Vale Of Clwyd Half Marathon

Since arriving back in the Uk I have been looking around at new events that I hadn't raced before, and as you can imagine there wasn't much left for 2014 as we was quickly approaching December but a quick ask on Facebook and a good friend of mine Paul Brooks mentioned a Half Marathon in Denbigh what was a relatively new race on the scene.

I had actually forgot about the race till the afternoon on the day before. After a quick email to sort entries and a lift from Ruth sorted both myself and Gem was good to go the next morning.  Race morning was a little chilly but dry and crisp (perfect running conditions) on arriving at the venue there was a slight spit of rain in the air but thought nothing of it... 5 minutes to go before start we all stood on the start line and the heavens opened up not only with rain but heavy hail! That moment it finally hit me that I was racing back in Wales and not in Canada, Hawaii or Australia like I had been doing for the last 12 months.  But to be honest I do enjoy the tougher weather as it makes it more of a challenge and ultimately more satisfactory once finished.

10:00am and we were off, I decided that I would try and go with the leading group of runners from the start to try and get a feeling for the race as I had been away so long many of the faces I didn't recognise.. There was soon a group of 4 runners (including me) off the front of the field battling into the driving hail was what coming down at the time. 2km into the race 2 of the 4 runners dropped back a little what left myself and a North Wales Road Runner (Martin Green) to race it out. Now I did know of Martin and how well he was running recently so I decided to try and stick with him and go on when I felt I could.. This moment come sooner than I thought! We was just approaching the 4km  mark and I was feeling really good and decided to make a break for it up a climb where I thought I can use my strengths here to hopefully break away. 2nd place did come up the climb behind me but I had decided to kick again on reaching the top what gave me a little gap away from Martin. Everyone who runs can relate to this but as soon as I broke away the first thing I thought was 'I'm along way from the finish and now alone" but I think with doing all the Ultra running my mind has become stronger and I continued to push on hard to try and get away as much as possible just in case my legs gave up the ghost further down the line as I hadn't really been running with speed for a very long time!!

The KM's passed by and I was still working hard, fortunately by this time the hail had stopped and the sun was trying to come through. I contiuned to chase the lead car what was out in front down the course, mentally I used this to my advance thinking to myself it was a lead runner I was working to catch.. As I went through 16km (10 Miles) at 57 minutes I knew then that I was running well and still felt strong, not enough to go quicker but well enough to maintain my pace to the finish what should of seen me come in around 1:15ish! The final 5km of the course did actually slow me down a little as a few more hills appeared from somewhere and my legs started to feel a little sluggish but by this time I was determined not to loose the lead.

As I approached the village of Llandyrnog where the start and finish of the race took place the sun was nice and warm and I was still working for that 1:15 finish time, a run down the road and a sharp turn into the finish I crossed the line in 1:15: 59 just in within the time I wanted.. I was pleased to have held on and finished in my time frame, JUST! Topped off with finding out I had broke the course record from the previous years too! The afternoon just got better too as Gem come over the line in a new personal best of 1:31.

Race Splits from my Suunto Ambit 3 Peak

Thanks to Joe and the guys/volunteers for putting on a great little race and to Ruth for taking us and her support. And that finishes off my year of racing till January 2015.. I'm looking forward to over eat and get fat for the rest of the year :-)

Thanks for following and reading.  Race director report below:
Paul x

High Terrain Events - Ultra Trail Running Weekend 21st-23 Nov.

Over the weekend of 21st - 23rd of November I got the pleasure to be apart of High Terrain Events Ultra Trail Running weekend. For anybody into trail running I'd fully recommend looking out for next years camps. The fun all started as Ian, Emily from High Terrain Events and my self headed down to the Derwentwater Hostel in Keswick to get set up on Friday afternoon before our runners started to turn up late afternoon. Our itinerary for the Friday afternoon was as follows: 

