I thought it might be fun to periodically highlight a few destination races across the world.

I recently ran into an interesting event called the Jungle Marathon.

Location

The Jungle Marathon takes place in the Floresta National de Tapajos in the State of Para, Brazil. This is a jungle run folks in an area of the country often referred to as the Caribbean of the Amazon.

Race Summary

This event is a multi-stage/day event where athletes choose between the 100 km or 222 km distance spread across 4-6 days. Runners have to be self-sufficient with only water at designated checkpoints. 2010 daily stage distances range from 16.3 km to 87 km (non-stop overnight).

North American North Face athletes, Mike Wolfe (US), Nikki Kimball (US), and Tracey Garneau (CAN), all participated in the 2009 222 km event.

Accommodations

Sleep in a cozy, plush resort each night – nope! You sleep in hammocks (which you have to bring) in camps along the shores of the river.

Videos

Race Briefing

The below video contains moments from the 2009 race briefing captured by Adam Brown. He collected a bunch of cool footage.

Critter talk, athlete thoughts, and the RD describing stage 1.

(If you can’t see the video, click Jungle Marathon 2009 Day 2 Jungle Briefing)

Stage 1 15.43 km Highlights

The first finisher of the stage took 2:51 and the final stage finisher came in at 9:08 for the 222 km race division.

(If you can’t see the video, click Jungle Marathon 2009 Day 3 Stage 1)

Over the next couple Friday’s I will include a couple more video stages to kick-start your weekend adventures.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

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All ultrarunners know the significance of the fist sized cardiac muscle that supports our every stride. Without it, well, you could forget about that weekly long run and anything else for that matter.

As we take a stride deeper into self, heart becomes a pointer to the etheric components that we all possess deep within our being. These non-physical components have the potential to provide significant cerebral nourishment and butt-moving momentum to assist us in whatever ultrarunning adventures we may seek.

I will group these components into what I will affectionately call the ultra heart.

Components of the ultra heart

• Passion
• Perseverance
• Tolerance
• Compassion
• Acceptance
• Gratitude

What is the role of each ultra heart component?

• Passion to do the hours of training and arrive to the start line before the sun rises.
• Perseverance to keep moving even when the legs aren’t interested in running any longer.
• Tolerance to find a way to manage discomfort.
• Compassion to support the other runners with a “Goo-shob” as they pass.
• Acceptance of what your body is able to do on the given day.
• Gratitude towards the volunteers, your support network, and your own body’s ability.

Similar to the physical heart adapting and becoming stronger after being exposed to a stress (such as running), the ultra heart has the ability to grow and strengthen with use. This can have a positive impact both on and off the trail.

It may appear ultrarunners are simply running for some mentally deranged distance but underneath the running shorts, trail shoes, gaiters, headlamps, and Hammer gel, lies a unique opportunity to develop as a person.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/fede3v/ / CC BY 2.0)

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Over the weekend, the Nueces trail run took place at Camp Eagle located 186 miles west of Austin, Texas. The event provided 86 athletes an opportunity to enjoy a 50 mile, marathon, or 10 km trail run that took runners along limestone cliffs and the spring fed Nueces river.

Course

The 50 mile course consisted of three 16.7 mile loops which contained six aid-stations per loop.

50 mile course map

The marathon course had one 16.7 mile loop and one 9.5 mile loop. There were four aid-station stops on loop one and six buffet tables on loop two.

marathon course map

The 10 km adventure was one 6.2 mile loop with two aid-station to support your fluid and fueling needs.

10 km course map

Ultrarunning Energizer bunny, Olga, from Run More Talk Less, provided some great insight on the course in her race report.

When someone emailed the local trail group what’s the course is like, Joe responded” think Bandera with ledges and river crossings”.

…it was pretty, extremely technical, with over 1/4 of each loop being “a la Charlie Torn (HR100 RD)” cross-country (Joe kinda tried to make new trails, but the effort was futile and too fresh), with barely a flat section. Longest uphill about 1.2 miles (per time), and longest downhill at about the same. The rest – rolls with rocks, rocks and more of that.

It is definitely worth checking out Joe’s course/area photos as well.

