Ultra Running News from Around the Globe

In this month’s column we bring you news from the latest rounds of the Ultra Trail World Tour  and other events as well as a selection of news from the blogs.

 

Marathon des Sables

Probably the stand out event in a busy April, the Marathon des Sables never fails to disappoint. This year’s event had some surprises in store as the six stage race unfolded. From a British perspective the performance of Thomas Evans was stunning. It must have been disconcerting for the Moroccans to see him in contention and leading stages. But of course it was a Moroccan victory and a one two by the El Morabity brothers with Rachid coming out on top of younger brother Mohamed by twenty three minutes. Abdelkader El Mouaziz dropped from the race and that opened up the podium opportunity for Evans which he grabbed with some phenomenal running.

The women’s race was controlled by Sweden’s Elisabet Barnes looking for and achieving her second MDS victory. Her margin increased daily from Nathalie Mauclair of France but Mauclair clawed back some time in the long stage that is her specialty. Barnes kept close to her in the long stage to ensure she did not drop too many minutes.  Brazil’s Fernanda Maciel claimed the final podium place but was adrift of the top two by over an hour.

The prize of top Brit was of course claimed by Thomas Evans with that impressive third place overall. Andy Symonds was a clear second from Damian Hall. On the women’s side Jennifer Hill ran strong throughout and claimed the top spot from Jessica Hook and Elizabeth Currie who were within twelve minutes of each other but a distant five hours from Hill.

Results

Men		Time
1	Rachid El Morabity	19:15:23
2	Mohamed El Morabity	19:38:21
3	Thomas Evans	19:49:33

 

Women		Time
1	Elisabet Barnes	23:16:12
2	Nathalie Mauclair	23:36:40
3	Fernanda Maciel	24:44:59

 Results – Top Brits

Men		Time
1	Thomas Evans	19:49:33
2	Andy Symonds (9th overall)	22:19:39
3	Damian Hall (15th)	24:09:43

 

Women		Time
1	Jennifer Hill (73rd overall)	29:36:50
2	Jessica Hook (182nd)	34:30:34
3	Elizabeth Currie (184th)	34:42:01

 

100 Miles of Istria

The distance 100 miles, the elevation 7,210M, the country Croatia, the first time on the UTWT, the fifth running of the event and two stand out performances by American Dylan Bowman and Italian Francecsa Canepa to win.  The organisers must also be very happy with the result from their first UTWT outing.  Bowman won by over an hour from Italian Oliviero Bosatelli.  Canape was the pre-race favourite and won with a seventy eight minute margin from Slovenian Alenka Pavc.

Results

Men		Time
1	Dylan Bowman	17:51
2	Oliviero Bosatelli	18:54
3	Paul Giblin	19:21

 

Women		Time
1	Francesa Canepa	23:34
2	Alenka Pavc	24:52
3	Ulrike Striednig	25:07

 

Patagonia Run

The Patagonia Run is a new entrant to UTWT in 2017. With a total of 8,000M vertical ascent and a distance of 145km there is plenty of time to take in the impressive landscape of the Andes mountain range. Five time winner Sergio Trecaman probably didn’t stop a lot as he only took eighteen hours to complete the course just ahead of his fellow Argentinian Jose Manuel Gasca. The women’s race was won by Adriana Vargas with who had a thirty-five minute cushion over second place Teresa Nimes of Spain.

Results

Men		Time
1	Sergio Trecaman	18:10
2	Jose Manuel Gasca	18:22
3	Gustavo Ismail	18:52

 

Women		Time
1	Adriana Vargas	21:01
2	Teresa Nimes	21:36
3	Laura Gordiola	22:59

 

Madeira Island Ultra Trail

Madeira Island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. It’s a beautiful island with spectacular cliffs and even more spectacular roads for nervous drivers. The interior is extremely mountainous and has a fabulous network of footpaths called levadas that criss-cross the island. The MIUT traverses the island from North West starting in Porto Muniz to South East in Machico with a staggering 7,100M of ascent in 115km.

Francoise D’Haene crushed the course record set last year by Zach Miller, the Frenchman recording 13:05:44 and a full forty six minutes faster showing that he is back in form. In fact, second and third placed Pau Capell and Xavier Thevernard all beat that previous course record.

