SIERRE-ZINAL CONTINUES TO BE AN INTERNATIONALLY COVETED RACE— AND IT’S ONLY GETTING BETTER.
Let’s assume you’ve never found yourself edging him out of the lead pack while charging a steep incline. We’ll presume you’ve never caught sight of his bright shoes revolving and blinking in your periphery like the warning lights of the pending pain cave. You’ve probably never given it one last throttle, tipping your sternum forward for just a shave of a lead while your fists swing furiously back and forth in a group of front runners kicking up a storm of dust, straining to not let him escape, like spiders tending prey in their web—only then to witness him take in a calm breath and unmoor from the group, his affect gentle, his classic white shirt and short red shorts getting farther and farther away in a matter of moments.
If, in fact, none of this has happened to you, you may want to look up the race footage from the recent Sierre Zinal mountain race in Switzerland from last August to get an idea.
After the initial ascent of about 5,200 feet in seven miles, the lead pack of the 31K consisted of champion ski mountaineer and runner Davide Magnini of Italy, World Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray of the U.S., European Mountain Running Championships silver medalist Robert Simpson of Great Britain, World Long Distance Mountain Running Champion Francesco Puppi of Italy, NACAC Mountain Running Champion Juan Carlos Carera Casas of Mexico, Mountain Running World Championships 10th-place finisher Robert Surum Panin of Kenya and the Catalan Jornet, likely the best mountain runner in the world.
Via a camera affixed on a cyclist tailing Jornet, the aforementioned scene (sans you, sadly) was live broadcast on the internet to tuned-in trail-running enthusiasts.
At the summit, Jornet took advantage of a stretch of ridge line single track as crunchy and inviting as meringue and let ’er rip.
Esta historia es de la edición November/December 2018 de Trail Runner.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November/December 2018 de Trail Runner.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
You Cannot Erase us
Over the years and through thousands of miles of running, I have thought about the words that marked the beginning of colonialism on the land and the end of Indigenous sovereignty.
Inside The Adaptable Mind
How Courtney Dauwalter uses adaptability to stay cool, calm and collected when the going gets tough.
Take it Easy
How to stay at aerobic pace when you live in the hills
Here Comes the Sun
Where pessimism meets its match
Connecting the Dots
How Laura Cortez uses her passion for trails to build community.
Carbohydrate Confusion
When it comes to food and nutrition, we tend to overcomplicate things. Eat this, not that. Run fasted, restrict sugar. Unfortunately, much of the controversy stems from observations and sensationalized media headlines vs. actual data, leaving the consumer more confused from their Google search than they were before.
This Wild Life
ONE MAN’S 92-MILE RUN OF GRIEF AND SELF-DISCOVERY.
Our Town
Trail running is all about the community it fosters and the beauty and diversity within the community. Here’s a look at seven places, and the faces that call them home.
Fueling for Females
Here’s how female runners can use recent research findings for performance breakthroughs
Lose Weight with a Shake
Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval.
