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xackd

Ultra-runner / Environmentalist
Sustainable Web Design
Low-carbon Websites

https://xackd.com

12/30/2025

The Middle Bay Lighthouse, located in Mobile Bay, Alabama, is a historic, hexagonal screwpile lighthouse built in 1885 to guide ships into the Port of Mobile. It was automated in 1935.

12/28/2025

Merry Christmas! What a year! So many highs and lows. The highs were high and the lows were deep.
Bring on 2026!

07/14/2025

RTTS 100k. Tough day out there with temps getting up into the mid 30s through the afternoon. I paced the first half fairly well, getting into the 50k aid station in 5hrs 18min, but it was already 29C and I’d had to slow down a lot to avoid overheating.

The last half was tough.

I drank somewhere between 12 and 14 litres of water + 24g sodium (+ other electrolytes - calcium, magnesium, potassium).

I ate 12 SIS beta fuel gels, 12 high5 gels, 1 banana and a few bits of watermelon.

1 small blister, slightly bruised achilles, sore quads. Tired but happy.

12hrs 29min. 12th V40

07/11/2025

Race time! One more sleep. Race to the Stones 100k tomorrow. Looks like it’s going get toasty hot.
It’s been a good taper, not too grumpy, just a few phantom niggles - iykyk! The anxiety of the past few days has (mostly) turned into excitement. I’m ready.
Ready to embrace the heat, sweat and miles! Let’s get it!

07/05/2025

12:04pm Fun little jog around in the Black Mountains last Thursday. Racking up another good training run, hot and hilly. Feeling blessed to be able to fit this in around a work trip.

Doing my first 100k next weekend - Race to the Stones - it’s been a good build, ready to get out there and see what I’ve got!

PS. If there’s anyone out there who wants to CREW, drop me a DM, I just need a bag handing off at the 50k aid station nr Wantage, OX12 8PA - else I’ll be carrying an extra 1kg for the first 50k!

05/23/2025

Official race photos from the Maverick North Downs 50k!

Incredible course, so much fun, definitely planning to do this one again. Big thanks to

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05/17/2025

09:00. Maverick North Downs 50k.
What a day! Absolutely amazing course, mostly forest trails, lots of hills, and a good amount of rocks and roots to keep it interesting under foot. Hot and sunny, but cooler in the woods.
I missed my very optimistic sub 5 hour goal by 14 mins, but happy with that, I was right on the edge of what my body could handle. Also, just 3 minutes spent at aid stations ⏱️ so no dawdling!

2nd V40, 15th overall (out of 147)

05/14/2025

Sunday 6:51am. Long run. 34km, 648m ascent, 3h 8m.
Last big run before the Maverick North Downs 50k next Saturday, a good chance to test nutrition and hydration in warmer conditions. Got in some good downhills to condition the quads with that sweet sweet eccentric muscular fatigue.
About 11k in I saw a cow that had just given birth, must have been within the hour, she was happily munching on the placenta - can’t let all that valuable nutrient-dense viscera go to waste! It makes complete sense from an evolutionary perspective - to reabsorb valuable nutrients and clean up anything that might attract predators. But it was strange to me, oddly jarring. “Is this normal? I suppose it must be” I thought. And apparently it is.

05/05/2025

Conjoined Oak and Yew trees. Never seen anything quite like this. Two trees conjoined in multiple places.
I’ve often seen Oak and Yew trees growing very close together, but this relationship is intimate on another level.

04/15/2025

09:00, Montreat, NC.
It was a cold in the shadow of the mountain. 187 runners twitched and shuffled, adjusting gear, doing little neck and finger stretches to manage the last minute nerves. Excitement builds as the race director calls out “1 minute to go!”. Then it’s “5,4,3,2,1”, the banjo plays, and we’re off. It’s a steep climb out of town and I’m trying not to go too hard.
The first 14k is series of tough climbs and short descents, gaining around 1240m. I’m trying to keep it right on the line; right in that zone of uncertainty where I don’t know if I can maintain the effort. Struggling a bit with the altitude as we summit Greybeard Mountain at 1635m. I grab the punch, mark my bib, and head back down.
Just below the rocky peak is a grove of small trees, the branches still covered with a layer of fluffy ice that falls like cherry blossom with each little gust of wind. As I pass other runners still going up, everyone is laughing and smiling, enjoying the snow.
Then it’s on, the last 8.5k drops 1240m over extremely technical, narrow rocky, rooty single track with endless twists and switchbacks. It’s absolutely savage and completely brilliant.
“If you don’t fall, you’re not going hard enough” I say to myself.
Flying down leafy sections, slalom skiing over rocks, twisting between trees and rhododendron bushes, scrambling and leaping down little rock faces.
It’s a long hard descent. The growls started after about 20mins as I crashed round switchbacks. Then a few wild roars, battle cries, venting fear and effort, as the trail flattened out a bit, willing my myself to keep pushing hard. Emerging onto tarmac for the last 1k push to the finish, giving it everything, hoping to pick off a few more runners in the final stretch, but the road is empty, and its nothing but the breeze all the way to the line.
Massive thanks to for putting on such an awesome event, and to all the volunteers who put in so much work to clear the trails after hurricane Helene.
6th MV40, 25th overall

04/07/2025

07:44am, Montreat, NC.
Long run, 22km, 1300m ascent. Steep, technical and slippery - loads of rocks and roots and leaf litter.
I thought I’d get this done in 3hrs, but there were more than a few nav errors and a lot of fallen tress to jump over. Also much harder than expected to run the downhills - all super technical single track with endless twists and switchbacks.

A bloody great morning out.

03/31/2025

Day 3
Monday 06:18, One last bleary-eyed run to catch the sunrise.

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