TRAIL RUNNING ACROSS YELLOWSTONE
OCTOBER 2017 / ISSUE 123
FAST & FEMALE
SUMMER RACING HIGHLIGHTS
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ONE DIRTY MAGAZINE
FALL SHOES TESTED TOUGH
ROUGHING IT EURO STYLE ON THE TOUR DU MONT-BLANC ROUTE
HOSPITAL TO HARDROCK
ADAM CAMPBELL RECOUNTS HIS HORRIFIC FALL AND YEAR OF RECOVERY
SELF MASSAGE FOR FASTER RECOVERY 3 WAYS TO MAINTAIN RUNNING CONSISTENCY MEDITATION: WHY 4 TOP TRAIL RUNNERS USE IT
$5.99 US $6.99 CAN DISPLAY THROUGH NOVEMBER
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FAV O R I T E T R A I L
Bannock/Mary’s Saddle Trails
Grand Targhee Resort, Idaho Photographer: Fred Marmsater Runner: Anton Krupicka, 34, of Boulder, Colorado. Trail Beta: Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Idaho offers just as much fun in the summer as in the winter. The threemile Bannock Trail climbs nearly 2,000 feet to the top of the resort, where runners are awarded with epic views of the iconic Tetons from the western side. Continue along the rolling ridge of Fred’s Mountain to Mary’s Saddle for a few more miles of perfect singletrack. For the more ambitious trail runner, Grand Targhee is just the launch point, providing access to many more miles of ridgeline before summiting Table Mountain or dropping into Teton Canyon and climbing up to Hurricane Pass in Grand Teton National Park. Season: Summer through early fall. Information: www.grandtarghee.com/activitiesevents/summer-activities/hiking-trail-running
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Running Wild
Traversing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in defense of public lands. By Zach Altman Photos by Seth Langbauer
The Alps in High Style
Running hut to hut on the famed Tour du MontBlanc route. By Doug Mayer Photos by PatitucciPhoto
EXPLORE
PERFORM
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14
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06
2017 kicks off the inaugural Trail Runner Winter Warrior Race Series.
Overcome three common obstacles to improve your running consistency.
favorite trail
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making tracks
The story of my “almost-full” recovery after a horrendous fall in the Canadian Rockies. By Adam Campbell
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PEOPLE
editor’s note
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A Long, Hard Road Back to Hardrock
OCTOBER 2017 / ISSUE 123 DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
CONTENTS
12
faces
One runner’s journey back to the trails—and a 100miler—after a traumatic brain injury.
By Reagan Colyer
take your mark
By Emily McIlroy
great escapes
Exploring Vancouver Island’s Juan de Fuca Trail.
By Mara Johnson-Groh
everyman’s exposed
GEAR
46
When an ultra comes down to seconds—twice.
Among these nine new (or newly upgraded) trailrunning shoes, there’s a “perfect match” for anyone.
By Claire Walla
trail tips
Mindful meditation can make you a better runner.
By Ashley Arnold
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20
62
last gasp
By Elinor Fish
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16
health
trail tested
By Ariella Gintzler
trail rx
Why self massage works to improve your recovery.
By Joe Uhan
COVER: Kelly Halpin near the top of Mary's Nipple at Grand Targhee Resort, Idaho. PHOTO BY FRED MARMSATER THIS PAGE: High-country heaven on a “hutpacking” adventure on Europe's Tour du Mont-Blanc route. PHOTO BY PATITUCCIPHOTO
TRAIL
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Stepping Up
U.S. runners dominate abroad
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I didn’t run track or cross country in high school. I wasn’t fast and disliked the stress of races that came down to fractions of a second. But on August 11, when Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs went 1-2 at the recent IAAF World Championship Steeplechase in London—the first time that Americans of either gender had medaled in a World Championship Steeplechase event—I couldn’t help but pay attention. The headlines peppered my Facebook newsfeed. Coworkers came to my desk to ask if I had seen “the video.” Indeed, as I watched Coburn and Frerichs overtaking Kenyan favorite Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi, my stomach turned somersaults, and I had to suppress a yelp of excitement as they collapsed in tears at the finish. In the U.S., track and road running capture the lion’s share of public attention. Trail races, on the other hand, are low-key affairs. Many people who aren’t affiliated with the sport have only vague notions of what trail running is. Most probably have no idea that there is such a thing as world-championship-level trail running, let alone that Americans won seven medals at it this year, in performances arguably as impressive as Coburn and Frerichs’. On July 29, in an event much-less publicized than the one in London, four American women ran their way to a team gold medal at the World Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy. The men earned team bronze, and the junior girls silver. Junior racers Lauren Gregory and Talon Hull also earned individual bronze medals. One week later, on those same Premana trails, Kasie Enman took silver in the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships. The men’s team earned silver as well. Collectively, it was the largest U.S. medal haul in World Mountain Running Championship history. Also this summer, Megan Kimmel won the highly competitive Marathon du Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. Max King placed third behind Kilian Jornet and Stian Angermund-Vik. A month later, Kimmel would win and set a course record at the High Trail Vanoise Skyrace in Val d’Isere, France (“Fast and Female,” page 10). King would claim third at Sierre-Zinal. In Europe, those races were met with the same fervor as the Steeplechase was here at home. Spectators lined the trails, holding out their hands as if the runners were rock stars. Will the day come when ESPN headlines about medal-winning U.S. Mountain Running teams are catching the eyes of non-trailrunners in the United States? Perhaps it will never go that far, because race results are not the end-all-be-all of trail running. By its very nature, running on the trails is about much more than finishing time. TR 6
OCTOBER 2017
ONE DIRTY MAGAZINE
EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER / Duane Raleigh draleigh@bigstonepub.com EDITOR / Michael Benge mbenge@bigstonepub.com ASSISTANT EDITOR / Ariella Gintzler agintzler@bigstonepub.com COLUMNS EDITOR / Alison Osius aosius@bigstonepub.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS / Yitka Winn, Sarah Lavender Smith, David Roche, Garett Graubins, Bryon Powell, Rickey Gates, Meghan Hicks, Doug Mayer, Jenn Shelton, Alex Kurt EDITORIAL INTERN / Emily McIlroy intern@trailrunnermag.com
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ART DIRECTOR / Randall Levensaler rlevensaler@bigstonepub.com CREATIVE ASSISTANT / Adrienne Lee Russell arussell@bigstonepub.com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ Quent Williams qw@bigstonepub.com
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WARNING! The activities described in Trail Runner carry a significant risk of personal injury or death. DO NOT participate in these activities unless you are an expert, have sought or obtained qualified professional instruction or guidance, are knowledgeable about the risks involved, and are willing to assume personal responsibility for all risks associated with these activities. TRAIL RUNNER MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND REGARDING THE CONTENTS OF THIS MAGAZINE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. Trail Runner further disclaims any responsibility for injuries or death incurred by any person engaging in these activities. Use the information contained in this magazine at your own risk, and do not depend on the information contained in this magazine for personal safety or for determining whether to attempt any climb, route or activity described herein. The views herein are those of the writers and advertisers; they do not necessarily reflect the views of Trail Runner’s ownership.
• Manuscripts, photographs and correspondence are welcome. Unsolicited materials should be accompanied by return postage. Trail Runner is not responsible for unsolicited materials. All manuscripts and photos are subject to Trail Runner’s terms, conditions and rates • Please allow up to 6 weeks for the first issue after subscribing or a change of address (to expect continuous service). No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. © Copyright 201 7 by Big Stone Publishing Ltd.
OCTOBER 2017
7
PEOPLE
MAKING TR ACKS
Fast and Female
Women dominating the race scene This summer, a handful of women won races outright. Still others set course records and FKTs. Here are the highlights.
Anna Mae Flynn
Four Pass Loop FKT and a Course Record at Speedgoat 50K On July 18, Anna Mae Flynn, 30, of Marble, Colorado, set a new women’s FKT on the Four Pass Loop, a 28-mile route through the iconic Maroon Bells Wilderness. Her time of 5 hours 38 minutes 29 seconds was roughly 24 minutes faster than the previous record. (continued on page 10) Anna Mae Flynn left it all out there at the brutal Speedgoat 50K, Snowbird, Utah.
MYKE HERMSMEYER
BY ARIELLA GINTZLER
MAKING TR ACKS
(continued from page 8) “I didn’t set out with the goal of setting an FKT,” says Flynn. “But when we summited the third pass, I decided to run the rest without stopping and see if I could break six hours.” Two weeks later, Flynn won and set a new course record at Utah’s Speedgoat 50K, besting the standing record by 20 minutes.
Megan Kimmel
Win and Course Record at High-Trail Vanoise Skyrace
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Megan Kimmel, 37, of Carbondale, Colorado, logged back-to-back wins at the Marathon du Mont Blanc and the 70K High Trail Vanoise in Val d’Isére, France. “I hope [my wins] illustrate that there are true mountain runners in the U.S.A. that are excited to be part of a global unity,” she says.
Rory Bosio
Overall Win at Tahoe Rim Trail 50 On July 15, Rory Bosio, 32, of Truckee, California, won the TRT 50 outright.
atlassnowshoe.com
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Bosio has been a vociferous proponent of gender equality in ultrarunning. “Ultrarunning is one of the few sports where women are competitive with men,” Bosio says. “However, our accomplishments should not be diminished if we aren’t on the same podium.”
Francesca Muccini First Overall at Vol State 500K
This year, Francesca Muccini, 49, of Nashville, Tenessee, became the second woman to win overall at the Vol State 500K, a race across the length of Tennesse concoted by BarkleyMarathons mastermind Gary Cantrell (aka “Lazarus Lake”). “Laz says that ‘the heart of the Vol State is ordinary people performing extraordinary feats,’” she says. “I wanted to accomplish that.”
Keely Henninger
Third Overall and a Women’s Course Record at Mount Hood 50 On July 8, Keely Henninger, 25, of Portland, Oregon, crashed the overall podium at the Mount Hood 50, finishing in 6 hours 46 minutes 11 seconds— good for third place. “Third-place overall was an awesome addition, and gained me more ‘you go girls’ than I would have gotten being fourth overall,” she says. “But it didn’t change a whole lot otherwise.” T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
RANDALL LEVENSALER
PEOPLE
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PEOPLE
FA C E S
and tired, Kristin decided to shower before heading to bed, hoping she’d feel better in the morning. She stepped into the shower, tilted her head back under the water and passed out. She came to almost immediately, shaken.
BY REAGAN COLYER
Through the Fog
One runner’s journey back to the trails—and a 100-miler—after a traumatic brain injury
A
400-mile bike tour from Vienna to Venice was Kristin Gablehouse’s idea of a perfect vacation with her cyclist husband. The pair had been planning and saving for the twoweek trip for years, and the 37-year-old, experienced trail runner was in the best shape of her life when they left their Boulder, Colorado, home in August 2015. The first few days of the trip went just as planned: they biked in a small group, mostly along country roads, heading south through Austria. Then on day six, nearly halfway to Venice, a dog darted out of a nearby driveway directly in the path of Gablehouse’s front tire. “The crash happened so fast I didn’t even take my hands off the handlebars,” 12
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Gablehouse says. “It was full impact on my head. But I kept saying, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine, we have to finish.’” But, sitting on the side of the road, she couldn’t see. She couldn’t stand. She figured she was in shock, but her companions insisted she go the hospital. Seeing no fractures, though, doctors told her she was free to go. Dirty, sweaty
A Colorado native and the only girl between two brothers, Kristin had been a runner and cyclist for years before the European trip. She had run cross country in high school, and gotten back into running while doing a rotation as a veterinarian at Washington State University. She fell in love with the trails of Moscow Mountain just across the Idaho border, calling it her escape. Later, a friend suggested a 25K trail race. Gablehouse was immediately hooked, stepping up to a trail marathon, and then races as long as 50K and 50 miles. Months before her accident, Gablehouse had set a goal to run the Run Rabbit Run 100-miler in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in September 2016, but her injury had completely derailed her training. In fact, she didn’t know if she’d ever run again. After returning home, she suffered two blood clots in her lower legs, and knew she’d need to keep moving to prevent another, but therapists told her not to raise T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
JOSHUA LAWTON
Kristin Gablehouse came back from a brain injury to run a 100-miler, but her battle continues.
Gablehouse finished the bike trip from Vienna to Venice, but, still feeling off back home, had a CT scan, which came back clear. A concussion maybe, her doctor said, but nothing to be too concerned about. “It was terrifying, though, that feeling of knowing something was very wrong,” Gablehouse says. “I slept as much as possible, but I had migraines every day and was nauseous and confused.” In November 2015, three months after the accident, a neurotrauma doctor diagnosed Gablehouse with a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). The difficulty with TBI, says Gablehouse, is its subtlety. “When someone’s been in a horrific crash and has to learn to walk and talk again, people can grasp that something’s different,” she says. “But when I look totally normal, it doesn’t make sense to people that I can’t go get groceries, and I can’t drive long distances. It doesn’t make sense even to me.”
