The Ground We Stand On: Amanda Merrell

Amanda Merrell tackles a mountain on her daily run

In my 20s I worked long hours in an advertising agency in Soho in London. I had a gym membership but it was unused, so instead I started running home straight after work as a way to de‐stress and to keep fit.

I ran beside roads clogged with traffic on uneven pavements pockmarked with bad repairs. Every 10 metres or so a side road would intersect, and I had to jog on the spot, waiting for the lights to change. I never had any idea of how far I ran or how fast I was going. I just ran to get home.

Thirty years on I am still running – but now it’s different. London is a place I occasionally visit and my career is all but over. “Life 2”, as I call it, is still only a conversation topic, waiting to start at 60. Now I live in the Swiss Alps and I run to think. A typical run is from Siviez to the Cleuson Dam, on a steep track that climbs 650 metres to a concrete wall that holds the water back, towering 60 metres above the pine trees. It is 5 long, hard kilometres to the top. Mountains pitch up on either side. When I run, I take the mountain on. A duel, where I fight to run faster than last time and the mountain tries to stop me any way it can.

Tactics are everything. The first kilometre is a nice smooth road, gentle in incline. It is important not to run too fast – I know I will pay later. Quickly the tarmac disappears, and the track becomes rough. Big grey stones poke out from the mud. This is the first test. I can’t lift my eyes from the place where my feet are going because every stone is a potential trip hazard. Better to go slow and not fall.

Three kilometres up I cross the first of many streams – the water is freezing and I need to be careful. This is test two. If I slip, my feet will get wet and blisters will form. The track gets very steep and my heart is trying to escape from my ribcage. 4km up is the final and most difficult test. The track goes into a series of tunnels carved into the rock. Daylight is replaced by pitch black. The temperature instantly falls. As my eyes adjust to the gloom, I can see that water has part turned to ice. My feet slip and I pitch forward. I reach out to the walls to steady myself.

When I reach daylight again, I know I am nearly done. One last push up the steep road to the top of the wall. The duel is finished. For the first time I can lift my eyes to see the view. A secret lake the colour of an aquamarine set in a ring of mountains. I check my Garmin. Looking for small signs of improvements. Looking for virtual medals. Has the mountain won? Somehow without me knowing my thoughts have been neatly ordered. I don’t have the answers but the questions are clearer.

Amanda Merrell is a Marketing and Communications Consultant