Day 6 of training

Day Off Got this e-mail from Jenn. Explaining the task ahead.

Hi George & Fred
My apologies for the delay in getting back to you. A large percentage of our participants from 2007 were not ultra runners. Many of our participants were comfortable trail or road runners with some experience in longer races, but not necessarily seasoned veterans. There is the elite field of marathoners, ultra runners, etc. but it's safe to say that the majority of competitors were of an active but not competitive demographic. That said, you should keep in mind that each day is essentially a full off-road marathon, running at elevations averaging about 10,000 feet, and as high as 12,600 feet. We did have some elite competitors last year from NYC, at sea level, but they were pretty seasoned ultra runners. If you have run at higher elevations in the past you might want to gauge how you will feel running 6 days in a row based on your prior experience. I think it's safe to say the altitude is hard on everyone; how it may affect you individually is really something only you can decide.
If you plan to run in the 80+ category you'll likely find yourself amid runners who are generally fit, love to run, and will just be happy finishing the race. Most people make it to the control stations before the cut-off times with no problem. It's really the people with no prior distance running experience that we deter from entering; it doesn't matter so much what running discipline you come from (road, trail, marathons, Ironman, etc) as it does the number of miles under your shoes.
I hope this helps. You may also want to post something on our online forums, and see if you get feedback from any of last year's participants. The forums are generally slow this time of year but interest should pick up soon as the warmer weather approaches and we get closer to race time.

Jenn
GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run
info@transrockies-run.com
Phone: (403) 668-7537
Fax: (403) 206-7553
www.transrockies.com