Out In The Cold

HOWEVER SORRY YOU FEEL FOR YOURSELF WHEN THAT LONELY ALARM GOES OFF BEFORE DAWN, KNOW THERE’S ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO’S GOT IT HARDER. UNLESS, THAT IS, YOU HAPPEN TO BE RUNNING THE IDITAROD INVITATIONAL 1000MILER: THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST AND LONGEST WINTER RACE. WITH TALES OF FROZEN EYELIDS FROM THE ALASKAN ODYSSEY, MF HOLDS YOUR FROST-NIPPED HAND FOR A JOURNEY INTO THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF WINTER RUNNING.

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Setting your alarm an hour or two earlier seems like such a good idea the night before your run. You’re convinced you can sneak running time for yourself without compromising on anyone else’s. Who needs sleep anyway? You, it turns out, as you hit ‘snooze’ on last night’s best-laid plans. Do not fear. MF is here to get you into those cold wet streets with a spring in your step. With tips and tricks from the very best in the winter running business, we’ll have you powering into next March when other runners are barely waking from hibernation. There are pointers below on technique and training sessions, plus safety considerations from the man who has come closer to death while winter running than any other human still alive. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Pete Ripmaster is the most recent person to successfully complete the unfathomably hard Iditarod Invitational 1000mile winter Alaskan footrace from Anchorage to Nome. Temperatures at the southern start line this year were a balmy -50°C – when things get really serious it hits -60. To set his winning time of 26 days, Ripmaster moved for 18-19 hours a day. Only when he’d eaten his freeze-dried rations and taken care of his equipment would he burrow down into his specially designed sleeping bag for four hours of sleep. Then repeat.

So, relatively speaking, you haven’t got it so hard. Winter running at its best is about hitting those frosty roads, canal paths and trails and getting them all to yourself. Days are short, the light is low and the world seems to move at a quieter pace, making each outing ripe for reflection as much as running. The cold temperatures mean you need less water and you won’t sweat as much, either, meaning less kit washing when you get back home.