Have you ever woken up days before your birthday and
thought, "I should run 100KM to celebrate..."
No?
Well, I have. And that's how this challenge came to
be.
2021 was an incredible year for me, but I fell into a slight
depression after the 500 Barefoot finished. All the
excitement, the preparation, the focus and dedication
leading up to it, disappeared almost overnight. And I wasn't
ready for how that would feel. I began doubting myself and
my abilities pretty massively after that experience and
needed to shake myself out of the rut.
Additionally, 2021 wasn't a very kind year to many of my
friends. And I could see the defeat in the faces of my
community, which made me want to do something crazy yet
again, as a way of proving that anyone can do anythig they
set their minds to.
So, with absolutely 0 training, I headed out at 5AM in the
dead of December and began running. A snowstorm blew in and
made a reroute necessary to avoid being snow-ploughed off
the road. A few dogs nearly got my behind for breakfast and
black ice almost caused a hip replacement, but otherwise,
the experience was one I enjoyed from start to finish. Snow
blindness hit at the 65KM mark and I struggle to keep my
eyes open after that, but we managed to press through the
difficulty and successfully conquer 100KM in 13HRS.
This effort was completely self-supported, with only
handmade sandwiches and thrawed out water for
nourishment.