If you’re an ultra runner or have at least ocasionally dabbled in the sport be sure to check out Rob Mackay’s lastest posting on his blog titled: An ultra classification system. In it he attempts to classify the different types of ultra runners one might see at your average ultra race. Here’s an excerpt:

===========

Being an evil marketer I am constantly segmenting people by demo/socio/value-graphic methods. I may get in trouble for this for not including people in various categories but I’m going to attempt to create a classification system for ultrarunners. (I have been in the bottom 3 categories, myself) Anyway, here goes:

 

• Super-elite (a.k.a. ghosts) – Pre-race: Smiling at the start line. Wearing tank top/no-shirt and shorts, possibly Moeben sleeves even when it’s 5 below (least amount of clothing because there is no chance they will get cold during the race from running slow). Wearing shades or sun visor on a cloudy day.

Continue reading…

In just a few days Trainharder.com’s own Donald "Jarhead" Peterson will be running the Fifth Edition of The World’s Expedition Run™

Set for February 1st through 6th in Southern Costa Rica The Coastal Challenge is the “World’s Expedition Run™,” releasing runners over approximately 225 – 250 kilometers of exotic and wild Costa Rican mountainous regions and rugged coastline. For six days, runners embrace the spirit of adventure, discovery and camaraderie within a long distance running competition while navigating wide river crossings, rainforests, jungles, windswept highlands, beaches, and rock outcroppings.  It is an expedition run of epic proportions introducing competitors to the hospitality of the local Tico culture while pushing the limits of their will and endurance. For more information visit www.thecoastalchallenge.com .

Set in Costa Rica’s pristine southern region, the “Rainforest Run” will utilize the country’s rich rainforests as a backdrop for a diverse course that moves from jungle and rainforest trails to highlands, coastal ranges, reefs, and river crossings. The route, which takes a decidedly different feel from last year’s “Route of Fire” in the Northwest, and will weave from the beach into the Talamancas, a coastal mountain range, before finishing in Corcovado National Park, one of the world’s premier rainforest experiences and Unesco World Heritage site.

“We considered a wealth of runner feedback when deciding on this year’s route,” said Tim Holmstrom, race director. “The Rainforest Run combines the best of Costa Rica’s natural beauty with a stunning and challenging route that will reward athletes of all levels.”

During the race you will be able to find daily updates at www.tccadventures.com , scroll over the COMPETITORS tab and then down to the Race Information Center .

There will also be updates at the TCC Telegraph, the official 2009 Rainforest Run Blog .

For dentist, it’s just one of four gruelling desert ordeals

Katherine Dedyna, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, October 20, 2008

It’s cold and rainy outside as Stan Lee and Jon Miller hoof it on the treadmills at the Oak Bay Rec Centre, where they’ve covered 15 kilometres a night for months. They’re really going to miss the crummy weather a pane of glass away.

That’s because it will be blazing hot when the two Greater Victoria men hit the ground running in the Sahara Desert. They leave tomorrow for the hottest of the "4 Deserts " races organized by RacingThePlanet .

At 21, Miller is the youngest of 170 competitors attempting the 250-km run through sand dunes, plateaus and oases from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. The oldest is a 73-year-old Briton and in between is Dean Karnazes, the American famed for 50 marathons in 50 days.

(more…)

Jeff Bell, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, May 26, 2008

Donald Peterson won’t have to worry about keeping the rest of his team organized at this year’s 24 Hour Relay.

He is the team.

The 39-year-old running machine will be lining up for Saturday’s relay as the sole member of See Donald Run. It will be the first time a one-person entry has taken on the overnight event in Victoria.

"We did have a team of three people last year," said Pam Prewett, event manager for the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay for the Kids. She said the lone-wolf approach has been done a few times at Vancouver’s 24 Hour Relay, and Victoria’s relay staff is looking forward to seeing Peterson take up the challenge.

(more…)

Runners attempt to be first to cross 58-kilometre route

Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, May 11, 2008

Build a trail and they will run.

And so three keeners set out yesterday wanting to be the first ever to run the 43 kilometre North Coast Trail on the northern tip of the Island, formally opened yesterday by the province.

The new trail links with the existing Cape Scott trail, forming a 58-kilometre stretch west from Port Hardy.

(more…)

Some of us define a holiday as time spent supine. But adrenalin addicts live to work up a sweat while checking out the scenery. Denise Balkissoon talks to marathoners across the country about their favourite destination races – where the trails offer more than just that runner’s high

Denise Balkissoon
Special to The Globe and Mail
April 19, 2008 at 12:56 PM EDT

THE LONDON MARATHON

The runner Tania Jones, a Richmond Hill, Ont., mom who won the 2002 Canadian championship for marathon running.

The run An April marathon that winds its way over cobblestone streets from Blackheath to Buckingham Palace.

The rush Running past history. And the spectators. “You start the race at 8 a.m. and there are already people in front of the pubs, holding their pints and cheering you on.”

Off the track Jones spent a week in Harlow to get acclimatized before the race. “I trained on tiny roads in real English countryside, running right by Windsor Castle.”

Lace up Apply for one of 36,000 spots by August at london-marathon.co.uk.

(more…)

The Yukon Ultra was recently held this month in the Yukon Territory. It was the coldest official running race ever recorded. Unsurprisingly the field of athletes in different races of 26, 100 and 300 miles was decimated in the Arctic wilderness. Charlie Norton was one of the lucky ones. Here’s his story… (written by Charlie Norton and published in the UK Telegraph)

Survival course – 2 days
During our pre-race course we had to spend two hours proving we could survive out in the open at -35deg C and light a stove and fire. This was a frightening eye-opener. It’s easy to panic when your hands go numb and I was jumping around like a grasshopper trying to stay warm. Decision-making is crucial and I burnt my fingers getting too near my stove.Much to my horror one poor competitor got sickeningly severe frostbite on his fingers in the space of half an hour and was out of the race before it even started. As we were told: “It’s worth being afraid of the cold.”And I was. The next day saw temperatures on part of the race course hit -60 and there was a last-minute decision to change the race or it would be too dangerous. For me, as a 100-mile racer, this meant going back and forth down the marathon course four times and not following more of the route of the famous Yukon Quest husky dog race. We were told the bears were hibernating but one hungry one had appeared last year and eaten supplies at a checkpoint.

(more…)

By Kate Lapides, a great article from Trail Runner online. It includes recaps of the most famous ultra-running feats of 2007 including Canada’s Ray Zahab who ran Canada’s Akshayuk Pass, East Coast and West Coast Trails all in a row.

Ultrarunners cover legendary journeys at unprecedented paces. In addition to Sue Johnston’s John Muir Trail (JMT) record-setting run, several other records were established on trails around the world in 2007. Two of these were international never-been-done-before link-ups, and two were domestic trail records.

Official logs of such records, even on established trails, are difficult to come by. Trail foundations such as the Pacific Crest Trail Association (www.pcta.org) and the Ice Age Parks and Trail Foundation (www.iceagetrail.org) keep registries of thru-hikers, but do not attempt to verify their “record” times. More often, their veracity relies an honor system based upon regional and national distance-hiking and ultrarunning communities. News about these ventures and the style in which they were completed ripple through this extended community, garnering general credibility-or not.

(more…)