The first thing to consider is you don't go up the tourist path from Red Burn it's straight up and from the top it's pretty much straight down back to the burn. No zig zags. You'll need very grippy shoes mud claws or brand new x-talons or Walshes - I ran in worn out talons and paid the price on the long very very steep grassy descent back to Red Burn.

Training wise I'd do as many category A medium races you can and make sure you've got strong quads. Buttermere Sailbeck is a good race to do, but nothing can really prepare you for sea level to the highest point in Britain and back again!

Basically you've got about four miles of steep descending after climbing solidly for an hour and a half, the scree at the top is the easy part, the grass after that is the killer and the mile of rolling road back to the footy ground just about finishes you off!!! People's legs give out from under them when they hit flat ground and a fair few fall that way.

It's an amazing race I'm back for another go this year. I can't bleeding wait!!