Words by Sarah Barker.

I’ve observed that runners read. This is strictly anecdotal, and scientific rigor could easily prove me wrong, but I find that when runners return from seven or eight hours of scissoring the pins, they like to have a knees up. Because they are obsessive multitaskers, reading ensues. Next day, they’ve got great ghastly miles of thinks about what they read, and the cycle continues.

 

They might like to read about the Monte Rosa region which they will be trotting through in September, for context. (Thank goodness, we’ve arrived at the point of this missive.)  Well, running readers, here’s a very short list of Monte Rosa-related material that will provide at least 116 kilometers of things to think about.

The story of Ulrich Inderbinen, the oldest Alpine guide. Two ways to enjoy this icon of alpinism—in a brief but entertaining Alpine Journal article, or the more thorough biography mentioned in the article, Ulrich Inderbinen: As old as the century. Inderbinen lived and worked around the Monte Rosa massif through the age of 95, passing away in 2004 at age 103. He was known for his professionalism, unerring mountain skills, impeccable manners, and dry humor.

Alone In The Alps, by James Lasdun. This lengthy article that appeared recently in the New Yorker describes the eight-country Via Alpina which actually skirts the Monte Rosa region. But the terrain and unfolding long-distance trail experiences Lasdun relates are very similar to those you’ll find at UTMR. Particularly resonant is this description of the cultural variety in each new valley: “The Rockies may offer wilder wildernesses, but you don’t experience the pleasure of sharp cultural variegation as you move from place to place. In the Alps, it’s still present in the shifting styles of church towers, village fountains, sheepcotes, hay barns. It’s there in the odd bits of language that filter through even if you’re an incurable monoglot like me. (How nice it is to learn that the German word for the noise cowbells make is Gebimmel, and that the Swiss-Romanche word for “boulder” is crap.) It’s there in the restaurant menus: daubes giving way to dumplings, raclette to robiola; and in the freshly incomprehensible road signs, which in Slovenia are clotted with impenetrable consonant clusters, as if vowels were an indulgence.”

Mr Noon, by D.H. Lawrence. Started in 1920, abandoned in 1921, and finally published in 1984, Lawrence’s novel is largely autobiographical. Most relevant to this list is the second part of the book that describes the main character’s elopement and subsequent romantic tramping through the Alps with his lover. Holds promise on a number of levels.

I’d like to point out, I am receiving no kickback for this listing whatsoever: Runner: a short story about a long run, by Lizzy Hawker. If you want to reach way back to the very origins of UTMR, you’ll find the answer here. Lizzy’s love of mountains was planted, nurtured and flowered in the high meadows and craggy peaks of the Monte Rosa massif. You’ll get to know both the UTMR director and the high passes and dark valleys that inspired her—directly applicable, no imagination required.

Words by Sarah Barker

As race volunteers go, you could do a lot worse than Keith Byrne. Super-chipper at dark-thirty in the morning? Eternal summer of the feet? Ah yes, that Keith Byrne.
Byrne’s job at last year’s UTMR was to brief runners in the morning, then scurry quick to the finish line and get that ready, all with minimal direction. Oh, and being more outgoing than the rest of the race staff put together, Keith was nominated to be the MC at the prize-giving, or as he put it, “I got to be the MC.”

 

 

One of Keith’s favorite moments was sartorial in nature: “The special guest to start the race was the oldest mountain guide in Gressoney. He was dressed in traditional local clothing and looked incredibly smart. Stood alongside him was myself, in a down jacket, shorts and flip flops. The contrast was immense.”

Some other observations he made are:

– Monte Rosa is a mountain paradise that not enough trail runners have ever experienced

– Stage racing is the perfect balance between racing and sheer enjoyment

– Lizzy and her team are brilliant and will do everything in their power to give you the best experience

– If you can’t race but want to be part of this special event, then volunteering is an equally brilliant experience

 

That really narrows down the number of excuses not to participate in UTMR 2016 now, doesn’t it?  I’m going to finish off what Keith has started by saying that he’s pointed his flip-flops toward Cervinia, has taken off work, booked his ticket, and is working on some crowd-pleasing jokes for this year’s prize-giving. Go ahead—try to resist that!

 

 

Today is the 1st June already but everything is still possible. Registrations are open until July 1st – sign up now!

Register here!