FA C E S
her heart rate over 120 beats per minute. So she walked. At first, she could barely shuffle around the block. But after a couple of months, she added intervals of jogging: a few yards at a time gradually grew into a mile or two. “It made me feel alive again,” she says. “It made me feel like I could keep going.” Mapping out her training, Gablehouse realized she could still conservatively increase her mileage enough to be ready to race in September. By summer of 2016, Gablehouse had worked up to 60-mile weeks. Gradually, that increased to 80. Then, the taper began for Run Rabbit Run. Kristin never lost her resolve, but she had doubts. “I really thought by going that far and staying up all night, my brain would just start melting,” she says. She started the race according to the plan she’d worked out with her coach: slow and steady. For 80 miles, it worked.
She ran through the night, stopping under a full moon to turn off her headlamp and gaze at the stars. It was meditative, transcendental, she says. But in the last 20 miles, a nagging ankle injury flared up and made running nauseatingly painful. Josh, who often acts as part of her crew, came out to join her. Using him as a crutch, Kristin ran flat sections and walked the hills. They lost a lot of time, and the 36-hour cutoff loomed. When they reached the top of Mount Werner and looked down toward the finish in Steamboat Springs three miles away, they had just over half an hour to get there. “I just stopped for a minute and thought of the whole year of recovery, and everything that we’d been through,” Gablehouse says. “And I just said, ‘OK, we’re doing this.’” Her brother and some friends hiked up to meet them as they descended toward Steamboat. With a mile and a half to go and 35 minutes to get there, a few more
PEOPLE
friends joined them. And, with just 14 minutes to spare, she crossed the line. “We were all crying by the time we finished,” Gablehouse says. “I just sat there, wondering, ‘How the hell did I run those last few miles?’” Recovering over the next couple days, she wondered if the race had somehow “fixed her.” But soon, her TBI symptoms crept back. Now, two years post-crash, Gablehouse continues to make gradual improvements, but she still can’t drive at night or for longer than 45 minutes at a time. She continues vision therapy to help with reading and with motion sensitivity, and has so far only been able to manage a few short shifts back in the veterinary clinic where she works, just outside of Boulder. “With the brain stuff, it’s hard to see some of the improvements,” she says. “But with running, you can see those measurable changes. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.” TR
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TA K E Y O U R M A R K
Winter Warrior Highlight Races Post Oak Challenge
DISTANCES: 50K, marathon, 25K, halfmarathon, quarter-marathon DATES: February 23-25, 2018 LOCATION: Tulsa, Oklahoma The event is spread over three full days. “The course is run through hills and valleys with two great views of Tulsa city landscape and the Oklahoma Botanical Garden,” says race director Johnny Spriggs.
Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run DISTANCES: 50K, 20-mile, 10K DATE: February 24, 2018 LOCATION: Kansas City, Kansas
BY EMILY MCILROY
Don’t Hang Up Your Race Shoes Yet!
2017 kicks off the inaugural Trail Runner Winter Warrior Race Series
W
inter can can mean only one thing: tuck away your running shoes and strap on your skis, right? Wrong! In fact, in many parts of the country, winter is when trail running is at its best. To celebrate the fact that trail running is a year-round sport, we are proud to introduce our new Trail Runner Winter Warrior Race Series, featuring 48 trail races from January 1 through February 28. The series will feature races in four categories—10K, half-marathon, marathon and ultra—from all across the country, divided into three regions: east, central and west. From the cool hardwoods and dirt trails of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to the canyons and slickrock ledges of Moab, Utah, there is truly something here for every kind of runner. Points are awarded per race—each race earns one point, with additional points for podium finishes (Info: trailrunnermag.com/winter-warrior-series). Top male and female warriors in each distance category will also be awarded prizes. The Grand Prize, entry in and travel to the TransRockies Run (a six-day stage race from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, Colorado, valued at $2,000), goes to the runner who completes the most races in the most regions. TR 14
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Everglades Ultra
DISTANCES: 50-mile, 50K, 25K DATES: February 17, 2018 LOCATION: Fakahatchee Strand Preserve,
Florida
“People have seen panthers, bears, deer, bobcat, rare Florida mink, turkey and a huge assortment of wading and other bird species too numerous to mention,” says race director Bob Becker. “Oh, and probably a gator or two!”
The Duel
DISTANCES: Marathon, half-marathon, 10K DATES: January 20, 2018 LOCATION: Wichita Falls, Texas
Trail runners and road runners can mingle at The Duel. Not only is there a trail race in the river corridor of the Wichita River, there is also a race on paved city trails.
Arches Ultra
DISTANCES: 50-mile, 50K, half-marathon, 9K DATES: January 27, 2018 LOCATION: Moab, Utah
“The course runs along the border of Arches National Park, so the views are outstanding,” says race director Justin Hicks. “The beauty of the area makes it easy to forget that you are running a long way, because you are so entranced by the vistas.” T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
CHRIS HUNTER
Justin Hicks and Sonja Glaser pound out miles along the red, slickrock ledges of the Arches Ultra course.
Even your dog can race. “All dogs are chiptimed, and receive finisher medals and finisher awards in their own canine division,” says race director Ben Holmes.
Joe Grant | zion, ut | fred marmsater photo
h2o gps bpm fkt the spin
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G R E AT E S C A P E S
Juan de Fuca Trail Vancouver Island, B.C. Vancouver Island receives heavy rains throughout the winter. Temperatures in the 40s can make for a chilling run. Fall offers ideal temps, and rain is rare from June through August. Whales are most commonly seen in March and April, though be prepared for extra mud.
WHERE TO STAY
Running among the tide pools of Botanical Beach, the 29-mile Juan de Fuca Trail’s northern terminus.
BY MARA JOHNSON-GROH
Stepping into Adventure
Exploring Vancouver Island’s Juan de Fuca Trail
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t’s a brisk May morning and I stand at the southern terminus of the Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, double-checking the contents of my hydration pack. Everything is in place, so I stride off into the forest. 16
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China Beach Campground, just down the road from the China Beach Trailhead, is a good base for an early morning departure. If you’re running north to south, the Pacheedaht Campground just outside of Port Renfrew offers scenic beach camping, and the town of Port Renfrew also has several hotels and lodges that cater specifically to hikers and runners.
GET THERE
Fly directly into Victoria or opt for the scenic route via ferry, which runs to Victoria daily from
Seattle, Vancouver and the Olympic Peninsula. If you’re traveling over a holiday, especially in summer, be sure to book ahead. From Victoria, the China Beach Trailhead is only an hour drive, via Highway 1 to Highway 14.
OTHER TRAILS
The Juan de Fuca is a popular local testpiece, but runners don’t even have to leave British Columbia’s capital city, Victoria, for a bit of trail time. The greater Victoria area beckons runners with trailheads accessible from within the city as well as larger trail networks accessible within a half-hour drive, all well maintained by local volunteers.
PLAY TOURIST
Relax into “island time” in Victoria, British Columbia’s capital. Check out the Royal BC Museum for a taste of local cultural and natural history, take a walk by the Inner Harbour or sample one of the many lively restaurants downtown.
T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
RICH WHEATWR
WHEN TO GO
Š2017 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries
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G R E AT E S C A P E S
In late 1800s, locals built a path here to allow shipwrecked sailors to make their way through the dense coastal forests back to civilization. Today the trail is a natural playground. into games of hopscotch; and 10-foot tides swallow whole portions of the trail every few hours.
The Trail
The Sombrio Beach suspension bridge.
Ten feet in front of me, the trail disappears under a slick of mud. I pick my way across, jumping from log to log. One log twists and suddenly I find myself ankle deep in rich, black muck. Traversing along the east coast of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, the 29-mile Juan de Fuca Trail is known for both its stunning scenery and challenging terrain. Luckily, today the sun is shining steadily down through the forest canopy.
A History of Adventure
The mounta inous, 285 -m i le-long Vancouver Island casts a tall, green silhouette over the Pacific waters, with hulking, tree-covered peaks rising up from the shoreline. The Juan de Fuca Trail, on the island ’s southern edge, meanders t h ro u g h ol d- g row t h fo re s t a nd 18
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beachfront along the Juan de Fuca Strait, a passage sandwiched between Vancouver Island and Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The trail was created over t wo decades ago by Parks Canada with the intention of becoming part of the Trans Canada Trail. However, the route has been in use for much longer than that: in the late 1800s, locals built a path here to allow shipwrecked sailors to make their way through the dense coastal forests back to civilization. Today the trail is a natural playground to rival any obstacle-course race. It runs from China Beach to Botanical Beach, with two other access points in between, traversing up and down from ridgeline to shoreline. The trail is dotted with waterfalls, hidden grottos, beaches and dizzying suspension bridges. Sea lions often play in the surf and whales breach in the strait; muddy areas turn
Towering Douglas Firs and Western Hemlock stand like cathedral pillars over a covering of thick, vibrant moss. Turning a corner, I feel like I’ll run into a dinosaur, not a whitetailed deer. The trail is rugged and I place my feet carefully, avoiding the sprawling roots and patchy mud as I make my way along the switchbacks up a steep ridge. Reaching the top, I can see the glistening blue ocean far below. I stop to mark the view with a quick snack before heading down the far side. By midday I emerge onto Sombrio Beach, the second access point, 18 miles in. Long ago, this area was home to a fishing village of the Pacheedaht First Nations, whose name directly translates as “children of the sea foam.” These days the beach is home to surfers, particularly in the winter when storms bring in big waves off the Pacific. I’m tempted to stop here a nd hitchhike back to China Beach, but I know the trail eases up, and the last stretch is one of the most interesting. Botanical Beach, the trail’s northern terminus, is dotted by tide pools with a wealth of colorful starfish, sea anemone and camouflaged chiton—a type of mollusk that has been around since the dinosaurs. I arrive as the light is just beginning to fade, and hitch a ride into nearby Port Renfrew, for a hot meal and a cold drink at the local pub. TR T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
“Think summer camp for grown-ups,
But with more trail running.”
FIND YOUR NEXT DVENTIRE AT
- Trail Runner Magazine
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E VERYM AN’S EXPOSED
Sunset skies and speedy singletrack. Teddy Nolan cruises through the Indian Peaks Wilderness, outside of Nederland, Colorado. PHOTO BY WILL MCKAY
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T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
RORY BOSIO
ENDURANCE RUNNER
FREE YOUR RUN WITH TRUE WIRELESS MUSIC True Wireless Sport Headphones SECURE-FIT | SWEAT-PROOF | CUSTOM SOUND
JAYBIRDSPORT.COM
running wild Traversing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Defense of Public Lands
Story by Zach Altman / Photos by Seth Langbauer
Taking advantage of the cool morning to cover some ground in the Lamar Valley.
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T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
“Birds make great sky circles with their freedom. How do they do that? They fall. And in falling, they are gifted wings.” —Rumi
ONE DIR T Y M A G A ZINE
OCTOBER 2017
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ABOVE: The author, followed by Dave Laufenberg and Anthony Pavkovich, leads the charge across Yellowstone National Park on the fourth day.
D
ave recited these words as we stood in the hopeful, golden light of a cool summer morning. Anthony Pavkovich, Dave Laufenberg, both 29, and I, 24, had convened on Anthony’s lawn in Bozeman, Montana. Everything we would need for the coming week was in coolers and plastic bins: stoves, water tanks, cameras, tents and bedding, maps, running vests, several pairs of running shoes each, food, gels and chews and more books than time would possibly allow. We were preparing for what would amount to our greatest and most challenging adventure: a seven-day, 236-mile traverse of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). We stood within a circle of friends who had gathered to see us off on our journey from Bozeman to Red Lodge, Montana. “Guys, shall we go for a jog?” Anthony said, a sardonic grin on his face. It felt laughable, in light of how enormous this trip would be. The three
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of us were embarking on this journey to celebrate the wonderful public lands in our backyard; by showcasing the scale and beauty of the GYE, we hoped to help ensure its continued existence. Anthony possesses a level-headed sureness about adventure pursuits and an objective understanding of others’ abilities, in addition to his own. This likely stems from his mountaineering background, where he developed the ethic of moving fast and light, eventually trading the heavy packs of climbing gear for a pair of running shoes. With or without a heavy pack, Anthony is a fantastic mule. After bamboozling me to join his wild scheme, Anthony recruited Dave, whom I met last fall at a courthouse rally supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota, a community that was resisting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across their tribal lands. A native of the backwoods of Wisconsin, Dave spent two years as a naturalist guide in Yellowstone National Park,
and is now working on a Master’s degree in the Ecology Department at Montana State University, studying white-bark pine in the GYE. With his lanky frame, glasses and a permanent grin fixed on his bearded face, Dave possesses the knowledge of a landscape ecologist and is shaped by a deep emotional intelligence. He can also make you laugh, no matter how bad the situation. He’s a good guy to have in the backcountry.
