To read Philip Morris's post race report follow this link to his blog spot. Getting to the Start 6 hours, 2 Dhal Bhats and a whole lot of winding and rough roads later, all the competitors arrived in Besi Sahar for this years Yak Attack. For 1 night the Mongolian Hotel is home to a formidable array of local and international runners and mountain bikers, all vying to be the fastest around the famous Annapurna circuit. Amongst the local athletes are 2 Mt Everest summiters, an Everest Marathon winner, 2 that have had top placings in the 22 day 1000km Himal stage race and Nepals top female rider. Bizarely 3 of the 4 UK participants reside in Shropshire, whilst the remaing UK runner has lived in Nepal for the last 2 years working for the INF. The race briefing included a talk about the dangers of altitude sickness and getting on the wrong side of the many ponies that frequent the trail, "One kick from them and you could end up 300m down the mountain" were the reassuring words from race coordinator Mr Chhimi Gurung. Each participant was then given a race "goody bag" which included warm clothing from Berghaus, energy bars from Torq, lip balm and sunscreen from Fluidforce and, for the colder times, hand and feet warmers and emergency heat pads from HeatmaxUK. Talk then turned to tactics, who would win this year and whether the bikers would be quicker than the runners, with less snow on the trail than last year and the fact that the trail has been improved from Jomsom downwards. With £1000 in prize money and no Hari Rokaya this year, it looks like it's going to be a very closely contested race, with the outcome possibly not being decided until the last day. The race starts tomorrow, 8th March at 9am and, with a rolling 20km stage into Bahundanda, the safe money has to be with the bikers. Matt Hart has vowed to give it his all as he believes the lower altitude stages will be his best chance of a top placing. Find out if hes right tomorrow....{mospagebreak |
