Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run: Rob Youngren and Eric Charette, from Huntsville, AL, set foot on May 1st on the 3rd longest National Recreation Trail with the goal of setting the fastest known time. The Pinhoti Trail runs a 175 mile section in Alabama and another 150 miles in Georgia and made things difficult as Charette had to quit after 4 days (running the whole Alabama piece) due to blisters. But Youngren was able to run the entire length to set a solid fastest known time of 6d 8h 48m.

Zion Traverse: Montrail ultrarunner Matt Hart ran the 48 miles with 10,400ft of gain across zion national park in 7h 58m 07sec beating the previous time (Jared Campbell and Christian Johnston) by a bit over an hour and 10min.  The Trans-Zion Treck is a 48-mile route across Zion National Park in Southwestern Utah.

Running Hope through America: or Lisa Smith-Batchen running 50 miles in each of the 50 states. No one has run before an ultra in each of the states and she will be attempting this to raise funds to help orphans in the United States and abroad. She started in Morrison, NJ, on April 19th and will be running through June 19th, when she will run her last 50 miler in Victor/Driggs, ID. The courses are a mix of city parks, paved paths and sidewalks and she is having a small support crew including her good friend and running partner, Sister Mary Beth Lloyd. If you’d like to join her in one of her runs take a look at the schedule and pick one of the routes!

Trans-Pyrenees: On May 31 double UTMB winner Kilian Jornet will kick off his first challenge for this 2010: crossing the Pyrenees sea to sea (730Km) in just 7 days. I wasn’t able to find out if there’s any current record for this, or even if someone has ever tried it. If any of the readers know about it, please share it on the comments section. He will start in Euskadi and will go east bound to finish at the Mediterranean sea,  daily running 100Km with, as usual, the support from Salomon. Jornet was making some late changes on the route due to the snow there’s still on some peaks after the long winter. Stay tuned on this one, as I’ll be joining Kilian and the team to write about everything happening on this first 2010 Kilian’s Quest.

States Runner Challenge: Brian R. Stark is trying to cross all 50 states on trails by foot and this summer he’ll be running 523 miles across Nebraska on the American Discovery Trail. This will be his 28th state crossed in his bid to run cross all 50 states on trails. Stark, author of “Getting to the point“, already has a long history of challenges as a distance runner .

Kilimanjaro: the second challenge for Kilian Jornet this year will be to climb the Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) in late September. 45Km using the Umbwe route (ascent) and the Mweka route (descent) to beat current record holder Simon Mtuy and his amazing time of 9h21m.

I’m completely sure there are other challenges for this summer missing on this list. So if you know of any other adventures planned for this year, I’d love to hear about it and add it to the list.

Related posts

• A Season of Record Attempts (II)
• A Season of Record Attempts
• Video – Trans-Eurasia
• Video – Lisa’s 810 for AIDS Orphans Rising
• Video – Kilian’s Quest ‘10 – The Program

This year’s Marathon des Sables had not only more than a thousand runners trying to complete the 250Km but there was also a project underway to measure the physiological and bio-mechanical data of one of those runners through the competition.

The INRIA Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes Research Center is one of the eight research centres run by INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, which leads the research in information and communication science and technology in that country. This year the center sent one of their researchers to the most popular desert running race with one goal: the measurement of environmental, physiological and bio-mechanical data of a runner through one of the most challenging competitions on foot. This will be used towards getting more insight of how the human body reacts in such extreme conditions.

Guillaume Chelius, of the D-NET team, already had experience in endurance events and dreamed of participating in the MdS. He blended into the mix a bit of research of human body limits and gear performance under extreme conditions, and convinced his colleagues to start this research. The Project X-Trem Log was born.

