EverymanTri.com

Weekend video pick: Unbreakable....The Western States 100

If you like endurance and films about great endurance you'll like Unbreakable: The Western States 100. This movie documants one of the greatest and most well established running ultra -aces in America.

According to Wikipedia:

"The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100, is a 100-mile long (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California's Sierra Nevada annually, on the last weekend of June. The race starts at the base of the Squaw Valley ski resort and finishes at the Placer High School track in Auburn, California. Runners climb a cumulative total of 18000 feet (5500 m) and descend a total of 23000 feet (7000 m) on mountain trails before reaching the finish.

What are the draws, rigors, risks and benefits of becoming an ultra athlete?

Have you ever wondered what makes amateur athletes go long...in fact very very long?

What's the magic sauce that makes a runner into a marathon runner, and a marathon runner into an ultra runner?

Or perhaps, what's the reward and risk for an amateur athlete to step up from the sprint distance triathlon to an Iron distance race.

The fine folks at the University of Wisconsin have also contemplated these questions and since they are partially in the academic  business of asking tough questions and providing straight answers...we though that you might want to know the answer to the question, "What are the draws, rigors, risks and benefits of becoming an ultra athlete?"

Of course the answer is not a simple one, but it has to do with motivation, age and even evolution.

In the "Why Files" University of Wisconsin writes answer this question when they write:

TransRockies Day One recap: team EMT suffers first injury

My friends know two things about me: 1) I have zero natural navigational skills, and 2) I am about as klutzy as they come. And while I didn't get us lost on yesterday's course, I did manage to catch a toe on some (real or imagined) obstacle, and eat some sand.

I emerged from the tumble unscathed (plenty of practice) but Paul, who was directly behind me, leapt to the side to avoid stepping on me, and rolled an already weakened ankle. I was on the ground congratulating myself for not trashing my legs when I heard the painful groan (followed by #bleeeeep#) behind me. We were only eight miles into a 120 the 2011 GORE-TEX® TransRockies, and I had managed to take out my partner.

Nice.

Photo of the Day: Tim DeBoom wins 2011 Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in 11:18:52

A Huge congrats to Tim DeBoom for winning one of the hardest triathlons in the world...the 2011 Norseman Xtreme Triathlon.

According to his wife Nicole via Twitter; "I just talked to Tim & he said this is the hardest race he's ever done by far! He's glad it's done. Btw - the bike was 20k longer this yr!"

Photo Credit: Norseman Xtreme Triathlon

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Elite Racer Interview - Ross McMahan

As part of the GORE-TEX® TransRockies Preview, Team EverymanTri caught up with Ross McMahan for an exclusive chat.  Ross was the 2010 GORE-TEX® TransRockies Masters Champion (with partner Ted Russell).  He will be returning for the 2011 race with a new partner, Tim Menoher.

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Team EveryManTri:   Why come back to the GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run event?

Ross:  This will actually be my fourth year doing it, and it’s kind of like a running vacation!  It’s one of the most fun races I’ve ever done, and I’ve done all types of races: adventure races, snowshoe races, mountain bike races, but TransRockies is one of the most fun events I’ve been a part of.

Team EveryManTri:  What do you love most about the race?

Ross:  Seeing parts of Colorado that most people don’t get to see.  Your only access is by foot, and it’s just beautiful countryside and big mountains.   And then, of course, spending time with other people that are so passionate about the same thing that you are.

Team EveryManTri:  What is the hardest part of the race for you?

A crazy hard race where time does not matter but fun does

*Editor's Note: Our friend Paul Shippey (second on right above) spent the weekend getting  muddy in Beaver Creek, Colorado and filed this report. As you may recall last year he took on the gruelling Gore-tex TransRockies seven day run in the Colorado Mountains. You can read all about that epic adventure run HERE and you can watch the video from day one below.

It’s been 28 years since I last participated in boot camp. Back then in 1983 I was a new recruit in the South African army and had no choice but to suffer through it. This past Sunday, at the tender of age 46, I voluntarily participated in Tough Mudder Colorado - a modern day, special-forces designed obstacle course.
 
Hard to believe I volunteered to run 10 miles over a mountain, and tackle obstacles ranging from :- crawling on your belly through 34 degree watery mud pits, clambering over 12ft walls, carrying logs for half-a mile and then subjecting oneself to multiple 10,000 volt shocks within sight of the finish. Oh, and add to this crazy 20-obstacle concoction, 4,250ft of vertical ascent up topping out at an energy-sapping 11,500ft.

Rapp and Naeth win inaugural and crazy hard Leadman Triathlon Lifetime Epic 250

Epic is perhaps the best word indeed to describe today's inaugural Leadman Triathlon.

The new Lifetime Fitness race features a

- 5K swim

-223K bike and a

- 22K run...add all that up and you get 250K. Now you get it.

Which for non pro's can be raced as a three person relay with each person doing one full distance event leg.

Which in itself may not be so Epic when compared to an Ironman race, but when you combine today's heat, wind, and hills of the Nevada desert...you get what may be one of the toughest  long distance triathlons in North America.

On the professional men's side...today's race was one by pro triathlete Jordan Rapp in a time of 9:32:19 with Troy Jacobson taking second in a time of 10:33:24.

On the women's side it was Canadian Angela Naeth who finally became the bride, instead of the bridesmaid second place finish of her last several races, to win inaugural Leadman Triathlon Lifetime Epic 250 in a time of 10:29:43.

The races web says the Epic 250, "throws down a gauntlet of challenge filled with new lengths of swimming and cycling, yet places less emphasis on what is considered the most physically damaging aspect of ultra-distance triathlons, the run. The Leadman was designed to completely challenge triathletes while showing utmost respect to their bodies."