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he next morning, as the sun was rising, we summited Hyalite Peak, the pyramid-shaped keystone of the northern Gallatins. To the north rested our starting point, the city of Bozeman, already a shimmering image in the early heat trapped in the valley. “It feels so good to be out!” I yelled into the wind. The Gallatins are our home range, a family of snow-capped peaks, jagged and familiar. Still
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blessed with fresh legs, we gazed optimistically to the south at the 30 more miles of high-alpine ridgeline that we would run before meeting our crew at the first camp. “You guys see those goats?” Anthony said, pointing to the scattered white specks below a cliff band. I continued running the undulating ridgeline past alpine wildflowers toward Anthony, who was snapping photos. I squinted at the specks. “I think those are rocks, bud.” We laughed. This isn’t the first time we’ve identified wildlife, only to later discover a pile of boulders. After descending the backside of Hyalite Peak, Dave waded out into the waist-deep waters of Crater Lake. He sported a navy-blue shirt, dark sunglasses and a big straw hat, large enough to be considered a sombrero. “This is gonna be a good week for swimming,” he said, as Anthony and I sat patiently on the shore in a swarm of black flies.
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his trip came to its final form on the steps of the Montana State Capitol Building in Helena, on January 30, 2017. Accompanied by 1,000
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With his lanky frame, glasses and a permanent grin fixed on his bearded face, Dave possesses the knowledge of a landscape ecologist and is shaped by a deep emotional intelligence. He can also make you laugh, no matter how bad the situation. He’s a good guy to have in the backcountry. other Montanans, Anthony, Dave and I crammed into the chambers of the Capitol to rally against the sale or transfer of public lands. The decorative marble floor and balconies overflowed with people representing a variety of user groups: hunters, anglers, hikers and motorized users. To this day, the words of Governor Steve Bullock, his face red and the veins in his neck bulging with the exertion of delivering his passionate speech, still ring in my ears, “These lands are our heritage!” In order to celebrate our backyard federal public lands and highlight the factors that make them so significant, Anthony had designed a route through the GYE that would put us near a crew-accessible campsite each night,
allowing us to travel light and fast. The GYE is the largest relatively intact swath of wild country remaining in the contiguous United States. It is a 20-million-acre mosaic of land, which is largely publicly owned. The GYE provides crucial habitat to some of North America’s most iconic megafauna: grizzly bears, wolves, moose, bison, elk, mountain lions and wolverines. The region is also host to a myriad of geologic processes, with the Yellowstone Caldera taking center-stage as a powerhouse to the largest concentration of geysers in the world. In the high country, there are numerous fast-retreating, alpine glaciers alongside crystalclear lakes, vestiges of a time when most of the GYE was covered in glacial ice. It is an untamed place. The wilderness asserted itself immediately. After six hours, we rolled into camp on the first evening, as a heavy thunderstorm cracked open. While most of the crew huddled in the cold like penguins beneath a large popup tent, Seth, our project photographer, was crouched in a smaller adjacent tarp nearby, shooting the scene. “Feels like I’m in the servant’s quarters,” he joked.
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The crew chases the morning light toward Bighorn Peak.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
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he next major segment was in the northern section of Yellowstone National Park (YNP). On day three, 10 miles in from any trailhead, we stood on the shore of Sportsman Lake, tucked into one of the most remote regions in the park. During the 1988 fires that ravaged most of YNP, the area surrounding Sportsman Lake was consumed by the flames. In the midday heat, over 90 miles into the trip, I looked up at our
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final big climb of the day: three miles with 2,500 feet of climbing through hot, exposed, charred-skeleton forest to a rocky ridge. Amid a relentless swarm of black flies, we filled up our water and marshaled upward. Cresting the climb, we dropped into a lush drainage to find our support crew, who had hiked 10 miles to deliver snacks and positive energy. Dave, as usual, immediately parked himself in the stream, happily drinking a PBR; however, the giddiness from exhaustion, heat and good company had me feeling intoxicated enough.
“My, how life can change in just a few miles,” I said, sitting in the shade in a state of Oreo- and coconut-water-induced euphoria. Just a few miles later, though, my high spirits deflated. My feet had become very tender, and soon I slowed to a walk. Fortunately, Anthony and Dave didn’t seem to mind. In the soft, evening light, we plodded into the parking lot of Mammoth Hot Springs, where we were met by friends from nearby Gardiner, just outside the park. We hopped in their vehicle for a ride to
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Sitting in our friend’s living room, I studied my feet. The bottoms were bony white, and the rock-hard surface was splitting open like a peach. I could barely walk across the room, and tomorrow would be our biggest day of the week—44 miles across the hottest section of the park.
town, where bison burgers awaited. Sitting in our friend’s living room, I studied my feet. The bottoms were bony white, and the rock-hard surface was splitting open like a peach. I could barely walk across the room, and tomorrow would be our biggest day of the week—44 miles across the hottest section of the park. As I contemplated my ability to continue, Anthony swore under his breath, trying to close his duffel bag, visibly exhausted. Dave discussed tomorrow’s logistics with the crew, hovered over maps on a table. Our 3 a.m. wakeup call came too
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soon. Fortunately, my feet looked better, and I taped them up. Even just a few hours of rest can do wonders for morale, and we were optimistic on the drive back to the trailhead. Trotting through the tunnel vision of our headlamps along a plateau scented with sagebrush and juniper, Anthony attempted to bolster our spirits: “After today, our mileage will taper. Things will get better.” “44 miles? I could limp that!” Dave replied, in a faux-southern drawl. A few miles later, in the faint predawn light, we saw two figures
running towards us. It was Seth and Tianse, a filmmaker who is documenting the trip for Done With It Productions. “Woohee!” Hoots and hollers echoed in the darkness. The friendly faces breathed new life into our spirits. In a pack, we ran across the suspension bridge above the raging Yellowstone River. In the film, Tianse will cover a growing environmental threat to the communities along the Yellowstone River, as well as the threat to public lands surrounding Yellowstone National Park. For the past several years, a Canada-based mining company, Lucky Minerals, has been working to open a gold mine in Emigrant Gulch, a tributary of the Yellowstone River. And in July 2017, despite widespread opposition from local communities and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC), the Montana Department of Environmental Quality approved Lucky Mineral’s exploratory drilling project, a significant step in the development of the mine. That same week, U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, which would permanently withdraw the mineral rights from 30,000 acres of public land in the area, received a
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CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: Anthony waits patiently to get back on the move; traversing the prairie across Yellowstone National Park on the fourth day; psyching for the home stretch; Dave’s standard running kit.
Within the dark tunnel of discomfort, the presence of the Beartooth Mountains, our final section of the trip, offered healing power. Surrounded by high peaks of polished white granite, we rested on the edge of an alpine lake, still iced over and framed by snow drifts in the middle of July. hearing with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “I have never seen [legislation] move this fast,” says Darcie Warden, the Montana Conservation Coordinator for the GYC. A committee hearing is the first step for a bill to become a law. We continued through the heat of the day, crossing the dry prairie like a herd of elk, careful to give
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the occasional lone bull bison ample distance as we passed. “A few more miles and our longest day will be over,” Dave said, as, after 16 hours on the move, we forded the Lamar River, which weaved through the valley like a snake. Rejuvenated by the cooling dip, we started running again for the first time in over 12 hours, a small triumph.
BEARTOOTH PLATEAU
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t hurts!” I blurted, clenching my teeth. Anthony worked to relieve the pressure of my swollen shins, squeezing them like a tube of toothpaste. Within the dark tunnel of discomfort, the presence of the Beartooth Mountains, our final section of the trip, offered healing power. Surrounded by high peaks of polished white granite, we rested on the edge of an alpine
lake, still iced over and framed by snow drifts in the middle of July. A jagged range thoroughly dissected by glaciers, the Beartooths feature an abundance of alpine lakes. “One more huge hill,” said Anthony, as he massaged my aching shins. The final leg of our journey would bring us over the Red Lodge Plateau, a treeless, alien world offering no protection from the storm cells that frequently park themselves over the Beartooths. But, today, as we traversed hightundra landscape, the clouds clotted into an angry but benign grey mass. The high winds behind pushed us along and down into the mountain settlement of Red Lodge, population 2,200. Hobbling down the main drag, we were joined by our crew, now twodozen strong, for our final steps. I define home to be the places you can reach on foot from your front door. After seven days, 236 miles, and 42,000 vertical feet on very little sleep, my home had gotten bigger. Zach Altman is a writer and adventurer living in Bozeman, Montana. To learn more about the issues affecting the GYE and the upcoming film, visit commongroundmt.com.
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Pushing your limits
A LONG, HARD ROAD BACK TO HARDROCK The story of my “almost-full” recovery after a horrendous fall in the Canadian Rockies BY ADAM CAMPBELL The author on a jaunt on Heart Mountain, Canmore, Alberta.
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JOHN PRICE
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“Move! Move, please, move,” I pleaded to myself, as I lay there in a broken heap, willing my toes to wiggle. Suddenly, I felt them twitch. I was in intense pain, badly injured and in a serious, remote location, but a huge sense of relief poured over me.
Just four hours earlier, at around 6 a.m. on August 31, 2016, Nick Elson, Dakota Jones and I left the Illecillewaet Campground in Rogers Pass, British Columbia, to attempt the Horseshoe Traverse. A stunning, 35-mile crescentshaped alpine route that links 14 peaks, including the famous Northwest Ridge of Mount Sir Donald, the traverse involves knife-edge ridges, with glacier crossings, scrambling and 5th-class climbing. It is most definitely not a trail run; in fact, only the first and last couple of miles are on trails. Having spent time climbing, running and skiing in the “Pass,” as it is widely known, I had been drawn to the line for years. From what I could glean, the full traverse is not often climbed. The fastest time that I had seen was approximately 3.5 days. I thought it was possible for a team moving light and fast to complete the route in 24 hours. Fortunately, I had two of the best partners for a project of this nature. Nick Elson, a 33-year-old law student from Squamish, British Columbia, commonly known as the “Silent record breaker” or the “Fastest man you’ve likely never heard of,” is an accomplished alpinist with single-day ascents of the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland and The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite. Last summer he set the FKT on the infamous Teton Traverse in Wyoming. He is also a multiple-time winner of the Canadian Mountain Running Championship, has won the Squamish 50-miler, finished on the podium at the Mount Marathon Race in Seward, Alaska, and is a member of the Canadian Ski Mountaineering team. In short, he is a badass.
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I had been eyeing the weather for weeks, waiting for the perfect window. The break came at the end of August, with a weather forecast showing at least 72 hours of perfectly blue skies. That buffer gave us some contingency if things were to go wrong, or if we were a bit slower than anticipated. At 3 p.m. on August 30th, I arrived at the campground, where I found Dakota in the back of his Tacoma, reading. Nick rolled in much later that evening after enduring an eight-hour drive from Squamish. Over a meager dinner and a beer, we studied the route and sorted our gear, trimming it to the minimum to move safely and efficiently over the complex terrain. “I guess if we’re going to bring rope, we might as well bring some ‘pro’ to build rappel anchors,” said Nick in his casual but pensive tone. “I’m not sure what we’ll find in spots out there. The guidebook is short on details in places.” He furrowed his brow and ran his hands through his mullet-like hair, calculating and balancing the need for safety versus the added weight. We settled on a few pieces of climbing protection and two 30-meter ropes for rappels, glacier harnesses, lightweight crampons, ice axes, helmets, an InReach, headlamps, an emergency bivy sack, a map and a bit of food and water. Around dawn, we shouldered our packs and set
off. As the sun rose, we ran up a well-defined trail that switchbacked through dense, old-growth forest. After about 40 minutes of climbing we popped up into the alpine, left the trail and began to make our way up blocky terrain to the start of the ridge. The day was sunny and warm, with only a mild breeze. There was a slight morning haze. Above, the route horseshoed across the skyline in one seemingly giant, unbroken ridgeline. It looked perfect. We traversed the first four peaks smoothly. I envied Nick and Dakota’s ability to move comfortably over the technical terrain, with an almost goat-like sense about which rocks would be stable or not. They danced along the jagged rock features of the knife-edged ridges, entirely comfortable in the hostile alpine environment, while I felt like I was lumbering clumsily behind them, worrying that I was holding them back. They would scramble ahead to a peak, or a col between rock outcroppings and wait patiently for me to catch up.
