Rose Tinted Torres Del Paine

After eating like Lords, and drinking like fish, a group in the Refugio Chileno looked at an attractive guide book photograph of the Torres del Paine bathed in a pinkish light at sunrise. But how early must they wake to see this spectacle? Someone knowledgable of the sun was consulted, calculations were undertaken and at last a time was held aloft.

"Four thirty!!!" they all cheered.

When the alarm clock beeped its merry tune, your faithful correspondant leapt from his bed, laced his boots and, with a spring in his step, skipped and hopped his way up the hill. Surrounded by a bevy of bronze skinned beauties, clad merely in bikinis and hiking boots, the intrepid young chap vaulted fences with the early sunshine shinning down on his face. Soon, there they were, the sight that defies description....

Oh, alright then. That didn´t happen. If you must know, it was too cloudy to see the torres when I poked my head out of the tent flap. I directed a clenched fist at the noisy aforementioned time peice (which didn´t improve my hangover) and rolled over and slept. When I did hike up to the torres, which are certainly towering, it was too late for the red glow effect. Perhaps I can add that later with photoshop?

Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine

Thanks everyone for the birthday messages. I had a lovely time at a mountain Refuggio quaffing wine, spining yarns, eating cottage pie with egg and cheese and sleeping like a log in my tent despite 70mph winds. The next morning I poked my head out of the flap at sunrise to see a reddish glow on the torres before going back to sleep with a hangover. I´ve now hiked most of the W route and am now considering making it into a loop. Cuernas and Torres were spectacular, tomorrow I hike up to the Grey Glacier. Loads of cool people on the trail. Brits, Yanks, Israilis, French, Belgium, Spanish, Swedish to name but a few. Good for company and conversation.

Route from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine national park was a bit windy and a gravel road most of the way. Met a switz guy who cycled from Alaska at a cafe in Cero Castillo.

Bad news is my camera screen broke and I now have no idea what will happen. Nevertheless, I still take photos blindly and hope for the best. I think I will buy on in Calafate as a birthday pressie.

Also, sorry to anyone who got a spam e-mail. Don´t know what that is about.

Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales

A few miles out of Punta Arenas I crossed paths with Dave (note the machete) who has cycled here from Seatle and is nearly at the end of his journey.

Yesterday was the day of things breaking. This began in the morning when my plastic spork decided it would rather be a uselessly small fork and spoon instead. Then the button on my trousers broke and just as I was looking for a place to put the tent up I got my first puncture.

Puerto Natales is beautiful. It is set on the water with mountains all around. I´m looking forward to scenery becoming more dramatic and also to spending a week or so hiking in Torres del Paine national park. Right, I´m off to explore

10 gadgets for bike travel

There are a few gizmos that make life a bit easier for a bicycle traveller so I thought I would share my top ten

1. Thermometer: I picked this up this morning in Punta Arenas. How else am I going to brag about the extreme cold I endured in the Andes and the brain melting heat in the tropics. Also, should give me a sporting chance at some basic weather prediction.

2. SD card reader: More descrite (and therefore safer) than plugging in your digital camera etc.

3. Miniture tripod: I´m touring alone so have to be best freinds with the self-timer.

4. Flint and steel: My friend Lindsay gave me this as a going-away-pressie. It is indispensible. Works every time for lighting fires or stoves and doesn´t matter if it gets wet.

5. Swiss army knife: never does a day go by without me using this trusty tool.

6. Universal adaptor: Argentina has a combination of flat and round-pins (so you can use either) and Chile has round pins. Either way its worth having an adaptor mine will do any country in the world and also has a USB input which is ideal for charging up the ipod.

7. Combination bike lock: Cheap but hopefully enough to put an oppotunist theif off. I´ll never loose the key because there isn´t one.

8. Spork: Awesome eating utensil. Needed for stiring pasta, shoveling said pasta into mouth and then for spreading dulce de leche onto some bread. But I guess any spoon would have done.

