Local endurance athlete Darin Bentley recently completed the Spartathlon, a grueling 246 kilometer foot race between Athens and Sparta in Greece. Darin has just written a full account of his experience traveling to Greece and running the race for the first time. An excerpt from his blog is included below…

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I guess it only makes sense that the longer the race, the longer the race report, right? Suffice to say that no amount of words will ever be able to convey all that we went through before, during, and after the race. How do I describe every detail of emotion that someone and their crew goes through over almost 28 hours? I’ll try and not make it too epic. I have to first of all say one more big thanks to someone I neglected to mention in an email I wrote before we left. That someone is Colin McKay, my Active Release Therapist from Precision Health in White Rock. He was instrumental in getting my IT band back to a somewhat normal state which enabled me to make it to the start line with more confidence than I would have had.

Let me say that I never really knew what was going to happen in this race - there are so many factors that can come into play like weather, distance, stomach issues, foot problems, shin splints, IT band tightness, and just simply would I have what it takes to continue when it got tough. Before and after the race I had so many emails from people saying that they knew I could do it and that I’d do well, but deep down I wasn’t sure if things would fall into place or if I’d crash and burn. Luckily it worked out but with the amount of training in the three weeks before the race, I was skeptical.

Continue reading …

Jen finished in 32 hours 31 minutes and 57 seconds.  She was the 5th female and 9th overall, incredible stuff!

Keep tuned to her blog at http://challenge-by-choice.blogspot.com/ for her race report.

Coming through the fourth timing station at the Darwin turnoff Jen was the fourth female overall.  Check out her times.

Bib# 100
Last Name: Segger
First Name: Jen Lee
Start Time: 10:00am
FC - 17miles: 2:41
SPW - 41miles: 8:15
PS - 72miles: 15:52
DW - 90miles: 20:29
LP - 122milies:
PR - 131miles:
Finish - 135miles:

You can find updated results here: Time Splits and Results

Here is all the information that you need in order to follow Jen during her upcoming epic: 135mile run across Death Valley, California in 55c heat!

The race starts on Monday 14th (10am start time for her)

Bookmark this website: www.badwater.com

She will also be posting pre and post updates to her blog at http://challenge-by-choice.blogspot.com/

She sent out this just a few days ago:

BADWATER
ULTRAMARATHON
The Challenge of the Champions
Hello Family, Friends, Sponsors & Media:
The time has come for me to make my way down to Death Valley, California to compete at the toughest footrace on the planet – Badwater!  In this grueling 135mile paved ultra running race, I will make my way from the lowest elevation in North America (85m below sea level) to the Mt. Whitney Portals at 2533m (trailhead to the Mt. Whitney summit which is the highest point in the contiguous United States). The race course will take me over three mountain ranges while accumulating a total of 3962m of vertical ascent and 1433m descent.

(more…)

There’s a reason most ultra-marathons take place on trails. If you’re running 26-plus miles, better to do it off pavement, where there’s always shade, the surface is forgiving and the view never gets old.

But extreme distances are not required to savor our trails. In fact, as I learned this week, one need move neither far nor fast to get some great exercise courtesy of Mother Nature.

(more…)

Also on tap in July is the:

White River 50 Mile Trail Run
USTAF Trail Run Championships
July 26th, 2008  Crystal Mountain, WA

Set in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, this race offers spectacular views. Like "The Mountain" itself, though, the race stands as an ultimate test of mental character and physical endurance. Over the 50-mile distance the race course rises and falls a staggering 8,700 feet (total elevation change: 17,400 feet). The race features rolling terrain, ridge tops, northwest forest, several sections of technical trails, and of course several demanding climbs and challenging descents.

There are a number of BC athletes participating in this years White River 50 Mile:

Presented by AdventureCORPS, Inc. , an event production firm specializing in ultra-endurance and extreme sports events; The Badwater Ultramarathon is recognized globally as "the world’s toughest foot race."

This legendary event pits up to 90 of the world’s toughest athletes, runners, triathletes, adventure racers, and mountaineers against one another and the elements. Covering 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA in temperatures up to 130F (55c), it is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet.

From July 14 through 16, BC’s own Jen Segger-Gigg will run in the Badwater Ultramarathon.

Check out Jen’s Challenge by Choice Coaching site and her Challenge by Choice Blog .

A North Vancouver woman has just completed the Gobi March and has written her first account of the race. Below is an excerpt from her blog - give me a good reason - a mediocre’s  struggles to be average . Trust us, what she has accomplished is anything BUT average!

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obstacles are those frightful things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals

It was my anchor on Stage 01.

Ask me then if I was enjoying myself and I would probably have slashed your throat with the blunt knife in my swiss card. It could well have been the toughest day of my life. Although I was feeling great to go by the 9am race start, I seriously doubted how I was to cover the longest distance of my life. You see, I have a weak mind. For someone who had never covered more than 34km or sustained more than 6hr of activity, completing 39km with a 10kg pack qualified as a daunting task.

Wondering in the vast, desolate and arid land, baked by the immense heat, the mind took a form of its own. It is perhaps time to withdraw. There is no way you could finish this distance in this temperature. Stop at the next checkpoint. Quit and you can still volunteer. I learnt quickly the need to evict these thoughts.

After what felt like a lifetime, I saw the bright red banner and a smiling E welcoming me.

Me 1: Evil Mind 0

Continue reading on phyllislum’s blog …

The 2008 Gobi March begins today (remember Team Gobi Canada from last year?). Participants will race along China’s ancient Silk Road following a similar route from last year’s race.

The Gobi March is one race in the 4 Deserts series of ultramarathons. The other three events are the Atacama Crossing in Chile (March), the Sahara Race in Egypt (October) and The Last Desert in Antarctica (November). Approximately 170 athletes are participating in this year’s event.

The event is broken up into stages, ranging from 12 to 79 kilometers. The course will cover roughly 250 kilometers, six stages over seven days. The terrain includes river crossings, rocky terrain, gorges, mountains, donkey trails and long expanses of flat desert. The altitude is expected to reach almost 10,000 feet (3000 meters).

Here are some thoughts from Donald Peterson on last year’s race:

"It’s day five, they are calling this Stage “The Long March” and I’ve covered just over 15km of the 80km I need to complete today. My stomach is starting to cramp up and I can feel the nausea starting to build in my chest, Checkpoint 19 is approximately 5km away. I tell myself that I need to keep moving forward, as my stomach begins to feel worse it is the second time on this journey that I am questioning what the fuck I am doing out here - this next 5km is going to suck ass!"

One of the top contenders to win this year’s event is famous ultrarunner Dean Karnazes . Dean is hoping to complete the Desert Grandslam , in which he’ll run all 4 events in the 4 Deserts series, plus the the Badwater Ultra all in the same year.