I’ve received several bits of good advice over the past few days, but far and away the best I’ve gotten is the suggestion to hire an agent. But not just any agent (or any one agent) – a bubbly, busty coed agent. You know, the kind who will organize my appearances while reclining on top of a piano in a low-cut skirt, or hand me flowers when I finish races ahead of barely-conscious competitors. Fortunately, I have this covered already with Reese Ruland’s Quality Crewing Company, who has been handling my PR for several months now and is responsible for catapulting me into international scandal. My career has never been more incomprehensible.

You’re probably wondering about my interpretation of European racing versus American racing. Well, once I get my hearing back I’ll try to come up with a cohesive answer. They love ultrarunning over here – it’s awesome. To race at that level of competition with that kind of intense media focus on the runners was invigorating. The energy and excitement surrounding this race really made it something special, and I’m proud to have been able to experience both an outstandingly beautiful course and play my part in an exciting race among the best in the sport. At the same time, I’ll be glad to return to the anonymity of Colorado. Both places have their merits and I’m lucky to experience them both.

This weekend I’ll be competing in the Zegama-Aizkorri marathon in the Basque country of Spain with many of the same competitors. Fortunately, I hear they grow lots of flowers in that area. According to sources who wished to remain anonymous (I made them up), all of Europe will be cheering us on. For my part, I intend to fully utilize every aid station, Slow Aaron style, and really get my mid-race baguette-and-pasta on, with a side of sparkling water. Because it’s not just running – it’s eating too. And if it’s not Shot Blok lasagna smothered in Clif Shots, it better be salami and cheese with olives. This race is also a great opportunity to try out the new rum and whiskey Clif Shots – inspired by literal interpretations everywhere. If you would like to try them out yourself, please get in touch with my agent. She’ll most likely be playing beach volleyball with her attractive and equally scantily-clad college interns.

No related articles.

The attempts start 5 minutes in with Maud Gobert, François d’Haene – 5:30; Anton Krupicka – 5:50; Marco De Gasperi – 6:15; Kilian Jornet – 6:40; Greg Vollet (and his 9.5) – 6:55; three-man race (including Kilian Jornet) with crashes -  7:55.

[Click here if you can't see the video above.]

The above video was heavily inspired by the early features on Skyrunning from the early 90s.

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[Click here if you can't see the video above]

Anna Frost 2012 Transvulcania Champion Interview Transcript

iRunFar: Bryon Powell here with Anna Frost, the 2012 women’s champion of the Transvulcania ultra. How are you doing today?

Anna Frost: Very good, thanks.

iRF: We’re a couple of days after the race and we’ve finally had a chance to take a couple deep breaths and relax a bit.

Frost: Yeah, it’s been a bit like that.

iRF: So looking back at the race, did you lead the whole way? Was there ever a woman in front of you?

Frost: I actually thought when we started that there might be another woman ahead of me because it was a pretty chaotic start. It was just black and it suddenly went from a wide road to a narrow single track so there certainly could have been a woman ahead of me, but then just up the road a bit they said I was the first woman, so from there on I was first.

iRF: Did you have any ups and downs in the race or were you pretty even the whole time?

Frost: No, mentally, I was good the whole way, which was cool. Physically, I had a real low from about 26k to 36k or so. It goes down and then gradually goes back up. It’s fast running and you have to get your legs turning over again after 26k of going uphill. My legs just wouldn’t move; they were just flat. Fortunately, there were some people around so I just got it in my head that I just had to get through that section and then it was uphill from there. Once I got to the steep section, I was fine. Then, of course, going 20k downhill is bound to hurt, so yeah, that was a big down.

iRF: You sort of have this, at least outwardly, this forward-looking, positive attitude. Were you ever instead of chasing the guys in front of you were you thinking, “Oh man, there’s a woman chasing me…”

Frost: Yeah, when you’re in first place, you’re always running scared, because you have no idea. I had no feedback at any time during the race where the next woman was or even who the next woman was. I couldn’t see anyone when I’d look back at switchbacks or wherever, so I knew I had at least a couple of minutes. But I wasn’t really too worried about it. I knew or I was pretty confident that my uphill was going to be strong. The only thing I wasn’t confident about was my downhill or if the girls were going to catch me on the down. So I just turned that into a positive, “Well, you’ve got to get down the hill in the lead, because you don’t want to be fighting it out in those last couple of Ks.”

iRF: Certainly. You also seem to be very emotionally invested in your racing. Do you think that’s true and how so?

Frost: Yeah, I guess when I race I race to win it, generally, if it’s a focus race. I put a lot of my life into it. It is my life. So this race has absorbed me for the last 6 weeks. I’ve been living on La Palma; I’ve been training on the course. I’ve done everything possible to make this race a winning race. So yeah, I’d say I’ve been very emotionally attached to this.

iRF: More broadly, you seem to have a really deep, deep passion for running. How has that developed through your life? You’ve only been doing the ultra thing for maybe two years now, but you’ve been running for quite awhile.

