Having arrived in the US without a tyre, my friends took me to a farm yard to choose a tyre. There were macho tractor tyres of all sizes saying "pick me, pick me", but they were not the ones. We were looking for a peace tyre. 

After looking thru a couple of barns, Richard picked out a wretched looking snow-mobile trailer tyre. A sport trax 20.5 x 8.0-10, 15lb tyre with a scar on one side. The other tyres told me they were better looking, but instantly I knew she was the one!

Erin removed her rim, scrubbed her up and cabled her. 

She was now ready for her make over and given the name Bisaniiwewin, which means Peace in the Ojibwey language.

Q: Do you like the frigid cold?
A: Since the North Pole, I know that I suffer badly from Raynauds. Both my hands and feet could take an hour to warm up in negative temperatures. I have frozen my cheeks and ears from exposure to -30 C. I got hot whilst joining a lap of the North Pole marathon and moved my face gear as I was sweating. I learnt sweating is bad.

Q: So why have you joined Arrowhead Ultra, that is held in the coldest part of the US?
A: I missed the frigid cold! In fact I've forgotten what cold is. Although this year at the moment, weather predictions are that it is going to be warm compared to last year where temperatures went down to -41 C (-42 F). This year it may get as cold as -20 C. Half as cold compared to last year! So I should feel warm. Although last Sunday, I burnt my left cheek from wind chill in -3 or -4 C. But I've now got a balaclava to sort that out.

Q: The race is 135 miles in 72 hours and you have to be self supporting and carry your own survival gear. I hear most people do about 2 miles an hour. What plans have you made to cope with the endurance, cold and time?

A: For the first time, I am going to wear a watch and stop every 2 hours to eat and drink. Have planned in 3 coffee breaks. Don't know if that is cheating but I am very sensitive to caffeine so expect that to keep me awake for the entire journey. In addition to that, I will be singing songs of praises when I need strength and "Bob the Builder" for the "Can you do it?" "Yes you can"

Q: How long is that journey going to be?
A: Maybe 65 hours

Q: Have you done this before?
A: About over 20 years ago when I had to complete a write up for my degree. Stayed up for 4 days. I was delusional and emotional at the end of it. My brain was younger and could take more abuse. So right now in my head, I think I can do it but who knows since I am older, I might just collapse in the snow.

Q: So you must have done a lot of preparation for this?
A: Nope. Longest distance I've completed was a 40 mile race in 2008. Leading up to next week, I did 2 weeks of 20 miles, doubling the distance I've been doing from week to week. This week I have slacked off big time, gaining weight, preparing my gear. Just got myself a sleeping bag to cope with -40 F. One day before the race I will get a sled, stove and more extreme gear.

Q: Sounds pretty foolish preparation
A: Yes. Please do not do this at home for your own ultra marathon preparation.

Q: Why put yourself thru this?
A: It's all about slaying dragons

Q: What do you mean?
A: It's about finding out about yourself. The journey is more important than the end. 

Q: But you've been in extreme cold before
A: Yes with a buddy. Now I go alone. Although there will be 134 other participants cycling, skiing and running. So who knows I might pick up somebody or someone might pick me up :-)

Q: And if it wasn't hard enough, I hear you are still taking a tyre with you. 
A: Yes I've just got a tyre from the local diary farmer (Dave and Rich). She was a poor wretched thing when I first got her. But she's cleaned up real nice. We're calling her Bisaniiwewin  (Bi-sanii-we-win) which means peace in the Ojibwe language. Our mission is to pull for environmental peace as a continuation of the peace mission completed in Kilimanjaro.

Q: Well good luck to you
A: And may you all work harder to reduce your impact on this world's resources :-)

Landy thinks I've been rather slack, so on the 8th January, he dragged me out of bed to do some training. My pillow loves me, and mornings are for.....morning people! Anyway so Uncle got involved and dumped me and Landy at the park saying he'd be back in 4 hours. That week, I doubled my training mileage from 10 miles a week to 20 miles and instead of a mere 40-50 minutes tyre pulling, Landy had me going for 5.5 hours. The following week he had me out again for another 5-6 hours.

To keep my mind occupied, I either sing or look at people watching me. The looks on passerbys have been a mixture of emotions:
- Disdainfully - i.e. should not be allowed in the park.
- Incredulously with a "What are you doing?"
- Nutter with a slight shake of the head
- Doggy inquisitive look. Yes some guys have occasionally turned their head to the side
- Supportive - you go girl
- Congratulationary with laughs

Of course there have been the usual quips
- "You must be tired"
- "Think you forgot the car"
- "Excuse me, did you know there is a tyre following you?"
- "Did you forget your dog?"

