When I sat down with Adam Campbell and Joe Grant over a coffee recently at the official Transvulcania hotel- aptly nestled on a precipitous matt-black lava outcrop spilling into the pulsing Atlantic- the chat flowed between discussing the vagabond existence of today’s elite mountain runners, gear design and mastering the art of restraint in a [...] Read more – ‘Skeletons in their closets: Life at the fast-end of the Arc’teryx Skyrunning team.’.
Joe Grant is en route to La Palma for his second Transvulcania race- the difference this time is that he will be freshly shod with Inov-8 trailroc 235′s as part of his recent sponsorship deal with the UK based company that is wholly dedicated in it’s pursuit of minimal, innovative footwear and the sport of [...] Read more – ‘An Inov-8 shod Joe Grant + The Transvulcania Course = Showtime.’.
The plan was to meet Emelie Forsberg at a cafe in Tazacorte for a pre-Transvulcania interview and to catch up with her as she prepares for the 2013 running season. Upon arriving, Emelie had already showed up with two sidekicks in tow- new kid on the Salomon-block, Cameron Clayton- fresh from his 2nd place at [...] Read more – ‘Pre-Transvulcania chat with Emelie Forsberg, Cameron Clayton and Killian Jornet.’.
I’m hiking dow the zig-zag path on the cliff face down to Tazacorte beach on La Palma, when I hear the light, fast steps of a seasoned mountain runner behind me. As the figure glides by it turns out to be no other than Timothy Olson, finishing up another glorious run up the mountain on [...] Read more – ‘Talking Transvulcania With Timothy Olson.’.
I’m sitting outside a small rustic cafe on a little square in Los Llanos- La Palma’s second capital and finishing point of Transvulcania. The 5th edition of the now famous mountain race is a little over a week away and I’m waiting for last years women’s champion and course record holder- Anna Frost. When she [...] Read more – ‘Pre-Transvulcania Interview With Anna Frost’.
The whispers started around about when Kilian Jornet showed up in Chamonix for the 2009 UTMB wearing what looked like, for all intents and purposes, a waistcoat- albeit an extremely technical looking one. Hindsight tells us that what he was in fact wearing was an early prototype of a hydration pack that would prove to [...] Read more – ‘S-Lab’s New Adventures In Hydration.’.
It seems with each passing week as if this skyrunning season, starting in just a few weeks on that jewel of an island- La Palma, is shaping up to be a watershed for the sport. There is a definite sense of anticipation, a palpable tingling of excitement as everything falls into place, stars align and [...] Read more – ‘The Rise Of The Sky Teams.’.
Julio Cabrera Rochas había leído sobre corredores que competían cruzando montañas. A través de internet, había descubierto fotos de Los Alpes, Pirineos y las Rocosas. Corredores sucios, con las manos en las rodillas luchando en esfuerzos sobrehumanos. Muy por debajo de las nubes se reflejaban en el mar las nubes de algodón. En ese mismo, [...] Read more – ‘Del mar al Cielo- El “Making of” de la Transvulcania’.
Julio Cabrera Rochas had read about runners who raced across mountain ranges. He had seen their pictures online from the Alps, Pyrenees & Rockies. Sweat soaked and dirty, hands-on-knees power hiking up sinewy trails, far below them the clouds resembling a sea of marshmallows. The year was 2008, and Julio, the then Minister of the [...] Read more – ‘Sea to Sky- The Making Of Transvulcania.’.
Embracing the act of running with a sheep on my back. The first I heard of Icebreaker, the New Zealand Merino wool garment pioneers, was back in 2005 or 2006. A work colleague had just returned from a year in New Zealand, supplementing her snowboarding by working in an outdoor store. She raved about a [...] Read more – ‘Shear Joy’.
The original New Balance Minimus arrived amid much fanfare and expectation in 2011- a time when the barefoot-brigade were in full voice, Born To Run was a top-seller and it seemed like only a matter of time before runners were out on the streets burning their support shoes. So in the midst of this five-fingered-feeding-frenzy [...] Read more – ‘New Balance MT10v2 Review’.
The original version of the MT1010 launched last year as a beefier alternative to the MT110- a shoe that retained the 4mm drop and rock-plate of the ’110 but added an extra degree of cushioning in the form of a slightly higher stack-height and a RevLite midsole. July 2013 sees the launch of the second [...] Read more – ‘New Balance MT1010 v2 Preview.’.
I was beginning to think that all running jackets where pretty much the same. Sure, they all look a little different and fit a little different but in principal they all claim to have some or all of following features The lightest-ever fabric The most breathable fabric High wind resistance High water-repellency Active/Athletic/Performance fit ..Don’t [...] Read more – ‘Patagonia Houdini Jacket’.