Frost: Yeah, I guess I found the passion for it in 2004 when I came across the Mountain Running Championships. Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling and racing all around the world, it’s been a really nice… it’s worked well together so that passion has been kept alive because I’m always doing something that’s creating that spark again.

iRF: It seems from the outsider’s perspective that it’s almost growing in time (talking to you at TNF Endurance Challenge a couple years ago to now). You really just want to be in the mountains.

Frost: Yeah, I’m just really getting more and more intrigued and curious and I’m learning more. The more you learn and the more you know, the more you want to learn and so I’m in that vicious cycle now.

iRF: Speaking of what you want, do you have a bucket list of dream places or races that, “I want to go do that,” or have you not had the time?

Frost: No, I’ve never really had a bucket list or a fridge list (whatever). I’ve always just kept my door or opportunities open. People have said to me, “Oh, you’ve gotta do that race,” and if it inspires me and it works for me, then I’m going to go try to do it. But I think UTMB is intriguing me quite a lot at the moment and I guess from having a lot of the Americans out here this time, I’ve been getting a lot of the influence for Hardrock as everyone’s saying that I would love that. So these are things that I’m just starting to think about and wonder about if that could be an option.

iRF: Well, from your recent schedule and those dreams it seems you’ve really made a transition from mountain running to ultrarunning. Has that been a conscious decision or is it just where your interests lie?

Frost: No, I wouldn’t say I’m totally sold on ultrarunning. It sounds funny, but this was only my third [ultra] and, like I’ve said, there’s so much to learn. I still love starting at the bottom of a hill and running for 8k up to the top and calling it a day. But yeah, I think because I’ve had quite a bit of experience in the shorter mountain running, and the mountain marathon distance, I’m sort of getting intrigued and wanting to know what to challenge myself with in new things, so I guess that’s why the longer distances are creeping in. But I think I’ll always be involved in mountain marathon distances and shorter distances as well.

iRF: So you’ve been living in La Palma for 6 weeks now, where to next (aside from you’re going to be racing Zegama next weekend)? Where’s home after Zegama?

Frost: Home after that will be a camper van in France. So that will be my next 6-week home. After Zegama, I’ll have most of my time in and around the Chamonix region looking at the UTMB route and running that with the Salomon team just as a fun run around the route over a couple of days and staying up in the mountain huts. So that will be fantastic. Then, we’ll probably do the Chamonix-Mount Blanc Marathon there. Then, I’ll head out to America and I’ll have about 2 months there where I’m not sure exactly what my home “device” will be there, but it will be going to Speedgoat, which is an ultra in the Skyrunning series. Then, it will be Transrockies and the big weekend of Leadville and Pikes Peak. There will be a lot of Salomon runners there as well as all the other friends I’ve made through this running community. I’ll be there to support all of them.

iRF: What have you heard about Speedgoat? I ask that with interest because I live about 10 miles as the crow flies from there.

Frost: Right. I’ve heard nothing about the race actually. It’s just that it’s in the ultra series and I’m going. I’ve been a little bit in the area; I was in Park City a little bit last year, so I kind of know the region that I’m going. But yeah, I don’t know if I’ve been on the course at all.

iRF: Yeah, you wouldn’t have been on the course in Park City. This next question I ask with the knowledge of my girlfriend who suggested it for everyone at iRunFar.com. You’ve got a lot of guy fans out there, so I have to ask the question, are you single?

Frost: Yes, I’m single, BUT, the reason I’m single is because running is my passion. I’ve battled with relationships because I’ve got people in my life that I love having in my life but at the moment, running has taken my priority. It’s a really hard thing to do to sacrifice a loving relationship for going off in search of your running, but it’s fair and it’s what my heart says to do, so it’s been my decision.

iRF: You’re following one passion. Excellent. I look forward to seeing you follow your passion around Europe this week and around America later this summer. Congratulations and thank you very much.

Frost: Thank you very much.

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Dakota Jones, 2012 Transvulcania Champion, Interview Transcript

iRunFar: Bryon Powell here with Dakota Jones after his victory at the 2012 Transvulcania ultra. How are you doing?

Dakota Jones: I’m doing fine, Bryon, thanks.

iRF: You’ve had a nice, relaxing day, jumping into the ocean and enjoying a nice café here.

Jones: Yeah, it’s awesome. We’re hanging out in the Canary Islands, which I still haven’t wrapped my head around.

iRF: Have you wrapped your head around your performance yesterday?

Jones: No, I haven’t done that either. That was nuts. I was as surprised as anyone else out there.

iRF: I think about a month ago I asked you if you thought your Lake Sonoma 50-mile was your biggest win. I don’t think I have to ask you that question now.

