The Coastal Challenge Costa Rica 2025 – Stage 2

Posted on February 10, 2025 by talkultra

It’s a rainforest, and last night the rain came. As per usual, it was short lived, but it was a torrential downpour that had an impact on those who had not been careful with admin in camp. If careless, everything was wet…

Everyone was asleep as early as possible. Stage 2 would have a 0500 depart by bus for adventure and an 0530 start for Expedition. Breakfast started from 0300.

Out of camp, the Expedition runner’s went straight into a steep sharp climb, the ground now muddy and slippery from the rain. Humidity was high but temperatures were cool.

At the top, a rollercoaster of gravel roads lead to cp1, El Brujo, and then more gravel road and rainforest to cp2, Dos Bocas.

At cp2 Adventure started and the route drops all the way down to the ocean, but before, cp3 at Hatillo.

A water crossing leads to a long and hot beach section before finishing on the beach in Dominical.

Erick Aguero started the day hard, pushing and pushing to open up a gap on Pierre Meslet. This is Erick’s 7th TCC and he has been on the podium many times, 2nd the highest, this year he wants to win.

At the top of the climb, Pierre was a few minutes back but relaxed.

For the women, Katie Young once again is in a race on her own and actually, is more than likely to place 3rd overall if she continues this relentless charge. She is on fire.

40km is a long tough day for Expedition and with the charge from Erick, many wondered what would happen. The due arrived together for the water crossing just after cp3. With a long flat beach straight to the line, this would fall into the hands to Pierre’s fast running style. Erick could just look on as the gap opened, he had fought hard, took a chance and today, he gained no time, the gap is 16-minutes. Allan Barrielle is 3rd, 1-hour 25-minutes behind Pierre.

Katie dominated the day for the women, her lead now after 2 days is 3-hours 21-minutes over Lucia Jarquin and 4-hours 25-minutes over Maria Jose Corrales. TCC competition winner, Mirabela Ticu is 4th.

Tomorrow, stage 3, is 46km’s and includes the iconic Nauyaca waterfalls.

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The Coastal Challenge Costa Rica 2025 – Stage 1

Posted on February 9, 2025 by talkultra

It was an 0330 departure from San Jose to arrive at Quepos at the start of stage 1 at 0800.

The heat and humidity was already high and a tough day, as always was expected. The iconic Del Rey beach a backdrop to the start and the Pacific Ocean splashing on to the beach.

The day, 33km’s with the opening km’s, all the way to cp1 and beyond, were flat and runnable. Always dangerous. Day 1 should be taken slow and steady, easing in to the week and the heat/ humidity. Boca Naranjito at 13.5km was the first cp, followed by Londres at 19.5km. Los Campenos at 30km was the 3rd cp to provide some refreshment before a tough final 3km. The finish at Rafiki Lodge.

Last years TCC champion Katie Young, started like a rocket running the opening 10km’s solo at the front.

Pierre Meslet and Erick Aguero finally caught her and took the lead two places, but Katie never stopped and ran all the way to the line with a convincing victory and 3rd overall.

Pierre and Erick were always expected to be the duo battling at the front but finally, around 16km’s the elastic snapped and Pierre broke away soloing to the line with a very strong lead ahead of the Costa Rican and local favourite.

Sergio had a tough day in the heat – Photo by Ian Corless

Full results will be available in due course HERE

With two races, Expedition and Adventure, the participants fought hard to tackle the terrain, which became increasingly difficult as the stage progressed. The final section the toughest with a challenging water crossing to conclude the day.

Both races were 33km, but the expedition had more vertical gain, 1115m in contrast to 894m.

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Marathon des Sables – The Legendary : STAGE 3 2024

Posted on April 17, 2024 by talkultra

Time allowance 35-hours / 0600 and 0730am start

Stage 3, the feared ‘Long Day’ coming earlier in the race requires respect. Quite simply, with 3 stages still to go, energy management is key. However, it was a decision of the new organisation, to bring the long day earlier to allow participants to be fresher and have more energy for the challenge ahead. Also, with earlier starts, cooler temperatures for the early hours.

