Episode 36 of Talk Ultra – Stevie Kremer and AJ Calitz talk to us from Zegama-Aizkorri. We speak to Brendan Davies and Beth Cardelli respective winners from TNF100 in Australia. An inspirational 15 minutes of fame with Eric Browy, Talk Training is about Knees with Mitch from StrideUK. Our interview is with UltraPedestrian Ras. Speedgoat (Karl Meltzer) is back, we have a blog, the news and of course, the up and coming races.
Show Notes:
00:00:45 Start
00:16:30 News with Speedgoat
00:24:50 AJ Calitz talks to Ian after his run at Zegama-Aikorri.
Trail runner Andre ‘AJ’ Calitz is a record-setting South African trail runner. Over the past two years he has won numerous local races, frequently setting new records on challenging courses. He is sponsored by the outdoor brand K-Way. In just the past six months Calitz ascended Table Mountain’s Platteklip Gorge a record 11 times between sunrise and sunset to win the K-Way Platteklip Charity Challenge. He then won the two-day Grootvadersbosch Trail Run, where he set new records on both days. At the end of August, running in wind and rain, Calitz won the 80-kilometre Hi-Tec Peninsula Ultra Fun Run (PUFfeR) and set a new record time of six hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds, becoming the first runner to set a sub-7 hour time on the original, full-distance route. In 2012 Calitz placed second at The Otter, a 42-kilometre trail run on the iconic Otter Hiking Trail. Even more impressive was that Andre, together with race winner Iain Don-Wauchope, became the first runners to break the 4h30 barrier. Both runners broke the course record set last year by Ryan Sandes. Although Calitz is a relative newcomer to trail running, his pedigree is impressive. He has been a multiple All Africa Triathlon Champion, South African Duathlon and Triathlon Champion and South African Cycling Champion. He also holds silver medals for Two Oceans and Comrades finishes.
00:46:00 Back to News
00:50:20 Stevie Kremer talk to Ian after a stunning third place Zegama-Aizkorri.
Stevie Kremer, burst on the U.S. trail running scene with a few notable races in Colorado. She moved to Italy in 2012 and performed beyond expectations at Sierre-Zinal with an incredible second place. Stevie finished seventh in the World Mountain Running Championships 8.8K uphill race on Sept. 2 in Temu-Ponte di Legno, Italy, and then won the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge at the 42.2K Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland the following weekend.
01:04:35 News
01:07:25 Brendan Davies not only won the TNF 100 in Australia but he broke Kilian Jornet’s two year old course record.
I live in the Blue Mountains and work in Western Sydney. In my day job, I am a Special Education school teacher; kids call me Mr D. I’ve been a school teacher for over 10 years and love it. It has been both a very challenging and rewarding career thus far. But I am a runner, always have been and always will be. I have recently been selected on the International Inov-8 team – a dream come true which will take me wider and further than I ever thought, to some of the most spectacular places on Earth like Mt Fuji and Mt Blanc. Another great honour was to be named by my ultra running peers and the governing body of ultra running in Australia – AURA, as the 2012 Australian Ultra Runner of the Year.
01:20:06 Beth Cardelli topped the podium in the ladies race at TNF100.
I really only started running after being involved with my husbands 2007 Sydney Trailwakler Team. We had a pretty slow time and I knew I could do the distance a lot faster. Since then I have focused on becoming a better runner. HERE
02:12:55 Interview with Ultrapedestrian Ras – website HERE
I expound my ideas, experiences, philosophies and half-assed schemes simply as documentation of the immense blessing that is my life. I am uneducated and underemployed, and in many ways not what is typically considered a productive member of society, and my words should be understood within this context.
02:51:55 Meltzer Moment with Speedgoat
02:59:00 15 Min of Fame with Eric Browy
After throwing away a scholarship and getting kicked out of college for partying too much, my guest enlisted in the Army in June of 2002. As soon as he arrived at his unit, he was deployed to Iraq in the beginning of 2003, here he truly learned the meaning of what a Soldier was and more than anything that just because someone was not his blood they could be his brother. His brother had been killed when he was younger and he had gone through life not expecting to every have that relationship with anyone again. He found that in the Army. After returning home, with less people than we departed with he struggled while being back at Ft. Hood, He didn’t admit that he had any problems, It was a difficult thing for him to handle all of the loss that had happened while being deployed so he just “soldiered on” and self-medicated himself with alcohol and partying in my non-working hours. In 2005 he was deployed again and he was injured in March 2006. Team RWB HERE
It was close… oh so close! Seconds separated Kilian Jornet and Luis Alberto Hernando at the 2013 Zegama-Aizkorri. Post race in a chat with Kilian, we discussed the race and he was extremely satisfied to be pushed so hard in the latter stages of the race.
