2014 is flying by….

I have just realised how long we haven't wrote on this blog. So what's happened since the start of this year? Well firstly we took a road trip to Te anua where we were lucky enough to be greeted with some lovely weather . Don't get me wrong we have had some good sunshine but on the whole it has been the wettest summer this area has seen in a while still better than the average British summer that we are use to!

Whilst in Te Anua we managed to cram a lot into our short time there. Once we had checked into our accommodation we put on our running shoes and decided to run from the town out to the start of the Kepler track which is one of the iconic great walks that this beautiful area has to offer. Once we got to the start of the track we decided to run up to Luxmore which is the highest point of the route so lots of climbing. The Kepler area was beautiful and a great running terrain. I think we both preferred it to Routeburn too! 
Enjoying views from the top!
Once you finished what felt like the never ending climbing you were greeted with beautiful views which is quite rewarding as most of the time your climbing your in Forrest so the view is blocked by the trees. We stopped to take a couple of pictures before descending quickly down what we had just climbed which I really enjoyed. Once we got back to town it was time for shower and refuel before having an earliest night as the next morning we had booked a trip out first thing to the glow worm caves that are also in the Te Anua area.
Water inside the caves..


The next morning we woke up to an overcast day so not as great as the first but it was a lot better than rain, so no complaining on our behalf. To access the glow worm caves requires you to board a boat to cross the lake . This I was quite anxious about as I suffer from motion sickness but luckily there was no wind and because we were on a catermeran there wasn't too much rocking movement and I ended quite enjoying the journey and not feeling ill! Once we arrived at where the caves are located and docked. We were split into groups and each group was assigned their own guide. We were then given an explanation of the caves and what we would be doing when inside, this is where we were also informed we weren't allowed to take any photos whilst inside as it harms the glow worms. A shame but all was not lost as we found out later...
Glow Worms! 


Once inside the caves it wasn't long before we came across our first glow worms which was pretty awesome. After negotiating ourselves for a short while we then came across water where we then got into small wooden boats this is where the main show was about to unfold it was really peaceful and looking up in the cave was like looking up at a the sky on a very starry night. We both really enjoyed the experience. Once you have done the circuit on the water you then make your way back through the cave the way you came . When we got back to the waiting point we were then informed that we could buy pictures of the cave and worms which were taken by a professional photograph when the caves were closed for refurbishment. We jumped at the chance as it was really reasonable price and it was great that we could have pictures to show and look back on of the whole experience!
Exploring local trails/mountains
 

After our jaunt out to Te Anua we stayed around Queenstown and explored the surrounding areas around us, as we knew that Tarawera was fast approaching . We found a lovely trail around the shot over area heading towards cornet peak on one of our days off which was a great little find .

March arrived a lot quicker than anticipated and it was soon time for our trip up to the north and a small little matter of an ultra to run! We decided to fly up to Auckland and catch a bus to Rotarua from there (a lot cheaper than going directly to Rotarua ). We first left the house without our passports luckily we only had just left the house and hadn't even got to the end of the road before Paul realised our mishap, phew that was a close one. Nothing really to report of the flight up as I mainly slept! But something we did notice was that they were very laid back here regarding what's allowed in your hand luggage for example on the way out we saw the security inform passengers to put their lighters In their pockets rather than their bags and on the way back I asked if they could get rid of my deodorant as I had forgotten I still had it to be informed it had a lid so it could go in my bag. I genuinely can't remember when you could do that in the UK etc, so quite the novelty!
Race start! Paul in the middle with headlamp on.

From here on in this is going to be my account of the race as Paul has already given his race report via his running blog. 