Once everyone had arrived including Simon who is also part of the High Terrain Events team we had a great range of Salomon running shoes/apparel and Petzl head torches for everyone to try on our first trail run of the weekend. With many of the runners not ever had an opportunity to run on trails they were thrown right with a head torch night run along the trails of Derwentwater Lake towards Keswick. This evenings running route had a good mixture of single file trails, muddy tracks, lake crossings and rocky paths, the weather was very kind to us for Keswick. After a good little 7km to loosen everyone legs off from travelling I held the next part of our weekend talking and presenting equipment and kit selection for ultra running with a questions and answers session after where it was interesting to see what every one used and favourite bits of kit was.. Following our first class room session we all got tucked into a well deserved evening meal at the hostel. The food here was amazing and lot of selections for everyone from soups, fish to sticky toffee puddings! Our evening session was all about planning and training for an ultra run. My self, Phil Smith and Ricky Lightfoot had put an example of our training programs together for everyone to see and discuss, we had a good discussion on the different types or training, how everyones plans can often vary for different reason and how do you train for an ultra marathon whilst juggling a working and family life on top. I felt we all learnt something from each other and picked up many hints and tips to use for our future training plans. 

Route profile for our Friday evenings run. 

Saturday morning started off with a huge breakfast buffet spread for everyone and a brief break down on the plans for the day. After breakfast we had a great morning session on core stability & conditioning for runners from Phil before heading out along a great little trail along the Derwentwater  Lake before taking the group through a few key warm up sessions at the furthest point of the lake. The group got to see and learn how to warm up their muscles up and prepare on race morning before starting their future races. This mornings weather was very intermittent between sunny spells and rainy showers.. Again the group got the opportunity to see what the lakeland trails had to offer! We quickly started to climb up the trail towards Cat bells and many of the runners started to find out exactly what trail running was all about with the different terrain and gradients what you can cycle through a day on the trails. Half way up the climb myself and Phil showed many demonstrations on how to run up hill with different techniques including with or with our poles and advise for the whole group to take on board and try out along the way. 

What we was rewarded with after our climb up from the lake side...

Phil taking everyone through some exercises.. 

 On reaching the top of our climb we had an awesome view down the valley of the sun trying to break through the clouds. With many runners traveling up from the south of England for the weekend they were amazed at some of joys and views we got to witness along the way what made everyone more excited to learn more and see more of the trail running we had planned for them. 

Running into the sunlight! 

Shortly after reaching our highest point of the day we made our way across the tops through bogs and stream crossings before descending through the Rigghead Quarries onto a section of the High Terrain Events Scafell Pike Marathon race route were we gave the group a shorter and longer option back to our accommodation. Simon lead the small group what decided to head back along the lower trails whilst myself and the rest of the team took the rest of the group down to Rosthwaite and along the High Terrain Events Borrowdale race route back through Watendlath and along the river side trail back towards Keswick. It was clear by the smiles and happy vibe amongst the group that many had really enjoyed the route and trails what High Terrain had put together for the days route. On return to the hostel many were actually shocked at our total distance just being over the 21km mark as they had felt they had covered much more distance. It was only when we explained that the 3700 ft of ascent involved in the route it soon come clear why everyones legs were hurting and the call out for lunch was much welcomed by the group. 

A great technical descent for the group to play on!

Route profile of Saturday's run.

There is always one! (Usually always me) Why take the easy option..?? 

Saturdays afternoon was packed full of hints and tips as we covered ultra endurance nutrition/hydration and training in a little more depth with Phil running through his usual training programs and how plans don't always go to plan! The group of runners were great with interacting and asking questions on various aspects of ultra running training and racing. After a short little break we headed out on a second night time head torch run up Walla Crag what was a great challenging little run up after a tough day on the fells of the Lake District but everyone enjoyed the near perfect night we had with stars overhead and a clear view over Keswick from the top. We had a great 'peaceful' moment on the summit where we all turned off our head torches and just embraced the outdoors and that moment of pure silence! 

Making our way up Walla Crag..

After a nice 6km with just over a 1000ft of ascent we headed back to the hostel for our evening dinner where we were greeted by Salomon International athlete Ricky Lightfoot for his evening talk with a questions and answer session for the whole group. We had a great insight to what it takes to be a top athlete and how Ricky now balances his training around his working and family life. It was good to see how everyone suddenly realised that a great training program can be fitted in around a busy lifestyle and how everyone took something away from Ricky's talk. Leaning from one of the best athletes in the country is not something everyone gets the privilege to do. This was a great touch by High Terrain Events to arrange this for the runners who were along on the weekends camp. 

Saturday evenings run profile.

