Maggie Dempsey - Everesting

The challenge I have decided to do is officially called Everesting, this means you reach the height of Everest by running and hiking a hill or mountain of your choice. When I decided to do this, I didn't know there is an official website which displays the "rules", these include no time frame, only achieving the ascent and going back down doesn't have to be included.

I have chosen to Everest Pen y Fan - I will run/hike this 20 times to reach the height of Everest (8,848 metres) in 24hrs. My challenge includes not only the ascent but also the decent meaning I will run down from every rep/summit I reach allowing me to clock up over 90km in distance.

 

My training for this challenge has been very different to what I normally do, I have focused solely on elevation allowing my body to physically and mentally build on repetition rather than distance. I have been utilising mountains for my rep days - Skiddaw, Blencathra and my favourite Helvellyn - I chose these three mountains as I live in the Lakes but they are also nearly double the elevation and distance of Pen y Fan giving me more time out to gain my mental strength.

 

Nutrition for this challenge will be a variation of food and endurance supplements. I use OTE for my Electrolytes, Gels, Hydration, flapjack bars but I also use Clif Shot Blocs as this works well for me as a quick hit of energy, I also eat wraps with hummus and avocado, flapjacks/protein balls/banana bread (all homemade), fruit bread with nut butter and banana on. I eat these foods and use these brands as I am plant based and all are made with plant-based ingredients plus they work really well for me.... the key thing with any challenge or distance of this sort is eating as much as you can to keep your energy up!

 

I am excited and nervous about this challenge as I have never done anything like this before, I have run many races which include a lot of elevation but never a solo challenge with this amount of ascent. I am looking forward to seeing how I do, how my body works through the 24hrs and how much mental focus I can sustain to keep going. I wouldn't say I am worried about anything but I am concerned about my knee as I have had quite a lot of tightness in it which has impacted me running downhill but I have been doing specific stretches and foam rolling each day to support this. Now I just need to wait for the big day and get out on the hill.

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