Results

50 mile

29 athletes began the 6 am start and 23 (79%) completed the entire distance.

The male race was dominated by Austin athletes and only two athletes were even in the same zip code at the front end of the race. I would imagine Josh Beckham and Steven Moore enjoyed some miles on the trail throughout this 7+ hour trail running journey as less than 11 minutes separated the two when it was all said and done. Beckham had a bit more speed across the distance to win with a time of 7:16:09.

Top 3 male:

1. Josh Beckham – 7:16:09
2. Steven Moore – 7:37:07
3. John Reynolds – 9:19:40

The female race had only one runner that remained at the front and that was Olga Varlamova. The next female was over one hour back. Varlamova won with a 9:59:09.

Top 3 female:

1. Olga Varlamova – 9:59:09 (*7th overall*)
2. Oakley Gardner – 11:04:58
3. Jean Perez – 11:16:21

Marathon

The marathon distance had the largest field with 41 starters and 40 finishers (98%).

2010 Rocky Raccoon 100 female winner (EP podcast interview), Liza Howard,  handily won the female race with a time of 4:06 and outran her coach by 25 minutes. I would hate to see Howard’s schedule for this week…lots of VO2 work – Ouch!

Top 3 female:

1. Liza Howard – 4:06:24 (*4th overall*)
2. Amanda McIntosh – 4:31:41
3. Stephanie Huie – 5:24:07

Rob Clark controlled the male race and won with a 3:48:42. The excitement was behind him as Joe Constantino and Max Gray pushed each other for second place. It may have come down to a max effort, nothing left sprint as Constantino crossed the finish one second in front of Gray.

Top 3 male:

1. Rob Clark – 3:48:42
2. Joe Constantino – 3:59:28
3. Max Gray – 3:59:29

10 km

16 athletes enjoyed the 10 km course all of them finished.

Brenda Rodgers not only won the female race but she took the overall by over four minutes with a time of 58:27.

Top 3 female:

1. Brenda Rodgers – 58:27 (*1st overall*)
2. Amanda Angel-Chua – 1:03:07 (*3rd overall*)
3. Marcia Inger – 1:07:00 (*5th overall*)

John Brown won the male race by over two minutes in 1:02:30.

Top 3 male:

1. John Brown – 1:02:30
2. Chris Aspra – 1:04:48
3. Adrian Haley – 1:27:45

Complete Results for all distances.

The Tough-as-Nails Award

The final finishers of an ultra distance event are some of the toughest athletes that are willing to stick with it to the best of their current ability and cross that darn finish line.

The Tough-as-Nails award recipients:

• Ryan Hopkins persevered and had the opportunity to enjoy the most trail time and finish the challenging 50 mile adventure in 13:57:03.

Race Reports and Photos

• 50 mile: “Without even planning. Or pushing hard. Controlled effort, that was all there was. Joe opened his arms and said I won…” by Olga @ Run More Talk Less
• 10 km: “And then finally came down off the climbs and hit the water … and the rock shelves that ran along the edge of it. It was too hard to even run this section … more just picking my way along trying not to fall in the river.” by Marcia @ marcia, marcia, marcia!
• Event Photos

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

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Do you have pairs of trail running shoes like a golfer has a variety of golf clubs to match a particular shot?

For example:

• Trail shoe A – General all-around trail shoe. 100 miler shoe.
• Trail shoe B – Muddy conditions.
• Trail shoe C – Extremely technical conditions.
• Trail shoe D –  Racing trail shoe. 50 miles or less.

For road running, I have two pairs; a general training shoe and a lighter, more minimal racing shoe. Things are pretty simple on the road.

The trail appears like it could be a different beast due to the wide range of conditions (mud, sand, 1000 ft climbs, gnarly terrain, water, snow, etc) one could be exposed to. I currently use one pair of trail shoes, the Montrail Mountain Masochist. They have worked well for all the trails and conditions I have ran on but I am curious what you all think and your experiences.

Do you own multiple pairs of trail shoes to fit a particular trail condition/situation or are you a one shoe fits all kind of runner?

