When UTMB isn’t long enough
With all the hyped euphoria of the UTMB races still ringing in our collective consciousness, it is reassuring and life-affirming to know that this week alone, there are several thousand runners seeking out longer and more difficult challenges. Here are Six events which, at the time of writing are still happening or about to happen, and one recent extreme adventure of a special nature.
- Swiss Peaks 360 https://swisspeaks.ch/360k/?lang=en
The Swiss Peaks 360 is a 380km/236/Mile adventure in the Alps with a whopping 26,000 metres of climb.
It started on September the 1st at 10 am and has a 159-hour cut-off or 6 days, 15 hours.
NB GB’s Kim Collison finished early in the morning of September 5th to claim victory in the 360 event
For the real adventurers, there is also a Swiss Peaks 660 km/410-mile event with almost double the climb with 49,000 metres, and shorter 170km and 100km events.
- Ultra tour de Monte Rosa https://www.ultratourmonterosa.com/
At 170 kilometres, it is slightly shorter than this year’s UTMB, which was 110 Km. However, it does have an extra 1,700 metres of elevation, having 11,600 metres to UTMB’s 9,900 metres. Much of the Monte Rosa route is also run at a higher altitude.
Lizzy Hawker, former international ultra-athlete and race director, describes the race on the website.
“Wild spaces, 4000m mountains in every direction, and quiet trails – this is where I chose to train for UTMB and other races. It’s a tough route. High and technical in many places – and prior mountain running experiences are needed. The fullroute is more challenging than UTMB.
But it is wonderfully varied, taking you through magnificent alpine landscapes and delightful Walser hamlets and villages. I realised, “If this was a race, this is the race I would really like to run“. It didn’t exist, so we created it for you to enjoy. As a one-stage race, it is a serious challenge: bold, brutal, beautiful. Come and try it!”– Lizzy Hawker.
Damian Hall, a top six finisher at UTMB and former Spine race winner commented,
“The UTMR has more climbing, more technical terrain, more altitude, more glacier crossings, and more beauty than UTMB. I’ll definitely be back.”
- Tor des Geants
The 15th edition of the Tor des Geants 330 gets underway on Sunday 8th September. Located in Italy’s Aosta valley, the main event, the Tor 330 is 330km/205 Miles long and has 24,000 metres of climb and a 150 hour cut off
There are other options, including the longer Tor 450, or “Tor des Glaciers”, which starts on Friday, 6th September. It is possibly the ultimate alpine race experience, with 32,000 metres of climb on its 450km/279.61-mile route. Entry is cappedat 200 runners with a cut-off time of 190 hours (almost eight days).
“Most of the trail’s 450k route is along the forgotten Alte Vie Trails, 3 and 4. It crosses ridges that are largely unknown and touches ancient glaciers far away from the usual trekking routes. These paths are frequented only by people who are in their element in Alpine landscapes, adore solitude and appreciate the grandeur of the high peaks.”
- Dragons Back Race, Wales.
https://www.dragonsbackrace.com
At 380km/236 miles and 16,400 metres of ascent, the organisers claim it is one of the “toughest mountain races in the world.”
While it is certainly a credible challenge for anyone, the Swiss Peaks and Tor des Geants have similar distances, but have far more climb and are Continuous races.
The Dragons Back is a six-day multi-stage race with a set distance to be covered, each day. It even has the relative luxury of overnight camps with dinner and Breakfast provided. Over 100 runners are taking part in the challenge.
5 EMU 6-day race Balaton, Hungary.
https://emusport.hu/race-details/4
If mountains and trails are not your strength running from the 5th to 11th of September is the annual EMU 6-day race.
The Global Organisation of Multi-day Runners (GOMU) have chosen this event as the GOMU-EMU 6-day World Championships. Some of the most experienced multi-day runners will circle a loop of 898.88 metres to log the most distance in the six days.
The current ratified world records for 6-days are held by Yiannis Kouros (GRE) for the men with 1036.800 km/644.237 Km and Camille Herron with 901.768 km/560.332 Miles for the women.
Danish runner Stine Rex, running in her homeland, is reported to have surpassed Herron’s distance with 913.6 km/567.6 Miles just a week ago. That mark is awaiting the usual ratification process.
6. Sri Chinmoy 3100 mile race
https://3100.srichinmoyraces.org
If six days and the lure of the mountains isn’t enough, 12 intrepid adventurers are currently circling the famous 0.5488 mile/0.929 Km loop in Queens, New York, in the 28th edition of the Sri Chinmoy 3,100 mile race. They began on 30th August, with the race having a 52-day cut-off. Runners need to average around 60 miles each day to finish within the cut-off. The race was the idea of Sri Chinmoy, the Bengali spiritual teacher, musician, poet, and founder of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon team. He advocated running as a simple way of helping anyone go beyond their previous capacity and challenge themselves both outwardly and inwardly.
Current records are Ashprihanal Alto for the men with 40 days, 9 hours, 6 minutes and 21 seconds and Tsai Wen-ya for the women with 45 Days, 12 hours, 28 Minutes, and 44 seconds.
The race cut-off and finish is on October 20th!
7. Alpine Connections
Finally, if pinning a number on is just too much, there is always planning your own little personal adventure.
In the past week, the legend that is Kilian Jornet has just completed a journey that included summiting eighty-two, 4,000-metre peaks in the Alps. Between sections, he travelled by bicycle to make the challenge 100% self-propelled. His route was 1207 km/750 miles with 75,344 metres of climb. It is reported, he took “19 days with nearly 268 hours of moving time. 87% of that time, he was on his feet, the remainder on his bike.
He commented afterwards, ” This was, without any doubt, the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life, mentally, physically, and technically, but also maybe the most beautiful.”
You can look back on Killian’s journey on his regular Instagram posts at https://www.instagram.com/kilianjornet/. Or https://www.instagram.com/nnormal_official/
Although UTMB and its associated races have become must-do races for many ultra runners, for others, it can either be a stepping stone to more extreme challenges or by-passed altogether by runners looking for a different challenge away from the huge fields and media spotlight.
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Adrian Tarit Stott.
The author is a former GB 24 hour ultra international with over 100 ultra race completions. He has also been involved organising ultra distance races for over 30 years. Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Running Advisory Group (URAG) and part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams.He is also a freelance writer in his spare time, contributing articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
