New Ultramarathon Announced For 2011 In Louisiana

A new ultramarathon, dubbed the Rouge-Orleans, is scheduled to take place in March of 2011, with ultrarunners and relay teams running a 126.2 mile course from Baton Rouge to Audubon Park in New Orleans. Best of all, the event takes place during the Mardi Gras weekend, earning it the slogan of "Come to run, stay to party!"

The entire route of the race, which takes place from March 4-6, 2011, will be run along the Mississippi River levee, which means it will meander along side the waterway, passing by sugarcane plantations, old farms, and swamps in the process. During the 100+ mile run, the course barely touches any roads at all, which means the runners won't have to deal with traffic on their epic footrace down the river.

Registration information can be found by clicking here with options to run the ultra as a single athlete or as part of a relay team of 2 or 3 people. The race will begin in a wave start format, with the faster runners to the front. There will also be a mandatory 40 hour cut-off time for the finish of the race. That cut-off will be strictly enforced, after all, you wouldn't want to miss out.

It looks like this is going to be a great event for next year, mixing a challenging ultra with a fun weekend in the Big Easy. The weather in March is expected to be comfortable and in the 70's temperature wise, and with the schedule of the race, it should make for a great tune up for the Western States or the Badwater. If you ever needed motivation to keep training during the winter months, here it is!

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English Channel Swimmer Sets Sights On Strait of Gibraltar

Yesterday I posted a story about quadruple amputee Philippe Crozon, who swam across the English Channel this past weekend in 13.5 hours with the help of specially designed prosthetic legs with built in flippers. Now, according to the Washington Post, the Frenchman has even bigger plans for a future swim.

After completing the 21 mile crossing of the Channel, Crozon announced that he next hopes to conquer the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow strip of water that separates Europe from Africa near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strait is just 9 miles wide, but offers a different challenge from the Channel in that the waters are much rougher and there can be a lot of shipping traffic moving through the area as well. No date has been set for this attempt just yet, but he hopes to make it in a year or so after completing more training.  (Thanks to the Outside Blog for the tip!)

Checkout the video below about Crozon's Channel swim which comes our way courtesy of Newsy.com.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

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Pole to Pole: Ultra-athlete Running From North to South Pole

Australian ultrarunner Pat Farmer revealed an expedition of absolutely epic proportions yesterday when he announced that he'll be running from the North Pole to the South Pole in 2011. The journey will get underway in March at the North Pole and will end 11-months later when he reaches the South Pole, 13,000 miles away.

According to this article, Farmer will begin at 90ºN and head south into Canada, then proceed down the West Coast of the U.S. and into Mexico, before continuing through Central and South America. Eventually, he'll end up in Ushuaia, Argentina, where he'll be airlifted to Patriot Hills on the Antarctic continent, where he'll then complete the last leg of the journey, ending at 90ºS. When he's finished, the Aussie will have run through 14 countries and three continents. He estimates he'll wear through 40 pairs of shoes and 300 pairs of socks in the process.

As if the goal of running from one pole to another wasn't grand enough, Farmer has even loftier designs for his run. He hopes to raise $100 million for the Red Cross along the way to aid efforts for clean water and sanitation programs around the world. He also intends to address the United Nations after he has completed his mission as well.

You can read more about the journey and follow along with Pat on his website, which as of this writing is down for maintenance and updates. I'm sure it'll have all kinds of info once it is up and running properly however.

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South Africa's Baviaanskloof Trail Run Scheduled For Sept. 18

One of South Africa's top endurance trail running events, the Baviaanskloof Trail Run, is scheduled to take place on Sept. 18th in the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve along the Eastern Cape. Last year, in its inaugural run, the race earned a reputation for being an incredibly tough test for adventure athletes, who not only have to contend with a trail that is already legendary for its challenging terrain, but also a wide variety of weather conditions as well. Race organizers warn the runners that "temperatures could be in excess of 40°C (104ºF) or it could snow"

The course is 40km (24.8 miles) in length and covers some of the most challenging backcountry in all of South Africa. There is one feeding station along the route, but otherwise the runners are expected to be completely self sufficient while on the trail, where they'll have to contend with plenty of rocky terrain, elevation changes, and tough trail conditions.