The route is a classic and arguably, I would say it is the most beautiful route of all the MDS I have experienced. It’s a tough one though!

From B2 the stoney climb to the summit of Jebel El Otfal is followed by the steep and sandy descent before a long flat run along the plateau before climbing and traversing the ridge of Jebel Joha Baba Ali, for me, one the best parts of the whole race! Another ridge follows before stoney ground and sand leads the route close to Ramlia and CP5. From here, the march continues.

Ba Halou, Oued Rheris, Ras Kemouna, the salt flats, the iconic El Maharch and then a return to B2. This is a highlight tour of the Sahara that mixes plateau, technical terrain and lots of soft sand.

With 7 CP’s: 12.5km, 24.5km, 35.2km, 43km, 51km, 63km and 74.5km, the requirement for extra water is important and therefore at CP1, runner’s were provided an additional 1.5ltr bottle so that they could increase their carrying capacity for the stage.

The majority of the field started at 0600 and the top-50 at 0730. While the top men and women would look to push the envelope, the early starts would mean a finish in daylight. For most, this stage is about survival and many went through the night and into the next day to get the job done.

The winds had eased and the temperatures rose reaching a high of 33-degrees on the stage and a ”feel’ of 40-degrees during the mid afternoon. It was certainly a day that took it’s toll with many runner’s requiring attention and of course there were sadly DNF’s – a confirmed number to follow.

Starting 90-minutes after the masses, the top-50 were soon at Jebel El Otfal and the charge lead by Rachid El Morabity for the men and Aziza El Amrany for the women.

After the first ridge, the format was the same, Rachid pusued by his brother Mohamed and Aziz Yachou, with Aziza Raji pursuing her Moroccan friend.

By the second ridge, Mohamed was in the lead, Aziz followed and then Rachid, with CP2 close, a plan was coming in to action for the El Morabity brothers, but, what was it?

What followed, was a complete surprise, Mohamed opened up a lead and continued to extend time finishing in a remarkable 7:37:47.

Aziz and Rachid finished in 8:31:52 and 8:31:53 respectively – what just happened? There will be more news to follow on this when I get in to bivouac and discuss with the three protagonists. For now though, Mohamed had the run of his life and Rachid is unlikely (?) to win his 10th MDS.

Yoann Stuck was 4th and Hamid Yachou 5th, 8:46:30 and 9:17:21.

Aziza El Amrany is on fire this year. I have never seen her race and push so hard. It’s impressive, her victory was as equally mind-blowing as Mohamed crossing the line in 10:46:10.

Aziza Raji and Adriana Moser once again placed 2nd and 3rd, 11:24:29 and 12:05:06.

Day1 passes to day 2 and now those who have pushed through the night have another day to achieve the opportunity to fight another day.

You can receive daily updates and reports on this website. Follow on IG @iancorlessphotography and @mdslegendary

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The Coastal Challenge 2024 – #TCC2024 – Stage 3

Posted on February 13, 2024 by talkultra

The surf beach of Dominical really provided a real Costa Rican feel for TCC yesterday, particularly the magical sunset that concluded the day.

Stage 3, from experience, is considered the hardest stage. The opening km’s through rocky riverbeds bring a technical and slow start to the day.

The crossing of the iconic Nauyaca waterfall and steep climb out soon make the runner’s aware that as beautiful as this day may be, it is also brutal.

Finally climbing to the high point of the day, slowly but surely the race descends back to the coast with relentless long beach sections, no shade and the heat of the day to punish each and every runner.

The day started slower than previous years with the top male runners lead by Calvo López and closely followed by Jean-Francois Cauchon and Cody Lind taking 30-minutes slower than anticipated. Apparently, the opening riverbed was very slippery. Cristofer Clemente Mora arrived and then gaps really opened.

