ULTRA BELT ACCU4

Folks who have run mountainous ultra-marathons know that ‘the race begins at mile 75.’ For many runners this coincidentally translates to when the sun sets and darkness ensues, completely changing the game. With tired legs and diminishing mental clarity runners head out for the final marathon of the course, armed with only a few hundred calories, water, maybe a long-sleeve shirt, shoes, and a light source. In running sixteen 100 mile races over the past seven years and roughly 30 shorter-length ultra-marathons, I’ve had enough time to experiment with many different variable in hopes of bettering my performances. At last year’s Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), a spectacular 100+ mile run around Mont Blanc through three different countries, I realized how detrimental a poor light source can be. Through the night sections (both of them!) I became more tired than I ever had been in the past. I had poor balance, felt clumsy, got sick, stopped eating and wanted to quit. I dragged myself to the end of the race, but it wasn’t pretty. In my post-race clarity I took some time to reflect on what had gone wrong, I had a list with roughly 6 major things on it and one of them was “headlamp too wimpy”. I figured that if I had a really bright head-lamp it would raise my energy level, I’d feel happier, and would therefore run faster. I vowed that my next race would incorporate the brightest light I could find.

2009. I made it into both the Hardrock 100 and the Wasatch100, two of my favorite races of this length. I got my hands on a Petzl Ultra, the best thing I could find from the research I had done. I had a pacer lined up for both races to run with me through the night. I decided to have him wear the Ultra and run behind me, illuminating the trail and casting incredibly bright light on the rocks and roots I would be running on. I made my 5th Hardrock finish and set a P.R. of 28hrs 32 minutes, a time I was pleased with given the 33,000’ of climbing I had done at an average elevation of over 11,000’. Several months later I started the Wasatch 100 and had a great race through mile 75, where I picked up my pacer and the Petzl Ultra. Subsequently I had the best final 25 miles I’ve ever had in 5 years of running this race and finished in a P.R. of 21 hrs 48 minutes, good for 4th place overall.

I can safely say, from here on out if I’m running at night, I’ll be wearing the Petzl Ultra.