As if dealing with a rugged and remote trail, and the elements, wasn't enough, the reserve, which happens to be a World Heritage Site, is also home to some very formidable animals. Cape Buffalo are in abundance, and Black Rhinos roam the region too, and the race website warns that Cape Cobras are amongst the dangers as well. Last year, the runners had to take a slight detour around a baby rhino that decided to camp out right on the trail, and while he wasn't much of a threat, his overprotective mother could have been.

A recent race update sent out to the more than 100 competitors informed them that this year they have a whole new creature to keep their eyes peeled. Apparently a rather large male leopard has been spotted in the area, and like all cats, he doesn't mind chasing his prey before he has dinner. Live traps have been set up to capture him before the day of the race, but at this point it is just one more obstacle to keep the runners moving. (I'll take this opportunity to once again remind the competitors that they don't have to out run the leopard, they just need to out run their closest competition on the trail!)

Now in its second year, the Baviaanskloof Trail Run is already looking like quite the yearly event. The setting, with its remoteness and rough trails, is perfect, and the element of the the amazing animals just adds to the adventure. I'd love to attend a future edition and cover it first hand, as it looks like quite the event.

And yes, the below photo is an actual image of the leopard that has been spotted on the course.

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Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run Update: The Run is Done!

Long distance endurance runners Jukka Viljanen, Kirsi Montonen, and Greg Maud have completed their 1000km (620 mile) run across the Kalahari Desert, reaching the finish line last Friday after three weeks on the trail. The adventurous trio had been making the run to raise funds and awareness for the Cheetah Conservation Botswana project.

When we last checked in with the team, they were about halfway done, and starting to encounter wildlife of the worst kind. At that point, they were running into puff adders, one of the more dangerous snakes in Africa, but hoping to see lions or other big cats. Their blog doesn't mention if they did ever see any of the big predators, but one night while sleeping, a young leopard came and surveyed their camp, which gives you an indication of how close they were to the animals while making the run.

The blog hasn't been updated since the announcement of Jukka, Kirsi, and Greg reaching their 1000km goal, although it does say that they were looking for a few days rest. Hopefully they now have a chance to really enjoy the landscapes and take in the culture of Botswana before they head home. I'm told it is an amazing place, and it is definitely on my short list to visit in the very near future.

Congrats to the entire team. What a great way to explore a new country and do something good for a worthy charity at the same time.

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Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Canceled Due To Bad Weather!

One of the toughest endurance events in the world got underway earlier today, and then was promptly canceled part way in. The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc was stopped 31 miles in due to severe weather on the trail, particularly at higher altitude. Detail are still a bit sketchy at this time, but a press conference is expected to take place shortly with the race director explaining the situation. As of this writing, the athletes are all being shuttled back to Chamonix.

The UTMB is an ultramarathon that takes place annually crossing through the Alps and covering more than 100 miles, and passing through France, Italy, and Switzerland. It routine attracts some of the best long distance endurance athletes in the world, and is considered one of the crown jewels in the ultramaraton schedule each year. The trail is a loop around Mont Blanc that typically requires about 20 hours to complete, with the bulk of the racers finishing in the 30-40 hour range

From reports from the race, it seems that many of the racers are quite upset with this turn of events. I'm sure that the race management team only has their best interest in mind, but after training for months to prepare for the run, it can be quite disappointing to have it end like this.

I'm sure we'll know more on this story soon.

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Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run Update: 2/3 Done!

The Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run began back on August 14th, with Jukka Viljanen, Kirsi Montonen, and Greg Maud all hitting the trail to raise funds for Cheetah Conservation Botswana. The plan is to run 1000km (620 miles) across the Kalahari Desert, which they estimated would take about 20 days to complete. Now, two weeks into their adventure, it seems that they are on pace to finish as expected.

