The Spine Race:  Part One
11-18 Jan  430km - 1st Lady : 153 hr 17min

As I sit in my warm living room trying to put a few paragraphs together of my race, am I finding it hard to start trying to describe this mammoth experience and all that I went through.  It is so overwhelming knowing where to start, and it has been stopping me from writing.  So I decided to do it in a format of a question and answer session, and use the questions people often ask me when we get chatting about my endeavours. 

At the start in Edale

I ran this race to support The Gracias Foundation. Gracias’s mission is to empower vulnerable and impoverished women and children with holistic resources to lead dignified and self-sustainable lives. They work with small grassroots organizations that are already catalysing social change in their communities but just need an extra boost to maximize their impact – like the safe house in the Congo that heals young women and girl survivors of sexual violence, or the youth home in Ethiopia that cares for adolescent orphans living with HIV. Thanks for taking the time to donate using the link on the left hand side of the page.

Why did I choose to do this particular race?

I entered this race to give myself a challenge between seasons.  However when I entered the race I thought it was 268km and it was only after I had paid and started to read through the details of the race that I realised it was 268 miles.  This was a bigger challenge than I thought and was the first time I got really scared and would not be the last time.   This would be the longest race I would be attempting and I had trouble fathoming how long the distance was and whether I could even complete the distance.

Sunrise at Walshaws Reservoirs

However, there was another reason why I wanted to do this race; it’s also a reason why I enjoy taking part in Ultra races.  It’s to get back to nature and experience something unblunted and real. To experience the pain of pushing myself beyond my boundaries but equally the joys of seeing the beauty of nature, feeling the lowest of the low moment and some great high moments and seeing sunrise in the mornings.  I like to feel all the emotions of real nature, which are often supressed in the world we live in today.  I like to escape from the TV, the i-pad, the internet, work and budgets and all those homely comforts I enjoy.  It about going back to basics,  being in the moment and experiencing what nature has to offer whether it is good or bad.

What is the Spine race?

It’s classed as the most brutal race in Britain and it lived up to its name!  The race is 268 miles (431km) in length and I had 168 hours (7 days) to complete the course.  This was not your normal ultra-race and had many differences comparing to your standard Ultra. 

Firstly this course was not marked, so I had to use a compass, map and GPS to follow the route.  The route is the Pennine Way and a large part of it is sign posted, as it is a hiking route.  However don’t be fooled into thinking it is just as easy as following the sign posts. Very often there are no sign posts and you are left to follow a loose path which might be clear in daylight however in the dark following the route can become very difficult.  This meant I would need to ensure my navigation skills were on the mark as I didn’t want to waste time and energy getting lost!

Pub Meal from Hare & Hound at Lothersdale

Secondly there were no water/feed stations catering to your needs every 5 or 10kms.  There were however 5 checkpoints which were approx. 70km apart, therefore I would have to carry enough food and water to last between checkpoints.  It was only at these checkpoints would I be able to get access to my drop bag, extra clothes, hot food, tea and a bed, however we were allowed to make use of local services such as pubs and shops, if we passed them when they were open.  This was one of the best rules in the race.  You cannot believe how great it is to arrive in a little village after being out for 10 hours in the wilderness.  To sit in a warm, dry pub and order some hot food.  It’s like feeding all your senses with the most amazing things possible.  As this is now the 3^rd year of the race, the locals were not fazed by my muddy tired appearance and hardly batted an eyelid when I stumbled through the door to order a dish that I had been fantasizing about for the last 3 hours. It’s like heaven and Christmas all rolled into one.

Thirdly most ultra’s finish within a day or two of the starting time so sleep deprivation is limited.  As this race lasted up to 7 days, sleep deprivation was going to be something I would feel and have to overcome.  In fact my sleep strategy would be major part of this race and getting it wrong could mean I might not finish.   In total I had roughly 13 hours sleep which was about 25% of what I would have in a normal week. While I did have times where I had hallucinations and sometimes was falling asleep walking along a path only to be woken up when I waded through a large puddle, I felt this was roughly the right amount of sleep and think that I could have done with a little less, if I was to push myself harder. 

