news

Running up that hill makes business sense

Beam’s Dan Grimshaw believes he’s discovered the antidote to workplace stress: running up mountains. Dan says nothing beats pushing himself to the limits in his spare time to induce a feeling of Zen-like calm for the rest of his working week.

He recently returned from Salzburg, Austria, where he took part in the Mozart 100 ultra-trail, completing the 108-kilometres course in 17 hours. Dan says trying to reconcile the benefits of ultra-trails to others can feel a little weird but urges people to give it a try. He says nothing beats the sheer feeling of accomplishment when he crosses the finish line.

Dan believes the endurance and positive attitude required to get round the course is something many business owners would relate to. He says running for that amount of time and distance puts matters into perspective, enabling him to think about things differently. And, with a demanding and stressful work life, Dan says running also gives him the mental strength to be able to remain calm and stay on top of things.

Dan completed the circular Mozart 100 course – which crosses two mountains – in just over 17 hours coming a ‘very respectable’ 270th out of a field of 600. He says the going was tough. At 30c+, and at an elevation of 5000 metres, equivalent to 160k on the flat, it was a huge distance and one that he had not run before. Dan says the low point came 11 hours in with another 30-35k to go. On spotting other people doing sensible things like swimming and walking amid the beautiful alpine scenery, he says he wondered why he hadn’t just gone there on holiday instead.

To help put the course behind him, Dan says he employs a mixture of three basic states: either taking something with him to think about, or else thinking about something that just pops into his head; thinking about his current form; or else just trying to enjoy the run as he goes along, mindful of where he is outside among the elements and nature.

In the past 18 months Dan has completed several ultra-marathons, mostly in the mountains, and has now qualified to enter the UTMB 170km /10,000m race around Mt. Blanc. This is interspersed with high altitude ski-mountaineering in the Alps. He trains with performance coach Anna-Marie Watson who is ex-military and an ultra-endurance athlete herself who uses the link between business and endurance in her work.