Episode 113 – Cape Wrath Ultra and Northern Traverse

Posted on June 10, 2016 by talkultra

A_GRAVATAR

This is Episode 113 of Talk Ultra and We have a show with a selection of audio from participants who took part in the 8-day, 400km Cape Wrath Ultra (Ita Marzotto, Jenny Davis, Louise Watson, Luke Robertson, Richard Beard and Ted Kristensson)and the 190-mile, single stage, Northern Traverse (Angela White, Clare Turton and Eoin Keith). We have the news and Niandi Carmont co-hosts.

NEWS

COMRADES

Men

David Gatebe 5:18:18 new record
Ludic Mamabolo 5:24:05
Bongmusa Mthembu 5:26:39

notable 8th – Max King 5:37:27

Charge Bosman 6:25:55
Caroline Wostmann 6:30:44
Kajsa Berg 6:39:04

2 Americans in the top-10, Sarah Bard 4th in 6:42 and Colleen De Reuck (aged 50) 7th 6:50:21

ULTRA SKYMARATHON MADEIRA – HERE

Men

Cristofer Clemente 6:00 new CR
Dimitrios Theodorakakos 6:09
Luis Fernanndeez 6:11

Gemma Arenas 6:58
Hillary Allen 7:13
Anna Frost 7:17

all ladies under Stevie Kremer’s 7:33 from 2015

GOLDEN GATE DIRTY THIRTY

Men

Chris Vargo 4:30
Josh Arthur 4:54
Jason Schlarb 4:55

Alicia Shay 5:30
Clare Gallagher 5:46
Taylor Nowin 5:58

GRAND UNION CANAL RACE

Andy Jordan 25:49 ahead of Barry Miller 27:22 and Ian Thomas 27:43

Cass Chisolh, 1st lady and 4th overall 29:25, Katherine Ganly 31:49 and Georgina Harrison 32:05

Rob Young – marathonmanUK has started his Transcontinental run record (2766 miles) on May 14th. He started with an 81 mile day 1…. He is now in Missouri HERE

Damian Hall set a FKT for the South West Coast Path in the uk – 10 days, 15 hours and 18 minutes

Francois d’Haene set a new FKT on the GR20 in Corsica, breaking the old record by 1 hour – 31 hours 6 minutes

Cape Wrath Ultra HERE

Marcu Scotney 41:40:50
Thomas Adams 45:59:20
Pavel Paloncy 52:22:38

Ita Marzotto 66:53:12
Louise Staples 68:02:02
Laura Watson 68:42:11

INTERVIEW audio from Cape Wrath Ultra

Northern Traverse HERE

Eoin Keith 51:38:15
John Knapp 57:08:29
Tim Laney 58:41:00

Anne Greeen 86:34:31
Hisayo Kalahari 87:57:54
Angela White 88:27:07
Angela’s charity:

Follow at: http://pushboundaries.co.uk/

Donate at https://www.justgiving.com/PushingBoundaries/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PushBoundaries

INTERVIEW audio from Northern Traverse

UP & COMING RACES

Australia

Queensland

Endura 50K | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Gold Coast 50 Miler | 50 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Runners ConneXion 100 km | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Austria

100km Wien | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

50km Wien | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Scenic 100 | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Scenic 55 | 55 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Bulgaria

Vitosha 100km Mountain Super Trail | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Canada

British Columbia

55K Ultra | 55 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Vancouver 100 km | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Vancouver 50 km | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Vancouver 62.5 km | 62 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Vancouver 75.8 km | 75 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Vancouver 87.9 km | 87 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Ontario

100 Km | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

50 km | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

50 Km | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Ultimate Canuck | 92 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Chile

Ultra Trail Putaendo – 60 km | 60 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Ultra Trail Putaendo – 80 km | 80 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

China

Gobi March 2016 | 250 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Czech Republic

Krakonosova Stovka 100 km | 100 kilometers | June 17, 2016 | website

France

Alpes-Maritimes

La Grande Courasse | 61 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Aube

Team Trail Intermarché | 180 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

