It sounds bloody ridiculous because I’ve never done a 100 yet but yes I am. Or at least getting entered and see what happens.
I truly am an idiot. 
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Nice - I managed 3 out of 4 but my fitness was on a steady decline over the summer and was just in no kind of shape to even think of doing A100 that year - surprising the amount of cumulative fatigue that builds up I think without realising
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Yes, I can imagine that. Plus, am I right in thinking that A100 is a 28hr cut off?
Yep - logistically the easiest event of the 4 as you get to keep returning to the base after every 25 miles to attend to socks, shirt, shoes etc, but the easiest one to give up on and the weather can either be very nice or utter rubbish
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I’ll get a taste of it this year, as I’m volunteering at an aid station for over 10hrs to get a free slot next year. I’ve nominated North Stoke but not confirmed yet.
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NDW100 - in 
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Well, looks my plans for a free entry to A100 have been scuppered. Volunteers for this year’s race are oversubscribed (there’s only a few slots for the 10hr plus shift that get you an entry).
Will have to wait for the entries to open sometime in Nov I guess. on the plus side, I get my weekend back. 
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Yesterday I did Trail Run Einsedeln. This is the second time I have done the race, last year it was my first ever Ultra Race
The course is 54km and covers 3300m of elevation. Last year we had snow, this year, we had temperatures of up to 28 degrees and winds in excess of 70kph
I felt good at the start and was keeping up with the lead group of runners. The first 32km is mostly climbing, and I was seeing the benefits of my current level of fitness. I was in a battle for 2nd place for 10kms, ultimately the pace was too hot and I eased off. I was then in a battle for 3rd place, pulling ahead on the climbs and losing a bit of ground on the short descents. However, when we came to the first big descent I got dropped. I then stopped to top up my water and take some food, by which time 3rd and 4th were out of sight. 6th and 7th place were close behind, but a pulled out a big lead on the next climb. Then I got slightly lost. The route went through a wilderness, with no paths, somehow I missed a pink marker. I realised that I had missed a turn and had to retrace my steps and I lost around 10 minutes. The guys chasing me were just ahead, as we came to a 30% descent for 2km… There is no way in the world that I could stay even close, the 2 people flew down the slope, leaping and bounding over rocks and giant steps. I was going faster than I was comfortable with, constantly fearing taking a massive fall or breaking an ankle. For the next 10km I could see the pair about 10 mins ahead, I think I was closing on them on the final big climb, Unfortunately there was another 30% descent and I lost even more time.
I ended up coming in 8th place, 8 minutes behind 6th and 5 mins ahead of 9th place.
I drank about 8L of water and my black shirt was almost white with salt by the time I finished. The Outward leg was into a head wind, and some of the ridges were hairy, I also had problems keeping control of my poles as the wind kept catching them. On the return leg it was mostly a tail wind, which was nice on the climbs, but didn’t provide much cooling
26 mins faster than last year, but it is difficult to compare as conditions were so different. I certainly felt that I was pushing much harder this year. Ironically, I think that the descents were faster in the snow, this year the ground was rock hard, and my hips took an absolute battering, I’ve also got a sore ankle today
Next up is Saintelyon, 156km on 27/28 November
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Sounds brutal. I always say I’ll cope with any conditions but nothing winds me up more than a block headwind when they just don’t relent!
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To be fair, you don’t do a trail run in the Alps and not expect it to be brutal
…in fact I don’t think I have read any reports on this thread that haven’t contained some degree of Brutality
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Great work @Matthew_Spooner
The climbs/descents looked pretty tough on the Strava profile
The next race at 156km sounds like a toughie
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Saintelyon is one of the largest events in Europe. 6000 runners run 78km from Saint Etienne to Lyon, starting at midnight on 28 November. However, for the hard core, around 300 runners start the day before in Lyon at 9am, run to St Etienne, rest for a couple of hours then run back to Lyon.
Since the run from Lyon to St Etienne is non contested, the idea is that you run at a leisurely pace. Last year the overall winner of the “race” did the run from Lyon to St Etienne first
The organisers make a nice gesture towards the people doing the 156km run and they start with the Pro’s, apparently this makes a big difference as the ground gets really churned up after 6000 runners have passed through
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All (or majority) off road/trail?
Its 2/3 on trails. However, I gather that the trails are not so technical… a hight run with 6000 people on technical trails would be a nightmare
Sad to see that a runner died en route in MdS yesterday.
That’s very sad. I had not realised MdS was on, it’s not a race I follow at all.
The drop out rate is very high this year. As of yesterday, only day 3, nearly 30%. Normally around 10% in total. Its quite hot, hotter than previous years, but not the hottest ever so not sure as to why so many have dropped out
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Not having trained properly after the 20 version being canned? That’s based on absolutely nothing BTW.
This is what I was saying to my wife and also maybe the fact that its in October rather than spring. Again just guessing 
If only I knew was to come
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JLwUSFkHED_ozO81L-5We1VzE02UB1KP
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