Some of the Muddy trails

Fourthly and finally the running ultra-scene and races normally take place in the summer or early autumn months so you can make use of the long daylight hours and warmer weather.  This makes it all the more pleasurable to see where you are placing your feet and enjoy the wonderful beauty around you.  The Spine however is held in the middle of the British winter where I would have approx. 8 hours of daylight each day, so the majority of the race would be ran in darkness.  Additionally for those that know Britain and its weather, winter is not the best time to be running around moors and mountains in the dark.  In fact before the race, Britain had endured a very wet start to winter with much of Britain seeing extreme flooding.  This meant that the course was going to be very wet and muddy, not the easiest of running conditions and something my feet would not enjoy.  We also got to experience the best of Britain’s changeable weather with gales, hale, snow, rain, but were luckily enough to see some sun.

What was the best part? 

There were so many good parts to this race, so I will give you some of the highlights of my race:

No sooner had we started and the heavens opened.  I saw a lot of people stop to put on their waterproof trousers.  I had polar fleece pants on and was moving fairly quickly so decided not to bother with mine and it was a good decision as I didn’t feel cold at all on route to CP1.  I stayed warm even when it started to snow.  I secretly had been hoping for snow during the race, as I love running in the snow.  I was so happy that I got to experience some of the race with snow.  It made me smile and I got energy from it falling from the sky.  Smiling is always good on a race like this, it creates positive energy and keeps the forward momentum.

I loved the route from CP2 (Hawes) up Great shunner fell.  At this point I had teamed up with Karl and Ed and it was beautiful morning with the sun shining.  The views were stunning and the terrain was fairly dry with a great firm path.  From the top I was skipping down the hills on an easy runnable route towards Thwaite.  This gave me energy and another smiling moment.

Me and Karl 

Me and Ed

The route from CP3 to CP4 was fantastic.  The path along the river going passed low force and high force was firm and dry, we passed many waterfalls and again the sun was shining.  We had to cross a few boulders and continued further up the river to the magical falls at Cauldron Snout.  What a great sight.  From here to Dufton was a long trek via High Cup Plain.  I believe this was my best moment.  I was still with Karl and Ed but at this point I was ahead marching through the snow to High Cup Plain.  I began singing to myself and made up little songs of the race, they were basic but I sung them over and over.  Then I just hummed the tune or la la’d to the tune.  During this whole time I was singing out loud, with the biggest grin on my face.  Here I was in the middle of nowhere, taking part in the Britain’s most brutal race, hiking through snow, singing to myself and I loved every single minute.  I even took time out to stop and make little baby snowmen on the bridge.   Feeding my inner child!

Cauldon Snout

High Cup Plain

In Dufton we were told the conditions on Crossfell were harsh.  The wind was howling, it was dark and there was a lot of snow. With such tough conditions we were advised to team up, so Karl, Ed and I teamed up with Gary, John and Steve.    I was really nervous at this point.  I had not experienced being up a mountain in the dark, having to find a path through snow, while the wind was howling and being sleep deprived.  This was new for me and I was so scared of getting Hypothermia and having to drop out that I was being super cautious with what I was wearing and ensuring I had enough on but not too much where I might overheat and then the sweat makes me cold.   Massive thanks to Karl and Gary who took the lead of the navigation and the rest of us followed in single file behind them, sometime in thigh deep snow. 

 As I got used to being in the conditions I started to enjoy it, which was good as there were 4 summits, Green Fell, Knock Fell, Little Dun Fell and Cross Fell.  Each time I thought we were there we would go down a little and but up again.  The one thing keeping me motivated was making it to

Greg’s Hut.  Waiting at Greg’s Hut was P&J’s Noddle bar with Kat, John and someone else (sorry can’t remember the name but I bet it begins with a P) who looked after filling us with hot noodles, cups of tea and coffee, biccies, chocolate and Kendal mint cake.  The time we spent there was amazing, all cosily gathered around the fire.  Whilst this part of the race pushed me the furthest out of my comfort zone, it was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying having managed through and making it to Alston (CP4) without Hyperthermia.



My Kit at Checkpoint 1…making use of the space

A great part of the race that I cannot miss out, are the Checkpoints.  Most checkpoints in a race are basic, where they are designed to allow you to quickly come in, restock on food and return to the race.  The spine checkpoints are completely different and feel like luxury.  They are a haven for hot food, multiple cups of tea, a mix of snacks and the best feet fixers I have met!  My feet suffered badly during the race so I can attest to their first rate service, which was often done while they were sleep deprived themselves.   The checkpoints were where you got access to your drop bags to changes clothes, restock on food and have a sleep.  In most of the checkpoints there were beds and it was fantastic to grab a couple of hour’s kip after being out for nearly 24 hrs.  A massive thank you to all those that helped out at the checkpoints and words cannot describe how much us runners  appreciated your support.