2012 was something of a breakthrough year for the International Skyrunning Federation. Their ‘Skyrunner World Series’ attracted the cream of international trail and ultra running to the start lines of many of their spectacular races and the general consensus was ‘mind-blowing’. The jaw-dropping and eye-popping locations and lung-burning steep and technical courses, not to mention [...] Read more – ‘Skyrunning: An interview with Lauri van Houten’.
“Bryon Powell from iRunFar here…”. The words that begin almost all of iRunFar’s pre and post-race athlete video interviews has become something of a catchphrase for the man who’s passion and dedication for the sport of trail and ultra running has taken him on a journey from high school cross-country rookie to the editor-in-chief of [...] Read more – ‘Bryon Powell Interview’.
Right now, Swedish trailrunner Emelie Forsberg is ensconced deep inside the Arctic circle in the stunning town of Tromsø, Norway, where she lives and studies. Outside the sun still has a few weeks before it ends its winter hibernation. It seems like the perfect setting for some reflection on a year that began as a [...] Read more – ‘Emelie Forsberg Interview’.
Abel, the man behind the Spanish trail running website UltraLifeTeam, recently caught up with ultrarunner Jake Rydman for a quick chat about life & his blossoming trailrunning career. Jakes recent 2nd place finish at the Waldo 100k in Oregon, where he ran sub 10 hours and finished only 4 minutes behind race winner Timothy Olson, [...] Read more – ‘UltraLifeTeams Interview With Jake Rydman.’.
Ok, you got me, the Knog Blinder4 is not really, on the face of it at least, a running related item. So why am I reviewing it here on RunTramp? Well, because they are so damn good thats why and also because I am sure that a lot of runners out there have bikes too, [...] Read more – ‘Knog Blinder 4’.
Salomon’s S-Lab rewrote the rulebook on how to construct running packs when they launched the Skin 5 and then the Skin 12 packs. I remember first getting my hands on the 5 litre and it almost scared the life out of me! I was overwhelmed with the technical feature-set and it took me a while [...] Read more – ‘Salomon S-Lab Skin 2 Belt’.
Wilderness in the ‘hood. There are always trails to be found, even in the middle of big and not-so-big cities, it just takes a little sense of adventure and in some cases a bad sense of direction to find them. Some people see them as rundown old industrial areas awaiting renewal yet to me they [...] Read more – ‘Urban Trails’.
My good friend Abel from UltraLifeTeam down in Galicia, Spain caught up with Canadian trail-running phenom’ Adam Campbell recently and got to find out what makes him tick, his future running plans and coming 2nd at the the inaugural UltraTrail Mont Fuji this year- his first 100 miler. The interview can be found in Spanish [...] Read more – ‘Adam Campbell Interview’.
Introduction. The Marmot Essence was one of the first stripped-down, minimalist micro-shells on the market when it arrived a few years back. The jacket has gone through something of an evolution since then- dropping some features such as the latex cuffs while gaining others that were missing from the first generation including underarm ventilation. The [...] Read more – ‘Marmot Essence Jacket.’.
Malmö, my home city, is flat. So flat that a suburb known locally as ‘Backarna’ meaning ‘The Hills’ in Swedish- is, in fact, merely a few bumps in the road. Its not just the city that suffers from this lack of vert´, the surrounding countryside follows suit- the highest point rising 220 meters above sea-level. [...] Read more – ‘Kullaberg Calling.’.
Introduction Cascade Designs- Therm-a-Rests parent company- know a thing or two about revolutionising outdoor sleeping having invented the self inflating mattress back in 1971. That original idea has been redesigned and refined over the ensuing years to a product range that to this day sets the standards for comfortable & lightweight camping mattresses. Not one [...] Read more – ‘Therm-a-Rest NeoAir X-Lite’.
I lace my running shoes and take the first stride. Then another. And another. I feel my legs adjusting to the days tempo. Some days I run fast, other days slow. I have done this now for 150 days in a row. Everyday since New Years Eve 2011. Six countries. Arctic cold & Tropical heat. [...] Read more – ‘The Beat Goes On.’.
I awake early with the familiar feeling that a race-day brings-excitement mixed with a spot of nervousness. Today is the day for the Salomon Hammertrail Marathon on the Danish island of Bornholm which lies a couple of hours ferry ride south from the Swedish town of Ystad. Billed as ‘Denmark’s Toughest Trail Race’ the Hammertrail [...] Read more – ‘Salomon Hammer Trail Marathon’.
Today is a day off from the farm. I wake early and walk through the yard, heading for the kitchen. The half light of morning gives a clue to the weather to come- cloudless skies hint at another glorious day of Canarian winter sun. I don’t get far before the dogs are hopping, barking, licking [...] Read more – ‘The Trail To Tazacorte.’.
