Competition Time !

Posted on September 28, 2012 by talkultra

WIN Salomon athlete, Philipp Reiter’s ‘Salomon Sense’ shoes.

How do you win them? Easy…. just answer this question:

What was Philipp’s first Skyrunning Race?

Answers ONLY on Talk Ultra Facebook page please. A link is HERE

The shoes are UK9 but we must stress they are not for running in! Philipp has racked up the miles and vertical K in them. He will however sign them for those who may like to collect memorabilia. Please note that Philipp has had an incredible 2012 season with some incredible running at Transvulcania, Salomon 4 Trails, Transalpine, Trofeo Kima and of course this coming weekend at Cavalls del Vent.

Cavalls del Vent Recce part ‘deux’

Posted on September 28, 2012 by talkultra

Philipp Reiter “let’s go out for an hour… we can run an out and back”

Kilian Jornet “I would like to run up to checkpoint 2 at 2500m”

Everybody “ok, cool, lets do that!”

Kilian and Emelie get in the ‘Kilian Kar‘. Philipp, Terry and myself get in pepecar.com and then we head at breakneck speed ignoring the left and right hand side of the road and get to the Coll de Pal and 2070m.

Philipp, Terry and myself roll out of the car ready for action. Kilian emerges from the ‘Kilian Kar‘ with a secret potion…. mmmmmmmm what is it?

Kilian and Emelie get into the running straight away…. Terry follows and Philipp is feeling a little unwell; the drive I think?

Knees hurting I follow as best as I can but I know they will soon be out of sight. I put a long lens on the camera… a great tip when you can’t keep up! You look close but actually you are miles away….

In to the distance they go. Around me isolation and beautiful views. I still manage to capture some lovely images of the ‘elites’ in action. A joy to watch unfold… I will wait for them to return and shoot them in full flight!

They never did 😉 But that’s another story…

Here is Philipp Reiters download from his Suunto Ambit HERE

Ultra Race of Champions

Posted on September 28, 2012 by talkultra

The best of the best, one course, one day?

Erm, well, not really…. UROC wanted to bill itself as the best of the best but it will be a race of the best of the best that turn up!

Joe Grant, Dakota Jones and Tony Krupicka are in Spain preparing for the 84km Cavalls del Vent Ultra Skyrunning race and this therefore leaves a few notable names missing from UROC. When you add to that Run Rabbit Run happened just a few weeks ago, it also means that Timothy Olson, Mike Wolfe, Karl Meltzer and Dylan Bowman will be doing other things and of course Geoff Roes is out of racing at the moment as is Mike Wardian… In the ladies, Lizzy Hawker is at Spartahlon, Frosty is at Cavalls, Devon Crosby Helms is injured, so, who is left to race?

Well actually, UROC still has a very competitive field and of course the terrain and the distance will suit the fast guys and girls.

Top tip is Dave Mackey who races so well at 100k closely followed by Ian Sharman. Ian has been running super quick lately and setting a few CR’s. The distance and the speed will suit him. Dave James is toeing the line but raced Run Rabbit Run and that has got to have taken something away from a great UROC performance, however Nick Clarke will be arriving fresh, however, true to form he may well take 3rd place ;-).

Notable newbies and potential race winners are Max King and Sage Canaday. Max with a 2:14 marathon pace is super quick and although this is longer than he normally runs he always comes to a race super prepared and once again 2012 has been a great year for him with top 3 at Speedgoat and Pikes Peak plus other notable wins! Sage in a rookie year had an awesome run at White River 50 mile which didn’t quite the coverage it should have… this may keep him a little under the radar but 4th at Pikes Peak and a win at Mt Washington will mean he is one to watch

The ladies race will be won by Ellie Greenwood (I am almost certain) and she will probably figure highly in the mens race too! I don’t need to go into what Ellie has achieved as it would be easier saying what she hasn’t… the ladies race does have one or two contenders but unlike the mens race where anything can happen, the ladies race is really more about who will be 2nd and 3rd? Names to look out for are:

Ragan Petrie winner of last year’s UROC 100k, Krystle Martinez, Jacqui Palmer and Verity Breen as an outsider.

Real Time Race Splits HERE

Video Coverage HERE

Spartathlon Preview

Posted on September 28, 2012 by talkultra

Twenty fours hours ago I sat down to write just a brief preview of two other races that would be taking place this weekend for those who may not be following Cavalls del Vent (not sure why that would happen). Firstly, Spartathlon.

