I’ll report here the results of the survey we ran for people using the North Face 100 Training course, and a little analysis……. final column is how many responses for each category (we had exactly 30 responses in total, most popular answers are bold)

1. Which category below includes your age?

21-29		6.7%	2
30-39		50.0%	15
40-49		33.3%	10
50-59		6.7%	2
60 or older		3.3%	1

Not much to draw from this, except it looks like young people have too much sense to enter this event…….

2. Are you male or female?

Male		66.7%	20
Female		33.3%	10

….and women are smarter than men

3. How many years have you been running?

Less than 1 year		10.0%	3
1-2 Years		26.7%	8
3-4 Years		20.0%	6
5 or more years		43.3%	13

A good spread of experience here, with about half of people with 1-4 years of running, and lots with 5 or more years. 3 People with less than 1 year of running and doing the North Face 100- I admire your guts, please don’t die.

4. How many Half Marathons have you completed?

None		23.3%	7
1		20.0%	6
2-3		23.3%	7
3-5		10.0%	3
More than 5		23.3%	7

Wow, a really even spread here. I’m hoping that the 3 people with less than a year running experience don’t also feature in the ‘no half marathons’ category. Or if they do, it’s because they’ve been doing Maras and Ultras. I’ve only done one proper half, so I shouldn’t worry too much!

5. How many Marathons have you completed?

None		36.7%	11
1		16.7%	5
2-3		26.7%	8
3-5		3.3%	1
More than 5		16.7%	5

OK, so 36% of us have never done a marathon. Well, a 100km race is very different to a marathon- you don’t have to try as hard, you just have to try for longer………. I’ve done 3 road marathons and one bush, so middle of the road for me here.

6. How many short Ultra Marathons have you completed (43-99km)?

None		53.3%	16
1		13.3%	4
2-3		26.7%	8
3-5		0.0%	0
More than 5		6.7%	2

My Answer here would be 3. This question isn’t as interesting because there aren’t a lot of races in this category. I’ll just say that 10 of you are pretty hardcore.

7. How many long Ultra Marathons have you completed (100km+)?

None		70.0%	21
1		16.7%	5
2-3		6.7%	2
3-5		0.0%	0
More than 5		6.7%	2

Looks like there’s 2 people we need to help with training! A full 70% of us have never undertaken a task like TNF100. You’re about to have some amazing experiences, and loads of people will be happy to help. You will be bowled over by the support some people will give you, and welcome to our special club of nutbags. My answer here would be 1- I’ve also done Trailwalker, but not as a runner.

8. How about your trail running experience?

None		3.3%	1
I’ve done a couple of events		46.7%	14
I’m fairly experienced on the trails		43.3%	13
I’m the running version of Bear Grylls- I only come out of the bush when I’m sick of eating bark		6.7%	2

Nothing beats getting out there and gaining experience, and it looks like a couple of these people can show you how to make a cubby house inside a horse. Nice.

9. What is your goal time for completing the North Face 100?

Just to finish		13.3%	4
Under 24 hours		6.7%	2
Under 20 hours		30.0%	9
Under 18 hours		10.0%	3
Under 16 hours		6.7%	2
Under 15 hours		10.0%	3
Under 14 hours		23.3%	7
I heard Killian is coming back. He’d better watch out for me		0.0%	0

Looks like everyone has pretty attainable goals. If you get to a reasonable level of fitness and don’t spend too much time in checkpoints you should beat 20 hours. You should be able to walk the course and beat the cutoff. But don’t be fooled- each hour towards a sub 14 is going to cost you dearly. It’s going to cost you many extra hours training and planning. Let’s see how close we can get together.

Based on these answers I’ve asked a couple of people who are currently trying for a sub 14 hour result to come on board and help out- I can’t help with this as I’m unlikely to make that time this year. Any comments you have are welcome either here or on the FaceBook page HERE