Here is the link for anyone who hasn't already read it and would like to.

http://paul-wathan.blogspot.co.nz 

So after arriving in Auckland we stayed the night in the city before making our way to Rotarua in the week building up to the event there was rumours that a cyclone was going to hit the area during our race. When we arrived the weather wasn't too bad and there was a strong smell of sulphur. For anyone that doesn't already know Rotarua has lots of natural hot pools in the area hence the smell. We checked Into the hostel we were staying and made our way out to the race expo where we had to register and pick up our numbers etc and for the first time for the both of us we had to be weighed. We saw a few of the elite runners such as frosty and ruby muir walking around which was pretty cool. I was starting to realise that something was happening but my mind and body hadn't quite registered that it was the ultra quite yet.
Enjoying the race!


We left registration to go and get some food and then make our way back to our room for the night. That evening there was an official announcement from the race organiser Cyclone Luis had hit New Zealand and more importantly had already reached the area of where our 100km race was due to have finished , so therefore for safety reasons the race had to be altered and was now going to be a 65k race and a different route to the original one. I was instantly gutted as I had psyched myself up for the 100km and the original race route looked like it was going to suit my strengths. So now I was going to have to go into a complete and utter new mind set but I was grateful that it was still going to be an ultra distance after the one in Canada being completely cancelled on me.


 

So after a Rocky nights sleep ( which is completely normal for us prior to big events) the alarm went off around 4am. We had breakfast before putting our race kits on and made our way to the starting area , this is where the nerves really kicked in for me many toilets stops later and it was time to make our way to the start line where we were informed that the race distance had changed once again and now we were doing a 7 0 km, I gave Paul a hug and wished each other luck. We parted ways to different areas on the starting area mainly i was somewhere in the crowd behind him! So head torch on and gps found on my watch ready to press start the competitors were than faced with a group of Maui men doing the haka I could see a glimpse of it through the runners shoulders that were in front of me and may of or may not of had to go on my tiptoes... After this one of the competitors sung a song that she had written for the event and it was the official countdown 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and we are off eek!
Paul deep in thought.. 



So what can I tell you of my experience ,it was a rollercoaster! I some how managed to pause my watch during the race in the early stages. I obviously continued it as soon as I realised what I had done but this meant I didn't know the actual true distance I had covered and how long I had truly been moving for so it became complete guessing work for me. It was a great friendly atmosphere with everyone encouraging each other this included the elites. I got to see Paul during the race so we were able to know how each other was doing which was a great boost for me (Even got a hug and a kiss from him!). I actually smiled for a photo whilst running, huge deal for me a rare find . The cyclone caught up with us and made for some very interesting conditions to have deal with especially in the later stages lets just say think of already covering an ultra distance and then being faced with a brutal x country for roughly a half marathon distance to still complete one word for you from my quads is ouch!
Finished!!!! 11 hours and 3 minutes.
 My pace was completely up and down I didn't know it was possible to hit the wall and recover so many times but guess what I completed it! This one had an extra special meaning for me as the day I left for the event I found out my Nain had peacefully passed away from a long battle of bad health and I really wanted to finish and dedicate it to her. I hope she would be proud. So to sum up my experience of an ultra is very similar to life full of highs and lows .

So now it's time to get ready for TNF 100 in Australia which is only eight weeks away, until next time , follow your dreams.
Done and dusted till next time..

Thanks for reading 
Gem & Paul x

Living life to the full!

Since we were away for the first time for Christmas me and Paul decided that we would make a special effort for Christmas Day , so we booked a twelve course Christmas dinner up at the skyline restaurant , this also included a gondola trip up and down as well as two rides on the luge which is a toboggan with wheels. We really enjoyed our day and it was nice skyping our families back in the UK too.
Making our way through another course ;-) 

Paul managed to find us a race in between Christmas and New Year a 10k trail race around Lake Hayes which is just under 12k away from us so we jumped on our bikes and rode out. We both found the race quite hard as we have really started putting some distance in running with me running the furthest i have ever run just a week before where we ran out to Arrowtown and back which saw us cover a distance over just under 45k and race day was a scorcher and we both felt the heat. Paul still ran really well and managed to finish in a podium position of third overall.
Paul enjoying some sun after our race. 
 
