Just found an interview I did last year for Friday Weekly, a Kathmandu based magazine, whilst I was based in Nepal. Thanks to Leah Olson for writing it. “I’m spoiled here,” ultra-runner Moire O’Sullivan says. For O’Sullivan, mountain ranges are not simply panoramas to be admired from a distance. They are not just picturesque photography … Continue reading Interview with Friday Weekly Magazine, Kathmandu
One of the major, major advantages of living in Asia is that you can get a really good massage practically for free. And I was really fortunate to find a place in Kathmandu that, for 15 Euro, would massage the life out of me for 90 minutes. A friend introduced me to the ‘Sotai and … Continue reading Straightened out by Sotai Massage
So having spent 3 days up and around Langtang Valley, it was time to run back home. I had originally thought it’d be nice to do a circuit, go south and cross Kangja La at 5130 metres. But anyone I spoke to said I was crazy. The route is only for expedition camping and not … Continue reading Mountain Running Holiday Day 5 to 7: Langtang Village to Kathmandu City
For a while, Richard’s been wondering about what a race taking in the 4 highest peaks in the Kathmandu Valley would look like: Shivapuri, Jamacho, Champadevi and Pulchoki. I’ve been up each one of these individually. However how you get between these peaks is not as obvious as it may seem. Separating the mountains are … Continue reading Avoiding Leeches and Mines between Champadevi and Pulchoki
I’ve not been looking forward to the start of September. Because on my training calendar, September marks the start of my tempo training runs. After 4 months of lovely long slow runs, all of sudden, I’m meant to add some speed to the fat cushion of endurance I’ve gradually built up all this time. Speed … Continue reading Finding a Place to do Terrible Tempo Training
“Where do you want to run this weekend?” Roger and Richard asked. I didn’t mind. Just as long as there were mountains involved and absolutely no leeches, I was up for running anywhere. In the end, we all agreed to head to Jamacho peak, just west of Kathmandu city. At 2095 metres altitude, it’s the … Continue reading The Joys of Jamacho Peak and Nagarjun Forest
23 Leech Bites. That’s how many I had after a fraught morning’s adventure in one of Kathmandu Valley’s woods. I had gone looking for a trail to bring the Hash runners along, in the area just off Champadevi Ridge. There was a small trail through the forest that went up and over the hill into … Continue reading The Attack of the Leeches
Roger described this run up Pulchoki as “$%#@^ hard”. That was enough of a reason for me to give it a go. On Sunday morning bright and early, I met up with Maciek, a Polish adventurer racer who’s in town for the next few months doing an internship with the EU. We took a cab … Continue reading Ascent of Pulchoki on Kathmandu’s Rim
The peel of thunder woke me. I looked at my clock. 5 am. It was starting to get light. But outside the rain was pelting down. Damn. I had planned to do a long run, up Phulchoki summit in the southern part of the Kathmandu valley rim (route found here). But I couldn’t face doing … Continue reading Monsoon Running
“Has anyone got a knife?” Slimline shouted. I looked at him like he was out of his mind. We were 5km into the run, on the edge of some paddy fields, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, and he wants to know if anyone bothered to carry a knife with them. I shook my head. Everyone … Continue reading Who’s got a sickle on them?