Soil searching
The popularity of ultra-running on trails is taking off in a big way. But, why are runners across the world exchanging bitumen for dirt? And, what does it take to run the big ones?
In California, on 3 August 1974, 27-year-old Gordy Ainsleigh entered The Western States Trail Ride, a 24-hour, 100-mile horse race – without a horse. He completed the race, on foot, in 23 hours and 47 minutes and inadvertently started the serious business of modern ultra trail-running.
The 38th Western States 100 was held on 23-24 June in California this year. Erratic weather, snowdrifts and torrential streams were shifting the 161km course right before the race was due to start.
Punishing, historic, hallowed and beset at any time by bushfires, blizzards, landslides, and flooding, the annual race is held in high esteem by the runners who dare to attempt it and by many who don’t.
At the start line the sound of a shotgun sends 400 runners through thin air, across a half-marathon of snow-capped peaks and down scalding desert canyons where they face exhaustion, injury and self-doubt before rafting across a glacial river and running one last marathon to finally reach the much-dreamt-of finish line and a comfy chair in a half-empty athletics stadium.
This year’s champion, alpine specialist and mountain running record-holder, Kilian Jornet Burgada, completed the race in just 15 hours and 34 minutes. That makes him the first non-American and at 23, the youngest runner ever to win this most historic ultra.
Asked by one of his Salomon crew during the final mile of running how the day had been, the Spaniard replied, without a hint of breathlessness, “today it’s a nice day – just fun, enjoy. A beautiful race, beautiful competition, but 100 miles on the flat… it’s just too far.”
Trail running is truly exploding right now. More and more people, young, old, slow, untrained and professional, are leaving the road behind for the wilderness of the trails. Distance races are getting faster and recreational runners are going further.
“Years ago ultra-running was associated with the older generation. But, people are now realising that the young can also participate so the average age of racing is falling. This is always positive,” says Kilian.
Sydney Northern Beaches local, Andrew Vize, completed the 2011 Western States 100 in 20 hours and 11 minutes. Barely in his fourth year of ultra-running, the 30-year-old managed to take out Martin Fryer’s 2007 Australian course record at this year’s Western States.
In an unprecedented move, Andrew ran the last 50 miles faster than the first and finished 34th male overall.
“The highlight of the race was at the 77km point,” says Andrew. “I’d just finished climbing up to Devils Thumb and it took me over 40 minutes to reach the top. Somehow, at this point, I knew that I was going to finish very strongly. I was ready to surge, ready to drop my conservative strategy. I had played my way in for long enough. I knew the course from here on in and a switch inside my head flicked. I was a completely different runner to the one who had run the previous 77km. I managed to overtake 28 people over the last 83km, never putting a foot wrong. I felt unbelievably good all the way to the finish line.”
By day, Andrew is a mild-mannered employee of Macquarie Bank whose colleagues – aware of his out-of-hours activities – are too scared to accompany him on a lunchtime jog. On weekends he’s a dirt-encrusted running machine who feeds on pain. What’s the attraction?
Read the rest of this story in the latest issue of Outer Edge. On sale now!
words Roger Hanney homepage images courtesy of Salomon