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LAURA KOSAKOSKI
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Dakota Jones is a boyish-looking 26-year-old from Durango, Colorado, who needs no introduction to anyone who follows the sport of mountain ultrarunning. Despite his youth, he has had standout results in world-famous ultra races, including podium finishes at the Hardrock 100 and the North Face Endurance Challenge in San Francisco. Dakota grew up climbing and running around Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and can move with an efficiency and speed that belies his seemingly laid-back attitude.
The author on one of his first runs post-accident, Acontenango, Guatemala.
“This is amazing,” I said, as I scanned the horizon. “Canada isn’t too bad,” agreed Dakota as he looked out at the glaciated peaks. As we continued along the ridge, Nick and Dakota scampered up a near-vertical, blocky feature called the Eagle/ Sulzer Tower. It resembles a Lego tower with geometric shapes protruding out, making for excellent 4th-class scrambling. Nick, being the most competent climber amongst us, worked through some big blocks running directly toward the summit, with Dakota in tow and me about a minute behind.
Blindly trusting Nick’s route, I headed up. Suddenly, I heard a loud crack and smelled an almost sulphurous odor, as a refrigerator-sized block shifted under my gentle grasp. The rock pulled loose, striking me in the face and chest. Before I knew it, I was tumbling and bouncing down a series of steep rocky ledges. As I fell backwards, at the mercy of gravity and the terrain, a strange calm came over me. Was this really happening? I alternated between intense pain and fear as I struck ledges and rocks, contrasted with a feeling of floating and weightlessness as my feet cartwheeled over my head, the mountainous skyline flipped upside down. After rag dolling for 200 feet, I came to a stop, face down on a bed of sharp scree. Blood splattered the rocks underneath my face. I pushed myself up and rolled onto my back. My left ankle hurt and jutted sideways at a strange angle. There was a searing yet warm pain in my hip. There was a deep, dull ache in my back. I was bleeding from my head. Any tiny movement sent nauseating pain through my body.
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I envied Nick and Dakota’s ability to move comfortably over the technical terrain, with an almost goat-like sense about which rocks would be stable or not. Within 10 minutes, Nick and Dakota had scrambled down to me. I was strangely calm and coherent. “The InReach is in the main compartment of my pack,” I whimpered between bursts of pain. “My back and ankle are really sore, but I can move my toes.” Nick deployed the InReach, grabbed my cell phone and ran up to the last peak we’d climbed to call search and rescue. Dakota stayed with me, keeping me calm and holding my hand. He took out my puffy jacket and wrapped me in a bivy sack. “Everything going to be alright, man,” he said in a comforting way. “They’ll get you out of here.” I squeezed his hand in appreciation before screaming out in pain again.
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I drifted in and out of consciousness. Despite Nick and Dakota’s outward calm, the concern on their faces was palpable. With every micro movement, intense waves of pain rolled through my body. Soon, Nick made his way back to us and told us that help was on the way—fortunately, the well-respected Canadian Parks Search and Rescue team happened to be doing a training mission in the vicinity. I drifted in and out of consciousness. Despite Nick and Dakota’s outward calm, the concern on their faces was palpable. Trying to ease the tension a bit, I asked Dakota to take a picture of me. He seemed a bit taken aback, but obliged. Within 90 minutes, a rescue helicopter buzzed over our heads. Two rescuers long lined down to us, secured me in the rescue basket and slung me off the mountain to an awaiting air ambulance at the main road. The crew administered ketamine pain medication, and, as it kicked in, I recall fully disassociating from my body. I was flown to the closest trauma center, in Kamloops, British Columbia, about 250 miles away.
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Unfortunately, my body responded poorly to the trauma
of surgery and to the pain medications. My bowels stopped working. I developed a stomach ileus. I became grossly edematous, as my body swelled to a shocking size. I couldn’t eat for almost 10 days as the doctors tried various treatments to stop the pain and release my bowels—essentially, my muscles were catabolizing under my fluid-filled skin. The pain stopped me from being able to sleep, so I began to keep a journal and to sketch. It was an incredible emotional outlet. I needed it because I had never felt so vulnerable. I was incapable of doing even the most basic acts myself. I couldn’t control my paralyzed bowels and relied on the nursing staff and my family to clean my wounds and wipe up my shit- and urine-soaked sheets.
On my third day in the hospital, the physiotherapist came into my room and told me that I would have to work on my endurance just to be able to go to the bathroom. A few days before my accident I would have counted myself amongst the top mountain ultrarunners in the world. When I tried to stand for the first time, I collapsed into my walker. I began to cry. The reality of my situation struck me violently. Right then, I made a promise to myself. Like in an ultramarathon, I would break up my recovery into small, manageable chunks and celebrate any victory, no matter how small. I also vowed to express my gratitude to my amazing support network. About a week after my accident, my friends Cyrus
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JOHN PRICE
I came to in the post-op recovery room, a white, sterile environment. The room was full, and I instantly felt surrounded by love. Aside from the nursing staff, who would go on to be my silent guardian angels and caretakers, the group included my girlfriend, Laura Kosakoski, 31, who had flown in from Calgary, Alberta, my mother who had flown in from Victoria, British Columbia, Laura’s mom, who lives in Kamloops, as well as Nick and Dakota. Above the low, constant hum of hospital machines, my surgeon, in a heavy French-Canadian accent, laid out my injuries—I had broken my T8-T11 vertebrae, which were now held together by two metal rods; sheared off the top of my iliac-crest (hip) bone, which was pinned back together; and broken my ankle. I had lacerations down to the bone around my waist and across my body, including between every knuckle on both hands. He told me that I would likely make a full recovery. I didn’t know what a “full recovery” meant to him—did he know that I had finished on the podium of some of the hardest mountain ultras around the world, or that I had big ambitions to set FKTs in the Canadian Rockies and higher peaks in the coming years? Did he know that I had set Guinness and National records in road and trail running and won national championships in duathlon and ultrarunning? Did a “full recovery” mean I could compete at the highest levels of trail running again? Or did it mean that I would simply be able to walk again?
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: On a “backyard” run up Heart Mountain, outside Canmore; physiotherapist Dave Holland works on Campbell; Laura Kosakoski and the author, Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops, British Columbia.
ADAM CAMPBELL COLLECTION; WENDY SWINTON (FAR RIGHT)
(Kangarloo), “Lizzy” (Elizabeth Rose) and Brady (Dunne) came to visit me from Vancouver. I begged them to take me outside. They looked anxiously at the nurse, who nodded the OK. We made my wheelchair as plush as possible, surrounded by blankets and pillows, and they pushed me, along with all the cables and machines, through the halls. It felt like I was going on an adventure again. But every microscopic bump and crack sent shooting pain through my body. They wheeled me to a concrete courtyard with a few trees in it. I felt a cool breeze and sun on my skin. Then I promptly fell asleep.
With the help of my friends, family and the hospital staff, my first attempts to stand turned into a couple wobbly steps, then a few more. Ten days after my surgery, I walked around my ward two times, which was maybe 100 meters, and I began the process of learning how to walk up and down a set of steps. I fell asleep, exhausted after those efforts. One night, at some god-awful witching hour when my bowels kept me from sleeping, I was on my computer and noticed that the Hardrock 100 lottery applications were due. I have had the privilege of finishing third there twice, and love the people and the course. I hesitated, but decided to put my name in. It gave me hope. After a few weeks, my bowels started to slowly work again, the swelling that ravaged my body subsided and, on September 15th, 2016, two weeks after being admitted, I was wheeled out of the hospital. Laura, who is a medical resident, took time out of her
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program to help care for me, and my mom moved in with us to help as well. Laura and I began to go for daily walks, me pushing my walker slowly along the roads that meandered along the base of mountains. We would walk out to a view, bundle up from the chilly fall air and sit and sketch. Within a couple of weeks, my wounds had healed sufficiently to allow me go for floats in the local pool, mostly with the late-morning, senior-citizen crew. I also began doing more aggressive physiotherapy. As the time passed, my walker turned into two canes, then one, then I only used it for longer walks. Finally I began to walk under my own power. By the end of October, I went for my first hilly walk. My ankle could barely support me on the downhills and uneven terrain, but it felt incredible to work my way through the hills again. Hardrock was nine months away.
As the snow began to fly in the Canadian Rockies,
I dusted off and waxed my backcountry skis. The boots offered stability for my ankle, so on the first powder day of the season, Laura and I did an easy tour. It was my first time back in the alpine, about three months since my accident. Joy took over my whole body as I glided up the skin track. At the top, I eagerly ripped off my skins, locked out my bindings, pushed off for my first turn … and immediately fell. I wasn’t strong enough to support myself. Laura helped me to my feet, watching worriedly as I wobbled my way down. It wasn’t pretty, or smooth, but it was a start. During that time, I was invited to Vancouver to give a talk at a fundraiser for the North Shore Search and Rescue organization, hosted by famed Canadian ultrarunner Gary Robbins. I took the opportunity to drive out to Squamish, where I got to see Nick for the first time since the accident. I brought skis along, and we joined up for a tour. After a brief moment of driving to the trail in silence, I broke the ice. “Did you see me fall?” I asked. He paused for a moment, before answering, “I heard you yell and then turned and saw you falling,” he said solemnly. “What did you think?”
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When the going gets tough ... Nick Elson and Campbell, Hardrock 100, Silverton, Colorado. RIGHT: At the finish.
By December, I started to do some light jogging,
focusing on frequency and good movement, but it didn’t feel easy, or comfortable. One day, after a ski tour with Laura, my phone came alive with notifications. I was worried that something had happened, so I immediately picked it up—I had been accepted into Hardrock. “Holy shit!” I blurted out. “What’s happening?” asked Laura. “I just got into Hardrock!” I said with a mix of excitement and terror. We both looked at each other quizzically, wondering if perhaps I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew. I had seven months to get ready. During that time, I made the easy decision to propose to Laura. She had been a rock for me, and our life together had a remarkable ease and joy to it. Fortunately, she said yes and we booked a venue for the end of July, two weeks after Hardrock. Fighting hard to find some routine and normalcy again in my life, I returned to work as general counsel at an engineering firm at the end of October. My company
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had been fantastic through my recovery, keeping me on salary, and I felt like I owed it to them to return as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I came back too soon and wasn’t psychologically ready. I negotiated an unpaid leave of absence, which they graciously agreed to.
By April, I had a solid winter of ski touring under
my belt, and was running five or six days a week. I was feeling more confident that I might in fact be able to toe the line at Hardrock. I still hadn’t run 10 miles, but I was feeling less pain while running. My feet continued to have a tingling, nervy feel to them, something that I still experience. My back and hip were sore, and my body was incredibly slow to wake up in the mornings, but I was able to move with frequency and even, on occasion, with a bit of intensity. About four months out from Hardrock, I contacted Nick, Dakota and a good friend who had paced me at Hardrock in the past, Aaron Heidt, and I asked them if they would pace me at Hardrock in July. Without hesitation, they all said yes. I continued to focus on being conser vative and consistent in my training. I also reached out to the coach Jason Koop to help me add some structure to my training. We worked closely together over the following weeks. Our frequent conversations also helped give me confidence that I was on the right track to be able to finish a challenging 100-miler. About a month out from the race, I did a local testpiece in Canmore called the Canmore quad—a 32-mile route that
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RANDALL LEVENSALER
“I thought you were dead. It was a horrible and helpless feeling,” he said. “But when we got down to you and could hear you making noise and moving, it was an incredible feeling. I’ve had lots of training in mountain rescue, but nothing fully prepares you for the real thing. I used to always question why they had us memorize checklists and processes in simulations, but I get it now.”
“You have nothing to prove to anyone,” she said. “It’s incredible and inspiring to see you here. You’ve already won.”
involves running up four local peaks with over 17,000 feet of vertical and some technical terrain. It took me over 10 hours, but my body held up well.
