FIGUERES, SPAIN (Team Geared Up) Sergio Fernández has completed the Libyan Challenge and the Rock and Ice Ultra, two ultra-marathons, taking place in the south of Libya and in the North of Canada, 200 km non-stop and 225 km in stages, respectively, at 35ºC and -35ºC, with backpack and carrying a sled, on sand and on ice. Back from Canada, after finishing the project, he tells us how everything was.

How was it in Canada?
Relatively well, I finished which it was the main purpose and I wasn’t too sure about that. Also I managed to finish in the 5th place. Taking into account the unknown environment, my physical problems and the exhaustion from Libya, it was quite an accomplishment.

You weren’t quite sure about the cold and specially being tired from the Libya’s 200 km, was it as hard as you thought?
Yes and no. I hate the cold but I was motivated and I know that part of getting acclimatized is the attitude. I also wore good Raidlight clothes, I made a combination of layers and garments that worked for me, and going a little bit over the top, I would say that I wasn’t cold. Of course I was, quite a bit, but the cold in the body, the feet, or even a sleepless night were nothing compared to the hands ache, they didn’t freeze but there were a few hours of heavy pain, just plain pain. That was the toughest part.

What about the sled? It was your first time, how was it?
It wasn’t very good due to the fact that the snow was very soft and even without carrying a lot of weight, approx. 15-20 kg, it rubbed a lot and it did slow us down. I had some bruises on my hip, but nothing out of this world.

How is it to be at -35ºC under a huge storm and trying to compete?
The first day was crazy one. For those who failed with the material they abandoned that same day, but for those of us who made it up to 15 km before the finish line, we found ourselves in a harsh situation. On one of the many lakes we crossed, without any kind of protection, a big storm started, having the wind against us. In my case I was worried about my hands so I put myself on “survival mode”: don’t make stupid mistakes, don’t stop, have someone always on sight, don’t lose your body heat and make it to the finish line. It was a harsh start and some people came face-to-face with reality.
It’s not bad to start a race with such difficulties, it makes you focus, you forget about comfort and stupid things, you start the race and become the selfish person you need to be for a few days, which doesn’t mean not to help someone else out, but the world turns around you, you forget about almost everything and you live the moment at it’s maximum.

So you’re saying that your hands were the worst problem?
And the snow: the first three days I was walking between 8 and 9h30, it was long. Also, a foot tendon kept hurting a lot. It’s been months already, it becomes inflamed and the 200 km in Libya didn’t help either. I almost had no time to recover between races. It really undermined my morale; it slowed me down and prevented me to use the snowshoes for long distances because they hurt me, so as a result I spent more hours on the trail.

Was it essential to use snowshoes?
I think it was for 90% of the race, the snow over the lakes was very soft. There was no trail; we were just using the snowmobile tracks. I was one of the few not using the snowshoes more that a half of the race because of the tendinitis. I also had a slight nose freezing but nothing too important.

It’s supposed to be safe walking over the frozen lakes, right?
Yes, by the end of March there’s still enough ice for the trucks to drive over, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not worried sometimes when you see water under your feet or when you hear a metallic noise and you know there’s no solid ground below you. 90% of the race is over lakes, so you better get used to it.

Would you recommend making these two races in a row, like you did?
No, because if something goes wrong and you don’t want to abandon, you’re going to suffer, a lot, and that’s what happened to me. It’s been kind of crazy, I started with the left foot months before Libya and it didn’t get better. There’s only one thing that did get better, a sinusitis I had when I arrived in Canada: I think that the cold and the dryness helped, so I had no problem with that.
Obviously, in the distance I see everything easier and optimistic but it was very hard and I had lots of reasons to quit.

So, why didn’t you do it? You shouldn’t be dragging a tendinitis for three months, right?
In the first place for what I wanted to accomplish. It was a dream, in capital letters. I wanted to do it for a long time but I couldn’t, and this time I was able to try it; I didn’t want to leave it half-finished and only on specific moments, for a few hours, I thought that I didn’t deserve all that suffering. But at the end, step by step, you achieve everything. In the second place, for those who have supported me all along, starting with my people, my sponsor Buff and my collaborators Raidlight, Garmin, Injinji, Clinica Podotec and Ranning; I haven’t felt pressured by any of them, my commitment is to do my best, and I did.