9. Pen: Mine was a gift from CAAC and I probably would have forgotten one otherwise. Diary entries would be a bit minimal without it.

10. Toepeak Alien 2: It´s worth having a decent multi tool for the bike. This all-singing-all-dancing one is ideal.

Darren Alf is really the king of this kind of kit list. Here are links to his lists on a similar theme. . .
Top 10 Most Important Items on a Bike Tour
Thankfully, I have 8 out of 10 with me. I consider that a pretty good score, a First at uni. I don´t have a mirror or mobile phone.
10 Important Items You Should Have But Might Not Think of Bringing On Your Bike Tour
I managed 7 out of 10 with these, just a 2:1. Forgetting toilet roll (I´ve just stollen a wedge from the hostel), extra camera battery (which would be really useful) and mini USB cable (which wouldn´t).

Rio Grande to Punta Arenas

Phil and Joyce

The northern half of Tierra del Fuego is flat and windy. I headed out of Rio Grande and put in a longish day to reach San Sebastian, which is the border with Chile. Went through fine and then passed a sign reading "Fin de Pavmiento". From there on it was a case of eyes down and look at gravel. But there is a knack to riding on this stuff and soon enough I was looking around enjoying the scenery again. The scenery consists of miles and miles of nothing apart from the odd sheep or llama. At the Chilean version of San Sebastian 15km further on I grabbed a steak sandwich in an american dinner style place and changed over to chilean pesos you get about 6,540,000,000 to the pound (possibly) so your mental arithmetic needs to be sharp. Then I camped in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Woke up and there was a tail wind! Wolfed down some dulce de leche (a bit like condensed milk) sarnies and hit the gravel. 50 clicks later passed Phil and Joyce a cycling couple from Bath who have come from Peru a similar route to the one I am planning and gave me pleanty of useful tips and info. Ta! They told me of a campsite by the beach between 40 and 45kms from Povenir. So I nailed it to there and got a little campfire going with heaps of dried out sea-weed and drift wood. I love cooking on an open fire, it saves fuel and after I´ve finished cooking I have a nice cheery blaze to eat by. Only trouble was that the tide came in and the sea was very noisy with crashing waves that woke me up a few times. Today the going was tough as the road was washboard gravel tracks with several undulating hills and the head wind had reappeared. Took me 6 hours to cover 40km. Then I arrived in Porvenir (bit of a ghost town) and waited for the ferry to take me to Punta Arenas. I´m now safely installed in the Backpacker´s Paradise for 2 nights to get a bit of rest before heading up to Puerto Natales and then Torres del Paine (which I am very very excited about) where I´m hoping to do a bit of trekking in the mountains.

Equipment is all doing well. Especially the bike, she is a grafter. The sleeping bag is very warm. Tent´s ok but not really been tested by a soaking yet but does fine in the wind. Trangia for cooking is great and I found "alcohol industrial" easily in the supermarcado. Its usually easy enough to build a fire instead anyway. Panniers all do what they are supposed to, I like the Crosso´s for the twist closing but prefer the clamps on the Revolutions.

Ushuaia to Rio Grande

My lazing about in Buenos Aires is behind me now and the adventure has begun!!!

Arrived in Ushuaia and put the bike together and headed off into town to buy food and fuel. There is a sign saying "Ushuaia: fin del monde principio del todo". Then I wound on up into the mountains in, shall we say, not too bad weather. It sleeted a bit but generally the wind wasn´t too bad and nor was the temerature. In fact going up hill it got a bit hot. My first campsite was in the snow near the top of Paso Garibaldi surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains (all about Ben Nevis sort of size). It was very chilly so I just dived into the tent and got some soup and pasta on the go. had a cup of tea and hit the sack. It was a cold and windy night, I would estimate -2C or so, but inside my lovely warm sleeping bag it was toasty! Next I summited the pass and free wheeled for about 10kms the other side past a gorgeous lake.