My feet at the end…taping as a result of the excellent Medics…thank you!

Another big thank you was to Sharon Dixon who let me use her car for a nap at Byrness.  At this point in the race I was completely exhausted and sleeping as I walked along the paths.  I do really mean I was sleeping.  My eyes were shut and I was moving forward or sideways and suddenly I would wake up again.  We didn’t stop as Karl assured us we would be arriving at Byrness very soon.  When we arrived at the car park I fell to the ground and just wanted to sleep.  After much persuasion I got into Sharon’s car and had the best 10-15 min nap of my life.  It is amazing what a power nap can do, it really picked me up and energised me for the next leg.

What was the worst part?

My first low point and probably my worst, was going up Pen-y-ghent.  It was very windy, the rain was lashing down and we had to scramble up rocks.   I got very dizzy.  I was seeing little spots in front of my eyes, which wasn’t a good thing when scrambling up rocks.  Once at the top I tried to eat more bars to give me energy as I suspected my blood sugar was low.  My stomach wasn’t happy with this as it didn’t understand that I was doing a race and it should expect to be digesting food every half hour or so.   From here it didn’t get any better.  I still had more than 25km to get to Hawes which was the next Checkpoint.  My stomach didn’t want to digest anything but I knew I had to keep eating or I would pay for it later.  I tried to each a little every half hour.  My stomach continued to plague me, I was still a bit dizzy, I felt exhausted and disorientated.  Thankfully the route was fairly easy to follow up the cam road which went on for km after km.  I was with a group of around 7 people and me and another guy followed up the rear.  I was plodding away, barely holding on, but at least I was moving.  I kept moving forward believing it would pass.  It probably took 4 or 5 hours to get to Hawes and it was only in the last hour did I begin to feel a bit better.   I was so thankful to get to Hawes, where I could sit down, get some hot food and get into my sleeping bag and get a few hours kip before heading out again

Another one of my low points was moment where I split from Karl & Ed after Windy Gayle. Karl, Ed and I had been together from CP2, so had spent a good part of the race with them, almost like a small running team.  However I felt totally empty of energy, tired and overcome with the task at hand.  I was having trouble breathing when we went up hill and had developed a slight cough.   I was moving slowly and I was trailing behind both Karl and Ed which meant they had to keep stopping to wait for me.  I could tell they weren’t happy with the situation and it came to a head when Ed shouted at me that I needed to keep up.  That broke me, I burst into tears and shouted some stuff back, I was very emotional and was just trying to keep it together to get to the end (in fact re-living the moment brings tears to my eyes even now).  I had around 18kms until the end so not that far but I knew it would still take another 3 or 4 hours.  We carried on and I mulled the situation over in my head.  I eventually stopped and told the boys to carry on without me.  I couldn’t keep their pace anymore and didn’t want to hold them back.  After being together for so long , they were reluctant to go but on the other hand I could tell it was what they wanted to do.  Eventually after talking through the situation and ensuring them I would be ok, they both went off together towards the finish, leaving me upset and alone.  I was feeling very sorry for myself and had a big cry.  My feet were hurting, making it hard to move and I was focusing on the pain which was also slowing me down.  This was my lowest point, I gave my sister a call something I never do during races, but I knew she was at the finish waiting for me to arrive.  I chatted and cried to her probably making no sense what so ever but she was great, she was super positive and gave me encouraging words to get me moving.  I don’t know if it was what she said or just hearing her voice but it was the encouragement I needed to push forward.  I had been walking since CP5 and had not done any running, so I decided to try and run the downhills, something I always love doing and something that brings me energy and smiles.  The only problem was that my feet hurt so much it was going to be a hard task to tell them to move from a plod to a run.  The first few attempts were hard, but I persevered and used the pain to give me energy to get to the finish sooner.  I was now running the downhills and some of the flats and it felt good.  I had a smile on my face and I was enjoying the race again!   Races like this give you hard negative moments, sometimes for hours at a time but I always keep in the back of my mind that there will be positive moments to come and I will get out of the bad times.  Whilst these moments are often the worse part of the race, having them makes you stronger and provides you with an experience of what you can cope with when times get tough, making those good moments all the more enjoyable.   

