Running Across Countries

Since I've been home, I've been feverishly working on a book about my running adventures. Writing is sometimes harder than running, I swear! Hopefully it'll be available through Amazon sometime in the next month. Email me at russellsecker@gmail.com if you're interested in getting a copy, so I can keep you posted.

Party time!

Claire threw me a great party yesterday. BBQ, Mexican, margaritas, the works. Thanks to her for arranging, and to many friends for stopping by. Lots of folks said they enjoyed getting their daily dose of this blog - it provided me with an invaluable way to reflect and connect to home. I'm just so relieved the story had a happy ending (beautifully recounted in today's Austin American Statesman by Pam LeBlanc - thanks, Pam!).

Now, about that next race...

Cankles are back...

Halfway back to the UK yesterday, I noticed that my ankles were starting to do an impersonation of water balloons, and my calves and ankles had once again merged to form "cankles" (see France 2005). By the time I landed in Heathrow, my socks had become as tight as sausage skins, and the pressure got more and more painful. It was a little tricky driving my stick shift rental car and trying to take off my socks simultaneously. I'm glad I don't have to run on them today.

By the way, one thing that many stage runners do is to cut down the front of every pair of socks, to relieve pressure on the front of the ankle. Part of my small but moving final ceremony before leaving Norway was to throw out all my many pairs of used, "restyled" shoes and socks. In the end, I opted to place them all discretely in a garbage can rather than cause a littering spectacle at the North Cape.

The journey home...

I set off for Alta airport by bus at 3am this morning, and we covered two stages of the race (in the opposite direction, of course) in under two hours. We crossed the bleak Sennalandet again in wind and pouring rain, and of course saw reindeer by the thousand.

Since I woke at 2:30am, I just can't stop eating or thinking about food. My brain and body have gone into ravenous overdrive. As I'm spending all day on planes or hanging about in Norwegian airports (Alta, Tromsö and now Oslo), my credit card has been hit with the equivalent of the GDP of a third world country. Happy now, Mastercard?

Mmmm, just spotted a Pizza Hut....lucky I've nearley finished this shrimp baguette.

Final results

Rainer Koch of Germany dominated, and was overall winner, leading Takasumi Senoo (Japan) and René Strosny (Germany) who amazingly finished less than 6 minutes apart.

After Hiroko Okiyama's unfortunate abandon, the women's race was won by another Japanese, Takako Funyama (20th overall). Second place Elke Streicher of Germany was nearly 7 hours behind.

I spent 602 hours crossing Europe, and finished 30th (out of 68 starters), which pleases me given my advanced years and the quality of many of the other runners. Cautious pacing helped me avoid injury.

One competition that I DID win was body fat loss as measured by the MRI docs. I am now officially devoid of all body fat. I solemnly promise that I will never do anything this crazy ever again.

Stage 64 - Nordkapp

Here's me wearing 2 Goretex jackets, a sweatshirt, and 2 other shirts (plus natty homemade legwarmers), and I swear I never broke a sweat. Unbelievably, ski chairlift cold - one guy got frostbite on his nose! I have never experienced such bitter gales.

But the journey is blissfully ended, at the northernmost point in Europe. I feel a little "dazed and confused", but elated at the prospect of not having to tenderize my long-suffering feet again tomorrow.

Celebrations tonight, then a 3:30am departure for the airport. I will be first on that bus.

Finally, a shout-out to two folks who helped me most - my long-suffering wife, who helped me hang in there with daily calls and emails, and Mike, who met me in Sweden with a care package and great messages from Austin.

Oh, and did I mention...I just ran across Europe - WOOHOO!

Before Stage 64...

...just wanted to say...

This has been an amazing 9-week journey which I've been privileged to take. The very best part - the one thing that has kept me going through some very painful and bleak miles - has been the connection to everyone who's been reading this blog.

Every morning, when the 4am alarm goes off, I first turn on my phone and read comments & emails, and on many occasions I swear it has enabled me to face "just one more day" on the road. I didn't want to let you guys down!

So THANK YOU for all the kind words and thoughts, and don't underestimate the power they had over this weary soul.

Gratefully yours, as I head to one last starting line,

Russ

Stage 63 - Honningsväg

I can't tell you how good it feels to write 63! Especially after the atrocious day we've just suffered through. Gale force headwinds and rain for most of the day, and even colder temperatures than yesterday. Despite wearing tons of layers, the cold just bit through everything, and then found no body fat resistance. Some aid stations kindly let us inside their vehicles for the first time, but that almost made it harder to return to the Arctic.

Most of the day was spent moving from fjord to fjord. They're beautiful but desolate, and absent sunshine take on a depressing air. We also had to navigate 3 tunnels today, the longest of which was 5 miles long. Very spooky - but at least a break from the wind and rain.

So tomorrow is the final 28 miles. The forecast is for more of the same, but we'll all be relieved to be done by lunchtime. Hallelujah.

Couldn't resist this one...

But seriously - note the orange arrow on the pole - those are what have guided our way across nearly 3,000 miles of Europe.

View of the Sennalandet

Early this morning, before the sun disappeared and the wind began to howl.

Stage 62 - Olderfjord

Our very own fjord tonight! But getting here was a brutal journey. It was 2 marathons plus 5 miles long, on weary legs. The narrow road had plenty of traffic, and rose and fell between sea level and 1000'. And lastly, it was bitterly cold - below freezing with windchill - and the headwind was horrendous. Thirteen hours I'm going to put in the "not fun" column, despite scenery that would've been superb on a sunny day.

But we're here. A salmon dinner was on hand as we finished, and with 2 stages of 50 and 28 miles left, optimism is high. I will be one happy camper on Sunday night.