Troyes à l’aube de l’enfer d’Éric Peters | 180 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

Bouches-du-Rhône

Grand Raid de Camargue | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Cantal

Ultra-Trail Puy Mary Aurillac | 105 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Drôme

Les Drayes du Vercors 60 km | 60 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Essonne

Relais Trail du Gâtinais | 66 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Trail 91 km | 91 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Haute-Loire

100 km | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Le Grand Trail du Saint Jacques | 71 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Hautes-Alpes

Trans Écrins | 80 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Haute-Savoie

80km du Mont-Blanc | 80 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

L’esprit Angolon | 60 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Trail des Crêtes du Chablais – 70 km | 70 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Hautes-Pyrénées

Aneto trail de la Haute – Bigorre | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Hérault

6666 Occitane | 105 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Grand Raid 6666 | 110 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Lozère

Aubrac Circus Trail | 55 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Manche

Défi des Barjos | 65 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Défi des Grands Barjos | 115 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

La 1/2 Barjo | 50 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

La Barjo | 100 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Raid de l’Archange | 270 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Saône-et-Loire

tour du canton | 60 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Var

Entre les deux rives | 57 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Grand Tour du Verdon | 83 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Vosges

Le Grand Trail de la Vallée des Lacs | 85 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Le trail de la Vallée des Lacs – Trail Long | 55 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Germany

Bavaria

Supertrail | 60 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

SuperTrail XL | 79 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Ultratrail | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Hesse

Oxfam Trailwalker Deutschland | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Rhineland-Palatinate

Eifel Ultramarathon | 51 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Ireland

Connacht

Forest Marathon – 100 km | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Forest Marathon – 50 km | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Kildare

Stonemad Multi Stage Marathon – Day 1 Ultra Marathon | 62 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Stonemad Multi Stage Marathon – Day 2 Ultra Marathon | 55 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Wicklow

Celtic 6 Day Stage Race 133K | 133 kilometers | June 20, 2016 | website

Celtic 6 Day Stage Race 210km | 210 kilometers | June 20, 2016 | website

Italy

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Magraid | 100 kilometers | June 17, 2016 | website

Liguria

Avatrail – 54 km | 54 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Puglia

Ultramaratona del Gargano | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Veneto

103 km | 103 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

53 km | 53 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

Lavaredo Ultra Trail | 119 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

Japan

100 km | 100 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

71 km | 71 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

72 km | 72 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Namibia

Richtersveld Wildrun | 200 kilometers | June 13, 2016 | website

Netherlands

Gelderland

55 km | 55 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Norway

UltraBirken | 55 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Portugal

Ultramaratona Caminhos do Tejo – 144 km | 144 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

Ultramaratona Caminhos do Tejo – 57 km | 57 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

Réunion

Grand Raid 97.4 | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Serbia

100 km Run Palic | 100 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Slovakia

Štefánik Trail | 140 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

Spain

Canary Islands

Tenerife Bluetrail 60 km | 59 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Tenerife Bluetrail 94 km | 94 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Catalonia

Cadí Ultra Trail | 80 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Volta Cerdanya Ultraresistència – VCUR 122K | 122 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Madrid

Gran Trail Peñalara | 110 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

Gran Trail Peñalara 60km | 60 kilometers | June 24, 2016 | website

Oxfam Intermón Spain – Madrid | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Sweden

Jättelångt | 68 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Switzerland

Berne

100km run Biel | 100 kilometers | June 10, 2016 | website

Neuchâtel

Trail de l’Absinthe | 75 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Ticino

Scenic Trail – 54 km | 54 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

United Kingdom

Cambridgeshire

Pathfinder March | 46 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Cornwall

Endurancelife Classic Quarter Ultra Marathon | 49 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

County Borough of Conwy

V3K Ultra Extreme | 89 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

V3K Ultra Marathon | 53 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Cumbria

The Wall Ultramarathon – Challenger | 69 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

The Wall Ultramarathon – Expert | 69 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

The Wall Ultramarathon – Relay | 69 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Three Rings of Shap | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