Next up was New Year's Eve we decided to mark this particular occasion with a midnight run to watch the fireworks it was a nice way to reflect on 2013 and too look ahead to our new adventures for 2014. It was also the first time in a while that I was reminded how far Ahead of time we are over here compared to the UK.


 
Over looking the Lake towards Glenorchy. 
Our last few days off together we have both decided to make the most of them. We visited Glenorchy with Cat and Rupert where we enjoyed the scenic drive to there and back from Queenstown. When we got there we decided to have some lunch before we went for a leisurely stroll around the town its quite an old fashioned place but fits well it's beautiful surroundings. During our walk around we came across a ranch , where I fed a horse for the first time, Paul was right at home as part of his first ever job was to look after horses. 
Embracing the moment.
The next day we unexpectedly ended up going an helicopter ride literally booked it thirty minutes before we flew. We were spoilt with a beautiful clear sunny day , we both really enjoyed the ride and the breathtaking views, another thing ticked off our bucket list, we ended the day with a nice half marathon around the lake.
Ready to take off! 
This week we decided to cycle out to Wanaka via the crown range alpine route it was a good challenge with a couple hairy moments for me! But was really proud that I managed to complete the route. This was my first visit to Wanaka and Paul second again it is a beautiful part of the world. Our campsite had lake views it was a beautiful sunny day again (we are getting quite lucky with our days off) , there was a quite a strong wind tho we made it quite interesting to pitch our tent! We got up this morning to watch the Challenge Wanaka event that was happening there and some competitors will still be competing as I'm typing this. Challenge Wanaka is a triathlon where they can cover a half or full Ironman distances. It was the first time I have been a spectator for a triathlon of this scale over three thousand Athletes, I really enjoyed the day and I think it cements that one day I would like to complete an Ironman. We even managed to fit in a game of frisbee golf whist in Wanaka too ;-) . 
Triathletes get under way on a stunning morning in Wanaka. 
This week I have been truly grateful for modern technology as my little sister (not so little anymore at 22) Bex underwent open heart surgery back in the UK , and I have been able to be kept update with her progress even getting to speak to her on skype from her hospital bed!
View from our balcony at home the other night. 
Until next time Happy Reading
Gem & Paul x 

2014 is turning out to be quite the year!

We have been in New Zealand for around two and a half months now, summer is arriving with the odd day of showers so we have been able to enjoy a few BBQ teas already. It's quite bizarre being away for Christmas in a place that is the furthest away from what you usually associate the season with. It is no where as near commercialised here as it is in UK and most people have a BBQ instead of the traditional Christmas dinner, but that's one tradition that we are keeping with us :).

Race Video - http://youtu.be/fVi7h5ot2W4

We have been doing a lot of planning for the new year with Tarawera  ultra already secured for March we also managed to secure a spot each in TNF100 Australia which will be held in the blue mountains in May . We are both excited that we are able to compete in such stunning surroundings this will also hopefully see the start of my ultra racing after a disappointing circumstances in Canada. So with two 100k races entered we have started knuckling down to training which has given us new places and trails to explore which we are both enjoying.

Pre-Race video 2014 - http://vimeo.com/79842907

We have also booked a lifetime goal/dream and a definite bucket list top spot contender a trek in the Himalayas which will see us reaching Everest base camp as well as the Gokyo lakes. The lovely Marie will be joining us for this eighteen day trek , we are both really excited about seeing Marie again as by the time we see her it will have been just over a year since we last saw her in Canada. It is really great that we can meet up with friends we have made during our travels, I'm sure Marie will not be the only one we will meet again :).

A short update from us this time to round the year off so a Merry Christmas  & A Happy New Year from us both! A quick little fact for you New Zealand is the first place to wish in the new year in the whole world! 
Happy reading
Gem & Paul xx

Work hard, Play harder….

It's been a few weeks now since our last blog.. So we thought we do just do a little update and let everyone know what we have been up too.

