Ryan Hall's Blog, page 233

July 18, 2016

Photos: The 2016 Andorra Ultra Trail Vallnord

If you’re looking for a challenging mountain race with European flair, yet without the points requirements of UTMB, head to Andorra (Europe’s sixth smallest nation) for the Andorra Ultra Trail Vallnord. The course profile resembles a bad EKG reading and is arguably one of the hardest 100-milers around, with 44,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. In fact, 2016 women’s second place finisher Missy Gosney of Durango, Colo. says it’s the hardest organized event she’s ever done, and that includes the Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run. As an upside, she said it was also one of the most dialed, and especially appreciated the well-marked course. In addition to the 100-mile event, there’s a 70- and 50-mile race, trail marathon and 10K—even the 10K has 2,500 feet of climbing!

The eighth running of the Andorra Ultra Trail Vallnord took place this past weekend, July 15-17, with over 3,000 runners from 41 different countries. Click through to get a sense for the terrain and see some of the amazing views, without the sweat effort.

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All five events started in the town center of Ordino and included music, pageantry and fireworks. (Photo: David Arino)

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Kenichi Yamamoto, eventual second place finisher of the Ronda Dels Cims, was all smiles charging through a scree field in the early miles of the race. (Photo: Carlos Llerandi)

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Runners got a break from the rocky terrain on the climb up through the meadows of Arcalis ski area. (Photo: Carlos Llerandi)

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The descent from the highest point on the course, the summit of Coma Pedrosa at 9,655 feet, included scree, snow and winding trails. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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Aid stations are a source of pride for volunteers and a welcome oasis for racers. Offerings include soup, bread, cheese, meats, dried fruits, nuts and chocolate. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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A racer navigates one of many exposed points on the course. (Photo: Carlos Llerandi)

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The 70- and 50-mile races began at 10pm and midnight, respectively. Racers were equipped with headlamps and red lights, and the course was marked with reflective tape and 450 flashing lights. (Photo: Staphane Salemo)

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For runners racing through the night, the sunrise was especially welcome. (Photo: Stephane Salemo)

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A racer in the 50-miler was all smiles on during her final climb. Even though it was uphill, the terrain was less technical than many sections of the race. (Photo: Carlos Llerandi)

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While terrain like this isn’t typical in U.S. marathons, it is in this race. (Photo: Stephane Salemo)

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This ridgeline, including the rocky scramble in the distance marks the mid-way point of the marathon course. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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During the day, aid stations turned into family and spectator friendly picnic zones. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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A runner in training checks out what it feels like to be number one. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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At the finish line, the winner of the 100-mile event, Frenchman Nahuel Passerat, receives congratulations from a fellow racer. (Photo: Allison Pattillo)

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Published on July 18, 2016 09:39

Brooks Launching Limited Edition Scott Jurek Cascadia 2189 Trail Shoe

Only 2,189 pairs of the new Brooks Cascadia 2189 will be available. Photo: Brian Metzler

Last summer, Scott Jurek turned himself inside-out to break one of the country’s most spectacular trail running records. The 42-year-old ultrarunning legend from Boulder, Colo., set a new fastest known time (FKT) traversing the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin in Maine. With help from his wife, Jenny, and a small crew of trail running friends, Jurek covered the 2,189-mile trail in 46 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes—breaking the previous record by about 3 hours. Already one of the most accomplished trail runners in history—with seven straight Western States 100 titles to his credit from 1999-2005—Jurek added one more amazing accomplishment to his career with the new AT mark.

On July 29, Brooks will be launching a special limited edition version of its Cascadia 11 trail running shoe called the Cascadia 2189. (Only 2,189 pairs will be sold!) The shoe has a red, blue, gray and gold color motif with a reflective silver Brooks logo. It features an outsole made with recycled rubber from the shoes that Jurek actually wore during his record-setting jaunt. The webbing of the upper, the outsole and the heel counter also feature commemorative touches. The shoe box is adorned with a map and inspirational details of his run.

It will be available online at a special page on BrooksRunning.com and at select retail shops around the U.S. for $160. (In the meantime, there’s a chance to win a pair from that page.) For every pair it sells, Brooks will donate $5 to the National Parks Foundation to help enhance parks and protect outdoor spaces. (The shoe will also be available in Japan on Aug. 15 and in France on Aug. 22.)

“The Cascadia 2189 is a total celebration of human spirit and the accomplishments runners experience of all sizes and types,” says Brooks global director of brand marketing Stephen Chung. “The shoe is an invitation to runners to reflect on the varied meanings of achievement, daring them to embark on an adventure to discover the power of the run in their own lives.”

