still would have been mad.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think she got rain as well, and parts of it, yeah.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: Absolute respect to her because that is a mad effort.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, my true piece of trail news is Megan.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm gonna say it's wrong, Urkhut, um, who ran a thousand kilometers over six days.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: So there's this new format race that's kind of inspired by Backyard Ultras, and it was you've got six days essentially to run as far as you can on a 900-meter lap.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who came up with that because that sounds like an awful idea to me.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Sarah Perry from the UK was there.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think she quite had the race she was hoping for, but still an incredible athlete considering it's her first time.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: She got just over 500k, and then Megan won overall with a thousand kilometres across six days.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: First woman, obviously, because she won overall.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: She was over 80k ahead of the person who came second, which was Guy.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: But like, I can't lie, that just doesn't sound fun.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, absolute respect to her because 900 meter lap, like, yeah, I love the adventure, so that's why I like these mountain races because there's outside stimulant of like what I'm doing.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a trek or a backyarder, I don't think.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I've got that in me.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I'm impressed by it, but no, thank you.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's very impressive.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: Mental resilience for that, yeah.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it must be on a whole new level.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: And six days, and to get a clock a thousand kilometres, she can't have had much rest, so yeah, wild.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: And she looked pretty fresh considering, and her her splits are very consistent.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: You'd think you'd slow down, but she somehow managed to keep it going.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Does that mean that should she beat Sarah Webster's world record?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, I think Sarah Webster's is the fastest, isn't it?
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not the biggest distance.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'd have to fact check, but yeah, yeah.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be interesting to see actually, it's a good point.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think about that.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna have to look at that afterwards.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_00: But thank you so much for joining Charlotte.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a lovely episode, and I've really enjoyed listening to it.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so best of luck at your trail races, and I'm sure we'll see you across many different British and UCMB races to come.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.