New Balance are certainly on a roll with their latest offerings- the MT110 and their zero zero Minimus line are incredibly well designed shoes. That looks certain to continue with the launch of their new Minimus model the MT1010-Amp. Here runningshoes.com talks to NB’s Brian Gothie about the upcoming minimalist trail shoe. Read more – ‘New Balance MT1010 Video’.
Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough- Charles Dudley Warner. Introduction. Excess baggage- a term to describe baggage weighing more than the allowed amount- could also describe the modern-day epidemic that is luggage with excessive amounts of features. I am talking briefcase size bags with wheels , rucksacks with back [...] Read more – ‘Hummingbird Carry-On 40L’.
It being a Friday I need two things; a run and some beer. A look in my wallet reveals yet another need- money. The farm which has been my home for the last few weeks sits 600 metres above the wild Atlantic coastline- where volcano meets deep blue sea. The nearest bank-machine is in Tijarafe; [...] Read more – ‘The Beer Run.’.
I first hear of the New Balance MT110 as a mention on Anton Krupricka’s blog where he stated that the as yet unreleased follow-up to the MT101 was ‘The best trail show I have ever worn’. Now, those familiar with Anton will now that that is not a hollow, marketing-hyped statement. His tinkering and carving [...] Read more – ‘New Balance MT110’.
The fire lookout tower that gives this place its name gazes down on the pine forests and almighty expanse of the crater below envisioning in me scenes from Kerouac’s ‘Desolation Angels’. Its empty for the winter months even though the island is experiencing one of its driest cold seasons to date. Though vacated, it stands [...] Read more – ‘Torre Del Time’.
As I continue to (hopefully) recover from the injury that has kept my running to a jumbled up, start-stop kind of training I have grown to look more favourably at my usual weekday run route. Everybody who runs has their ’normal loop’; the bread and butter run that sees them through the week and [...] Read more – ‘Flying.’.
My friend Albert came for a little visit from Dublin so it gave me a good opportunity to take a road trip up to Vejbystrand. To come here in the winter, especially when we got so crisp and beautiful weather, is a real treat in one way but in another, stronger way, it fills me [...] Read more – ‘Winter Visit To The Summer Place.’.
In an effort to get back out running after being injured I found myself switching from wearing the New Balance MT10 to, firstly, the Saucony Hattori’s and then lately back to the chunky Saucony Ride’s that were my pre-forefoot/midfoot shoe of choice. This enforced shoe juggling has been partly successful (as it has afforded me [...] Read more – ‘Shoe Juggling.’.
Dawn Dash. All is still I step onto the tarmac the weather seems almost like it sleeps. Windless, calm skies are just beginning to lose their inky black tones and the faintest signs of daybreak make themselves known, a hint of a fine day ahead. It is one of the last mornings before the clock [...] Read more – ‘Dawn Dash’.
To run pain-free after a month long injury feels damn good and this past week and a half has seen some good progress made from the behind-the-knee injury. Five runs, the last two been pretty much plain sailing only a couple of phantom twitches that I believe were more psychological that psychical, like my brain [...] Read more – ‘Progress’.
On Saturday I finally slipped back on my running shoes and headed out for a run with Linn. The injury that has been there, on and off, since after the Malmö half-marathon is not fully cleared up but a chance to run the little loop at Kulla Gunnarstorp was too much to resist. The run [...] Read more – ‘A Run, Finally.’.
As I strolled through the thousands of eager spectators that jostled for the best positions to see the race and enjoy the unseasonably warm and sunny weather in Stockholm during Lidingöloppet my eyes were drawn to this Zen-like figure seemingly oblivious to the multitude of buggies, screaming kids and the general hustle and bustle. A [...] Read more – ‘The Pursuit Of Happiness’.
As the lecture rooms tiered seating start to fill a tall figure slopes down the steps towards the front of the room, the way he moves and the manner in which his clothes hang on his frame marks him out as a little different to most others gathered together to listen to what Caballo Blanco, [...] Read more – ‘Caballo Blanco- a man named horse.’.
What was to be my first race report is, due to a niggling little injury, more of an account of the day itself; the event that is Lidingöloppet. For those curious to know what, and where, on earth Lidingöloppet is, Lidingö is a rather affluent island in inner Stockholm, Sweden of about 12km2and 44 000 [...] Read more – ‘Lidingöloppet’.
The current Minimus MT10 is a great shoe but the prospect of a zero drop version is mouthwatering. I have seen some `sneak preview` type images on some sites but I stumbled upon this video on youtube that gives a little preview of what to expect from the `zero`along with a look at the new [...] Read more – ‘New Balance Minimus Zero Trail’.
Hmmm am afraid so…..but let me explain. I guess my idea for the blog came from my interests in the pure act of running; the art of travelling on foot at a pace faster than walking. It’s a wonderful feeling to be simply in the moment, at a perfect tempo with a steady breath just [...] Read more – ‘Oh no, not another running blog….’.
