Back to the Funruns

An exhausted team of three runners are bivouacing in a mountain cave during a thunderstorm in the middle of PTL. By a stroke of luck, they find a magic lamp under a rock there. A genie appears, granting each of them one wish.

The first runner says, 'I'm done. I wish to get back home.' Wish granted.

The second runner says, 'I'm injured. I wish to go to the hospital.' Wish granted.

The third runner says, 'It feels so lonely now, I wish my teammates were still with me here.' Wish granted.

PTL team Les Köykäset (FIN) enjoying a snack at Cabane FXB Panossière (2641m) in Switzerland last week.

I spent last week following the Finnish PTL team Les Köykäset. I really admire the way they seemed to be able to relax and have fun in the midst of challenges presented by this toughest UTMB event. PTL is not a race (teams are listed alphabetically in the results), but there are certain time limits.

Having fun recently in my hood by hunting berries by the big boulders.

Every ultratrailer dreams of completing this unmarked 300km course (which changes every year) around Mont Blanc once in a lifetime. If I ever get the chance to participate, I wish to be able to enjoy the journey like messieurs Mäkelä, Kolehmainen and Skinnari did. Well done lads.

Time to fly! Testing if my Hokas can do what they claim. They did.

The guy who rescued me with his car in Swiss Irontrail earlier this month told me, 'It's not fun to be out there'. I agreed, as I felt dreadful and my DNF seemed inevitable. This made me think of how much fun I used to have when I discovered running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, ultrarunning, trailrunning and climbing all those years ago. I decided to focus on finding that fun again in my training and racing. No more paincaves for me, thank you.

No more paincaves for me. This WW1 cave in Helsinki was actually fun to explore today.

Let's have some fun out there! See you on the trails and mountains.