September 22, 2011. Extreme athlete Ryan Sandes was the star of the show at a trail running seminar hosted by Salomon at the Giba Gorge Mountain Bike Park.
While Spanish trail running phenomenon Kilian (a multiple extreme event winner and star of the sport in Europe) was the sponsor’s star turn and he did provide some fascinating insights into training methods, his passion for the sport and developments in trail running all South African eyes were undoubtedly on Ryan Sandes (pictured), well known as our superstar of the world of ultra-distance marathons and long distance trail running.
Sandes recently joined an elite group when he won the grueling 100 mile long Leadville 100 (a one-day race), a move away from his traditional dominance of stage desert racing. To achieve this long-cherished ambition, Sandes relocated for a couple of months to Leadville, Colarado, with support from the Salomon team, and began assessing and testing the route, in preparation for the big event.
Sandes commented on his blog: “My average day consisted of waking up and going for a run; hanging out at the local coffee shop; then heading out for another run or bike ride in the afternoon and; evenings were spent eating Mexican food and chilling with my girlfriend. I had it good!”
Race day is always a bit of a lottery for these guys, despite all the hours of training, as they never know quite how the body is going to respond, particularly in extreme conditions of heat and high altitude: “At mile forty we climbed over Hope Pass and I seemed to be feeling stronger than most of the guys moving from 5th to 1st place by the time we got of the mountain. It was a risky move, but my ‘gut feel’ said do it! Running into the turnaround point I told myself today was my day and if I wanted this race bad enough it was mine.”
Sandes said the rest of the race was an endurance of pain and commitment and thanked his backup crew for their essential support. Judging by the pained expression on his face as he spoke, it was evident that this a stern test even for a veteran of long distance racing. His winning time: 16 hours, 46 minutes.
To get a little idea of the achievement, it’s the equivalent of running a Comrades Marathon, the pulling yourself together and running at least another 70km/h . . . all at altitude. Easy Peasy.
Commenting on the race, and the scenic setting, he said: “I have run on all seven continents and Colorado has some of the best trails in the world. The trails varied from never ending forest single track to less technical wider jeep track. The surrounding scenery was breathtaking – I ran over mountain passes with views of the snow capped Rockies; crossed ice cold rivers; ran around turquoise lakes; and saw an abundance of wild life (luckily I did not bump into any bears).
To cap off an entertaining afternoon, complete with dazzling audiovisual presentations on races such as Mont Blanc (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc), those attending were invited on a wee run through the mountain bike park’s trails . . . needless to say this hack was absolutely knackered as he ate some serious trail dust. – Garth Johnstone
Note: Pictures courtesy of Jazz Kuschke and Buzz Bolton