Martin is on Top of the World

West Belfast ultra runner Martin Rea recently completed and won the Everest Challenge, a 100-mile stage race on the unforgiving slopes of the Himalaya mountains.

by Conor McLoughlin

For most people, the thought of running a marathon is a daunting prospect. If running the full 26 miles fills you with dread then spare a thought for local runner Martin Rea.

The Finaghy man recently completed, and won, a gruelling 100-mile stage race, run over five days. And considering that the race was run on the unforgiving slopes of the world's highest mountain range - the Himalayas - then Marty's brilliant achievement is made even more remarkable.

The La Salle teacher reached heights of 14,000 feet - the equivalent of ten Divis Mountains - over the five-day race, which he jointly won with Spaniard Albert Majos Cullel.

Marty is fast becoming one of the biggest names in ‘ultra-running', that is long distance or high-endurance racing.

Before completing the Everest Challenge Marty raced a 24-hour marathon, (yes, it’s as bad as it sounds, 24 hours of non-stop running) in Malaysia last year. As a ‘warm up' run he ran a 40-mile race in Luton and tries to complete a marathon a day in training in the run-up to big races. But all the training in the world couldn't prepare Marty for day one of the Everest Challenge.

The runners climbed 6,000 feet over 24 miles on the first outing, and at one point racers could see five of the six highest mountains on the planet.

“The first day was just climbing - it took us four and half hours and I was surprised because there was an awful lot of walking, even from myself," said Marty. There was no downhill, it was literally all climbing. It was like running up the Hannahstown Hill all day. It sounds silly but I didn't do a lot of hill work before I went, just distance training. I was doing marathon after marathon for preparation, preparing my lungs OK, but climbing wise I suffered a bit. Having said that, some of the other guys suffered as well. We're all the same standard at marathon running, but we took an hour and a half off them that first day."

Marty admitted that some of the field were suffering from altitude sickness, but that he escaped with a few minor headaches.

“Up at altitude most of the guys had sore heads, altitude sickness," said Marty.

“When we first went over we stayed at 5,000 feet so we had two or three days at that altitude, and I was lucky enough, I only had one or two slight headaches the entire time. When you train at altitude, you find it an awful lot easier. For us, we started 5,000 feet on the first day up to 11,000 feet and we stayed at altitude, climbing to 14,000 feet for the next two days before dropping back down for the marathon itself. I don't know if it was because we had done 44 miles in two days, but the marathon felt an awful lot easier."

Having reached 14,000 feet on the second day all the climbing was completed, but day three was a full 26-mile marathon. Marty and his non-English speaking Spanish challenger were neck and neck, but a full two hours ahead of the chasing pack, and finished the marathon within 20 seconds of each other.

“We were together the whole way," said Marty. We finished together the first day and on the second day I broke free of him early on but he caught me about halfway, and that kind of knocked the stuffing out of me. But he couldn't get away from me and we finished together again. It's like the Tour de France, if you finish within 20 seconds of each other you're actually given the same finishing time. On the last day we both went for it, to be honest, we blasted out and then went into a bit of a lull. In the marathon on the Wednesday we were so evenly matched that by the time it came to the last race I realised this guy wasn't going to be easy to beat. It's not that I lost my competitive edge, I did try to beat him, he tried to beat me but after 13 or 14 hours running together, we kind of looked at each other and asked what do you do?"

It's a real coup for the West Belfast man, who is now counted among the elite of the world ultra running circuit. Indications are that ultra running will be an exhibition sport at the 2012 Olympics in London, and that gives Marty all the motivation he needs. Marty's fascinating with ultra-running began about five years ago. He agreed to complete a leg of the Belfast marathon as part of a relay team with friends. Marty took the first leg and as he neared the finishing line he decided he was comfortable enough and he would do the second leg as well for enjoyment. The second leg took him away from town and into East Belfast and once there, Marty realised he was pretty far from home and may as well complete the whole 26 miles because he needed to get home anyway. He admits that long-distance running is ‘solitary' but so much of the race is spent with a pack that you don't feel alone unless you are out in front.

“Ultra running is very solitary, and I was running with a Spanish guy. He didn't speak a word of English and we were out in front by a couple of hours, and we literally didn't speak a word to each other," said Marty. But I'm well used to it, I get up at 6am to go running most mornings on my own and you have to be used to that when you're in a race. People ask what do you think about and the answer is everything, from what's in the news, to what you're going to do when you get home. Or why are you out here? Have you prepared well enough? Is the training paying off? On this race, after the first couple of days I was thinking, am I going to win it? What do I have to do to win?"

And with the 2012 Olympics just six years away, Marty will be continuing to put the hard miles in for at least a little while longer.