Acclimatisation.. update loaded via wireless internet on the ice!

Wednesday 18th March

Back to the outdoor shop to collect some Teflon skids to add to the sled then to the hardware store to get the bolts and drill bits to assemble them to the sled.

Got a taxi the mile down to the ‘race village’ and ‘checked in’. The heated tents are great with a wooden floor and camp beds. Pete joined me for a run out on the ice during the afternoon. We headed out for pizza and an early night.

Tuesday 17th March

Woke to machines outside clearing snow off the roads and the ‘side walk’ after a great nights sleep. Following a visit to ‘Overland’ to buy liquid fuel for the stove I got geared up and dragged a fully laden sled out through reception and down to the ‘under construction’ race village on the lake.

I took some advice from one of the volunteers building the tents and set off for a training run. The scenery was amazing. The temperature was around -20C with a light cold wind. I headed North and followed the trail that we would use at the start of day one of the race.

The kit held up well after some minor adjustments. I needed to use the snow shoes after a mile as the going became softer under foot, the snow shoes are designed for running and I was able to maintain a comfortable running pace. The route took me off the lake and through a series of ‘portages’ which are connecting tracks between the series of lakes.



I turned back after about 6 miles and headed home, the MP3 providing a helping hand.

A really good day out, the weather was great and I was able test the clothes layering system. At -16C (ish) in a fair breeze I was OK in only merino wool thermals and a set of windbreakers (pertex top and leggings, similar to very thin nylon), I did need 2 sets of gloves, lightweight hat, face-mask and glasses / goggles. Overcome some fears regarding the cold, can now focus on understanding the minimum of kit I should take.

Met up with Pete and Josh from down under, Pete is also doing the 6 day’er and Josh is his photographer! We headed out to the ‘Black Night’ pub for Paddys day for a food and a few beers. Scott (race organiser) and a few of the locals came out too and a good night was had.

Monday 16th March

Met at Yellowknife airport at 10pm by the race organiser Scott Smith who kindly gave me a lift to the Chateau Nova hotel where I’ll be spending the first two nights of my stay before moving to the Race Village on the Ice.

On my way..

Good final days training on the beach at Lytham, few funny looks but that was expected.

Beach training..

Now in Edmonton airport awaiting the final leg of the journey to Yellowknife, looks like my transport might have modified engines to cope with the extreme low temperatures:

Tomorrow is the first test for me and the sled in race temperatures and I'm looking forward to it!

Live race updates

Race updates each day will be provided by: http://www.sleepmonsters.com/index.php
More details to follow

Penultimate Training Weekend

Saturday 7th - Spent 5 hours towing the sled alongside the River Ribble. Took the car as close as I could then followed the 'Ribble Way' West then South for 9 miles then turned back. Hard going and awkward lifting the sled and bag over gates and styles but fortunately only passed half a dozen people all day so only received a limited number of strange looks. The original plan was to head to St Annes and head up the beach to Blackpool...

Sunday 8th - Ran 21 miles on a favourite route from Anglesark near Chorley. It is a great hilly route over to Darwen tower then up to Great hill then back. No sled today. Weather varied between still and sunny to gale force and snow, good outing.

Now on youtube courtesy of IES Film Productions

My mate Iain, who supported me during the recent training weekend to the Cairngorms (and surely now has a bright future doing 'voice over' work), has released the editors cut of his latest work - 'Chris Hughes and the Highlander'. The premier of this short comedy clip of the weekends exploits is available now at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgPA0h1ReAI

Training during the past 2 weeks has been good. Spending most weekdays working in Bristol at present but still able to run mornings and evenings. Keeping the postman busy delivering the final essentials on the kit list. Planning two days of sled pulling this last of 2 weekends before heading to the race on Monday 16th March. I'm sure to get some strange looks as I pull the sled along the local beach...

Sunday 15th Feb 09 - Had a good training week although travel with work did ristrict some of my plans. Did an off road 20 miler on Saturday morning which went well. My wife Lucy did her first 5km race in Preston on the Sunday in a great time - well done! More kit purchases this week, I'm going to keep the Arctic grade gloves from ebay even if they do look a little large..(as modelled by my eldest!)

Wed 4th Feb - Myself and Iain drive to Aviemore in the highlands to camp in a layby towards the ski area that we have used in the past. When we arrived at 2am the road out of Aviemore was covered in 6" of snow so we had no choice to sleep in the car in Aviemore!

Thursday 5th Feb - Snow ploughs had part cleared the road to the ski area but the gate was closed half way up. We parked up and set off up the road with sleds in tow 4 miles from our intended start point.

We had kit packed for 2 days in the hills in bad weather but it soon became evident that there was no point in leaving the snow covered road. Good training was had up to the the ski car park but off the tarmac 2 feet (!) of powder snow made progress close to impossible. A return to the car completed our 4 hr training outing, the sledges being destroyed on the return journey as the ploughs had all but cleared the road.

Many lessons learnt. The 2 sleds that we had purposely designed and built the attachment and towing system differently to check their performance had both worked very well.

2 large coffees later we checked in to a hotel and headed out for food and a few beers.


Friday 6th Feb - Following a quick visit to a remote graveyard in the Rothymurcus estate on route to our start point to visit the grave of the first Shaw (Ians great, great... grandfather from the 1200's). We parked up at the North end of a long low lying valley in the hope that the snow would be less deep, it had snowed another 5" overnight in what is the most snow fallen in many years. I parked the car on the edge of the road to give us the best chance of getting back to Aviemore if the snow continued to fall, we hoped the ploughs would keep the road open.

Conditions were superb and the going good. The route followed a river and meandered South in to the Western Cairngorms. Iain left his sled behind and I towed our kit and food. All kit performed well and I was able to cover several miles in both the micro spick's on the frozen road section and then the racing snow-shoes as we climbed further in to the hills.

We hoped to visit a local Bothy or stone shelter for lunch but a snow covered part collapsed bridge prevented that. A very good day out, 16 miles in 6 hours.

The weekend continued well with 2 days with my brothers in Edinburgh to watch the 6 Nations international Rugby in Edinburgh.