Andrea Huser dominated the women’s race to claim yet another deserved victory. Her time of 16:30:47 was well short of the superbly fast time of 14:34:30 that Caroline Cheverot posted last year. Britains Beth Pascali claimed second place ahead of Italian Lisa Borzani by over an hour.

Results

Men		Time
1	Francoise D’Haene	13:05:44
2	Pau Capell	13:28:01
3	Xavier Thevenard	13:42:16

 

Women		Time
1	Andrea Huser	16:30:47
2	Beth Pascali	17:11:49
3	Lisa Borzani	18:19:10

 

Penyagolosa Trails

This is the first year that Penyagolosa has been on the UTWT. Timothy Olson joined a mainly Spanish field of four hundred plus runners who tackled the 115km and 5,500M of ascent and it was Olson who came out on top. A jubilant Olson was followed by Yeray Duran Lopez around twenty two minutes later. Remi Queral Ibanez took the final podium spot.

The women’s race was a Spanish affair with Gemma Arenas Alcazar topping the list by a mere two minutes from Maria Mercedes Pila Veracocha. Leire Martinez Herrera was third fifty minutes later.

Results

Men		Time
1	Timothy Olson	12:23:58
2	Yeray Duran Lopez	12:45:34
3	Remi Queral Ibanez	12:52:51

 

Women		Time
1	Gemma Arenas Alcazar	15:01:19
2	Maria Mercedes Pila Veracocha	15:03:42
3	Leire Martinez Herrera	15:53:43

 

Thames Path 100

This was the sixth running of this flattish 100 mile race from London to Oxford. A course record from last year of 14:09 by Craig Holgate was the target. An initial early charge by Steven Lord was thwarted as he suffered hip issues from mile 51 onwards, this opened the door for eventual winner Michael Stocks to move up. Dan Masters and Jeremy Isaac showed how a steady and conservative pace can prove the winning strategy as they were both out of podium places until roughly ninety miles.

Ladies winner Mari Mauland took another conservative approach banking the early miles and well outside the top ten overall for a good seventy or so miles. She would eventually finish in fifth overall with a fantastically fast time of 16:55. The gap to second placed Sarah Sawyer was a full four plus hours. Third placed Naomi Moss was only six minutes behind.

 

Results

Men		Time
1	Michael Stocks	14:57:53
2	Dan Masters	15:30:03
3	Jeremy Isaac	16:25:55

 

Women		Time
1	Mari Mauland	16:55:43
2	Sarah Sawyer	21:09:10
3	Naomi Moss	21:15:53

 

 

News from the blogs

Elisabet Barnes

Winner of the 2017 edition and now two time winner of Marathon des Sables, Elisabet Barnes, she offers coaching via her website www.ultra.coach . She is a multi-stage race demon and Elisabet will be at the Ultra Festival in early June so catch her there live.

Anna Frost

Anna is heading to Madeira for the Ultra Skymarathon in May, she will also be in Bhutan later in the year. You can keep up to date with Frosty and her adventures via Twitter and her Facebook page.

https://frostysfootsteps.wordpress.com/

Timothy Olson

Tim is back! A fine win at Penyagolosa has confirmed that Tim is back on form after what for him has been a quiet eighteen or so months with some less than optimal performances. Although there is no confirmation of his June /July race schedule Tim will be at Diagonal des Fous in October, how good is that!

http://www.timothyallenolson.com/

Paul Capell

Pau Capell’s ascendancy to one of the top level ultrarunners has been a marvel to observe. His win at Transgrancanaria this year must rate as his best performance to date and he followed that with a second place at last month’s Madeira Island Ultra Trail. He is stepping up to UTMB this year, his first 100 mile race, it will be interesting to see how he performs and his approach to this tough and competitive race.

You can catch all the updates via Twitter.

Dakota Jones

Dakota Jones just enjoys life. Read this post http://www.irunfar.com/2017/04/the-most-harm-principle.html from his column at www.irunfar.com . It just about sum’s up Dakota’s approach to life and racing.  He is heading off to ‘Europe for the next two months, first in Spain with @deparunner and then in France for the Maxi Race and Mont Blanc Marathon. Really though, my main goal is to learn some Spanish and French. But these races will be cool too. Stay tuned!’

