Charlie, although only 26years of age, impressed us with his racing approach and his mature strategy that he applied in the race. Today, in his exclusive interview which he gave to Advendure, he is talking to us about the interesting aspects of his race, and also about his philosophy concerning running and the mountains. Could Rodopi Advendurun attract more foreign athletes? How did he find the atmosphere and the characteristics of the race, along with the people he met in Rodopi? What is the culture of trail running in the United Kingdom and what are his plans for the future?

[Advendure]: Charlie, you live in the United Kingdom, you are a very experienced ultra- trail runner with over 140 distance races from 5 to 268 miles and 35+ first positions. Simultaneously you offer coaching services through http://runningriotcoaching.weebly.com.  Talk to us about your route regarding your running and your running philosophy that you believe in and try to offer to the athletes you are training.

[Charlie Sharpe]: I did my first running race The Gobi Challenge in 2010 – It is similar to the MDS, 150 miles running across a desert in Mongolia. I wasn’t really that interested in running but I wanted to experience the adventure of a lifetime! I  completed the race and then started to get more interested in running after this. I entered some short local races and then a marathon in 2010. After that I started to train regularly and seriously and enter longer and longer races. Now I like to share my experience and knowledge through my coaching holidays and coaching programmes and also to travel around the world taking part in races. I help my athletes to get clear on their goals then make a plan to become stronger, fitter and improve their technique so they can get great results in their races.

[Advendure]: Rodopi is an isolated but beautiful region of Greece. The Rodopi Advendurun is a 100 mile race with intense characteristics of adventure and isolation. How did you learn about the race and which aspects of it were that drew you to participating? Do you like races with these elements compared to others that are more popular with thousands of athletes?

[Charlie Sharpe]: I found the website for the race when looking for 100 mile races in Europe. Rodopi sounded like a route with plenty of hills and a lot of adventure on some tough trails. I like the challenge and I prefer to race somewhere more remote and peaceful. I thought it was awesome that I could run so far and apart from the checkpoints, I only saw 1 person!

[Advendure]: With your first participation you won the race and moreover made a new impressive course record, finishing in 23:05:16. Nikos Kalofiris, the 2^nd place winner of the race with 23:29:16, with whom you gave an impressive battle with, stated that “Charlie gave a much focused race. He was not affected by my 2-3 ‘attacks’, keeping a stable pace throughout the whole race. He gave me a lesson of how is the proper way to run these types of races”. Talk to us about your effort, you strategy inside the race and the way you achieved this spectacular performance.

[Charlie Sharpe]: Before the race I look at the information, how much elevation there is, how big the mountains are, what distances are the checkpoints, what the weather will be like. Then I can compare the race to one that I have done before. After doing this I guessed I could run around 24 hours for the Rodopi, perhaps it would take a little bit longer in bad weather or if I was having difficulties. During the race I just follow how I feel and run at a comfortable speed, make sure I stay on the course running in the correct direction and make sure I am listening to my body and giving it what it needs. When Nikos was running with me I didn’t change my speed at all I just focused on running at my own pace. If he had caught up with me near the final kms of the race I would have pushed to keep ahead but didn’t need to.

[Advendure]: Did you like the scenery of the route and the nature of the Rodopi Advendurun?

[Charlie Sharpe]: I loved the scenery around the route. The beautiful weather made it even more impressive. The forest trails are perfect for running.... Some rocks and technical parts but not so technical that it was difficult to run. During the night I turned out my torch to stand and watch the stars and listen to the night... It was silent and still. It felt like I could be the only person on the Earth.

[Advendure]: How did you find the race considering the quality of the stations, the signaling, the volunteers and the benefits for the participating athletes?

[Charlie Sharpe]: Everything was fantastic! Lots of choice for food and drinks at the stations. I don’t usually eat very much during the race but I know lots of people do. The volunteers were really really fantastic! They were so friendly and helpful that I didn’t want to leave the stations some times! Thank you to those people especially!!

[Advendure]: The Rodopi Advendurun is known for its “family” atmosphere, both in the Forest Village where the start and finish take place, and in the supply stations. As an athlete who does not come from Greece, did this atmosphere touch you? Did you feel the intimacy and warmth?

[Charlie Sharpe]: I have done many many races but not many have the same atmosphere as this one. It felt like I had known other runners and supporters for years. Very friendly and welcoming and I would suggest to anybody to go and experience this for themselves!

[Advendure]: Throughout the route you ran being guided by your running watch/ GPS in which you had transferred the route of the Rodopi Advendurun. As we heard, this helped you at a very difficult spot where there was a problem with the race signing. Is this something that you often do due to the special conditions the fell running races have that you run in your country? Tell us about the culture of trail running in the United Kingdom.

[Charlie Sharpe]: There was one point where a sign had been removed but it wasn’t a big problem, during the race the markings were very close, if I ran for 1 minute without seeing a marking it was rare so after the junction I quickly saw more marking tape and knew I was on the right path. I had the GPS to use as a back up. Although I rarely needed to look because the markings were so good. It is common around the world for someone to remove a marking or for a marking to fall down by accident during or before the race, it can happen. For the trail running races I do in the UK I like to practice the course before the race or at least have the route on a map/ gps with me to prevent getting lost. Sometimes you cannot follow the person in front! Sometimes they don’t know the way either!

[Advendure]: Many Greek trail runners have learned about the British Trail running from Richard Askwith’s book “Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession”, in which he writes not only about the history of fell running on the island, but also about his attempt to finish the famous Bob Graham Round. Have you thought about doing something like that in the near future, or any other similar FastestKnown Time (FKT)?

[Charlie Sharpe]: I have seen lots of challenges that I like the look of, I prefer to do an organised race though for my longer runs. I use some of the Bob Graham Round route to do training runs when I am in that area. I don’t like the idea of having a crew and support runners with me on a BGR so I would probably do a solo run on my own instead.

[Advendure]: With your great experience, do you thing that the Rodopi Advendurun is an organization that could draw many athletes from abroad? Could it become a famous international race? Which steps do you think are needed for something like that to happen? The fact that it is not a common 100miler, since it has elements of adventure, isolation and only a few aid stations, do you think helps or not for such a perspective?

[Charlie Sharpe]: I think it is a great way to travel and see new parts of the world. This 100 mile is unique in terms of how remote and isolated it is. I thought the aid stations were a good distance apart but for someone moving more slowly they could be going for hours and hours between aid stations which might be quite tough. I think some athletes from abroad would be worried about difficulties with language because they can’t speak Greek but in reality that’s not a barrier. I was really thankful for everyone making the effort to talk in English. All the crew were so friendly and helpful!

[Advendure]: Would you characterize your racing year a successful one? Will you be running in another race until the end of 2015? Tell us a few words about you future goals for the up- coming year and the far future.

[Charlie Sharpe]: Before November I have a trail marathon in the UK and then a 40 mile ultra the week after in my hometown. I do races most weekends! I’m training towards another race 100 mile or similar early in the 2016 at the moment I have not decided which race it will be! I am taking runners for coaching holidays in Europe next year so I will fit my races around those. I want to travel more of the world and continue to improve my experience in ultra trail races, my favourite distance is 100 miles but I like to do shorter races too in part of my training!

Dimitris Troupis

English Translation & Editing: Angie Terzi

Photo©: Angie Terzi - Advendure, Elpida Despiniadou