10 months before the kick off of the event, Chelius started a weekly 120Km training and the development of a suitable customized measurement system. Over the week of the competition, he wore 16 smart sensors (bio-loggers) barely larger than a one euro coin which were incorporated into his running gear. The development of such sensors posed a significant technological challenge as they needed to fulfill 3 conditions:

• To be a wireless system, ergonomic and wearable by a runner
• To be robust and reliable to withstand the race’s extreme geographical, meteorological and sporting conditions
• To be able to record a substantial amount of data with a low energy consumption

The sensors were used to gather data such as environmental (temperature, humidity or light), physiological (heart rate, temperature on the skin) and spatio-temporal (position of the runner, using magnetometers). They also captured the movements – using accelerometers and gyroscopes – of different body parts (trunk, head, feet, shin, thigh, arm) in order to accurately reconstruct its dynamics during the race. These data will enable the cross-analysis of different parameters: sequence gaits (walking, running), type of land (sandy, rocky slopes), or heart rate frequency, fatigue and light (day or night). The goal is to able to re-create, back at the lab, a 3D model which would be an exact representation of Cheliu’s race. This, “will then allow us to study bio-mechanical and physiological aspects such as joint place and see if the stride changes with fatigue, weather or heat“, said Chelius.

The INRIA partnered with Salomon to design lightweight, non-intrusive equipment, so as not to interfere with the strides and movements of the runner. The shoes on the picture and other clothing gear were the results Salomon’s involvement in the project.

What will the data then be used for? Chelius himself explains the great benefits of such a research:

“The biomechanical measurements will be put towards better understanding of sports-related movement in difficult conditions, and the stress undergone by equipment (running shoes, for instance). These indications are invaluable for improving the design of sports clothing. Analysis of body movements and physiological data will also enable researchers in the Demar team to develop new functional support solutions. For example, including these measurements within an open control loop opens up interesting prospects for improving the coordination of normal and affected limbs in paraplegic and hemiplegic patients. Lastly, physiological data such as the heart rate will provide better understanding of the impact of the race and environmental factors (temperature, humidity) on the runner’s metabolism. We should add that our sensor system is of great interest to ethologists, who would like to use it to study the behaviour of certain animal species (tortoises, penguins, badgers).”

The project was a success and now is time to process all the information gathered. We’ll keep an eye on their website for when the results are published!

Oh, and for those curious about how Chelius did on the competitive side of the research, he was 66th with a final time of 32h10m. Who said researchers are not fit!!?

Related posts

• Woman, 71, to tackle the Marathon Des Sables
• Video – The Map: Marathon des Sables
• Video – Marathon des Sables 2008
• Video – 25th Sultan Marathon des Sables 2010
• Video – 23rd The Marathon des Sables

Based off in Barcelona, their building has a permanent “we’re moving in” feeling, with boxes full of products piled up everywhere. Once there, I was invited to go downstairs where they had the entire system ready for me. I had my fingers crossed as the previous week the machine unexpectedly died and we had to re-schedule.

A trained ASICS staff introduced me to the system. The Foot ID 3D scan utilizes a cross-section of lasers and cameras to measure all aspects of the foot including the arch, bony architecture of the upper, length, width, heel and ball girth. I took shoes and socks off and he put tiny little dots on a few key spots of my feet. I would then stand on a pad located on the scanner. Right foot first, 10 seconds, and left foot afterwards. The information from the scanner was turned into a 3D image on the monitor I had in front of me and all my data was automatically entered into a database and compared to thousands of tests previously run on European runners. I just had to wait for a minute and results came in. No big surprises though. I have pretty standard feet measures, with my left foot a millimeter (less than 0.04 inches) smaller than the right one. My instep heights are greater than the average, something confirmed by the soreness I have when shoelaces are too tight. An unexpected outcome of the scan was a slight over-pronation on my right foot. Though my gait is neutral the 3D model showed a heel slightly leaning towards the inside of the foot (heel in eversion).

Needles to say, this test is great to know more about your feet, but a gait analysis to study the foot motion during normal running is completely essential to determine your running needs. My slight over-pronation, for example, might be increased when running. In this respect, ASICS is preparing a new gait analysis test, available only in Japan for now.

With all that information I was provided by the staff member a recommendation on which shoes will work best for me. Given that I desperately need new road shoes, I was recommend two different models: the GT-2150 and the Gel-Nimbus 11. The first is completely neutral and the second is suited for slightly over-pronators. So, using the coupon I was given (together with a tee, a buff, and other ASICS stuff), I think I’ll soon get myself my first ASICS shoes.