In the latest updates to their blog, the team says that they should complete the first two-thirds of their journey today. They also remark that the past few days have been spent in a very sandy section of the route, and with the winds picking up, it has made for a challenging slog. Most of the route has been along dirt jeep roads and a game trails thus far, so these conditions were expected, although that doesn't make them any easier to deal with.

They've also been encountering their fair share of wildlife as well, although thus far no big cats. In today's update the note that they have been seeing a lot of lion tracks on the route, but they have remained elusive to date. The team holds out hope that they'll spot a few along the way, but it remains to be seen if that is a good idea or not. If they're anything like my big house cat, they'll pounce on just about anything that is moving.

Despite the absence of lions thus far however, they've still had to keep their eyes peeled for other nasty critters. A few days back they ran into no less than eight puff adders in a 3km stretch of road, which kept them on their toes to say the least. The venomous snake is one of the most aggressive in Africa and it kills more people there than any other. Being in a remote area of Botswana, and getting bitten, would not be a good thing to say the least.

With their current pace, it appears that the team should be on track to wrap up their run sometime late next week. I would anticipate them finishing on Friday or Saturday, depending on conditions. It appears that they are enjoying their African excursion thus far and the challenge of crossing the Kalahari on foot.

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Endurance Athlete Sets Speed Records on Canada's East and West Coast Trails

When it comes to hiking and backpacking in Canada, two of the more popular, and scenic, routes are along the East and West Coast Trails. The East Coast Trail stretches for 340 miles along the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, while the West Coast Trail runs for 47 miles along Vancouver's southwestern shoreline. While the trails are separated by thousands of miles, they do both offer unique challenges to anyone who takes them on from end to end.

Recently, endurance athlete Gary Robbins set the daunting goal for himself to attain speed records on both of these trails, starting in Vancouver and the WCT on August 4th. Running North to South, Gary completed the entire 47 miles in just 10 hours and 8 minutes, which does indeed establish a new record for that route. Of course, that was just a warm-up for the much longer, and more challenging ECT, which he began on August 20th and completed on the 22nd, finishing the entire route in a blistering 35 hours and 17 minutes. Pretty impressive runs on both accounts considering the distance involved and terrain crossed. Even more so when you consider that a large portion of the East Coast Trail remains mostly unmarked and hasn't been fully developed yet.

Check out the video below of Gary arriving at the finish line on the ECT. I don't know about you but just thinking about these runs makes my legs hurt! I guess this is the summer for adventure racers and endurance athletes to challenge some of these spectacular trails in North America. Congrats to Gary on a job well done!

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Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run Begins Tomorrow!

Way back in June I told you about the plans of three friends to run across the Kalahari Desert. They planned to cover 1000km (620 miles) through some of the most remote, and challenging, wilderness in all of Africa in hopes of raising funds and awareness for Cheetah Conservation Botswana. This endurance expedition has been dubbed the Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run, and it set to get underway tomorrow.

The three runners include Jukka Viljanen, Kirsi Montonen, and Greg Maud, who intend to run approximately 50km (31 miles) per day on back roads, jeep paths, and game trails. The route will take them through some very rugged areas where wild animals still wander free and rule the landscape. For that reason, they'll have a support staff and vehicles close at hand as they go.

The team should already be in Botswana, and they intend to post blog updates every day, keeping us up to date on their progress. If everything goes as planned, they'll complete the journey in roughly 20 days. To get a closer look at the intended route, click here.

I want to wish Jukka, Kirsi and Greg good luck on their adventure. Running more than a marathon every day for three weeks would be tough enough under ideal conditions. Doing it in the Kalahari will certainly test their stamina and will power.

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Video of the Patagonian Expedition Adventure Race

Year in and year out, the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Adventure Race is one of the premiere events on the adventure racing calendar. The fact that it is set in one of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet doesn't hurt either. To get a glimpse of what this even it all about, check out the six and a half minute long trailer for the upcoming DVD of the 2010 race, but be warned, you may be inspired to start training yourself. The 2011 edition begins on February 9th!

Thanks to the Gear Junkie for the heads-up on this great video!

