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. …
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. …
The Adventure Blog – Endurance Athlete Sets Speed Records on Canada’s East and West Coast Trails
Desert Winds Expedition Race
Dave Adlard and my masochistic friends from Team Adventure Sports Week are seriously talking about doing this
… 120 hours of glorious suffering in the Mojave desert outside of Vegas, Sept 18 – 25ish…
How can I stop them?
Adventure Sports Week LOOMS
I’m looking forward to the second annual ASW. Will you be there?
2010 Dates June 4-13
Each June in Northern Idaho, Adventure Sports Week offers 10 days of racing, training, clinics, gear demos and more. ASW features triathlons, mountain biking, trail running, adventure racing, open water kayaking and swimming.
Our venue is located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille at Farragut State Park.
• Venue
Adventure Sports Week June 4-13, 2010
by site editor Rick McCharles
Each June in Northern Idaho, Adventure Sports Week offers 10 days of racing, training, clinics, gear demos and more. ASW features triathlons, mountain biking, trail running, adventure racing, open water kayaking and swimming.
2009 was our inaugural year and we’re gearing up for 2010. One of the best new adventure sport races in the U.S.A.
details and registration is available at www.adventuresportsweek.com
What do rollercoasters, a great rappel, fantastic scenery, a first class event and “10-24-1” have in common?
Hosted at beautiful Farragut State Park in Bayview, Idaho (just north of Coeur d Alene), ASW 2010 is promising to be one of the top festivals in the USA this year.
• official event home page
• Team Adventure Sports Week blog
Copper Canyon Ultramarathon documentary
Often called the “greatest runners in the world”, Mexico’s Raramuri Indians currently wear these sandals handmade from rubber tires.
They are much studied by researchers of the Running Barefoot or In Minimal Footwear movement.
Living in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountain range, the Raramuri Indians are some of the best long distance runners in the world, but how far can they run in the face of problems like environmental damage, loss of native lands, and the drug war? An American ultra marathon runner known as Caballo Blanco is fighting to help the Raramuri preserve their culture and tradition of long distance running. The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon is the result.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
are running shoes ruining your feet?
UPDATE: Tony Rix recommends Vibram’s latest model, the KSO Trek. (see the comments)
That’s one of the themes of a fantastic book I’ve just finished:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
I’m convinced that author Christopher McDougall is on to something.
For specifics, check this article: The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?
His theory is that we evolved running barefoot. And became the dominant species on the planet because of that advantage.
Running barefoot … an advantage?
It seems counter intuitive. Yet the case laid out in his book seems irrefutable.
Shoe companies, especially Nike, seeking mad profits, have convinced us to buy technology that changes our natural technique.
In recent years I’ve been hiking and trail running in one of the cheapest pairs of shoes made by New Balance. I bought them because of bunions. Perhaps, by luck, this soft, flat-soled shoe is what I need.
I’m tempted to try hiking in Vibram Fivefingers. That’s what the author is using now for distance running.
… That might be going too far.
Instead, I’ll pull out my old sandals. I’ve hiked in those before, very comfortably. Those feel like “bare feet”, but keep the pebbles and grit out.
Leave a comment if you’ve experimented with tossing your hiking boots in the closet. And getting back to something more natural.
book review – Born to Run
On the insistence of my Adventure Racing buddy, Dave Adlard, I bought a book.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
A fantastic read, even for non-runners. The author, Christopher McDougall, (video) is a master story teller. I was gripped by this true life story.
Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. …
It’s available on Audible.com, as well as in a Kindle edition.
Get it!
Christopher Mcdougall reminds me of Jon Krakauer, another magazine scribe turned author.
Born to Run is as engaging as anything by Krakauer.
The culminating Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is set in Mexico’s Copper Canyon. I visited as a tourist in 1999. Fantastic.
I’ve long planned to return for some serious hiking there. Unfortunately, as the book describes vividly, it’s very dangerous today as the Canyons are home to big marijuana plantations. You might get shot.
7 great hikes in 7 days
Why would anyone do 7 New Zealand Great Walks in only 7 days?
Day 1 – November 29th – 42.7km – Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk
Day 2 – November 30th – 41km – Tongariro Northern Circuit
Day 3 – December 1st – 51.9km – Abel Tasman Coast Track
Day 4 – December 2nd – 78.4km – Heaphy Track
Day 5 – December 3rd – 32.1km – Routeburn Track
Day 6 – December 4th – 53.5km – Milford Track
Day 7 – December 5th – 60.1km – The Kepler Challenge*
Total distance – 359.7km
The Runner, 49yr-old Malcolm (Mal) Law.
… My brother Alan died of Leukaemia back in 1969. Ever since then I have harboured the idea of doing something amazing to raise funds for research into a cure for this cruel disease. …
Click through for the details – It’s going to hurt!
(via Adventure Blog)
Julie Dibens dominates XTERRA World’s
This was one of the most impressive athletic performances I’ve ever seen from a female athlete.
Julie Dibens wins a record breaking 3rd XTERRA World Championships in series.
Wow.
And Julie finished ahead of second place Danelle Kabush Lesley Paterson only by 59 seconds by nearly 8min!
The Men’s competition was a battle, surprisingly won by Spaniard Ruben Ruzafa.
Favourite Conrad Stoltz had a flat tire ??, despite his custom built thick sidewalls. Later I heard he had no flat but rather lost it on the run.
10km fun run, XTERRA, Maui
I’m happy to have survived. And fairly happy with my time of 1hr 12min, or so.
Since I’d not done any distance “running” since June, I placed myself at the very back of the pack for the start. That way I’d not suffer the indignity of little girls passing me en route. (The winner of the 2008 5km Women’s division was 13yrs-old.)
For the first 4km I took it very easy, unsure whether or not I’d hit some kind of 8km “wall”. Like most at the back of the pack, I walked some of the steeper sections when I felt walking would be as fast as a slow jog.
At about the half way point I started to feel GREAT and began to push the stride length. Started passing lots of people.
The XTERRA course trails are infamous for loose volcanic rock. But I found this one fairly tame. No chance of a sprained ankle, even on the steeper descents. There was a fair bit of elevation but no huge hills.
In my ignorance I didn’t know that the last mile or so was along the ocean. Soft sand and jagged rock. Heat, humidity and sand sucks your energy. I passed almost no one on my “kick” though I felt strong.
Though billed as something of a fun run, there are some very serious runners. Mike Tobin, past winner of the XTERRA triathlon, was slumming it in the 10km. And he only came 3rd!
XTERRA 10km home page
I’ll be a spectator tomorrow for the World Championships.
I just attended a clinic with some of the favourites: Julie Dibens, Melanie McQuaid, Nico Lebrun and Conrad Stoltz. Yesterday I listened to Shonny Vanlandingham and Josiah Middaugh. Inspiring!
besthike.com 