It seems that the race has suceeded in that goal. Here are some tweets from the race's twitter feed that will give you an idea of just how tough the race was today:

The hardest run you'll absolutely love to hate

Last year our friend Paul Shippey took on the gruelling Gore-tex TransRockies seven day run in the Colorado Mountains. You can read all about that epic adventure run HERE and you can watch the video from day one below.

The Colorado run is based on a very similar run in Europe in the German and Austrian Alps which is the original version of this epic event. We cover a lot of crazy hard races here at EMT, but we can safely say that the TransRockies is one of the hardest and most rewarding. If you are looking for an epic European running adventure this year you might want to consider the Transalpine-Run. 

It's just as hard as the North American version, but perhaps a bit more exotic and of course a lot more European. The details are below:

A harrowing story of winter ultra racing and survival

Epic is the term that mountain climbers use when they talk about a climb that went wrong.  The party got lost, gear was dropped, days being snowbound in a tent, destroyed camps, or even death. This year’s Twin Mountain Trudge turned into an epic day for me and all involved in the race. Just like on a good climbing day everything starts out fine and then slowly the situation begins to deteriorate. Some epic tales have a good ending while others do not. When things start to go bad and the situation begins to become dire, will you be ready to survive?

I am writing about my epic Twin Mountain Trudge because I want to share my experience with you so you can also be prepared for when things turn epic. I am very experienced in mountaineering, back country adventures and ultra racing. Through the years I have never had any of my adventures turn epic, but I am always prepared just in case they do. I sure did not think that the Twin Mountain Trudge would have turned into my first Epic adventure. 

Video: The world's toughest Iron distance triathlon explained

You might think that perhaps the annual Ironman race in Kona Hawaii is the hardest triathlon in the world.

If you think that...you are wrong and we have the proof below.

Most triathlon insiders consider the annual Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in Norway to be the hardest organized triathlon race in the world.

Why?

Because not only does the race start in frigid cold waters in the pitch darkness of a Scandinavian fjord, but it finishes on top of a mountain.

In in between the swim and the run there's of course a bike course that can best be described as straight up and straight down over and over again.

Video: British man first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon

859 days...that how long it took Ed Stafford to become the first man to walk the entire length of the Amazon River.

Most likely Stafford also set the record for the most mosquito bites ever...but that's much harder to quantify.

At this point you must be wondering what would posses a person to such great feats of endurance as walking the Amazon River?

According to ABC News:

"The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old former British army captain told the Associated Press. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before." 

The trek cost about $100,000 and was mainly paid for by donations.

Marathon rowing effort breaks 114-year-old Atlantic crossing record

43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 second...that's how long it took four British men to row across the the North Atlantic.

11 days...that's how much faster the new boat took to go from New York to the Isles of Scilly just off the southwest English mainland.

1896...that's when the old North Atlantic crossing record was set by Norwegian fishermen George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen.

British Olympian swimming, biking, running and rowing across America hit by car in AZ

Sad news to report today as James Cracknell (the British Olympic rowing champion who set his sights on swimming, biking, running and rowing across America) was hit by car in Arizona and suffered a fractured skull.

You may recall from THIS story that Cracknell was in the process of attempt to race across the entire breadth of North America, from Los Angeles to New York City in only sixteen days, and set a new endurance World Record.

That quest came to a sudden end near Winslow, Arizona at 5:30 a.m. as Cracknell was struck by a truck from behind on a quiet stretch of Arizona highway and fractured his skull. By most accounts his bike helmet saved his life.

British Olympian to swim, bike, run and row across America

James Cracknell is one of Britain’s most successful athletes of all time, with two Olympic Golds (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) and six World Championship titles in rowing.

No stranger to endurance challenges, having previously rowed across the Atlantic, raced to the South pole and just back  from placing the highest Brit ever in the Marathon des Sables earlier this year, James is raising the stakes to an even higher level, by taking on a truly unique endeavor.

 He will attempt to race across the entire breadth of North America, from Los Angeles to New York City  in only sixteen days, and set a new endurance World Record.




Choosing four Olympic disciplines to complete the challenge this is the plan: 


• Cycle 350 miles from Santa Monica to Death Valley National Park in Nevada


• Run 80 miles through Death Valley 


• Cycle 2,500 miles from Death Valley to Toledo, Ohio on the western tip of Lake Erie 


• Row 250 miles the length of Lake Erie from Toledo to Buffalo, New York 


• Cycle 500 miles From Buffalo to New York City 


• Swim 15 miles to the Statue of Liberty

Florida Keys ultramarathon could be the best of times or the worst of times

Editor's Note: Everyday we get dozens of press releases from races all around the world. For the most part we only post the one that ones that we think a news worthy but this one caught our eye today.

If you are going to go and try to run 100 miles this race could either be the best experience of your life or the worst. It really depends on your point of view. Running over 40 bridges to Key West with the Atlantic ocean on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other side could be a dream run or...running in the blazing Florida heating and humidity with cars zipping by for over 100 miles could be hell.

Like we said it really depends on your point of view.

So what marathon do you suppose you could have won recently in a time of 5 hours?

It's a pretty straightforward question really...

What marathon do you suppose you could have won this past weekend if you had managed to cover 26.2 miles in 5-hours?

The photo probably gives it away but we can report that Joep Rozendal, a former Dutch marine, won the marathon in 5:00:58...so that if you had run it in 5 hours you would have beat him by just under a minute.

And if you are wondering about the women, the fastest women, Jamie Cuthbertson, a 49-year-old former British Royal Engineers captain, won the race in 5:56:54.