We are both settling in nicely into work and we are busying up now as we go into our summer months here in New Zealand. I have had a very nice surprise with moving up the ranks to manager of the store now! So it will be a nice challenge to take on a new managerial role in a different country.. Something for me to get my teeth into over the next 12 months.

Routburn Track profile. 

Gem enjoying the trek!

Since our last blog we have been exploring a bit more in the mountains and trails. We planned to take on the world famous 'Routeburn Track' 32km in distance, most people take 3-4 days to complete the route each way. We were attempting to complete it in one day then the following day do the return leg of 32km.. Little did we know 3 days before we had some heavy down pore of snow in the mountains and unfortunately this stopped us at Lake Harries (Half way on the route) due to high risk of avalanches, the DOC office here in New Zealand had closed the track down that morning over the saddle path for every ones safety. Full of disappointment we decided to take out out stoves and had a break in the snow next to the lake with Ian and Izzy who had joined us on our trek… After a small break we decided to hike back to the 'Flats Huts' and find a camp spot for our tents and settle down for the night. The following day the weather was amazing and a total change to the previous days therefore we decided to hike to the summit of 'Mt Alfred' what was a nice steep trek through the tree line before heading onto a scree scramble followed by a track to the final summit where we was rewarded with amazing 360degrees views..

Not a bad view at all… 

Recently we have been really getting into our MTB on the lower trails around town and decided to buy some bikes, saves on renting them each week. And are going to use them as strength training and hopefully stay injury free for a year! In previous years I have over raced or trained to much and upset my bad hamstring and really want a year of full running! Not missing 2-3 months with injury.. (Fingers crossed)

Mixing the training up on the local trails.

Last week was the week where Gem had decided to try and kill me off and get me to bungy off a bridge into the river between a canyon. Sounds simple? no not for us, the day final arrived after trying to jump 3 times previously but was un able due to weather and the fast flowing water in the river we were 4th time lucky! Neither was as nervous this time round until we actually saw the bridge, once we had both set our eyes on the bridge you could tell neither of us wanted to be there anymore! But we had committed to jumping and had to now.. There was only us two jumping that morning so everyone who was about was looking at us eagerly to see how we got on. I decided to go first and get it over and done with, not sure it was the right choice but off I went. I was ok getting tide up ready and fine when I stood on the platform but as soon as I shuffled out to the end of the platform my heart went in my mouth and froze for a second… But after a little hesitation and thinking I've paid good money for this I found the courage to dive off into the river below. What was a huge shock as I had a full body dunk in this cold river, luckily it was a nice warm day to help matters. The jump lasted longer than I thought it would, but I way laying in the boat at the bottom thinking thank god its over! I won't be rushing into another one put it that way but I'm glad I did it. It pushed me way outside my comfort zone and was really challenging but it's good to see sometime what you really can make yourself do.

Putting on a show for the crowd… 

Gem was up next and again only really felt it when we shuffled out to the end of the platform ready to jump. Same as me after a little hesitation managed to throw her self off into the water and it was over.. Well after screaming a few times!

All smiles before the jump.

That about covers everything for now.. We are going to have a lot more adventures to share next time with the summer fast approaching! And the weather getting better.

Thanks for reading..

Paul and Gem x

New Country, New Chapter!!

A lot has happened since our last blog in a space of a couple of weeks. Firstly we left Los Angeles to Nadi in Fiji , we flew with Fiji airlines which has now become one of my favourite airlines as for the first time ever the plane food was lovely. I usually hate plane food and go hungry as I can't eat what has been served to me but we were served fresh chicken curry, fruit salad, brownies and a mini twix, yummy! When we arrived in Fiji we had already flown through the time zone so instead of being eight hours behind UK we were now eleven hours in front so we had basically lost a whole day which  was really hard to get my head around.

Fiji Islands.. 

