ULTRA Running Magazine Jan/Feb 2013
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Tag Archives: Dakota Jones
Anton Krupicka in Europe
Anton Krupicka talks about New Balance and his experiences of being in and around Barcelona for the Skyrunning Cavalls del Vent 2012
You Tube clip HERE
Presented by New Balance Spain
Tony expresses his gratitude for the opportunity to race the iconic Cavalls del Vent.
As Tony says “Kilian Jornet, Miguel Heras and Tofol Castanyer are the top mountain runners in the world…. ”
Tony placed second overall in the race behind Kilian Jornet. His fellow countryman Dakota Jones placed third.
Skyrunning Calendar 2013
2012 saw the ISF take running above the clouds to new heights. The vision of Marino Giacometti and Lauri Van Houten was fulfilled with the first event, the Transvulcania La Palma and this set the stage for an incredible year of racing. The inclusion of ultra distance races made some of the worlds greatest runners realise that Skyrunning had something new to offer. Tough, technical and gnarly courses at altitude with incredible competition.
With a season over and a new year ahead, we have great pleasure in releasing the 2013 calendar. Certainly from an ultra perspective the inclusion of the Ronda dels Cims in Andorra will set the stage for a battle ‘royal’ at the 100 mile distance. This course is renowned for its difficulty and altitude gain at 13,000m. As a season final, we have UROC (Ultra Race of Champions) in Colorado. At 100km this will provide an incredible closure to what I am sure will be the best Skyrunning year ever!
As you will know, I have had great pleasure to be at many of the events in 2012 and this will continue in 2013. I will be bringing you news, reports, articles, images, facebook posts and tweets as an exciting year above the clouds unfolds…
2013 SKYRUNNER® WORLD SERIES
– new races, new format
Skyrunner® World Series celebrates 10 years!
November 30, 2012 Press release by Lauri Van Houten, ISF
It’s curtains up on the 2013 Skyrunner® World Series which celebrates ten years with some of the best and most exciting races across the world. The new Series is divided into three stand-alone circuits: Sky, Ultra and Vertical, each with their own titles and prizes – clean and simple!
The introduction of the ultra distance this year wrote a new page in skyrunning. The Series kicked off with the Transvulcania Ultramarathon on the Spanish island of La Palma, which saw probably the deepest field of world-class runners to date. The spectacular 83km course and 4,400m vertical climb will represent a major challenge to competitors in 2013 as once again the race opens the Ultra Series.
The success of the 2012 Ultra Series paved the way for our first 100-miler – the Ronda dels Cims. With a gruelling 13,000m-elevation gain, the race will take place on the longest day under the full moon crossing the entire Principality of Andorra.
The Speedgoat 50K will be back with top runners and a fast course reaching three passes at 3,400m altitude in Snowbird, Utah, USA.
Two favourite skyrunning locations from the past also make a comeback: Val d’Isère and Vail, Colorado. The Ice Trail Tarentaise, 65 km with 5,000m vertical climb, will test the best against the spectacular backdrop of the Rhône-Alpes Region, site of the ’92 Winter Olympics while Vail in Denver, Colorado, will host the Ultra Race of Champions “UROC” – the Ultra Series final. American and European legends will compete in this new 100 km race, very much at high altitude with four passes at 3,600m – a race of champions indeed.
Two of Europe’s most famous mountains feature in the Sky Series: the Mont-Blanc Marathon which will also host the KM Vertical in Chamonix the same weekend, and the new Matterhorn Ultraks, a fast, 46 km race in Zermatt, in the shadow of the world’s most famous peak will, without a doubt, attract top runners.
Spain’s long-standing testing ground of champions, the Maratòn Alpina Zegama-Aizkorri, launches the Sky Series and the popular Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado USA, will again feature. To close, yet another new venue offers both a nocturnal Vertical and the Sky Series final: Skyrunning Xtreme, a short, steep technical race towering over Italy’s famous Lake Garda.
Russia’s Mount Elbrus Vertical Kilometer® launches the entire skyrunning season and the Vertical Series on May 7. Entirely over snow, the VK reaches an altitude of 3,450m, the world’s highest race of its kind. The Vertical Series continues with the Ribagorza Vertical Kilometer® on the site of the 2012 SkyGames® in Spain, followed by Greece’s Gerania Vertical Kilometer®, dominating the Corinthian Gulf.
See below for the full calendars in each Series.
