2022 was another incredible season
and I want to start by thanking all of you for joining us
on our adventures here on YouTube.
So in this video, I'm going to take a look back
at the goals that we had originally set for 2022
to see how we did on those
before giving you a preview of what's to come in the season ahead.
You might remember from the similar video that I posted around this time last year
that I had originally planned to participate in two key events
starting with a 7-day stage race in the country of Georgia.
And of course, I finally finished producing the video series
from this incredible adventure
which turned out exactly how I had hoped it would.
Thank you so much for all of the incredibly positive feedback so far
both in the comments on YouTube and in the personal messages
that you've all been sending me.
If you've yet to watch that then maybe pause this
and go ahead and start that now instead
because there will be spoilers.
This series follows a very similar format to my series racing Namibia
from the race that I did previously with Racing the Planet.
In fact, I wanted it to feel almost like season two of that program
at the risk of it potentially feeling a little bit repetitive.
But of course, the location was completely different
and I was able to introduce you to a brand new cast of characters
and my race result was also a little bit different this time as well.
My goal for Georgia had been to make it on the podium a
nd I did manage to finish in second place
behind Florian in the lead and in front of Matthew
both of whom you got to know throughout the series.
Earlier in the year, I had also launched a new series of weekly v-logs
documenting my training and my travels throughout the season
which I called my Training Diaries.
I wasn't sure exactly how long I'd be able to keep this up
but I did manage to put out an episode pretty much every week
around the same time for about 26 weeks
even while traveling in Georgia.
After my race, I pretty much flew straight home
and I only had a couple of weeks to recover before having to pivot
and to start my training again in the mountains
in preparation for my second big event of the year: UTMB.
But first, Audrée and I headed down to Colorado
to support some friends who were running the Hardrock 100
in the San Juan mountains.
Getting into this race is really difficult and it's been a long-term goal for me
but pacing it is almost as fun.
It was actually my second time going to Hardrock
and this time I paced my friend Ken through the final leg of the race.
You can watch it all in the 42-minute documentary
that I published shortly after on my channel.
Audrée also got a chance to bag her first 14er, Mount Sneffles
and I've got a short film about that on my channel as well.
On the way back we made a stop in Wyoming
to run a 60 km loop around Grand Teton National Park.
This was probably one of the most beautiful and scenic routes
mile for mile that I've ever run
and I'm still trying to find time to edit the film from this run
which will probably be up to an hour long.
But in the meantime, you can see a preview in Episode 19
of my training Diaries in case you missed it.
We then only had about a week at home before leaving again for France
where we'd spend the entire month of August in lead up to UTMB.
We headed directly to Chamonix so that we could prepare to start the following day
on our big week of training as we fastpacked the Tour du Mont Blanc
which is basically the same route that we'd be racing at the end of the month.
And as I said in the film, I was almost more excited
about fastpacking the route than I was about racing UTMB.
If I had to choose just one, I'd say that fastpacking the route
might actually be a more rewarding experience
given that you can go at your own pace
and of course enjoy all the incredible food along the way.
Not to mention the views, many of which during UTMB
you ended up missing while running at night.
We spent the next couple of weeks finishing our training and tapering
before returning to Chamonix for the week of the race.
I'd been to Chamonix a few times before in lead-up to other races
and Audrée had run TDS which is part of the UTMB series.
But this was the first time that either of us had run the full race.
Of course, it was extra special given that we could both start the race together
and the film was much better as a result of having
both of our perspectives from the race as well.
I'm blown away by the feedback on this video
which has already gained over 500,000 views
in just the first 3 months since it was published
and it continues to get more than 2,000 views a day.
I guess it's no coincidence that it's
one of the biggest and most popular races in the world
which probably tells me what kind of events I should be focusing on
if I want to continue to grow my channel.
The race itself was also a success for both of us.
I wouldn't say that either of us
really achieved our a goal in terms of finishing times
but just finishing a race like this your first time is a real accomplishment.
In hindsight, my goal of running sub-30 hours was probably unrealistic anyway
given that I really only had a month of dedicated training in the mountains
following my race in Georgia
which itself had been mostly flat and runnable.
If I was to ever run UTMB again I would definitely focus on it wholeheartedly
with at least a few months of dedicated training in the mountains.
While we were in Chamonix I met Luis
The Race Director of a race on the Azores Islands
which led me to an opportunity for one more big adventure before the season was over.
So I took it pretty easy in September
and started again training in October and November
both back in the gym doing my strength training and out on the trails
before heading to the Azores Islands for two weeks in early December.
There I raced the 60k Epic Azores Trail race
before spending the rest of my time exploring not only Sao Miguel
but a few of the other nearby Islands.
We had some pretty interesting weather.
So the race was quite difficult
and I ended up having some navigational issues as well.
I won't give away too much here though
because I will also still be editing an hour+ long film from my entire adventure there
which I hope to have time to finally get to in April.
But you can get a preview of all of that
in a video that I published late last year on my channel as well.
So in total for the year, I covered just over 3, 500 km by foot
with 112 000 meters of elevation gain.
Back in 2021, I had set a somewhat arbitrary target
of trying to hit 50,000 subscribers here on YouTube by the end of the year.
But I headed into 2022 at just 42,000.
Still a huge increase though from the 20,000 that I had at the start of 2021.
Last year I managed to add another roughly 20,000 subscribers
and I'm now at just over 65,000
and I've been gaining about 3,000 new subscribers each month.
So my next target will be the 100,000 subscriber mark
which I'm hoping I might be able to hit by the end of the year or shortly after
so that I can get that coveted silver YouTube plaque.