Speaking of dogs, Landy has been teasing loads of them, inviting them for a sniff!

So am I prepared?

Probably not in terms of distance, but my mind is telling me I'm stubborn and head strong, so shouldn't be a problem!!!! Famous last words. Have just bought my sleeping bag. I have a pair of trail shoes that are large to accomodate an extra pair of socks, but am contemplating purchasing larger ones to accomodate more socks. I also have a whole load of gear to purchase when I get to Minnesota. Am I prepared? No, not really! In the back of my head, I hear Uncle Pete's (from Kilimanjaro) words - Poor Preparation leads to Poor Performance. My response is a plethora of excuses about work and feeling constantly tired.

Additionally have just been to the docs due to a mystery with my right hand. The finger joints have been swollen for the last 3 weeks for no apparent reason. There is no pain, just a little discomfort from excess fluid around the joints. The strong possibility is some type of autoimmune disorder. I'll know in a week's time when the blood tests and x-rays come back. Or perhaps not, as I'll be in an event in North Minnesota. Doc has given me diclofenac sodium to take 3 times a day to reduce the swelling. Am still thinking about taking them......have you seen the potential side effects!

Next time I blog, will be in the snow and ice. Apparently the Minnesotans are having a hot winter at -20 degrees celcius!!!

February: The year was kicked off with the Enigma 4 marathons in 4 days challenge and the fastest time was completed by Rec (7:10:49) and our longest event so far.
March: Red was introduced to the world in the Daffodil Dawdle and by December she has finally accepted to being dragged!
April: We finally got a time in the London Marathon.

May: Landy was introduced to the world. Currently he is the highest tyre (15 kg) and is in a relationship with Red.
June: Had fun in the Hatfield McCoy marathon - this has the bestest, most excellent value for an event
July: Had a beautiful race in the High Weald Challenge

Aug: Rec did a reasonable time in Santa Rosa at 7:45:32 and stayed for the sunshine rather than return to the UK. He didn't want to have cold treads
Sept: Armani was introduced to the world and went to the top of Kilimanjaro. He is the highest tyre - 5895m.

Nov: Red was still sticking her treads into the ground, picking up mud and leaves in the Gatliff Challenge.
Dec: Red helped TG complete her 25th tyre dragging marathon and has decided to try to be a better tyre for 2012!

_I know, am late writing up my diary. TG has been running and I've had to follow her! So down the rabbit hole and we go back in time....

25th December: 5K Run
It's the time of giving and today I thought I'd give TG a present. To be more giving! :-) So in today's 5K race, I pulled up my treads and allowed myself to slide along the ground. TG was happy to have completed the event in 40:41. Which means on the tyre league table, that places me in second position. TG was unusually happy. Hmm, perhaps I might try a little harder and beat the old gal Tam or my bro Rec who holds the top position at 36:57. We're not sure who holds the top position as most of us think it was Rec but he's in California and cannot confirm it was him and TG thinks it was Tam but Tam's a little off her treads now a days so she can't confirm either!

27 December 2011:
Christmas Challenge 26.6 Miles
TG was disappointed about the lack of snow this year, however having gorged herself on food for the last 2 days, TG was keen to run and I was in the mood to please!

The website directions to the venue were perfect and we received a warm welcome by Glen, the RD, who said he was so happy to see me. Of course I gave him a little shake of the ol' rubber ;-)

Now the race......what is wrong with the next set of pictures?

You'd never guess it was winter. Let me help you all remember Winter last year. The picture on the left is 18th December 2010. We had Arctic weather. In contrast this year it was a balmy 10 degrees Celcius. It was warm and TG took the opportunity to get her legs out for an airing! It was not only warm it was relatively dry. I enjoyed gliding on the ground. Yes I know, this also is in contrast when I got my treads stuck in the mud and leaves in the last marathon, but hey it's a new year and sometimes it's good to change. I've made a realisation that it's more fun to go fast. Perhaps a new year's resolution needs to be made to beat a couple of records made by Tam and Rec as long as TG can find her way. Sometimes it's a bit worrying when the sheep follow her. The blind leading the blind!

Speaking of navigation, this is the best TG has ever done on a self navigating trail marathon. 5-4-3-2-1 had excellent signage, but the large signs made it easy for hooligans to play a little havoc with the system. The signage on this race was subtly brilliant. Despite the signs having been put up 2 days before, it did not appear anything had been disturbed. This was all backed up with a route description that was exceptional. It would be great if more LDWA events used the style of the route instructions from this event. (TG does not trust signage due to past experiences with hooligan's changing signs around!).

