Charity
Orran Conquers the Tor
Orran Smith successfully completed his latest ultra running challenge, the gruelling Tor Des Geants in Italy.
Starting and finishing at Courmayeur in the Alps, this event is regarded as the hardest trail running race in the world, featuring no fewer than 24,000 metres of ascent and descent stretching a total distance of 330 kilometres.
Participants had to complete the race in under 150 hours (a little over six days), so they run all day and all night through all kinds of weather.
He once again demonstrated his endurance prowess, completing the distance in a time of 103 hours six minutes and 47 seconds. This placed him in an impressive 56th place out of 619 finishers inside the cut-off time.
Orran said: ‘The tor des Geants was incredibly tough. I have to say, I went into it pretty naïve even with all my relative experience in the mountains. There are mountains and then there are Alpine mountains and I now know the difference. So many times I wanted to quit. I was just so tired. In four and a half days I slept less than three hours 30 mins. The views were incredible the food was amazing and the Italian people were so encouraging it felt like they all really knew what a challenging endeavour the Tor is.
‘I woke up after a short nap at 1am on Thursday 14th at Oyace refreshment camp 273.8km into the race. I got my stuff together and from that point on I just went for it. There were still three huge mountains to climb and descend and about 62km of distance to cover but I was resolute that I was going to finish this race today.
‘I stopped for minimal time at the Rifugio’s and kept plowing on. The final Col (Col Malatra 2920m) was spectacular and as I passed through the rocks a helicopter passed over head. It was epic! The views on the other side were breathtaking! All that was left to do was descend to the finish this was about 20km on the map but felt like much more than that.
Orran was competing in the event to raise money for local charity Cruse Bereavement, saying: ‘I have chosen Cruse as my charity this time as bereavement and grief is sadly something that everyone will experience at some point in their life.
‘I have seen the impact of loss and the support that cruse offers is something that many people can benefit from.
‘Grief is such a complex emotion which requires targeted counseling and this is something Cruse can provide.’
Orran has raised nearly £1,100 for charity – surpassing his target of £1,000 – but donations can still be made at https://www.justgiving.com/page/orran-smith-1689021715970
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