Hello everyone,
I hope you are all having a great summer!
As far as preparation work for the Yukon Arctic Ultra 2008 is concerned, things are quiet at the moment. Quite a bit had to be done in March but most of the work that still remains will be taken care of towards the end of the year.
Jessica and Mike Simon will be heavily involved in preparations once more. Jessica will be at Dog Grave Lake again. Mike’s main job will be to prepare the wilderness checkpoints. Also, he will take on some of the prep work that Shelley has done in the past couple of years as Shelley has got a lot of work with her own projects. She will still help with the training course and try to be with us during the race, too. And she told me if any Canadians have questions regarding the YAU please feel free to contact her.
Regarding ski doo guides, Murray will be part of the crew again and hopefully Thomas de Jager can join in, too. I will have to confirm with him later in the year. Mike Simon will be guide Number 3. Depending on the number of athletes we will need 1 or 2 more guides on certain days and I will introduce them in time. Gary Rusnak won’t be part of the crew anymore. Many of you have gotten to know him in past races. He has always done a great job and I want to thank him for helping us all these years.
New athletes on the race roster
Guess who’s back?! Heike Pawzik from Germany kept her promise. She said she would go for the 300 miles next year and she signed up already. Heike is quite amazing as she has run so many ultras, it’s unbelievable. It will be fun to have her back. Another athlete who will go all the way to Pelly Crossing is Martin King from England. He is new to the YAU and so is Kevin Smith from Northern Ireland who will do the 100 miles. Welcome to you all!
Entry Deadline August 31st, 2007
For those of you who know that you will participate for sure, please don’t forget that the entry fees go up after August 31st. Of course you can then still enter the YAU 2008 but for the longer distances rates go up by EUR 100. The marathon entry will be EUR 50 more.
Natventure Trophy Races
Since I need to keep myself busy in between Yukon Arctic Ultras, I organise Adventure Races in the Alps in the summer time. I started with one race last year. This year there are two. The first one took place last weekend and was great fun. It is quite different from ultra running, biking or skiing. However, I can only encourage you to try it once. It is great training! If you want to try it over here in the Tyrolean Mountains, the next Natventure Trophy takes place Sept. 1st to 2nd. For beginners there is also a workshop right before the race. 5 days of guided activities are only EUR 180/person and this already includes the entry fee to the race. The nearest airport is Innsbruck and as far as I know flights from the UK are actually quite affordable.
You find all information about the race on www.natventure-trophy.com.
New Ultra Gear on Racelite.com
If you’ve already had a look at www.racelite.com you saw that there are many products which are great for ultras, e.g. the gear from RaidLight, RailRiders, Montane, Macpac, etc. Since last week we also have the Carbon and Titanal Trekking Poles from KOMPERDELL and the gear from OMM in our range. Check it out!
Jungle Marathon 2007
On Sept. 11th, I will for the third time fly to Brazil to help Shirley Thompson with her Jungle Marathon race. Shirley still accepts entries. So, if you are looking for a challenge that is the opposite of extremely cold, this is the one to go for. It is a very tough race but the jungle is not as hostile as you may think. Of course there are insects, reptiles and all the rest. However, with the right gear and preparation you can handle it. And since it is a stage race you have plenty of recovery time at the end of every day … unless you get lost … Anyway, if you have any questions regarding the Jungle Marathon, please let me know.
Best regards,
Robert Pollhammer
(Race Director)
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