How was the navigation, did you make any mistakes?

I don’t remember a lot of the journey to CP1 so that means I was going well and feeling good, however the bits I do remember were the silly Nav errors that were made and where I wasted about 1 hour going back and forth on Castleshaw moor.  I was with Andy and it had just started to get dark.  I had not really used my map yet and I had been following the queue of people but at this stage the queue had disappeared and with the darkness setting in it was necessary to use my map.  Andy however had done this route before so I made the assumption he knew where he was going, my first mistake.  My second mistake was to not get my map out and check where we were and where we were going.  The frustrating part was I had read about the route and marked my map that there was a specific right turn I had to make which was tricky so I should be aware.   We went straight on and somehow we ended up on the Pennine Bridleway instead of the Pennine way (Yes they are different).  We managed to get to the A640 and realised our mistake so set off back up the road to get on the right route.  However mistake 3 came about when I trusted Andy’s GPS instead of my map.  I knew the turning we had to make was beside a carpark but we took an early turn as according to the GPS it was within 5m correct.  This took us down a path which led again to the Bridleway…..ouch.  Now we were frustrated.  I took over the nav, realised where we were.  We had 2 options;  go back down  the route we had just come and find the right path further up the road or to go cross country and get back on the Way.  I preferred the latter option as we had a great handrail of a stream to take us there.  This was our choice and it worked perfectly.  Back on route and back to nav.

Part 2 coming soon….

