This year and beyond....

Good morning (sunny, bright but fresh in London - that's my weather report!)

Didn't manage to reserve the new ipad, will have to try again tonight.

The following is merely a list of  runs to contemplate over the next 12 months and beyond. They are all, apart from the odd one, marathon/ultra distance. The vast majority of them are UK based events which will be my focus whilst I hopefully build up to compete in 100 mile single stage races. If successful, I will then explore the possibility of may be entering some of the 'big uns' in the US. Key races are qualifiers for the Aug 2012 UTMB, a Racing the Planet event (poss Jordan or Sahara 2012) and then a longer term target of The Badwater 2014. Badwater is very difficult to get a place as it's invitation only. One can apply to be invited, if you catch my drift, there is no qualification points process or 'expected to have completed' list. So, it's important to have built up an impressive resume of completed races over a period of time and to maybe volunteer to act as a crew member for a runner. Get oneself known on the circuit.

Some of these can be shifted around. So 2011 races will take place in 2012, 2013 etc. For the purpose of the list, I've chosen not to repeat the same races each year.

I think I'll aim to target early 2012 as my first 100 mile attempt. Possibly the Thames Path 100.

2011

• The South Downs Marathon. 26/6/11
• The Kymin Dash. 31/7/11.
• The Lakeland 50. 30/7/11. This is a 50 mile race in the Lake District or 100 mile version
• Centurion NDW 50. 13/8/11. This is a 50 mile race (there is also a 100 mile and marathon distance race on the same course) along the North Downs Way (Farnham to M25 South East of london), orgainsed by James Elson (guy I met running the Country to Capital 2011)
• Ultra Race peaks. 21/8/11. This is a 40 mile race around the Peak District, starting and finishing in Derby.
• Northumberland Ultra. 27/8/11. 62 miles.
• * Entered - London to Brighton. 11/9/11. 56 mile race. UTDMB 2 points. Would need to complete this race to ensure qualification points for 2012 UTDMB
• Atlantic Coast Challenge (Cornwall). 30/9/11. 79 miles over 3 days.
• Pembrokeshire coast. 18/11/11. 79 miles over 3 days.
• The Breacons Ultra. Nov 11?. 45 miles.

2012

• Country to Capital. Jan 12. 45 miles
• Thames Path 100. 3/3/12. Richmond to Oxford. 100 miles.
• The Wye valley Ultra. March 12. 50 miles.
• Racing the Planet (RTP) Jordan. 13/5/12. 155 miles in a week.
• Fan Dance Breacon. May. 5 hour race up and down Pen Y Fan.
• Cardiff Ultra. May 12. 50 miles.
• RTP Gobi. 10/6/12. 155 miles in a week
• Round the Island (Isle of Wight). June 12. 70 miles over 2 days
• Lakeland 50/100 (Lake District). July 12. 50 or 100 miles
• UTDMB. End Aug 2012. 100 miles around Mont Blanc. Start and finish in Chamonix. Will need to complete qualifying races in 2011. I already have 3 of the 5 points required from The Atacama crossing.
• RTP Sahara. 28/10/12. 155 miles in a week.

2013

• RTP Gobi. 2/6/13. 155 miles in a week. 
• Others to consider: 100 mile races in USA

2014

Compete in and/or 'crew' (2013) in The Badwater (July each year), USA

That'll do for the time being. I will target a few of these events with the aim of treating them as training for the bigger stuff, such as UTMB, RTP, Badwater, 100 mile races.

Please feel free to pass comment on my race selection and offer up ideas for any others. Something to maybe consider is multi disciplined (cycling, swimming, kayaking, climbing etc) adventure races rather than just purely foot races. And team races too.

Have a super day
Ian