Happy Tuesday, trail friends. Last week, in a parking lot in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I joined a group of athletes gathered late in the day to pace ultrarunner Kristian Morgan in his attempt to set a new record on the Appalachian Trail.
Half of these people were complete strangers to Kristian, who was seven days into his FKT attempt and about a day ahead of record pace. I was struck by how easily this sport brings people together, casts them out into the wilderness, and creates the perfect environment for lasting friendships (or, at the very least cool shared experiences).
In our featured piece we look at the first UTMB, how it started, what the route was like, and who it brought together. And in the DFL, we get in the shower after a long run.
- Matt Hart
THE WEEKEND COOL DOWN
American Sophia Laukli spoils the Kenyan podium sweep by winning the 50th running of the famed Sierre Zinal (📸: 1)! Watch her finish the 19-mile race with 7,218 feet of ascent. 🇰🇪 Kenyan athletes were 2nd and 3rd and also swept the men's podium!
🐓 THE BIG ALTA 🐓 Purveyor of stoke and CEO of Freetrail Dylan Bowman has announced a new event—The Big Alta. Coming this February to Marin County's best trails are a new 50k and 28k in Northern California (📸: 3). A "homage to course landmarks Big Rock Ridge & Loma Alta." 🎉
What was the course like? What happened out there? And how did Krissy end up winning the inaugural running of what has become an iconic ultramarathon when she had never run 100 miles before in her life?
We bring you the story of the first UTMB from Doug Mayer's new book, The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB. Part one... the trail around Mont Blanc.
This week, Buzz and Corrine chat about Buzz’s skyrace experience in Norway. Then Corrine interviews Zoë Rom and Tina Muir about their new book, Becoming a Sustainable Runner: A Guide to Running for Life, Community, and Planet.
And Buzz answers questions from Scott on pickle juice and mustard and talks to race director Samuel Hartman about why ultrarunning is not in the Olympics.
When the trailhead calls, we always listen. We lace up our trail shoes, strap on our headlamps, adjust our hydration vests, and go. Enter Currex RUNPRO Insoles. Highly customized and available in low, medium, and high arch profiles, they help prevent injury, enhance performance, and provide unequaled comfort. Featuring a flexible arch that provides the right amount of rigidity, RUNPRO insoles create extreme sensory stimulation and midfoot guidance on impact. Then, when released, they return the stored energy to the foot. This reduces stress on joints, ligaments, and tendons to keep you running mile after mile.
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⚙️ Great Gear: A couple days ago, we took the new Black Diamond Distance 1500 headlamp on a nighttime adventure run that turned into an epic. It not only withstood hours of driving rain but provided enough boost light (1500 lumens!) to keep us on track when visibility was scarce. This head torch and the GPS maps on our Garmin Enduro 2, frankly, saved our hides in nasty, no-viz weather. 🙏
👟 Going Long:Mario Fraioli interviews Andy Wacker, the founder of The Trail Team, about their mission to independently support and develop rising athletes into the best professional trail runners in the world.
❤️ ⛰️ ⛰ Amore Montagnes: Hillary Gerardi wrote a love letter to Trofeo Kima, a race in the Italian Alps which is considered one of the most challenging skyrunning races in the world, and one that has helped her define herself as a runner. It's "a race that’s not on the trail. It’s in the mountains," as she puts it. See for yourself in the accompanying video. ️