The ultra runner on a crash course with UTMB glory
Tarne Westcott is hoping to find Chamonix success at the fourth time of asking
Running Tales on Substack is a reader-supported publication. We make no money from advertising - and we’re REALLY thirsty!
Please consider donating to help us do what we do ☕️
“My younger self would probably say, dude, you need help.”
Tarne Westcott has run in a lot of ultra marathons - but things weren’t always that way.
From the Race to the Stones and the Stour Valley Path 100, to the Dorset Coastal Ultra, the Marathon des Sables, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) and the five-day Capital to Country Ultra through Nepal, running long distances has become integral to Tarne’s life.
It wasn’t so long ago, though, that he had vowed never to run again after having an “absolutely awful time” at the London Marathon.
And asked what his younger self would’ve made of the man who has just completed the Swiss Alps 100, he told the Running Tales Podcast: “He’d be surprised. I think he’d be shocked.
“I didn't enjoy that [first marathon] - four hours hard and fast on the tarmac.”
When he crossed the line at London, back in 2004, Tarne vowed he’d never run again.
These days, he has a new vow: to conquer the UTMB.
Tarne has tried - and failed - to finish the iconic 106-mile (171 km) mountain run through the Alps three times.
Despite DNF-ing his previous attempts at the race, he has fallen in love with the course and camaraderie at the Chamonix-based UTMB.
“I just need to cross that finish line in Chamonix,” he said.
“For anyone who has never been there, it's just impossible to articulate the atmosphere and environment. It really is so moving.”
‘Hertfordshire doesn’t prepare you for the Alps’:
Tarne said the first time he entered UTMB in 2016, he didn’t realise just how extreme the event was.
Despite having already completed several 100-milers, he said nothing could have prepared him for running through the mountains.
“Living in Hertfordshire can’t get you ready for climbing 10kms of mountain and then descending 10kms, while also trying to feed yourself and deal with temperature extremes,” he said.
“The reality is that where we are in and around London, you're just not equipped to train or prepare for that.
“I'm not somebody who can jump on a plane and go and train in the mountains, so when we first turned up in Chamonix the reaction was ‘what on earth, is this?’”
He said during that first race he hit the halfway mark an hour before the cut off time, but hadn't eaten enough.
“And then the time starts to run on, you're out again in the heat and you just lose time,” he said. “It’s very, very tough - but it is achievable.
“It’s just so addictive because of the atmosphere. It's wonderful, you're in such a beautiful part of the world and everyone's just so friendly. It's not hostile at all.
“The buzz, the atmosphere, it's just electric.”
Tarne said his second UTMB attempt ended due to a “dumb mistake” which led to him ending up with horrendous blisters.
“It just demands so much focus and prep,” he said.
“You do end up exhausted mentally from it. I know it's all self-induced, but you care about it.
“You invest effort in it and it's something you're doing for your own satisfaction.
“But I was always going back.”
Tarne currently has enough running stones to enter the UTMB again - each stone earned is an entry into the lottery to participate in the race - and is planning to put his name into the ballot for it.
“That's really where my heart is,” he said. “I want to go back next year.”
A Swiss boost and memories of MDS:
Tarne’s UTMB hopes were boosted earlier this month when he completed the Swiss Alps 100 - the first time in six attempts that he has finished a 100-mile mountain race.
He told Running Tales: “I’ve definitely had my fair share of mistakes and bad experiences [in mountain races] but I was very, very certain that this was going to be the one for me.
“Actually I've said that each time, but I did prepare very, very well. Most of the effort actually went in mentally preparing and the physical stuff I had reasonably well in hand.”
Tarne said the support of friends and family was vital when tackling the mental challenges such a race brings: “I got my fair share of messages going into the event and everybody knew what this meant for me.
“I knew why my previous failures have happened. Some people can't handle the physical aspect, but I've never really had too much of a challenge in that respect. I am by no means an extraordinary runner, but I've always put the work in around the training and I've been quite resilient in that respect.
“But when you get to a certain point, your mind starts playing games with you and sometimes wants to tell you to stop well before your body is ready to.
“So that is where I put the focus in. And I just kept very positive throughout the whole race.”
Read more about Tarne Westcott’s running story:
Two other huge races which Tarne has taken on - and completed - are the Marathon des Sables, the legendary 250km (155-mile), six stage run across the Sahara, and the Capital to Country multi-day ultra through Nepal.
“Marathon des Sables was ten years ago,” he said, joking: “That was when it was difficult.”
The joke is an allusion to the rationing of water at MDS, a rule which has been relaxed in recent years.
“When I had it, the water was truly rationed and no mobile phones were allowed,” he said, “it was an amazing experience.
“Nepal was back in November with Go Beyond and Simon Hollis's team. That was an amazing event.
“It was just wonderful, with a different vibe. Very, very relaxed, hugely enjoyable and so much more intimate.
“It was almost more like a holiday than it was a five-day ultra because it was just so friendly - hanging out with your mates for five days and running through the foothills of the Himalayas, what's not to love about that?
“It was tremendous event and the scenery was just breathtaking.”
The pub meet-up that led to the London to Brighton Ultra:
It’s all a far cry from Tarne’s London Marathon experience, a race he said he was lucky to get into through the ballot but which left him unfulfilled.
It was years later when a catch-up with a friend led to him entering the London to Brighton Ultra.
That friend was Dharmesh Mistry and the pair have successfully completed a host of races together since then.
Tarne said: “We put the work in, put the training in and around six to eight months later, whatever it was, we ended up running from London to Brighton and we had a great day.
“That’s where it all kicked off. I had done some triathlons 20 years ago and sporadically ever since. But I just never really enjoyed the swimming.
“I used to put the work in, but I’m just naturally not very good in the water.
Also on Running Tales:
“I wanted to spend my time, my precious free time, doing stuff I enjoyed. I just didn't enjoy time in the water.
“I always came back to running. I feel I'm relatively good at it. It’s more natural for me. I'm a little bit lazy, if I'm honest, and I don't have to try too hard to run.
“I don't enjoy going out with the stopwatch and timing myself. I just enjoy thinking about nothing, being outside and running.”
He said as he progressed the races he was doing got longer as the sport became increasingly addictive.
“You get hooked and think ‘what can I do next?,” he said. “I've done 50 miles, maybe 100k, and then suddenly you've entered a 100 mile race through the banter with your friends.
“People say, ‘you can’t really call yourself an ultra runner until you've done 100 miles,’ and it just never stops.”
It’s all enough for your past self to question your sanity - but then again Tarne wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks as ever for reading Running Tales. We couldn’t do this without your support - please back us to keep going by…