W ultra „chodzi o osobiste historie” - Stu Westfield

Stu Westfield, safety coordinator of The Spine and Legends Trails.

Stu, what made you become the safety coordinator of Legends Trails?

Stu Westfield: I started off as a moutain leader and gradually got involved in races like the Spine Race in a hill top-based role on deployments and things like that. With several years' experience in this sort of things and guiding clients overseas and in the UK I gradually picked up skills and expertise to take on the role such as this. As I said the original role was with the Spine Race. I met Tim and Stef there, they saw how I did things over there, they liked the way the Spine Race did the safety team coordination and they invited me here to be the safety coordinator for the Legends Trails.

So you moved from mountain guiding to safety coordination of big races?

I wouldn't say moved 'cos I still do a lot of both, it's good to have different strings to one's bow and I do a little bit of safety coordination mixed with some guiding and taking clients out teaching them navigation and often preparing them for races like this with navigation and hill skills and strategies and race skills which are needed.

And what are your favourite outdoor activities that you pursue yourself?

I like all sorts of things, I used to be quite heavily into time trialling and cycle racing, done some marathons in the past, both running and cycling, but I think the thing I enjoy most of all is leading expeditions these days, especially to countries in Africa which I've been all over, and countries like Iceland which is nice and cold by comparison to Africa.

Mountain expeditions?

Yeah. I've guided on Kilimanjaro several times, I've been to Rwenzori in central Africa and some of the lesser peaks as well.

And how would you compare The Spine with this race?

Well, The Spine is a very different beast, firstly because it's a linear race and secondly because the altitude of The Spine is so much higher. Both of these races are non-stop but I think the way the Legends Trails is possibly harder in some respect is that it's constantly up and down all the time, and this year' terrain in the Legends is particularly tough with very wet winter, slushy snow on the ground, all that kinds of relentles terrain, tough short race, if you could call a 250k race short by comparison. In The Spine you tend to be on high ground for longer so you're more exposed to wind and hypothermia, but the navigation once you're on high ground tends to be a lot more linear and that gives less opportunities for error.

So do you consider the first edition of Legends Trails a success?

Oh absolutely! I think Tim and Stef have done a fantastic job, they learned a lot from their own experiences of racing as participants, they had a vision and they implemented that vision, I think they've given the race a fantastic service, with excellent value for money. Everyone of the racers gave positive feedback. They've all gone home, maybe a little bit bruised and battered, but they've all gone home safe. On the safety aspect, I'd like to personally thank everyone involved in the safety teams for doing a great job, being in the right places, being really go-getting and with a can-do attitude, ensuring the whole event is a success.

What do you find so fascinating about ultrarunning then, that you're into organising such things?

It's all about the stories. Sure it's great to see a racer like Michael Frenz ripping up those final kilometres and overhauling the guys we thought were gonna win, he made it into a fantastic race. And he came away with a wonderful story, as did all the other racers in the top half of the field. But then you look at the racers who maybe didn't do so well, but they had their own challenges, and it's all about those personal stories that people take away. Ultrarunning isn't just about being a winner, I think it's about the personal experience and it's a challenge against yourself, as much as anyone else.

If you say so, would you consider taking part in Legends Trails as a racer in one of the next years?

I certainly would, if given the time to put in the right kind of training, the right kind of preparation. It's obviously quite a challenging race and you have to prepare thoroughly for it, and if I wasn't working for it I would certainly consider running it!

Kamil Weinberg