Jones: I think at the time it was. This probably trumps that, for sure.

iRF: You’re the king of the understated quote. Last interview you said, “I ran hard and I won.” I’m going to put you on the spot and have you talk a little bit more about your race this time because it was actually a pretty tight race. About half way through the race distance-wise, I saw you were 10 seconds from Kilian and Andy was 2 minutes back. Take us forward from there.

Jones: Well, that was when we were getting up to the caldera. We started at the ocean and we run up this really long ridgeline to the summit of the island which is a volcano and it’s got this huge caldera in it. We run along the rim of it which was just amazing. It was stunning. It’s a huge vertical cliff that drops into, I don’t know if it was a rain forest or… It was super steep, incredibly dramatic, the ocean was on both sides, and it’s really kind of choppy on the top. We go on a lot of ups and downs and ups and downs. We were at about 2000+m (about 6500 feet). This whole time I was running with Kilian and just waiting for him to get with the program and blow me away. Then we got up to the highpoint of the race, there’s a big aid station there, everybody’s excited. From there it’s 20k and 7000ft of downhill, which is pretty brutal. I kind of was hoping since Kilian hasn’t been training at all this winter for running, he’s just been skiing, that I would be able to put some time on him there because he’s not used to the pounding of the downhill. But he kept up with me, which isn’t surprising given that he’s Kilian. We were just running downhill pretty hard and we came into an aid station about half way down it and then Andy Symonds shows up out of nowhere. I hadn’t seen him for hours. He was psyched and just charged ahead and blew me away. I didn’t see him for more than 5 seconds until he was out of sight. Kilian couldn’t take it so he took off after him, so I thought I was going to get 3^rd place, this is it, as long as no one else catches me I guess I’m just going to get 3^rd. I don’t know. I just kind of kept running at my own pace and all of a sudden they kind of came back into view. I caught Kilian which really surprised me. He just kind of stepped aside and let me go. I said, “Are you OK?” “Yes, Yes.” I don’t know. Then I caught Andy, too, a bit further down the hill. [iRF: Running downhill you caught him?] Yes, this downhill lasted forever. There were these switchbacks down to the bottom and then I caught Andy and he asked, “Did you have a second wind?” I said, “No,” because I didn’t. I think they went really hard there, got excited and in the moment and wore themselves out. Without meaning to, I guess I ran smarter just doing my own thing. So then I caught Andy and I expected him to give me a really hard race to the finish and I guess he did because he was definitely in the back of my mind there just running my own race, running my own pace as hard as I could. It was enough to win.

iRF: Andy said he thought he actually ran… with about 5k to go you hit the ocean and you come back up a really steep climb [1000ft] up some cobblestone streets and it’s pretty tough. Andy said he thought he actually ran more of the climb than you did. Apparently you were walking a good portion of the climb at a ridiculous (fast) pace.

Jones: It wasn’t a question of should I run or should I hike. I was hiking. That’s where my legs were at. I couldn’t run. It was 5k to go and I didn’t have anything left. I just hiked as hard as I could.

iRF: You probably do some hiking in your training. You select out steep routes and stuff. Do you end up… ?

Jones: Yeah, I’d like to think all my training from Hardrock last year and all the steep mountains I climb got me good at hiking.

iRF: And then at the finish, you won and then Andy comes in soon after and then Kilian finishes and promptly passes out.

Jones: Yeah, he collapsed, it was pretty wild.

iRF: What went on there, do you know? You were standing next to him when he did.

Jones: I think he just got hot, overheated, probably dehydrated. He doesn’t really believe that, apparently. I don’t know. I think he just got hot. I think he’s been skiing in a cold, wintry place, and then he came to this tropical island where it’s hot and humid. Kilian is the kind of guy where he’s going to push it to the limit and he did that. He came across the line blowing kisses and then passed out.

iRF: And then you put a flower on Kilian, what happened there? People are talking about that.

Jones: Are they really? Well, I guess it was a dumb thing to do. When I was finishing a guy gave me this rose, it was cool. I was coming down the finish chute about ½ mile from the finish and this guy gave me a rose. I was like, “Yeah, I’ll take it.” He was psyched! I wish I could make people that psyched all the time; he was fired up! So I finished with this rose and I kind of dropped it and when Kilian finished I walked over, he collapsed, I found my rose on the ground. I was like, “Good luck, Kilian, feel better.” And I placed the rose on his chest, kind of threw it on him, and people were like… I did that and it looked like he was dead and immediately I was like, “Oh, no.” But yeah, sorry, Kilian.

iRF: You guys are friends, so…

Jones: Yeah, let’s not look too deep into that.

iRF: Exactly, it was just a thing in the moment. We talked a little in the pre-race interview with everybody. You wrote the “Hype Machine” article on iRunFar.com a couple weeks ago. Then yesterday… you’ve seen UTMB before, Sierre-Zinal, but you won yesterday.