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Published on July 18, 2016 08:48

July 17, 2016

Photos: More Images From Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago

Thousands hit the streets of Chicago on Sunday for the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon. Here are some photos taken by PhotoRun.net (an additional photo gallery can be found here).

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Published on July 17, 2016 16:42

Jared Ward’s Steady Approach to the Olympic Marathon

Jared Ward has been on the rise in the marathon in the past several years, thanks to a steady, meticulous approach. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Jared Ward likes to ride mountain bikes, but his knobby tires haven’t been seeing much action lately.

“Some friends took me out on the trails at home a few years ago, and they warned me that I might not want to run again. It’s a blast—I really love the adrenaline,” says Ward, one of six runners who will compete for the U.S. in the marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next month. “But I’m about to begin my main training cycle for the marathon in Rio, so my bike is going to stay in the garage for a while.”

That pronouncement came in late May, just before Ward ran the Bolder Boulder 10K, donning bib No. 1 for the American pro squad—he ran 30:28 for 16th place in Colorado, hitting the even splits one might expect from a marathoner, though he lacked the speed exhibited by the lead group.

A little more than a month later, at Georgia’s Peachtree 10K on July 4, Ward, 27, expressed satisfaction with his fifth-place effort (29:29), despite running on tired legs and in hot conditions.

“Racing just offers a good baseline. In Boulder, I just wasn’t quite there yet,” Ward said. “At Peachtree I felt that fitness has come around. I’m looking forward to a few more weeks of training, but really like where I am.”

He says that he logged a 100-mile week just before racing in Georgia, and kept the intensity at 90 to 95 percent of his previous training weeks.

Ward’s personal brand is not yet as ubiquitous as those of his well-known Team USA marathon teammates, Galen Rupp and Meb Keflezighi. But if his progression in the marathon continues, that’s bound to change. Rupp, Keflezighi and Ward will toe the starting line of the men’s marathon at 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET) on Aug. 21 and run a course that includes several criterium-style loops along Guanabara Bay before finishing in Sambódromo open-air stadium. It will be one of the marquee events in the Olympics, televised live around the world.

Ward earned his Olympic spot with a third-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, running a near-PR of 2:13:00 on a hot day. Eight weeks later, he nabbed his second U.S. championship at the 25K distance, winning the River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1:14:56. Ward’s progress in the marathon has been remarkably consistent; he’s improved steadily in each of his first three appearances at the distance. (He debuted at Chicago in 2013 with time of 2:16:17, followed by a 2:14:00 at Twin Cities in 2014 and his PR of 2:12:56 at the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon.)

His third-place finish at the Olympic Trials Marathon in February marked his seventh top-three finish at a U.S. championship race since the fall of 2014. While he’s made a name for himself among his peers, he’s OK with the notion that he hasn’t become a household name just yet. He’s a thoroughly analytical thinker—he even teaches a course in statistics at Brigham Young University, and devoted his master’s thesis to an investigation of pacing strategies for the marathon.

If Ward has become expert at calculating his training and racing, he has not done it alone. He ran at BYU under coach Ed Eyestone, a two-time Olympian (1988 and 1992) in the marathon with a PR of 2:10:59. After Ward’s collegiate career came to a close, he decided to stick with Eyestone’s coaching and has not wavered in the decade that they have been together. He is married to Erica, once his massage therapist, and they frequently bring their two children to his races.

Eyestone and Ward also share a faith in Mormonism, which shapes Ward’s training week into a six-day-per-week schedule—Sundays are reserved for worship, contemplation and family time, but not running. While being interviewed for this story, Ward did not bring up the topic of religion, but he said that he is very comfortable discussing it when asked.

“Anybody that has a personal relationship with God, I think they are going to want to share that,” he said “I find it really comforting to know that there’s much more than running out there. My family and my faith are connected to everything I do.”

The demands of training inevitably affect Ward’s family life. “There are tough days when Jared is feeling down or frustrated about how his running is going,” said his wife, Erica. “He is relieved when his morning run is finished early, and he gets stressed if he needs to squeeze two runs late in the day, without adequate recovery. There are a lot of times when we lean on each other—sometimes I am his support and more often he is mine.”

When asked about Jared’s meticulous approach to scheduling, Erica pushes back on the suggestion that he’s too rigid.

“Jared plans things in his mind…partly because he loves efficiency. But even in training, you have to go with the flow and see how you feel each day. Listening to his body keeps him healthy longer than pushing too hard or too far,” she said. Her insight includes hands-on experience as Ward’s massage therapist—Erica is a certified professional in that field.