 

Words by Sarah Barker

“All things seem possible in May.”

I might have said that, after a few beers, but naturalist, photographer and writer Edwin Way Teale said it first.

On the face of it, Teale’s quote speaks to the general optimism of spring. But upon further research, I’m startled to discover Teale is actually entreating trail runners to carpe the diem and sign up for the ultimate in communes with nature—Ultra Tour Monte Rosa. This is esoteric stuff—let me explain.

Teale, born in 1899 in Illinois, found his passion early on, at age nine, and shortly after, discovered you can’t just be a naturalist (see also: undergraduate degree in psychology), you have to be a writer, photographer and a naturalist. Very much a fan of Thoreau, Teale also built a log cabin out back of his real house which provided the necessary rustic atmosphere for his writing. But unlike Thoreau, he made his mark via an epic road trip through the US, described in four books—North With The Spring, Journey Into Summer, Autumn Across America, and Wandering Through Winter. This series won him a Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction in 1966.

Teale loved a journey, quietly observing the small and the grand, and though his death in 1980 prevented him from experiencing the wonders of nature in an ultra race format, one feels his quote about May possibilities is brilliantly prescient.

 

So yes, all things seem possible in May, but don’t sit around meditating in your log cabin. Sign up and hit the trails, oh children of nature.

 

Words by Sarah Barker

So, the knee’s acting up again, or there was that frantic spot at work such that your training was reduced to the round-trip hike between desk and water cooler, and, well, you’re a bit unsure of your fitness. And particularly as it applies to the (ridiculously scenic) 116K of Ultra Tour Monte Rosa. It’s something to think about, isn’t it?

Before you cross into overthinking territory, we’d like to share this pep talk from happy finisher of the 2015 staged edition of UTMR, Wendy Dodd:

“A good point…was that with few exceptions the race was an achievable goal for most entrants. As you know some of the ‘tough’ race organisers pride themselves on a high number of drop-outs, equating this with the ‘quality’ of the race.  But to have a race over the TMR with a completion [rate] of 105/118 is exceptional… The stage race and the small numbers made it more enjoyable for me.  I think it is a far more scenic route than UTMB [Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc] and I have already got a number of friends interested in it for next year!”

 

Wow, thanks for that Wendy! Like to point out that completion rate again—105 of 118 people, some of whose knees were not 100 percent  during training, took the challenge and are glad they did. There’s something to think about.

 

 

 

RunWithMe creator, editor, and chief bottle washer Ari Veltman signed up for last year’s zero edition UTMR less than a month prior to the event. I recently asked him to share some of his memories, and he pointed me to his Facebook review that starts out, “I have not been asked to write this, and actually the organizers have no idea that this is coming.”  

Please note the date on that post is August 26, 2015. So you can read Ari’s completely unsolicited review at the link here, as well as his thoughts that were, in fact, solicited and like a sort of good wine, have aged about 9 months.

 

Says Ari:

“One of the things that captured my attention immediately was Lizzy’s responsiveness and care.

I only found out about the event less than a month before the start, and sent an email through the website to see if it might be still relevant. Someone named Lizzy (I had no idea who she was at the time) answered very quickly, and in the following days was super responsive and helpful. Knowing that someone is there and cares was the first very strong green light I got – and I just knew it was going to be a great event.

If there is one thing that made a deep lasting impression on me, it would be the volunteers.

I have been to a number of races around the world, and the volunteers in UTMR — both locals and runners that came over to participate as volunteers — really made a huge difference. They really cared, and encouraged in a way I did not have the chance to witness in other events. It made the event really special for me. I was actually so thankful for the way they supported and cheered for us that, following the event, I decided I wanted to give back, and participated as a volunteer myself for the first time at the Mount Fuji race.

 

 

Food! I just loved the food at the aid stations

It can make such a big difference. I specifically remember making a huge stop at the mid-point aid station of the second day (or was it the third day?). I arrived at this small town in the mountains, and there was this huge buffet table – full of local cheese and ham, sweets and cakes of all sorts. I remember I stopped there for more than 30 minutes, took my time, made sandwiches, had some tea, and made sure I sampled every cake that was there. Took me a while to start running again after that …

 

The views in UTMR are really amazing  

The fact that a course in the Alps has nice views is not a surprise, but I remember being quite amazed that the views kept changing so rapidly, and you kept finding out new amazing views after each turn. This is why when I got lost on the first day, and added another couple of hours to my running I was very happy, thinking I had the chance to get some extra views in for my money. The whole area is just that beautiful, that you are happy to get lost and get a few extra miles in.”