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The World Tri Update: English Channel Conquered!

Remember the World Tri? I first wrote about it back at the end of June when adventurer Charlie Wittmack set out on his 12,000 mile "triathlon" that was to begin with a swim leg across the English Channel, after which Charlie would climb on a bike and ride from France to Calcutta, India. The third, and final leg, would be a journey on foot from Calcutta to Nepal, where he would complete the "tri" by making an attempt on the summit of Everest next spring.

According to this report, Charlie has conquered the first leg of the journey by swimming across the English Channel yesterday in 11 hours and 59 minutes. He set out from Dover, England and swam 21-miles before coming ashore in Calais, France, becoming just the fourth person to climb Everest and successfully swim the Channel. Wittmack topped out on the world's highest mountain back in 2003.

Now, he'll rest up for a few days before getting on the bike and starting the next leg of the trip. It's a long peddle to Calcutta, but that'll probably seem easy once he gets on foot for the final trek to the Himalaya. But if it is any consolation, most triathletes say that the swimming leg is the hardest. We'll see if that proves to hold the true here as well.

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The 2010 Badwater Ultra is Underway!

The first competitors in this year's Badwater Ultramarathon have hit the trail this morning and are already running through the early morning heat of Death Valley. Ahead of them is one of the toughest, most challenging courses in all of endurance sports, and most will spend the next two days completing the event.

The Badwater is one of the biggest races in all of the ultra endurance events. It is 135 miles of suffering, beginning in Badwater, California, located in the heart of Death Valley. Competitors begin at 280 feet below sea level, and will run mostly non-stop until they reach the Mt. Whitney Portals, located at 8300 feet up that mountain. Along the way, they'll pass over three different mountain ranges, and gain more than 13,000 feet of elevation.

As if all of that wasn't bad enough, they'll also have to endure the blast furnace temperatures that Death Valley is famous for. Over the next few days, temperatures are expected to hover around the 100ºF mark, although it is not uncommon in July for the temps to climb above 120ºF.

For most of the racers, it will take around 40 hours or so to complete, although the fastest runners will complete the entire 135 mile course in just 24 hours. That's more than 5.6 miles per hour, over a full day, in extreme heat and conditions. Very impressive stuff!

The Badwater is once again doing a webcast of the race, but it sometimes offers spotty coverage of what is going on. For instance, at the moment, it appears to be someone's empty hotel room. Hopefully we'll get better coverage as the race continues.

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75-Year Old Running For A Cause At The Badwater Ultra

Next Monday marks the start of the 2010 Badwater Ultramarathon, and iconic race amongst the endurance crowd. The 135 mile route runs from the heart of Death Valley, one of the hottest places on the planet, up to the Portals on Mt. Whitney, gaining 8580 feet in the process.

This is one of the toughest footraces on the planet, and the athletes will run for hours on end to cover the distances. It is a grueling test of endurance to be sure, and even the best ultra runners, at the top of their game, struggle through the event. But a 75-year old British man will attempt to make the run, while raising funds for Cerebral Palsy Care in his home town of Kent. 

Jack Denness, lovingly nicknamed Death Valley Jack, is no stranger to the Badwater. He has run the race on 11 other occasions, but at 75 he would become the oldest athlete to ever compete in the event. He is expecting to take roughly 50 hours to finish the course, while dealing with temperatures that could hit as high as 130ºF (54ºC) along the way. 

As I mentioned, Jack is raising money for the CPC in Kent, and his sponsor, Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil, has committed itself to donating money to that cause based on the number of fans that Jack gets on his Facebook page. If we can get Jack to 5000 fans, the company will donate £3000 to the cause. As of this writing, he is sitting at 1859 people, so we've still got some work to do. You can also donate directly to the cause on his Just Giving page, found here. 

The Badwater won't be Jack's only endurance event of the year. He's also committed to running in Racing The Planet's Sahara Race, taking place in October as well. That's a week long, six stage event that is quite the challenge in it's own right.