Then the scenery started to flatten out a bit. All the truck drivers, motorbikes and some cars wave or beep their horns to cheer me along which is great fun. Tolhuin consisted of a petrol station. So I bought a chocolate bar and a fizzy drink and carried on. Later I found a great free camping area with loads of Argentinians on thier hols. I set up the tent and bits of ice and snow fell out, but in sunshine it dried out instantly. Then I got a fire up and running and cooked some pasta and some tea and then just chilled out by the fire with a book. Doesn´t get dark till quite late here so I am usually in bed before dark and get up after sunrise.

Today was more of a slog because the wind has picked up. I fought a headwind all the way but its flat and featureless. Just the occassional llama. Arrived in Rio Grande and checked into the Hostel Agentina. Looking forward to a shower and a decent feed. Hoping to make it to Torres del Paine for my birthday (think that´ll make a good pressie).

Don´t foget there are more pictures on flickr.

Ben's cycle manual

My brother sent me a poem he has written and its too good to hoard just for myself. Apparently, the UK police have just canned publishing a 93 page cycle manual for police officers . He thought he could do better and with less words.

Ben’s Cycling Manual by Ben aged 37

(Brackets not to be read)

Verse 1 – how to ride

Push pedals,

Steer true,

DON’T HIT ANYTHING,

Or, let anything hit you.

Verse 2 - equipment

And wear a helmet,

Bright colours and lights,

And avoid bus drivers who,

Like getting in fights. (look out for glazed and blood shot eyes)

Verse 3 - survival

Don’t argue with gutters, (here speaks the voice of experience)

Or run, lights that are red.

Because these are both sure ways,

Of ending up dead.

Also, thought it might be a good idea to get "Ben´s favourite cycling joke" aired as well. Why couldn't the bicycle stand up ? It was two tired. Cheers bro.

El Raton

Ok so I asked Roberto to teach me a song in Spanish and he´s started me off on this song called "El Raton" -the mouse. I practised it a few times and he told me, "Don´t be timid and sing like a man". The "hechale semila.." bit is very fast and dificult but I love the "chacucha cucucuchacucha"!

Chords are Am C7 B7 E7

Mi gato se esta quejando
Que no puede vacilar
Si donde quiera que se mete
Su gata lo va buscar
Esto si es serio mi amigo
Oye! oye que lio!
Que lio se va formar

Cuando mi gatito sepa
Cuando mi gatito sepa
Es tan simple la razon

De cualquier malla
Sale un raton. Oye!

Hechale semilla a esa maraca pa´ que suene
chacucha cucucuchacucha!!


Here are the Fania All Stars performing it in Africa featuring a Santana guitar solo.

Carlos, Tango and the Bandoneon

Met up with Carlos Viggiano today. This guy is a bandoneon teacher and I asked him questions about Tango and the bandoneon. In fact I recorded a 20 minute interview with him in Spanish. Quite daunting stuff but I think it will be easier next time. In the audio clip he is playing Decarisimo by Astor Piazzolla. He told me some interesting things about how the bandoneon was invented in Holland as a portable replacement for the church organ. As if to demonstrate this he picks it up and plays a few bars of "organ music". Throughout the interview we dunk bread in strong coffee. He is an expressive guy and gets his point across with drawings, a few chords on the bandoneon or with gesticulation but generally speaks slow enough for me to catch the drift. He seems to me a bit like an Italian. More about this at a later date I think. But it was pretty cool. Unfortunately I could not have a bash at playing the thing because it is too precious and my hands are probably too weak. Shame.

