Running long - A trail and ultra running talk

Thailand was the stage of the first ever unified Mountain and Trail Running World Championship (the two events used to be separate), from November 4th to the 6th. Francesco talks about his experience - and individual silver medal! - in the short trail, his feelings, the ambience, atmosphere and results from this championship.  Madeira was the perfect scenery for the Golden Trail World Series finals, won by Remì Bonnet and Nienke Brinkman. The event was held as a 5 day stage race, with more than 100km and 7000m to climb!  Finally, we talk about the end of the WMRA World Mountain Running Cup, which had its last stage in Chiavenna, and some other important, iconic appointments of the end of the season: Festival des Templiers, Transvulcania, Javelina, Diagonal des Fous, Puerto Vallarta by UTMB (where our athlete Kertu Palo took 3rd, qualifying for UTMB!) Resources: World mountain and trail running championships results Golden Trail World Series results Application for the world mountain running cup 2023 Singletrack podcast: should professional trail runners have agents? _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Ryan Thrower is a professional photographer and film maker, and the creative director and co-founder of Freetrail. Besides being an athlete, I’ve always been interested in the way we communicate our sport, because I think the way our stories are told and shared really influences its development. Stories have the power to inspire people, to give motivation, to share knowledge and information, and I think that as humans our necessity to tell and listen to stories is written in our DNA. In this episode we talk about storytelling related to trail running: connecting the athletes and the audience through the power of stories. We talk about different languages and platforms, we provide some ideas on how to build an effective communication depending on the message and the audience, we discuss how social media have influenced the development of trail running and the public figure of the professional athletes. We also talk about the current state of the sport, which Ryans sees through his peculiar eyes of storyteller and athlete himself, about Freetrail’s mission, vision and projects and about what’s it’s like to work with some of the world’s best races and athletes. Follow Ryan's work: https://www.ryanthrowerphoto.com/ Begin again Peak Life Experience Rachel Drake - Training for UTMB OCC Enjoy! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on Instagram Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Gian Marchet Schictanz is a professional trail runner from Switzerland sponsored by Brooks. He burst on the international trail running scene after his second place at the year Lavaredo Ultra Trail, one of the most famous and competitive ultra trail races in the world. After a great battle with the winner, Hannes Namberger (listen his interview on Spotify or Apple Podcast), he was only 10 minutes back after 120km, +6000m and 12 hours of running, in one of the most exciting races of this past summer. Besides this great result, I decided to have Gian on the podcast because he’s also a very interesting athlete in the way he tries to use data and technology to improve his own training. We talk about how he structures his training and how he plans his races and goals for a season, how he balances intensity and volume, how he recovers, in a simple way that is useful to runners of any level and experience. Gian is currently recovering from an injury which forced him to drop out from CCC, and this conversation has a lot of information about how to handle an injury (stress fracture), stay motivated and fit even without being able to run. Get inspired, follow Gian on instagram (he always gives great insight about training) and wish him a speedy recovery! Gian's personal website: gianmarchet.ch _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on Instagram Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Anders Kjaerevik is professional trail runner from Norway sponsored by Salomon. He’s mostly famous for two things: being an “experimental mountain runner”, as he likes to call himself, and being extremely good on the downhills. Right now he’s competing at the Golden Trail Series final in Madeira (5 stages, a total of 109km and +7300m), where - of course - he’s the leader of the special downhill segment classification! In this episode, we dive into his love for the sport and for training, how he likes to experiment different training techniques (this summer he was running a super high mileage with multiple weeks in a row over 300km and +10000m of elevation!), how trained for this season and what his strategy is going to be in Madeira. But I think the most interesting part is when he gives his tips and advice on how to become a better downhill runner. Visualisation, strength for the quads and handling the risk on technical terrain: learn from one of the best in the world! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Albert Jorquera is a journalist, author, community manager and runner specialized in trail and mountain running. He's one of the voices from the sport that is contributing to its popularity and expanding its audience. Albert travels to the world most famous trail races to tell their stories and showcase the athletes, the competition and the values that make our sport so interesting and unique. He's also been working to bring trail running on the large screens, managing and broadcasting several TV streamings in English and Spanish for races like Transgrancanaria, L’Olla de Núria, Salomon Ultra Pirineu or The One Race, the final of the Golden Trail World Series. In this conversation we discuss about the past, present and future of our sport from a media standpoint, what are the most interesting trends and why we are in a very exciting moment for the development of trail running. The episode is full of tips and advice for people wanting to enter the media side of the sport and become journalists in trail running. Enjoy! Follow Albert Jorquera on Twitter | Instagram | Runedia _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Andreu Blanes is a Spanish runner for Club de Atletismo Serrano. He really is an example of "any surface available", with world class results from the track (7:52 3000m, 8:33 3000st) to the roads (62:40 half marathon) to the trails and even off-trail (orienteering)! Andreu had the race of his life at Sierre-Zinal 2022, where he ran 2h29' at his debut in this classic alpine race. But at the time when he ran, he didn't know he was the actual winner of the race. His victory only came after the disqualification of Mark Kangogo (KEN), who tested positive for two prohibited substances after in a WADA control after the race. The men's race results were then corrected and Andreu became the second Spanish runner to win Sierre-Zinal after Kilian Jornet, and one of the five men in history to have run under 2h30.  