Some numbers from the 2013 Skyrunner® World Series: nine new entries, two brand new races – 653m kilometres and 43,632 vertical climb – six races located in the world’s top ski resorts (Chamonix, Zermatt, Vallnord, Val d’Isère, Snowbird, Vail) – without a doubt some of the best places to run in summer…see you there!
SKY
1. SPAIN: Maratòn Alpina Zegama-Aizkorri – 42k, Zegama – May 26
2. FRANCE: Mont-Blanc Marathon – 42k, Chamonix – June 30
3. USA: Pikes Peak Marathon, Colorado – 42k – August 18
4. SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Ultraks – 46k, Zermatt – August 24
5. ITALY: Skyrunning Xtreme – 23k, Limone sul Garda – October 13
ULTRA
1. SPAIN: Transvulcania Ultramarathon – 83k, La Palma – May 11
2. ANDORRA: Ronda dels Cims – 170k, Vallnord – June 21
3. FRANCE: Ice Trail Tarentaise – 65k, Val d’Isère – July 14
4. USA: Speedgoat – 50k, Park City, Utah – July 27
5. USA: Ultra Race of Champions “UROC” -100k, Vail, September 28
VERTICAL
1. RUSSIA: Mount Elbrus Vertical Kilometer® – May 7
2. SPAIN: Ribagorza Vertical Kilometer®, Barruera – May 18
3. FRANCE: KM Vertical, Chamonix – June 28
4. GREECE: Gerania Vertical Kilometer®, Loutraki– September 8
5. ITALY: Xtreme Vertical Kilometer®, Limone sul Garda – October 11
Information
Ranking points
The three best results in each Series are scored in ranking. Ranking points in the final races of all three Series will be increased by 20%. Ranking points breakdown: 100-88-78-72-68-66-64-62-60-58-56-54-52-50 down to 2 points to 40th position for men and 15th position for women.
Legend
SKY – races more than 22 km and less than 50 km long with at least 1,300m positive vertical climb (SkyRace® and SkyMarathon®)
ULTRA – races over 50 km long that exceed the SkyMarathon® parameters (Ultra SkyMarathon®)
VERTICAL – races with 1,000m positive vertical climb not exceeding 5 km distance (Vertical Kilometer®)
Contact:
Lauri van Houten, International Skyrunning Federation
Tel +39 335 8000061 lvanhouten@skyrunning.com
Looking back, Moving forward – Skyrunning
| Looking back over the 2012 skyrunning season, it was, to say the least, an intensive year. It was a year of major transition from the past format of main races and trials, to the introduction of the Ultra distance and separate circuits. The transition was complicated and not without difficulties but it paved the way for a completely revised 2013 format.
The season saw triumph and tragedy, great champions, bright young stars, new races and spectacular locations. At the beginning of the season in May, the introduction of the Ultra Series wrote a new page in skyrunning history. The Transvulcania Ultra Marathon not only perfectly embodied skyrunning’s “sea to sky” concept, but had probably the deepest field of world class runners to date, including American legends like Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes, Rickey Gates, Mike Wolfe Joe Grant and 21year-old Dakota Jones who went on to win the race. Dakota, Tony and Joe came back for more…
The more gruelling courses typical of European skyrunning have almost surprisingly gone down well with the American runners, giving us the conviction to keep it “tough and technical“ rather than provide a watered-down version to appeal to a wider public – something to look forward to on the other side of the Atlantic next year together with a selection of the best that Europe has to offer…and our first 100-miler. The 2012 SkyMarathon® Ultra Series has represented the first and most important encounter among top European and American Ultra runners with a level so high that all the mens’ race records in the Series were broken! Legendary ultra runners competing in the Series (apart from those mentioned above) include: Kilian Jornet, Ikker Karera, Andy Symonds, Dawa Sherpa, Francois D’Haene, Erik Clavery, Seb Chaigneau and among the women: Nuria Picas, Anna Frost, Lizzy Hawker, Maud Gobert, Darcy Africa, and Nikki Kimball. Kilian Jornet the sport’s top star, yet again gave a command performance taking not only the World Series combined title, but also the Ultra Series title, totalling seven outright victories and two third positions in all three disciplines. 2011 World Series champion Luis Alberto Hernando placed second and Britain’s Tom Owens moved steadily up the ranking to take third position. Ultra Series’ runner-up was Andy Symonds and Germany’s Philipp Reiter placed third.