FRED MARMSATER
On July 12th, 2017, 10.5 months after my accident, I
met up with my friends and crew in Silverton, Colorado. “It is so good to see you man,” said Dakota as he wrapped his arms around me. “So good.” It was also the first time that Nick and Dakota had seen each other since that fateful day the summer before. After catching up and brewing some coffee, we all sat around in the living room of the place I had rented. “I have to admit that it was pretty cool to get long lined under the helicopter,” confessed Dakota, almost guiltily. “Ha, I totally get it,” I said. “I was certain I was watching you die,” said Dakota. “But then it was such a relief to get down to you and find you weren’t paralyzed.” “So, did anyone else think it was crazy of me to sign up for this race?” I asked jokingly. “I did, and only booked my ticket here last week,” said Aaron with a wide smile on his face. I pulled out the course map, and we sorted out the logistics. Then we headed into the dusty streets of Silverton in search of pizza and a pre-race beer. On race morning, as I walked to the race start alone, I played the preceding months over and over again in my head. I was excited, nervous and scared. After signing in and saying the usual pre-race hellos, wishing people luck and frantically finding somewhere to go to the bathroom, I
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lined up near the front of the pack. It was a reflex. When the gun went off, the past few months of struggles, joys, pain, laughs and emotions washed over me and I began to cry for the first time of many throughout the day. As we made our way along the opening miles, I chatted casually with friends, as if nothing had changed. Suddenly two hours in, I was struck with a deep fatigue and I couldn’t keep up with lead runners anymore. I watched Kilian Jornet, Mike Foote, Jason Schlarb and Joe Grant run away from me with ease. As runners continued to stream by, Anna Frost, from New Zealand, a two-time Hardrock winner and a legend of the sport, ran past me, then suddenly stopped to give me a big hug. It was exactly what I needed. “You have nothing to prove to anyone,” she said. “It’s inspiring to see you here. You’ve already won.” As expected, the miles caught up with my body. After approximately 20 hours and 65 miles of moving almost nonstop, my ankle and foot began to hurt. With each step the pain worsened, and my pace slowed to a walk. Nick took over pacing duties, and we settled in for a long, slow night. I worried that I was doing serious damage to my foot, and as I approached every aid station I had a big debate with myself about why I was out there. I contemplated dropping out, but then I would see Nick, Dakota, Aaron and other friends and I gathered myself, took in some food and drink and made my way back down the trail. In the last 20 or so miles, I began to fall over with fatigue and pain, and my pace slowed even further. I was no longer able to run, and more and more runners easily passed me. Finally, after 33 hours of moving, I came to the final river crossing where all my friends were waiting. Crossing the river seemed to wash away the previous miles and I began to cry again, a full-body release of emotions, knowing that I would finish. Nick and Dakota joined me for the final two miles and we walked together to the finish, joking, laughing, hugging. As I rounded the corner into Silverton, I felt honored by the line of runners out there to cheer me on. I cried harder than I had in months. I hugged every person I could, and walked slowly past the finish line and kissed the rock. Adam Campbell is a mountain runner and lawyer based in the Canadian Rockies.
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Dan and Janine Patitucci running on the Tour du Mont-Blanc route, between Courmayeur and the Col Ferret, with views of the Mont Blanc massif, Italy.
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T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
The Alps in High Style RU NNING HUT TO HUT ON T H E T O U R D U M O N T- B L A N C By Doug Mayer Photos by PatitucciPhoto
I lean over the La TĂŠna bridge, just a few miles up the road from the village of Les Contamines, France, and rest my arms on the moss-covered stone arch. A hundred feet below, in a narrow chasm, the Bon Nant river rushes past. In this brief moment of stillness, the history here floods over me.
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THE GEAR Ultralight and ultrasimple! • Osprey Tempest and Talon 20-liter packs • Hydrapak soft bottle, Hydrapak bladders • Katadyn BeFree soft bottle with filter • Dynafit shell and wind pants • Black Diamond trekking poles • Petzl headlamp • Lightweight set of town clothes • Energy bars, electrolyte mix • Local snacks for the day. (Ours included the following irresistible local selections: Ovomaltine malt-chocolate bar, Kambly cookies, Biberli almond cookies, Gruyere cheese.)
Thousands of years ago, Celtic traders traveled this path. Later came Roman soldiers headed for their conquest of ancient Gaul. Throughout the centuries smugglers, foragers and hunters passed where I am standing. Soldiers from two world wars walked over this bridge, too. More recently, farmers, their carts laden with milk and cheese for market. “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” William Faulkner’s line, deepsixed since college, resurfaces. There is so much history here it is almost jarring. I need to get moving. My group is speeding away. And that, in fact, is kind of the point.
We’re running the Tour du Mont-Blanc, or “TMB”—setting
a quick walking pace on the rugged climbs and running lesser grades, using trail-running and ultralight-hiking gear as we pass through some of the world’s most beautiful alpine terrain. We’ll take four days, halving the usual time to cover the 105-mile route that encircles 15,781-foot-high Mont Blanc. The international footpath starts in the alpine mecca of Chamonix, France, then 40
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passes through Italy and a wild corner of Switzerland before descending back into “Cham.” On this early fall trip are outdoorsports photographers Dan and Janine Patitucci, Swiss mountain-tourism expert Bruno Schaub and expedition logistician Mara Larson, who splits her time between Chamonix and Kathmandu. I’m along after a busy summer organizing trail-running trips in the Alps. With our light kits, we’re cruising past heavily laden hikers as we head toward our first foray into the alpine zone at 7,676-foot Col Bonhomme. It’s one of the major alpine passes along the route. With 4,200 feet of steady climbing over the course of eight miles, the approach is well-known to everyone on the route. Two-thousand-threehundred runners pass through the col as part of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc trail race, during what for most will be the first of two nights out. The weather here is often infamously dicey. In 2012, a foot of fresh snow and whiteout conditions at the col forced organizers to replace it with a lowland route. First hiked recreationally in 1767, the
TMB is dotted with full-service huts and mountain inns that make for easy rest and resupply. In a week, you can sample the cultures of three countries. It’s hard to know what Horace de Saussure, the Swiss alpinist and scientist who pioneered the Tour du Mont-Blanc, would make of our neon trail-running shoes and technical layers—much less, say, the mocha-flavored, caffeineinfused energy gels shoved into the pockets of our shorts. The light gear pays dividends, though. A moment later we roll past hikers that look only slightly updated from de Saussure’s era. Packs loaded, mitochondria screaming for oxygen, they groan under the weight. Backs only lightly burdened, we’ve got O2 to burn, and we make the best possible use of it—laughing uncontrollably as we tag team Bruno with an American slang primer on the difference between a dude, a bro and a poser. “Can a bro become a dude? Absolutely! It can happen. I’ve seen it.” Dan’s emphatic—training from a childhood spent in a garrulous, borderline-combative ItalianAmerican family. T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
Mara Larson fills up outside the Bonatti hut, in the Val Ferret. ABOVE: Larson and Bruno Schaub in the village of Dolonne, a medieval hamlet across the Dora Baltea river from Courmayeur.
Douche concludes the lesson as we near the pass. Bruno’s bewildered. How can a word that means “shower” in French mean “abject loser” in English? Janine, ever Dan’s steady counterbalance, calmly parses connotations and denotations, even as the rest of us steer the conversation into the gutter. Light packs, twisted humor. This, I think, is going to be a good trip.
The beauty of our approach—we’ll call it
“hutpacking” as opposed to fastpacking, where you carry and employ your camping gear too—is that it’s accessible to all fitness levels. We’re moving at a pace that’s not too far off many of the runners of the UTMB, with its 46:30hour time limit. But, after eight hours, we’re calling it a day, and warming our hands over bowls of café au lait and hot chocolate at huts and inns en route. And we take breaks—lots of them. Our first comes just a few hours in from our start in the village of Les Contamines. Not far from the Refuge
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now protected. Their return has been an Alps success story. Other species, such as chamois, are easier to spot, if you know when to look. After the break, we drop four miles from the col into a collection of a dozen houses that together comprise Les Chapieux, where, 72 years ago, a battle between Axis and Allied forces took place. It’s hard to reconcile, on the peaceful September day we pass through. We down cappuccinos in the shade outside Les Chambres du Soleil, a five-bedroom hotel that’s been in business for over 150 years. Outside, local seniors banter over plates of omelettes du fromage whose pungent scent I had picked up 100 yards outside of town. Les Chapieux takes quaint and doubles down. It’s hard to pass without a few photos, and we grab a round café table and nudge it into a shaft of sunlight. Dan photographs Bruno and Mara, encouraging them to shift their chairs couple-close. The Swiss are famously reserved, but in Bruno’s case the cultural gene expresses itself as endearing shyness.
The beauty of our approach—we’ll call it “hutpacking” as opposed to fastpacking—is that it’s accessible to all fitness levels. ... after eight hours, we’re calling it a day, and warming our hands over bowls of café au lait and hot chocolate at huts and inns en route. du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, we’ve already covered those long eight miles and 4,000-feet-plus of climbing. The refuge is a modern reincarnation of the original 1924 accommodation. That first hut was built by the French Touring Club, a social organization devoted to travel. Today, Bonhomme is run by a trio of bakers. Georges, Charles and Coco are renowned for their welcoming atmosphere and substantial meals. Not wanting to let go of the wideranging view of the French Alps, we find a grassy patch on a nearby ridge and snack on chocolate and local cheese. I keep one eye out for the wild Ibex that often graze here. Nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century, they are
“So … you want me closer?” he asks. Nothing phases Mara. Every social situation is easily dispatched, once you’ve been an Everest basecamp manager. She laughs often and easily. “I am so glad we left the kids at home!” she says, playing along with Dan’s couple ruse. Moments later, we’re on our way out of the hamlet. I stop at a battle memorial. I look up and spot the earth-and-rock machine-gun nest in the hillside. It’s another reminder of the TMB’s rich past. Like all human history, some of it is dark and unsettling. We spend the night at Les Mottets, one of the more memorable stops on the TMB. A collection of farm houses OCTOBER 2017
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"Hutpacking" from Courmayeur through the Val Ferret. RIGHT: Alpine cruising near the Col de Balme on the Swiss and French borders, between Trient, Switzerland, and Chamonix, France.
without losing any of its rustic vibe. Retired farm implements hang from the walls, while sheep and cows graze outside. Well-fed and rested the next morning, we climb Col de la Seigne to the Italian border. The Veny valley, with its flowy singletrack, then leads us to the largest town on the Italian side of the TMB, Courmayeur. Before descending, though, we poke are heads into Refuge Maison Vielle, a favorite stop for coffee and cake, and are followed in by an inquisitive horse. Even for farm animals, life here can be a bit too quiet, it seems. An hour later, we’re in town, wandering the twisting, narrow cobblestone streets of Dolonne, a Courmayeur hamlet, in search of a hotel for the evening.