Jones: Yeah, it’s very different being in the front. Thinking back on that, it’s kind of funny that I wrote that saying there was all this hype around Lake Sonoma 50-mile which, compared to this race I did here yesterday, was just a joke. There was 100x the hype here. They just build so much energy around the race. The entire island was out. There were 1000s of people there at the finish just going NUTS! It was incredible yesterday. I couldn’t believe it. I kind of thought about going back and doing another article on the same subject reflecting on that article and what I feel now. But really it’s just, I feel like I said what I had to say there and it’s just I run because I like to run.

iRF: What were the details there? You were on Spanish TV yesterday.

Jones: Apparently, yeah, I haven’t seen anything. There were helicopters flying around us while we were running. There was this one really excited English dude running next to me with a camera that was bigger than him and he tripped four times. There were a lot of media there; it was crazy. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t like that. Of course, I like being the center of attention. Who doesn’t? But if it was like that all the time, if I had to be around that every time I ran, I’d go out of my mind. I run because I like to run and the fact that it gets a lot of attention is really cool but it’s not going to change me. I think that’s actually the point. As I get older and I have more successes, people give me more attention. I’m afraid as people tell me so many times that I’m an amazing athlete and an amazing person that I’ll start to believe them and be a d—. I don’t want to be a d—. I just want to be a good guy and keep it in perspective. It’s really nothing more than just running a lot. I wrote that article and I guess I had some contentious points but it’s really just one guy’s opinion and people take it seriously because I run fast.

iRF: Speaking of running fast, you’ve now won a Skyrunning singlet. You don’t see this in the US.

Jones: Yeah, I’ve got the winner’s singlet: Skyrunner World Series 012.

iRF: And you’re going to run another Skyrunner World Series race at Zegama.

Jones: That’s right. I hope nobody expects me to win because there’s about 0.2% chance I’ll win. I’m going to finish. It’s going to be cool. I can’t wait.

iRF: Do you feel any desire or draw to modify your summer plans to add in some more Skyrunner races? You’re the leader. You’ve won a big race!

Jones: Yeah, I’m the leader after the first race. That’s a start, I guess. I probably won’t amend my schedule after Hardrock 100. But it’s definitely tempting to come back to Europe and do these trail races because they really love trail running here. They’re very clear about that. It’s exciting to be a part of that. Hardrock’s still my focus. Hardrock’s my race.

iRF: There’s already a lot of chatter going around both here and the Canary Islands around the dinner table about your potential at Hardrock.

Jones: You win any race and people are going to think you’re amazing. Hardrock’s completely different. I think I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been, I’m training much better, I’m older and more experienced, I have more training from past years in my legs, but it’s totally different. I’m not going to go into it with any different expectations than I had last year. It’s just that I know it better because I have one year of experience there. It’s just foolish to think you’re bigger than that race.

iRF: I think you said it best last year when you crossed the line and said, “I can’t believe I felt that bad and still finished 2^nd.”

Jones: Yeah.

iRF: Experiencing the race yesterday, the hype, hoopla, the 1000s of fans, the support, the money behind it, the organization, you got a decent check out of the deal. Is there anything that you think the US could learn or things that you would like to transport back to the United States, also in terms of sponsors, teams, that sort of thing. What can we learn from yesterday?

Jones: It’s hard to say. This is kind of the extreme on the mainstream side of things. At this race there were 1000s of fans, there was Spanish TV, there were helicopters circling around, there were cameramen and journalists everywhere covering the race, there were 1000s of fans and people everywhere. It was crazy. It was just overwhelming. Whereas there’s the other extreme, such as Geoff’s 350-mile run through Alaska…[Hardrock]. Yeah, Hardrock is a good, more general example. Yeah, it makes sense. There are aid stations, there’s a start and a finish. The only people who are there, who are in it and understand it and are the core people. So they’re kind of opposites, but really, I like them both. I think it’s kind of cool that I can come over here and do this race and be a part of it but then pull out and, “Holy cow, that was a lot,” and then go do Hardrock and spend a month in Silverton by myself.

iRF: And the bartender doesn’t give a care who you are. Today we’re in this random café that you wouldn’t know existed unless someone told you where it was and the owner wanted their picture taken with you.

Jones: Yeah, I was signing autographs yesterday. I’ve never signed my autograph before except on my bank account, but I couldn’t believe it. I’m still kind of blown away. Holy cow!

iRF: Well enjoy the experience, Dakota, and the ride. I’m sure we’ll be chatting again soon.

Jones: Thanks, dude, it was great!

