ThamesSourceQuest

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Monday, July 5 2010

TSQ: it is on!

The weather is good so far, the tides are low, the date has been set for the Thames Source Quest: I'll leave from the Thames Barrier on Friday morning. The hydration is sorted too, complete article to follow in a few days.

Thames Source Quest

I'm not extremely well prepared, so I will take it easy. If things don't go too well, I might even indulge myself with a little nap or a burger in a riverside pub (in which case it wouldn't be unsupported any more, but I'll make it clear). Therefore, just like many ultrarunners do, I've set myself 3 main goals in order not to be too disappointed:
  • Gold: The Source (290km, the full story)
  • Silver: Oxford (204km, 70%, the longest distance I've run)
  • Bronze: Purley-on-Thames (145km, half-way)
Although the tracking software I've been writing is more or less working, I still have a few reliability issues in case of 3G or WiFi connection loss, so I'm not sure whether the live tracking will be available at all or temporarily during the challenge. In any case, the route I'll follow is available on GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps and I will post live updates on twitter. I'll also try to take a few pictures and videos with my tiny Muvi Atom camcorder.

Following John K's example, I've decided to run a "guess my time" competition. Because the outcome is uncertain, you are to make two guesses:
  • the time I'll take to complete the TSQ if I can finish (hours, minutes, seconds)
  • how far I'll be able to run otherwise (kilometres)
Additionally, you can also bet on these two water-related questions, although I'm not sure yet whether I'll count that accurately:
  • How many times I take water from the Thames?
  • How many times I will pass water?
You might think it's a joke, but I might indeed monitor closely my fluid intake and loss due to the relatively warm weather. Guesses can be submitted as comments. Closing time: Thursday 08/07/2010 @ Midnight BST. Small gifts for the closest bets.

Ultra ready?

Friday, April 30 2010

TSQ pace guesstimate

I've been spending quite a bit of time to try to estimate my speed on the TSQ. The time I'll take to complete the challenge will not only determine the amount of food I'll need to carry, but also the ideal starting time that would minimise night running and enable me to catch a train back promptly.

1. Completion time

Unfortunately, it is really hard to estimate how long I will take to run the whole path. I've spend quite a bit of time developing a spreadsheet to simulate the run with linear and logarithmic speed decrease. The results are not very satisfactory because I've not got much to compare with, and therefore the split time estimation evaluation is a bit random. The longest I've run in similar conditions was London-Brighton, which is only 90km, not even a third of the TSQ!

The Hardmoors 110 and the UTMB could provide a better estimation on the long-term but the nature of the underfoot conditions and the ascent makes any comparison difficult. We could use the Naismith's rule (1892) to evaluate the impact of the ascent on the overall speed:
1 hour for every 3 miles forward, plus 1/2 hour for every 1000 feet of ascent.
This would lead us to consider 3 miles (5km) flat equivalent to 2000 feet (600m), in other words 120m of ascent worth 1km flat. In this case, the UTMB 2007 would be equivalent to 163+8900/120=237km on a flat surface and the Hardmoors 2008 to 177+5700/120=224km. This would lead to a finish time of about 45 to 48 hours on the TSQ, but I'm not sure to what extend this kind of estimation is valid.

Also, there are very few races of that sort of length out there to see how other runners might perform. The Thames Path Ring (250miles) is one of them. The runners passed at checkpoint 7 (a convenient 295km) between 43 and 64 hours, with a large majority (12/14) between 55 and 64 hours. Looking at these results, it would be rather optimistic to think I could complete the TSQ in much less than 50 hours.

Considering these two cues, I'm targeting to complete the TSQ in 48 hours, but wouldn't be surprised to take up to 6 hours more or less than that... I was hoping for a bit less (and therefore a single night out), but that's probably not going to be possible. Using the logarithmic speed decrease model, 48 hours can be achieved by starting at 9.5km/h and dropping roughly 2.6% per 10km, that's a finishing speed of only 4.3km/h :) . Manageable.

2. Starting time

Given the large uncertainty in the finishing time it's not easy to optimise my starting time. On one hand, I will run through two nights if I take 48 hours, whatever the starting time. That said, if I start (and therefore arrive) at dawn (04:00), every hour faster than 48 hours will be deduced from night time and every hour slower will be added to daylight time, which is optimal. On the other hand, given that the trains roughly run between 10:00 and 22:00 on Sundays, I should really target to arrive (and therefore leave) at 16:00, leaving a safety margin of 6 hours either way. 04:00 or 16:00? The two optimal solutions are diametrically opposed! Maybe I should just go for it without thinking to much and improvise on the way?

This is the resulting spreadsheet on which I spend quite a bit of effort. On the way, I increased my astronomical knowledge in order to automatically calculate the day/night/twilight parameters at a given date, time and location :) .

thames path schedule
Click for the PDF full version


As for the pace, I'm considering using a 9/1 run/walk strategy from the start, ie. 9 minutes running and 1 minute walking. This has been proven effective to reduce muscle fatigue on the long term, and therefore reduce the slow down coefficient.

3. Route

There is a bit of a choice in terms of route, as the path runs on both sides of the River in London. I've mostly chosen the shortest options :) . Not because they are shorter, but because they are closer to the river and therefore propose a "purer" line as well as being easier to navigate. This is especially true in the docklands and around Battersea.

At Weybridge the regular path is relying on a small ferry to cross the River. An alternative bridge option makes a detour away from the river and adds about 2km. When running upstream, I'll have to decide between the two options 2km ahead of the ferry crossing, ie. at Walton Bridge. If at that point I decide to go for the shortest 2km option but the ferry doesn't actually run, I'll have to run back to the bridge option for a total of 8km. If I decide to go for the bridge straight away, it's 4km. In short, that's a guaranteed 4km or a bet between 2km and 8km. Tricky...