Grand to Grand Ultra Standing at the start line of the Grand to Grand Ultra I had a feeling of trepidation.  I was about to run 273km completing 6 stages over a mix of desert and other terrain including hard packed sand, soft sand, sand dunes, forest trails, shallow river crossings, rocky roads and slot canyons.   I knew I could go the distance but I was scared of the sand running. Living in a land-locked country I did not manage to do specific sand training and was worried how I would cope with this.  Additionally in the last month before the race I had a couple of colds, so apart from running the 1st part of UTMB (Chamonix to Courmayeur) I had done very little other training.  I only hoped that I had not lost my fitness during this time and the fitness I had gained during the rest of the year would carry me through.   View from the start The view from the start of stage 1 was breath-taking.  We were overlooking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at a height of 1,629m. Ahead was a mixed course that would test me to the core, on route to the pink cliffs of the Grand Staircase at 2,636m (8,658 ft).  The organisers would only be providing our tent and water.  Each competitor was assigned to a specific tent and each tent had Native American names.  The Apache crew! My tent was called Apache and I was lucky enough to be sharing with a great group.  In fact I already knew 2 of the tent mates, Lee & Angela.  I ran with them last year at the Manaslu trail race in Nepal and it was great to see them once again.  One of the best aspects about doing races like this is that you grow the friendships you have and get a chance to build new ones.  Ours was a real Expat tent with Lee (English living in Dubai), Angela (Irish living in Hong Kong), Glen (Korean living in Canada), Louise (English living in Dubai), Pascale (Dutch living in Dubai) myself (Scottish living in Switzerland) and Steve the only one living in his home country of Belgium.  They were a great group of people that became my support during the week, people who I could cry with, cuddle with and share all race goings on. I miss them and send my love to them all.  As the organisers only provided the tent and water, we had to carry all our gear for the next 7 days to be self-sufficient; this meant that my pack was full and heavy,  as it contained my sleeping bag, sleeping mat, jacket, long pants, warm top, hat and all my food (running food including breakfast, lunch and dinner).  It weighed  around 9.5kg.  A little too heavy for my liking, but knowing that it would get lighter as the race progressed was very motivating. Stage 1 was tough.  I set off at a very conservative pace.  I watched some of the racers run off so fast and had to hold myself back not to get caught up in the net and be pulled along.  This stage was my warm up so I wanted to go slow and with my heavy pack I couldn’t move fast anyhow.  The course was very flat and the least inspiring of the races stages.  I was following a track where I could see fellow racers in the distance.  For the first 20km the route was runnable, then we hit a cactus field which slowed everyone to a walk.  It was so hard to navigate through this field as the focus was on concentrating where to place your feet and not about running.  For me however it was a welcome relief to focus on something else and stop thinking about my heavy pack.   I finished in good spirits and was surprised to find I was 4th lady, with the 3rd lady only around 5-10 minutes ahead. The route on Stage 2  On day 2, I managed to overtake the 3rd lady and move into 3rd position.  It was hotter as we had less wind compared to the previous day, which made the latter part of the 42km stage fairly tough.  The route meant that I saw the camp from about 15km away and it seemed to take forever to reach. It kept taunting me as I slowed in the heat of the day following the long flat boring route.  I walked and ran as best as I could, using my mantra of “running will get me there quicker” and out of the sun to lie down and relax.  I focused on these thoughts to get me through the tough parts, in addition to remembering the words of my daughter “Go Mummy Go!!” Day 3 was the longest day.  Most people were afraid of this stage as we had to cover 87km but had 34 hrs to complete it.  I knew I could do the distance and as I love running in the night I was looking forward enjoying the time in the darkness.  I was however afraid of the amount of sand that we had to cover.  75% of this day’s course was sandy, with about 5km of sand dunes.    As it turned out this was my best day and I had lots of energy and was super motivated by the mixed terrain the course had to offer.  Although there was vast amount of sand there was also a good mix of uphills, downhills, tracks and even some tarmac.  My best bit however was the route through the dense vegetation.  I danced my way between bushes, cacti, trees and darkness while following the little lights that looked like a chain of sparkly Christmas lights guiding me to the next checkpoint.  This was my best stage and I came 11th overall.   I finished at 11:30 in the evening which meant I had the full night and the whole next day to recover while most of my fellow runners would be running/walking throughout the night. The sand dunes I had now completed 178km which was about 2/3 of the course and my feet were taking a battering.   With all the sand running I had managed to get some great blisters on both heels and around 7 of my toes.  While I was running I didn’t really notice the pain of the blisters but once I stopped and took off my shoes I could feel the pain.   Walking around camp was difficult and I began to wonder how I would manage to run 95kms over the next 3 days.  Me with the legendary Ray Zahab These next 3 days were my hardest.  I had a great rhythm going and my body was used to the distance now, however I was starting to lack energy.  I had initially blamed this on my time of the month which had un-expectantly arrived, however, this normally would affect only one day and not drain me more each day.  So I thought that my unexpected arrival combined with a lack of sleep was not helping me recover effectively.  It’s hard sleeping in a tent with 7 other smelly people who haven’t washed, who snore and get up and down during the night to make trips to the toilet.  Additionally as the race progressed the nights got colder, so we all started to get closer and closer to warm ourselves with each other’s body heat.  With the cold, the nightly movements and increased closeness of my tent mates, sleep was hard to come by.  I however must have slept because in the morning I would listen to the tales of the nightly escapades of my tent mates and realise that I had actually slept through most of the night.  The slot canyon As if my lack of energy and blisters were not enough, I also noticed that the muscle in my left thigh was sore.  This wasn’t making my running any easier but I kept pushing on just focusing on getting through to the next checkpoint and then to the next one.  It worked but when I crossed the finish line on stage 5 I cried, as I was utterly exhausted.  I walked into the Apache tent where Lee and Steve were relaxing and burst out crying.   I had found it so hard to push myself through the day as I had no energy in me. I was hanging on to the train of competitors as we weaved our way through the slot canyons.  The environment was stunning and it was like nothing I had experienced before.  I would usually get energy from this terrain, enjoying the rock formats but today I drew no inspiration and couldn't keep up with the train so had to drop back.   I did everything I could to keep going, so when I entered the tent the relief from finishing just all came out.  Thankfully my tents mates were there with big cuddles and tissues. After pushing myself through stage 5 I had no idea how I was going to make it through stage 6, the last day.  I was just so glad it was only 12.3km’s.   On the morning of Stage 6 I woke feeling exhausted. The night had been freezing cold yet I had been overheating. I had been feverish, super-hot one minute then very cold the next. I got little sleep and when I did, I would wake up sweating. I told myself that I just had to get to the finish line. I was in the last group starting at 8am, which meant we started in daylight and it was a little warmer than for those who started in the first group at 6am. Pink Cliffs on route to the finish The group started slowly and stayed together but I found it hard to keep up with them, which was disheartening.   The blisters on my feet hurt, my leg hurt and I felt shattered. I adopted a run walk approach which eventually turned into a walk only approach!  By now I was second last but I eventually I caught up to some other competitors.  They were moving slower than I, so I managed to overtake them and caught up to Yuri.  I stuck with him running and walking when he did and we stayed together for the last 3 or 4 kms.  It was great to chat with him and took my mind of me.  We crossed the finished line together and I don’t remember much apart from bursting out crying again, whilst hugging the fantastic organisers Tess and Colin Geddes.  Then it was hugs with other competitors whilst still crying.  The rest of my “Apache” tent mates were waiting and we had a group hug which just brought more tears.  I did it.  I had completed the Grand To Grand ultra-marathon and even though I suffered through the last few days I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my adventure. I loved the terrain, my Apache tent mates, the volunteers who energetically managed the checkpoints, the camp crew and of course Tess & Colin for putting on such a fantastic race.   I even surprised myself by coming 3rd Lady and 15th overall in a total time of 41hours 21 minutes. I found out later on that day that one of my blisters had actually become infected and the infection had spread all the way up my leg.  This was what was causing my exhaustion and sore leg.  Thankfully the medics were still around and were able to give me antibiotics to help clear the infection. I am often asked what I think about when I run and thought about this question a couple of times during the race.  Sometimes I think of nothing.  Kilometres went by and I had not had a real thought apart from being completely in the moment.  There were other times when I was trying to convince myself to keep running, thinking positive thoughts.  Sometimes just a few positive thoughts helped to get me motivated again, like being truly grateful for taking part in the race or being lucky enough to enjoy the beautiful scenery or meeting fantastic competitors from all over the world.  This race taught me that when times are hard you can still reach your goal, it just might require more effort or a different approach but with your own belief that you can do it, you can make it happen.   When I think about my hard times I realise that they are insignificant in comparison to some others in the world.  This is one of the reasons why I dedicated this run to helping a charity close to my heart, The Gracias Foundation.  Gracias’s mission is to empower vulnerable and impoverished women and children with holistic resources to lead dignified and self-sustainable lives. They work with small grassroots organizations that are already catalysing social change in their communities but just need an extra boost to maximize their impact – like the safe house in the Congo that heals young women and girl survivors of sexual violence, or the youth home in Ethiopia that cares for adolescent orphans living with HIV. Their philosophy is that lots of small acts of kindness can add up to big mountains of change.  And giving from a place of gratitude (not guilt) can transform your own life and the lives of others. Please feel free to support their projects by donating on the link   on the right hand side . 100% of donations go directly to project costs.  www.graciasfoundation.org