We talk about how he felt after he learned the news about Kangogo's disqualification, how antidoping controls need to increase and improve in the sport of trail running, and how this whole (sad) situation didn't change the memory of the perfect day he had in Zinal. We also cover his race strategy and his training leading up to SZ, how he successfully managed to transition from the roads and track to the trails, thanks in part to his orienteering background, how he combines training on flat and in the mountains, how he's preparing to race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship in Thailand (November 6th). Get inspired! Follow Andreu on instagram: @andreublanes _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Kertu Palo is a Vert.run premium athlete from Estonia living in the United States.  Kertu has been my very first athlete that I've coached since I started collaborating with Vert. We finally had the chance to meet for the first time in person  in Flagstaff, where we both ran Flagstaff Skypeaks - she did the 50k, placing 4th, I ran the 26k which was part of the Golden Trail Series.  Kertu started training with Vert in 2020 and she's made huge progress thanks to the guidance from Vert and her amazing dedication and consistency in training. The way she's discovered her strength and weaknesses, how she's grown as a person and as an athlete, how we've developed our relationship has been a rewarding and inspiring experience for both.  It's great to feel part and connect with the trail running community, and Kertu is the perfect example of how to train with a smile, how to enjoy spending time on the trails surrounded by nature, how to take care of your body and feel empowered thanks to trail running. I hope you can all relate and find value in this really nice conversation. Enjoy! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

The Golden Trail Series coming to the US, the final rounds of the World Mountain Running Cup and the preparation for the 2022 World Mountain Running Championships in Thailand and the Golden Trail Series Final in Madeira. More: the 24h world record, the marathon world record, Run Rabbit Run, The Rut, VK+Trofeo Nasego, Canfranc-Canfranc, Mammoth Trail Fest, Skyrunning World Champs, Redbull Dolomitenmann.. Many exciting things happened during the month of September in the trail running world! Get inspired with: Race recap from Pikes Peak Ascent + Flagstaff Skypeaks (video) Kilian Jornet's article: Training for long and short trail running More resources: GWTS Final Ranking World Cup manager role _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Pikes Peak Ascent is a 21km race from Manitou Springs, Colorado, to the top of Pikes Peak, also known as America's Mountain. It climbs 2380m of elevation gain, from 1920m at the start to the 4300m (or 14115 ft) of the finish line. It's one of the most competitive mountain races in the US, that has traditionally had such a great importance for the history and the development of the sport, inside and outside of the United States. This year the Ascent was chosen to host the 5th stage of the 2022 Golden Trail World Series. It was won by Remì Bonnet (SUI, team Salomon/RedBull) and Nienke Brinkman (NED, Nike/NN Running Team). Full results: https://results.pikespeakmarathon.org/2022/PPA/ It was a great experience and a good race for me: I was 5th overall in a very competitive field of athletes, and I'm quite happy about my 2:12:56 finish. Besides my little personal achievement, it's been great to share a few days together with lots of amazing athletes and interesting people. The European athletes and media team of the GTWS took the chance to organize a road trip through Colorado, Utah and Arizona in between Pikes Peak Ascent and Flagstaff Skypeaks, that is scheduled for Sunday, Sept 25th. This episode is an inside story told by the athletes on their experience at Pikes Peak, extending their reflections to their 2022 season. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to everyone who has contributed to record this episode! Give all the athletes a follow on Instagram 😉 it's a great way to support them! _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Peter Maksimow is a lover of mountain and trail running at 360°. There aren't enough words to describe the passion and the incredible value that he has brought to the sport. Peter lives in Manitou Springs, Colorado, at the bottom of Pikes Peak. He works for the American Trail Running Association, taking pictures and writing stories to showcase the athletes hand the events, and to bring these stories to the people.  In this episode we cover many different topics through Peter's great perspective: the american trail running scene, Pikes Peak marathon, women's participation in trail running, the state of the sport from a media and an athlete's standpoint, how we need to preserve the spirit and values that have always been present in trail running, and that make it such an incredible sport and warm community, balancing that with its expansion and growth. _____________________________ Follow @vert.run on IG Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website