It has been rumoured that there is still some training going on even in the depths of winter. Mr Green has been seen running the highways and byways of Hampshire. Lifelyne has been out competing on the world stage, smashing Guinness records. Despite needing his boat to achieve the quickest human being to circumnavigate Anglesey, he continues to display an impressive competitive streak. And then there’s Robin. As most of you know he has simply maintained an elite level of  super-fitness without really training. It is in the DNA it seems – hard wired. And then there is me…Longden. I have been able to increase my body mass in order to speed up the training. After all carrying around these extra Kilo’s is not easy.

So the stage is set for another year of trail running madness as Team Hoof Hearted takes to the mountains once again. Watch this space!

The Trans Alpine Run can have massive high’s and equally deep low’s. It is a long race and to run it alone is not fun, although there are many people to chat to every day, you need a partner. After a lot of thought last night Malc has decided he did not want to run alone. It was always going to be a team effort. So this morning the two of us watched the start of Stage 3 from the sidelines. A very sad day. We are now heading back via Zurich.

Hoof Hearted…to be continued.

The end of today’s stage was tough.  On the one hand there was a sense of achievement but on the other there is deep regret that this was the last stage that I can complete with Malcolm before I have to withdraw from the event, because of my work.

It has been a real privilege to have been able to complete just two stages with you Malc. I have enjoyed every minute of your company over the past three days and I know we would have continued to have had a great week, but it is not possible, for which I sincerely apologise.

I am sorry that I can not continue with you. I know that it will be tough completing the next stages solo but I have no doubt that you will finish. You have great mental and physical strength and a wicked sense of humor.  You are certainly not alone in this, as you know most of the teams personally.  Take tomorrow easy and enjoy it – Good Luck, bon courage, great job and whatever the Germans have been saying all week. . . .

I hope that I get the opportunity to run with you again my friend and I look forward to hearing the highlights from the next stages……

Rich.

We have passed quite a few cows over the past two days. Today, we have been told that if you are unfortunated enough to be attacked by one you have to hit it….hard….on the nose!

We know that Day 3 is going to be tough with 38 km and 2975 m ascent, split evenly over the two enormous peaks. So Day 2 was meant to be easy, with only 24.7 km of trail and only 1899 m ascent. We had not appreciated that the day would include two rock sections, one down and one up. It was certainly varied terrain. Rich was slipping all over the place  tripping over his poles, whilst Malc took on a new Gollum like technique to climbing, highly effective, highly entertaining and highly wearing on the fingers. We heard lots of comments in German, we don’t have a clue what they were saying.

The weather was superb. Low cloud meant the sun barely shone. As we climbed to the top of the first summit it got colder. Typical of the UK in August. Wet under foot, slippy, muddy, damp and misty. Superb conditions for two Brits that tend to overheat in the sun. Not good for many of the Spanish competitors. As we checked out the full wet weather gear, large back packs, woolen hats, gloves, ear muffs, and waterproof trousers, we began to feel a little under dressed in our shorts and T-shirts.

On the whole we ran well today, when we could run we were in pretty good shape. Well until the hail started with 8km to run. It wasn’t the cold that was the issue it was the damage that could have been inflicted on Malc’s head, which was at the time pretty exposed. That was when the blue wooly hat came out and all was right in the world.

Then came the last 5km. This seems to be when the ‘red-mist’ descended again. On the first day it could have been put down the excitement of finishing the first stage. But it happened again today. No one said that Malc had this addiction. He can smell victims ahead and absolutely must reel them in, one-by-one. The sprint for the finish happened again today and once again we were able to pass (at speed) three or four teams.

So we had another very memorable day. We have put the world to rights (many times over) we have progressed international relations, we’ve cracked some of the worst jokes ever,  we’ve eaten a lot, we’ve drunk a lot (isotonic), We’ve taken it easy and finished on another high.  The emotion of crossing the line after a day like this is unique. What a great day.