Hints and tips from Ricky Lightfoot on ultra and trail running

Sunday morning once again started with a superb breakfast from Derwentwater Hostel and followed by a core stability exercise class with resistant bands from Phil Smith before Ricky lead the group up along the trails towards Bleaberry Fell where we had a few navigational exercises for the runners who wanted to try their hands at navigating around the Lakeland Fells. We crossed a great variety of underfoot conditions including rocky trails to boggy ditches where all the runners got to practise what they had learnt over the weekend on the fells. Just before we reached the summit of Bleaberry, myself and Ricky took the group through techniques on how to ascent and descend on the mountains/fells the most efficient and effected way. We reached the summit and following a few pictures we started descending of the back through some great boggy terrain and up towards the summit of High Seat. 

Runners enjoying the climb up on Sundays run.

Every one wondering if it's safe to follow Ricky or just check the map once more..

On reaching the summit of High Seat the sun had just started to shine through and make the day even more perfect for us all. The sky had started to clear and the smiles from everyone were greater! 

High Seat summit group picture before descending down towards Watendlath

The descend was a cracker! We had a great variety of fast technical descents to waist deep bogs what many of people ending up in.. Finishing off the weekend with a really enjoyable run was just what everyone needed to top of a great weekend in the Lake District organised by High Terrain Events.. The final few km's of Sunday's were once again along the superb single file trail back along the river into the back of the Hostel. The location of our accommodation was just perfect to access the trails and fells within the surrounding area... 

Runners making their way through the bogs on the descent into Watendlath.

Making our way over the tops.

Overall the weekend was a huge success and the information/hints and tips gained was priceless! I know I will personally look forward to next years trail weekend and many other events that Ian and Emily from High Terrain Events organise through out the year. A huge thanks to Ian, Emily, Simon, Phil, Ricky and all the runners for a brilliant weekend of real trail running! 

Sundays run profile.. 

For anyone looking for some great trail and ultra races next year, check out High Terrain Events race calendar below: 

• 29th of March - Buttermere 10mile Trail Race
• 26th of April - Kielder Ultra 50/80/100km (UTMB Qualifying Race 100k only) 
• 7th of June - Borrowdale Trail Race 13/21km 
• 7th of June - Scafell Pike Trail Marathon
• 4th of October - 3 x 3000 Ultra Trail 80km (UTMB Qualifying Race) 
• 18th of October - Ennerdale Trail Race 10/25/50km  

More info and details can be found on http://www.highterrainevents.co.uk or follow them on Facebook at 'High Terrain Events' and Twitter on @HiTerrainevents

See many other pictures of the weekend here: 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gklcfdd3m8pd5rv/AABRKgSjlbcpEEZhJsAMJ_Lba?dl=0

Thanks for reading as always

Paul 

Breathtaking views on our descent into Watendlath. 

(All pictures are the property of either myself or supplied by High Terrain Events)

From Singapore 50km to Snowdonia Marathon...

It's been a little while since I put up a race report due to a bit of travelling and actually only doing 2 events. 11th of Oct saw me race in this years TNF50 in Singapore! A place I had always wanted to go and visit and what better way to then race whilst there... The race was based in MacRitchie Reservoir, I had been a few days before to check part of the course out and to see what it felt like to run in 35+ degrees with 90% humidity and what an experience that was! 

Kit at the ready...

Race morning saw me set of slowly and try and work my way into the race as I knew the humidity would be killing me slowly.. Over the course of the race I had drank just over 7L of water, which was the most I had ever consumed during a race. Throughout the race I got to experience all kind of wildlife from wild monkeys, snakes, frogs, rats and a load of butterfly's what made this a stand out event for me in terms of an 'experience'. The trails around there where amazing, it had a great mixture from smooth fast running trails to super technical running routes along the way. I really enjoyed the race and managed to finish in 13th after 5 hours 18 minutes of racing along some very hot trails! For everyone wanting something a little different this race is well worth a entry, this event also offers a 100km route but I felt that the with the heat and humidity that this might of been a step too much after not training at all for the 5 weeks before due to hiking out in the Himalayas.

TNF50 Start..