I hope when I'm 75 I can still walk to the mailbox and back without getting out of breath. Good luck to Jack at the Badwater next week!

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Gear Box: Tech4o Accelerator Watch

One of my favorite training tools for running is the Nike+. (See review here) It is a nice piece of kit that interfaces nicely with your iPod and helps to keep track of your distance, time, and calories burned. The system uses a sensor in, or on, your shoe and a receiver on your iPod to collect the data. Now, Tech4o brings similar technology to their Accelerator watch, delivering a great training tool for runners who like to keep tabs on their distances and progress.

The watch has a built in accelerometer and puts it to good use measuring your pace, whether walking or running. Much like the Nike+, to get the most out of your Accelerator watch you'll want to calibrate it before using it. That means you'll want to make a trial run over a known distance, allowing the watch to measure your strides and automatically customize itself for your running (or walking) style. Once calibrated, the watch is quite accurate, and does an excellent job of keeping track of your distance, even if you vary your pace and stride.

The built in accelerometer offers similar performance to the Nike+ without the need of the external sensor. But it did take me several calibration runs to get it tuned just right. Once it was calibrated however, it was pinpoint accurate from that time on. Tech4o says that the watch is 95% accurate, but from my testing I'd say it might be even more accurate than that.

The Accelerator has a nice, quick start mode, that guides you through the initial set-up process, including customizing it to your own body time, with such variables as height, weight, and age. This mode makes it very easy to set the date and time from the moment you take it out of the box, but the user interface does take a bit of getting use to when you start using it on a day-to-day basis. While it isn't exactly rocket science to use the Accelerator, the UI is less than intuitive until you train yourself to the system.

In addition to these great fitness features, the watch has all the usual watch features, such as a chronograph, countdown timer, duel timezone, alarms, and so on. This makes the Accelerator not only the perfect workout companion, but a great travel companion too. It's even useful on the trail for keeping track of your distance hiked too.

I've been using this watch for the past couple of weeks, and already find that it has become part of my workout gear. It is lightweight, comfortable to wear, and looks good too. It also happens to be kind of fun to glance down at  your wrist and see your progress for your daily run as well. For now, the Nike+ is staying at home. (MSRP: $69.99 - A bargain for a good workout watch!)

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Barefoot Running: I've Joined The Pack!

I've mentioned here before that I am an avid runner. I run nearly every day of the week, and when I force myself to take a "rest day", I generally feel like an underachieving slug. But my personal mental instabilities aside, I find going for a run helps to reduce stress, keeps me fit, and is good training for other activities.

Over the past year or so, I've been reading a lot about barefoot running, and the benefits that it delivers. I've seen converts to the style raving about how much they enjoy it, and that it is a more natural approach to the sport. I generally looked at these endorsements with a healthy dose of skepticism, wondering how someone could actually run for any distance like that. Heck, I can barely walk to the mailbox and back on bare feet. I've even checked out the odd looking shoes with toes that Vibram makes, but they did nothing to lessen that hesitancy.

A few days back though, I received a pair of Vibram Bikala FiveFinger shoes courtesy of the fine folks over at TravelCountry.com, and after taking them out of the box and trying them on, I was eager to give this barefoot running thing a go.

It had been explained to me that in order to run barefoot, or in the Vibram FiveFingers, you need to adjust your running style. Modern running shoes are designed to allow us to take longer strides and to land on our heels when we run, but a more natural gait is to take shorter strides and to land on the front of your foot. This allows the body to use its own natural cushioning to protect your feet and legs from the impact of running, and this is the way the human body has been designed to work. I knew for that to happen, I would have to adjust mine on stride, something I was advised to do over time, and to not rush the process.

Last night, I slid into my new non-shoes and prepared to hit the road for my first run. Just getting into the FiveFingers is a bit of a challenge at first, as the toe slots are a bit awkward to negotiate. I imagine this will get easier the more I use them, but for now, I seem to have a penchant for trying to cram two toes into one slot. Once they're on however, the Bikila's are quite comfortable and actually kind of fun to wear. But being fun to wear doesn't mean they are fun to run it.

