Episode 233 of Talk Ultra – YES we are back! With Speedgoat Karl co-hosting and an in-depth interview with Courtney Dauwalter.
It has been a long time, and we can only apologise. Life, family and extensive travel had an impact on available time and while it’s always possible to ‘find some time’ somewhere, the podcast had to be sidelined for the beginning of 2023.
Lanzarote Training Camp, Oman Desert Marathon, The Coastal Challenge, Black Canyon Ultra, a photoshoot for adidas and lastly Transgrancanaria, it was a hectic start to ’23!’
Importantly, go to iTunes and subscribe so that you automatically get our show when it’s released we are also available on Stitcher for iOS, Android and Web Player and now Tunein. We are also on Spotify too.
Our web page at www.iancorless.com has all our links and back catalogue.
Please support Talk Ultra by becoming a Patreon at www.patreon.com/talkultra and THANKS to all our Patrons who support us.
Located at the iconic Club La Santa resort, our training camp will provide you with all the knowledge, experience and practical training you need to make your next trail, ultra and multi-day adventure a success.
Hosted by IAN CORLESS, the training camp is the perfect place to hone your skills for multi-day, fast packing and running in general.
With
2024 LINE UP
ANNA COMET PASCUA, PIERRE MESLET,
LAUREN GREGORY and INGE NIJKAMP.
GUESTS – KEVIN WEBBER and STEVE DIEDERICH.
Anna Comet Pascua won the 2022 Marathon des Sables in a dominant performance. An experienced sky, mountain and ultra-runner, Anna is also a multi-day specialist with victories at The Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica and the Everest Trail Race in Nepal. A runner for the Scarpa Team, it’s a pleasure to have Anna join us in Lanzarote.
Lauren Gregory ran the 2021 (toughest) Marathon des Sables and was first British woman and 8th in the women category. A personal trainer, Lauren will guide a run group, host yoga sessions will provide a talk.
Pierre Meslet joined the Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp in 2022 after placing 9th at the 2020 Marathon des Sables. His attendance was a success, not only from the perspective of leading a run group but also his profession as a physio – He was able to provide ‘on-site’ treatment for our training camp. Pierre is back in 2023!
Inge Nijkamp has been top-10 at Marathon des Sables and The Coastal Challenge. A qualified nutritionist, she will guide a group, provide a nutrition talk specific to multi-day running and be on-hand for one-to-one nutritional consultations.
Kevin Webber after a successful 2023 camp has requested that he come back in 2024 for more… In his words, “I just loved this, great location, great people, great running, what’s not to like?” He will once again guide a group, provide an inspiration and moving talk about running with a terminal cancer diagnosis. He has many stories to tell.
Steve Diederich is the UK agent for Marathon des Sables, The Coastal Challenge and Everest Trail Race, he will be on-hand to provide advice about all three races and answer any questions. Currently studying Sports Psychology and come Lanza 24 he will be qualified and on-hand to discuss the mental side of sport and running.
“I wanted to say a big thank you for this week – I’ve left so energised and inspired after the week… I thought the camaraderie from other runners was incredible. If felt as if everyone had left their ego at home which really made for such open and honest sessions. I hope you have the opportunity to reflect on how impactful and enjoyable the camp was. The fact that the organisation was seamless doesn’t just happen and I know the layers of detail and spreadsheets that go into an event like this. I’ll be back I’m sure and when I do get to the start line of MDS I will be much more likely to succeed based on all the advice.” – EB
The purpose of any training camp is to provide you with specific information and training designed specifically to help you with your future objectives. Although you may run (train) more in this condensed week, it’s not designed to break you! Therefore, all training sessions are flexible and you can dip-in and dip-out as required. Most importantly, just as in any race, we will have a very mixed ability base. You will therefore train at your appropriate pace with like minded people.
Each day will be broken down into one or two specific training sessions, one workshop and leisure time.
Lanzarote offers a variety of terrain that can be found in many desert races and therefore it’s the ideal training ground to prepare and acclimatise for an up and coming challenge. Club La Santa as a resort offers a great base and all facilities are included. This is great for relaxation, an opportunity to cross train or more importantly it’s perfect for friends and family to join you as a plethora of opportunities are available.
£1095 pp* shared occupancy / Solo Occupancy apartment £1695*
A £300 deposit secures a place for shared occupancy, £600 for solo-occupancy. Deposits are non-refundable in any circumstance and cannot be carried forward to a following year.
This includes a self-catering apartment on a share basis. Inclusion in the above schedule and access to all facilities within the Club La Santa complex.
A non-training partner is welcome to join a training partner for a cost of £975 pp* and they are able to use all the facilities at Club La Santa.
Caldera Trasera is a wonderful loop from our base location, Club La Santa. It provides a short and hilly technical route that more ‘more’ exposure than many are used to. The Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp is all about pushing boundaries and learning.
Hands-on action provided some mega smiles, especially when the summit was reached. The level of comradeship was superb, everyone supporting each other to achieve their goal.
It was day-1 of the 2023 Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp and what a perfect day! The rain from ‘arrival’ day disappeared leaving a perfect sunny and windy day.
The morning was a 24km ‘Coastal Run’ that had over 50-participants moving along some wonderful, technical single-track on the outward route and easier gravel trails for the run home.
Spilt in to three main groups, Tom Evans and Pierre Meslet guided the faster runners, Ian Corless and Abelone Lyng the middle group and Inge Nijkamp, Kevin Webber and Steve Diederich guided the run/ walker and walkers.