2 weekends later was time to toe the start line of a race that I had watch and followed for years but just never managed to get to the event. This event was a must do event in my home country Wales! Everyone who had raced this event only had good words regarding the event from organisation to supporters along the way. Yep it was the Snowdonia Marathon in North Wales. I was very excited to get the chance to race this year and it would also be my homecoming race after two years away racing around the world... But of course nothing goes 100% to plan, the morning before the event I had woken up at 4:30am violently sick not really sure why but it didn't stop there. I spent the next 7 hours of the day being sick and sat on the toilet with diarrhoea and of course loosing all fuel and fluids I had stored for tomorrows marathon. The biggest problem I had was I couldn't even eat or drink anything else to top things back up! I hadn't been 100% right since being so ill in Nepal but I had already refused to let it stop me racing the next day! I managed to get a small portion of plain pasta down just before going to sleep the night before and again a small bowl of porridge but my stomach was still moving like a washing machine on it's final spin.... On reaching Llanberis it gave me a little positivity at being 'home' and racing on Welsh ground again and seeing many friends and fellow runners after being away for the last few years.. 

10:30am sharp we were off along some of the most breathtaking roads in Wales, I set off  with a little pace as I figured that I didn't really have any fuel or fluid in me and if I could get as far down the road as possible before the body gave in it would hopefully make things a little easier having a shorter distance left to race. I felt very weak in my self but the mind was strong and focused to get around what ever it took. On passing mile 11 it all started to go wrong!! Again I was sick on the side of the road and lost what fuel and fluid I had inside me completely I did think at this point it was going to be a long way. But I wasn't ready to give up just yet! I continued along this amazing route at a downward spiral speed but was taking each mile as it come. It quickly become very much a jog - walk for me as I just had no energy to keep running even at a very slow pace and I quickly started to drop further an further down the field.. 20 mile come round and Gem my girlfriend came by my side and she looked so fresh! After a little discussion she went off and left me in her dust (not what she wanted to do, but I had told her to keep going!) soon after I was sick once again and was really struggling at this point, but this kind of route was just full of breathtaking views what was inspiring me to continue and get to that finish line..! After a very very long 4 hours 20 minutes I finally crossed the finish line with an instant thought in my mind "I will come back and race again!" the course was always going to be a slower race due to the nature of the course but I unfortunately lost nearly an hour and 30 minutes slower than my usual marathon times... 

Course profile.. 

To be apart of such a great race was amazing, the support, views, organisations was all perfect! I will be back one year to race this amazing route and hopefully run a little quicker :-) 

Thanks again to everyone who takes the time to follow and support me along my adventures. 

Much appreciated

Paul x 

Everest Base Camp via Gokyo and Chola Pass...

The amazing postcard views....

Prior warning to everyone before we start this is going to be a long one! Here's a breakdown of our trip with Advanced Adventures to Everest Base Camp via Chola Pass... 

On our first day with the company we were met from our current hotel that we had been staying at by our trekking guide Sudip and transferred to our new hotel which the company uses which happened to be where Marie was already staying, we dropped our bags off and then the three of us went to Advanced Adventures HQ where we met Keshav the managing director and had a briefing of what we would be doing each day of the trek and we were given the opportunity to ask any questions on the whole we didn't really ask much as Keshav and Sudip were both really informative, Marie was quite nervous as she was facing quite a few of her fears during the trek so this helped reassure her. Once we had finished at the office the rest of the day was free for us before we met back up in the evening to go out for dinner. Sudip had informed us that if you were over 15kg at the airport (this is either one bag or main and hand luggage ) you will be charged so me and Paul spent the afternoon reevaluating our previous packing to ensure that we were under to avoid charges. 