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In the men’s race, practically the whole field led at the first checkpoint, the little village of Los Canarios on the southern end of La Palma. In reality, Dakota Jones came first through that initial checkpoint, setting the stage for what would be a world-class performance. In the rest of the race, Dakota was either the leader or within spitting distance of him. By 60 kilometers, it was a race of three men: Dakota Jones (post-race interview, race report), Andy Symonds, and Kilian Jornet. Over a 20-kilometer, 2,400-meter descent, Dakota and Andy put two minutes on Kilian, which they continued to increase over the remainder of the 83.3-kilometer course. In the end, Dakota bested Andy by just over a minute, with Kilian crossing and collapsing into the finish line and medical care about nine minutes later. All’s well that ends well, though, because Kilian now says he’s just fine.

Dakota Jones on his way to winning the 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon (Ian Corless/Talk Ultra photo credit)

Andrew Symonds on the Transvulcania course (Ian Corless/Talk Ultra photo credit)

Kilian turns to a cheering crowd at the Transvulcania finish line (Meghan Hicks/iRunFar.com photo credit)

In the women’s race, it wasn’t a race for first place. Young and eager gunner Anna Frost (post-race video interview) led the race from line to line, running in her quintessential aggressive style. At each checkpoint, Anna slowly, surely, and commandingly grew that lead so that, when she crossed the finish line, she broke the previous course record by more than 1 hour and 45 minutes! Mid-race reports indicated that Anna had her own, personal ups and downs. If the verticality of La Palma and its volcano are any indication, that’s probably the nature of the Transvulcania Ultramarathon beast. Nuria Picas also ran strong throughout the day. By the 26.8-kilometer checkpoint, she slipped into second place, a position she’d hold without contention to the finish. Third place Nikki Kimball started her day conservatively, then moved steadily through the field. When she passed through the 77-kilometer checkpoint, she had sprouted an eight-minute lead over any other challenger.

Nuria Picas, Anna Frost, and Nikki Kimball make the women's podium (Salomon Running photo credit)

The top three ladies know how to celebrate (Marcus Werner/Ultra168 photo credit)

As usual, we’ll be adding info, photos, and race reports as we learn more over the coming days.

2012 Transvulcania Men’s Results

1. Dakota Jones (Montrail) - 6:59:07 (Course Record – Old Course Record: 7:32:12, Miguel Heras, 2011) (post-race interview, race report)
2. Andy Symonds (Salomon) – 7:00:34 (race report – English, French)
3. Kilian Jornet (Salomon) – 7:09:53
4. Francois D’Haene (Salomon) – 7:23:40
5. Iker Karrera (Salomon) – 7:38:58
6. Erik Clavery (Asics) – 7:46:51
7. Jordi Ginesta – 7:48:28
8. Thomas Lorblanchet (Salomon) – 8:02:27
9. Giuliano Cavallo – 8:03:36
10. Rickey Gates (Salomon) – 8:04:24

Other notables:

12. Joe Grant (Arc’teryx) – 8:10:25
14. Mike Wolfe (The North Face) – 8:14:59
16. Ian Sharman (The North Face) – 8:20:54 (race report)
17. Gustavo Reyes (Salomon) – 8:21:52
46. Csaba Nemeth – 9:33:24
DNS. Anton Krupicka (New Balance)
DNS. Miguel Heras (Salomon)
DNF. Geoff Roes (Montrail)
DNF. Sebastien Chaigneau (The North Face)

Full results

2012 Transvulcania Women’s Results

1. Anna Frost (Salomon) - 8:11:30 (Course Record – Old Course Record: 10:00:03, Mónica Aguilera, 2011) (post-race video interview)
2. Nuria Picas – 8:51:59
3. Nikki Kimball (The North Face) – 9:10:00
4. Darcy Africa (Pearl Izumi) – 9:17:35
5. Uxue Azpeitia – 9:21:11
6. Maud Gobert (Adidas) – 9:54:40
7. Leire Iruretagoyena – 10:05:45
8. Judit Alvarez – 10:11:17
9. Teresa Perez – 10:17:05
10. Andrea Calmbach (Salomon) – 10:37:03

Other notables:

DNF. Julia Bottger (Salomon)
DNF. Kasia Zajac (Salomon)
DNF. Corrine Favre (Salomon)
DNF. Regine Enenkel (Salomon)
DNF. Monica Aguilera (Salomon)

Full results

Additional Resources

• iRunFar’s photos from before, during, and after Transvulcania
• Official Transvulcania race video
• Transvulcania teaser for Sebastien Chaigneau’s video series

Edits

May 14: 2:30 pm Canaries time – Added Dakota Jones interview link, Added links to Transvulcania and Seb Chaigneau videos. 11 pm Canaries time – Added full results and Andrea Calmbach to women’s results.