We had a few hours to kill in Nadi before we had to board our next plane to Auckland we were given the option of whether or not we wanted to go through customs or stay in airport. Of course it was a no brainer for us , so through customs we went and off we went to explore. Even though it was only six am and an overcast day the temperature was still fairly high. It turned out the airport is in the middle of no where, just a tiny rural town close by. The locals we in countered were all really friendly with not a single one passing us without smiling or saying 'Bula' which is hello in Fijian. One other thing we noticed whilst we were there is how cheap Fiji is the British Pound practically triples there as this is going off airport food prices. So even though it was a very short visit we both were impressed and hope to go back to spend some more time there and hopefully do some island hopping.

Auckland Sky Tower..

We got into Auckland around tea time that evening we headed towards border control we got to our desk and got asked what our purpose of our visit was where we replied that we were on a working holiday visa she scanned our passports and said we were all set. I naively asked her where did we have to go for our working visa to be authorised to which she replied I have seen them online your all set to go! In my defence in Canada we had to go into a separate room for our visas! We next went to catch our bus Paul had managed to book us a hostel that was right next to one of the bus stops which was handy as he hadn't realised this when booking. When we got on to the bus I noticed there was free local SIM cards so we picked two up as we had already decided that this time around we were going to get New Zealand Numbers to make life easier for us. It was dark and raining when we got off the bus we got to our hostel to check in they had no record of us turned out there was two hostels from the same company , my heart dropped but was quickly lifted again once they said our hostel was just a few doors down on the same street, phew! So we finally got checked in had some free cottage pie courtesy of our hostel and off to bed we went.

The next morning we woke up and headed out to apply for our IRD numbers which is New Zealand  UK's national insurance number, we also activated our new sims and topped them up, with your first
top up you got a free five minute international call this was great as it was my mum birthday so I was able to surprise her with a phone call, it was really strange to speak on my mobile as I hadn't done that the whole time in Canada. What had already been in my eyes a productive day turned out even more so that evening when we got an email off a website we had joined aimed at finding places to live in Queenstown (where we were heading in a couple of days to try and set roots) asking if we're still looking for a place. After a few text exchanges and a picture of the view from the properties balcony which was a stunning lake view. We had secured a place to stay for when we would arrive we will be sharing with Kat who is from the Czech Republic and turns out had been in Canada just
before she had came out to New Zealand and had been living in Canmore! What a crazy small world this is.

Queenstown from one of our mountain runs! 

We genuinely couldn't believe our luck a job for Paul and a place to live all before we had even set foot in Queenstown. We were able to enjoy Auckland for the remaining amount of Stay with so much already achieved . We visited parks and markets and were lucky enough to get up the Sky Tower on our last evening there as we finally had a clear day( the rest of the time we had been greeted by rain). I was also reunited with a good friend from school who I hadn't seen in Six years Cat and her husband Rupert as they had also just arrived a few days before us on a year working visa , it also turned out were heading to Queenstown to set up Camp for a while, again it really is a small world we live in!
It was time to say goodbye to Auckland and the North island and board our final plane for a while to the South Island and Queenstown . We arrived mid afternoon and headed straight for town to drop off our bags with our new housemate who had kindly offered us a lift to where we would be calling home for the near future once she had finished work. Once we had our first face to face contact with Kat we left her to finish work and went exploring Paul went to say Hello to his new work colleagues and have a look around the shop.

Queenstown towards the bottom of South Island NZ.

Within a few hours we were in love with Queenstown and were really happy with our new home. Paul had noticed a trail path right next to the lake whilst on the bus from the airport turns out the path can be taken all the way to Queenstown it's just over 5k from our house to heart of Queenstown but with our stunning surroundings it really doesn't feel that long. So it was now down to searching for a job for myself to complete the puzzle. I had my heart set on trying to get back into the outdoor industry out here don't get me wrong I met some lovely people during my time in Canada but I wanted to get back to what I was really passionate about.  I noticed most places weren't hiring yet as it was shoulder season but I found an outdoor shop that had a hiring sign and it was none other than Macpac which is one of New Zealand premium brands turns out they were wanting someone straight away (I thought this is going to be too good to be true) but as luck would have it I got the job !

