Fastpacking the TMB Day 1 Les Houches to Refuge de la Balme

mountains in the distance on Day 1 of the TMB route from Les Houches to Refuge de la Balme

Our “Fastpacking the TMB in 5 days” journey started at Les Houche. This post covers our adventure on TMB Day 1 Les Houches to Refuge de la Balme. We flew in to Geneva from Bristol airport the day before, and stayed overnight in Gîte Michel Fagot, just a few steps away from the official starting … Read more

Post Ultra Symptoms | the effects of endurance events on the body and mind

Kilometer 317 of 322 km had just ticked over. I was in the final leg of the beastly Wild Horse 200 South Wales race). Having just barely evaded a bad case of hyponotremia (16km earlier), I now found myself in an adrenalin induced ‘sprint finish’. Somehow I was running the fastest splits of the entire … Read more

Fastpacking the TMB (Tour du Mont Blanc) in 5 Days

Fastpacking the TMB splendid views over Mont Blanc

Last year I was invited to join 3 friends on an adventure of a lifetime – fastpacking the TMB over 5 days. Having spent time in Courmayeur last year, hiking and running the trails around there, fastpacking the TMB quickly became a bucket list item for me. It was a massive coincidence and simultaneous blessing … Read more

Rollin’ 100 miles around the hills of Shropshire

The Rollin’ 100 is a newly introduced one hundred mile ultra marathon (Runningmonk Trail Events), taking place in and around the hills of Shropshire, a county which borders both England and Wales. 2025 was the event’s inaugural year, and I was really excited to run it, not having run in these hills before. However earlier … Read more

Home made running gel recipes

home made running gel ingredients

Over the past year or so, whilst browsing various running-related subreddits (online communities on the reddit.com website), I’ve noted a number of recipes for home made running gels and nutrition that I wanted to try to make for myself. Recently I noticed the lifetime spend on my xmiles account (the place I order most of … Read more

Keurbooms River and Whiskey Creek Cabin

Keurbooms River kayaking

We recently did an overnight trip with the kids, paddling up Keurbooms river from the coast to ‘Whiskey Creek Cabin’. Keurbooms river (Keurboomsrivier as its also known in Afrikaans) is in the Western Cape, South Africa. It flows in a roughly South-east direction, with it’s outlet feeding into the Indian Ocean near the coastal town … Read more