Running the Dutch Mountain Trail for ChildsLife

Firstly a huge thank you for supporting me and ChildsLife charity. I have had some time to reflect and write a short post about my experience.  

Challenging yourself isn’t just about winning, it’s about learning.

My goal was to complete the Dutch Mountain Trail (100km) over two days. Day 1 (60km) went really well, and I felt good. But on Day 2 (40km), I woke up with my achilles tendon flaring up and the worry of a longer term injury. I made the tough decision not to continue.

I love the challenge and emotional experience of ultra trail runs. Day 1 was a rollercoaster—from feeling down to feeling on top of the world. We even stopped for a beer at 52km we felt so good! The full 60km was all worth it.

After some time to decompress, I feel excited to run again. This reaffirms my decision not to risk a longer-term injury. Here are some takeaways from the run:

- Life does not always go to plan.

- Challenging yourself mentally and physically provides huge opportunities for reflection and growth.

- Deviation from the plan is not a failure but rather an opportunity to learn.

- It is okay to care for yourself.

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated to ChildsLife! We’ve done our final gear checks, bags are packed, and we’re ready to roll. We'll be catching an early train out of Amsterdam, leaving just before 6am, with fingers crossed to hit the trail by 9am.

Our plan for Day 1 is to break it up into two 30km sections, with a well-deserved lunch break in between and camping out at the 60km mark. Day 2 will be a 40km push, and our start time will depend entirely on how gracefully (or not) we emerge from our bivvy bags after Day 1's adventure.

Since we only decided last month to tackle this challenge, our mantra is: slow and steady wins the race! The last 20km each day will be all about mind over matter (and hopefully, we won't need our headtorches on Day 1...). I’ll do my best to send an update at the end of Day 1, depending on how my legs are holding up and whether I can still type! Thanks again for all your support and contributions!