East Dunbartonshire

West Highland Way race | 153 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

East Sussex

South Downs Way 100 | 100 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Gloucestershire

Cheltenham Circular Ultimate Challenge | 78 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Northern Ireland

Mourne Way Ultra Marathon | 84 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

USA

California

50M | 50 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Big Basin Trail Run 50 km | 50 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Burton Creek Trail Run 50K | 50 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

Canyon Meadow 50 km Trail Run (May) | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Rodeo Valley Trail Run Spring 50K | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Shadow of the Giants 50K Trail Run | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Georgia

50K | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Idaho

River of No Return 108K Endurance Run | 108 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

River of No Return 50K Endurance Run | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Indiana

50K | 50 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Kansas

50k Relay | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

50k Solo | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Maine

6-Pack (6 Person) | 200 miles | June 24, 2016 | website

Standard Relay Team (7-12 Person) | 200 miles | June 24, 2016 | website

Ultra Relay Team (4-6 Person) | 200 miles | June 24, 2016 | website

Maryland

Mason-Dixon Trail Longest Day 100K Challenge | 100 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Massachusetts

Vegan Power 50K | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Michigan

40 mile through-the-night run | 40 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

North Country Trail Relay | 63 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Montana

50K | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

50 Mile | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

50 Mile Relay | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Nebraska

187 miles | 187 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

187 miles Relay | 187 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

New Mexico

Angel Fire Endurance 100 Mile Run | 100 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Angel Fire Endurance 50K Run | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Angel Fire Endurance 50 Mile Run | 50 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

New York

50K Green Race Relay | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Manitou’s Revenge Ultramarathon and Relay | 54 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

North Carolina

Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 Mile | 50 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Ohio

Mohican Trail 100M Trail Run | 100 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Mohican Trail 50M Trail Run | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Oregon

100K | 100 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

50K | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Mary’s Peak 50K Trail Running Race | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

Relay | 170 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

Relay | 200 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

Pennsylvania

Laurel Highlands Ultra’s 50 K Trail Run | 50 kilometers | June 11, 2016 | website

Laurel Highlands Ultra’s 77 Mile Trail Run | 77 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Rachel Carson Trail Challenge | 34 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

South Dakota

Black Hills 100 Mile | 100 miles | June 24, 2016 | website

Tennessee

Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race | 60 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

Utah

100 Mile | 100 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

50K | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

50 Mile | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back | 192 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

Virginia

Eastern Divide Ultra | 50 kilometers | June 18, 2016 | website

OSS/CIA 50 Mile Night Run | 50 miles | June 11, 2016 | website

Washington

Echo Valley 50K Trail Run | 50 kilometers | June 12, 2016 | website

Echo Valley 50 Mile Trail Run | 50 miles | June 12, 2016 | website

Emory Corwine Memorial Ruck Race | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Kaniksu 50 | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Rattlesnake Ridge Run 50K | 50 kilometers | June 19, 2016 | website

West Virginia

Highlands Sky 40 Mile Trail Run | 40 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Wisconsin

Ahnapee Summer Solstice 50 Mile Relay Run | 50 miles | June 18, 2016 | website

Ragnar Relay Chicago | 194 miles | June 10, 2016 | website

Wyoming

Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run | 100 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

Bighorn Trail 50K Endurance Run | 50 kilometers | June 17, 2016 | website

Bighorn Trail 50 Mile Endurance Run | 50 miles | June 17, 2016 | website

CLOSE

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Suunto Spartan Ultra – New Sports GPS

Posted on June 7, 2016 by talkultra

Spartan Ultra collection

Suunto introduces its next generation multisport solution with a new family of GPS watches and a renewed Suunto Movescount.com

                      Press Release by Suunto

The long-awaited next generation of Suunto multisport watches is soon here. Today, Suunto introduces Suunto Spartan Ultra, a premium multisport GPS watch for athletes and adventurers. At the same time, Suunto is renewing its online sports service Suunto Movescount with a range of new features and improvements.