First recordings and face stuffing

Last night I stayed up drinking with the guys in the hostal. I think it was really beneficial for my Spanish and its great to chat to interesting people too. One Columbian guy got his guitar out and played a couple of songs. I´d like to learn a song in Spanish as an ice breaker for when you get passed a guitar. I will have to get someone to teach me.
Other than that there was a girl from Ushuaia who says the snowboarding is excellent there all year round, but I´ll probably miss out on that. This morning I was nursing a smallish hangover but took the recorder into town and went and bought my flight ticket. Its a strange system. I had reserved a seat online but you can´t pay online so to be honest there wasn´t much point. Hope I don´t get stung too much on the excess luggage.

The folk stage near Obolisco continued today with a lady in a swooshy red dress. Her dancing and dress were more attension grabbing than her singing but the band were decent. Piano accordian, violin, guitar, bass and percussion (well, a man banging a box with a pair of maracas strapped to his leg). I recorded one song, stayed and listened to another one and then went off for the flight ticket. On the way back I took in Florida again and the band from a few days ago were back. They are called El Metodo. This time without the clarinet player. I recorded a couple of songs. I got their email address so will send them some questions too. They played quite a few tango tunes this time but also a couple of jazz clasics.

Back at the hostel some of the guys had bought some facturas, which means pastries. I tried churro (a deep fried donut thing) and alfajor (a chocolate and dulce leche sugar rush) but my favourite was vigilante. Yum. Also learnt that croissants are called media luna - half moon. Makes sense, no? They say I can´t leave Argentina without having tried an asado which is a barbeque. Every part of the cow is eaten apparently and (please keep that "apparently" in mind) red meat is supposed to be good for healthy sperm. Not sure if bicycle saddles are...

Ok, this is the folky chica.

And El Metodo

A few more days in Buenos Aires

I´ve decided to stay here a few days longer to rest up the foot some more (its heaps better though), and soak up a bit more sunshine before heading to Ushuaia. I´ve not been too active the last couple of days but I did try mate for the first time. Mate is the national drink of Argentina. Its a kind of tea but tastes a bit like coffee. Its odd but not in a bad way and bitter but not unpleasantly so. The most interesting aspect is that it is drunk with a metal straw which has a filter at the bottom and is called a bombilla. The drink is popular with all ages and is a sociable activity. There is an etiquette that goes along with it, a bit like handing round a spliff I suppose. Also a really cool thing happened this morning for breakfast. The hostal receptionist baked an apple crumble!

Day Three. Went to visit the Museo del Tango which is in the famous Cafe Tortoni. Was mostly a load of old tat really. Some faded photos, Carlos Gardel´s hat, some old record covers and manuscripts. The cool thing was that a tango group were practising at the back. They were rehearsing a particularly dramatic passage from the end of a tune and the pianist (a guy in early twenties with a tasteful afro and goatee) was argueing with the singer (a cross between Pavorotti and Hulk Hogan, sorry folks, no photo!). I stood listening for a while, whilst pretending to look at the exhibits, and then sat down to rest the foot. At this point they began to play the whole tune through, rather than practise sections. Its powerful, seductive, sophisticated stuff this tango. Do you know it origionated in brothels and was the favouite music of thugs and gangsters? I guess a lot of good music has started off with an underclass (blues, hip-hop, jazz). The leggy style of dancing today is quite an evolution because to begin with it was only danced by men. The band I watched are what is known as an orquesta tipica and are formed of piano, double bass, two bandeons and two violins. Oh and Hulkavotti.

Also caught a few more street musicians today (Day Four!) including a folk group. There was a blonde lady with a bowler hat and a piano accordian and a clarinetist with a black moustache and a beret. They made a bit of a racket but not entirely unpleasant. Then I saw a small man (or possibly a child) playing Guns and Roses and Joe Saturani riffs. Not for me.

Back at the same place as before on Florida street I found another group doing some really dancable tunes. I guess they have a caribbean or ska influence. Anyway I managed to video a little bit this time (got to start taking the audio recorder with me).