So far Queenstown as become a dream come true for us both it has just been under two weeks since moving here but we have already settled into a routine of walking and running to and from work and are both enjoying our jobs. We have started exploring the trails in our free time but there is still so much to explore I don't think we are going to get bored!  We have also entered the world famous 'Tarawera 100k' which is in March next year and has just been announced as being part of the 'Ultra Trail World Tour' so hopefully get to meet some more of idols!

Can't wait to race here! 

Thanks for reading
Gemma & Paul x

North America - Adventure and Final Chapter for the States...

Bryce Canyon.

So we said our goodbyes to Canada at the end of August with mixed emotions excited for our next part of our adventures but also genuinely sad to be saying bye as we both had made some good friends, during our time in Banff. Our first stop saw us board a plane from Calgary to Las Vegas , the first that hit us was the humidity as we had both forgot that factor regarding Vegas and a mild summer in Banff hadn't prepared us either but regardless it was nice to see the Sun. The next morning we boarded our coach to head towards the national parks of Utah and Arizona . We were really excited as when we first travelled America in 2010 we didn't have enough time to fit in any of America 's National Parks which was on both of our lists to visit.

Lake Powell - Horseshoe Bend

Our first stop was Zion National Park which was just a nice appetiser for what came next Bryce Canyon which looked like somewhere from another planet , on the way to the park we experienced a downpour which actually worked in our favour as when we got off the coach there was hardly anyone around so it allowed us to explore our stunning surroundings with hardly seeing another soul.

The next morning we took a an open top jeep to visit Antelope Canyon specifically the upper antelope canyon which is known as the place where water runs through rock. This leaves behind some stunning shapes. Afterwards we visited Lake Powell where there was an option to go on a cruise on the lake but me and Paul decided to take a taxi to see the horseshoe bend as it is the most photographed and well known part of Lake Powell we had asked the taxi to come back to collect us to take us back to our group to re-board the coach back to Vegas but in good old fashioned it wasn't there and since it was bank holiday and in a small town we already knew he was the only taxi available that day. So we were stranded in the desert with no drinks which was a lot of fun! We had to hike our way back into Page before being reunited with the rest of our group and a nice refreshing drink! The rest of Vegas was spent chilling and eating all you can eat buffets. 
Inside Antelope Canyon.

 Next stop Hawaii now this is huge for us if you had asked either of us if we had even dreamt of ticking this location off our list during our current adventures we both would of gone 'I wish' as from the UK visiting here comes with a big price tag but with a bargain flight and cheap accommodation it became a must. It certainly didn't disappoint we flew it Honolulu and stayed in a condo up in mountains away from Waikiki beach 'heaven'. During our stay we hiked waterfalls & diamond head , raced a half marathon , saw sea turtles up close in the their natural habitat , photographed historic landmarks (Aloha Tower, King Kamehameha Statue) & eat haupia pie . 
Our new sea friend! 'Herby the turtle'
Basically just a small portion of what Hawaii has to offer the islands are a lot more reasonable than we had imagined and hopefully we will definitely be revisiting sometime again as there is so much more to to discover and explore.

We are now currently in Los Angeles where we have visited Santa Monica Pier, the original and new muscle beach , Venice beach and raced another half marathon and are now waiting to fly to New Zealand via Fiji where we will be calling our home for the next year.
Sunset in Hawaii. 
We are flying into Auckland where we will stay for four days before we will be heading to Queenstown where we should fit in just great, as most people know Queenstown is known as one of the best adventure capitals in the world! Covering everything from Trail Running to Bungee jumping and water rafting.. We are both very excited to explore all the activities on offer.  


Thanks again for reading Gemma & Paul x

Aloha Tower. 