Stage 61 - Rafsbotn (near Alta)

Despite the length of the stage (over 53 miles), and some nasty truck and trailer traffic from time to time, this was absolutely the best day of the whole journey - I'll try to explain why.

It started with sunshine, nice running temps, and gentle breezes. Unlike other previous more changeable days, that lasted all day. The run started out along a beautiful, wide river with barren, stony, snow-covered hills beyond. We encountered several herd of reindeer, one of which decided to run alongside us for a while. Then the river (and our road) headed down a steep gorge for many spectacular kilometers, and we got to watch the white water do its thing.

But as we approached Alta after about 30 miles, things started to change. Pine trees reappeared, farms sprung up, and the microclimate suddenly became alpine (from the Gulf Stream effect, I'm guessing). Flowers and the smell of mown grass. Running comfortably in shorts and T-shirt. And beyond the fairly sizeable town, in the distance, the Norwegian Sea, with fabulous, massive, ice-covered fjords beyond. Even the Norwegians in the group were blown away - it was spectacular.

Our accommodations tonight are good - hot showers and very good food. Two long, hard days still loom ahead, but we're hoping that the good weather holds, because that makes it all much more endurable.

P.S. Marit - thanks for the invite in Alta - no time unfortunately this time, but maybe I'll come back? J-B - seriously, only 5 other ultras!

Norway - birch trees & rivers...

A nice start to the day...

The sky isn't blue much...but the road does go on forever.

Stage 60 - Máze

Just four days left. Today was my 100th Ultra - small potatoes for some of the hardcore folks here, but still a decent count. Or crazy, depending on your point of view.

The day started sunny and pleasant for a change, and stayed that way for a couple of very good hours. Then, despite clouds and cold, we didn't get rained on, and the scenery became quite impressive (I'll post a separate photo). In all, a good day with a finish time for me just after 2pm.

Bridget Jones bit: wildlife - absolutely zero; herring - pickled in mustard sauce; drugs - ran out of calcium, two NSAIDs (sorry kidneys & liver).

The next three days are all over 50 miles - a very long slog, but we've come this far. No whining ... but can't wait to be done.

Lapp dancing...

...in the gym tonight? (Couldn't resist that one.) Not quite - right now, these two delightful young ladies are "yoikking", which is pretty cool traditional Norwegian singing / drumming / chanting.

Stage 59 - Kautokeino

Finland's done, and now we're in Norway, our last country. Today was 51 miles of fierce, very cold northerly headwinds accompanied from time to time by heavy rain. Lucky for us it's summertime, eh? It was one of those "I just want to be done" days.

One thing I noticed when we got to Norway - no more pine trees, just sparse woods of silver birch. The landscape is becoming more mountainous and rugged as we move towards fjord country. Rivers are slowly taking the place of lakes in the scenery. I feel there are some hills ahead.

My "Bridget Jones Diary" moment for today: Wildlife - no reindeer, but one husky who ran 5 miles with me; Cigarettes - none; Alcohol - one alcohol-free beer to wash down my jar of pickled herring at the finish (protein, you know).

A slightly shorter 39-mile day tomorrow, followed by something of a gruesome "grand finale" of three days over 50 miles, before the 29-mile jog to the North Cape on Sunday. Feet don't fail me now!

Stage 58 - Enontekiö

Ah, Finland! Home of Nokia and, well, Finns. Mike from Austin is right - they manage to string together more letters than any other nation on earth here. Spelling tests in school must consume reams of paper...but anyhow, I digress.

The day started inauspicious with heavy rain as we were eating breakfast. We started the race on
the Swedish side of a river, and crossed directly into Finland. The rain poured, the wind howled, thunder and lightning boomed. Everyone was cold and drenched - sheer bloody misery for the first two hours.

Gradually it eased up, and as we left the main highway to cross a mountain range via a smaller road, the skies turned blue and the sun put in a welcome appearance. My running felt good today, helped in part by the knowledge that we only had 40 miles to cover, but also thanks to less painful feet.

Today's bombshell is that women's race leader Hiroko from Japan abandonned. (She also had to abandon after 44 days in the last 2003 edition of this race.) She has had bad leg problems for days, and finally was forced to quit. Again, this is so late in the game to have to drop out - very unfortunate. She's being a trooper, but is clearly very upset, especially because she was holding a huge lead over second place on time.

So, just 6 days to go for the rest of us, but 4 of them very long. Norway tomorrow, hopefully with kinder weather? But I'm less than hopeful - it's just started to rain again outside.

Reindeer lasagne

When I saw dinner set out tonight, I jokingly said: "Looks like we're having reindeer lasagne." It was in fact just that. And delicious. The rich meat and carbs were appreciated all round - the perfect multiday running food.

The food and the people in Sweden have been great. But the dismal weather, absence of wildlife (except mosquitoes), and the apparent lack of anything much to see or do has left it low on my list of "places I want to go back to". My expectations for Finland and Norway are not set any higher, but I will be delighted to see them both.

Stage 57 - Karesauno

After 24 days, we finally got to the end of Sweden today, with a shorter 34-mile stage to this border town. Next, a single stage through Finland, and then 6 quite lengthy days in Norway.

Finishing is not guaranteed, even this late into the race. Jurg König apparently had heart problems early in today's stage, and had to abandon. So sad and disappointing, with so much distance travelled.

I ran much of today with Christian Marti. Things started well, but we got dismally soaked for the last 10 miles, and I became quite hypothermic. The great news is that his wife Orsele met us at the finish line, and drove us to their hotel, where I was able to get a room for the night. The hot shower I just took was luxury, as was the jumbo-sized bag of potato chips I just ate. Now it's naptime in clean sheets....aaaaaah!