If you know me, then you will have at some point heard me talk about running, or realised that I spend a large chunk of my daily life either engaged in the activity itself, or at minimum, thinking about it. For those of you who do not know me, simply put, I love running, and this Pozible is about me taking it to another level. 

This is my next challenge...

The Alpine Challenge is a 60km trail running ultra through some ofVictoria's most spectacular alpine environment. The Alpine Challenge is without a doubt the toughest, most challenging, most spectacular and rewarding mountain trail run in Australia—if not the southern hemisphere. For outline of the course profile and terrain, follow the link below. 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1022165383

Training and racing in an event like this requires dedication, motivation and most importantly, support. 'Support' in itself may just be the most important factor behind successful attempts at ultra marathons around the world, and there certainly are a huge number of ways in which runners are supported, be it through; pacers, support crew, family, friends, therapists, coaches, team mates, products, nutrition, the list goes on. On race day, and in the hardest moments of training and competing, these are the people who come into mind and motivate us to keep pushing. Mentally, it's an inexhaustible reservoir of motivation and the impact on performance is immeasurable.

Without support its hard to make the dedication required for proper training, preparation and successful racing. Just as the KM's add up, so does the cost of running and training for Ultra Marathons. For example; running over 100kms a week in training translates into a new pair of runners every 6 weeks on average. Usually, there are two pairs of runners on rotation at any one time (one for trail and one for road), so over a 2month period I usually spend $400 on runners alone. The best prevention for injury, is, well...prevention. So once a month I meet with my PT to make adjustments, realignments and improve my proprioception and strength, which in turn makes me faster, stronger and more resilient. This also comes at a cost of $90 per session. This is just a few of the outgoing costs of running and training for an ultra distance race. 

As an amateur without professional sponsors, and a very modest weekly income, I do find it difficult at times to both run and keep a roof over my head. Often I have to choose between paying rent and getting my feet looked at, or registering for a race. Initially, I was really embarrassed about having to decide, I was continually frustrated about my inability to make ends meet and train properly. But then a friend thankfully suggested an idea oneday; " Until your situation improves, why don't you let go of your pride and let us help you where we can?" And so, I started this Pozible to hopefully garner support from family and friends who wish to contribute in getting me to the finishing line and help me achieve my best possible results. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read the campaign page. 

All the best, 

Mitch

Along with my own contributions, I eventually worked out the costings for the Alpine Challenge to sit at just over $1000. If we can manage to fund the $1000 goal, I will be well on my way to a strong 12week training window before the race. Here’s where your contribution will be used:

$250 will pay for the mandatory registration fee for the Alpine Challenge 60km 

http://www.runningwild.net.au/alpine-challenge-entry.html

$220 will put one pair of runners on my feet. (1 out of 2)

$100 will buy a necessary SPF100 long sleeve running top for sun protection in November. 

$90 will pay for one PT appointment.

$50 will pay for one month of running coaching. 

$40 will pay for race day nutrition (gels, electrolytes, etc.)

$30 will replace one pair of holey running socks.

For those of you who want to remain anonymous, that is totally fine and understandable. For those who do not, I will be making posts of your contribution showing how you have helped on the journey via my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mudfootman/ (please let me know if you do not wish for this to happen).

Briefly I outlined some of the challenges in the story for this Pozible campaign. Of course, most of these are financial factors and hence the reason for crowd funding assistance. 

Other challenges that exist and are some what unforeseeable, are the likes of injury and, or, sickness. That being said with smart nutrition, training and injury prevention, the likelihood of this is relatively low, and the crowd funding is directly helping to reduce this likelihood even further.