TG seemed completely in control and for TG's 25th tyre dragging marathon, we completed the 26.6 mile event in 7 hours 55 minutes. TG was very happy at the end. Perhaps I should carry on being more giving ;-)

Collected £5 in donations. Thank you to everyone who donated, your donations will be going to Earthwatch.

Highlights:
A Doggy Tale: In the first mile and a half, a bull-terrier decided to goad me, pretending to attack me, yapping at me, telling me I was like a bicycle tyre. TG was on a mission, so we ignored him expecting him to return to his owner. He continued with us for a mile ducking into ditches scaring pheasants. TG tried to catch him and I tried to roll over him! Thankfully one of the participants managed to catch him and return him to his owner.

The Guardian Angel:
For a while TG appeared to have a guardian angel. The same participant that had returned the dog to its owner, finally caught up with TG and kept her in view in the first half of the event, always ensuring that at a turn she would see him, before he continued onwards. Heading towards mile 18, TG lost sight of her guardian angel, as she was distracted by two labradors who kept bringing us things!

Race Overview
Signage and route description: Excellent
Checkpoints: There were 4 checkpoints, 3 had water, the first two also had biscuits. The first one at 3 miles had gels. TG carried her own food and water.
Certificate at end
Event cost: £20

Tam has the ability to call animals to her and has been retired to a place in the garden to enjoy the animal scenery. All the tyres voted this photo as their photo for Christmas.

Thank you everyone for visiting this site.

More news on the way with the Christmas Marathon Challenge on the 27th Dec and then 135 miles in North Minnesota where the temperatures last year were recorded at -60 degs F. TG is currently researching into how to keep her feet and hands warm as she has raynauds.

_Gatliff 50km Marathon Overview (24th tyre marathon)
Organisation: Very good and a generous cut off time.
Type of race: Route description, self navigation
Course: Trail, up and down hills, up and down stiles and thru kissing gates. Very pretty in the light; awesome in the dark! Need a headlamp if you are slow.
Volunteers: Very good
Check point: About every 5-7 miles with biscuits
Food Stops: Lunch stop in a village hall and food served at the last 2 checkpoints/end. Sandwiches, bananas, biscuits, sausage rolls (veggie and meat)
Start Time: 7am
Weather:  @ 9-12 degrees celcius, a little rain
Route Description: 97% well written. Had a description of a broken stile that had been replaced with a gate; an ambiguous line had about 15-20 of us scratching our heads together; one wrong direction a lethal time wasting "turn left" when it should have been "turn right"

Since coming back from Tanzania, TG's alter ego has been muttering about trying to get her accounts together to sort out her corporate tax and done zero training over the last 2 months. Landy and myself have been left outside collecting rain water and leaves, looking after spiders, slugs and earthworms. So surprised when TG decided to clean me and bucket up for a 50 km marathon.

05:30am: Uncle Wayne drove us to the venue. TG is rubbish in the morning.
07:20am: We were off, TG managed to complete a couple of miles running before changing down a gear to walking.

TG appeared to lack energy so after "poodling" on the ground for a while, decided to keep myself entertained by clearing the paths of leaves, after all there were a lot of untidy paths. TG was not amused and cleared out my collection of leaves, carrying me over some of the leafy terrains.

Wasn't too happy when TG chucked me back on to some muddy paths. TG said it wasn't as bad as the stuff my brother Rec was dragged through last year in Steppingley Steps, nonetheless the showers during the day had made the ground sticky and was making me a little dirty. But I could see that if I grabbed hold of mud in my treads, I could build up a nice layer of dirt to slow down TG. TG picked me up, kicked off the mud build up, and voila she became my porter. It was easy playing with TG today!

LOST
Throughout the day we met a group of runners who continually lost their way. We also lost our way 3 times, adding time and distance, however the instructions were mostly well written. As night began to embrace our day we met up with the "lost group" one last time. TG appeared to be on a high and her energy levels had increased as the route directions appeared to now fall easily into place. She tried to encourage them to follow her into the now darkened woods, but they refused to come with us calling it madness.

It was an awesome run being wrapped in the darkness and silence of the forests and I could dance on the leaves and trail. TG appeared to easily find her way. We soon had one last sentence on the route description to help us reach the last checkpoint before the finish. It should have been a fast leg for TG but upon entering a large field, TG could not see the exit point in the dark and so added more mileage by going round and round the field, adding an hour in time looking for a bridge and stepping into a very boggy marsh. She then understood how I felt about being dragged in mud! :-)

TG had a slow day taking nearly 12 hours to complete 50 kms. Slow in comparison to last year when she completed 50 kms in 5-4-3-2-1 in 8hrs 39 mins.

Thank you to everyone who donated on the day. Your funds will be donated to Earthwatch.