“I had relaxed and was running comfortably and then suddenly Luis appeared” Kilian said, “I had a race on my hands, we pushed each other very hard and it was only in the final kilometre that I surged and pulled away”.
Luis Alberto Hernando is the 2011 World Champion and is clearly in great form at the moment. Only a couple of weeks ago he participated in his first ultra, Transvulcania La Palma, and here he placed second again behind Kilian.
Kilian and Marco, Zegama 2013 copyright Ian Corless
Marco De Gasperi, after some deliberation (ankle injury) toed the line and led the race to the 21 km check point with his sparring partner, Kilian Jornet. Kilian and Marco love to race each other and we have witnessed some tremendous battles over the years. However, Zegama would not see a repeat, Marco pulled out to ensure that he did not stress his injury any farther.
Luis Alberto Hernando worked his way through the field and pursued Kilian and finally caught him. What followed was a tremendous game of cat and mouse as the two pushed each other to the limit on the long and final descent.
Kilian pulled away in the final moments of the race to miss Rob Jebb’s 2005 course record by just 20 seconds, his finishing time 3:54:38. Luis Alberto Hernando finished just seconds later and Tadei Pivk produced a stunning run to finish third in 3:59:07.
It was really close…. Zegama 2013
The ladies race had all the makings of a classic. Emelie Forsberg, Nuria Picas, Oihana Kortazar, Silvia Serafini and Stevie Kremer would do battle on this classic mountain course.
World long course mountain running champion, Stevie Kremer pushed hard from the start and lead the race until over halfway but Emelie Forsberg paced herself extremely well. She took over the lead and then slowly pulled away to ultimately dominate the race for a stunning win in 4:48:12.
Emelie Forsberg copyright Ian Corless
The first half of the race was fast and furious, but as time and distance progressed experience came through. In particular, Nuria Picas, the2012 Skyrunner Ultra champion and fresh from her second place at Transvulcaniawho was out of the top five in the first half of the race. She moved through the field, hunted runners down and then passed Stevie Kremer on the descent to be place second.
Nuria Picas copyright Ian Corless
Stevie Kremer (pre race interview here) running her first SkyMarathon performed superbly and without doubt is a star of the future. She openly said, “I need to work on my descending, it is what let me down today”.
Stevie Kremer copyright Ian Corless
As Nuria waved to the crowd she almost lost second place as Stevie burst around the corner of the finishing straight. The time gap shows how close it was at the finish, 4:49:55 for Nuria and 4:49:58 for Stevie. Without doubt we will be seeing Stevie on podium again throughout the 2013 calendar.
A notable mention must also go to Silvia Serafini (pre race interviewhere). Silvia was having a stunning race and was in third place for much of the race, but she twisted her ankle on the final descent. She finally finished within the top ten but the frustration of what might have been was clear to see on her face and she fell to the floor after crossing the finish line.
Silvia Serafini copyright Ian Corless
Zegama-Aizkorri is renowned for the severity of the course, the ability of the runners and the passion of the supporters. It’s a pleasure and a honour to witness the action unfold and the atmosphere is akin to a stage of the Tour de France.
The crowds and the passion, Zegama 2013 copyright Ian Corless
Skyrunning is not just about fast ascents, but even faster descents – a technique that distinguishes the sport. Many strong runners new to the sport, like Germany’s Florian Reichert, Japan’s Toru Miyahara and South African A J Caltiz, who excelled on the uphill, will be honing their skills on the downhill for the next Sky Series challenge in Chamonix on June 30 with theMont-Blanc Marathon.
An easy hour or so on the very muddy trails on the final descent at Zegama. With Alex Nichols, Dave James, Silvia Serafini, Stevie Kremer and Anthony Bethell.
Transvulcania La Palma in 2012 was billed as the race of the decade…. that is until the 2013 edition of the race came around. Without doubt the race was stacked and finally we would have a show down of the best of the best racing head to head in the men’s and ladies fields.
The start of race week saw a couple of key withdrawals, firstly the ‘Queen’ as Nuria Picas calls her, Anna Frost. Anna has been plagued with niggles since late 2012 and as much as she would have loved to race, she made the correct long term decision and withdrew.
Miguel Heras, also withdrew midweek. Knee issues had not improved and he would therefore, like Frosty, play safe.