May 15: 2:30 am Canaries time – Added Dakota Jones race report. 2:45 am Canaries time – Added Andy Symonds and Ian Sharman race reports. 12:30 pm – Added link to iRF pics. Added Anna Frost interview.

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2. 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Men’s Preview A preview of the men's field for the 2012 Transvulcania....
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Darcy Africa and Nikki Kimball Pre-2012 Transvulcania Interview

iRunFar:  Bryon Powell here with Darcy Africa and Nikki Kimball. How are you guys?

Darcy Africa and Nikki Kimball:  Good. Good.

iRF:  How did the travel from the States over to La Palma treat you?

Kimball:  Great.

Africa:  It was long. I think it was 24 hours at least.

Kimball:  It was longer than 24 hours.

Africa:  But we slept well last night which was great.

iRF:  You guys had a full night’s sleep?

Kimball:  Passed out. We missed the morning run and breakfast. [Africa nodding in agreement.]

iRF:  So you guys are a little more caught up now. What do you think is the impact of the travel over here on race day, because you have experience with that? Does it affect racing at all?

Africa:  I’m sure it does. It’s hard to tell. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is but I think it changes some things in your body. It must.

Kimball:  At UTMB we were there earlier than this but to get here in the afternoon 2 days before the race after having flown that long… it’s not the way I’d choose to do it.

Africa:  It would be nice to have a little more time to get over the jetlag, but…

iRF:  You guys slept well last night, eating well today, you’re going to try…

Kimball:  Hopefully sleep a little bit tonight… we’ll be getting up early.

iRF:  So what draws you ladies to race in Europe?

Africa:  For me it’s all about seeing new places, seeing new trails, enjoying different people from around the world and it’s the experience of it. It was the opportunity potentially of a lifetime to come here. We’re pretty far out here, so it’s an honor to be here.

Kimball:  La Palma isn’t a destination resort for most Americans, so that was a lot of it–getting to race somewhere new. I’ve done a lot of the same races over and over again and it’s nice to… I’m at the point in my career where I want to see new stuff. I’ve done Western States a million times or whatever other races I’ve done a bunch of times. So to go somewhere new is really exciting. Then the draw of having an ultrarunning conference, we’re not really sure what’s going to go on there, but there hasn’t been an international ultrarunning conference. The sport is growing and changing so much that I think it’s important to talk about some of the ways it’s changing and to establish some international standards. We could see at today’s pre-race meeting that there was a lot of confusion and no one knew what was going on.

iRF:  French, Spanish, and probably other languages trying to figure out what mandatory kit you needed at the start, where could you drop it off, could you drop it off at an aid station or with your team…

Africa:  I don’t think the word “drop bag” was very clear. That is not an international word.

iRF:  Where can I pick up food on the course? Can I leave my light on the course? Can I leave my blinking light?

Kimball:  Yeah, just to have some sort of standardization–if there was a standard word for “drop bag,” “headlamp,” and “backlamp.”

iRF:  Very true.  You both have been around the sport for a decade plus. Where have you seen the sport change in the last couple of years? Where have the major changes been so far?

Africa:  People have gotten younger. There are younger people coming into the sport—or maybe it’s just that I’ve gotten older. It seems like people are starting at a younger age, maybe or maybe not.

Kimball:  Definitely. It seems like the people who are starting at a younger age are more focused on ultrarunning than on other things in their lives. My first US World 100k team I think I tied for the least education with a 3-year Master’s Degree. Now you’re seeing people go right from college or even “not-college” to ultrarunning. That’s a different thing.

Africa:  It’s a very serious endeavor for a lot of these women now, I think. It’s their job. It’s their profession.

Kimball:  We were talking about this on our morning run actually. We’re not seeing necessarily faster times but we’re seeing more people at those fast times. You don’t get one or two people running a fast time, you get 10 or 15 people especially on the women’s side as the depth has increased, well and on the men’s too, actually. I think it’s pretty uniform.

iRF:  So with the Skyrunning Conference happening after Transvulcania, where would you like to see the sport of ultrarunning go in the next 5 or 10 years? There’s a lot more sponsorship involvement and media involvement, races focusing on being “the race.”  Where would you like to see the sport go?

Africa:  I’ve had the conversation with a lot of ultrarunning friends about it. I’m on the fence a little bit. I think we’re on the verge of becoming what marathon running was 30 years ago or whatever. So there might be that potential with purses at the end of the race, you see that happening more and more. That could shift things greatly. Yet, I got into the sport because I loved the low-key vibe and the relaxed community and it will change. It already has changed, especially when you come to Europe. I think they value the sport differently than we do in the US, so there’s a lot of media around it, a lot of hype around these races, and it changes it a little bit. I’m not sure where I sit in that.