Gem working hard in the heat of LA. 

Santa Monica Pier entrance ..

TNF Banff 3 Peaks Challenge - 21st of August 2013

A couple of months ago I had an idea of doing something out of the ordinary before I left Canada. 

I came up with the idea of running from The North Face Banff store in town out to Norquay Ski Resort then to the summit of Cascade Mountain then back down to the store for a refuel station then out to the top of top to pick up the trail to summit Mt Rundle before descending and finishing off with a summit of Sulphur Mountain, and finish where I had started in town outside The North Face store.. As far as we knew after doing some research and asking around this was going to be a first for this challenge and many others had ran the 3 peaks but used a car to get in between each trail head. This made it more exciting for me to know if I completed the challenge I would have the fastest known time!

Route/Elevation data..  

The summer didn't go to well for me with a injury to my hamstring, I ended up not running for 5 weeks before I competed in this years TNF Canadian Death Race. Therefore I had really not given this new challenge any though with time running out and recovery from my race... Until last week I was speaking to my manager Randy about this weeks rota and he mentioned I could have Wednesday off to try my challenge.. Well this got my mind thinking could I put everything in place and get my mind into the frame of doing this challenge in a matter of 5 days and only two and a half weeks after race TNFCDR! It was easier than I thought all I had to do was sort my self out.. The support I received before running was amazing, I had a number of people jump at me to become my support crew which was amazing as I was never going to get it done with out them! The amount of messages I received was out of this world! And I thank each and every one who did take the time to help me out and send me messages of good luck on my Facebook and Twitter this is truly what got me though the day! 

• Cascade Mt - Shawn and Conor

• Mt Rundle - Jason

• Sulphur Mt - My little Gem / Randy

Spot the runner!.. My descent from Cascade Mt.

Wednesday the 21st of August come round so quick.. 5:00am start and I was off! I was nervous about doing Cascade Mountain as with being injured over the summer I hadn't had time to go up and see the mountain/route.. And this was the longest and highest of the 3 peaks.. I set off down Banff Avenue with a good clear positive mind of giving this challenge a good go! I wasn't going to not finish and fail twice while being in Canada after my DNF in the Fernie 80k Ultra. After leaving Banff town it was a bit of a road run up to Norquay Ski resort where the trail for Cascade Mountain started. Once onto this trail I was feeling much happier running on undulating single file tracks till I hit the river crossing where I knew (after looking the day before) that there was no way around this and I had to take my shoes and socks off and walk through freezing cold water at 6:00am to continue up Cascade! But it could of been worse my support crew Conor and Shawn had all ready had to cross at 4:00am in the morning to get up onto the top ridge before I made it there to offer me some food and water as fuel. After running for a further 1:20 I caught up to the guys on the false summit ridge.. by this time the sun had started to rise and the views were out of this world! I continued up to the summit before descending back down the ridge to get some food and drink of the guys before heading back to the ski resort. The summit was so cold! The wind was really strong and I had to pick my route really well to save getting to close to the edges along the way.. After re-fueling with the guys I left them and headed down, crossed the river and bumped into two black bears along the trail! Only in Canada.. This was an amazing experience and strangely gave me a little boost. On reaching the car park again for the ski resort I noticed I had a good solid run hitting summit and back in 3hours 54minutes! Down the road I went and back to The North Face store in Banff to collect some fresh water and take on some fuel to ready me for the second peak Mt Rundle. 

