TransAlpine Run 2016 – Stage 6

• • Race Reports, Travel

This is part 9 of a series detailing my experiences travelling to Europe and completing the Gore-tex TransAlpine Run. The TransAlpine Run is a 7-day stage race from southern Germany across Austria and into northern Italy boasting a distance of 250 km and elevation gain of 15000 m. Eight of us traveled there together as Team Ultra Crazy to attempt this huge goal.

I participated in the race in September 2016 but am just finished up the last few posts finally in June 2018. Accuracy is not guaranteed.

St. Leonhard in Passeier to Sarnthein

33.6 km | 2440 m ascent | 2153 m descent | 9 hour cut off

You may have noticed there aren’t a lot of photos during the first half (or the “up” portion) of the day for my TransAlpine posts. When starting this race, I quickly learned not to take many photos until descending because I desperately needed all the precious minutes and seconds to make the cutoffs. I’m not sure why I took a few this day, but it could have been a disastrous mistake. I remember this was an awesome but difficult day with the last cut off being really tight!

There was lots of beautiful and scenic climbing as per usual. We had to get up over the ridge, down some steep, technical, rocky terrain, through the alpine for a while, and then straight down into town. We saw more cows of course, by this point I was getting a little less nervous around them.

You may have noticed there aren’t a lot of photos during the first half (or the “up” portion) of the day for my TransAlpine posts. When starting this race, I quickly learned not to take many photos until descending because I desperately needed all the precious minutes and seconds to make the cutoffs. I’m not sure why I took a few this day, but it could have been a disastrous mistake. I remember this was an awesome but difficult day with the last cut off being really tight!

There was lots of beautiful and scenic climbing as per usual. We had to get up over the ridge, down some steep, technical, rocky terrain, through the alpine for a while, and then straight down into town. We saw more cows of course, by this point I was getting a little less nervous around them.

Chris stuck very close by me the whole race but ran off ahead a bit as we descended through farm land. It’s easier for him to run as his pace down than putting on the breaks to slow down to mine. Every so often he’d wait for me to catch up. So of course this is when I bailed.

I had been running down this weird cobblestone trail near a German lady when she fell. I stopped to make sure she was alright, although we didn’t speak the same language. She managed to continue on. Moments later I fell and cut my hand open on a rock. It wasn’t a big deal, however, I always feel a little off when I lose blood. I wrapped my Buff around it to stop the bleeding and caught up with Chris.

The next aid station was in sight below so I saw a first aid attendant there. He washed it out a bit, wrapped it in a ton of gauze and told me to get it checked out again at the finish line. Chris got me some sugary snacks while I sat and shook off my lightheadedness for a few minutes.

We finished this stage in 8 hours and 18 minutes. I believe we stayed at Hotel Alpenblick that night which was a short drive from the finish line. I remember ordering a three course meal which was heavily cheese and the salad bar was amazing!

More in the series:

TransAlpine Run 2016 – Stage 5

• • Race Reports, Travel

This is part 8 of a series detailing my experiences travelling to Europe and completing the Gore-tex TransAlpine Run. The TransAlpine Run is a 7-day stage race from southern Germany across Austria and into northern Italy boasting a distance of 250 km and elevation gain of 15000 m. Eight of us traveled there together as Team Ultra Crazy to attempt this huge goal.

I participated in the race in September 2016 but am just finished up the last few posts finally in June 2018. Accuracy is not guaranteed.

Solden to St. Leonhard in Passeier

33.3 km | 1453 m ascent | 2111 m descent | 8 hour cut off

It’s a year and a half since this amazing event and I am embarrassed to say I never finished my series of blog posts. I had basically accepted that I might never complete this task until I was recently contacted by Team RunRun. One of their coaches had been reading my first-hand experiences to provide information to their runners. Their interest renewed my drive to finish this series in the hopes that it can help those already registered for the race or spark an interest in those looking for an epic event to do.

My memory is terrible so these last few posts will be short and sweet. And hopefully accurate, but no promises!

I remember this route was just what we needed after a really tough couple days. It was such a relief. The trails were more runnable, the views were great, and the cutoffs were more obtainable. It felt like a really, really long (let’s face it, it was still 33 km) recovery day.

At some point we crossed the border into northern Italy. The towns had a little different style to them but German was still the popular language. Along the trails were little shrines, especially closer to towns but also in more remote locations.

The downhill near the end as we travelled closer and closer to the finish was simply breathtaking. Towns and houses sat up high on the mountainsides. As I GoPro’d a section through a little town descending rapidly on the windy road, we missed a turn. We were SO lucky that someone behind us saw and called out. Otherwise we would have had an epic hike ahead of us back up the road when we eventually realized.

There was a neat section running on metal structures built into canyon cliffs.

We finished in just over 6 hours.

After probably the most terrifying drive of my life (apparently the lines mean nothing on their super windy, narrow roads), we arrived at our hotel, Gasthof Platterwirt. We were back up in one of the mountain towns and the views were incredible. The food and beer was not bad either!

More in the series:

Race Report: Phantom Run 24.5K 2016

• • Race Reports

I received a free entry to Foretrail’s Phantom Run because I volunteered as a pre-sweet for their Hallow’s Eve race. I decided to run the longest option, 24.5K , and Courtney, who also received a free entry, joined in the fun.

Our distance started first at 8:30am. We made sure to arrived early to sign in and picked up our race kits: a bib and a pair of Smartwool socks. Another two distances, 19.5K and 12.5K started at 9:00 and 9:30 respectively.

After seeing how well flagged the Hallow’s Eve race was, I didn’t bother to look at the route before hand. I just knew it started and ended at the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

It was a little chilly but all the runners were surprised and thankful that it wasn’t raining. I wore my Oiselle Roga shorts, LEGEND compression socks, a tank top and my Helly Hanson long sleeve with my Run Like A Girl jacket on top, my maple leaf headband, and my Salomon S-lab 3L pack.

Two new pairs of Altras had just arrived the day before so I decided to wear my Lone Peak 3.0 Neoshells.

The route was very runnable. There were some hills and stairs along it, but also some flat stretches.  I felt great and decided to push it a little. The upper side of the long Lynn loop was probably the most difficult stretch for me. It was muddy and slippery and I couldn’t get a good rhythm going.

I finished with a time of 3:13:03 which is probably the fastest I’ve ever run nearly 25 km. My pace  averaged out to about 8:00 min/km. Courtney came through just after me. There was soup, hot blueberry juice, and muffins awaiting runners at the end.

We hung around just long enough to say hi to friends and see if we won any draw prizes (we didn’t).

Brand new Altra Running Lone Peak 3.0 Neoshells!