George Foster
Ultra and Mountain Runner
I am a 31 year old mountain runner currently living not too far from you guys in North Yorkshire. I’ve been running competitively now for about 5 years in distances ranging from 1 mile to 40 miles and have completed a few of the longer distance non-racing challenges, like the Bob Graham Round, in my time.
I run for Ambleside AC (fells) and Richmond & Zetland Harriers (everything else) as well as the Royal Artillery Regimental and Army Cross-country Teams (as part of my day job) and have been selected for the Central Scotland Hill Running squad to take part in the Home Counties Mountain Running Championship over the past couple of years. A full Scotland call-up came but alas work gets in the way at the most inopportune times (plus I’m English anyway so it would have been a bit awkward haha)!
My main interest lies on the fells and, despite a couple of injuries at the peak of the season, I’ve managed some fairly decent results, regularly placing in the top five of some of the more prestigious races in the calendar; 3rd at Wasdale, 4th at Kentmere (both in 2016) and a few 1st places elsewhere. Recently I was 7th at Coledale in my first race of the season…..only just ahead of a storming run by Vic Wilkinson!
To me though, whilst it’s great to be placing well, the enjoyment comes from being able to be consistent, which is why I’m emailing you. I first heard of you at the start of last year and your approach to the sport, and the sports nutrition market in general, piqued my interest as it seems fluently in line with my own. I used your full product range in determining a nutrition strategy for a BG that I completed in July last year. I am a fairly harsh critic of nutritional products, mainly due to the sheer quantity of companies out there who assure us that their product is THE one to use, offering THE answer to nutritional needs etc etc.
Your stuff works. Im sure that’s not exactly news to you! I used your full range in the build up to, and completion of, my BG and was back racing, and winning, only 2 weeks after. To me, the true testament to the utility of Mountain Fuels products. I’d love to be a part of helping to promote the ethos and mindset of your company in showcasing your products across the outdoor community.
My main aims for 2017 focus on a mixture between European racing and the local classics on home turf here in the UK. I’m training for some fast efforts (sub-19hrs and the Paddy Buckley record attempt) at the ‘Big 3’ UK Rounds – Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay – though this will be postponed until summer 2018.
A mixed 2017 season saw me not compete as I would have liked due to work commitments with 7th at Coledale, first Brit at Dolomites Skyrace, 9th at Rydal Round being my only results, hopefully more to come in 2018!
I have a regular, active blog (though please excuse the past few weeks as I’ve been course-bound for the majority of the autumn/winter) over at www.fellicionado.com which documents my running and rock climbing in the UK and abroad with a large readership; please take a look if you have the time!
