The Invisible Wall — Photo Copyright: Trail Runner Magazine
Most of the videos that we share in this newsletter are of epic races or FKTs from around the world. It’s less common to see videos that show our sport and how it can be used to show other parts of life outside of competition or trail running purely as a physical effort.
But sometimes, trail runners come up with awesome projects that make us think beyond sport (the most popular example of this is probably Rickey Gates’ #EverySingleStreet.) So this week, we leave you with this video about some trail runners from The North Face; they use their passion for the sport by running along the border between the USA and Mexico, and show us the behind the scenes of what this area looks like. In the end, we can use trail running as a way to connect with others and their realities, and to realize that running is a very universal thing that can help up connect with our surroundings.
The Scotland Skyline
This weekend, there’s a festival of races happening around the “Munros” (mountains over 3,000 feet) in Scotland, which has being growing steadily throughout the last couple of years on the global trail running scene. With distances for every range from Vertical Kilometers to Ultras (really technical ones, at that) this series of races does an awesome job of mixing fell running (what those in the UK call mountain running) with the more “traditional” trail running that we’re used to seeing in the rest of Europe. Definitely worth putting on your bucket list.
You can watch the highlight of last year’s race here.
Scotty Hawker – UTMB 2019
Yep, more UTMB stories…this time, here’s one from Scotty Hawker, who ended up on the UTMB podium this year–after being almost sure that he was going to DNF 50k into the race. We’ve heard “it isn’t over until it’s over,” but this story about believing in the process that led you there and not throwing in the towel until the end makes it more relevant than ever. This interview from Trail Runner mag is definitely worth reading.
WHAT INSPIRED US THIS WEEK
What to read:
In our last newsletter, we introduced you the beast of a race called “Tor des Geants,” which runs through the wide Aosta Valley, and goes up and down the Italian Alps. Now, we leave you with this really good “race report” of the race, which highlights the “good, bad and the ugly” of it. Definitely worth a read.
You can read the race report here.
What to read:
At Vert.run, we strongly believe that you need to do some core, strength and even jumps exercises in your training if you want to be well-prepared for all race distances. Just putting in the miles and getting out for a run won’t get you all the way to where you need to be. On top of that, having a good strength routine can help your body and legs be stronger for enduring the workload you’re putting in week after week, and reduce your risk of injury. We leave you with this in-depth article from iRunFar to learn more about why it’s so important.