Stay tuned indeed through his Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts.

 

Up and coming races

UTWT races

Ultra-Trail Australia – May 18^th -21^st

Mozart 100 – June 17^th

Lavaredo Ultra Trail – June 23^rd

Western States 100 – June 24^th-25th

 

Sky Races

Yading Skyrun – May 2^nd

Transvulcania – May 13th

Zegama – May 28^th

 

UK Races

North Downs Way 50 – May 13^th

Grand Union Canal race – May 27^th

South Downs Way 100 – June 10^th

 

ULTRA RUNNING NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

In this month’s column we bring you news from the opening rounds of the Ultra Trail World Tour in Hong Kong and New Zealand.

The UTWT series has twelve events spanning five continents and ranging from 100km to 100miles.  The third race in the series is in the Canary Islands – Transgrancanaria.

Hong Kong 100

Fresh from winter training and a lay off of a couple of months (was it really that long?) the UTWT season opener in Hong Kong was likely to be hot and humid but weather conditions this year surprised everyone! With think frost turning into ice the race was rerouted and eventually stopped early.

Francois D’Haene was out in the lead pack with second place Yan Long Fei from China. These two would leap frog each other interchanging as each technical section switched to a flatter one with Long Fei marathon speed dominating on the flatter sections. D’Haene eventually raced out ahead taking a new course record in the process. Lithuanian Gediminas Grinius had a super solid race running in third place comfortably ahead of Pau Capell of Spain by thirteen minutes.

China’s Dong Li commanded the women’s race leading from the start and taking out the win in a very respectable 12:05:32 and over twenty-five minutes ahead of Italy’s Lisa Borzani. Spanish runner Silvia Trigueros briefly held second place and lost out to Borzani over the final kilometres finishing just four minutes behind.

Hong Kong – 100km

Men		Time
1	Francois D’haene	09:32:26
2	Yan Long-Fei	09:37:17
3	Gediminas Grinius	09:53:51

 

Women		Time
1	Dong Li	12:05:32
2	Lisa Borzani	12:30:41
3	Silvia Trigueros	12:34:23

Tarawera

For the second round of the UTWT we headed off to New Zealand for 100km of warm rain. Sweden’s Jonas Budd and New Zealand’s Fiona Hayvice were the ones who took top spot on the podium.

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND – FEBRUARY 06: Jonas Buud of Sweden cools off during the Tarawera Ultramarathon on February 6, 2016 in Rotorua, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Jonas Budd was to lead from start to finish closely tracked by Australian David Byrne but Budd’s devilish speed enabled him to push ahead at around 72 kilometres and from there it was a sure fire victory. Byrne finishing twenty-two minutes back was exhausted but pleased with his performance given that this was his longest ultra to date. South Africa’s Ryan Sandes, after a terrible 2015 recovering from over-racing in 2014, came with back with a bang and took a creditable third place.

American’s Jason Schlarb and Michael Wardian were sixth and seventh respectively.

Ruby Muir was the pre race favourite but dropped after suffering with quad issues but succumbing to stomach problems at around 80 kilometers. Fiona Hayvice took advantage and had been tracking Muir and then took full advantage with twenty kilometres to go. Australian’s Melissa Robertson and New Zealand’s Fiona Eagles grabbed second and third respectively.

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND – FEBRUARY 06: Fiona Hayvice of New Zealand celebrates while crossing the finish line to win the Tarawera Ultramarathon on February 6, 2016 in Rotorua, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Tarawera – 100km

Men		Time
1	Jonas Budd	08:00:53
2	David Byrne	08:22:39
3	Ryan Sandes	08:30:40

 

Women		Time
1	Fiona Hayvice	10:34:26
2	Melissa Robertson	10:56:20
3	Fiona Eagles	11:24:57

The next event in the UTWT calendar is Transgrancanaria on the Canary island of Gran Canaria off the coast of North West Africa. A challenging event of 125km traversing the island from North to South along it’s mountainous spine and finally reaching the beachfront of Meloneras.  It is usually hot and dry, so the conditions will test the runner’s heat acclimation and hydration. Some have fallen due to the early season heat. It looks like there is a stacked field so watch out for our pre-race guide to the top runners bidding for success at Transgrancanaria.

