The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®

The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®

Ultra-distances: day and night, racing in snow or 100-degree plus temperatures... Why we do what we do and what keeps us running.

June 29, 2009

The longest day of the year …

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Spring melts into summer
the days lengthen, and so do the thoughts ….
a time for growth - for doing, for thought, hopes, plans.

A time for living in the moment,
Then we know what it truly is to be rich?

Run - run lightly and run quietly
It’s to do with attention - listening to yourself
And it’s to do with intention - thinking ‘lightly’
Grounding the feet and the body so the spirit can fly …..
Mindful running - graceful, it becomes a work of art, an act of creation.

Why do you run?
Sometimes, and for all of us this is true, we are running away …..
Sometimes we are running to search ….
But if we realise deep down that the truth of our running is that in our running, in our moving,
We ‘find’ ourselves …
Then for us running is the gift that lets us know ourselves deeper.
And then for us, when we loose our way for a time,
our ‘moving’ hindered by a physical injury or a mental disquiet,
It is then that we loose ourselves.

Take some time
just to ‘be’ - and just to ‘be’ in the mountains or in the nature
Draw on the strength you find, use that strength as the core of your ‘movement’.
Run lightly - be light of foot, light of heart and light of spirit.
Lightness - not in the sense of lack of care or of thought.
Lightness as a humility, a realisation that the world is far greater than our own concerns.
Light as a gentleness - both in our relations with eachother, and our impact on our environment.

Be ‘mindful’ then maybe, just maybe, the run will ‘flow’.

- Elizabeth Hawker

June 22, 2009

Western States Endurance Run, California, USA.

Auburn, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Less than two weeks to go until the 36th running of the famous Western States Endurance Run – 100 miles in one day.

Spending some time exploring the course, getting to know the trails so there is one less thing to worry about on race day; the big climb out of Squaw Valley ski resort, over the top into the Granite Chief Wilderness area, the high country ridges, the canyons, the famous Rucky Chucky river crossing, the fast downhill sections towards the end.

The race will be an epic journey for each and every one of the 450 participants. We have all prepared long and hard for this race, most of us for nearly two years following the tragic cancellation of last year’s race due to forest fires. I for one have spent every day since Christmas thinking about the race, often my first thought of the day, always my last. It means so much to everyone who takes part, and when you set foot on the Western States trails you soon realise why. This is an incredible place to run. A place that inspires; the tree clad hillsides, the scent of the pine, the history of the trail, the wildlife, the crisp rays of sunshine breaking through the tree canopy.

It’s a tense time but after all the many hundreds of miles of training I feel ready for the race and excited about the prospect of running against some of the best in the world. The mens field is deeper than ever before, it will be a massive challenge trying to compete against all the US runners in their own back yard. But it is a challenge which motivates and excites me more than anything else, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be here, I must run strong and enjoy the experience, but above all show what I am capable of.

- Jez Bragg

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