Nuria Picas has finally shown that talent and determination go a long way by winning some of the toughest races on the Series. She finished second after Forsberg in the World Series combined ranking and won the Ultra Series outright. Anna Frost, after a superb start at the Transvulcania Ultra, was plagued by injury throughout the season but fought tenaciously for a second position in the Ultra ranking where Forsberg placed third.
Alongside Forsberg, another star was born: 23 year-old Italian, Silvia Serafini who, like Forsberg, began skyrunning just this year, testing her skills in all three disciplines to climb to third position in the world ranking. Two world records highlighted the Vertical Kilometer® Series on the gruelling course in Fully, Switzerland with1,000 metres elevation gain over just 1.9 km distance. The men’s record of 30’42” set by Italian Urban Zemmer is just a short step from climbing at 2,000 metres per hour – upwards! French runner Christel Dewalle set the women’s record in 36’48”. Overall Vertical Kilometer® Series champions were Urban Zemmer and Spain’s Laura Orgué. In 2012, prize money amounting to €140,000 (including the Series’ final prizes) was awarded to 148 athletes. The figures are still small for the huge effort and incredible performances involved, but as the sport grows, prize money will do like-wise. Complimentary accommodation, travel subsidies and promotion are more ways that a top runner can benefit – and so will the sponsor. Major industry players are now investing in trail running and many brands have top runners and teams participating in the Series. See Team ranking Media coverage of skyrunning events reached new heights this year from print to websites, blogs and social media, to videos, podcasts and television on a global level. A big thanks goes to all those who followed the skyrunning heroes through thick and thin, in heat and cold and darkness, breaking news in real time and capturing high-flying emotions in images, text and videos. Look out for the 2013 Skyrunner® World Series calendar to be announced next week. We’ll be focussing on new events and personalities, a worldwide ranking for runners and races, regulations and safety issues as well as the announcement of the 2013 European and 2014 World Championships. |
It’s in the women’s field that the most rapid revolution lies however. Young, talented runners with no skyrunning history debut and rise to glory in just one season and, note, women are finishing in the top ten overall, closing the gender gap. Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg is one of these ladies. Twenty-five years-old, she ran her first skyrunning race just this year and in only one season conquered the World Series combined title in a field stacked with highly competitive Spanish runners like Nuria Picas, Blanca Maria Serrano and Nuria Dominguez.
Images from Cavalls del Vent
So many pictures… so little time!
Here is a selection of my favourite images to come out of the 2012 Cavalls del Vent part of the Ultra Skyrunnnig series.
Walking to the race start from our hotel, Frosty and Dakota relaxed with Kilian, Tony, Philipp and Terry behind.
The rush for the first corner in Baga
Kilian leading Tofol before Tofol retired
Dakota Jones running through the mist and rain at 2200m
Skyrunning is all about being above the cloud
Local hero and ladies winner, Nuria Picas
It was that cold Tony Krupicka wore a jacket with a hood!
Emelie Forsberg pushing hard in the early parts of the race
Dakota Jones
The day before the race, Kilian Jornet, Emelie Forsberg, Philipp Reiter and Terry Conway running to CP2 on the Cavalls del Vent course
The stunning scenery and views that we all missed on race day
Terry running on our day 1 recce
Emelie bouncing across the finish
Tony & Kilian on the finish line
Nuria triumphant
and finally a photo that sums up the sadness that we all felt, the day after the race when we all learned that during the night a female runner had passed away due to cardiac arrest induced via hypothermia. Our thoughts and best wishes go out the family.
Cavalls del Vent Post Race Report
Ultra? Ultra emotional…
On a day of rain, cold temperatures and intense racing, ultra running and in particular ultra Skyrunning opened a new chapter in our sport.
Despite alternativerace options available all over the world, many of the worlds best decided to head to Spain and race at the Skyrunning ‘Ultra Cavalls del Vent‘, an 84.2km race with 6098m of altitude change.
Kilian Jornet, Dakota Jones, Tony Krupicka, Tofol Castanyer, Miguel Heras, Joe Grant, Philipp Reiter, Anna Frost, Emelie Forsberg, Nuria Picas and Emma Rocca all decided to do battle in what turned out to be an incredibly testing day.
At Refugio Niu de L’Aliga the race format was starting to unfold with Kilian leading the race followed closely by Tofol and then several minutes back Miguel Heras. Dakota Jones and Philipp Reiter soon came into sight and then Tony Krupicka. Although minutes separated them all, one thing became apparent. It was cold!