 

Words by Sarah Barker.

Women’s runner up of last year’s zero edition, Krissy Moehl, has plenty of trail racing experience—multiple UTMB finishes and two Hardrocks to name a few. Here are some things that made UTMR special for her:

“The route, when done as a single-stage ultra, will be more challenging than UTMB—more technical trails, burlier climbs and descents, and the views more dramatic. I would say it will be on par with Hardrock.

“The stage race format was wonderful because you got to see it all, since you only ran during daylight. The camaraderie that developed, gathering every morning for breakfast and every evening for dinner—there was much more opportunity to get to know people, and that was really fun.

“Lizzy did a really good job of rallying the troops, of knowing her strengths and being able to pull in other people for all the other details that come up. She’s good at putting together a super tough course, and knowing what runners need, like confidence markers along way, volunteers at strategic spots, great aid stations. We made fun of her because she’s so quiet, not much for public speaking, but she recruited a great team to do those things.

“After the second day of running, about 12 of us were hanging out in this town square waiting for our luggage. We were putting our legs in the fountain to ice them, just sitting in the sun, eating focaccia bread and snacks, and watching runners come in. It was a great afternoon!

“It was cool to see how much involvement there was from the towns we passed through. They hosted an awards ceremony and gave these beautiful bowls as gifts. There were fans along the course—the towns are really into it.”

 

Words by Sarah Barker

Since I’ve been writing about ultras—not doing them, mind you, just hanging out in cow pastures shaking a bell and talking to people who actually carry themselves over nights and rocks—certain words have taken on a completely new meaning. Words like challenge, exposure, mountain, dinner. Fun.

Take for example, mountain. Having lived all my life in the north central part of the U.S. where one could probably see Canada were there not so many trees in the way, if you climb for more than 15 minutes, it’s a mountain. The environments at the base and the summit are much the same. Mountain in an ultra context means bring the insulated jacket on a clear 70-degree day, so much sky, so little oxygen. See the difference?

My point is—and it’s a relief to know I have one—there is only one place where the many interpretations of words like challenge and fun coexist delightfully, peacefully. And that is Ultra Trail Monte Rosa.

Some hard people’s idea of a fun challenge is 116 kilometers accomplished one right after the other, through the night, eating fast and climbing fast, doing everything fast. Quick quick, push push, Matterhorn, crap this is hard, holy exposure I’ve never felt so alive, the grandeur of the universe, bam, done. (TS Eliot summary)

Others of the same trailrunner tribe think of fun challenge like this: Three carpe diem-full days, one after the other, moving through natural beauty, crossing streams and scrambling on rocks, and an exhaustive sampling of cheeses—swiss, emmental, something bleu, something brie, bit of the chevre—ham, flatbreads, hot tea, cakes of amazing variety, camaraderie and 357 thread-count sheets every night.

Ultra Trail Monte Rosa’s 116 kilometers are tough and varied and ridiculously scenic, and you get your choice of how you’d like to experience that—in one less-than-30-hour (that’s the cut-off) ultra, or three-day stage format. This side-by-side race format is unique in the world of trail racing, and brilliant.

Top ultrarunner Mike Foote called UTMR “absolutely world class,” and last year’s stage race winner Krissy Moehl said that, done as a single-stage ultra, UTMR would be comparable to Hardrock. That’s strong language from people who know their way around a precipice.

Run With Me’s Ari Veltman, who has run just about every trail race on the planet, had this to say about the UTMR course he experienced last year in stages: “The course is a 5-star overall, and in particular, a few sub-categories get a 5++. Stage one was for me easily the most beautiful route I ran to date, and what is amazing is that it keeps changing and surprising you with more and more views as the path winds. I remember on the first day thinking,

Let this not finish, ever,

and then ended up getting myself lost, and adding 9km and another beautiful lagoon to my own route.”

Variety

I found the route to be quite varied, from exposed high-altitude routes between snowy tops, and across breath-taking lakes, valleys, ravines, and down to green marshlands, forest-covered treks, and through some lovely picturesque alpine towns.