For dinner we were taken to a local restaurant where we sampled local cuisine whilst listening to local music and watching ethnic dancing. We enjoyed the evening and me and Paul admitted it wouldn't of been something we would of probably done on our own.    
Friends reunited... 
The next morning we spent sightseeing around Kathmandu as we had already been in Nepal for a couple of weeks already we had already visited most of the places on the list but it was a good chance for Marie to get up to date as she had only arrived a couple days ago. Included on the trip was Durbar Square, Swoyambhunath Stupa , Boudhanath Stupa temple we again got to see lots of wild monkeys (starting to become a running theme). The rest of the day was spent relaxing and catching an early night as it was an early wake up the next morning to catch our flight to Lukla.   
The garden of dreams, Kathmandu.
Day three Is the day where the fun really began our alarm was set for 4:00 am and we left the hotel at 4:50am to travel to the airport where we were booked on the first flight out to Lukla at six thirty am. A couple things to note there are no set rules for this flights the airport was suppose to open at five thirty, it opened quarter on hour late for no apparent reason. Once the door was open it was like free fall everyman for themselves with everyone trying to push in which is quite frustrating but seems to be the norm and totally except able so had to bite my tongue ha! When we got our bags weighed I was 14.7kg and Paul was roughly the same between his bag and the camera so we both managed to scrape under which we were happy about , Marie wasn't so lucky and got charged just over five hundred Rupees I think she was about 6kg over. The plane was a very similar size to what me and Paul skydived out of a few months ago, everyone got a window seat which was pretty cool. It's a thirty five minute flight from Kathmandu (4428ft) to Lukla (9184ft) which also is one of the worlds most dangerous airports with the end of the runway there is a mountain so there is no room for error. We arrived safe and sound and here is where we met Chrisna , Marie personal porter. Me and Paul had agreed from day one that we were to carry our own gear from start to finish and we were going to do it without taking any altitude tablets. We had breakfast in Lukla before starting our trek to Phakding (8659ft) where we would be staying overnight. This was a pretty short day to break us in gently the terrain was quite rolling so nothing to strenuous , this was our first encounters of many of Prayer rocks which you always walk to the left of for respect to the locals and their beliefs. We got to Phakding for lunch and afterwards we walked up to a local monarchy before heading back down to the village to sleep.  
Just a 'normal' view from our plane
  
Going into land, that is the full runway!!! 
Day four saw us hike to Namche (11283ft) which is known as the gateway of the Himalayas and the biggest village of the whole trip. After breakfast we followed the trail down to our first suspension bridge of the day (bad news for both Marie and Paul who aren't keen on them, but they both handled them like pros) and then we followed the trail uphill to where we entered Sagarmath National Park after here we had to then go back down to the river and cross another suspension bridge before following the trail back up to cross the high Hilary Bridge , the original (old) bridge is below and unused now as it has become unsafe. The trail then keeps on climbing all the way up to Namache Bazzar, on this portion of the climb on a clear day you are able to see Everest and the surrounding Peaks but unfortunately for us it was overcast so became our first failed attempt of viewing Mt. Everest. When we arrived at Namache we were greeted with no power they were having work done and it had over ran so the whole of the town was still in darkness. This became our first proper use of our head torches and the last place we will have a shower in our room until we visit here on the way down.    
World Famous Hilary Bridge..
  

Views had just started to come through!

Day five saw us stay at Namache to acclimatise. After breakfast we walked up to the abandoned airport where Hilary's wife and child were killed and subsequently the closure of the airport before visiting the highest hotel in the world Everest View Hotel which is Japanese based . With the weather still bring overcast we got a little glimpse of Mt. Lhotse but it became our second failed attempt of viewing Mt. Everest. The rest of the day we were left to our own devises so me and Paul took this as an opportunity to go for a run as we had never been this high before . Today also was Marie's (and my Mums) Birthday so we went to for a celebratory drink at the local pub and Sudip made Marie a chocolate Birthday Cake which we all tucked into for pudding after tea.   
Gem making her way up a long climb...
  
Paul enjoying a little rest after reaching the top first.
Day six saw us trek to Dole (13,385ft) to path is a gradual up and down to start with before the path splits into two the Trekkers doing just base camp continue on where as we were going via Gokyo lakes and the Chola Pass so we via to the left. We walked down to Phortse Thanga where we had our lunch before walking up to Dole. Today became our third failed attempt at viewing Mt. Everest and during the latter stages of hike for the day it began to rain and later on that evening became torrential . We all arrived in good spirits for Marie to turn unwell in the evening luckily for her there was some doctors staying at the same tea house so she got all medicined up before we called it an early night.

  
Perfectly timed shot by Paul..!

