It's all been happening !

Wow! What a couple of weeks it has been. Sport and in particular endurance sport has been happening with some spectacular results !!

Last weekend we had Marino Vanhoenaker break the Ironman World record at Austria with a stunning 7:45:58. Yes, 7:45. We all thought, wow, that is going to be around for a while and then just 7 days later, Andreas Raelert goes sub 7:45 with an incredible 7:41:33 at Roth. Crazy crazy. To put this in perspective, his split times were 46:18 for the swim, 4:11 for the bike and then the marathon in 2:40:52.

Also at Roth, golden girl Chrissie Wellington once again confirmed complete and utter dominance in Ironman Triathlon. I strongly believe that 'Muppet' is one of the greatest endurance athletes ever and she is still young in her Triathlon career. She turned up at Roth, nailed the swim, nailed the bike and absolutely obliterated the run to get another win from the front and set another Ironman World record with 8:18:13. Her previous record was 8:19:13 on the same course. She actually finished 5th overall with some seriously good male Pros behind her. 'Macca' affectionately tweeted post race asking her to 'stop running so quick'. Her splits for the race are as follows: Swim 49:49, Bike 4:40:39 and the marathon in a quite incredible 2:44:35.

World records on the Ironman circuit also ran parallel with some stunning racing on the Ultra circuit. Last weekend we had Western States 100 and this weekend we had the ridiculously tough Hardrock 100. One notable name from both races was Nick Clark who within 14 days got 3rd place in both races. Incredible. How you can recover from a 100 and then run a super tough 100 so shortly afterwards and do well in both is beyond me.

The Western States race was won by Kilian Jornet. He rectified the mistakes from last year and fulfilled his promise and potential to win the 2011 edition.

The women's race turned into a close run thing and after a tough start, Ellie Greenwood worked her way up through the field, fight of a bear and take the race win. This is a super achievement for the UK born runner in her first venture into the 100 distance.

At Hardrock 100 the runners had to battle one of the toughest 100 routes out there! The course profile is like 'Jaws' dental profile.

With over 33,000 ft of gain and 33,000ft of loss and some 60,000+ of altitude change this course is just a monster. The highest point on the race is just over 14,000ft so altitude plays a major part of this race. Add to this navigation and you have a race of epic proportion. So tough is the course that the winning time difference between Western States and Hardrock is some 10 hours!! The race was won by Salomon sponsored runner Julian Chorier. Julian is a previous winner of the Grand Raid de la Reunion and so therefore I guess he was a hot tip for the race win. He is renowned for his preparation. His winning time was 25:17:21 and in second place was Dakota Jones some 2 hours back with 27:10:00.

The woman's race was won by Diana Finkel in 29:27:39, her 4th straight Hardrock title. A great run as this also placed her 5th overall.

So what's happening at runwildrunfree? Well post Comrades I had some downtime and a holiday. On returning home it was all about catching up with work and commitments. I slowly got myself back into training and I ran a flat 50k on a ridiculously hot UK day. Of course, the weather came from nowhere and runners dropped like flies. It was carnage. I actually cut my race short as I caught Niandi for the second time (short loop course) to find her wobbling in the road pouring water over her head. As I approached I asked if she was okay but I already new the answer. We ran together and then at the finish line we bailed. Never like pulling out of a race but it was definitely the correct think to do. It was only a couple of hours later after we showered that we realised how much sun we had got; red, White and brown zebras spring to mind.

My main priority now is getting some good training miles in and trying to get Hoka One One shoes selling from runwildrunfree.co.uk

As you know, I have been completely blown away by the Hoka range. The Bondi B is now my everyday shoe for road or light trail. If the trails get tough I then use the Mafate. What I am currently quite exited about is the Combo XT.

The Combo XT is a combination of the road Bondi B and the trail Mafate. I currently have a pair on it's way to me, so watch this space for a review. Exciting times.

Keep running!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Week - June 27th

Don't worry - no mention of Football here other than the fact that I won't mention football....

It has been a quiet week for me so the blog is going to be short and concise. The last two weeks left me jaded and in particular, 11,000 feet and 50k of trails in hot sun last weekend left me frazzled.

