Part of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail series, the Cortina Trail is a 48km trail race through the Dolomites with 2,600m elevation gain and descent. It was an absolute pleasure running it this year

After having a lot of time off with injury after the Self Transcendence 100km, I felt pretty deconditioned and unfit. We had spent a couple of weeks in Annecy & Kuhtai in the build up to the race trying to regain some of that fitness and build some hill legs. I was going from very flat to some serious hills!

We were blessed with the weather as soon as we arrived in Italy. Wall-to-wall sunshine with a Europe-wide heatwave. The Dolomites are absolutely stunning, and even more so in the glorious sun.

This heatwave meant pretty hot temperatures for the race, which led to a lot of people blowing up spectacularly. My lack of racing form kept me from setting off too quick, so I could enjoy the day gradually working harder and progressing through the field.

Finishing in 6hrs was a much higher level of exertion than my body was accustomed to, and I had to dig really deep towards the end, but it was absolutely glorious. The route was stunning and it felt so good to be back out pushing myself again.

Cortina – thank you, you were awesome.