Kimball:  I think I’ve had the same thought. It will be really great to see how people can perform when they’re not working 40 hours/week at a professional job and still running. I think that’s going to be exciting, and I’d like to see if those performances can get better. It certainly can get better. If there’s money out there and people aren’t having to focus on work and the other parts of their lives as much, we should see better performances which is really cool, really important in a way, in a meaningful way. What I hope is that there’s still going to be those low-key races where people just go out and there’s not media hype around it. I think that it will be the case. We’re going to have some races around the world that are just these key races with boat loads of media and lots of prize money. Hopefully there will be many other races that will have that old-school vibe, low maintenance, your aid stations have water and Gatorade and some salted potatoes and that’s it. I think it’s good to have the option of having both worlds of ultrarunning.

iRF:  So far I’ve seen the number of really important 100’s increase by 2 or 3 in the last 5 years, but the number of 100’s overall has tripled. There are so many new low-key races coming in at the same time as Run Rabbit Run 100’s or UTMB stepping up.

Kimball:  Right.

Africa:  Races are filling so much more quickly. I remember the day when I could sign up the week before, which is sort of how I love to do it. “I’m going to go to this one this weekend!” You could do that, but not anymore.

Kimball:  That’s the biggest thing I miss, being able to go do what you wanted to do. That was cool.

Africa:  Now it’s like, January 1^st, I’d better sign up for everything I need to this year or else…

Kimball:  And you have four hours before it closes, so if your internet goes down…

iRF:  You’ve also both been around the sport long enough to have to deal with adversity. You’ve both had some injuries and set-backs this past year. What advice would you give to other people facing injuries or other challenges in their running careers?

Kimball:  Well as a physical therapist, I’d say don’t do it the way I do. I think after I first had the accident with my knee in 2007, the best thing I could have done was take a year off. There was still some sponsorship stuff, not that anyone was pressuring me, but I felt well, if I take a year off now, I’m never going to get any help at getting back into it. I think it is important when you have a setback, take the time to heal that thing as well as you can and then start up again. But at the same time, it’s ultrarunning. After you’ve done it for 10 years, you’re going to be injured; you’re going to have an ache or pain pretty much all the time anyway. I think for the first 10 years I stayed super healthy and never had a problem. Now I think I have to accept some level of injury.

Africa:  I think we’ve been talking about that quite a bit in the last day about being in the sport for a long time and running for many years and for me I kind of thought I was indestructible in a way. Then realizing that you’re not is a big wake-up call. This morning we had a conversation about something that I didn’t do early on was to have a strength-training routine. Running breaks down your body quite a bit. Having something in your regime that’s about doing squats and a core workout and some of those things that are actually building up muscle and building up strength as opposed to breaking it down all the time, that would be something that I would have changed. Right now I’m learning, I’m learning a lot. [iRF:  Is it catching up to you?] Yeah, exactly.

iRF:  Nikki, you mentioned a couple years back that you sort of felt some sponsorship pressure and I’ve actually heard it third party from a couple of other people that there seems to be more pressure in that realm. Not speaking about yourselves but do you feel that aspect has changed about the sport in the last couple of years at these big races where everyone is coming together?

Africa:  I think always when you’re representing a company there’s a little bit, maybe it’s your own pressure…

Kimball:  I think it is your own. I don’t think I’ve had a manager say, “You’d better race or we’re going to…” I’ve never had that. But I think you’re right, I put more pressure on myself if I’m running to represent a company. I really love The North Face. They treat me really, really well, so I feel like I owe them because … it’s kind of like we’re a little family, so … 2008 was really me making myself do every ultra I did. No one was telling me I had to do that, but I felt like I had to.

Africa:  I’m in that boat right now.

Kimball:  That was my fault, that wasn’t their fault.

iRF:  Hopefully you don’t have pressure on either of you tomorrow. What are you ladies expecting in your Transvulcania experience?

Africa:  I’m giving mine fairly low expectations. These days I really want to enjoy myself and hopefully not have too much pain in my foot. I have plantar fasciitis. Hopefully, I’ll keep that at bay and really try to enjoy it. I like the heat, so hopefully… I know that keeping yourself hydrated is going to be important tomorrow. I’ll be seeing new trails, so it will be fun!

Kimball:  Hopefully my sunscreen works! I’ve got plenty actually, in fact, I’ll give it to you (Bryon) tomorrow morning. Us gingers know about that! For me, too, it’s the same. I don’t know anything about the women we’re running against apart from Anna, and she’s the only one I really know at all. She’s fantastically fast which takes a lot of pressure off of us, certainly speaking for myself. I’m not at that fitness level anymore. I don’t have those speeds anymore. Maybe I have that fitness, but I’m not… so, I want to do as well as I can. I’m healthy enough, but because I don’t know anything about the competition, I don’t have any competition or placing goals. I want to run the best I can with what I have. That’s my main goal for every race. When I’m on that starting line, whatever my body is capable of, I want to run that time. That’s kind of where I am.

iRF:  Good luck with that and have fun enjoying the new trails out there! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us!

