Introduction

As with everything here in life an introduction is most definately neccessary therefor I give you the background to The Adventures of Akapov, a 30 year old Swede gone barking mad...

Surely I have always been a man for avoiding "normal" life always taking the challenging way in everything I have done, for good or for bad many might say. Leaving my home country at an early age to learn spanish was the thing that kicked everything off and since then I have never looked back. 40 countries later and enough life experiences to match any 80 year old I have now engaged in a new type of challenge. Ultra running... Always been a sporty type and so forth but the journey I have now embarked on will demand so much more from me. Ran my first marathon some 4 years ago after a drunken bet having told my friends that a marathon could be done under 4 hours without previous training...(never propose stupid ideas while intoxicated) The problem/strength with my personality is however the stubborness and "talent" for suffering so even though I lost the bet with a time of 4 hours and 4 minutes I managed to push myself through agony and pain but somehow managed to enjoy it at some level as well.

Since then I have together with my Spanish sister (Ana) and her boyfriend (Sergio my idol and mentor) more and more engaged in running, participating in 10 k races in Madrid and also started to run ultra distances in the mountains.
It was during the 10km race El Orgullo in Madrid that I got presented to Pedro and we started to talk about one of the toughest foot races on the planet Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara Desert. He said that it had always been a dream of his and so it has for me. Thus we decided there and then to create the team Ultraoxigeno (UO2) which at present consist of Pedro, Mayayo and little ole me. The goal of this team is to go through agonizing pain and challenging endurance races with the ultimate goal of running Des Sables in March 2010 and we are well on our way:)

This upcoming Sunday I am participating in what will be my toughest challenge up to this date in the infamous Maraton Alpino Madrileño which to give you an idea consist of the following...44km running up and down three peaks of approx 2500m in what it seems extremely hot conditions with a time limit of 9 hours so it was nice knowing you all...;)

I know it will hurt but so have other races and to try and reason with myself to why I am actually doing these things I have managed to break it down to three main cathegories.

1.Cliche cliche I know but life is very short and anything new and demanding pushing your body to its outer limits I want to try as you feel so damn alive and proud once you realize that you really can do it

2.For me it works the following, we all go through tough times in our personal lives and taking on this type of activity with all the pain and mental challenges it sets a level for me. When I see that I am capable of pulling through a grueling 9 hour mountain race, next time I encounter hardship in my professional career or personal life I will use the experiences to carry on. Nothing can really affect you after you show your mind what you are capable of

3. The atmosphere and the people you meet going through the same type of experiences are truly wonderful, it creates a mutual respect and admiration for one another which is also something of great importance to take with you to other parts of your life

Not to make this first post too long and by not giving away everything right away I will of course continue to write about the future endevours not only for Akapov but also for our team Ultraoxigeno

All the best to you all and for anyone running the MAM on Sunday, the best of luck

/Akapov