Spartathlon is due to start as I write this, 0700 Friday. I guess ‘the race’ that got us all running! It is iconic in the ultra world for many reasons. The distance at 153 miles needs no explanation… it’s a long way. Taking place pretty much all on uninspiring road they throw in a tough mountain at around the 100 mile mark just to mess you up a little more oh and then they have cut off times throughout the race that you must achieve if you want to keep going.

2012 represents the races 30th birthday of the race that is conducted in the footsteps of Pheidippides, the ancient Athenian runner. Pheidippides was sent to Sparta in 490 BC, before the battle of Marathon, to ask for help in the war led by the Greeks against the Persians. According to Herodotus, Pheidippides arrived in Sparta the day after his departure from Athens.

The race has iconic winners and I guess the most notable are Yiannis Kouros who still has the record of 20:25 and Scott Jurek who won the race three times.

Just over 350 will take part this year and they represent over 30 countries. Greece always has plenty of participants but the race is also iconic within Japan. Many of the contenders such as , Noto Kimi winner in 04/05, Akiko Sakamoto winner in 07 and then 4 years earlier in 03, Sumie Inagaki who won in 09 and finally Hiroko Okiyama who I guess is an outsider as she won the race some 12 years ago in 2000. Last years winner though, Szilvia Lubics from Hungary is returning. Notable 2012 entrant is Lizzy Hawker, I spoke to Lizzy several times in recent weeks and months and she is fired up for this iconic race. Her prep was going to be UTMB and then come to Spartathlon, but with UTMB being shortened (she won again) she decided to squeeze in the gap a 100 mile race (as you do) the Run Rabbit Run (which she won). Anybody else and you would think 100 miler just a few weeks before Spartathlon; crazy! But we are talking about Lizzy! Her main issue is a fall she took early in RRR in which she banged her knee seriously. Just a few days ago she sent me a message and I quote:

“Hi Ian, thanks so so much for your good wishes for Spartathlon!!!! I’m really grateful …. need a little bit of magic out there 🙂 knee improves every day, but will it be good enough? & the head & heart?!! enjoy Cavals, I’ll be thinking of you all there :). best, Lizzy”

Lizzy at 2012 UTMB

If Lizzy has a ‘Lizzy’ day then she will be incredible. No doubt. Her 100k and 24hr times are prove enough of what she can do. Another UK entrant, Claire Shelley may well figure well. She has won the Grand Union Canal race in the UK which is 145 miles running up and down the Canal systems of the Midlands (I still don’t understand why?)

The mens race will be a battle. I just wish Mike Morton was toeing the line… after his Badwater performance and his 24 hour record I would love to see what he could do here.

Ivan Cudin from Italy, returns to defend his title but notably Valmir Nunes from Brazil, winner in 01 returns. Valmir holds the CR at Badwater which Morton missed by 75 seconds in the 2012 edition. Markus Thalmann from Austria won in 03 and had great races in 04 and 05.

My money is on Cudin and Hawker… and you?

You can follow the race live HERE

The 2012 program is available as a PDF HERE

Cavalls del Vent Recce

Posted on September 27, 2012 by talkultra

Dodgy knees or not I was going out on the course with Terry Conway and Salomon athlete, Philipp Reiter.

Philipp has been here for about a week so he knew exactly where when and how! We had a short drive, parked the car, avoided being eaten alive by about 6 dogs on a farm and then headed UP! and UP and UP.

Sore knees pretty much ok as long I kept going up. Terry kindly taped my knees so I somehow looked like an inverted Panda. However, I needed tape on my lungs! Five weeks of no running, altitude and two fast fellas up front that could kick my ass when I was flying fit and I was breathing out of every orifice… mostly the one at the back!

We ‘rivalled’ Kilian Jornet with a photo to compete with ‘his’ photo from the top of Mont Blanc (you know the one) and all in all we had a great time.

My knees got pretty beat up descending from 2300m but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Here is Philipp Reiters Suunto Ambit download to view HERE

Terry now realises what lies in store. I quote

“A world of pain… pure enjoyment. It’s like nothing I have run before. The climbs are so much longer and I found the altitude difficult. I was wheezing a fair bit this morning. I have a realisation of what lies ahead and maybe the gap between myself and the elites. No matter what, I am going to embrace the day and the opportunity”

Terry has landed ! Cavalls del Vent

Posted on September 27, 2012 by talkultra

It’s a real busy weekend ahead and I have been so wrapped up in travel and prep for Cavalls del Vent that actually thinking about UROC – Ultra Race of Champions and Spartathlon hadn’t slipped my mind but finding the time to just provide an update was difficult! So I thought I would use the wee hours of the morning before breakfast to write something up.

