Cancelled aka Orientation time again ...

Over the years, there have been a lot of things in my life that haven’t worked out the way I had hoped they would. Most often, the person staring back at me in the mirror when I brush my teeth has played his part, i.e. it’s my own damn fault!

As many of you know, I was due to head out to Arctic Sweden to run the 230km Ice Ultra, an event that had been in the planning for the better part of a year. It had been a pretty stressful week after my ECG came up “abnormal” due to left ventricular hypertrophy (a big heart) and bradycardia (slower than normal heartbeat of 49 bpm). The stress I experienced was not due to the above mentioned conditions (which is considered normal for endurance types), but from actually getting my local GP to sign off the medical certificate since previous experience had involved seeing a cardiologist. Without the certificate, I would not be allowed onto the start line of the race. Thankfully, a chat and an understanding GP got the form signed off. I scanned the certificate and insurance documents and stuck a copy in the post, relieved that the administrative part of the preparation was now complete.

No sooner had I relaxed than I saw a missed call and voice message from the race organizers. My pulse quickened and my heart sank as I assumed it meant there was still some issue to be resolved. By the time I was able to call them back, the office was closed so I thought there was no point in worrying further until I was able to connect with them. On the train home, however, I got a message from fellow race and teammate Roddy Riddle. “You had the call from the organizers of the Ice Ultra loon?” My heart sank again…surely this wasn’t good news. I phoned Roddy and he confirmed the worst: that the race had been cancelled. I was gutted. Not angry, just gutted.

A year of preparation and anticipation were gone in a single phone call. In hindsight, I was glad that I heard the bad news from Roddy since he was in the same situation as I was. In fact, Roddy was in a slightly worse situation, since he had both sponsorship and media coverage lined up for the event as he had been the first Type 1 Diabetic to have run the Marathon des Sables a couple of years ago and by doing so, was proving that diabetes is a condition but it should not rule your life. Though we were both disappointed, in our conversation, we recognized two very important things: The cancellation of the race was out of our control and we couldn’t do anything to reverse the decision of the race organisers. We would find a similarly difficult challenge instead. The race organizers had cited low entries as the reason for cancelling the event. The following day I spoke with them, received more information, and was able to appreciate and respect their decision. An offer for a heavily discounted entry to their Jungle based event was made, but our target for this race was something in a cold environment.

A few alternative ideas were also bounced about with Roddy and Steve Drake who was the third member of our arctic team. That evening I went out for a run anyway.

In Scott Jurek’s book Eat and Run, he describes a four step strategy for dealing with occasions that don’t go as planned or expected:

•  Feel and acknowledge one's emotions in response to the situation; 

•  Take stock and assess the situation;

•  Think about what can be done to remedy or improve the situation;

•  Separate negative thoughts and emotions from reality and what needs to be done. 

The emotional bit was easy. Taking stock and assessing the situation confirmed the organizers were correct in their decision. In the short term, there was nothing to be done other than keep training with a focus on continuing to build a solid base that could be applied to other ultras since I was already committed to running The Highland Fling here in Scotland in April and the Born to Run ultra in May. Any lingering negative thoughts will disappear once we have received the refund for race entries and associated costs.

So ...now that a bit of time has passed, how do I feel? In a broader sense, I’ve realized that I don't have a great deal of time for the corporate world. I drifted out of Adventure Racing when I saw the word "business" being subtly added to the sport. It was clear that many had become a cash generator for "events" companies. Although many of these companies employed good technical staff, the use of volunteers and increases in race entry costs didn't sit well with me. Reflecting back, the race experiences I've enjoyed the most are the ones without a marketable brand. The type of event that is organized by folks who have a depth of experience in running and in adventure, who cover their costs but aren't in it purely for the profit. Looking ahead, my focus will be on more low key type adventures. Self-organized and either self-supported or done with pals for "shits and giggles". The type of thing with minimal rules, entry qualifications and certainly nothing that requires another damn ECG or medical sign off.

And maybe get a little more ink under the skin ...