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British MTBer leading worlds toughest race - Yukon Artic

by Sylv » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:00 pm

British MTBer leading worlds toughest race - Yukon Artic

[img]http://events.breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/img/arctic_banner_697.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.yukonimages.com/images/YAU2005/YAU_2005_rear.jpg[/img]

(My workmate is doing this on foot and is currently doing well). The Mtber is also an old friend of another workmate

[quote]Alan Sheldon flying in the Yukon Arctic Ultra

Alan Sheldon (UK), previous ITI racer, is the lone biker in this year's Yukon Arctic Ultra and he is ripping it up. He has covered almost 300 miles in the first three days, and has actually gotten ahead of the race support and is relying on the Yukon Quest checkpoints. If you check out the race site he's got a spot tracker.

Sounds like trails are really good this year, despite a big dump of snow the week before.

Race organiser Robert Pollhammer said: "It seems that mountain biking is the way to go this year (nb you can choose to either use foot/ski/mtb). The trail is in better condition that what we had expected with all the fresh snow. The surface is fairly hard.

"Alan Sheldon seems to enjoy it with his mountain bike. He is way ahead of the field and has already reached Dog Grave Lake."

It was minus 20 degrees on Tuesday afternoon, much warmer than the minus 61 temperatures which prompted the race to be abandoned in 2008.

But two competitors have already had to retire due to frostbite. http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/Ar ... 4988512.jp

[img]http://www.fairbankscycleclub.org/Photos/winter/yukon-arctic-ultra-7.jpg[/img]

The race started on Sunday, Feb 15th and is scheduled to be finished on Feb 28th, if all goes well. The race is on foot all the way through, pulling a sled behind themselves with everything on it they need. No dogs to help or anything else like it! They will sleep rough in improvised tents I believe. They are entirely on their own. If they get lost the search party might be able to find them but it may mean the end of the race for them. They have to reach each checkpoint within certain time limit if they want to finish the race by the 28th. There are 12 checkpoints they have to cross and once they reach the checkpoint they can rest there as much or rather as little as they want. The exact rules are on the main website, so please forgive me any inaccuracies here.

[quote]She is up before some people go to sleep, and by the time you've had your first cup of java, Diane Van Deren has covered the distance of a marathon.

My workmate has teamed up with this woman who is the only one to have finished the 300-mile shorter race last year

"Twelve years ago, I couldn't even take a bath without telling my kids, and here I am running the most enduring racing around the world and seizure free," Diane Van Deren said.

"I get up here early so I can get the coolest part of the day, sometimes I'm out here at 2-3 in the morning," Van Deren said while on the trail Monday morning.

Van Deren is a seasoned endurance athlete and competes in races all over the world for North Face.

"I've always been extreme and wanted to do things longer and stronger and farther to test the limits of my body," she explained.

With that said, her next competition is even tough for her to imagine in its entirety.

"Four hundred and thirty miles is a long way to go, but I'll be going day by day," Van Deren said.

It's not just any 430 miles.

Van Deren is returning Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada for a second year in a row after she won the 300 mile race last year.

She was one of two who finished the race. Temperatures of minus 30 and minus 40 degrees took many out of the race. Van Deren went on, frostbite free for the entire race, but her feet suffered.

Blistered and bloody from days of trekking across snow packed trails and icy rivers, Van Deren used duct tape and determination to make it to the finish.

Days after she won the Yukon Arctic Ultra in 2008, she told 9NEWS she would not go back, but things changed.

"I tell people it's like giving birth for the first time, you think I never want to do that again, but your feelings change and soon you find yourself wanting and another baby," she said.

Van Deren, now 48, has three grown children and lives with her husband in Sedalia. Since finishing her regular season running ultra races in December she started training to make her return to the Yukon.

"Nobody's out here but me, and a couple deer and a couple coyotes," she said.

Van Deren trains on a friend's ranch about 30 minutes from her house every morning before the sun comes up.
Equipped with a small headlamp, Van Deren pulls a sled weighted with 40 pounds of sand up and down a hill.

"I try to simulate with I'm going to be doing," she said.

During the race, Van Deren and 11 other ultra athletes will carry all the food and supplies they will need for up to 13 days on the trail.

"I'll actually be trying to consume 8 to 10,000 calories a day. I'm going to need the calories to keep my energy up for that amount of time," Van Deren said.

"It's every woman's dream," she laughed.

Nuts, bread, and bars, will be stashed in her coat so she can eat every step of the way.

Staying warm won't be easy, so there won't be much stopping.

Van Deren expects to only sleep for two to three hours each night, and cover 40 to 50 miles per day.

"It you stop for too long, you get cold," she said. "So you want to keep moving."

There will be several checkpoints along the way so athletes can get a hot meal and a quick nap before hitting the trail. This year each competitor will also be required to wear a GPS tracking system so race organizers will know where the runners are at all times.

Van Deren says it'll be her toughest competition yet, but not her biggest challenge.

For years, running was Van Deren's way of escaping horrific seizures brought on by epilepsy.

"Twelve years ago, I couldn't even take a bath without telling my kids, and here I am running the most enduring racing around the world and seizure free," Van Deren said.

Brain surgery changed her life.

Doctor's removed a portion of Van Deren's right temporal lobe to stop the seizures, and it worked.

But today Van Deren gives the most credit to Craig Hospital, who helped her put her new life back together after the surgery.

For the past two years, she has raised money for the hospital through her events called Miles for a Mission. To learn more, visit https://www.craighospital.org/Foundation/miles.asp.

These days Van Deren says racing isn't about the start or the finish, it's about the journey. And doing races like the Yukon Arctic Ultra allows her to reflect on her own trek through life.

"When I cross that finish line, that is what it's all about, what I've been through in my past and where I am today," she said.

The Yukon Arctic Ultra Race starts on Feb. 15. For more information, visit http://www.arcticultra.de/en.php.

9NEWS Reporter Heidi McGuire is taking time off to follow Van Deren on her expedition in the Yukon. The Yukon Tourism is providing airfare, lodging and gear to support her trip.

Check back with 9NEWS.com to find out how she's doing. Van Deren's story will be featured on 9NEWS when she returns in March.

The race starts in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. To find out more about the town and its history, check out http://www.city.whitehorse.yk.ca/.

http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=109657

To follow the progress of the race :

http://www.arcticultra.de/rank2009/de/

British MTBer leading worlds toughest race - Yukon Artic

British MTBer leading worlds toughest race - Yukon Artic

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