I am in Baga with an hour or so before breakfast and the opportunity to head out on the Cavalls course at 0900 with Philipp Reiter, Emelie Forscberg, Terry Conway and maybe Kilian!

Terry and myself arrived yesterday and met Anna Frost’s sister, Sarah, at the airport to be good citizens and provide her with a lift. After a few comedy moments… the first being Terry deciding it was a good idea to rent a car from pepecar.com !

We hit the road and then ended up getting stuck at the ‘tolls’ by being completely in the wrong lane! Yeah Yeah, I know. I am used to the tolls in France but Spain is different. We finally managed to back up the traffic, ruin a toll gate by sticking Euro coins in a ‘card slot’ and then somehow managed to get in the correct lane after some subtle lane dodging.

We met Frosty, Dakota Jones, Philipp, Emelie and Tony K was hiding somewhere and had some chill time at a ‘secret’ Salomon holding camp (joke) 20 minutes away from the race village. Terry terrified Philipp telling him how good he is and how he was going to ‘take him down’ when it came to race day! (another joke)

An hour or so later Terry and myself finished off our journey providing Philipp and Emelie with a lift to our race hotel. We are at the foot of the mountains and dusk was just arriving!

Terry had some very unusual pre race prep. He laid out his Salomon Sense and then prepared dinner….. whoa! No way Terry. Not baby food tonight mate, we are going to the restaurant….

Dinner was pretty awesome. We met Philipp and then Emelie joined us with a new arrival at the hotel, Kilian Jornet. So, Terry had been in Spain approximately 3-4 hours and within that short space of time had met Frosty chatted with Dakota, missed Tony, chewed the fat with Philipp and Emelie and was now spending a couple of hours with Kilian over dinner as we discussed his ‘Summits of my Life’ project, talked about his recent Mont Blanc Crossing, his VO2 test the previous day (92 by the way… wow) and what his plans are at Cavalls, Raid de la Reunion and what 2013 has in store… pretty awesome!

So there you have it. We are in Cavalls, Terry is like a kid in a sweet shop and in an hour we will be on the Cavalls course seeing what lies in store for the race on Saturday.

Oh, UROC and Spartathlon…. I will be back later 😉

Iznik Ultra – ULTRArunning Mag

Posted on September 23, 2012 by talkultra

Some more great publicity for the Iznik Ultra in Turkey. I was very fortunate to head over to Turkey early in 2012 to take part and report on the very first edition of the race.

Not only did I have a great experience and an excellent race experience, I also had a great opportunity to investigate Istanbul and the surrounding area. If you are looking for something different in the early part of 2013, take a look HERE

It is possible to download this article HERE

Vibram HK100

Posted on September 22, 2012 by talkultra

The Vibram Hong Kong 100

The Vibram® Hong Kong 100 is an ultra endurance race that takes place in Hong Kong. The 100km course starts in Pak Tam Chung on the Sai Kung Peninsula and covers some of the most beautiful scenery in Hong Kong, including remote and unspoilt beaches, ancient forests, nature trails, reservoirs and steep hills. The course is based around Hong Kong’s famous Maclehose Trail, but with some diversions to ensure that runners spend more time in its most scenic sections, as well as finishing with the descent from Hong Kong’s highest peak (Tai Mo Shan). The course involves a cumulative elevation gain of over 4500 meters and the cut-off time is 32 hours. This is a unique, challenging and beautiful run for the trail running enthusiast and a chance to take part in an unforgettable event. Join us and make some memories!

Application for 2013 Vibram® Hong Kong 100 is now open. First come first served so please register without delay! Registration HERE

Useful information on training for a 100 km event is available here

The Vibram® Hong Kong 100 is a qualifying event for the 2014 Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc® (3 p0ints) and (if a time under 14 hours is achieved) the Western States 100.

Cavalls del Vent Preview

Posted on September 22, 2012 by talkultra

IV edition of Ultra Cavalls del Vent, September 29th/30th

Total distance 84.2k Acc Altitude Change 12,180m Altitude Change 6098m

Bagà will reunite again this year the best trail running athletes of the world to celebrate the Ultra Cavalls del Vent (Salomon Nature Trails) race held in the national park Cadí-Moixero on the 29th of September.