Ward may have entered the sport’s brightest spotlight only recently, but he says that he’s ready for it. “I’ve been blessed to have a great coach and a great support system. I’ve been able to recover from injuries and run at a high level. I still enjoy racing, as much or more than I ever have,” he says.

With the spring races now behind him, Ward will focus fully on the marathon in Rio. He plans to watch videos of the course during the build period and try to unlock its secrets. With Eyestone’s guidance, he will challenge himself by creating marathon simulator courses in Utah before he arrives in Brazil. After that, the time for analysis will be over—Ward and the rest of us will find out if his steadily upward trajectory as a marathoner will continue.

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Published on July 17, 2016 13:45

Photos: 2016 Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon

The finish line at Sunday’s Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon & 10k was nothing but smiles. Chicago’s premier summertime road race celebrated its eighth anniversary and thanks to optimal mid-summer conditions with temperatures in the low 70s and clouded skies to keep the heat in check, many participants were rewarded with new personal bests.

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Published on July 17, 2016 12:16

Julia Webb Breaks Half Marathon Stroller Record at Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago

Photo: PhotoRun.net

The Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon turned out to be a record-breaking morning in the Windy City.

Perhaps the top highlight of Sunday’s race was Julia Webb, who set a new half-marathon world record pushing a jogging stroller by over 4 minutes. Her time of 1:22:57 equates to 6:20 per mile and got Webb seventh overall.

Webb, who is married to American record holder in the mile, Alan Webb, said that Sunday’s race was the first time she had run a half pushing a stroller. Webb’s child, Paula is nine months old. Webb had originally wanted to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the steeplechase, but wasn’t able to, so she set her sights to this feat.

“I didn’t want to end the season on a bad note,” she said. “I thought, ‘I got to go after some sort of record.’ She (Paula) is going to be getting bigger and bigger and older. This might by my last kid, so why not? I love Rock and Roll and I came here and did it.”

Webb broke the record set just last month by Lindsy James of the U.K., who ran a 1:27:34 pushing her 8 1/2-month old son. Before James, the record had stood for 15 years.

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Published on July 17, 2016 08:38

Neely Spence Gracey, Daniel Vargas Win Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago

Photos: PhotoRun.net

The finish line at Sunday’s Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon was nothing but smiles. The annual race, held in the “Windy City” was celebrating its eighth anniversary and thanks to optimal mid-summer conditions with temperatures in the low 70s and clouded skies to keep the heat in check, many participants were rewarded with new personal bests.

Flashing what could be the biggest grin of them all was Mexican Olympic team member Daniel Vargas who was the first runner to break the tape at the finish. Vargas, who wore bib No. 2, rocked the 13.1 miles in one hour, five minutes, and 55 seconds. Fellow countryman Fernando Cervantes came through at the finish line in Chicago’s Grant Park over a minute later in 1:07:00, while Andrew Lemoncello, the pre-race favorite with bib #1, was third in 1:08:55.

The women’s race was much more decisive as Neely Spence Gracey obliterated the field with an impressive 1:12:26—a full four-and-a-half minutes ahead of second-place finisher Chirine Njeim (1:17:00). Third place went to Jessica Watychowicz (1:18:03).

“I was really happy with today. The cloud cover helped,” Spence Gracey said afterward. “I had some guys out there helping me keep with the pace. I didn’t have to run alone until the last three miles. I can’t complain for sure.” Gracey says she will be running her third Falmouth Road Race next month in May and that she is undecided what she will be training for in the fall. “I appreciate coming to these Rock ‘n’ Roll events, because they help prepare me for other races.”

Spence Gracey admitted that she hadn’t spent much time in Chicago since she was 11 years old and today’s win allowed her to experience the city in a whole new way. “Rock ‘n’ Roll puts on such great events, it’s so cool to come to all these amazing cities and race. I love the energy here at these races. I love the music. It gets me going and keeps me focused out there.”

Probably the top highlight of Sunday’s race was Julia Webb, who set a new half-marathon world record for pushing a jog stroller (1:22:57) by over 4 minutes.

The race was suspended for about 15 minutes due to lightning in the area before it resumed.

True to the Rock ‘n’ Roll experience, runners and their families got a musical treat at the finish-line festival in Chicago’s Grant Park as the headliner, Echosmith, took to the stage and got everyone on their feet with their popular “Cool Kids” song.