Onwards now to the next marathon on the 27th December, a Christmas Challenge, after 2 days of feasting.

Symbolisms play a large part in most societies and we were no exception. The fairy tale ending should have been to finish reading peace messages together in the crater on the 21st Sept, with the Peace Flame lighting the way, but the toil of the long day and the journey saw many of us overcome by exhaustion. The only person who seemed keen to keep going was Uncle Nicholas, who despite having a lack of outdoor experience was still raring to go. However, our guides, porters and most of us were looking weary and thus would head to bed early. The colder night and the thin air affected all within the camp. Uncle Nicholas was in and out of sleep due to feeling cold in his "company" provided sleeping bag that was rated down to -15 degrees Celcius. (Personally I find these ratings must have been made by a polar bear and would recommend bringing an extra lighter sleeping bag or an Antarctic bag). However even though he must have been tired he was full of positive energy in the morning.

After feeling so good yesterday, over night my body and mind returned to day 3. As we rested, my thumping heart echoed in my head and I had to slow my breathing down to deep breaths. On the day we had started our Kilimanjaro journey, a man had died from AMS after reaching the summit. Had I fooled myself? A long night and a couple of urgent "fresh air/toilet" breaks followed. By morning I had another "bad ass" headache but was not alone and managed to move quickly behind a rock to throw up a concoction of hot chocolate and bile. Other team members and porters were also feeling heavy headed and appeared rough.

As I had problems trying to pull up the zip of one of my gaiters, I tried to enlist the help of one of our porters/guides. They were unusally sluggish. With a bad night's sleep, and the cold seeping into our bodies, they too appeared less coordinated. After a short struggle, Felix finally sorted out my zip issue.

No one in the camp wanted to read any more peace messages, preferring to depart the crater as soon as possible. However, now was not the time to think of ourselves, for Amani had carried the thoughts of thousands onto the mountain, packed in two cannisters Uncle Pete had bought for the job. In a quiet short ceremony, we buried the cannisters as a symbol of bringing peace to Africa, and perhaps for a future generation to rediscover or for you, dear reader, to leave your message of peace should you discover the cannisters on the mountain.

To Millenium Camp
As we left, Amani sang a song of peace as he skidded along on the scree. Coming out of the crater, we could see hundreds of people snaking up to the summit and were thankful of the decision not to leave at midnight as most groups do. For we had enjoyed a deserted summit and the tranquility of a mountain top.

Looking down to where we had to go was a trail of loose scree. It was time to take Amani for a run. Hate scree going up, love scree going down! Part way down was a strange looking sculpture on the slopes. On approaching, it was Andrew (our assistant cook and waiter) crumpled in a heap, with his cooking gear around him and his carrying poles stuck into the ground. He looked drained and said he had a headache (mine was nearly gone). So I gave him my nagalene water bottle (from the New York marathon) and an energy bar and continued gliding down the slope. After about 20 minutes, Andrew came bolting past me with his heavy load. Must find out the brand of energy bar I gave him!

Feeling a little nauseous, I gave Amani to Uncle Nicholas to look after and soon found myself at the back of the team once again, with Felix opting to stay behind me. This must have been a plan by Amani, for some distance before Barafu Camp, another porter was struggling with an ITB strain and having walking difficulties. Additionally he had some of the gear that Sakimba carried part way up. I took the backpack he had and another porter from another team kindly helped him with his basket down a treacherous rocky slope until Barafu Camp. At an almost vertical slope, Felix took the spare back pack from me for the rest of the way to Millenium Camp. Barafu Camp is an ugly, busy, crowded camp and so glad we spent very little time there. The Northern Circuit is definitely the route to take to be able to appreciate the mountain without the crowds.

The route down was certainly not easy and our thoughts were with the other half of the team, as they would have had to make their way down the same path  during the night. Some of the porters who returned with them, had no headlamps. Amazingly there were no injuries. We would later find out that they arrived at Millenium Camp about 22:00.

As we entered Millenium Camp, a beautiful campsite within the forest, we were greeted joyfully by the rest of the porters, and found the other half of the team had decided to continue on out of the park with a couple of guides and porters. Andrew had already prepared our lunch of hot soup and fried bread! He was feeling much better. I must definitely find out that energy bar brand!

To Mweka Camp (3100m)
With food in our belly and air to breathe, we were feeling stronger and continued onwards towards camp Mweka. Amani was returned to me to finish off the descent for the day.

The constantly changing scenery, first from barren landscapes, to low grasslands to now wooded forests alive with twittering birds, kept our senses amused.

Mweka campsite was another crowded campsite, but at least being nestled in the woodlands, helped to create sections, providing some privacy to the different teams.