The next morning we woke up and Marie was still feeling unwell so Sudip decided that we would stay on in Dole for the morning to let her rest and reevaluate the situation later on. During this time I started with an upset stomach so I decided to go and try and sleep it off and Paul feeling great decided to go for a run, he ran up to 14000ft which is a new high for him and really enjoyed his run up in the mountains. Around midday Marie came down and even tho she hadn't been ill that morning she hadn't been able to eat anything and was feeling very weak and asked Sudip to call in for a helicopter evacuation as she felt she could no longer continue on. Me and Paul were sad that Marie had chosen to leave but respected her wishes. Due to Marie decision we had to stay in Dole that night and the helicopter would come collect her early the next morning so we made the most of our last evening together.   
Just stunning views in every direction around Dole..!
The next morning we set our alarm extra early at quarter to five in the morning to help Marie pack up her bags as the helicopter was due to pick up at six am due to a fatal accident emergency in the mountains down the valley the helicopter was delayed at did not arrive until eight am, we also lost Christna has he left with Marie in the helicopter to Kathmandu hospital. I was feeling a bit weak from the day before so Paul being a gentleman took most of the weight out of my pack for our hike up to Machharmo (14435ft) he had roughly 25kg and I had around 5kg. As fate would have it Paul started to feel unwell during the walk , I had my fingers crossed it was going to be a twenty four hour scenario like mine had seemed to have been, luckily it wasn't a long walk so we could get to the the guesthouse and Paul could try and rest. Unfortunately Paul got a lot worse and during the night he had fifteen toilet visit as well as being violently sick on six different occasions we also learnt that he is allergic to Imodium.   
Climbing upwards..
 
Very rugged peaks in Nepal!

Every where we looked :-)
This next morning Paul was still unwell. The clouds came in very early this morning. We stayed longer in Machharmo to give Paul some extra time to rest and with being so ill during the night he had no sleep. Due to the reaction to Imodium Paul was given Becto 500 to take which was an antibiotic for the stomach. Paul was determined to hike to Gokyo (15744ft) as planned and wasn't going to let this stop him, so I took as much weight in my pack as I could to help him. It was only a three hour hike but the hardest day for Paul out of the whole trip due to how ill he was. As we all know how strong headed Paul is he was super strong and managed to hike up and across the first and second lake to the third lake which Gokyo is situated. Again being violently sick several times along the way.. But he wasn't giving up! I'm a hundred per cent certain that most wouldn't of been able to of completed the day with how he was and would of had to been evacuated something which Sudip agreed with. Once we got to Gokyo Paul managed to sleep a little, he was still unwell during the rest of the day and evening but the rate of toilet and sickness stops were going down, small victories.    
Waking up to this view was priceless!
 
A rare little local bird!
The next day we had a rest and acclimatisation day around Gokyo. Paul was still unwell but fighting through, so we went for a seven kilometres hike. The original plan was to walk out to the fifth lake where there is a viewing point for Mt. Everest on a clear day but when we got to the fourth lake the weather turned so we decided to turn back. This made it the fourth failed attempt of a view , we had everything crossed that we would get to see it during the duration of the trip. During the hike we got up to the height of 16108ft , so every day me and Paul were achieving new heights :). Once back Paul went to rest and Sudip re routed our trip from originally scheduled to compensate for our missed day from when Marie was ill and not to miss out we had to change where we would be staying from here on out as due to extra day in Dole we were a day behind. This again showed us how professional 'Advance Adventures' are as a company, having experienced guides to do all this on route no problem.  
  
Amazing peaks everywhere.

Exploring around Gokyo Lakes...
Day eleven saw us get up at ten past four and out of the guesthouse by four thirty am to hike to the top of Gokyo Ridge (17660ft) for sunrise which is suppose to offer the best views of the Himalayan mountains and ultimately Mt. Everest so we had everything crossed. The start of our hike up was in head torches for obvious reasons but we only really needed them for the first half hour or so, before it became light enough to see the terrain without assistance. Our wishes were answered we finally got to see Mt.Everest which gave us a huge lift. We spent over an hour at the top taking so many pictures and taking in the breathtaking views. We hiked back down to have breakfast before we left for Thaknak (15649ft). To get to Thaknak requires you to walk across the active Ngozumpa Glacier. Nepal glaciers are a lot more rocky than European ones and the loose rocks made for some negotiations with my ankles but we got there.    
Finally MT EVEREST - south side

Sunrise on Mt Everest!

Summit of Gokyo Ridge...

Making our way across the glacier..


Day twelve was my most challenging day of the trip, we hiked to Lobuche (16210ft) via Chola Pass (17596ft). This saw us leave at six am and would see us hiking for ten hours including lunch at Dzungla. I needed to be helped over the pass as it was very technical so my ankles were having a field day ( for anyone that doesn't know I have hyper flexible joints) and my hands were really feeling the cold even with three gloves on! Got to love poor circulation! The top of the pass saw us at the highest we would reach with our packs on for the whole trip. We started off in sunshine and it later turned to hail/snow luckily it wasn't to heavy. Paul was still feeling unwell so we ended up giving each other morale support to get through the day knowing that the next day was a pack free day and importantly the day we would reach Everest Base Camp helped too.    
Making our way up...