Kimball and Africa:  Thanks! Thank you!

Related articles:

1. American Men Pre-2012 Transvulcania Interview(s) An interview with Anton Krupicka, Mike Wolfe, Joe Grant, Geoff...
2. 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Women’s Preview A preview of the women's field for the 2012 Transvulcania...
3. 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Results Results from the 2012 Transvulcania ultramarathon....

Bonus Interview with the Americans

Marcus Warner of Ultra 168 and Ian Corless of Talk Ultra further interviewing the American men.

Related articles:

1. American Women Pre-2012 Transvulcania Interview An interview with Darcy Africa and Nikki Kimball before the...
2. Julien Chorier Post-2011 Hardrock 100 Interview iRunFar interviews Julien Chorier following his win at the 2011...
3. Gary Robbins & Tamsin Anstey Pre-Western States 100 Interview iRunFar interviews Canadian contenders Gary Robbins and Tamsin Anstey ahead...

Tell your friends. Join the discussion. Enjoy.

Here are a couple resources to help you follow the race:

• iRunFar’s Transvulcania men’s preview
• iRunFar’s Transvulcania women’s preview
• iRunFar’s pre-race interview with Anton Krupicka, Mike Wolfe, Joe Grant, Geoff Roes & Dakota Jones
• iRunFar’s pre-race interview with Darcy Africa and Nikki Kimball
• The Transvulcania website (available in both English and Spanish)
• The race’s timing website
• Ultra 168′s look at the Transvuclania scene

If you enjoy iRunFar’s live coverage from Spain or all-night moderation Stateside, please considering making a donation. Just $5 will get me a glass of “recovery” rioja in Spain, while $10 will get Meghan a pound of decent coffee here in the US to keep her awake for Zegama. A larger donation would help support our travel to cover other races near and far.

-Bryon Powell, Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.

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1. 2012 IAU 100k World Championship Live Coverage Live coverage of the 2012 IAU 100k World Championship....
2. 2011 TNF 50 Mile Championships (Live) Coverage A collection of iRunFar's coverage of the 2011 The North...
3. 2012 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Women’s Preview A preview of the women's field for the 2012 Transvulcania...

Last month, while attending a workshop conducted by the Santa Fe Leadership Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I had the opportunity, along with the rest of the seminar participants, to walk the labyrinth that sits adjacent to the cathedral in downtown Santa Fe. We took our walk on a crisp, sunny morning when few others were around. Our instructions were simple: Walk from the entrance of the labyrinth along the prescribed path to the center. During the walk we were not to speak, and the goal was to use the experience to simply focus on the moment. Aside from the instructions to remain on the course, there were no other explicit expectations for the walk.

As I entered the Labyrinth, I slipped off my shoes and began to make my way through the winding course. After a few minutes, I realized a pattern in the path. In some sections, the twists and turns were abrupt and choppy and often turned me around and sent me back toward the starting point while there were other sections along the path that were long and straight and clearly intended to send me toward the ultimate destination at the center of the Labyrinth. At first, I was frustrated by this seemingly arbitrary aspect of the path, but as I became more absorbed in the experience I began to look forward to the less predictable parts.

What was perhaps most intriguing to me was my reaction to arriving at the center, which was, I thought, intended to be the end of the walk. As it turned out, from that point, I was to make my way back out to the entrance. So, I did, following the exact same path out that I had taken in.

After I exited the Labyrinth and put my shoes back on, I quickly grabbed my journal and, for no reason that was apparent to me at the time, jotted down George Sheehan’s famous quip, “The first thirty minutes of my run is for my body, the second thirty minutes is for my soul.” A week later it dawned on me that I had realized, in the midst of this simple experience, that the Labyrinth had something to teach me about running, and, indeed, about life. Not only the twists and the turns, not only the disconcerting feeling of going backward when you should be going forward, and not only the way in which the walk was simultaneously confusing and liberating, but more importantly, the overwhelming feeling that it was just as important, if not more so, to feed the soul as much and as often as we feed the body.

Bottoms up!

AJW Taproom’s Beer of the Week
This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine. I tasted their Allagash White a couple of weeks ago in a local tasting room and loved it. The brewer who was visiting from Maine told me that they modeled the White after the traditional Belgian beers that the monks used as their “day beer” to drink through the day while they went through their daily routines. Crisp and fruity, this wheat beer would be great to drink really cold on a really hot day.

Call for Comments (from Bryon)

• Is it about the journey or the destination?
• Do you embrace the “twists and turns,” the unpredictable, the retrograde motion in your life? In your running?

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