Pre race build up was quite incredible as one elite athlete after another arrived at Hotel Sol La Palma on the coast. I did a series of pre race interviews which can all be viewed on the ‘home page’ of this website. One of those interviews had been with Anton Krupicka (Here), finally he was fit, healthy and he was looking forward to the opportunity to one again race Kilian on a course that he had only encountered as a spectator in 2012. But would he race…. ?
The day before the race, Tony complained of fever, chills and aches and then at approximately 1800 he confirmed, “I am going to pull out. I race to win and I don’t like to bail. The way I feel now will just not do me or my performance justice”. Needless to say it was a huge blow not only for Tony, who certainly needs some good luck at the moment, but the race and all the other runners.
The Race
Early starts of 0200 to 0300 and then 1000+ runners assembled at the lighthouse at Fuencaliente. It is just an incredible start and atmosphere. On the strong of 0600 they left the coast and turned left, headed immediately onto the GR131 trail and like a series of ants with head lamps and red tail lights they disappeared into the darkness.
The Men’s race
The mens’s race ultimately came down the three runners, Sage Canaday, Luis Alberto Hernando and Kilian Jornet. But that would not do justice to those runners behind, Timothy Olson ran a very clever race starting a little steadier and working his way up through the field to a solid fourth. Cameron Clayton, played an early role pushing up front with Sage but paid the price and dropped back a little. Of course we should forget dark horse, Patrick Bringer who eventually finished fifth.
During the race one key issue arose… stomach problems! Francois D’Haene, Philipp Reiter, Joe Grant, Luke Nelson and Adam Campbell were all hit by a bug (maybe what TK had?) and spent much of the 83km’s either running for the bushes or vomiting. A real shame!
But up ahead, Luis Alberto Hernando showed all his skills as Skyrunning world champion and forged up the tough and sometimes technical course to have an approximate two minute lead ahead of Kilian Jornet at Roques de los Muchachos, the high point of the course at 2956m.
Kilian put all his incredible descending skills to use on the ‘drop’ from the summit to the sea and the port of Tazacorte. This is the place in 2012 when he stumbled and the heat hit him! Not this year, he pushed ahead and arrived to an incredible finish in the town of Los Llanos to the applause and cheers of 1000’s of spectators. Not only did he win but he set a new CR*. Luis Alberto Hernando arrived just over four minutes later and he looked ecstatic (and tired) with a second place. Completing the podium was Sage Canaday who performed exceptionally well in his first European mountain race.
Kilian Jornet – 6:54:09 NEW COURSE RECORD* – pre race interview HERE
Luis Alberto Hernando – 6:58:31 (*beat the old course record)
Emelie Forsberg one again proved herself to be a star in the making. She literally only started running again just over a week ago and she had a battle royal with Nuria Picas. They pushed each other along the 83km’s of the Transvulcania course but ultimately Emelie found something in the latter stages and crossed the line first, just outside ‘Frosty’s’ CR from 2012.
Nuria, gave the race everything and was tired and emotional on the line. She has a big heart, not only in terms of her generosity but also passion and power. She loves to race and in particular, she loves to race against Emelie. Without doubt the two of them created a spectacular show on the trails of the GR131, today, it was Nuria’s turn to be second behind Emelie, just over six minutes difference.
Final spot on the podium went to Uxue Fraile. She ran a very smart race. She started behind many of the front runners and slowly worked her way up through the field. She had experience of the course as she placed fifth in 2012. What was impressive was how much quicker she covered the 83km’s. In 2012 she was ninety minutes behind Frosty, this year she was just over thirty one minutes behind Emelie.
You can listen what Anna Frost had to say in a pre race interview HERE
It was an incredible day, an incredible experience, a beautiful island, a beautiful course with an incredible field. The race fulfilled all expectations and our congratulations go to Kilian & Emelie on two incredible performances.
Mohamad Ahansal with translation from Niandi Carmont, Transvulcania 2013 – copyright Ian Corless
Mohamad Ahansal needs no introduction to followers of the Marathon des Sables. Just three weeks ago, Mohamad clinched his fifth victory in the iconic multi stage race. Tomorrow, May 11th, he lines up against the best in the world. He says. “I plan to run hard on the uphill as I am not great on the downhill”.
Mohamad placed top 5 in the 2010 edition of Transvulcania and if he is fresh after ‘MDS’, I personally feel that he may well be the dark horse of this years race…. watch this space.
IAN CORLESS 