I’m playing with the idea of entering a running stage race, such as the Trans Rockies race.
I know a lot of you have done one of these races, whether it’s the Marathon de Sables or a less famous one. What can you tell me about them?
I’m drawn to them because my background before triathlon was trail running and long-distance backpacking. The more remote the wilderness, the better. I love the idea of running, day after day, in the wilderness. Could be anywhere in the world. Might try doing this as a self-supported deal, but thought I’d ask about the organized races first.
How is the experience different than training for a one-day ultra? I admit the longest one I’ve done is 50k. How much more taxing is it to pick up and run again, day after day, with the only recovery being an overnight rest?
Is there a particular race you would choose, for scenery or experience?
How did you train and what lessons did you learn? What would you do differently?
I race really poorly in heat, and would probably avoid the hot ones. The Kokapelli Trail for instance (Colorado-Utah) is in June with an average high of 95 degrees F; wish they were doing it in April or October. Elevation, however, is something I can train for, if the race is end-of-summer or fall timeframe.
I can attest to a shorter 3 day race run in Chattanooga, tn.
20ish miles each day. 3 different mountains in town. My background was several 50ks and a 5omiler. This was more difficult in some ways: injury, training, heat. The difficulty for me was to relax and recover enough during the days to be ready to run again the next morning.
The stage races you listed were intriguing to me, but i wanted to have a little more confidence and experience with a multi day long run before embarking. Looking back it is probably something i could have trained for more with 20 mile runs on consecutive days on my local trails. I had more joint pain and weight loss/dehydration than i originally planned for. Helps put things like double ironman in perspective.
CLM rang me up to show me this thread…My wife and I have done Desert RATS the past two years and will be on the line in June 2011. It was the most amazing endurance experiecnce I have ever had (9 IM’s, doezens of ultra’s, tri etc) the crew at Gemini Adventures are amazing and have become part of out lifes.
The training is a little different than say training for a 100 miler or IM in that you “have” to train long the next day as in the race. The paces are generally much slower and we carry 99% of our gear on long days. We do a lot of “time on our feet” days…that look like Run 2 hours walk 1 hour run 2 walk 1…ideally we would get 2 100 mile weeks, 2 90’s…and a bunch of 75’s before the race…
IMO a large part of these races are the mental side. You are out there…mostly alone…no one is there to had you a dixie cup of gatorade telling you how awesome you are…if you don’t have your head into it or your are looking at the next days stage it will bite and bite hard.
Lessons? Dont break and ankle 4 months out…(2009 trail race) don’t have surgery to repair a shattered collarbone 5 weeks out (2010 crit race) I have lost 40lbs this year and hope to have a better race this year…light is better in gear and you. LOL
If you are interested RATS offers a 30% discount on 5 or more…I could get you in our group if you would like. Contact me back channel
Good to know about Desert RATS. I’ll bet their Mountain RATS race is good too, then (and not as hot!).
The Death Race in Canada looks fun.
Nice idea, though, to start with a 3-day stage race, rather than the typical 6-7 day one.
Michigan has a relay called Great Lakes Relay (GLR) that is all about trails. Its around 270 miles and it is 10 person teams. Just a thought.
Hello,
What are the course like, particularly the trail surfaces. i don’t mind hills , but i’m not too big on trails littered with large rocks and roots.
Styrrell
tom demerly’s done the marathon des sables - try sending him a pm. i did a one-day trail marathon - something like 45k, maybe a touch more. can’t really advise on any of your questions, as i was pretty underprepared!
-mike
If you are interested in races around the SE, rock/creek hosts a trail series from 5m to 50 miles.
http://www.rockcreek.com/trailseries/default.asp
The 3 day stage race was nice for gaining experience with multiday races because each of the 3 trails was different in terrain and difficulty.
As great as MdS and other large stage races sounded to me, I would want a little more experience before the “race of a lifetime.”
Best of luck with your search and then on race day.