“People have been asking about what’s next after Ambit3 for quite some time now,” notes Sami Arhomaa, Performance business unit director at Suunto. “So it’s a great pleasure to announce our next generation Suunto Spartan solution for athletic and adventure multisport.” The solution comprises of the Suunto Spartan Ultra watches, a renewed Suunto Movescount service and mobile applications for both iPhone and Android.

“In a fast-paced world with an overwhelming flood of information, athletes need better tools to determine how to efficiently achieve their goals,” explains Arhomaa. “People who are driven by the passion to progress want to know if they are doing things right. More and more people are reaching out to communities of like-minded people for guidance and inspiration. With the Spartan solution, we are building on the insights we’ve gained through our constant dialogue with athletes and coaches around the world. The new Suunto Spartan multisport solution will offer customers new community powered tools to progress. We are convinced these tools will help them progress beyond their expectations.”

Suunto Spartan Ultra – the GPS watch for athletic and adventure multisport

Adventure proof

Suunto Spartan Ultra watches are hand-made in Finland and built to last in any conditions. Water resistant to 100 meters, the watches sport an extremely durable color touch screen with a wide viewing angle and great visibility in bright sunlight. The watch is built with a glass fiber reinforced polyamide casing, sapphire crystal glass and a grade5 titanium or stainless steel bezel. For your multisport adventures, Suunto Spartan Ultra offers guided route navigation, barometric altitude with FusedAlti™, a digital compass, as well as a competitive battery life.

Sports expertise and insights

The Suunto Spartan Ultra is a true multisport watch. With GPS, FusedSpeed^TM, heart rate measurement and in-built accelerometer, it accurately tracks your training and provides versatile insights on your progress for a multitude of sports. It offers dozens of preset sport modes, e.g. for triathlon, swimming, cycling, running, adventure racing, and snow sports – including modes for specific types of training, racing and activities. If you are a runner, for example, you can choose a basic running mode that offers the essential information for running, or an interval running mode, a trail running mode, and more. The Suunto Spartan Ultra also provides you visual overviews on your training load, rest&recovery status and your progress to help you plan your training. With the watch you can also track your feeling after each workout.

In addition, Suunto Spartan Ultra monitors your overall activity 24/7 with daily and weekly steps, calories and active time. Pair the watch with Suunto Movescount App to get smart mobile notifications. The watch will also keep you up to date on your personal bests by sport.

Community powered progress

In connection with the launch of the Spartan solution, Suunto deploys big data methods for turning the community generated sports data into valuable training insights. Suunto has been analyzing tens of millions of endurance sport sessions to provide both existing and new consumers with answers to the questions like where should you train and how are you progressing. The first tool utilizing this data are sports-specific heatmaps, available from today in Suunto Movescount. Later, the toolset using the data will grow with tools for peer group comparison and insights.

The Suunto Spartan Ultra collection includes four models: Suunto Spartan Ultra All Black Titanium, Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium, Suunto Spartan Ultra White and Suunto Spartan Ultra Black – each available with or without Suunto Smart Sensor for heart rate monitoring. The RRP price of the Suunto Spartan Ultra Titanium will be £585 and Suunto Spartan Ultra £545. Prices with a HR sensor are £40 higher.

Further details of the product will be released in July 2016. The watches become available in August, and the solution will continue to grow in functionality via SW, service and application updates during the remaining year.

Read more about the Suunto Spartan Ultra at www.suunto.com/spartan

Ultra Skymarathon Madeira 2016 #SWS2016 – Race Images and Summary

Posted on June 4, 2016 by talkultra

The 2016 Skyrunner® World Series arrived in Madeira, Portugal for the Ultra Skymarathon Madeira (USM) – a tough and challenging 55km ultra with 4000m of vertical gain. The 2016 edition had a minor change to 2015, an extra section that added more technicality and potentially more time… could the times of Ricky Lightfoot and Stevie Kremer be beaten?

The USM course is a unique one. Weaving up and down mountains, around beaches, through dense undergrowth, up a riverbed and of course plenty of climbing and descending. It’s not your ordinary Skyrunning course!

