Great question. I just bought a pair of Norda, it’s early days, but they are great. There was nothing wrong with the Altra Mont Blanc though, so at this point I’d say the Altra’s.

@@rob_joines thanks. From what I have read, it looks like a pair of shoes that can handle mud and rocks, but also is quite a runnable shoe for large parts of the course is essential.

I struggled on the final decent with what felt like a stress fracture in my right foot. But after the race it turned out to be that my foot had swollen and the shoe was causing pressure. Mostly the decents were pretty friendly.

I’ve only heard great things about that race. Hope the training goes well 🤙🏼

Thank you 🤙🏼

Appreciate the comment, thank you. And I hope you enjoy your racing, it’s an awesome adventure 🤙🏼

That’s awesome! Best of luck with your ultra 🤙🏼

To be honest, the entire race was a beautiful place to run. But yes, the Tarawera Forest was spectacular.

Yeah, it’s a unique course with the boat ride, it’s about a mile boat ride, but obviously not counted as part of the 100 miles 😂🤙🏼

Haha 😂😂😂

You’re always welcome to come over and crew again at CCC in 2025 😄🤙🏼

Thanks Jim, I appreciate the support 🤙🏼

Thank you! Cheers! It’s a wonderful country to run in.

@@rob_joines Many more beautiful places. Would like to see through your video. 🤍

New Zealand is awesome for beautiful scenery, Dave.

It was a night race, I think it was pretty mild, around 9°C 🤙🏼

Awesome, I hope you’ve enjoyed the training, best of luck on the day 🤙🏼

Cheers Dave

Everyone loves the views 🤙🏼

Doesn’t get cold enough to just stand outside here in the UK 🇬🇧😂

Hi, I prefer to stay near the finish, as less time to travel once the I’ve finished the race. You pick your race bib up near the finish line, so generally speaking it’s easier to stay near the finish. But you could stay near the start, but you’d need to get to the finish line area to collect your bib. I rented an Airbnb in town, it was great. Definitely recommend the race, it’s fantastic.

I’ve ran 2X 100k that has 1000m elevation. This was the toughest. The terrain, especially the boulder fields were hard to navigate, especially in the dark. The flooding/puddles were deep in places too.

Very tasty too. Not my normal pre race meal, but had about 10 hours until the race started. 10pm race start was a new one for me, so no real experience on what to eat that early in the day.

Yeah, I enjoy a bit of scenery too, CCC was spectacular for that. It was a different type of scenery, being able to see head torches in the distance and the lights all along the coast was fun too. Just couldn’t see it all that well on the GoPro.

Thanks. Very frustrating when I played the footage back and there was no sound, but did the best I could with what I had. 🤙🏼

Thank you 🤙🏼

Cheers Gary 🤙🏼

Yep, that’s my plan. Hard though as it was a night race, so not a lot of great footage to talk over, was more about getting my “in race” reactions/feelings. But hey 🤷🏼‍♂️ nothing I can do, but adjust the plan 🤙🏼

Thank you ☺️😘

🤣🤣🤣

Cheers Matt 🤙🏼

Wow, that sounds cold!! I’ve not had the pleasure of running in snow, or really cold conditions yet. Tomorrow should be a great run, thank you 🤙🏼

Thanks Dave 🤙🏼

I’ll give it my best shot. The Kullamannen race starts at 10pm, so will be very dark/hard to record. But I’ll have the GoPro and I’ll see how it comes out. A race review video for sure. 🤙🏼

100% agree!! I’ve tried plenty of different chocolate milks, this is the best by far. Not the cheapest, but definitely worth every penny.

Cheers Paul, ribs are all better now thanks 🤙🏼

Thank you, I really appreciate the support 🤙🏼

No point in having a camera if you can’t film yourself making coffee 😂😂

I’ve heard stories of people trying for years to get into the race. I only had one running stone, so was lucky. I didn’t get in on the initial draw, I was on the waitlist, and then got a place from there. It’s the first year they’ve done the running stones collection, but like all ballots, it’s simply the luck of the draw.

Wow! Must have felt great receiving the mail that you were in!

Yeah, definitely. But also meant a lot of accommodations were gone too, so very few reasonable priced places to choose from.

There are no drop bags for CCC. But you can have assistance at the aid stations in Champax Lac, Trient and Vallorcine. My Mum was at the aid stations as my crew with the gels and tailwind etc for me. But also, the aid stations are so well stocked, you could easily just run without any extra nutrition to carry.

Awesome mum! Thanks for the info, Rob.

Hi Mike, tailwind is basically my electrolyte and hydration strategy. But I also run with salt sticks too, just in case it’s a bit hotter and I feel cramping coming on, they are my backup plan. But it’s all based on my own experiences, I’ve not done any sweat tests or anything like that to get a more accurate understanding. I also don’t suffer cramping very often in races either. 🤙🏼

Always a pleasure, thanks for engaging, I really appreciate it 🤙🏼

Hi, thanks for the comments. Previously I’ve run a few ultras, I ran the Kullamannen 50k in Sweden last year and Race to the Stones 100K in 2021 & 22. I’ve also run UltraX Scotland 125 (now 110) and England 125 (now also 110) in 2022 which all contributed to my Index Score. In terms of longest run, my previous 100K races took me about 10hrs 30min, so at that stage of the race I had been running for over 11hrs (should have clarified for a better understanding).

Definitely wasn’t a training run, just didn’t go as I had planned. I think I can definitely go much faster next time I have a crack at it, possibly in 2025.

@@rob_joines Thanks ! definitely you should do CCC second time! From my own experience I must say, that second CCC is way much better and easier to run as the first one :)

Yes, I learnt so much on this run, my first mountain ultra, steep learning curve, but great lessons learnt.

Cheers Rafael.

Yep, it definitely is.

Thanks Gary. It’s an amazing race. Definitely recommend adding it to everyone’s list of race to run.

Cheers Matt. The views made the race, it was amazing. Planning the next video shortly, appreciate the support 🤙🏼