So, I had three days off. Ran a pacey 8 miles Wednesday, 8 miles Thursday and then had a BRUTAL massage on Friday. Boy oh boy did Mark nail my legs with some seriously painful trigger point massage.

Saturday I did a double day with another pacey 8 miles and then a steady 6 mile trail run in the evening. Sunday, today, I ran a half marathon at just under 8 min miles which felt pretty good. I went out early to avoid most of the heat... having said that, it was still hot!

For me, this week and this weekend was all about Western States 100 mile Trail Race. http://www.ws100.com/

This race is very much considered one of THE ultras to do in your lifetime. Of course, actually getting in the race is hard enough. Running it is torture. I had particular interest this year as Brit, Ian Sharman was taking part.

Ian is my 'hot tip' for an ultra star in the making. He has pace and a natural ability that many would die for.

Following on line he obviously started nice and steady. Two reasons I guess: respect for the race and also the field he was racing against. It was very much a 'who's who' of named ultra runners. In particular: Anton Krupicka, Kilian Jornet Burgada and Geoff Roes. As it turned out this was the top three but not in that order. Roes won in a ridiculous course record of 15:07 - YES, 15:07 for 100 fantastically tough trail miles..... my tip for the race, Krupicka came in 2nd and Burgada came in 3rd. I think many thought Burgada had a great overall chance but he had run 1000km just two weeks earlier.... not the ideal taper!! As it turned out, Ian Sharman came through the field and finished a superb 8th. H e has told me it was the HARDEST thing he has ever done and he said from mile 62 he felt awful.... that is a long way to feel awful!!

Race history:

In 1955, the late Wendell T. Robie with a party of five horsemen rode the Western States Trail from Squaw Valley to Auburn, proving that horses could still cover 100 miles in one day. Through his energy and vision, he subsequently founded the Western States Trail Foundation and organized the annual Western States Trail Ride, also known as the Tevis Cup "100 Miles - One Day" Ride.

Wendell Robie during an early Tevis Ride

In 1974, with the inspiration and encouragement of Drucilla Barner, 1st woman to win the Tevis Cup and Secretary of the WSTF, Tevis veteran Gordy Ainsleigh joined the horses of the Western States Trail Ride to see if he could complete the course on foot. Twenty-three hours and forty-two minutes later Gordy arrived in Auburn, proving that a runner could indeed traverse the rugged 100 miles in one day. Gordy's own account is HERE.

In 1975, a second runner, Ron Kelley, attempted the same feat, only to withdraw within two miles of the finish with ample time remaining. In 1976, Ken "Cowman" Shirk ran the 100 miles, finishing just 30 minutes over the 24-hour mark.

In 1977, 14 men from four states participated in the 1st official Western States Endurance Run, which was held in conjunction with the Tevis Cup Ride. Runners were monitored by Dr. Bob Lind at the three veterinary stops set up for the horses, and although the race organization transported the entrants gear, runners were responsible for producing all of their own supplies, except water. Three runners finished the course: Andy Gonzales, age 22, in the record-breaking time of 22:57, and Peter Mattei and Ralph Paffenbarger, ages 53 and 54, who tied in 28:36 (and the 30-hour award was born!).

Founding Runners, Gordy Ainsleigh and Cowman Shirk

In the fall of 1977, the Board of Directors for the Western States Endurance Run was formed as part of the Western States Trail Foundation. It was made up primarily of the handful of runners and riders who had helped monitor the progress of the 14 pioneers earlier that summer. The Run organization later became its own entity and is now known as the Western States Endurance Run Foundation.

1978 heralded a dramatic increase in both interest and participation in the Western States Run. Culminating a year-long effort by the inspired Gang of Four (Phil Gardner, Mo Livermore, Shannon Weil, and Curt Sproul) to create an independent event, the race took place in June, a month earlier than the Tevis Cup Ride. The event mushroomed to include 21 aid stations and six medical checks, thanks to an ever-growing corps of loyal volunteers and the support of the Placer County Sheriff 's Communications Reserve and the Search and Rescue Unit. 63 adventurers ran the race, and the first woman, Pat Smythe, finished in 29:34.

One hundred forty-three runners from 21 states and three foreign countries attempted the course in 1979.