Out Of The Cold And Into The Red-Hot Racing Arena
News Release / 02.03.2014
Living in the Arctic Circle, committed inov-8 athlete Eirik Haugsnes has spent the last four months running up and down snow-engulfed mountains.
This weekend he steps out of the cold and into Europe’s red-hot racing arena, when the snow is replaced by the dry, sun-baked trails of the Transgrancanaria ultra-marathon.
Prior to this week, Eirik hadn’t seen a dry trail for over 100 days, yet he is now ready to mix it with Europe’s elite trail, mountain and ultra runners in one of the biggest events of 2014 so far.
In his latest inov-8 blog, 32-year-old Eirik, a former junior Norwegian cross-country skiing champion, writes: “I have been on the island (Gran Canaria) since Monday, and yes it’s safe to say the conditions are a little bit different to back home in Norway! I left behind temperatures way below the freezing level and am now running under searing sunshine. And of course, there is no snow here!
“Because of this, it was crucial that I flew out to Gran Canaria well in advance of the race to ensure I was able to acclimatize and get my legs used to the hard ground once again.
“I have spent the last few days running sections of the 82km (50-mile) advanced course. The first 44km is predominantly uphill, with almost 4,000m of vertical climbing and only 2,000m of descent. Having spent much of the last six years competing in uphill-only races in Norway, this opening part of the course is a dream for me.
“The last 38km, however, is when I will really have to push my body to its limit. Although largely downhill and flat, this part of the course will be tough for me.
“I know that because that is exactly how it was last year when I did the same race. I hit 52km and my body just wanted to give up. I have never had to dig that deep into my reserves just to make a finish line.
“Despite my problems in the final stages of last year’s race I was still able to finish fifth in a time of 8:55:24.
“This year I feel much better prepared. That is because after the 2013 Transgrancanaria I chose to break free from my Norwegian bubble and have a first-ever crack at some of the skyrunning races across Europe.
“I was an unknown in skyrunning circles before taking part in the Mont Blanc Vertical Km and Mont Blanc Marathon races, but I surprised a lot of people by finishing third and fifth respectively against many of the world’s elite.
“After that I joined Team inov-8 and did two further sky races (the 46km Matterhorn Ultraks and the 23km Limone Extreme). I eventually finished ninth overall in the sky world series individual standings, helping inov-8 rank as third team.
“My training has gone well over the last four months. Much of my training back home in Finnsnes has been over thick ice and deep snow.”
Eirik will race in inov-8’s Trailroc 245 shoes and use the award-winning inov-8 Race Ultra Vest.