Chola Pass Summit!!!

Paul making his way..

Stunning views down the valley///
Day thirteen was the day we had been working towards and something we had been dreaming about for along time. Lobuche is part of the Khumbu Highway basically the main and post popular route to base camp so there was lots of crowds something that we had avoided up until this point, thankfully. We set off at a fast pass as we wanted to pass and ultimately get ahead of all the big tour groups that ahead of us so we got to Base Camp before the crowds. We followed the ridge of the Khumbu Glacier and got to view Mt. Everest again this time the North side of the peak . We then had to walk onto the Glacier where Base Camp is situated at the end of the valley. We achieved our goal and reached Everest Base Camp (17593ft) before the crowds and it was time to celebrate! Whilst we were there we saw a Korean Expedition attempting Mt. Lhotse which was pretty cool. We were treated to blue skies until it turned cloudy on our return.We stopped for lunch at Gorekshep before heading back down to Lobuche to rest, we were both feeling abit fragile today probably a mixture of altitude and the effort from the day before.
 
Making our way to the end of the valley.

A step closer to the dream!! 

Mt Everest North Side... 

MADE IT..! Everest Base Camp :-) 

Crossing glacier to get to EBC.
The next morning we set off at eight am with the vision to get to Pangboche which Sudip predicted would take us six hours, so a half descent day. We were feeling quite strong descending and we were smashing the time that Sudip had given to us. Sudip had been informing us both that for the last couple days no flights had been going from Lukla which was a bit of a concern. So with this is mind we decided to push on to Namche which were technically suppose to arrive the following day . This would ultimately get us in to Lukla a day early and hopefully increase our chances of getting a flight back to Kathmandu. Today became the biggest day of our trip we covered twenty seven kilometres with a moving time of seven hours two minutes which we are quite proud of! When we got to Namche they had got there power back which meant we had a lovely hot shower the first since leaving Kathmandu. No one would quite believe where we had originated from that morning but you know us we like to be a bit different.   
Stunning peaks everywhere...

Just breathtaking....
The next morning saw the last day hiking as all there was left to do was head down to Lukla and then it was fingers crossed for a flight. The morning was fairly sunny and we kept a good pace up from the previous day I think we all had the bit between our teeth now. It was nice recognising the route from on the way up , I think this helped the time go by. We stopped in Phakding for lunch where we had stayed at the start of our trek before pushing on to Lukla. The weather turned on us and the heavens opened it was quite refreshing and luckily when it started to get heavy we saw the archway that symbolised Lukla. Me and Paul got one and each other hands and ran up the steps and it was high fives all round when we got to the top (and a kiss for me and Paul) we had done it, wahoo! We spent the afternoon relaxing and we informed we had managed to be booked on flights for the next day so the gamble had paid off.   
Gateway to heaven!!

Cool waterfalls along the trails..
We woke up the next morning to have an early breakfast before heading to the airport we were the second flight of the day. During the trek we had noticed that Paul had lost a fair bit of weight due to being so ill me and Sudip had guessed at least a stone. When we got back to Lukla tho we had heard that Marie was out of hospital and actually back in Banff but she had lost ten pounds, so this made me think Paul had to be over a stone loss. When we got to the airport we jumped on the scales to find out the truth, the results were in Paul had lost a staggering one stone eight pounds! Yikes lots of puddings for him. Due to hiking and carrying my pack I had lost half a stone too. The flights went without no problems the journey wasn't as smooth as on the way out tho luckily me and Paul aren't nervous flyers. We got back to Kathmandu and it was a lot less crowded there was a big festival going on and they were all down in the valleys it was like a different place! Me and Paul booked our flights out to Singapore and then met up with Keshav for feedback session before Sudip joined us for a farewell meal.   
Lukla Airport and runway.. (No room for error)
So there you have it it was a trip full of highs and lows and something we both will never forget. A huge thanks to Keshav and Sudip from Advance Adventures for the most amazing trip and making it totally stress free for us. - http://www.advadventures.com  


Here's to fulfilling your dreams 


Thanks for reading Gem & Paul x