Ultramarathon Daily News | Friday, July 27
How Kilian rehabbed his body from a broken fibula. And now you understand why he’s the greatest ultramarathon mountain runner in the world.
Two months ago this British fella started running ~30 miles/day on the Tour de France route. He just finished the grueling adventure yesterday, three days ahead of schedule.
Read this before your next race and get in the mindset of showing up and delivering the goods on time.
There’s a little race going on this weekend in Alaska that I’ll be watching. The Crow Pass Crossing is a mere 22 miles, but the field includes Zach Miller, David Laney, and some really, really tough Alaskans. My eyes are on Scott Patterson, the Olympic nordic skier who also dabbles in trail running…and when he dabbles, he wins. Tim Tollefson was registered until recently…not sure what happened, but would’ve loved to see him in a race like this. Short write up here.
I’m not familiar enough with the Alaskan trail scene to identify top women…every single entrant is Alaskan except for one Hawaiian at the very bottom of the list. FTR, my money is on the Alaskans.
It seems some of these folks runners are holding off for Matanuska Peak Challenge the next weekend…that’s a mere 13 miles, but it’s got 16k’ of total vert and an average grade of 23%. Ho-lee crap-ola. No pre-registration, just show up on race day, pay $30 and prepare to hurt.
And speaking about sub-ultramarathon-distance-but-totally-bonkers-vert races, why had I never heard of the Mt Fuji Mountain Race? Twelve miles with 9k’ of gain? Yikes! And check out the first female…she busted her arm the week before the race and won with a heavy cast.
I’ll also be watching the Minnesota Voyageur in the midwest. (More on the race right here, including a “wide open” women’s field.) I interviewed last year’s winner Neal Collick this week and published his interview yesterday. Neat guy with a fascinating story about how he got to where he is. Check it out. And here’s an excellent video that shows the technical trails on the UP and how quick and nimble Neal’s legs are.
This essay by Zach Miller really seems to define his character and outlook on work: If you’re doing something–anything–you darn well do it to the best of your ability.
Tom Cruise’s first appearance on the Ultramarathon Daily News: The more he runs in a movie, the more acclaims the movie receives. The math is right this way.
I don’t know, this interview with Lance and how he’s coming clean and how he’d clean up the sport has some holes in it. He wants to distance cycling from the IOC and WADA and have a separate testing body, and that makes sense. But then he also wants to strengthen the rider’s union, which will only shield the riders from further testing. (See NFL/NBA/MLB unions.) Lots to digest here…definitely a compelling read.
Read this: Excellent essay by semi-rad’s Brendan Leonard (URP interview here) about finding nostalgia on the trails. I absolutely have a similar trail, but mine is from my high school days. Here’s “The Beast” that Willits all sorts of emotions and memories each time I run it.
Ten year old Caden Ragsdale from Seattle thought it’d be cool to start his own trail running club and it’s taking off! Check out the group he’s putting together of adults and kids alike. This is the future of our sport, folks. Let’s foster these programs and encourage kids to get on the trails! h/t Kaytlyn.
Ten of the best hikes/runs near Whistler. We’ll be there in a few weeks…any of these stand out?
Harvey Lewis finished Badwater yesterday, a mere eight days after finishing the Appalachian Trail. Incredible resilience.
It’s said that we’re in the Golden Age of American women’s distance running and Gwen Jorgensen is earning her place. What a great story. Any chance we’ll see her on the trails or toeing the line at an ultramarathon?
OK, so, like, how does Strava actually work? Some tech details over here.