Asics Beat The Sun Racing Adventure in France

Asics Beat the Sun Race Day Highlights link

Climbing. Via Ferrata.

At the new Asics+Haglofs store in downtown Chamonix, France. Thanks to the generosity of Asics I will be putting both brands to the test for a while.

I think this was up in the Italian Alps here looking across to the Swiss Alps.  At the peak of our trail run/rock climb. My favorite view. This was to be Leg 7 of the race.

Daily press and strategic planning meetings with all teams.  Communications were crucial for such a complicated race event.  Asics did as good of a job as possible considering all the things that could go wrong. Everyone was super friendly and supportive. We all felt very lucky to be apart of such an incredible adventure.

The heart of downtown Chamonix, France where the home base was.  So many delicious restaurants and outdoors events.  This is truly an outdoors adventure mecca in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Hope I can get back for more adventures.

The second day included a long run up to the top of the mountain in France.  Most people take the train or bus up.. we are not most people ;).  Got up close and personal with the Swiss Alps here.

Lunch at a beautiful restaurant in the mountains with all the teams.  Met so many talented athletes.  It felt so good to be around other crazies like myself.  Here getting to know the European teams while recovering from the hard run up the mountain.

Getting a lesson on climate change where we see a photo of the glacier 10 years ago while the current status of the glacier looms behind.  The glacier is said to be completely gone in another 10 years. The Alps have been hit hard by climate change turning frequent ski areas into regular trail running and mountain biking areas.

Day 3 included running up to the peak of Leg 2 of the race route in Switzerland.  These views were constant all day. Pure heaven! As you can imagine it was hard not tripping over rocks while being in awe of the beauty around.  The run took us roughly 1800 vertical meters up the mountain, just 8000 meters distance.. that's STEEP! Some areas simply too steep to run. This was hands down my favorite trail run of all time.  And I got to do it with a bunch of awesome people too.

Day 4 was in Italy where we ran/walked/climbed to the top of that peak.. almost. We strapped up with climbing gear and helmets for this adventure.  The Petzl gear, needed for the climbs, was so lightweight and comfortable to run with I wouldn't of known I had it on if it wasn't for the clips rattling around.  This route was Leg 7 of the race and was unfortunately canceled during race day due to it being too dangerous because of wet weather.   It was special to do this at least during training.  The Via Ferrata was a once in a lifetime experience.  We ended up doing a brutal run/climb straight up the mountain for Leg 7 during the race instead.  I think it was 2200 meters of vertical over 7000 meters distance.. something insanely STEEP!

One of my favorite photos after making it to the top going up the via ferrata. 

Shared the experience with a bunch of people almost as crazy as me.  Each of us would race this Leg of the relay for our respective team.  We wore TomTom Bandit (go pro) cameras during training. So much great footage.  We had professional Asics mountain guides throughout all training.  And I think I need to find another line of work.. Pro mountain guide sounds like my cup of tea.

After days and days of running up mountains and meetings it was finally time to relax.  Day 5 included trying to catch up on the very little sleep I got over the entire time there, exploring the downtown, and photo sessions, press meetings and dinner time with the team.  Here I am with Megan Kimmel - Badass Asics trail runner, teammate, and won this event last year with Team Americas.

Ryan Hall and I representing Team Americas 1 and 2.  Ryan holds the unofficial American Marathon record.  Very privileged to get to know him and everyone else during this event.  After a long time away from running this was his first event back  running and start at more adventure-type racing. Hope to do another adventure race with him in the future.

Teams and Press mingling.  Dinner in a cabin nestled in the shadow of Mon Blanc.. can't beat that!

Nature's toughest challenge! This is the elevation map for the race.  I had the privilege of running the most steep ascents. I fared well on the climbs despite the big cycling legs I have to carry.. must be all the strength workouts and trail running I do on the regular and all the cycling repeats uphill. I thankfully got myself into a really good strength to weight ratio condition for this race.

DRONES! IT MUST BE RACE DAY. Here at the race start bright and early! Summer Solstice, longest day of the year. Only 15 1/2 hours to run around Mont Blanc before the sun sets under the mountains.  The complete race adventure was filmed and will be televised later this year.