The fourth edition of the Ultra Cavalls del Vent becomes a special date of the national and international calendar as one of the events of the Skyrunner World Series.

1000 entrants and 84.2 km of personal challenge, to test the limits of the body exceeding over 12,000 accumulated vertical meters in the privileged natural environment of the Cadi-Moixeró national park

The 2012 edition of the race is looking as though it may very well turn out to be an iconic race primarily for the inclusion of some key runners from Europe, the United States and New Zealand.

You can red the Skyrunning press release HERE

So who are the favourites?

MEN

**update 24th September Kilian Jornet now confirmed as a last minute entrant. This turns the race on it’s head a little and one has to say that despite such a quality field one can’t really bet against the ‘mountain master’. Only just last week he completed his Mont Blanc Crossing as part of his ‘Summits of my Life‘. With that ticked off as it were he obviously feels comfortable and content to race at Cavalls del Vent before heading out to Reunion Island to race against Joe Grant and Tony Krupicka at the Raid de le Reunion.

Tofol Castanyer fresh from victory at the CCC and a stunning time will certainly be one to beat on this course.

Miguel Heras has been plagued by injuries but only a couple of weeks ago placed 2nd at another mountainous Skyrunning event, Sentiero Grigne and therefore a return to form is certainly on it’s way.

Dakota Jones started off his Skyrunning account in fine form at Transvulcania La Palma. He raced Hardrock 100 with a top finish and he is now in Europe for several months. He was supporting friends at UTMB, he has been out running with Kilian Jornet and at Sentiero Grigne placed 4th overall behind Heras. The longer distance of Cavalls will suit Dakota and without a doubt he will be up at the front.

Joe Grant was second at Hardrock 100, loves the mountains, trains with Tony Krupicka and this course will suit him. However, he is planning on racing at Raid de Reunion (Diagonale des Fous) and he therefore may save a little for that.

Tony Krupicka like Joe Grant is also racing the Raid de Reunion and I was under the impression that he was running at Cavalls del Vent, however, he is not on the start list. Needless to say, if he is racing he will be up at the front. **update 24th September, Tony is now confirmed.

Philipp Reiter goes from strength to strength and performs well at every race he turns up at. He was up at the front at Trofeo Kima and just recently had a great win with Iker Karrera at the Transalpine. Philipp will be top five here!

Terry Conway is my rank outsider… needless to say I have an interest here. I was influential in getting Terry to the start line. It will no doubt be a baptism of fire. The altitude, the terrain and the field may well get to him, but, I think he will adapt and perform well. If he gets top 10 it will be an incredible result. His performance at the Lakeland 100 and beating his own course record by two hours means he is without doubt in form.

LADIES

Anna Frost can never ever be ruled out in a mountain race. However she has been injured and this is a comeback race. In true fashion though she has been out on the course training. She will go for the win, no doubt!

Nuria Picas is in fine form, always performs consistently and this is her home. She told me at Trofeo Kima that this was the A race for the year. Expect a real fight up at the front from Nuria.

Emelie Forsberg loves to run and she has all the ability needed to win this race. Her descending skills are superb and as she proved at Pikes Peak, if she is allowed some space she can push hard and take a win.

Emma Roca is local, placed top 3 at UTMB and will perform well here. On a good day she will be top 3 but in this field I see her placing just off the podium.

I will be Tweeting live from the race and uploading interviews, photos and audio as and when I can. Follow the race @talkultra or on Facebook HERE

Episode 18 Talk Ultra

Posted on September 21, 2012 by talkultra

Episode 18 of Talk Ultra is available and as you can see from the image above it is a really top show!

Karl Meltzer joins me once again to co present the show. We speak about his outstanding win at Run Rabbit Run and what it’s like winning 33 100 mile ultras and taking home $11k for a days running.

Comeback man Mike Morton tells me how he missed the Badwater 135 record by 75 seconds and he also talks about setting a new US benchmark for the 24 hour.

Prof Tim Noakes in many respects needs no introduction. It is nearly 30 years ago that he wrote ‘The Lore of Running’ and maybe with new addition to the nutrition section it still today the perfect reference book. He has a new book called ‘Waterlogged’ with new theories on hydration for sport.

I also get to talk to Dean Karnazes. Love him or hate him (unjustified in my opinion) he is maybe one person who has encouraged and is possibly responsible for the boom in ultra running. I maybe ask him one or two awkward questions and we discus whats next…