A guy comes over whenever your sat down somewhere (on the metro, or at a cafe) and puts something in front of you (a pair of sissors, a pen, a book, a torch, a screwdriver) then in a few minutes he comes and picks it up. The idea is you have become so attached to it you want to buy it. Also a kid came up to me with some juggling balls. I thought he was trying to sell them to me so just said "No gracias" but he shaked his head and then started to do the most half-hearted juggling you can imagine. I asked him "Quieres dinero?", he nodded, but I decided to say "Lo siento, no."

I´m going to fly to Ushauia on Saturday I think. It´ll be a damn site more comfy than 36 hours on a bus (which only goes as far as Rio Gallegos) and as the bike is already packed up it makes sense. Hope there is a bike shop there but if not I should be able to assemble the thing.

Day Two

Pretty cool day today. Went out to the Boca area where there are some attractive multi coloured buildings. Then caught a bunch of street musicians on the main tourist drag. They did a pretty cool rendition of "Minor Swing". Then had a few beers in Plaza Dorrego and watched people dancing the Tango.

Day One: Buenos Aires

Despite all the horror stories I have read, flying with a bike seemed to go fairly smoothly. The box has a few knocks and I havn´t opened it yet, but its a hardy bike it´ll be ok. Not really decided the best way to get to Tierra del Fuego. Bus or plane.
Buenos Aires is a lovely city with many tree lined streets with the Jacarandas in blossom at the moment a vibrant purple. Had a bit of a look round today but foot is still a bit sore. Saw the presidential palace, a giant pink building, the parliment building and the phalic Obolisco. Also, Plaza San Martin was nice with lots of people sunbathing, kids playing football. There is a big statue of San Martin on his horse and loads of weird and wonderful trees with enormous roots.

Mark Rodgers aka CAHM

My friend Mark Rodgers has just released an EP which he's put up on a website www.cahm.co.uk. I thought it was rather good. Here's a few questions I put to him.

Where does the name CAHM come from?
Originally when I first got round to writing songs I was working different factory/crappy jobs and spent time working in a hospital as grounds/porter. All of these jobs seem to have an attitude of discouraging free thought or any ideas outside of a tabloid newspaper, the hospital being the worst culprit.
This institution spawned one of the first songs 'the working warrior', a musical call to arms against people who want to kick down people's dreams to maintain the status quo. The second was a reflection on being let down by people (usual token whiny melancholy song!) friends and figures of affection.
The conclusion was that all these feelings and actions although not always physical but were in fact Crimes Against Human Minds. This first collection of demo acoustic and trip hop tracks under this new name were lovingly locked away under the ep title of 'Fighting Denial'.
These days just having the name as CAHM amuses me as I kinda see it as calm spelt badly.

Whats the best lyric you've written?
"The cloak that keeps us warm, is the one that hides the daggers." From Survive In Distrust

Who was your favourite band aged 15?
Nirvana, I just religiously listened to bleach and nevermind and regularly cited it as world changing stuff if only people would reeeeally listen to. Such a classic teenager!

What song do you wish you'd written?
Toooooooooooooooooooooo many for too many reasons! For saying a lot with only a couple of chords id go for John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero'. For passion and aggression Refused's 'New Noise'. For thinking in so many directions Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android' and for the love noise Nirvana's 'Scentless Apprentice'

What book has influenced you more than any other?
Its prob going to be close run race between my sociology text book 'Haralambos' from my A-levels and 'Introduction to Buddhism' by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. The first for giving me an interest in how the world works and the second for how everything works.

Any genre of music you genuinely hate?
Anything generated from a fucking tv show! Usual boy/girl bands generic pop groups in general. Straight simple house music, I didn’t really get the simple beat its painfully dull and doesn’t ever go anywhere. Girls can wriggle to anything and look normal but it just makes guys do a semi strut dance whilst pointing the fingers to the same beat for 4 hours! Modern R&B its either "my boyfriend is a twat" or "baby do you want to see my dong?"

If you were the master of the universe, what would you change?
I'd consider making cows blind…all they do is stare at you whilst plotting something. Failing that everyone's mind, literally people don’t often think about what they are thinking.