Heeding the advice that was given to me, I planned a short run for my maiden voyage in this new running style, but it honestly didn't take me long to start to let my preconceived notions start to drop away. After a bit of a slow start, I was soon picking up the pace, and feeling quite good. I had to concentrate a bit too much on my stride, which kind of unnatural at the moment, but other than, I found that I was moving at a good pace, and best of all, not feeling the kind of pain that I thought I might. In fact, it was just the opposite, I was feeling quite good.

In the end, I only ran about 1.25 miles, which is way under my normal mileage which average around five per day. But, that 1.25 miles went well for my first go, and it was over way to quickly. I had to resist the urge to go further just to put the barefoot running style more to the test, as I knew that it was best that I just take it slow and save the longer runs for another day. Near the end though, I did start to get a slight cramp in my right calf, which I suspect is a result of not quite having the natural stride down just yet.

One thing I did notice while running is that you do indeed seem to feel more connected, for lack of a better word, with the ground. Yes, you feel the loose gravel and other items along your route a bit more, but there is also a nice feeling of touching the path, feeling it beneath your feet. It is odd to convey the feeling, but it certainly was a positive change from running in typical shoes.

Today I'm going to revert back to those other shoes however, as I'm scheduled to run 8 miles tonight. But I'll be mixing in regular runs with this barefoot approach, and hopefully slowly building up my time and distances. I'll post updates on my progress here, as I continue down this path. I can tell you that this may not be the style for everyone, but it definitely has me intrigued and excited at the moment.

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Yukon River Quest Underway!

One of the best long distance kayaking races in the world, the Yukon River Quest, got underway yesterday at Whitehorse, in the Canadian Yukon, where teams and solo paddlers hit the water to compete in a race that will run through Saturday.

As of this morning, the first paddlers were into Carmacks, one of the checkpoints along the way. Defending champion in the solo division Carter Johnson, led the way, but a number of other competitors were not far behind. Three teams did scratch over night, but 75 remain out on the water.


This is the 12th running of this great event, which is the longest canoe and kayak race in the world. By the time they reach the finish line in Dawson City, a few days from now, the competitors will have covered 740km (460 miles) of river.


A big thanks to Adventure World Magazine for reminding me that the Yukon Quest had kicked off. If you're considering doing a similar event, you may want to checkout AWM's Tips for Endurance Paddling before you go. 

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The World Tri: A 12,000 Mile Long Triathlon

Now here is a very cool expedition for you. Adventurer Charlie Wittmack is setting out on what he calls his "World Tri" today, which will incorporate all the elements of a standard triathlon, and in the same order, but on a much larger scale.


Charlie will begin in London, where he'll swim down the River Thames, then across the English Channel to France. Once safely on the other side of the Channel, he'll get on his bike and ride to Calcutta, India, where he'll then proceed on foot to Nepal, up the Khumbu Valley, and attempt to climb Mt. Everest. All told, the journey is expected to cover more than 12,000 miles through 13 countries, over the span of about 11 months. If all goes as expected, he'll be making a summit bid on Everest in May of next year. 


Wittmack is no stranger to adventurous pursuits. He successfully climbed Everest back in 2003, and attempted to swim across the English Channel back in 2008. On that attempt he had to be pulled from the water mid-swim due to the cold conditions. This time he is wearing a wetsuit to help keep him warm on his swim. 


The World Tri isn't just about the adventure however, as Charlie is on the expedition to help raise awareness of a couple of causes in the Health and Education area. The first of those causes is the incredible maternal mortality rate in Nepal, where a woman is 100 times more like to die during childbirth than here in the U.S. When the expedition reaches Kathmandu, a team of doctors and students will provide clinics to help educate local women on steps the can take to be safer and more healthy. In the field of Education, Charlie is working with the Adventure Institute to develop a year long curriculum program to help bring learning communities together, allowing students and educators to share in the experience.


