Earlier this month, the Kodiak Ultra Marathons, host of the North American Spartan Trail World Championships, was set to take place in Big Bear, California. Unfortunately, despite extensive planning to accommodate for COVID-19 guidelines, the race was cancelled due to severe fire danger. The San Bernardino National Forest officials revoked the race permits for the… Read more »
The first time I met Brittany Charboneau was in the summer of 2019 at a Peak Performance Running practice for youth athletes in Golden (Colorado). Both Charboneau and I were helping with the practice and we ended up having a conversation about trail running. She didn’t know much about the sport, but picked my brain… Read more »
Compared to the physical side of training, mental training is often overlooked. However, this training aspect is just as important to improving your performances at competitions and being the best runner you can be. Unfortunately, there can be a negative stigma surrounding mental training. Many runners think they only need to work on mental training… Read more »
Are you ready for part two of the Chaski Challenge? This past June, elite runners from around the world brought down eight treadmill world records in the virtual live broadcast Chaski Challenge “Festival of Records.” The event also featured a free mass-participation virtual race. This week ending September 13th, the Chaski Endurance Collective is launching… Read more »
This is the story of my return to competitive racing after a three-year hiatus. I haven’t had a race where I felt like I was running 100% normal since the 2017 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy — that is until this past weekend at the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs,… Read more »
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like more runners than ever are attempting FKTs (Fastest Known Times), Strava Segments or Challenges. One might even say it’s been the summer of “FKTs,” as we’ve seen many prominent FKT records challenged or broken including the Colorado’s Nolan’s 14, the Colorado Trail, Adirondack (New York) 46 High… Read more »
Despite growing up in the Wasatch Mountain of Salt Lake City, Utah, and referring to mountain goats as my spirit animal, I was actually born far from the mountains in the flat plains of Bismarck, North Dakota. Although trail running exists in North Dakota, trail races are few and far between, and the trail community… Read more »
Last month, Sarah Hansel set a new women’s unsupported northbound Nolan’s 14 record of 57 hours and 43 minutes across 80+miles and 40,000 feet of vertical gain. Colorado’s Nolan’s 14 is arguably one of the most difficult tests of trail running and mountaineering skills. Learn about the specifics of the challenge in my article Nolan’s… Read more »
Tight or painful iliotibial bands (IT bands) are one of the most common trail running-related injuries, but can be resolved within several days or weeks with the right recovery methods. IT band tightness can extend from the hip down to the kneecap and in some cases, can include shooting pains down the outside of the… Read more »
In the past two weeks, both the men’s and women’s Fastest Known Time (FKT) records for the historic Nolan’s 14 route in Colorado’s Sawatch mountain range were broken. Fastest Known Times, or FKTs, are times records set on particular routes in the trail running world. [PRO TIP] Now you know what an FKT is; bone… Read more »
I recently attended the Peak Performance Altitude Camp in Keystone, Colorado as an assistant coach. In attendance were 43 middle and high school athletes — including 19 from outside Colorado — who trained on the trails and enjoyed the camp’s many activities. The altitude camp schedule included daily runs on some of the most beautiful… Read more »
This past Saturday, the 4th annual National High School Trail Championships, held in Salida, Colorado, drew some of the nation’s top high school trail runners and doubled total participant numbers from last year, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The race drew familiar names in youth trail running circles including Colorado standouts Colin Szuch… Read more »
Last month, I attended my first-ever canicross training event in Colorado Springs, Colorado to learn about this emerging sport of trail running with dogs. The experience left me wanting to learn more about the sport and what canicross racing and training opportunities exist across the United States. To get answers to my questions, I interviewed… Read more »
After a long absence from racing, I finally toed the starting line at the 43rd annual Kendall Mountain Run in Silverton, Colorado. This historic event, inspired from a 1908 bar bet by miner Neil McQuieg who said he could run from the town of Silverton to the top of the nearby Kendall Mountain, 13,066 feet,… Read more »
This past Fourth of July, nearly 300 runners crossed the finish line at the 44th annual Vail HillClimb in the mountain resort town Vail, Colorado. This was the second race in the 2020 Dynafit Vail Trail Running Series. This year’s edition included several major course changes to accommodate for participants’ safety during the coronavirus pandemic…. Read more »
This past Saturday Mad Moose Events hosted their inaugural Bears Ears Ultra in Monticello, Utah. This was the second Mad Moose event of the year in their series of 23 races and the first since lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The race had 170 total participants split equally between 50 kilometer and 30 kilometer… Read more »
Statesmas is here! At 5 A.M. pacific time today we all should be watching the start of the 47th edition of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious trail ultramarathons. Unfortunately race organizers had to postpone the race until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The iconic… Read more »
Statesmas rolls on! Tomorrow we all would have been watching the start of the 47th edition of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious trail ultramarathons. Unfortunately race organizers had to postpone the race until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The iconic Western States race runs… Read more »
Statesmas continues!! This weekend we all would have been watching the 47th edition of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious trail ultramarathons. Unfortunately race organizers had to postpone the race until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Western States race runs along the Western States… Read more »
Happy Statesmas!! This weekend would have marked the 47th edition of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, one of the world’s most prestigious trail ultramarathons. Unfortunately race organizers had to postpone the race until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race runs along the Western States trail which is recognized as one of… Read more »
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