With light packs, uphills can be social. The next morning, climbing out of the medieval village of Courmayeur, Italy, toward Refuge Bertoni—the first of three huts we’ll pass by today—it’s a chance to chat. For Bruno, this trip falls during a career shift. His tourism job in a renowned ski village was a mismatch for his lively personality. Despite a veneer of cosmopolitan trendiness, Alp mountain culture can be rigid and confining. “They were very … Swiss,” says Bruno, his politeness obscuring the explanation. Patitucci bluntness comes to the rescue. “Mountain towns here can be small-minded,” Dan observes. “You’ve got too much energy and too many new 42
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ideas, Bruno.” Bruno’s eyes light up as he explains that he’s joining a mountain-guiding business in Switzerland’s capital, Bern. Dan, Janine and I idly wonder if Mara and Bruno might indeed be a match. “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened,” Dan says, shaking his head and laughing. He and Janine have been on enough multi-day remote alpine photo shoots to see lives get … entangled. “You learn a lot,” Dan says, “when you can’t get to sleep in a hut. There was one time…” Janine knows where he’s going, and interjects. “That guy was married!” She says, continuing the awkward flashback. “And not to her, either!” Dan clarifies, snickering as his eyes bulge cartoonishly. Late in the day, having covered 14 miles and 4,000 vertical feet, we arrive at 8,170-foot-high Col Grand Ferret, the TMB’s high point. It is on the border between Italy and Switzerland and sees snow throughout the year. Today, though, we experience the col’s gentler nature: alpine grasses rustling in gentle breezes and cool-enough temperatures to call for an extra layer. The views here encompass a wide swath of the Alps. In the far distance, up the Ferret and Veny valleys through which we’ve just run, we catch a hint of Peuterey Ridge. With over 14,000 feet of climbing, it’s one of the longest technical climbs in Europe. Tucked away next to it is the Innominata, a knife-edge ridge of mixed snow and ice. Four years ago, Kilian Jornet left Courmayeur, Italy, climbed the
Innominata, and arrived on the other side in Chamonix, France, in under nine hours. The usual time for the route? Several days. It’s a feat so impressive it’s hard to comprehend. Closer to us lies the Grand Jorasses with its great north face. Together with the Matterhorn and Eiger, it forms the “trilogy”—three of the most famous technical climbs in the world. My eyes are drawn to a seemingly equally massive object in my immediate foreground. It’s a backpack, and it’s, well, humongous. The bearer is a solo Israeli hiker. She’s setting up camp for the night. After a few days of moving fast and light, a conventional load makes me recoil. We carry 20-liter packs—the largest size for comfortable trail running. There’s room for necessities, with space left over for in-town niceties so maître-ds don’t scowl. Our loads are 10 pounds, not including a few tools of the trade. For Dan, that means a Sony a6300 camera. For me, an 11-inch Mac Book Air. Some work assignments are better than others. Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink asks where she can find water to prepare dinner. Dan’s got food on his mind, too, it seems. “Dinner in La Fouly?” he proposes to our group. Six miles of coasting down T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
3,000 feet and we’ll be at the end-of-theline Swiss village of La Fouly. Encircled by some of Europe’s highest peaks, La Fouly with its 66 residents has a frontier-outpost feel. His suggestion snaps me out of a traumatic flashback to Coleman stoves, eight-pound tents and external-frame packs. “Croute au fromage!” I holler. “Let’s get the f*ck out of here!” When I’m really hungry in Switzerland, there’s no editing happening in my brain. One of the fastest descents on the TMB is the only thing that stands between me and baked cheese with a thick slab of bread. In the few minutes we’ve lingered here, the sun has moved behind the range, and there’s a sense of calm that comes with the end of the day in remote mountain settings. It would be easy to stay, but my stomach always wins. It’s time to move. Five minutes later, rounding a corner at full speed, I barrel into a herd of sheep. A shepherd and border collie are above me on the hillside, just a few yards away, overseeing the flock. She’s decidedly low tech in her clothing, with faded work jeans, a wool sweater and vest. One hand rests on her dog’s head, the other holds a four-foot wooden staff. I wonder if I’ve stumbled into a Swiss Tourism ad. ONE DIR T Y M A G A ZINE
The views here encompass a wide swath of the Alps. In the far distance, up the Ferret and Veny valleys, we catch a hint of Peuterey Ridge, with over 14,000 feet of climbing, one of Europe's longest technical climbs. I nod, smile and move at a polite pace through the wooly obstacle course. This path, with all of its thousands of travelers each season, still holds moments that are largely unchanged from centuries ago. Flock parted, I am practically freefalling to food. I’m calling on a number of trail-running skills now: a fast cadence, attention to detail as my feet dance down the flowy singletrack, arms adjusting for balance. We stop at the first inn we find, in lonely Ferret, Switzerland. A dozen buildings a mile up the road from La Fouly, Ferret must be one of the smallest suburbs on the planet. Our day ends with piping-hot local dishes in a family restaurant. We dispatch with plates overflowing with polenta and cheese, my croute au fromage and grated, baked potatoes with, yes, more cheese. Not quite dairied-out, I order a Rivella—the Swiss soda made from milk. Forget glacier-covered peaks.
Switzerland’s motto should be, “It’s the cholesterol, baby!”
Tartiflette. Pain chocolat.
Peach tartes. Breakfast on our last morning is at Boulangerie Patisserie Gentiana, a bakery and cafe in Champex, Switzerland, owned by Leon Lovey, one of the UTMB race organizers, and the namesake for the Petite Trot à Leon, at 330 kilometers, the longest of the UTMB series of five races. PTL is a notoriously brutal epic that covers untrailed passes and other less-traveled terrain. Leon’s energetic, jovial wife, Claudine, plies us with more pastries, but it’s time for us to move. One of the benefits of the TMB are variants that weave in and out of the standard route, and one’s on the agenda today—the steep col called Fênetre d’Arpette. Outside town, we turn left off the TMB, and minutes later we’ve climbed into OCTOBER 2017
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Plan Your Own Alps Adventure
STATS Four days 110 total miles 32,000 feet of climbing 20 to 30 average daily miles WHEN TO GO Refuges and inns along the Tour du Mont-Blanc open mid-June. High cols at that time might require use of traction devices if snowfields linger from a cool spring. Trail-running poles can be helpful. With students back in school and most of Europe back at work, September is an ideal time to be on the TMB. Fair weather often prevails, and temperatures are cooler. At the close of the month, accommodations are closing their doors and preparing for the long winter ahead.
clockwise sections: 1. Chamonix to Les Contamines 2. Les Contamines to Les Mottets 3. Les Mottets to Courmayeur 4. Courmayeur to Champex 5. Champex to Chamonix (or take an extra day in Trient). TIME TIP Use lifts, busses and taxis to skip less interesting sections.
STAGES Plan for five or six days to hutpack the TMB without rushing. Recommended counter-
SERVICES Taxi services are available that will move your bags, so you can travel light during the day, and luxuriate with a novel and clean clothes at night if you want. Contact Taxi Besson. taxi-montblanc.com/en.html. For hut, hotel and related information, see autourdumontblanc.com/en/. Hate planning? A variety of vendors offer self-guided options on the Tour du Mont-Blanc, and can tailor your trip for hutpacking.
Outside town, we turn left off the TMB, and minutes later we’ve climbed into one of the wilder corner of the Alps, in a high valley on faint singletrack, moving quickly past remote farms. The mountains close in and we tilt our heads up to take in the col. The ascent is short and steep, as we switchback on an improbable route on the headwall to a tight passage just a few yards wide. Fênetre is “window” in French, and Arpette is aptly named. We pass through and an up-close view of the Trient glacier tumbling off the Aiguille du Tour is waiting for us. Descending through loose scree, there’s no running to be had. The conversation turns to Dan and Janine’s early years. Graduated from Brooks
photography school in 1999, they were climbing bums roaming the west coast with their cameras. A summer longline fishing in Alaska hauled in cash to start a business. “We’d look at a catch and say, ‘Well, there’s our new camera.’ The break came with a single photo. A climbing company offered us $75,” Dan says, “They knew we were flat broke. With some advice from other photographers, we countered with $750.” The company said yes, and PatitucciPhoto was officially in business. Later, we find ourselves in the last of our alpine terrain, rock hopping with low bushes at our feet. When we dare look up, we catch our last views of Switzerland’s Alps. While Dan and
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Janine Patitucci and Bruno Schaub enjoying a hut coffee on the porch of Refugio Elisabetta, at 2,195 meters, in the Veny Valley, before running down to Courmayeur on the second day.
Janine seize the moment for more photos, I greedily pick the last of the season’s alpine blueberries. The hillsides here have turned various hues of red. There’s a peacefulness here that comes with the approach of winter in high places. The Dés Alpes celebrations, when cows are marched down from high pastures, has come and gone. There are fewer travelers, and we welcome their company rather than avoid it. We settle into a steady uphill running pace on the last climb of the trip—quiet alpine singletrack, angled gently uphill as it slabs toward Col Balme. We arrive 20 minutes later. It’s a grassy, wide plateau. A century of weather has taken its toll on the stone hut here, shuttered for the season. Together with the fall foliage and cool temperatures, there’s no shortage of reminders time is running out on this year’s trail-running season. Within a week, snow will make its first appearance here. A few more steps, and suddenly we are surveying the length of the Chamonix valley. The commune of Chamonix-Mont Blanc is really a string of villages, and we take in the rich alpine heritage: At our feet near the Swiss border, Le Tour. Then Argentière, Les Praz, Chamonix village, and down the Arve river to Les Houches and Servoz. Showers, beers, dinner at a sidewalk table all await, so we short-circuit the long run downhill, and avail ourselves of the Autannes lift, spinning on its final day of the season, a few minutes run away. The last riders of the summer, we hop on. In four days, we’ve passed through three countries, taking in their distinct cultures. And, like the best moments of trail running, our packs were afterthoughts, even as we moved up steep cols. We were free to let our bodies move with ease through these mountains. I’m tired, but nothing hurts. I think of my 70-liter dinosaur, hanging in the basement at home. I wonder if it’s time to ditch it. Hutpacking will do that to you. TR T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
FULL POWER EVEN IN THE DARK. NIGHTTECH SOCKS & SLEEVES
GEAR
TR AIL TESTED
BY ARIELLA GINTZLER
Love at First ... Run
Among these nine new (or newly upgraded) trail-running shoes, there’s a “perfect match” for anyone.
F
Finding the right pair of trail-running shoes is like finding love: when you know, you know.
But the search can be disheartening. You’ve tried out a few pairs yourself. You’ve asked friends for recommendations. After a while, you’ve begun to doubt whether you’ll ever find a perfect fit. This fall, there are a handful of new trail-running shoes that are sure to give many runners that “a-ha” moment—whether you’re looking for a shoe that hits a sweet spot between minimalism and maximalism, or simply one that tempers the right amount of cushion and protection in a lightweight package.
FIT True to size, with a wider last than other current HOKA models, like the Challenger and the Mafate.
BOTTOM LINE This is a onequiver shoe, for an all-out 10K or a 100-miler.
HOKA ONE ONE SPEEDGOAT 2 PRICE: $140 WEIGHT: 9.8 OZ DROP: 4MM
TESTER-MONIAL
“The Speedgoat 2 is unequivocally one of the best ultramarathon-capable shoes on the market. Although I have opted to rely on it for ultra-distance events, its lightweight package and speedy profile also make it a viable choice for shorter distances.”
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—Linh Shark, Colorado Springs, CO
The Speedgoat 2 is an altogether different shoe from its first-generation predecessor, and one perfectly befitting its name: equal parts lightweight and rugged. The shoe has been updated with a wider last and toebox, Vibram Megagrip outsole and double-layer mesh upper that is at once breathable and protective. Compared with the Challenger ATR 3, the Speedgoat 2 features a slightly higher stack (max of 32mm, as opposed to 29mm in the Challengers) and an overall softer midsole. Yet, thanks to the wider outsole, the shoe has a more stable feel. Don’t confuse stability with bulk, though. This is a fast shoe, one that shines equally on long, slow runs and short, speedy ones. The outsole is superb on everything from slop to rocks, and the effective mid-foot overlays keep your foot feeling nimble on technical terrain.
T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
TR AIL TESTED
GEAR
FIT Some testers felt the TrailRoc 285 fit true to size. Others felt it to be a halfsize small.
INOV-8 TRAILROC 285 PRICE: $150
BOTTOM LINE Great on hardpack and OK in mud. Suitable for long distances, for those who are used to a minimally cushioned shoe.
WEIGHT: 10.0 OZ DROP: 8MM
The TrailRoc 285 shines on rocky, technical terrain. Compared with other models in the Inov-8 line, the TrailRoc 285 is slightly wider, particularly in the toebox. The flexible, low-profile midsole allows for a high degree of ground feel, while sticky medium-depth lugs—and a mid-foot rock plate—provide stability and confidence on hardpacked surfaces. Aside from the shoe’s supreme performance on rock, testers were most impressed with the lightweight, breathable upper, which is strategically padded in the tongue and heel, but remains airy and quick-drying, thanks to sections of exposed mesh in the toe and along the sides of the midfoot. A hardy toe bumper offers protection without compromising forefoot breathability.
SALOMON SENSE RIDE PRICE: $120
TESTER-MONIAL
“When it came to scrambling, my feet felt secure and stuck to the rocky terrain with incomparable precision.”
FIT True to size. Some testers found that it ran a little long.
WEIGHT: 9.7 OZ DROP: 8MM
Like Goldilocks’ three bowls of porridge, Salomon has found a shoe that is the best of two worlds: not too much cushion, not too little, but, as one tester noted, “just the right amount.” With a max stack of 27mm, the Sense Ride is just enough shoe to keep you protected and comfortable, a nice middleground to the less-cushioned Sense Pro and the highly cushioned Sense Pro Max. The midsole is relatively soft and flexible, with a rock plate that provides plenty of protection. An upper of single-layer, breathable, durable mesh and strategic—not overbearing—midfoot overlays keep this shoe feeling light and nimble. The outsole is really where this shoe shines. Though lowprofile, the lugs are sticky, which makes for a confident ride on rocky, technical terrain. ONE DIR T Y M A G A ZINE
—Kahlil Gonzalez, Elmsford, NY
BOTTOM LINE Runners who like minimalist shoes will find this a suitable option for ultra distances. Runners who like maximalist shoes will like this shoe for mid-distance or short runs. There’s something here for every type of runner.
TESTER-MONIAL
“The Salomon Sense Ride is not an extremely light shoe, but it isn’t built up any more than absolutely necessary to provide some solid protection on tough and gnarly trails.” —Forrest Tracy, St. Paul, MN
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GEAR
TR AIL TESTED
BOTTOM LINE A great allarounder for people who like a wellcushioned shoe with a traditional drop that is stiff— but not too stiff.
DYNAFIT ALPINE PRO PRICE: $159 WEIGHT: 10.6 OZ DROP: 8MM
FIT Runs a halfto a full-size small.