We then chit-chat for a while on various running subjects (did you know that Nike was a former ASICS distributor before they made their own shoes?) before we walked into a show room with all the products which will hit stores in fall 2010. That’s the show room used by retailers to make their picks on which models they will be selling next year, among which there were up to twelve trail models.

All in all, a great experience that I recommend if you happen to live in one of the towns visited by the ASICS Foot ID Tour or close to one of their three retail stores.

Related posts

• Video – Shoe Review: Asics Gel-Trail Attack 4 WR
• Video – Injury Prevention
• 2008 Summer Buyer’s Guide Videos

Vertical World Circuit is put by the International Skyrunning Federation and includes 9 different races, 9 climbs of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. The ISF has chosen some of the most important and spectacular skyscraper races across the world and turned them into a championship, adding rules and a ranking system to elect the VWC champions. For a skycraper race to be included in the list, it must have a 100 meters or more vertical climb and more than 33% incline. Each race assigns points based on the winning men’s/women’s results according to the ‘VWC Ranking points breakdown’: 100-88-78-72-68-66-… down to 2 points. The top 30 men and 10 women are  ranked.

In this the first edition of the series, the inaugural race was held on February 3 with Empire State Building Run-Up in New York. The race was won by Thomas Dol, from Germany, with U.S. Rickey Gates in third place. Since then, six more races took place in some of the most popular skyscrapers (see for details):  Messeturm, Grattacielo Pirelli, Taipei 101, Park Inn Hotel, Sydney Tower and Torre Collserola. Two more will be held in November and December to complete this inaugural edition: Donauturm Run-Up, in Vienna, Austria and the Swissotel Vertical Marathon, Singapore.

Thomas Dold, Germany, and Daniela Vasalli, Italy, currently lead the men’s and women’s rankings with 400 and 128 points respectively. The current handicap for this championship though is to engage more runners to participate in more than one race. Most of them only run their local event and thus if an athlete manages to compete in 3 or 4 of them and has average results, that runner will most likely be topping the ranking. It is anyway another type of running competition, certainly one of the most peculiar there is and one that mountain runners are definitely adapted for.

That’s why, using the above story as starting point, I’d like to clarify, with the help and colaboration of all of you, how we define the different types of races and challenges some of us are up to. I’d like this to be dinamic and get corrected on what is considered wrong or incomplete, or if someone wants to re-build the list, feel free to do it. Let’s get into it.

Unsupported

To depend on yourself and only yourself. No help except natural resources. Buying stuff in a grocery store is not running unsupported, neither is calling from a phone booth – if you can find one – or get food supply along the way. Given we have grown in a ‘Marathon Des Sables’ world and there’s no way you can carry all the water you need to complete a race, I would accept water supply as long as it is specified beforehand. I would also include a place to sleep as long it is only that, a roof to take shelter. How often you re-supply should be specified, as there’s a significant difference between carrying water for a 10 miles or 25 miles stretch. In personal challenges I accept help from local folks; we are first human beings and second athletes, and turning down water, some food or shelter without asking for it – that’s a key point – would be unpolite and unworthy. As a personal example, I crossed half of Mongolia on a bicycle pulling more than 12pounds. At some point I wasn’t able to call home for more than three days and knowing I wouldn’t in the next four, I accepted a cell phone from a local to call home to let them know I was ok. I think this is the perfect example of what cannot be called unsupported in a strict sense.

Examples of unsupported races are the Marathon des Sables,  The Libyan Challenge, 4Deserts or Jungle Marathon.

Self-supported

Neither fully supported nor completely ‘on your own’. There are several possibilities here:

• Self-supported with one re-supply: there are some races where you get support from the organization half way the event. This is the case of the Rock and Ice Ultra or the Trans Aq’. It makes things a little bit easier but the weight you are carrying is 70% that of the fully unsupported. This allows you to amend an error you had with your equipment or change clothes half way through the end.