But we'll see.
I'm also really excited though to see my Supporting Channel Memberships continue to grow
because this money does really help to support the work that I'm doing.
So part of my strategy moving forward will be to
continue to publish all of my films for free of course
but to then also publish supporting content like gear breakdowns
and detailed explanations of logistics exclusively for my channel members
at cost of roughly a cappuccino each month.
So if you would like to become a channel member
you can do so by hitting the 'Join' button
from within a web browser and buy me a coffee.
We also launched a newsletter late last year
and I've been sending this out weekly at most
usually whenever I publish a new video
along with links to some other resources and YouTube videos that I think you might enjoy.
You can sign up for that by visiting the link below.
Our season this year is getting a jump start
just a few days from now while I'm recording this
when we'll be heading down to Argentina to start our adventure in Patagonia.
There we'll be joining a group that we're hosting with Trovatrip
as we spend eight days hiking and taking in
some of the most incredible views that the region has to offer.
Audrée and I are then going to have another week on our own
to spend fastpacking in Torres Del Paine on the O circuit
which will be the first new film that I'll be producing in 2023.
A month later, I'll be heading to Arizona with a group of friends
to run the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim.
I did this route once before but that was quite a few years ago.
So it's time that I go back and with a much better camera this time.
I'd filmed the video from that trip on an early generation GoPro
and my storytelling left a little bit to be desired as well.
In May, Audrée and I will then be racing the Wildhorse Traverse 54k in nearby Kelowna
part of the P.A.C.E. Trail Race Series.
So if you're looking for what looks to be a fun and fairly runnable 50k in British Columbia
then we'd love to see you there as well.
In June, I'll then be heading to England
where I'll spend the entire month in the Lake District
training for and preparing to run the Bob Graham Round
while living there and working remotely in the evenings.
This is 106 km loop with 8,200 meters of elevation gain which traverses 42 peaks.
To be considered a finisher, you've got to do it all in under 24 hours.
Bob Graham himself was 42 when he successfully completed the 42 peak challenge
and it's now become a bit of a thing to do it when you turn 42.
I'll be turning 42 myself at the end of June.
So I can't think of a better way to celebrate.
Audrée will be joining me for the last week as well
and I've already managed to assemble a pretty good crew
including some old friends that I'm looking forward to reconnecting with
and some new ones that I'll be getting to know as well.
I plan on documenting the entire process.
So you're going to not only learn about the history of the round
but you'll also see more on-course footage that you might have
probably ever seen before along with what I hope
will be a very authentic representation of fell running culture
and the community that surrounds it.
We're then heading to Switzerland so that Audrée can run her first goal race of the year
the 100K Eiger Ultra Trail by UTMB.
I'll just be getting going again after recovering from the Bob Graham Round.
So I'll be there to film and support Audrée
while she films her own perspective of the race.
This will actually be the first film that we make focusing on Audrée's experience.
So it should be a lot of fun.
The first week of August, we're then going to be working
with a team called Vagabond Trails to once again fastpack
the Tour de Mont Blanc with a group.
This trip sold out in less than 24 hours after we opened registration last year
which was actually a huge surprise.
So I'm really sorry to anyone who might have been left disappointed.
We'll hopefully be doing it again in 2024.
But I think that at least a few of you did manage to get in with other groups
that Vagabond is leading, which is great.
I know that our friend Billy Yang is going to be hosting a group with them this year as well.
The rest of our month in August we've yet to solidify
but we're hoping to continue our training by doing some fastpacking in the Julian Alps
probably doing the Julian Alps Traverse route.
This will be training for our final big adventure in Europe
as we then head to Spain to run the Pyrenees Stage Run
a 7-day 220 km race through the Pyrenees.
Audrée and I will actually be racing this as a team for the first time.
It's also the first time that either of us will be running a supported stage race
meaning that we won't have to carry all of our gear and food for the week.
Instead, we'll be staying in hotels each night and eating really good meals.
I'll be collaborating with the Race Directors there like I did with Racing the Planet.
So the film should be a good one.
This will be Audrée's goal race for the season.
So after that, she'll have a chance to recover and to take it easy for the rest of the year.
But for me, it will just be a training run.
Because a couple of weeks later, we're heading to Colorado
to pick up a truck camper from our friends at Rossmonster
so that we can spend the next few weeks in Moab
where I'll be doing some heat training in advance of running the Moab 240.
At 240 miles, this will be my longest race to date
although, with significantly less elevation change
than TOR Des Geants or the SwissPeaks 360k.
So I'm hoping to finish in less time than in either of those two events.
Audrée will be using the Baja from Rossmonster during the race as well
as she crews me throughout the week
which is to be a game changer for us both.
I'll be working with the media team there as well.
So this film is going to be an epic.
So as you can see, we've got just a massive season planned
of both adventures and content
and I'll be documenting all of this in real time in another season of my Training Diaries.
Although, probably only two episodes per month this time instead of four.
We're so thankful to have the support this season as well
of a great family run business based here in North Vancouver
called Cove Continuity Advisors as part of their 'Inspire Me' sponsorship program.
Their goal is to inspire others to live a healthy and adventurous life
which aligns perfectly with our own goal.
I also want to thank Solomon for their ongoing support
and I'll be working with a few nutrition brands throughout the season
that I will be telling you more about as well.
So I hope that you'll follow along.
And let me know in the comments below
what kind of adventures that you have planned for the upcoming season
or if you have any ideas for events and destination runs
that you'd like to see us document in the future.