TESTER-MONIAL
“The cushioning in the sole is ample and provides more support than any trail shoe I’ve ever worn.”
—Deby Kumasaka, Edmonds, WA
FIT True to size.
The Alpine Pro is a burly mountain runner, with cushion and protection for the long haul. However, burly doesn’t necessarily mean clunky: the shoe is nicely rockered, stiff in the back yet soft and flexible up front. This effect comes, presumably, from the dual-density EVA midsole, which features a denser compound in the heel and a softer one in the forefoot. The end result: a responsive ride that maintains ground feel through the toes. The midsole is also equipped with a rock plate. The outsole is moderately lugged and sticky. Testers loved it on everything from rock to pea-sized gravel and PacificNorthwest mud. While the stable, smooth ride was what testers loved about this shoe, the upper is what stands out most at first glance. It features heavy midfoot overlays and a patch of tight mesh that covers most of the laces, doubling as a lace keeper and debris guard. Some testers noted that the shoe took a long time to dry out after getting wet.
ON CLOUDVENTURE PEAK PRICE: $150 WEIGHT: 9.2 OZ DROP: 6MM BOTTOM LINE This is a minimally cushioned and minimally protective shoe, ideal for short-andfast runs, though runners with more conditioned feet may feel comfortable taking it out for longer missions.
TESTER-MONIAL
“These shoes have a distinctive, bouncy feel. I felt right away that they were built to go fast and light.”
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—Forrest Tracy, St. Paul, MN
The Cloudventure Peak is a stripped-down, lightweight version of On’s first trail-running shoe, the Cloudventure. The barely there midsole is stiff and highly responsive, with a noticeably smooth transition through the gait cycle, while the CloudTec outsole—a series of raised pods that bulge away from the body of the shoe to absorb impact—help offset the lack of midsole cushion. The pods are textured with triangular and rectangular lugs, which testers said gripped surprisingly well on loose, slick and hardpacked surfaces. The main differences between the Cloudventure Peak and the Cloudventure are in the outsole (a denser outsole rubber is located only around the edge of the shoe and at the toe and heel) and the upper, which is a thin, lightweight, stretchy material, much like what you might find on a soft-shell jacket. Testers praised the shoe’s moccasin fit and perforated, wraparound tongue. T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
TR AIL TESTED
361 ORTEGA PRICE: $120
GEAR
FIT Narrow, but true to size.
WEIGHT: 10.7 OZ DROP: 9.5MM
On the spectrum of trail shoes, the Ortega hits a middle ground. It is adequately cushioned, but not maximally so; stiff—but not so stiff as to be unforgiving; protective and supportive, but not heavy. Several testers compared its narrow fit, agile feel and stiff, low-to-the-ground midsole to a racing flat. All were surprised at how much traction the wide, shallow lugs offered. Though the outsole is, as one tester described, “mildmannered,” it affords confidence on all types of dry, hardpacked and rocky terrain. The lugs’ low profile meant that they also transitioned comfortably to road and gravel paths. Aside from traction, the shoe’s biggest appeal is its out-of-box comfort, thanks to ample cushioning around the ankle and Achilles and on the tongue. The thick padding— combined with a water resistant upper—makes for a dry, protected ride in stormy or cold conditions, but does not drain or breathe well.
BOTTOM LINE This is a versatile allarounder that excels on dry, hardpacked surfaces but suffices in all but the most sloppy, technical conditions.
TESTER-MONIAL
“[The Ortegas] have enough of all the key elements—cushioning, agility, protection, lateral support, grip, breathability, overall comfort—to excel in most weather conditions and on most types of terrain, with the exception of mud or highly technical terrain.”
—Yitka Winn, Seattle, WA FIT Wide for an Altra, but true to size.
ALTRA TIMP PRICE: $130 WEIGHT: 10.7 OZ DROP: 0MM
Runners who like uncompromised ground feel but also want a lot of cushion will gravitate towards the Altra Timp. This new model has a stack height of 29mm, placing it between Altra’s Lone Peak and Olympus models. Without a rock plate, though, it feels like less “shoe” underfoot (and, consequently, more ground feel) than both of those models. The Timp is one of the widest shoes in the Altra line, but, thanks to a beveled outsole, which tapers at its junction with the upper, the shoe is remarkably stable—more so than most other Altra shoes—with a no-slip fit that is snug in the heel and roomy in the toebox. The outsole is nearly identical to that of the Superior, and several testers remarked that the beefy lugs provided plenty of protection in the absence of a rock plate.
ONE DIR T Y M A G A ZINE
BOTTOM LINE A middle-cushion, long-distance trail shoe that provides both ground feel and protection.
TESTER-MONIAL
“The 29mm stack height is the perfect buffer for just about anything, and the platform’s slight curve rolls into a super-smooth transition.”
—Lauren Arnold, Polson, MT
OCTOBER 2017
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TESTER-MONIAL
“This is the most comfortable and flexible upper of the season. I can’t imagine what would make this shoe more comfortable.” —Lou Brenner, Polson, MT
TESTER-MONIAL
“These Icebugs are the ballet pointe shoes of trail running: highly functional and narrowly specialized. Just as pointe shoes are a barely there system to hold a rigid toebox in place, the Acceleritas 5s are a minimal system to give one’s foot an outsole. And what an outsole it is.” —Kari Fraser, Boulder, CO
FIT True to size. FIT About a halfsize small, and narrow.
BROOKS PURE GRIT 6 PRICE: $120
BOTTOM LINE This is a good shoe for people looking to transition to minimalism, or minimalists looking for something with a bit more cushion and protection. Good in all conditions and terrain.
WEIGHT: 9.6 OZ DROP: 4MM
The Pure Grit 6 is, perhaps, the sleekest of all its predecessors. The shoe retains the same flexible, moderately cushioned midsole that toes a healthy balance between decent energy return and decent ground feel. The outsole features the same hexagonal lug pattern, which provides reliable grip in all conditions. The biggest change is in the upper, which is now made of a more tightly woven mesh, and overlaid with a series of flexible rubber dots, rather than the thicker overlay that was used to provide structure and support on previous generations of the Pure Grit. The result is a more comfortable, breathable, sock-like fit.
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ICEBUG ACCELERITAS 5 PRICE: $123
BOTTOM LINE This is a specialized shoe, ideal on snow, mud and steeps.
WEIGHT: 6.2 OZ DROP: 4MM
The Acceleritas 5 is all about maximal tread and minimal everything else. With no rock plate and a virtually nonexistent midsole, this shoe is the lightest, and perhaps also the most aggressive, that we tested. It fits narrow—what some testers called a performance fit and other, wide-footed testers called too tight—and is extremely flexible. The upper is thin and breathable, with no supportive overlays (though a strip of thin rubber at the base offers some water protection and added durability), which means it drains quickly. The shoe’s biggest selling point is its tread. The deep, tapered, rectangular lugs reminded several testers of cleats. They perform exceptionally on snow, mud and steep, grassy slopes and the lack of midsole cushioning provides good ground feel. T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
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PERFORM
H E A LT H
BY ELINOR FISH
How to overcome three common obstacles to improve your running The holy grail of running isn’t to run the fastest or farthest. It’s not a particular race distance or coveted title. It’s the ability to run consistently. Consistency is a challenge for any runner, regardless of experience or commitment level. There will always be things that interfere with your running routine: fluctuating stress, endless to-do lists, a need for more sleep, the family’s needs. But you can run consistently despite these obstacles, because it shouldn’t be about choosing to run at the expense of something else. Rather, running is what happens in support of everything else in your life, from your health to your mental state to your ability to show up for the important people in your life. “Aerobic training is to endurance what mindfulness is to consistent running,” says Marty Kibiloski, marathoner and leader of running and mindfulness retreats at Colorado’s Shambhala Mountain Center. “It is the foundation upon which you can achieve greatness. Without them you are vulnerable to setbacks and distractions.” Here’s how to use this concept to run more consistently in the face of three common obstacles.
I Don’t Have Time
Often, what feels like a lack of time is actually a lack of attention. To focus your attention on one task at a time, pause throughout the day to ask yourself whether the choice you’re making right then aligns with your goals. 52
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For example, when you allot three hours to complete a project, the scope of the work will expand to fill all three hours. What if you gave yourself just 2.5 hours to complete the same task? You’ll probably find the focus to get it done, buying yourself a free half hour. When there really is no time for your usual long run, go for a short one instead. It may not be the full workout you’d hoped for, but even 20 minutes of easy running maintains consistency, supports your aerobic fitness base and keeps your body primed and fresh for your next long run.
I Don’t Have the Motivation
Low motivation is a type of mental fatigue that may arise from a physical state called “stress overload,” a precursor to overtraining syndrome. It often accompanies physical fatigue that arises because the body is unable to build fitness. “The workout is applying a stimulus, but if you don’t rest, you don’t benefit from that stimulus,” says Brad Stulberg, T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
PATITUCCIPHOTO
Consistency Rules
Learn to discern when you are in your training “sweet spot,” that zone in which your body is able to build fitness and you feel energized and motivated to run. co-author of the newly released book, Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success. “For a lot of people, ‘rest’ tends to be harder than ‘stress,’ so it helps to think of rest not as something completely passive but something actively beneficial.” Learn to discern when you are in your personal training “sweet spot,” or that zone in which your body is able to build or maintain fitness and you feel energized and motivated to run. Stay there, supporting your recovery with more sleep, better nutrition choices, relaxing play time or other restorative activities.
I’m Always Injured
Being sidelined by injury takes a mental toll on any runner. Whether it forces you off the trail for four days or four months, the loss of control over your ability to run is stressful, especially if it happens over and over. An injury usually occurs at the weakest point in the kinetic chain, for example, the foot, knee, hip or back. Rather than thinking of that point as a weakness, consider it as an aspect of your body’s natural biofeedback mechanism conveying useful information about what it can withstand and what it needs to meet your training demands. Address your particular point of mechanical vulnerability and end the injury cycle by investing more attention in your rest and healing through whatever treatment is necessary. Elinor Fish is creator of the Mindful Running Training System and leads women’s mindful-running retreats around the world through her Colorado-based company, Run Wild Retreats + Wellness. www. RunWildRetreats.com
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PERFORM
TR AIL TIPS
Mindful Meditation 101 1. TO START, find a quiet, uncluttered area in your home—a corner, room, a closet even—that you can turn into your “meditation station,” a place you can go to practice every day. Sit comfortably with a tall, erect spine. Either use a chair or, if seated in a cross-legged position (lotus), prop your hips up on a yoga block or bolster so that they are above your knees (it is important to be comfortable). 2. DON’T JUMP INTO MEDITATING for long periods of time. Studies show that the most benefits occur at or just after 10 minutes, so start there. In fact, if 10 minutes is all you ever feel like doing, that’s fine. Just stick to it. Use a timer to keep track of the minutes so you don’t have to. Once you’re comfortable, close your eyes and relax your facial muscles.
Sitting Still
How mindful meditation can make you a better runner
R
unning is physically hard. But as a primarily solo and introspective endeavor, it’s also mentally demanding. Hard workouts and long runs require discipline and a willingness to push through physical and mental discomfort. Sure, the more we run, the more we’re able to tolerate the challenges that come along with it, but what if the key to becoming a better runner actually has nothing to do with the physical at all? It turns out seated meditation might be that key. Research demonstrates that meditation can balance hormones, enhance your ability to process information, boost your immune system, increase sleep quality and decrease depression and anxiety. It also can increase pain tolerance and your capacity to focus, a 54
OCTOBER 2 0 1 7
powerful combination in building the maturity and emotional stability required for success on the trail.
What Is Meditation?
Much like lifting weights tones our body, meditation strengthens and
3. MINDFUL MEDITATION involves using the breath as a point of focus. For beginners, focus on the breath by counting the length of each inhale and exhale. As this gets easier, begin to simply observe the breath as it comes and goes. When focus departs from the breath, notice, and gently bring it back again by resuming to count the length of each inhale and exhale. 4. IF YOU GROW BORED, extend your exhale. If you become agitated, lengthen your inhale. This creates balance in the practice. 5. WHEN THE TIMER IS UP and your meditation is complete, take a moment to thank yourself for practicing and make a commitment to return again the next day. Meditation is not always easy. Sometimes, out of 10 minutes, you may only feel “in the zone” for 10 seconds. It is simply part of the process. Just like running, with both time and practice, meditation will become easier.
