Posts Tagged ‘Silva Nortica’

Running Numbers

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Running sequence by Eadweard J. Muybridge

After running the Silva Nortica it occurred to me that not all marathons are created equal. The effort needed to run 42.2 kilometers can vary greatly depending on the conditions of the route and the climate of the event day.

Runners are obsessed with time as a means to track ones progress but also as a way to compare themselves to other runners. When only time and distance are variables in the comparison the results can be unreliable. Often there are many other factors at play.

Rock climbing has a comprehensive rating system called the “Grade” system. Two participants can exchange experiences and related rating values of a climb as a basis of comparison. I think distance running could use a similar system. An example of such a system is one used by events like Dipsea, the oldest trail race in America. An explanation of their handicap system is on their web site.

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Surviving the Silva Nortica Marathon

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Silva Nortica sign

Silva Nortica - Run this way!

42 kilometers, an impressive distance considering most people use their car to drive to the corner store. Often promoted as “flat and fast“, city marathons attract thousands, sometime tens of thousands of participants. Then there’s the cross country marathon, again 42 kilometers but the terrain varies greatly. With the addition of water crossings, forest trails, rocky paths and of course the beloved hills, it’s difficult to compare. They’re still called “marathons” due to the distance but the effort necessary is in a whole difference league. The city marathons look like a trip to the corner store after running a cross country event.

The Silva Nortica Marathon was my third marathon and my first cross country race. I recently completed my second marathon at the Prague International Marathon. Read my entry on the Prague event to get an understanding of where I’m at in my running career. In summary, I’m still very new to the process, not an absolute “newbee” but still a lot to learn.

Silva Nortica Marathon Map with Krumlov Marker

Silva Nortica Marathon Map with a marker to Krumlov, the city Jani introduced me to as the short residence of the great painter Egon Schiele in 1911.

The Silva Nortica Marathon is actually the “little” run of the event. At the same time, a 85 kilometer ultra marathon event does a loop covering both sides of the Czech and Austrian border. I spent all of my time in Austria with the end of the race at the border crossing into the Czech Republic.

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Posted in Czech Republic, Injuries, Races, Running Locations, Silva Nortica, Training | 2 Comments »

Hills to Run

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

I love running hills. There just happens to be a few races that have hills. Just about every cross country race has hills and the ultra-marathons (anything over 42km) seems to have them by default. If you happen to have masochistic tendencies it helps as well.

Silva Nortica marathon 2010 start

Silva Nortica marathon 2010 start. I'm the one in yellow with the blue cap.

Perspective seems like a good thing to mention in this discussion. When I say “hills”, perhaps some think of little ups and downs on the road. I mean elevation changes in general. Elevation changes over the course of a race, typically measured in hundreds of metres, sometimes thousands. It’s rare that a city marathon has even the slightest elevation change with event sales pitches talking of “flat and fast”. There are a few hilly road marathons that I have on my wish list but in general it’s all about going as fast as possible. Hills don’t lend well to a fast race.

I recently ran my first cross country marathon, the Silva Nortica. My finish time was 5:02 which put me very close to the back of the pack of 20 contestants. Something to note about cross country and ultra races in general, they’re small. There’s often not a lot of fane fare to the events and not many contestants.  Five hours is not impressive in the city marathon realm where they’re typically tens of thousands of runners, actually it’s not impressive in cross country either but still a milestone for me. In my limited experience, I would call Silva Nortica the hardest and the most proud of a race I’ve run to date.

42 kilometers across the Czech and Austrian country side in the Silva race made my last marathon, the Prague International Marathon seem easy. The distance was the same but the effort necessary wasn’t even close. I’ll provide details on my Silva Nortica run in a later post, for now I’ll describe it simply as “kick ass” in more ways than my bum is willing to mention at this time.

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Silva Nortica Run

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Silva Nortica Marathon, June 12, Czech Republic

Silva Nortica Marathon, June 12, Czech Republic

My next big race and my first cross-country event, The Silva Nortica, starts in Austria and ends in the Czech Republic. The race ranges from road running all the way up to cross-country trails. Included in the race requirements are the need to carry a passport in order to cross the border at the end of the race.

I’m excited about this race for many reasons. The location is exotic, the race is unusual and I get to indulge in my joy of cross-country running. In the nearby woods of Brno, Czech Republic, where I’m currently training, I’ve found the woods to be enchanting. Not as wild as the Canadian forest but certainly as green and tended to with the greatest of love and respect.

Jana has explained to me that in the past communist regime and even before there developed a great passion in the public for hiking and walking. Apparently this is what you do when you feel like a “caged animal“, go for walks and “clean the woods“. The legacy is a fantastic array or trails and a culture that loves to use them. Unfortunately it also means that the people I’ve encountered on the trails typically stare with a disgruntled expression when I attempt to wave or say “hello”. I suspect I might make progress on this front if I make an effort to speak in Czech. I’m going to start with “Dobré ráno” (Good Morning) and “Dobrý den” (Hello).

Long term, my motivation for running in this event is to run in ultra cross country events, Ultramarathons (42km+). I’ve publicly stated that I plan to participate in The Canadian Death Race as a member of a relay team in August 2011 and solo in 2012. This race is a great example of how extreme the ultra events can be:

125 km course begins and ends on a 4200 foot plateau, passes over three mountain summits and includes 17,000 feet of elevation change and a major river crossing at the spectacular Hell’s Gate canyon

Running in the woods, exploring the world, learning new languages… life is good!

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Posted in Czech Republic, Races, Running Locations, Silva Nortica | 1 Comment »