Tell us what have been your best and your worst moment of both races.
Making it to the finish line is a release, but when you know you’re really going to make it, that definitely is a good moment. It’s now too recent to appreciate but I guess that in the distance I’ll value what I have done.
There have been some bad moments. I can’t forget about the foot ache my fourth day in Canada and the hands ache on the fifth day. The first one because I knew how much I had left to suffer and it was getting too painful; and the second one because I was afraid that a freezing would make me abandon one day before achieving my goal. I also remember the week before the Libyan Challenge, it was horrible, I had fever, I was in bed and I didn’t want to run 200 km at all.
At the end, even though I do not feel satisfied with the final place, I think that I should be because of the way I have behaved. For that reason, although I already appreciate it, I think I will even more in the future.

Do you have something in mind for the rest of the year or for 2010?
There are always things to do. Now I want to rest and try to recover, but of course, I would like to be ready for something else very soon. I’ll try to do something like this, but only if I’m excited about it, otherwise I’m not interested.

- Ed Martinell -
Do you like trail, ultra and adventure running?

-Richard-

Image fromm Dublin Tri.

Last year the IMRA responded to 214 call-outs, assisting 265 climbers in need. Thirteen bodies were recovered. According to Gerry Christie of Kerry Mountain Rescue Team people aren’t taking the dangers of Irish mountains seriously and don’t realise how conditions can quickly change for the worse. As someone who has witnessed “climbers” in jeans and runners with no maps, little safety gear and only some cans of beer and cider to keep them going, it is easy to understand where Christie is coming from on this. Hats off to the IMRA for providing a superb service and here’s hoping 2009 is a quiet year.  

 - Richard -

Image thanks to Breaking News.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Irish around the world cyclists Revolution have just reached the Uyuni salt flats. Watch this best video yet from the lads.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia from revolutioncycle on Vimeo.

There are some serious beards coming on!

-Robin.

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Ben Saunders did a talk last month at Google. You can follow Ben on Twitter here.

We previously profiled Ben Saunders on TGU here before.

-Robin.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - We were contacted last week by Irish team member Conor Mc Laughlin who was competing in the first round of races along with Iain Ballentine. Unfortunately they haven’t qualified for progression into the later stages of the competition but there are 2 others racing this week. Good to see some Irish competing at the top level of their sport and can hopefully encourage more to take up the sport in the future! We will keep you updated with any more news we hear over the coming days. But follow the team on the official World Championships site.

Below is an article on the event written by Conor Mc Laughlin:

Last wednesday saw the first of four Irish Athletes participating in the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Liberec Czech Republic. The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships is held every two years and is the biggest event in the winter Games Calender this year. It is also the biggest sporting event ever to be held in the Czech Republic.
Conor Mc Laughlin (Inver Co Donegal) and Iain Ballentine (Saintfield, Co Down) took part in the 10km qualification race , while Paul Griffin ( Co kerry) and PJ Barron will take part in the 50 km and sprint race respectively.
The 10 km race takes part over a challenging 2 loop 5km piste around Vesec stadium.Only the top ten competitors make the next stage. It was very competitive and well supported by the locals.We did a few interviews with some television stations afterwards and they were particularly interested in how the developing nations prepare for such events. The local support was very encouraging. Our event was the first of the World championships which also features ski jumping and Nordic combined.
This is the largest team Ireland have had for this particular event and after much preparation and a very sucessful training camp in Ostersund Sweden they hope to continue their particpation and increased presence at the world’s largest Nordic ski events.

-Eoinod-

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Mark Pollock on Tubridy Tonight.

Watch Here.

Mark is awe-inspiring. If I had a disability, I’d hope I’d have the get-up and go like Mark.

-Robin.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) And they think ultra runners are crazy because they run up mountains???? What about running up the steps in a building? And not just any building, but one of the tallest buildings in the world!! The annual run up the Empire States Building was held a couple of weeks ago on Feb. 3rd and our own John O’ Regan too part! Lucky him, it’s invitational and hard to get into!
The run climbs over a mile and a half, the 86 flights include 1576 steps and the winning time this year was only 10 minutes 8 seconds, that was German Thomas Dold. Speaking to John last week at the National Masters Cross Country I think he said he completed it in 18 minutes!! Savage going!! Imagine an 18 minute mile and a half being impressive!!

-Aisling-

Image from ESBNYC.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) Looks like a challenge to see if the tri folk can beat the adventure racers!! I’ll let organiser Eoin Ryan tell it like it is:

Éireman X is a test of nerve and endurance that will bring out the strengths and weakness of triathletes, mountain bikers, cyclo-cross riders and adventure seekers alike. We still have the familiar format of swim, cycle and run.

I’m definitely signing up for this one!!

So it’s an off road tri with 750m swim, 10k mountain bike and 5k cross country run around Courtown, Wexford. It will even include a river crossing! Visit here for the details of this race being run on Sunday 10th May 2009 and here for info about Eoins Eireman long distance triathlon later in the year.

-Aisling-