Departing the start line at 0600 on the dot, the runners disappeared down a darkened lane with only head torches for company, it was going to be a great day – the sky was clear and the stars were sparkling in the sky. Just 1km to warm up and then a climb of 1400m straight up to the highest point of the island – pure Skyrunning.

The runners climbed and a section of via ferreta was the prelude to the new course addition, instead of following the stone steps to the off-path climb to the summit, runners dropped down once again to take in a technical descent and ridge climb. A final push to the summit; It wasn’t easy going. The sky was blue, the sun was beating down but despite the picture postcard, it was hard graft.

Andre Jonsson (Sweden) and Dimitrios Theodorakakos (Greece) were the first to appear. The contrast between the two striking, Andre is tall and with an ultra runner beard. Dimitrios is stocky, well built and all power.

They matched each other step-by-step. A string of runners appeared all looking relatively calm and relaxed considering the severity of the course – it was early days!. At the summit of Pico Ruivo the ladies arrived, first was Anna Frost, closely followed by Gemma Arenas.

Running the ridges and several more climbing sections, the front of the race didn’t change until a decisive phase around the 36km mark. Climbing from the sea and beach, Andre Jonsson continued to lead looking strong. However, Dimitrios looked to be struggling a little and Cristofer Clemente was closing. After 5km of ridge running and a technical descent, a riverbed with boulder hopping awaited. Cristofer made his move and passed Dimitrios and went in pursuit of Andre.

The final long climb needed to be ascended and descended before the finish line and here the podium changed. Andre crumbled after leading the race all day:

“I had felt great, running within myself and in the riverbed I cooled down but then in the early section of the final climb I just had no energy, the heat hit and that was it!

Cristofer took the lead, opened a gap and won the race by a clear margin. Dimitrios held on for 2nd and local runner, Luis Fernandes went past Andre to take 3rd.

Gemma Arenas was almost in another race by the time the riverbed came and the final climb she held that margin to take a convincing victory. Anna Frost who had lead the race for much of the day was relegated to 2nd by Gemma but then faded to 3rd – a strong performance from US based Hillary Allen reeled ‘Frosty’ in and she sealed 2nd. Frosty said post race:

“I really gave it everything today, on the ups and the downs, I just didn’t have that extra oomph but what a great (and tough) course!”

The 3rd edition of the Ultra Skymarathon Madeira has been a great success. Despite a potentially more difficult course, both the men’s and ladies records were broken! The top 2 men and top 5 ladies all broke the previous records. This is extremely significant and reflects the quality of the male and female line-up – world-class runners pushing hard for victory and resulting in fast times. João Canning Clode, USM co-director and PR commented, “We didn’t expect to break the standing records but given the good weather this year and the strong competition, it was a welcome surprise.

Madeira is an amazing island with a tough and challenging course. The future looks bright for this new addition to the Skyrunner® World Series.

Results: (official times to follow)

Cristofer Clemente 6:00:28
Dimitrios Theodorakakos 6:09:06
Luis Fernandes 6:11:34

Gemma Arenas 6:59:51
Hillary Allen 7:13:12
Anna Frost 7:17:00

Cristofer Clemente now takes over the Ultra Series ranking lead for the men and Gemma Arenas for the women. Look out for the next Ultra Series race with the new High Trail Vanoise in the renowned ski resort of Val d’Isère, France on July 10.

Later this month the Skyrunner® World Series will head for North Eastern Italy with the Santa Caterina VK and the Livigno SkyMarathon® on June 24 & 26.

Skyrunner® World Series is supported by Migu Xempower, Alpina Watches, Compressport, Salomon and Scott Sports.

iancorless.com is the official photographer and media partner for the Skyrunner®World Series Follow on:

Facebook/iancorlessphotography

Twitter (@talkultra)

Instagram (@iancorlessphotography)

Follow the Skyrunner® World Series on social media platforms

Facebook.com/skyrunning

Twitter @skyrunning_com

Instagram @skyrunning

Ultra Skymarathon Madeira 2016 Press Conference and LIVE Tracking

Posted on June 3, 2016 by talkultra

The Ultra SkyMarathon Madeira #USM2016 athlete presentations took place today at the stunning hotel of Quinta do Furão followed with a traditional lunch in the gardens of the restaurant.