Thick mist made visibility difficult and it was biting cold on hands. Kilian seemed in his element running in short sleeves but nearly all the other runners wore jackets. Including Tony!
Emelie Forsberg was the first lady to come into sight. Somewhat of a surprise… not because she didn’t have the ability but because the plan was to ease into her ‘first’ 50 miler. Frosty followed and then a very cool and relaxed looking Nuria Picas.
The cold and constant rain hit the race and the runners hard! Miguel Heras dropped, Tofol had hypothermia, Joe Grant had hypothermia and at the last count some 200+ runners have dropped from the race. Certainly those who will go into the night are in for a tough time.
Tony Krupicka moved up through the field, moved ahead of Dakota and a format was set. Kilian and Tony swapping the lead and Dakota following.
At Gresolet, Kiliian had a 2 min lead. As he passed me I asked how he felt?
“I am great, it was a little cold but now I am good. I am having fun!”
Tony approached “How you feeling Tony?”
“I’m good man, Kilian is just playing with me.. all good though!”
Some of the press with me at this point wondered if Tony would win? To be honest, no disrespect to Tony but Kilian seemed in control and was glad of company. Dakota was now some 30 min in arrears with Philipp Reiter in 4th. This order remained until the final climb when Kilian accelerated leaving Tony behind. Kilian crossed the line with a new CR of 8:42:22. Tony crossed the line in 2nd beating the old CR too with 8:49:56 and Dakota 9:26:25.
Tony was stoked at the finish and rightly so. After the best part of 2 years being out of the sport his ‘return’ now seems to be confirmed. His return is a new return with a love for Skyrunning. He said on the line “these are the races we want, vertcal gain, tough gnarly climbs and altitude. We can’t get this at home, I love it”
Dakota was happy with 3rd but said he had hoped for better and that he never felt quite on his game!
Emelie Forsberg in the ladies race pushed ahead and at one point had a 15 min lead with Frosty and Nuria chasing. However the gap was closed and over the final 2 hours a battle started. My money was on Nuria, she had told me at ‘Kima’ that this was the race she wanted and I guess it showed. In the latter stages Emelie was dropped and Nuria ran into the finish victorious in10:34:42 beating her 2011 winning time by over an hour. Frosty finished in 2nd 10:35:24 and Emelie jumped for joy in 10:39:51.
Frosty said “Everything hurts. I won’t be able to walk tomorrow. I dug deeper that I have ever had to go, I am happy for Nuria and I am happy for me”
Emelie in only her 2nd ultra and first 50 miler was elated. She told me “I felt really good and still do. My legs are not hurting but it was mind… in the latter stages when I had to fight I couldn’t focus but I am super happy”
Cavalls del Vent was an incredible day. It showed us all what is great about our sport. Wonderful courses, great running, new runners showing potential for the future, established runners confirming that they are the best, a return to form for Tony and of course immense comradeship. I am in the hotel ‘Press Room’ surrounded by all of them… Kilian on the sofa chatting, Tony and Dakota on the web, Frosty and Emelie giggling, Philipp and Terry discussing the next time to pose naked. All individual but all one.
Cloud confuses and distorts “less cloud MORE SKY”
The next event in the Ultra Skyrunning series is ‘Templiers’ in the South of France. The date is October 28th and rest assured I will be at the race to bring you images, stories and a podcast from the final race in the series.
Faces of Cavalls
Terry has landed ! Cavalls del Vent
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 😉
Cavalls del Vent Preview
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
Transvulcania La Palma – Running Fitness UK Oct2012
Some more great publicity for a very special race, the 2012 Transvulcania La Palma.
Published in RUNNING FITNESS October 2012
Part of the ISF International Skyrunning Federation ULTRA series
Ultra SkyMarathon® Series
*SPAIN: TRANSVULCANIA ULTRA MARATHON – La Palma – May 12
USA: Speedgoat 50K – Snowbird, Utah – July 28
ITALY: Trofeo Kima UltraSkyMarathon® – Valmasino, Sondrio – August 26
SPAIN: Cavalls del Vent – Cadi-Moixeró Natural Park – Pyrenees – September 29
FRANCE: La Course des Templiers – Millau, Grands Causses – October 28
You can download the article in PDF HERE
IAN CORLESS 