4. Mapping

I've mapped the whole path on Memory-Map (1:25,000) and generated 45 A5-size cards, as illustrated hereafter. I have to say it took a while to generate a decent result. This is because the Memory-Map software can't automatically section a route into cards*. You have to position (and sometimes rotate by 90 degrees) manually the boundaries of every single card without being able to see the other ones... I'll probably leave aside the central London sections and print 40 cards on tough paper, that is only 10 A4-size double-sided sheets.

Thames route cards


Money-wise, it comes out a bit more expensive than slicing the regular OS maps but cheaper than the laminated ones:
Memory-MapOS ExplorerOS Explorer Active (laminated)
Memory-Map Thames Path: £100.00
Thoughprint**: £6.00
160, 161, 162, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 180: £7.99 each 160, 161, 162, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 180: £13.99 each
Total: £106.00Total: £79.90Total: £133.90


I guess I've done enough homework... Just need to run now :)

Ultra logistics

* I've written a 27-line Python script that does the job rather well (it generates 43 cards, but with strictly no overlap), but I have no way to integrate it into Memory-Map...
** £14.99 for 25 sheets

Tuesday, April 13 2010

Thames water purification on the run

As previously mentioned, one of the only source of water during the Thames Source Quest (TSQ) might be to drink from the Thames itself.

Ebullition would be the most radical method, but is not practical whilst running. Most commercially available portable water purification systems are based on microfiltration, which performs well against "big bugs" (protozoa and bacteria), but fails against viruses. I would need to use ultraviolet or chemical treatment to get rid of these nasty guys, most likely iodine. Remains the chemical pollution that might be solved partly with an activated carbon filter. I've contacted Thames Water to get more information on the exact nature and distribution of the pollution, but they tend to be very vague, only providing qualitative appreciations such as "bad", "good", "very good". If you have access to more accurate data, please let me know.

Here is my current plan for filtering:

PollutantExampleSize (microns)Solution
protozoaGiardia>5microfiltering(1)
bacteriaE. Coli, Salmonella0.2-0.5microfiltering
virusesHepatitis A0.01 to 0.3iodine (or UV)
chemicalDDT, heavy metals-activated carbon
bad tastesilt
iodine
-activated carbon
vitamin C

As for the microfilter, I'm considering either the Katadyn Mini (18x8cm, 210g) or the Katadyn MyBottle (26x8cm, 260g). The latter is more practical and includes an activated carbon filter and iodine resin. But this all-in-one design is not suitable for turbid water, which might be the case of the Thames.
I've discovered much more recently the Lifesaver Bottle (30x9cm, 635g), which is claimed to filter at 15 nanometres (0.015 microns)! It would therefore remove all the viruses as well as the bacteria. Plus it's meant to work with muddy water. During one of his talks, the inventor actually filters Thames water (or so he says), with a few much more disgusting add-ons and drinks it. Convincing enough! The main drawback: it's three times as heavy as the Katadyn products.

One funny thing with most websites advertising portable filtering, is that all the "action" pictures seem to involve crystal-clear mountain lakes or springs from which I would drink straight away anyway...

Any comments?

Ultra purification.

(1) Strictly speaking a simple water filter is sufficient.

Tuesday, September 15 2009

Thames Source Quest: the time has come

The project of running the whole length of the Thames Path National Trail (295.7km) from the sea (Thames Barrier (1)) to its source via London and Oxford has been on the back-burner for quite a while now. The Thames Source Quest (TSQ) has been thought about for 2007, 2008, and 2009... It might eventually happen in 2010! I've considered three main variations so far:
  • 7 marathons in 7 days (coincidently the exact distance minus 350m)
  • 3 days of approx. 100km
  • 1 single stage
The 7-days option is fairly symbolic and has been done by Leo from the Chameleons in the past. The 3-days option has the advantage of running everything by daylight. Obviously the latter remains my favourite choice :) . More specifically, I would like to complete it in under 48 hours, ideally in 40 to 42 hours.

Obviously, this project has nothing in common with the Alps and their crazy ascents. The Thames goes down by only 110 meters between the source and its mouth. But there is some form of "purity" in the route that is greatly attractive. It couldn't be more natural, as it simply follows a river from one end to another, without (much) human considerations. Running towards the source is also quite symbolic of an escape from London and a quest for pure water. Indeed, I hope to be able to drink some water straight from the river once I'll be at the source. I guess I've got some kind of weird attraction to the Thames, probably loosely derived from some form of Victorian romanticism.

My current idea is to run solo and unsupported, but that might change later. Unsupported means that water supply will be a serious logistic issue. It's simply impossible to carry enough water for the whole length. Open shops/pubs might not be easily found, especially towards the more rural end and during the night. There is one obvious solution to this problem... drink the Thames water itself! Obviously after a bit of purification, and from the non-tidal section only (ie. passed Teddington lock). That would increase quite a lot the connection between the runner and the river, providing not only the route, but also the subsistence. More on that topic later.

Also, a few other Thames challenges appeal to me:
  • cycling in under 24 hours
  • walking in 7 days (42km/day)
  • canoeing (2) in 2 weeks (21km/day)?
  • swimming (2) in 20 days (15km/day)?
Ultra river.

(1) The Thames Barrier, although preventing the spring tides to get into the Thames, is not technically the limit between the river and the sea. The Thames mouth is officially located at Southend-on-Sea.
(2) I might want to perform those from the source downstream.

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