Charlie, along with his wife and son, let out for the London today, and he is expected to begin his swim in the River Thames tomorrow. Hopefully everything will go well, and he'll complete the swim leg of his triathlon without issue. If not, he says he'll continue on no matter what, but it shouldn't be too long before he's on his bike and peddling his way toward India. 

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The 2010 Gobi March Begins This Weekend!

The 2010 edition of the Gobi March is set to get underway this weekend, with more than 150 ultra-runners from around the globe descending on Urumqi, China to begin a week long stage race through the grueling environment of the Gobi Desert. 


The Gobi March is part of Racing The Planet's 4 Deserts series of ultramarathons. This one takes place in far western China in the city-oasis of Turpan, in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Each day will mark a stage of the race, with runners setting out in the morning carrying the supplies they will need for the day. The weather is traditionally quite warm, and dry, as you might expect from a desert race, and back in 2005, it actually reached 122ºF on one of the stages. 


At the end of each stage, the competitors will rest for the night in a tent city that is constructed for them by the race organizers. They'll have food, water and shelter while there, but once they hit the trail, it is up to them to make their way between checkpoints carrying their own gear and navigating through the open desert. The top competitors will finish the all six stages in a combined time of roughly 25 hours, but the bulk of the pack will be much further back than that. Day in and day out, this can be quite a difficult event, as the participants are essentially running nearly a marathon each day, in some of the most extreme conditions on the planet.

Maybe while their out there, they'll bump into Ripley Davenport. (And yes, I do know he's in Mongolia!)

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The Western States 100 is Saturday

The Western States 100, one of the oldest and most challenging ultra-trail runs in the world, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, when competitors will depart from the Squaw Valley ski resort and run 100 miles along the Western States Trail, before ending in Auburn, California. 


Each year the event attracts some of the best ultra-runners from around the globe, who come to run one of the toughest trails around. The race begins on the Squaw Valley floor, which is located at 6200 feet, with the first leg running up more than 2550 feet of vertical gain to Emigrant Pass, which is at 8750 feet. That all takes place in just the first 4.5 miles, from there it's just another 95.5 miles to the finish line. 


The route runs through remote backcountry with plenty of elevation gains, both up and down. In total, the racers will gain more than 18,000 feet while descending more than 23,000. It is a brutal run through some stunning scenery, but despite the distance and demanding trails, the trop male runners will finish in about 16 hours, while the ladies will begin coming across the finish line in about 18 hours. 


These runners are simply amazing. This is one grueling event, but they manage to cover the 100 miles of trail none-the-less. And what do they get for finishing the event? A belt buckle! But it just might be the most coveted belt buckle in the entire endurance sports world. 

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Looking to try out adventure racing? Live in Wisconsin?

Adventure racing is one of those sports that you really have to try for yourself to totally understand what it's all about. But, unfortunately, it can also be a bit intimidating, since you need plenty of gear, and the various disciplines can be tough to balance in your training. Of course, the best way to give it AR a try for the first time is to jump into a beginner's race, but those can be few and far between, as race organizers seem to want to find new and unusual ways to punish their regular teams.

For beginner adventure racers living in or around southern Wisconsin, I have good news for you. Fat Otter Adventure Sports is preparing to launch their first ever SPOLKA race near Prairie du Sac, WI. The race will have teams of two (men, women, coed) or three (coed only), running, paddling, and mountain biking through the lovely Wisconsin backcountry. The legs of the race are expected to be roughly a 4-mile paddle, a 10-30 mile ride, and a 3-10 mile run, with the promise of plenty of beer and brats at the finish line of this sprint class race.

The SPOLKA will take place on July 31st and is expected to run 3-6 hours in length. The race is designed for competitors of all skill levels, but is geared towards beginners hoping to get a feel for what adventure racing is all about. For instance, the race will allow beginners to find all checkpoints while staying on a trail, keeping the confusing and challenging orienteering out of the equation, at least for now.

This looks like a really fun event, and if I were headed home to Iowa for the summer, I might plan on trying to attend. Instead, it looks like I might be in the Florida Everglades that weekend, but this certainly looks like a great opportunity for budding adventure racers in the Midwest.

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