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Published on July 17, 2016 08:30

July 16, 2016

Stroller Record to be Tested at Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago

Julia Webb ran the Butte to Butte 10K in 38:16 on July 4 in Eugene, Ore., while pushing her daughter in jogging stroller. Photo: Facebook

You can just imagine Julia Webb checking off her laundry list of must-pack running items when she departed her Portland, Ore., home Friday morning. The wife of American mile record holder Alan Webb, Julia was bound for Sunday’s Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon, in search of a world record.

Running shoes. Check. Socks and sports bra. Check. Singlet. Check.

Final necessities in her world-record chase: stroller, air pump for stroller tires and 9-month-old daughter, Paula.

Say what?

An 11-time All-American at Wisconsin-Lacrosse and former Division III steeplechase national champion, Julia, now 33, will try to break the Guinness World Record for fastest half marathon by a woman while pushing a stroller Sunday.

The world record is 1 hour, 27 minutes, 34 seconds (pending verification), set by Lindsy James just last month.

Sunday’s weather forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms. And it should be toasty. (Predicted high: 88). And breezy: (Winds up to 18 mph).

Webb, though, is undaunted.

“I’m hoping to run under 1:25,” she said in a phone interview while driving to the airport Friday morning. “I just need to get out there and not have a flat tire. You watch triathlons (Alan’s a triathlete now), if people’s tires go out, they’re done.”

While Alan has taken to the swim-bike-run, Julia is pulling off the mother juggling act. She has two daughters, Joanie, 4, and 9-month-old Paula. She’s a Nike+ run coach and still trains hard. With a 9:55.36 personal best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Julia was hoping to qualify for this summer‘s Olympic Trials in her specialty.

But she missed a big chunk of training April and didn’t qualify.

Undaunted, she knew about the Guinness World Record for a half marathon while pushing a stroller and said to herself, “Why not go after it?”

In fact, this won’t be Webb’s first go at a pushing-a-stroller Guinness World Record. In October 2014, Webb shattered the women’s 10K record while pushing a stroller by nearly five minutes, clocking 38 minutes, 15 seconds, a 6:09 mile pace.

In a fascinating twist, Julia didn’t push Joanie in that race. Alan took her with him to visit his family in Virginia, and Julia borrowed a friend’s child.

“Rent-a-baby,” she calls it.

It helped that the friend’s baby was 11 pounds lighter than Joanie.

“I took so much crap for that,” she said.

Webb submitted documentation for the record, but four months later, while waiting for the record to be verified, Webb’s mark was broken. Maggie Yount of Portola Valley, Calif., covered a 10K while pushing a baby in 37:29. (Webb also ran 38:16 at the Butte to Butte 10K on July 4 in Eugene, finishing 18th overall among women while averaging 6:10 mile pace.)

So now Webb hopes to erase the half marathon stroller record.

“It’s not like a real road record,” she said. “I know there are people who could beat me. You hand Shalane Flanagan a stroller and she beats me by six minutes.”

But someone must hold the world record for fastest half marathon while pushing a stroller.

“This is a fun thing,” Webb said. “Why not go after it?”

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Published on July 16, 2016 10:22

Photos: 2016 Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago 5K

Thousands took to the streets of Chicago to kick off a weekend of running at the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago 5K.

Here are photos from the race, taken by PhotoRun.net:

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Published on July 16, 2016 10:20

July 15, 2016

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Completes 365-Mile Challenge, Eyes Bigger Goals

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to run 365 miles in 2016—the latest in his annual challenges that he shares on Facebook. This week, he announced that he’s reached the goal with months to spare.

“I’ve found running is a great way to clear my head, to get more energy and to find time to think about challenges I’m working through at Facebook and our philanthropy. When I’m traveling, running is a great way to explore a new city and kick jet lag before a packed day of meetings,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Zuckerberg said he’s worked on his speed and has run a 5:53 mile, adding that he has stretched his long runs up to 20 miles.

He said although he’s reached his goal, he’s not done running.

“One friend’s New Year’s challenge was to run one more mile than however many miles I run,” he wrote. “I’m pretty competitive, so that’ll keep me going.”

Zuckerberg also revealed that he’s also adding cycling and swimming to the mix, though he recently broke his arm falling off his bike.

Overall, though, Zuckerberg said he is most touched by the Facebook group of people taking on the challenge with him.

“It’s inspiring to see so many people in our community join as well,” he wrote. “Our Year of Running group has more than 100,000 people and every day people share amazing stories of how running helped them get in shape, how the discipline helped get their life on track, or just how they ran a race they never thought they’d be able to do.”

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Published on July 15, 2016 08:54

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