Glacier 3000

Distance: 26km   Vertical Ascent:  1,900m

Website: http://www.glacier3000.ch/en/Summer/Glacier3000runch/

The race course goes through a beautiful alpine landscape offering both runners and spectators many spectacular views. Between the starting point on the Gstaad Promenade at 1’050 meters and the finish line at Glacier 3000 (2’950 meters) lie 26 kilometres. The varying terrain and altitude gain of 1’900 meters is a challenge, even for experienced runners. Hence, the big joy and relief when crossing the finish line at the mountain top station Scex Rouge, after the last steep climb.

I decided that I would use this race as a training run as my legs were still tired from last week’s race in Davos.  This was a good run to do as a training run as it was a fairly easy 15km until you start going uphill.  I had decided that I would not push too hard so would only hike and not run any of the uphill.  I wanted the uphill and altitude practice, plus the views during the run are amazing!

Sometimes it was hard not to get sucked into the run and try and overtake people, but did my best to take it easy.  Overall it was a great race; I felt good and had loads of energy at the end, which was a good sign that I did take it easy.

My calves were sore on both the run and the uphill so I will have to work on stretching them over the next few days.  But I as I sit and watch the Olympics my legs are feeling fairly recovered with no soreness.  I am hoping that my change in diet is helping a quicker recovery.

Time:  4hrs 16 mins

Result:  87 Lady;  32 Lady Vet

The finish is the mountains in the distance!

The end can just be seen behind the chairlift

Looking back down the valley to the start

The path up towards the finish

The hard part has still to come, on the left is the hard slog up 

The finish is getting nearer but like all races, takes some time to come!

Running on the glacier

The view from the end

If you like my story and want to help The Gracias Foundation you can find more information on

http://www.graciasfoundation.org/index.html