The 37-year-old regional economist is on his way to Europe to prepare for the 170km Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), starting on August 30, billed as one of the most prestigious ultramarathons in the world.
Patterson’s qualified to race in the elite field, based on results from previous events - the other pathway for qualification is to podium in one of the world series races.
"It’s going to be quite neat getting to rub shoulders with some absolutely phenomenal athletes, and I’m under no illusion that many of them are a step up from my abilities, but it’s quite cool to share the same trails with people like that," he says.
Being an elite runner also means he gets to start towards the front of the 2500-strong field, so he’ll be able to avoid some of the congestion on the narrow trails.
The race, which starts and finishes in Chamonix, France, includes 10,000 metres of elevation gain and crosses through parts of Italy and Switzerland, too, with runners given a maximum of 46 and a-half hours to cross the finish-line.
Patterson’s hoping to knock it off within 25 to 30 hours, all going well.
"It’s such a long and complicated race that your time can vary quite substantially.
"And it has quite a sting in the tail — the last 7km of the race are essentially descending from a point of about 2000m down to Chamonix itself, which is about 1000m above sea level.
"The reality is, you actually make up a lot of your time in races like this by not going backwards in the back end of it, rather than going through with an earth-shattering pace towards the start."
To familiarise himself with the terrain, Patterson’s recently returned from a European recce, where he entered a 75km race in Switzerland, from Saanen to Montreaux, which had just over 4000m of vertical climbing.
Of his fifth-place finish, he says he’s "pretty pleased with that".
"It was on very, very technical mountainous terrain, actually, compared with what we have in the UTMB course.
"The thing over there, generally, the trails are in a bit better condition ... our trails are a bit more rudimentary, but that’s not a bad thing — when you’re training here you get a bit more fleet-footed, and the times that it does turn into more technical running over there, you feel more relaxed and comfortable."
One of his key focuses during the UTMB will be making good decisions while "in a really impaired state".
"It’s hard to make them, but they’re the ones that ultimately get you through.
"Simple ones, like, you’re feeling tired, you want to sit down, but, really, you’re just quite hungry, but you’re so cooked it’s hard to work that one out."
He notes, too, unlike many other athletes who peak during their 20s, ultrarunners seem to come into their prime in their late 30s — and they all share one trait.
"In most other sports you’ve got a type ... of person, age, body type or whatever.
"But you see all sorts in this space, and the only thing they have in common is they’re all a bit nuts," he laughs.