If you had to describe your music, without using adjectives, could you?
The result of a life of paying attention to people.

You are a Buddhist, right? Does your religion pervade your music? Does it help you in any day-to-day way?
I think I'm always going to be my own worst contradiction. The music that has often inspired me has been born of anger, fury and all the other negative emotions to the point that I've never even written a positive love song which most people do at some point. The only positive song I've created was a trip hop spoken word thing. I used a speech made by Ghandi on the divine and some samples of the Muslim Adhan, hopefully this wont be taken as blasphemy. Essentially I wanted to create something reflecting the positive influence of practising religious people and remind people of the power of non-violence
In the real world I like to think I am a lot more compassionate and patient than I used to be and I don’t really fear anything anymore. So in reality being a Buddhist has brought more balance and has removed a lot of old self-destructive tendencies I used to have. I think my music is the last place I have where I get to be a grumpy git throwing the dinner at the tv kinda guy!

You are also into Free Running (AKA Parkour) too. What's your favourite move?
I was always quite content with a nice kong vault with a bit of drop, mostly because it always felt like an all or nothing move and everyone loves the feeling of flying.

Who are your parkour heroes?
David Belle…just watch District 13. And a dude named Forrest who I met at a training thing in London, he was a prime example of someone who has managed to have rid himself of an ego whilst being a professional.

Do you have a favourite piece of gym apparatus?
Theses days I'm kinda limited to the floor and to walking around on my hands as my foot is pretty ruined after a semi-successful gymnastic trick (I landed the trick but it busted the wrong part of my foot and ankle). One of my friends at the gym has been trying to teach me capoeria much to everyone's amusement!

Any plans for performing live?
At the moment this is a strong maybe! I've finished with the band Todays Eden now so I wont be performing with a band for some time. However my friend Nick Parton of Fine Excuses fame (www.fineexcuses.co.uk) thinks an open mic night is calling so it may be time to look foolish for my friends some point soon. This is of course if Nick agrees to perform too!

If you could travel back in time and pass on a piece of advice to yourself as a child, what would it be?
Something along the lines of "if you don’t want to go to school mass then refuse as they cant make you!"

Return the Favour

Sewing Tips

I spent the morning on Tuesday at the sewing machine transforming an old duvet cover into a bunch of draw string bags. Also I made these roll up things, one for the kitchen (wooden spoon, spork, fag lighter, herbs and spices etc) and one for glue, sewing kit, repair stuff etc. Having a few bags to pack things into means you can compress things smaller and helps you to keep everything tidy and organised. Good tip with the draw string bags is to use a safety pin to thread the string through with.
I am still hobbling about with a sore ankle but its getting better. Bike is now boxed up and ready to fly. Just a case of getting everything else packed now. I visited my sister's school and gave a talk to the Geography Society last night which was good fun. Fly tomorrow night!

William Sichel

I asked Richie Cunningham if he could think of anyone else I could have a go at interviewing and he suggested William Sichel. William's ultra running achievements are incredible. He is currently unbeaten in all events longer than 48 hours and holds six ultra distance records at World, British and Scottish level.

I read on your website that you live on the Isle of Sanday, in the Orkneys. What influence on your character has this had? Anything that helps your running?
I think yes. I moved here because I wanted a bit of an 'edge' to life. I had a very hard life for my first 10 years here, before I took up running again .
Even now I often train in harsh conditions and I think that keeps me strong.

At what point did you realise you were interested in running ultra long races? Was there a turning point when you decided to ramp up your training?
When I mentioned to a running shoe shop owner that my marathon time seemed to stay the same (2hrs 38mins) and yet I wasn't exhausted at the finish!
He suggested I try an ultra. I ran in the Scottish 100km Championships in 1994 and won it at my first attempt.
An ultra runner was born.