IS IT ACTIVE PATCH 4U ? – OR JUST FOR ME!

Active Patch 4U – is it a worthwhile investment and does it work?   At a time of year when you are considering and entering races to do for the coming season and your probably well into base training whether that be running or a cross training activity, some of us are injured. Now its sort of okay over the Christmas and New Year period as other things tend to take over, but when your itching to get back into training and your injured it plays on your mind, all those lost days and how many weeks it will take to get back to some semblance of fitness. That’s when you start to ramp up your injury physiotherapy, rehabilitation exercises and indeed anything else that will get you back as quick as possible.  Well how about Active Patch 4U?

Active Patch 4U is a French based company created by founders Arnaud Tortel and Jacques Casper from an original idea by Casper and a collaboration between the two in 2009 that leads to 4 years of further research before the patch is put into production and branded Active Patch 4U.

Tortel is a physiotherapist and polar explorer who has knowledge of Chinese acupuncture. Casper who had developed the membrane idea in 2008 fine tunes the membrane size and concentration to achieve optimal results to the eventual patch you see now.

Out of the box – Key Statistics

The patches can be ordered in boxes of 8, 16, 24, 40 or 100
They come in a number of colours, flesh, turquoise, plum or fuchsia.
Patch Size – 9.8 cm x 5 cm

Price

Depending on quantity ordered the patches are approx Eur 2 each.

Latest prices – Pack of 8 – Eur 19.90, pack of 16 – Eur 35.90, pack of 24 – Eur 49.90, pack of 40 – Eur 79.90 and pack of 100 – Eur 179.90

Active Patch 4U versus a AA battery

Treatment

These patches are based on an acupuncture principal and so you usually need between three and four patches for any treatment. The Active Patch 4U website has an excellent self help zone for guidance in how to use and apply the patches. They are primarily for joint and muscle problems.

Here is list of typical applications.

Ankle, Knee, Hip, Hands, Elbow, Shoulder, Lumber Region, Cervical Region and Dorsal Region.

The Active Patch 4U team have enlisted a series of well known trail and ultra running athletes to lead the way in testing the patches. Kilian Jornet, Emelie Forsberg, Ricky Lightfoot, Tim Olson, Anton Krupicka, Anna Frost, Julien Chorier, Stevie Kremer and Francois d’Haene to name but a few. What would be really interesting is to see if mainstream athletics such as track and field would start to use the patches and endorse them?

Field Test

Treatments – I have used the patches on several occasions for the following issues.

• Discomfort linked to the stability of the ankle
• Discomfort in the calf
• Discomfort on the top of the foot and toes
• Discomfort in the hamstrings

Application of the patches was followed as per the website diagrams. I am a great believer that health is all in the mind, so a sort of placebo effect is important. If you invested several pounds in the patches you have to believe in their success. I would also advocate that the patches are used as part of a holistic approach to healing. You cannot just rely on sticking a few patches on and think that in a day or two it will go away. Seek and use other healing processes whether that is stretching, physiotherapy or just even rest.

In all my cases, the injury was resolved within a few days. What did I like about these patches? They are easy to carry around with you if you are traveling, they last for at least five days quite well even after being soaked in showers everyday and that does not detract from their stickiness.

There is a whole other facet to these patches in their use as preventive treatment. To date, I have not done this but as I have had recurrent ankle injuries I am going to embark on some preventative measures with the patches and see the outcome. The trouble with this is that there are so many variables that one could not for sure really attribute it to just the patches. But surely that is what it is about? , these patches are part of an armoury you can use to prevent, treat and have a successful running career and isn’t that what everyone is seeking!!

Latest update : December 2014 – With a another, this time left leg, hamstring issue and some physiotherapy and rehabilitation exercises done without total success I am now embarking on some patch treatment. I believe in these little patches so will be aiming to get back to training in very early January 2015.

All images are copyright Ian Campbell – Photography