Also, feel free to mark your response in the new poll located on the right sidebar.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/ficken/ / CC BY 2.0)

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On February 27th, the Cowtown Ultra took place on Febrary 27th along with the marathon event that danced its way through the streets of  Ft. Worth, Texas. This is one of the few road ultras in the region and there was a pretty solid turnout with 213 ultra athletes toeing the line.

Course

The 50 km ultra run follows the marathon course until mile 23.5 where an extra five mile section is included for those that think a marathon just isn’t enough. After this extra jaunt, the ultra athletes rejoin the marathon course for the final 2.5 miles.

This road course would probably be described as rolling. The profile image is anything but flat. The maximum spread between high/low points in 200 feet.

Course map

Course (marathon) profile

Results

Of the 213 runners, 157 were men and 56 were women.

Average finish time:

• women – 5:35:00
• men – 5:19:00

The female race was dominated by Kris Klotzbach who ran an average pace of 7:12 min/mile and out ran 97% of the male finishers. Klotzbach won with an even paced effort of 3:43:49.

Top 3 female:

1. Kris Klotzbach (CO) – 3:43:49
2. Allyson Weimer (OK) – 4:03:33
3. Lorena Devlyn (TX) – 4:09:50

The top two males were separated by 1.5 minutes with Thomas Whalen and Jason Razo going after the win.

Whalen’s pace was hot through the halfway point but the miles began to take their toll and his pace remained fairly consistent but slower for a second place finish.

Razo displayed the most pacing wisdom with the most consistent pacing throughout the distance. He had the slowest start of the two runners through the halfway point. While Whalen began to slow after the 18 mile mark, Razo had his fastest eight mile stretch before slowing slightly the last five miles. This was fast enough for Razo to win with an average pace of 6:32 min/mile and time of 3:23:05.

Top 3 male:

1. Jason Razo (TX) – 3:23:05
2. Thomas Whalen (MO) – 3:24:41
3. Patrick Flores (TX) – 3:35:38

Complete Results

The Tough-as-Nails Award

The final finishers of an ultra distance event are some of the toughest athletes that are willing to stick with it to the best of their current ability and cross that darn finish line.

The Tough-as-Nails award recipients:

• J Cohen (TX) persevered and finished the foot-based city tour in 8:17:43.

Race Reports

• “…given the fact that my 6 year old Ayden, decided he would run through the finish line with me. Well, that was the plan my wife said, but once I got to him, about 200 yards from the finish, the little guy turns on after burners and sprints into the finish leaving me in the dust…” - Dan @ Tri My Will
• Pacer’s view - “Over the next thirteen miles, however, we would lose all of them, as the heat and the distance took its toll, slowing each runner’s pace below ours.  By the time we reached mile twenty, Jason and I were on our own.” - Ryan V. @ Distorted Veracity
• “Coming off the Trinity back onto the marathon course was great, only had a little over 2 miles to go and was seeing all the marathoners that were really struggling. I offered words of encouragement to every runner that I passed and told them they would get to that line soon.” – Derek @ Journey Through the Ultra World

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterdog/ / CC BY-ND 2.0)

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…never looked so fun!

Check out this cool video of a trail runner enjoying the frozen trail and waterfall in northern Minnesota with his trusted companion. This almost sparked an interest to relocate back to the state I grew up in…almost.

Chester Creek Winter Trail Run from Andy Holak on Vimeo.

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

Have a great weekend.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

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Last weekend, the inaugural TRC Post Oak Lodge trail run event had two days of trail running fun that included 50 km, marathon, 25 km, and 10 km distances. The marathon run was on Saturday and the other three distances were all on Sunday. You now had the opportunity to run two races in one weekend…and a few actually did just that!

As a special feature, Russell Secker, the Texas athlete that ran the 2009 Trans-Europe Footrace, spoke at the pasta dinner about his experience.

Course

The course is described as a combination of existing gravel roads, old farm roads, a couple of chat trails, and miles and miles of single track winding through the meadows and deep woods.

Most distances are a loop course besides the marathon which ran a 25 km loop and two out-and-back sections.

Results

Saturday: Marathon

There were 133 athletes that finished the marathon trail run.

The male race came down to Michael Adams and Gary Hula pushing each other for the win.  Adams was able to outrun Hula by just under four minutes with a chip time of 4:02:09.