• Self-supported in stages: there are races where you get water – or nothing – through the stage and then you have all your stuff in each camp at the end of each day. This is a ‘more athletic and less adventurous’ way of running races. In terms of a personal challenge, you would have your crew at the end of each day to provide you with food and a place to stay overnight (or you would pay for those services along the way in small villages or the like).

• Self-supported with stashes: applicable only to perosnal challenges, you put out stashes of supplies for yourself prior to the trip with food, clothing or anything else you need. The number of stashes should be announced beforehand as, again, it is not the same one every day than one every three days.

• Self-supported with crew: this would be a mountain course where your crew (usually driving on roads close to the trail) can only help you out every few hours. In this group we have the Himalayan Stage Race, the 100k of the Sahara or the Appalachian Trail record attempt by Karl Meltzer. Details should be specified as there could be fundamental differences in toughness and commitment.

Supported

Any other crossing or competition where you mostly have anything you need in terms of supplies and you can have drop bags in numerous spots along the course. We would have here the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, Badwater, the Transrockies Run or the recent record of Kilian Jornet on the GR20. Though you carry a small waistpack, I’m not sure I would label the UTMB as semi self-sufficiency, as the organization does.

Suggestions, corrections, improvements, amendments,… are all welcome.

Related posts

• Video – Trans-Eurasia
• Video – Kilian’s Quest ‘10 – The Program
• Video – Hymn to the Rim – TRT Part 2
• Video – Corsica… of course!
• Kilian’s Report on His TRT Record

The Grand Tour of Europe has always been a traditional travel for all kind of travellers. But the Old Continent offers superb option for lovers of trail running as well: from the frozen glaciers of Switzerland to the gentle hills of Tuscany, there are dozens of (amazing) races available. Here are our favorite ones:

Snowdonia Marathon, UK
www.snowdoniamarathon.com
The demanding and spectacular route of the Snowdonia Marathon starts in Nant Peris and encircles Snowdon, Wales’ and England’s highest peak. The race finishes in Llanberis and offers some pretty punishing inclines and a very scenic route. Fly to UK for the last Sunday of October.

Chianti Ecomarathon, Italy
www.ecomaratonadelchianti.it
An autumn weekend (October 18th) to enjoy trail running, historical towns and a stroll in the worldwide famous Piazza del Campo in Siena: the Chianti Ecomarathon (just 2kms on a road) starts from the square of Castelnuovo Beradenga in the splendid landscape of Tuscany and continues into the Chianti hills and vineyards. A 9 km walk and a 17 km race will take place as well, with the bonus of extra local food and wine.

Zermatt Marathon, Switzerland
www.zermatt-marathon.ch
Surrounded by a range of amazing mountains,  with 42,195 km and 1944 m of total slop, the Zermatt Marathon is not an easy stroll in the park: from Sunnega to Riffelalp, the views are spectacular and a pint of the free beer is waiting for you at the end of the challenge in Gornergrat. August 9 is the big day on the Alps.

Zermatt Marathon

Trail Napoléon, France
www.corsica-run.com
The Trail Napoléon is a 23km trail run with a positive ascent of more than 950m in the island of Corsica, from the cité Impériale in Ajaccio to Parata. The race offers incredible views over the Iles Sanguinaires and an unspoiled trail in the maquis. A shorter and easier option (16km, 700m+) is available on the same day for hikers.

Race the Train, UK
www.racethetrain.com
Race the Train (August 15) is a competition between runners on a 14 miles trail course and a steam train. A superbly themed race to challenge the Talyllyn Railway (www.talyllyn.co.uk), a historic narrow-gauge railway, one of the great trains of Wales. A must do at least once for who likes to jog in the countryside and all multi – terrain runners.

Swiss alpine marathon Davos, Switzerland
www.swissalpine.ch
Known as well as the crazy peak experience, the Swiss alpine marathon actually offers trail races for different ability. From the K11 along the superb Davos Lake to the K78, an ultramarathon for the faint hearted at an altitude of 2600 meters. Two different marathons, C42 and K42 with different ascents and descents, two half marathon, K21 and Nordic Walking trail, and a K30 complete the programme of the weekend late in July.