The trails here a stunning and the backdrop superb. Technical trails are compensated with easier non-technical trails but the group bonding, chats and views help the km’s fly past…
After a lunch break, the afternoon was taken up with two talks: the inspirational Kevin Webber told his story of his Prostrate Cancer diagnosis and Steve Diederich (UK agent for MDS) gave an informative talk around MDS logistics.
A 5km recovery run conclude the activities of the day and then relaxation was the order of the day, with some good food, as plans were made ready for day-2.
Interested in joining us? 2024 is open for booking HERE
Episode 225 of Talk Ultra has an in-depth interview with Michael Wardian after his epic run across America. We also speak with Ultra Trail Snowdia by UTMB race director, Michael Jones. Speedgoat co-hosts.
Episode 223 of Talk Ultra is a 36th MDS special co-hosted by Steve Diederich (MDS UK) and guest interviews with, James Hazeldene, Liz Anderson, Patrick Kennedy, Richard Bysouth and Tamsin Dobson.
Rachid El Morabity leads Aziz and Mohamed.
The 36th Marathon des Sables came just 6-months after the 35th edition which was re-scheduled to October 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic situation. The two races could not have been more different. The 35th edition had intense heat and D&V which swept through the camp. A summary of the experience is HERE. There is also a 35th edition special podcast, HERE.
This special podcast is a follow on from the 35th and provides an insight from the MDS UK agent, Steve Diederich.
We also speak with James Hazeldene, Liz Anderson, Patrick Kennedy, Richard Bysouth and Tamsin Dobson.
You can follow the 36th edition daily summaries below.
Please support Talk Ultra by becoming a Patreon at www.patreon.com/talkultra and THANKS to all our Patrons who support us. Rand Haley and Simon Darmody get a mention on the show here for ‘Becoming 100k Runners’ with a high-tier Patronage.
Episode 222 brings you and in-depth chat with adidas Terrex athlete Tom Evans about his comeback to racing and victory after surgery and rehabilitation. We also talk to to Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel about an epic journey around Lesotho.
It almost feels like a new beginning for Talk Ultra and in a way, I suppose it is. We have just had the longest period ever without producing a show, but we are now back with some new fire.
Importantly, Karl and myself THANK YOU all for the support, messages and encouragement. It really does make producing the show worthwhile.
I personally had questioned if Talk Ultra should stop in this downtime period. It’s been a great run, 12-years, hours, hours and hours of audio and it was actually only when I looked back and realised that we have created and documented the history of the sport since 2010 that I can’t let that stop… Your support and encouragement and very kind words also was significant.
Importantly, go to iTunes and subscribe so that you automatically get our show when it’s released we are also available on Stitcher for iOS, Android and Web Player and now Tunein. We are also on Spotify too.
Our web page at www.iancorless.com has all our links and back catalogue.
Please support Talk Ultra by becoming a Patreon at www.patreon.com/talkultra and THANKS to all our Patrons who support us. Rand Haley and Simon Darmody get a mention on the show here for ‘Becoming 100k Runners’ with a high-tier Patronage.
12th January to 19th January, 2023. Club La Santa, Lanzarote
Missing the 2021 camp due to the pandemic made the ’22’ camp even sweeter. Some may say it was the best camp yet…? To be fair, we think they are all great.
We have so many attendees returning year-after-year and this keeps me on my toes always looking for something new. In the last two editions we have added a ‘Long Day’ that is a point-to-point run offering an opportunity to see and experience new trails. In 2022 we added some new routes that offered a little more technicality and vertical meters.
2023 WILL BE THE BEST YET
Rachid at the 2021 MDS on stage 1.
First and foremost, we will have some new coaches and special guests. The big news is that 8x Marathon des Sables champion, ‘King of the Desert,’ Rachid El Morabity will join us, arriving Friday 13th and departing Monday 16th. He will join us for two runs, provide a 2-hour Talk & Worskshop and yes, I am pretty sure you will all get an opportunity to have a photo taken with him.
The amazing and inspirational, ‘Dead Man Running,’ Kevin Webber will join us for the whole week. He will look to inspire each and every attendee by quite literally, leading by example. As Kevin says, “Got told my prostate cancer may kill me in 2yrs but here I am, nearly 5 years later running ultra marathons, raising awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer UK!”
With some new routes, new talks and workshops, new guests, the 2023 Multi-Day Training Camp will take what is already a special and unique formula and take it up several notches.
Day 6 of the Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp is the ‘long day’ covering a marathon on a beautiful point-to-point course that starts in Uga and concludes at Club La Santa.
The route was first introduced in 2020 with great feedback. The 2022 route was extra special due to the current weather – sun, warm, high winds and Calima. You actually couldn’t get better training conditions for a desert race.
The route is a perfect way to sight see and experience the best of Lanzarote. Early miles pass through countless black sand and wine fields.
At all times, the landscape is magical and unique, the resulting backdrop from the greatest recorded eruptions which occurred between 1730 and 1736.
The area is delicate and protected, so, for the most part, a route weaves its way through the landscape which must be followed.
While there are few high points (in meters) on the island, it is possible to ‘rollercoaster’ and in our marathon point-to-point we accumulated 1500m+.
The wind was strong all day, gusts almost lifting us of our feet.
From Tinajo, the fina third of the route, the conditions became increasingly hard as the harder ground became softer with large amounts of soft sand. A Buff making for great protection.
In the latter miles it was head down and push on… Finally Club La Santa could be see in the distance. A marathon done in perfect test conditions.
As training days go, they don’t come any better than today…! With just one day left, many of the attendees are now tired and looking forward to some recovery time to let the stimulus from this training take hold.
Each runner has covered different distances but the below is typical for many!
Day 6 concluded with showers, food, recovery and well-earned calm and peaceful night.
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