Top 3 male:

1. Michael Adams (TX) – 4:02:09
2. Gary Hula (OK) – 4:05:53
3. Keith Wilson (KS) – 4:16:15

One week after her female win and second overall placing at the Cross Timbers marathon, Christine Tokarz still had the legs to win the female race by nearly 30 minutes and hold onto second overall. Tokarz crossed the finish line in 4:05:10.

Top 3 female:

1. Christine Tokarz (TX) – 4:05:10 (*2nd overall*)
2. Penny Welchel (AR) – 4:34:56
3. Tiffany Crumbaugh (WA) – 4:44:30

Complete marathon results.

Sunday: 50 km

57 athletes completed the 50 km trail run.

The female race was a fairly tightly contested challenge between Krystle Martinez and Kelly Zeier with 3 minutes 37 seconds separating the two after 50 km of up, down, and around. Martinez held on to win with a time of 5:43:08.

Top 3 female:

1. Krystle Martinez (FL) – 5:43:08
2. Kelly Zeier (MO) – 5:46:45
3. Tammy Winn (OK) – 6:00:56

After winning the marathon on Saturday, Michael Adams was back on the trails going after a second win for the weekend but Troy Albright had other plans. Albright pushed the pace beyond what Adams could sustain and won by nine-plus minutes at 4:51:26.

Top 3 male:

1. Troy Albright (OK) – 4:51:26
2. Michael Adams (TX) – 5:10:50
3. Chris Bennett (OK) – 5:30:02

Complete 50 km results.

Sunday: 25 km

74 athletes finished the trail run.

Joel Stansloski dominated the male race to win with a time of 1:44:11. Second place was over 12 minutes back.

Top 3 male:

1. Joel Stansloski (OK) – 1:44:11
2. Blake Hern (MO) – 1:56:39
3. Mark Sitton (OK) – 2:36:36

After the marathon win on Saturday, Christine Tokarz had enough left in the tank to win by over 12 minutes and take fifth overall. Second and third place was an extremely tight 25 kms of trail running between Stephanie Flynn and Muge Park with 15 seconds separating them at the finish. An interesting final few miles I am sure.

Top 3 female:

1. Christine Tokarz (TX) – 2:42:33 (*5th overall*)
2. Stephanie Flynn (OK) – 2:50:47
3. Muge Park (OK) – 2:51:02

Complete 25 km results.

Sunday: 10 km

191 athletes finished the 10 km trail race.

Juan Martinez out-paced all runners to hold onto the male win with a 50:34 chip time. Not too far behind, Reynaldo Waldestran and Bryan Warren were red-lining for second place. Waldestran was able to out kick Warren by eight seconds to take second place with a 51:21.

Top 3 male:

1. Juan Martinez (OK) – 50:34
2. Reynaldo Waldestran (OK) – 51:21
3. Bryan Warren (OK) – 51:29

Jennifer Johnson took off and never looked back to dominate the female race with a finish time of 51:21. The female race also had a close challenge for second place between Caroline Sullivan and Cherie Kail as a mere 33 seconds separated the two. Sullivan kept the legs churning a bit quicker to take second place.

Top 3 female:

1. Jennifer Johnson (OK) – 51:21
2. Caroline Sullivan (AR) – 57:47
3. Cherie Kail (OK) – 58:20

Complete 10 km results.

The Tough-as-Nails Award

The final finishers of an ultra distance event are some of the toughest athletes that are willing to stick with it to the best of their current ability and cross that darn finish line.

The Tough-as-Nails award recipients:

• 50 km: Debbie Colletta (MO) dug deep to become the last official (9 hr) finisher at 8:55:00.

Race Reports and Photos

• marathon and 50 km – “The view was awesome. It truly seemed like you were way up towering over the Tulsa horizon. A great place to visit, and a good place to get down from since it was frickin cold.” - TZ @ …Miles To Go Before I Sleep
• volunteer - “On Sunday, I think that I spotted Bigfoot. I could make millions in the tabloids with this.” - TomDog @ The Strenuous
• A selection of photos.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/ / CC BY 2.0)

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