Grand Traverse Record Race

Stijn wrote: Haha - funnily enough, the distance is equivalent to about 2.5 Comrades!

So the target is 18 hours per Comrades. That's not that fast

Would really be something if they pull this off - I think we all are routing for them. Would be awesome if they do it sub 48 hours, but really - even 70 hours is incredible imo.

Mad Crazy!
All the best to the team attempting!

ghaznavid wrote:

Stijn wrote: Haha - funnily enough, the distance is equivalent to about 2.5 Comrades!

So the target is 18 hours per Comrades. That's not that fast

The thing is, after just one comrades, I couldn't get from the car the next day to the burger take away kiosk. And that was just 50m. Luckily the burger guy came to the car instead.

mnt_tiska wrote: The thing is, after just one comrades, I couldn't get from the car the next day to the burger take away kiosk. And that was just 50m. Luckily the burger guy came to the car instead.

I might do the comrades some day - but I take it it's a completely different kettle of fish to hiking.

The prospect of mixing fast endurance with altitude, light packs and 230km is rather insane! Kind of like those mad people who do The Nose in under 3 hours when it isn't that easy to hike up the back of El Cap in that time.

Kind of hard to comprehend the thought of doing a GT in 2 days.

Ps. @everyone: just in case my use of a wasn't clear enough in my earlier post - that comment was very sarcastic.

ghaznavid wrote:
I might do the comrades some day - but I take it it's a completely different kettle of fish to hiking.

We've had some interesting exchanges on the forum about this kind of thing - I can't remember which thread it was on. You're right, Ghaz, it is different, but not completely. One thing about ultra-marathons and especially the one between ND and PMB is that it commits you to a lot of hill training and time on feet. Running 42km is no big deal in the lead up to the race - I did that most Saturday mornings for a few months leading up to May. Doing a 7 hr hike without a break in the Berg didn't feel hard at all after that kind of training. But as Stijn has noted before, hiking is the best training for hiking. The particular advantage of running is that you can do it from your doorstep and so its easier to pack in the hours before/after work. Hiking takes a weekend normally - if not more. Put simply, distance running is the best form of training for hiking (apart from hiking itself).

Well put mnt_tiska - I couldn't agree more!

From my personal experience, the times I have been strongest for hiking were in my varsity days (when I had the time to spend 100+ days in the mountains each year - sigh) and since I started regular long-distance running about 3 years ago. The leg strength that a regular running routine builds really helps with those long days on your feet in the Berg. I was very surprised to notice this on the ~70km hike we did at the start of Expedition Africa - I noticed very little fatigue in my legs where previously I would have been suffering with sore feet and muscles from the 30-40km mark onwards. And this was without much hiking at all in preparation for that race... just loads of hilly road running.

Lots of excitement in the berg over the weekend.
We went to climb sentinel and hang out on the amphitheatre and found Ryan Sands' impressive crew hectically preparing for the GT record, there were also two scramblers reving on top of the berg apparently in connection with the record. Great weather so far. Good luck to them!

6h45m in and they are now dropping into that escarpment valley behind Mlambonja Pass. 40km covered already, most of it in the dark!

I was also up in the Berg this weekend. Had an interview with the camera crew at Witsieshoek on Friday morning and then did a chilled hike out to Ifidi Cave where we spent Friday and Saturday nights. The weather is absolutely perfect for this record attempt..

Viking and I did Giant's Castle yesterday - that trek from the top of Giant's Pass up to the actual summit of the peak takes forever and you can't really race up the last rocky bit. This must be a real drain when you do the record!