After failing to get a place in the UTMB, one of the “must do” events for an ultra runner, undaunted Derek set his sights on the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa which, covers a distance of 170 km with around 11,300 metres of ascent, is described by its founder Lizzie Hawker as being tougher than UTMB! Just to set the scene on the difficulty of this race, Monte Rosa is the second highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe!
The race starts and finishes in Grachen in Switzerland but also crosses into Italy along the way. Starting at 4 am on the morning of 5th September, Derek covered the route in an amazing 52 hours and 5 minutes. The race was not without incident and it’s fair to say that Derek did suffer over the final stages but did not give up.
There’s a full report and pictures on our Facebook pages. Once again, well done Derek.