For the women, this opening stretch was ideal for Lina El Kott Helander to take back time, however, a fall on stage 2 has left the Swedish runner with either a badly sprained right arm or fracture. In true fighting spirit she ran the stage, however, using the right arm to scramble greatly inhibited her pace early on. Katie Young however, was first to arrive and looked to be in her element. Sanna El Kott Helander followed.

At 46km’s, the day was being respected and it was in the final stretches of beach that Jean-Francois pulled away from Cody. The gap wasn’t huge, but it was certainly a day for Jean-Francois to take some glory. In 3rd, the ever-present Carlos running a consistently strong race but Cristofer closed hard and snatched the 3rd place away from the Costa Rican.

Katie Young was in her element on the beach and her smile and pace reflected that. She was unstoppable. Coming to TCC after a very successful top-10 at MDS in 2023, Katie was a favourite for the podium. However, this run, so far, is beyond her wildest expectations.

In 2nd, Marline Côté got a chance to shine with Sanna following. However, Lina, once allowed to run with the right arm not causing too much of a hinderance, started to close considerably in the closing stages. It was an exciting end to a tough day and she caught her twin sister to take 3rd.

Stage results:

Jean-Francois Cauchon 4:57:48
Cody Lind 5:02:37
Cristofer Clemente 5:19:14

Katie Young 7:00:44
Marline Côté 7:20:35
Sanna El Kott Helander 7.24:38

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The Coastal Challenge 2024 – #TCC2024 – Stage 2

Posted on February 12, 2024 by talkultra

Runner’s got there first night in camp last night. Tired bodies looking to recover and prepare for stage 2 of the 2024 The Coastal Challenge, a 230km, 6-stage journey from Quepos to Drake Bay. Ambiance and atmosphere was high. Stage 1 had certainly taken a toll and surprised many. The combination of route, heat and humidity a wake up call. The impact of day 1 saw 18 participants move from the Expedition race to the shorter Adventure category; a huge number!

But today, starting almost 3-hours early makes a huge difference. The almost vertical climb straight out of camp allows for cooler temperatures and an ability to ease in the day.

A rollercoaster of gravel roads followed by rainforest and more gravel roads lead the race to the coast and finally the ocean.

Now the heat of the day takes hold as the the participants navigate a route to the Dominical finish via long stretches of beach.

There was a very different mood to the start of stage 2. Summed up in one word, respect. The top men ran together lead by Jean-Francois Cauchon. This lead group did not include Cristofer Clemente Mora who ran a short distance behind with Erick Aguerro behind.

Pierre Meslet made a 3rd group running Lina El Kott Helander.

Lina El Kott Helander pushed the pace for the women, this came as no surprise with a steep climb to start the day. The skyrunner no doubt in her element. Behind Katie Young followed with a parmanent smile.

Sanna El Kott Helander, just like her twin sister, enjoyed the early vert to run in 3rd.

As the runner’s headed to the coast, the race opened up and Cody Lind and Carlos Calvo López were the first to arrive at the estuary leading to the final 5km’s and a long beach section. Cody now in familiar territory from his 2020 victory no doubt relishing the final km’s pushed to take the stage and overall lead with 3:59:13 on the clock.

Carlos was expected to finish 3rd but Jean-Francois pushed and not only caught but passed the Costa Rican, 4:00:15 and 4:01:53. Cristofer finished some way back and lost his overall lead by almost 10-minutes and is now in second. We have a race on!

Lina continued her strong running all the way to the estuary, she had now opened up a 6-minute lead. Katie arrived looking fresh and full of enthusiasm, with flat running all the way to the line, Katie pushed and closed the gap to under 2-minutes at the line, 5:06:08 and 5:07:58.

Sanna continued to pull away from Lindsey Ullrich and ran a strong 3rd place in 5:29:05. A very positive run after a troubled ay 1.

Stage 2 was not without drama, Lina took a bad fall and had concerns for a badly damaged arm. More news to follow. Pierre also had troubles with a very badly twisted ankle that saw him require a stick in the early stages.