Ultrarunning World.co.uk

Jez Bragg takes 3^rd place in the Western States 100 Endurance Race

The North Face endurance athlete Jez Bragg had a fantastic race at the Western States 100 Endurance Race in California, USA on 27^th-28^th June. Jez finished in 3^rd place - which meant he was the first and only European on the podium - a real achievement at what is one of the oldest ultra trail events in the world, and certainly one of the most challenging.

The race takes place along the Western States Trail, used by the gold and silver miners of the 1850’s, from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California, USA. It covers remote and rugged terrain and its inaccessibility means that adequate mental and physical preparation are of the utmost importance. The beautiful and inspiring mountainous terrain is relentless in its challenge to the runner.

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Going the Distance with Jez Bragg

The North Face® sponsored ultra-distance runner, Jez Bragg has just jetted off to California in preparation for one of the oldest and most challenging ultra trail events in the world – The Western States 100 mile Endurance Run.

Jez has had a flying start to the year, giving outstanding performances in the Celtic Plate 100km Championships, finishing first and creating a bit of a stir coming in under 7 hours, something that a UK athlete hasn’t managed to do for 5 years. He also let fly with a new course record at the 53 mile Highland Fling race, and strolled in first at The Fellsman last month.

But now, as Jez said “This is the biggy! It’s the all singing and dancing US 100 miler where all the top guys are competing this year. The remoteness of the trails makes this very different from other races, so the mental preparation is as important as the physical”.

The Race begins at 5am on 27^th June and will start at Squaw Valley, California. It takes the runners through original trails used by the gold and silver miners of the 1850’s and along unforgiving remote and rugged territory, ending after a 22,900 feet descent before reaching the finish line in Auburn.

Jez has packed his The North Face® Voza’s, which are proving to be his perfect running partner. They are the only thing he has been running in (shoe wise!) this year, and will help him keep on track for the US100.

From Killamarsh Kestrels website:

24 hour race for charity

"Killamarsh Kestrels Running Club, has organised the race which will take place between 27-28 June 2009.

Members of the local community are being invited to get their running shoes on for charity and take part in a 24 hour relay race

The event, which is raising money for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, will see teams take it in turns to run or walk a lap of Rother Valley. The Killamarsh Kestrels runners will take part throughout the whole 24 hours, with other runners being invited to come down and run as many laps as they can."

Read the details on the Killamarsh Kestrels website

Just a quick note to let you know that we are planning a Moose Ultra UK Social for Wednesday 10th June in London. The venue will be the All Bar One in Leicester Square, after working hours.

If you are a veteran of our past events, interested in taking part in future editions of The Moose Ultra or just fancy a social chat with other ultra runners then feel free to come on down and join us.

If you need to contact us we are on 07855 475492 or richard@runthemoose.com

Looking forward to seeing friends old and new.

Cheers,

Richard and Barrileigh

Information:

All Bar One
48 Leicester Square,
London,
WC2H 7LT

From 1700hrs

Mike Sullivan, a veteran of the resurgence in multiday running in the USA in the 1980’s, has embarked on a project to run from the east Coast of the UK, at Southend, to Wales and then heading north to Scotland. Mike started at the beginning of May and is currently heading north through Welshpool having run alongside the Montgomery Canal.

Read about his  travels on his blog Trans-Britain Trek

Raising funds and awareness for Orchid the only UK registered cancer charity to focus entirely on the male-specific cancers, Chris Carver undertook to run from Otley in Yorkshire to central London, a distance of over 210 miles.

Chris set off at 9:00 am Saturday 23rd of May and reached London and his destination around 6:am Monday morning. 

Chris has raised £1500 so far.

Visit Chris’s event blog, Run to London for photos and details

Checkout Chris’s site. Thoughts of an Ultrarunner

Dave Scott has posted a race report of the Scottish Ultra - a six day expedition style race on remote Islands off the West Coast of Scotland.

 Vango Scottish Ultra 2009

 The sacrifice, dedication, pain and suffering for all this years athletes ended on Thursday 7^th May as the last participant crossed the finish line of Vango Scottish Ultra in the Isle of Jura Distillery.  Gone was the sunshine, gentle breezes and lush green hillsides of British Ultra 2008.  In their place was sheer, unadulterated raw challenge, adventure, fear and exhilaration.  After a week of rain, sleet, hail, driving winds and extremely tough underfoot conditions the brave and undeniably hardy souls who took up the challenge of the Vango Scottish Ultra have earned the right to put their feet up for a couple of days.

The event was tough, at times almost unbelievably so.  Not only had the route been lengthened from the previous year but the terrain had been varied to include more mountains, a seven mile beach and strength sapping ground which would test anyone even in the best of conditions.  The weather was the worst seen in May for many years on the islands and featured 70mph winds, driving rain, sleet and hail and unseasonably low temperatures.

 Full results at www.scottishultra.com

 Read the whole article on Multidays.com The Vango Scottish Ultra 2009 - Race Report

Just came across this walking event, not an ultrarunning race but still a great experience.

 
"The TGO Challenge is an annual self-supported walking event across the Highlands of Scotland, west coast to east coast. It started in 1980 and was the brainchild of the well-known writer and mountaineer, Hamish Brown. The Challenge is held every May and is sponsored by TGO, the walkers’ magazine, in partnership with Rab, the outdoor equipment specialist, and the adventure trekking company Himalayan Kingdoms."

Participants are given 15 days to complete the journey.

The TGO Challenge

The ultrarunning body, the IAU, held their 24 Hour World Challenge & European Championships last weekend in Bergamo, Italy. The best 24 hour ultrarunners gather here to race in teams and this year the UK sent four runners to compete on the world stage.

 Top 3 Runners

1 OLSSON HENRIK M SVEZIA 257,042
2 WEIS RALF M GERMANIA 244,492
3 FONTAINE ANNE-CÉCILE F FRANCIA 243,644

 
32 MASON STEPHEN GRAN BRETAGNA    215,167
74 SKELTON VICKY GRAN BRETAGNA    192,449
85 WALKER PAULINE GRAN BRETAGNA    188,815
118 GAYTER SHARON GRAN BRETAGNA    172,360
136 KUZ LYNNE      GRAN BRETAGNA     154,217

Full results are available on the IAU website

The Compton 40 mile challenge took place Saturday 11 April 2009. A small village on the Berkshire Downs provides a rural setting for this event. which was won this year by Mark Collinson from the Trail Running Association in a time of 5:23:44. First lady was Lucy Hilton of Serpentine Running Club in a time of 5:39:51 good enough for 4th place overall.

Full results are available on the Compton Harriers website