Challenge

Yes. Very much a challenging route. Not many patches of just pure running; mostly you are going up or down, and quite technical in a big part – rocks, turns, roots, debris, stream-crossing, …”

While UTMR has enough baroque technical patches, heavenward ascent (7,500 meters), distance, and average altitude (+2,000 meters) to satisfy the gristliest runner, it’s not just a bunch of buffed badasses hurrying through the Alps.

The stage race, and a series of training camps in July and August, make UTMR accessible and doable by badasses who prefer to use cutlery when eating without compromising one moment of heart-thumping challenge or eye-bugging reward.

So Ultra Trail Monte Rosa can mean crushing a fun mountain challenge, and it can mean savouring a fun mountain challenge. Either way, I’d bring the insulated jacket. What about you?

Say celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain opened a restaurant; you’d want to go, right? The guy’s eaten at and written about seemingly every famous restaurant on the planet. He’s an expert on dining. What would be on the menu? What would the atmosphere be like?
If—didn’t happen, but if—guitar god Eric Clapton had put on a summer camp for budding musicians, can you imagine how sweet that would be? Hanging out, playing with other like-minded people, like a big recording session. Goodness, you can almost smell the creativity.
I’m trying to make an analogy, maybe poorly, to Ultra Tour Monte Rosa and The Lizzy Factor. Five-time winner of UTMB, former 100K world champion, crazy FKTs like Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu and Kathmandu valley circuit—it’s safe to say Lizzy is an expert when it comes to mountain trails. So, if she hosted a race that combined all the best from her world of trailrunning experiences—her favourite trails, the most inspiring views, support that’s effective but not obtrusive, the perfect balance between big race festivities and small race intimacy—man, you’d want to run that race, right?
Boom, done! UTMR is Lizzy’s brainchild, it’s got her DNA, her fingerprint. From the location—”I did long back-to-back days on the Monte Rosa route while training for UTMB, and thought, If I was to have a race…”—to the format—both single-stage ultra and three-day stage race—UTMR is all Lizzy, all the time. Running UTMR is like if a trail running legend called up and said, “Hey, I want to show you this nice path.” It’s not even like that: It is that.

Last year’s stage-race winner, Krissy Moehl, spoke to the event’s Lizzy Factor: “I love the idea that this is the course Lizzy trained on [for UTMB]. It shows what a tough competitor she is. As a single-stage ultra, particularly in 2017 when it makes the full circuit of Monte Rosa, this race appeals to runners who love to be challenged, definitely for those looking for adventure—that’s totally Lizzy. She’s always looking for something people will say she shouldn’t do.”
But as tough a competitor as Lizzy is, as much as she inhabits the top ranks of ultrarunning, she’s not elitist. She didn’t want to create a race that could only be experienced by a select bunch of badasses. That’s why UTMR might be the only event out there that offers both ultra and stage formats, so runners who’d rather savour the experience than push push push, who’d rather see all the views, and enjoy the camaraderie can do so. And badasses can be up to their kiesters in challenge at the same time. Wanting as many people as possible to be able to share in her love of mountains—that’s so Lizzy.

Maybe no race director has offered an ultra and a three-day stage format because it’s a logistical nightmare (partners in UTMR race directing, Richard and Jon, are nodding vigorously), but there again—the Lizzy Factor. Doing what people say shouldn’t be done.

Pre-Registration is open and this is the form!

Not only did Lizzy dream up the course and various ways to enjoy it, she and her small band of merry men and women implement and manage the whole UTMR ball of wax, from answering emails to marking the course to delivering luggage and giving out prizes. Pretty unusual, right?  Most races, especially those as ambitious as UTMR, are handed over to a management company to actually implement. So, runners’ interactions are with an employee of a race management company. If you’ve got a question about UTMR, frequently asked or otherwise, you’ll probably get an email response from Lizzy. So that’s kind of nifty.

Nice to know the master chef eats at her own restaurant, and is right there to chitchat about the duck l’orange, or hiking poles.

Lizzy Hawker: What you can learn from Britain’s greatest ultra marathon runner

Anyone, it seems, can run a marathon these days. But 40 miles? 50 miles? 100 miles? Lizzy Hawker – star of the burgeoning ‘ultra’ scene – tells Sophie Morris how she does it, and how you can too

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lizzie-hawker-what-you-can-learn-britain-s-greatest-ultra-marathon-runner-a6811201.html