Getting stir crazy and having fun with my training team while waiting for hours and hours for my Team Americas 1 teammate to come into to tag me to begin Leg 7.  The amount of international press was something.  USA reps needs to show up next year though!

With the race over it was time to get the party started!  Both Americas teams failed to beat the sun by roughly 50 minutes.  I killed it on my sections and I was ready to celebrate my race and let loose and have a good time in Chamonix.  Asics treated us like royalty the entire time and I feel grateful for them helping select me to race such an incredible event.  The people I met were amazing and the experience is one I will remember forever.

On to the next great adventure.. I am finally moving to OREGON (again), the land of ADVENTURE. More info about that coming up..

Selected to the Asics Beat the Sun Team Americas

First off, Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone who voted for me.  I would not be going on this extreme adventure sponsored by Asics in Mont Blanc France if it wasn't for the nearly 10 thousand of you who voted for me.  So much love and support! I will do everything I can to ensure I represent and kick ass for Team America's.  

The Story -

Back in February I applied to a little race called Asics Beat the Sun.  The race requires you to traverse Mont Blanc (highest peak in the Swiss Alps) before the sun sets over the mountain.. roughly 15 1/2 hours to run 150 km. It takes place on the longest day of the year on June 21st. In addition, there would be other teams repping Asia, Europe, Africa.  The second goal after beating the sun is finishing as first team.  Though this race is all about a race against nature!  I loved that concept and it didn't hurt that Asics would sponsor me for everything.. travel, hotels, food, gear, etc.  Being the adventurer/thrill-seeker I am and wanting to race the toughest most difficult endurance races in the world I submitted the application thinking I would never in a million years be selected, but I might as well try.  Though I don't specialize in Ultra Trail Running (most all my training is for Ironman racing) I do have solid running race and ultra marathon results to put me in that elite amateur category.

And well whatdoya know, I was selected by Asics and their partners in early May as a semi-finalist. 52 semi-finalists in the world of 60,000 applicants were chosen.  To be selected as a member of the official team I would need to gather as many public votes (via the Asics website) as possible as well as prove to Asics and their partners I was worthy.  To my surprise, more than enough people chose to vote for me, thousands and thousands of people.  I was selected to the Team Americas (covering North America & South America) last week. 24 people in the world of the final 52 were chosen for this adventure with Asics.  I will be on a team of Professional runners including Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor among others as well as few other Amateur trail runners.

This is a massive event for Asics and the running community. There will be 50-­60 international journalists at ‘ASICS Beat The Sun’, ranging from broadcast media, national newspapers, core running titles and lifestyle media.  The entire event will broadcast live on the Asics website and other media outlets.

Home base will be in Chamonix France.  Chamonix is a trail runners paradise.  The 152 km run around Mont Blanc will take us through Italy and Switzerland as well.  For a more detailed explanation of this crazy race against Nature view the video from the 2014 and 2015 races. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJt7-XLWV50

Before being selected to the Team I was fortunate enough to train in the rugged mountains of Banff Calgary.  I punished myself running up and down the steepest routes I could find and trying to get a bit of exposure to altitude.  It took me a solid 10 days to recover from that training. I would have done the same exact training whether I was selected or not.. I do have triathlon races coming up this year.  2 weeks following that training I raced a short 2 hour Duathlon. I happened to win that race, though I had a terrible run off the bike, simply due to not training too much due to pulled calf muscle.  I was super lucky to finished that race without injury.  

So how do I prepare for this ultra trail race around one of the toughest most challenging ultra trail running courses in the world in effort to beat the sun.. I continue to do what I always do - TRAIN.  Asics basically gave me 3 weeks notice that I made the Team prior leaving to Chamonix, France. If I'm not fit enough now, I wont be that much fitter in 3 weeks.  I will do a bit less cycling, a bit less swimmin and more running than normal, but other than that I continue to swim, bike, run, strength train and stretch.  Cycling will be less power focused, swimming will need more kick drills and in order to put in more running mileage I'll need to start running in the morning as well as the afternoon or evening. The most significant change will be to my diet as I need to ensure I am as lean as possible to conquer the challenges of running around Mont Blanc.

More updates about this event to come.. GO Team Asics America's!!!