Importantly, 16 athletes have been selected for trackers during the race and you will be able to follow LIVE as the race unfolds using this link HERE.

The selected athletes are as follows:

Anna Frost, Ester Sofia Alves, Gemma Arenas, Kristina Pattison, Cometi Anna, Francesc Sole, Remigio Huamán, André Jonsson, Luís Fernandes, Nuno Silva, DimitriosTheodorakakos, Philipp Reiter and Cristofer Clemente Mora.

You can read a pre-race report HERE and find out more information on the official Skyrunning World Series website HERE.

Skyrunner® World Series 2016

Skyrunner® World Series is supported by Migu Xempower, Alpina Watches, Compressport, Salomon and Scott Sports.

iancorless.com is the official photographer and media partner for the Skyrunner®World Series Follow on:

Facebook/iancorlessphotography

Twitter (@talkultra)

Instagram (@iancorlessphotography)

Follow the Skyrunner® World Series on social media platforms

Facebook.com/skyrunning

Twitter @skyrunning_com

Instagram @skyrunning

Hyperthermia on RunUltra

Posted on June 3, 2016 by talkultra

A runner loses heat via sweating. This sweat evaporates on the skin which dissipates heat by convection, assuming that humidity is low enough. Heat stroke will occur when the bodies thermoregulation is overwhelmed.

Overwhelming the body (in simplistic terms) may come from excessive environmental heat (running in a hot climate), running too fast or too hard, being dehydrated, a lack of free flowing air that will help cool the body or a lack of water to splash on the body to cool down.

Read the full article on RUNULTRA HERE

Ultra Skymarathon Madeira 2016 Preview #USM – Skyrunner® World Series

Posted on June 2, 2016 by talkultra

Running and ultra running really is booming in Portugal. Carlos Sa and Ester Alves amongst others are paving the way. Madeira, an island in the Atlantic Ocean lies west and slightly south of mainland Portugal and it is an incredible natural landscape that cries out for challenging races. Madeira is of volcanic origin with extremely rugged topography, as such, it’s the perfect location for a Skyrunning race.

The USM is a technical mountain race which consists of steep slopes and trails covering a distance of 55km and 4000m of vertical gain. It is no ordinary race and one that combines mixed elements in a wonderful natural playground for the adventurous runner. Comprised of passages which require technical climbing expertise of grade 2, stunning mountain scenery, mountains, sea cliff landscape plus the addition of an up river boulder hopping scramble; yes, the Ultra SkyMarathon Madeira is a unique race.

Starting in the town of Santana, a northern municipality of Madeira Island,the runners soon head up a climb of 1400m to Encumeada Alta (1750m). Cloud inversion happens often here and suddenly runners can feel as though they are floating. In the distance as altitude changes, islands appear in and out amongst a sea of clouds.

“The views when the mist lifted were incredible,” said Ricky Lightfoot, 2015 champion. “It was almost as though I was running in another race.”

“‘USM is one of, if not the hardest race I have ever done,” said US based mountain runner Stevie Kremer. “The terrain is relentless and conditions underfoot just make it so much harder than others.”

For the first time, the island of Madeira, Portugal, will feature on the Skyrunner® World Series. The 55 km course with a brutal 4,000m vertical climb will welcome runners from across the globe up for the challenge.

Anna Frost, fresh from a 7th place at Transvulcania is just one of the competitors who loves skyrunning and island-hopping. Speaking to Lauri van Houten she says:

“This place is incredible. The diversity of nature, the amount of vertical that you get immediately from the sea is breath-taking. The colour of the water is like nothing I have ever seen. I have stopped so many times to say “wow”! The organisers and community runners have made me feel at home already. I don’t want to ever leave…”

Frosty will be joined by Americans Hillary Allen, who is looking strong after her 5th place in Transvulcania and Kristina Pattison who is now fit and fired up to compete in Madeira after a recent illness and a a late withdrawal from Transvulcania.