Do you have a favorite part of Scotland? Why is it special for you?
It has to be Orkney of course. I fell for the place in May 1982, the Isle of Sanday in particular and have now spent almost half my life here.
I married here and raised a family of two girls.
I discovered ultra running whilst living here which started a whole new life for me.
Is that enough!

What has been the most rewarding running experience you have had?
Hmmm difficult one. Maybe the Hamm 6 Day race last year. I had gone there to race head-to-head with the great German runner Wolfgang Schwerk.
He pulled out after only about 24 hours and I had to completely re-focus on what became almost a solo time trial.
I did it and recorded a PB and won the race (see below).

Which ultra-endurance races have you competed in? Which were the most important for you?
Rather a lot now as I have been involved in the sport since 1994. Did about eighteen 100km races with a best of 7hrs 7mins. Have done the classics - the Spartathlon and Badwater which helped in my development and my move to longer races than 24 hours. The debut victory in the Monaco 6 Day race in 2006 with the best distance for the year was highly significant for me.
It demonstrated that my ultimate strength would be in multiday events and was a huge confidence boost being ranked as World No1.

What are the longest time you have ever run for, I hear you have run for 6 days!!! What is the longest distance?
Last year in Hamm, Germany I covered 532.6 miles in the 6 days to maintain my unbeaten record and set a Scottish track record and British age-group track record. That is still my PB!

Recovering from testicular cancer to continue running competitively sounds like a story to match Lance Armstrong. Has it made you a stronger runner? How would you say it has changed you?
It was a huge shock at the time as I had only just stepped off the podium (with a team bronze medal) at the European 100km Championships in Italy (1997).
My deep down confidence was badly knocked.
I feel now that it has made me a stronger runner, because it has given me powerful emotions to draw on when the chips are really down.

How many miles would you estimate you run each year? And how many races?
I haven't counted miles for many a long year. I have tried many different ways of training.
Nowadays, my training is a very balanced programme of general fitness training and running - this has produced the best race performances for me.
A mileage figure is a poor representation of my training load.
Much of the running is done with a weight vest. This extra training stress isn't reflected in a simple mileage figure.
Training time is a better guide to my overall training - approx 16 hours a week.
I do about 5 ultras a year - suitably spaced, to be able to run well at all of them.
Every year I have to make very difficult decisions regarding my races. Frequently I have to turn down races and invitations as I don't do races that are too close together.

Do you enjoy suffering? How do you cope with the psychological aspects of these races?
I never think of it as 'suffering' or 'pain'. I enjoy the satisfaction of making a supreme effort in order to achieve something that I consider worth doing.
Currently I am working with a sports psychologist who is helping me develop skills to get that "extra 5%".

What has been the most challenging moment of your running career?
Probably my first race back after my cancer diagnosis and surgery in September 1997. The team manager selected me from my own training reports and my own judgement that I was ready even though the surgery had been in July!
I ran 7hrs 27mins in the World 100km Championships in Holland - I was back!

Any training tips for us mere mortals?
Train for the marathon and race at ultras.
Don't neglect speed - it is always the fastest average speed that wins the race whatever the distance!

Do you ever listen to music when running? Which song would you put on when you need motivating?
This is something I have just started to do on occasion in multiday races. I have a wide selction of very different tracks. Super Tramp and 'Breakfast in America' will always get me going.

What ambitions and plans do you have for the future?
To finish the 1000 Mile World Cup race in Athens next March within the 16 day time limit.
To break Scotland's oldest athletic record - 567 miles in 6 days set in 1882 on an indoor track.
To break records at 48 hours and other 6 day records.
So plenty to keep me going!

Halloween

I had a great time at the party and it was great to see everyone before I head off on Saturday. We ate well with chile-con-carne and apple crumble, visited The Vine and then headed up to the top of the hill to let off fireworks (including a highly suspect Catherine Wheel). I look forward to seeing everyone again for a 'welcome home' party in about a year or so.