You can try to challenge the 48-hour treadmill world record (240 miles) or you can take some time off and enjoy shorter races in the most amazing countries in Europe. What is your running goal for 2010?

Related posts

• Trails to Run in Europe
• UTMB – Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
• Volcano Trail
• Video – XTERRA Italy Trail Run 2009
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First, ultrarunner and coach Bryon Powell, 20th placed in The Marathon Des Sables 2009, has put together a list of reasons why you should be using running shoes made to be used off-road. He takes a look at the main features that diferentiates road from trail shoes – traction, protection and stability – and gives some recommendations on what should be your picks depending on what type of surface you will be hitting. Read his article at running.competitor.com.

And second, Adam Chase is back with another long but great article on active.com in which he profiles the typical trail runner. ‘The Elusive Trail Runner” is his – successful – attempt to identify what makes a trail runner so different from a road runner and puts together all the characteristics which define most of us who hit trails around the world. I’m sure you will see yourself profiled in this article.

Two excellent writings to not be missed.

Related posts

• 2009 Trail Runners – By Adam Chase
• Xterra Launches New Off-Road Footwear
• Walsh Spirit Peak
• Video – XTERRA Footwear Commercial
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I was out for a run on the Baden Powell Trail with a pal the other day. This friend was a bit nervous about competing in his first Knee Knacker 50K. We got chatting about hints and tips. In case you are also looking at doing your first ultra, I thought I’d share some of those thoughts here. If you’ve done a few long running races, please share your thoughts on my hints and add a few of your own:

1. Bank Your Training Hours

I know people who can run 100-miles at the drop of a hat. But there’s not much chance you can. The difference is that these superhumans have trained and raced at a high level for years. Work up to the ultra distance by running a few 1/2 marathons and at least one marathon. If you put training hours into the bank, you will have something to draw from on race day.

2. Expect the Best. Prepare for the Worst

You’ve done a decent job of training. You’re stoked. Visualize yourself crossing the finish with a big smile and lots left in the tank. With that positive image in mind, there’s still a lot you can do to improve your chances of success by thinking through how you will address common challenges you will face on race day. What if you bonk? Cramp up? Throw up? Run out of water? Run these potential hiccups over in your mind during those long training runs, not at midnight the night before your big event!

3. Organize your Drop Bags Well in Advance

Most ultras will allow you to put some stuff in bags that you will have access to at one or more points during the race. Most runners leave packing their drop bags to the very last minute. It’s then a mad panic to pack them and, as often as not, a night of little or no sleep before the race.

Better to think about what you might put in those drop bags weeks before your run. I actually start writing down exactly what I will have in my drop bags as soon as I sign up for a race. That gives me plenty of time to refine my list in the months before the race. When it comes time to pack, it takes all of 2 minutes and I never lose sleep worrying about “what-ifs”.

4. Complete Before you Compete

It’s a race, so of course you want to get the fastest time you can. If it’s your first 50K, however, you might want to focus on completing the distance and leave kicking your buddy’s butt until the next one when you’re older and wiser.

Think about it. Why are you doing this? If it’s your first ultra, there’s slim chance you will win. In the end, your Mom really doesn’t care what your time is… but she does want you to achieve your goal of completing your first ultra. So, why not chill out, go a bit slower and dramatically increase the probability that you will finish? There are lots of other races and you can always come back to win this one next year.

5. Have a Plan

Think about the course and your pace. Calculate roughly when you should be at key aid stations along the race course. That way, you know if you have to speed up or slow down on race day. I often write the split times on my arm in ink because paper can turn to mush if you sweat on it.

6. Live Off the Land

Most 50Ks have aid stations at key points along the course where food and fluids are provided for runners. Check with the race director well before the race to get an idea of what the event will provide at each aid station. Assuming you have paid big bucks for your race fee, you can usually assume the aid stations will have water, electrolyte drink and defizzed cola, sports bars/gels and other goodies like salty potato chips and baked potatoes with salt.

7. Have a Food & Fluids Contingency

Sometimes aid stations run out. Or you get lost. Or, if you are really, really fast, you get to the aid station before they get set up. Anything can happen, so don’t let whatever happens ruin your race. Make sure you have an extra gel or 2 with you at all times and always fill your water bottles at an aid station.