T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
TANDEMSTOCK.COM / TAMARA HASTIE
BY ASHLEY HUNTER ARNOLD
es i r e S l i a r T r o i inter Warr nts
gazine Prese
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PERFORM
TR AIL TIPS
transforms the mind through holding a single-pointed focus for an extended period. The focus can be on the breath, a mantra, a sensation or even a thought. This requires a deep inward concentration, something that is best achieved through stillness and the elimination of external distraction, like movement. As runners, we like to be in motion, so the idea of sitting in stillness might be difficult at first, but it’s a necessary step. Sakyong Mipham, head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and author of Running with the Mind of Meditation, says, “Movement is good for the body, and stillness is good for the mind.” Like running, cultivating a sustainable meditation practice takes discipline. It also requires holding your attention tightly enough on the focus point that you don’t get bored, but loosely enough that you don’t feel agitated. And when the mind drifts away, it’s gently nudging ourselves back to the point of focus over and over again.
So how does this lead to better performance on the trail?
Toning the Mind to Optimize Performance
Studies confirm that over time and with consistent meditation practice, you are able to concentrate for longer periods without your mind wandering. This not only creates a more relaxed mind and body, but it develops positive thought patterns and increases grey matter in your brain—the area responsible for emotions, motor skills, decision making and self control. What’s more, studies indicate that people who meditate exhibit more emotional stability than those who don’t. And on race day, simply how you handle stress might be the difference between a personal best and a DNF. A 2015 study by Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., Associate Director of Neuroscience at the Wake Forest Center for Integrative Medicine in North Carolina, found
that mindful meditation eases pain by deactivating the parts of our brain that deal with anxiety. “After just a couple of days of practice, meditation diminished both the intensity and unpleasantness of pain,” says Zeidan. Further, he discovered that a longterm meditation practice actually changes the meditator’s relationship with pain altogether. Participants were able to recognize pain as temporary and then accept and “let go” of it, an essential skill when it comes to bettering athletic performance. And examples in the trail-running world abound (see “Cases In Point”). The more you accept discomfort as inherent to running, the more pain you are able to endure, says Mackenzie Havey, author of the forthcoming book Mindful Running. “Often we realize that the pain and discomfort aren’t as bad as we first perceived. And this can lead to a more enjoyable running experience and better running performances.”
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PERFORM Cultivating a sustainable meditation practice, like running, takes discipline. It also requires holding your attention tightly enough on the focus point that you don’t get bored, but loosely enough that you don’t feel agitated. After all, running, as we have so often heard, is only 10-percent physical and 90-percent mental.
Cases in Point How elite trail runners use meditation to fuel performance. DARCY PICEU, 42, a top-level ultrarunner from Boulder, Colorado, says meditation helps mitigate debilitating thoughts during a race. “There is a point in every ultra when my body wants to quit. It’s at this point that my ability to work with my mind becomes crucial,” she says. “I notice the thoughts telling me
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to stop and I let them go.” ELITE ULTRARUNNER TIMOTHY OLSON, 33, of Boulder, partly attributes his course-record performance at the 2012 Western States 100 to the emotional stability and awareness he gains from a seated meditation practice. When he ran out of gels at mile 62, just before dropping into the blistering-hot canyons, things could have turned ugly. “I analyzed my situation, slowed down and to my surprise I was OK without gels,” he says. “My awareness in that moment and my ability to let the day flow is the biggest reason I set the course record.”
TR AIL TIPS
MELODY FAIRCHILD, 43, a top U.S. masters runner in Boulder, practices meditation before every race in order to calm down and focus. “When I meditate before a race, it helps me deal with stress,” she says. “I feel turned on and tapped in when I’m racing.” CLARE GALLAGHER, 25, winner of the 2016 Leadville Trail 100, also from Boulder, says lessons learned in meditation help her build mental stamina required during long races. “I’ll focus intensely inward when I’m in pain, taking every second at a time,” she says. “This can be monotonous, but eventually, I find myself at the finish line.” Ashley Arnold is a former Associate Editor of Trail Runner. She meditates daily and teaches Yoga for Runners in Asheville, North Carolina.
PERFORM
TR AIL R X
Since most self massage is painful, it’s difficult to determine the optimal pressure and dosage. It’s OK to hurt, but soreness associated from self massage should abate within an hour. Rule of thumb: Less is more!
The Science of Self Massage
Self massage has become a popular recovery technique. So, how exactly does it work?
M
assage is one of the oldest types of recovery treatments, and it has become a staple for treating orthopedic and sports injuries. Over the past two decades, methods of self-massage have emerged as a means for athletes to treat aches, pains and injuries at home. By definition, self massage is the do-it-yourself version of tissue mobilization: using the hands, but more often than not, a tool of some sort, to work through stiff and sore tissue. And like most things DIY, self massage, while convenient and more cost-effective, is often more painful and less precise than professional massage therapy. A knowledgeable, skilled massage therapist can more effectively find restrictions in soft tissue, and release them with more precision (and often less pain). However, the myriad of self-massage tools out there can help runners with the smaller day-to-day management of stiffness, aches and pains that come with the daily run.
Muscle Breakdown
Within a single muscle there are millions of microscopic fibers, and, when used heavily, a small percentage of these weaker fibers are destroyed. As a response to this micro-trauma, the body responds by not only repairing and replacing those 58
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Why Massage
In order to recover, muscles remodel themselves, breaking those irregular cross linkages and reorganizing the new fibers into a parallel formation that is stronger and more efficient. In most cases, normal activity will facilitate remodeling. However, when tissue stress is excessive—often the case after long or steep trail runs—remodeling may be prolonged or incomplete. Daily massage treatment helps maintain muscle mobility and prevent scar-tissue buildup over the course of many long, hard runs. Be aware that using excessive force or frequency, or massaging an acutely injured tissue, may worsen an injury or even create a new one. In particular, compressive-flossing techniques (see next section), if overdone, can damage circulation or even result in nerve injury. Take caution, and consider instruction from a medical professional before integrating self massage into your routine. Since most self massage is painful, it’s difficult to determine the optimal pressure and dosage. It’s OK to hurt, but soreness associated from self massage T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
ISTOCKPHOTO
BY JOE UHAN
fibers, but also increasing the total number of fibers within the muscle. This process also occurs with tendons, ligaments and fascia—protective and connective tissues between muscles and bones. It is how we develop strength during exercise. A natural part of this process involves scar-tissue formation. In the initial stages of recovery, new muscle, tendon and fascial fibers can form in an irregular pattern, sometimes crosslinked between muscles. These irregular and cross-linked fibers can create denser and less flexible tissue that is often tender to touch, stretch and use.
TR AIL R X
PERFORM
ULTR AS VER 1,600 5KS TO THE RACE ISSUE—O PLAN YOUR YEAR NOW! TR AIL
should abate within an hour of the treatment. If pain persists beyond that, you either over-did it, or have an injury that requires additional healing time. Rule of thumb: Less is more!
E ONE DIRT Y MAGAZIN ISSUE 117 JANUARY 2017 /
Self Massage: Tools of the Trade FOAM ROLLER: The foam roller uses body weight to compress scarred tissue as you roll over it. This compressive pressure works to “iron-out” tissue adhesions (within a muscle, between muscle bellies and amidst the fascial connections) to improve mobility. After “rolling out,” adhesions decrease, and increased range of motion and decreased pain are often the result. For more on foam rolling, check out trailrunnermag.com/ training/injuries-and-treatment/a-beginners-guide-to-foamrolling.html Foam rollers are most useful for large muscle groups like glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves, which benefit from the large surface area and heavy weight. STICK MASSAGE: Hand-held roller devices work similarly to the foam roller, but with pressure applied using the hands. Stick massagers are more useful for smaller muscle areas, like calves, shins, shoulders and neck or for acutely tender areas that will not tolerate full body-weight pressure. SPHERICAL TOOLS: There are a wide variety of spherical self-massage tools that allow for more targeted treatment. Because scar-tissue adhesions often occur at specific spots in a muscle, and are often deep within a leg, a ball may be ideal to access and pinpoint the sore spot. Spherical tools are commonly used for hamstring strains, glute strains and foot pain such as plantar fasciitis. ROLL RECOVERY: Roll Recovery combines large-scale compressive pressure and targeted spherical pressure for the legs. With what looks like a pair of rollerblades spring-loaded together, the Roll Recovery tool surrounds the limb, providing lighter, more pinpointed compression than a foam roller. COMPRESSION WITH MOTION: Coined “voodoo floss,” this technique involves compressive strapping and motion, by compressing a muscle or joint area with an elastic strap and then either massaging the muscle with your hands or moving the muscle actively. In theory, the compression consolidates the scar tissue, while the movement pulls loose the restriction. This technique is most useful for smaller joint areas that require a lot of tissue mobility, such as the foot and ankle, knee, wrist, elbow and even the shoulder. Specific tissue-flossing bands are available for purchase, but the thick therapeutic resistance bands sold at most physiotherapists’ offices will also suffice. Joe Uhan has a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and is a USATF Level II Certified Coach. ONE DIR T Y M A G A ZINE
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Second Chance
When an ultra comes down to seconds—twice
A
Almost there! I had battled sore legs and cramping calves for 61 miles and nearly 12,000 feet of vertical gain to make it here: the last stretch of the Miwok 100K. The steep, forested trail down to Stinson Beach grew dim as the sun set over the Pacific. Dark shadows emerged, covering loose leaves and scattered rocks, while several knobby tree roots protruded from the trail, as if baiting a fall. I sprinted through increasing darkness, unapologetically passing other runners. But when I pulled out my phone to check the time, my stomach sank. Fifteen minutes until the final cutoff. And I was … a mile away? Maybe more? I might not make it … AGAIN?! My mind flashed back to last year’s race. Cappuccino-colored mud puddles had filled the trails. I’d been drenched, covered in trail slop. It was my first attempt at the Miwok 100K, and finishing meant trimming my only 100K finish time by over an hour to slip in under the 15:30 cutoff. All day I’d been skeptical of my ability to beat cutoffs. But after leaving the final aid station, I knew I had it. Unworried, I caboosed myself to a trio of women on a steady pace. When they began trotting more cautiously down the slick-and-saturated final stretch, however, I glanced at my phone. Fifteen minutes. How did this happen?! The cautious trotter at the end asked if I wanted to weave around them. 62
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“Yes!” I sprinted freely for a few switchbacks, then hit another clog: five men and their pacers plodding steadily down the singletrack, fused together like a trail-running centipede. “Excuse me.” I forced niceties. “There isn’t much place to go,” a gruff voice called out from the arthropod’s midsection. My compassion ran out with the drops of rain and sweat. The first few men grunted as I trampled foliage to overtake them. The last guy snorted. I didn’t care. Finish. I had to make sure my months of training paid off. I had to make sure the last 15 hours weren’t wasted. I had to—goddamn it. I really had to pee. People cheered as I sprinted in, soaked by more than rain. “Did I make it?!” I asked a woman holding a clipboard. “Fifteen thirty-two,” she said calmly. You don’t understand! I wanted to scream. I PEED on myself to get here! “You’ll just have to come back next year,” she added, smiling. Ha! I thought. That’s the last thing I’m going to do! Yet when I found out I made it into the 2017 race, I was in, and determined to overcome the mistakes of 2016. And I did, in the sense that I emptied my bladder several times before the final stretch. But as I (again) sprinted through shadows, roots and leaves, I felt a familiar stab of fear. The shadows spit me out on a paved road about 200 yards from the finish, and I channeled every ounce of bolting ability I could muster. Nearly tackling spectators on the other side of the finish line, I whipped my head around to the cluster of race officials behind me. “Did I make it?!” A petite woman with brown hair looked at me, doe eyed. “One minute over.” “That’s what you said last year!” I barked. Then I felt bad and walked away. I could have kept track of time, paced myself … trained. It took until the next morning to decide to move on. There will be another race, I told myself. Even another Miwok. Later that day, I opened my email and gasped: CONGRATULATIONS … all 2017 Miwok 100K finish times under 8:30:59 are now considered official finishers. Race officials had reviewed the time it took runners to cross the start line and included a 59-second buffer, which added six official finishers—myself included. Sixty-two miles and an entire day out, and it all came down to seconds. Seconds! The finish was finally mine. It wasn’t until months later that I found out my official time: 15:31:02. Three seconds over?! I wrote the race director. She replied swiftly that I was, in fact, an official finisher. (Phew.) But my finish had become confused, lost its shine. Surely I could finish 100K without those piddling three seconds … There’s only one way to find out. Claire Walla writes and runs in Los Angeles. T R AILRUNNERMAG.COM
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Finishing a 100-mile race through the rugged Rocky Mountains is impressive. Enduring the grueling 33,000 feet of climbing is no easy task.
BUT STANDING ON THE PODIUM IS A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT.
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BD Athlete Joe Grant on his way to a 3rd place finish at the 2017 Hardrock 100. Fredrik Marmsater