I decided to take a good 15 minutes in store to recover and get some good fuel on board before I headed off as the weather was getting well above 25 degrees by now and I need to take on as much water and food as possible.. 25minutes later down some trails I had the trail head for Mt Rundle and started to climb, this trail just goes up from the start and just gets steeper along the way. I was feeling so warm and dehydrated once I had been climbing for an hour, I started to drinking my water like it was going out of fashion.. That was the worst mistake I was every going to do! 30 minutes later I was on the dragons back of Mt Rundle and still had a lot of climbing to do to hit the summit I ran out of water! I had drank all 2L I had in my pack and I was just getting to the most exposed area with the sun. Different to Cascade, Rundle had no wind at all just sun beaming down on me and I am never good in the heat. 3/4 of the way to the summit I really started to loose control a little and had to keep sitting down on the scree slope as I was loosing focus and my vision was even blur!! I started to panic a little as I knew I wasn't in a great place to be loosing control and I was a long way from Jason (my next support crew) I managed to reach the summit somehow and just took a lengthy break while sat on the summit I started to hallucinating that there was bears on the summit with me?? Crazy I know! I have never ever been so dehydrated that it has got that bad, I took my bladder out of my pack took the top off and tried to tip anything out I had into my mouth, this was nothing! The bladder was bone dry and nothing left in the tube either, my mouth was like a desert by this time. The only I could think was open my tub of Vaseline I had and rub some on the inside of my mouth and on my tongue to give it some moisture. The other down side to my mouth being so dry I couldn't take any fuel/food on board as it just stuck to my mouth like glue. After a very very long and slow descent down to the forest trail I finally bumped into Jason 3 hours later! I have never been so happy so him ha! I think he could tell straight away something was wrong with how pale I looked and my whole body language was down, I breifly explained what had happened and took a full bottle of water on board followed by a bottle of coke and then a second bottle of water while Jason filled my bladder up with water also. Little did I know at the time he had given me all his water to me too! (Thanks man, but that was crazy! You should of kept some too) I felt a different man after spending 20 minutes with Jason just eating and drinking. Shortly after I contiuned down the trail to head over to Sulphur Mountain my 3rd and final peak of the day before heading back into town to stop the watch. My total time for up and down Mt Rundle to trail head was my slowest ever, but I was glad just to be down and off the mountain safely - 6Hours and 15 Minutes. 

Climbing up to summit one.

After a run from the trail behind the Fairmont hotel up to the Gondola for Sulphur I had hit the trail head to tackle Sulphur Mountain, with it taking so long unfortunately I had missed Randy my next part of my support crew as he was looking after his baby. (Thanks for waiting around for 40 minutes for me anyway Randy!) Sulphur Mountain is totally different to the first two peak as there is no exposed areas and it is switch backs all the way up in the trees to the board walk to the summit. I was really struggling by this point with my legs feeling so heavy and I just felt like I didn't have much energy left. I really started to notice that The Canadian Death Race 125k Ultra from two and a half weeks ago was clearly still in my legs and was making things a lot harder. But after what felt like a real long climb I had reached my final summit! And was starting to make my way back town the trail before running back into town to finish my challenge, half way down the trail I was met by my little monkey Gem who had finished work and ran out to run me in for the last few miles! This was a great little boost for me and I started to run a little quicker down into town. Jason had also drove up to see me on my final road into the finish to offer the last bit of support too. After 15 Hours and 32 minutes I was final back at the store and the challenge was complete!! I had done it, not sure how but I had completed what I had set out to do from 5:00am that morning. It was great to reach the store and see many friendly faces I was greeted by some good friends who was working Marie, Kayla and Josh and also Shawn, Conor and Jason was all in store too. The feeling inside was amazing I felt I had done something big and I had all this buzzing energy from finishing... 

We had asked around a lot before the challenge about who had done this before and it came about that many had done the three peaks in 24hours before but had drove in between each trail head but not the way I had done it, and as far as we know I had just set the fastest know time for this challenge with running in-between each trail heads.. :-) 

Again a huge thank you to everyone who got involved to support me by coming out on the day or sending me good luck and well messages! It all means a lot to me... 

Finished! 15hr 32mins later...

I have put a very small video together (on the link below) of some footage I took throughout the day for people to see if your interested.. (But no laughing at my commentary along the way, not sure what I was doing!) 

http://youtu.be/XepVvfuAlq0

Thanks for reading 

Paul x