8. Eat and Drink like a Piggy During the First Half

Don’t want to bonk? Drink when you’re not thirsty and eat when you’re not hungry. Chances are, you won’t feel like eating in the later part of the race. Even if you don’t feel like drinking, make sure you do just the same. You should pee often and your pee should be clear and copious at all times.

9. Don’t get too Excited in the First Half

Who cares if your training buddy beats you to the half-way point? Let me count the times pals have made fun of me as they hammered past during the first half of a race. I just smile and give them a little pat on the bottom as I pass them later.

10. Wear Shoes that are 1/2 Size Too Big

While the shoe may fit properly during training, your feet tend to swell in a long race. This is especially bad if the course has a lot of steep downhills because the constantly bashing of your toes will give you very painful black toenails.

11. Have fun!

I’ve run a lot of races. The ones I remember are the ones where I met interesting people or did interesting things during the event. Stopping for a beer during the Swiss Alpine Marathon. Going to a garage sale during the KneeKnacker. Running with the Cow Man and skinny dipping in a creek during the Western States 100-mile run. Giving the high-5 to a classroom of Japanese kids during the 100K Worlds.

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Corsica GR20: Catalan athlete Kilian Jornet overcame his first challenge out of the official competitions. At his 20-year-old, Jornet has an impressive track record, being the 2007 and 2008 World Skyrunner Series champion and having smashed last year’s UTMB course record. In mid June he beat Corsica’s GR20 record (until then, in the hands of Pierrot Santucci), one of the toughest mountain courses in Europe in a total 32:54:24. Details on this, in the article “New Record on Corsica’s GR20 for Kilian Jornet“.

South Beyond 6000: Ultrarunners (and members of Team Inov-8) Rebekah Trittipoe, Jenny Anderson and Anne Lundblad challenged themselves with the summiting of 40 North Carolina peaks that stand in excess of 6000 feet in elevation. The three women reached the last summit on June 16th, totaling 6 days, 13 hours, and 31 minutes and 261.6 miles. Their fantastic accomplishment is well documented on the dedicated blog and a ton of great pictures can be found here.

Colorado Trail: David Horton is currently on his way to break the CT supported speed record! The attempt to beat Paul Pomeroy’s current time of 8d12h14m (July 2008) started on July 4th and so today is day 6 for him. Horton, 59, is running east-to-west supported by former CT record holder, Jonathan Basham in his entire attempt. Despite some stomach issues and a deep blister Horton is doing great, is on schedule (he plans to better the mark by 2 hours) and reporting everyday the latest developments. Clark Zealand is doing a great job providing info on the attempt, with daily roundups on eco-xsports.blogspot.com (audio and pics) and frequent updates on twitter.

John Muir Trail: two different assaults to the JMT are ahead in the upcoming months. First, Michael Popov, who set the current unsupported record in 2007, will try again after having to quit last year’s attempt to better Sue Johnston’s supported record. His challenge will start on August 3-5 time frame.
Then it will be Kilian Jornet’s time to face the JMT. This second effort on what Salomon (his sponsor) has called Killian’s Quest will start in late September.

Related posts

• A Season of Record Attempts (II)
• Video – Kilian’s Quest ‘10 – The Program
• Video – Hymn to the Rim – TRT Part 2
• Video – Corsica… of course!
• Kilian’s Report on His TRT Record

Kris Whorton - courtesy of Rock/Creek

This weekend will take place the Rock/Creeck Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race. For three back to back days racers will struggle (or not) to climb a mountain, each day.  22 miles on Lookout Mountain on day one, 18 miles on Raccoon Mountain on day two and the 20 mile on Signal Mountain to close this year’s edition of the multi-day event. Though each of the distances doesn’t go further than a marathon, the race as a whole can be considered an ultra. This is where Kris Whorton, recent winner of the Umstead 100, shares her expertise on a sort of “how-to tackle a multi-day trail running race“.  She covers pretty much everything on preparation and recovery pre- and during the race: physical and mental training, pre-race week and each day completion and preparation for the next day.

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