Strong competition will come from Spaniards Gemma Arenas (6th) and Anna Comet, who placed third overall last year in the SWS.

Cristofer Clemente from Spain, second on the 2015 SWS Ultra ranking and in last year’s race, is among the men’s favourites with new-entry Remigio Huaman from Peru who finished 7th at Transvulcania. The line-up includes Philipp Reiter from Germany who has been missing from racing for some time, Jan Bartas from the Czech Republic, Dimitrios Theodorakakos from Greece, Pau Bartolo as well as competitors from Japan Skyrunning.

Nuno Silva and Ester Alves, 2015 Portugal National Champions, will no doubt perform well on home ground after placing respectively 3rd and 2nd last year.

Notable absentees include Mira Rai with a stress fracture and Paul Hamilton who will sadly miss the whole season. Also, Alicia Shay and Chris Vargo are unable to race (they have had to return to the USA) even though they travelled to Madeira directly after two great runs in La Palma at Transvulcania Ultramarathon.

Other runners to watch out for:

Elisabet Bertran
Anna Strakova
Luis Fernandes
Martina Valmassoi
Franch Pons
André Jonsson
Rick Floyd
André Rodrigues
Hidenori Fukuda
Lucia Franco
Santiago Soria
Zuzana Urbancova
Tiago Silva
Hana Krajnik
Ron Braz
Sachiko Kotani
Albert Herrero
Yukari Fukuda
Mindaugas Grigas

The Madeira Ultra SkyMarathon®, now in its third year, perfectly embodies the sea-to sky concept pioneered by skyrunning – with some very technical stretches up to Grade II, and a via ferrata sections just below the island’s highest point at 1,861m altitude.

Course records: Ricky Lightfoot 6h09’56”. Stevie Kremer 7h33’37”

Anticipation mounts for Saturday’s race where the top runners can be followed with our new live tracking system.

Current Ultra Series ranking

Race details

The 2016 Skyrunner® World Series is brought to you with a new management company, Geneva based SkyMan SA

SkyMan SA is pleased to present a new Main Partner, Migu Xempower, a Chinese exercise and health management platform which also counts a rich experience in organising marathons, city and mountain races for millions of runners.

The well-established, Sky, Ultra and Vertical format is joined by the Extreme Seriespresented by Alpina Watches, which more than ever expresses the true spirit of skyrunning defined not only by distance, but vertical climb and technical difficulty.

Skyrunner® World Series is supported by Migu Xempower, Alpina Watches, Compressport, Salomon and Scott Sports.

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Northern Traverse 2016 – Eoin Keith takes victory!

Posted on June 1, 2016 by talkultra

The rain came in through the night, the wind blew and blew. The mist dropped and it would have been easy for Eoin Keith to stay in the back of the van at the Lion Hotel and not attempt the final push for the line… but races of this length are won in the mind.

Eoin Keith is a remarkable athlete (as are all those who participate in this 190 mile journey) but his mind and his strength of will and tenacity are maybe what sets him apart from his peers, he has a capacity to keep going, even when the legs say no.

At one point, it did look as though Eoin may come in in just under 2 days for the 190 miles. Early on day 3 though when about 22 miles from the line, one could see the fatigue.

Over the final 10km he really slowed, of course it is to be completely expected. However, as he entered Robin Hood Bay he smiled and ran to the line – job done.

We have an unofficial time of 2 days, 3 hours and 38 minutes – tbc

It’s an incredible, awe-inspiring run. The distance alone is jaw dropping but the weather conditions, terrain and total elevation gain make this a true beast. Attention now turns to all the other runners who are still out on the course and have till 0800 on Saturday to complete the journey.

For now, enjoy Eoin’s finish and I feel a little sad that I can’t be around for the coming days to document the remaining journey; another race beckons…

Follow the liv tracker HERE

Race website http://www.northerntraverse.com