The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, today announced June 2010 as the Second Annual National Camping Month, an initiative to encourage and inspire Americans of all ages to get outdoors with north face denali.
“The first National Camping Month became a nationwide grassroots initiative, with more than 50,000 individuals showing interest in outdoor education and camping,” said Steve Rendle, President of The North Face and VF Corporation’s Outdoor Americas Coalition. “The response from families and individuals reinforced the necessity of creating outdoor programs that are inviting and accessible to people of all abilities and walks of life."
Building upon the great success of PlanetExplore.com, an online community to find local outdoor activities, and paralleling the Obama Administration’s Great Outdoors Month, The North Face will be holding free educational events, community activities and gear giveaways to inspire and encourage individuals, their families and friends to embrace the outdoors throughout the month of north face jacket. According to the Outdoor Industry Association’s 2009 Special Report on Camping and 2010 Special Report on Youth, camping participation has increased almost 10 percent in the past two years, with friends and parents being the most influential in introducing camping as an outdoor activity. Nearly 60 percent of American youth ages 6 to 24 participate in outdoor recreation, with participation declining each year.
“The North Face sends expeditions to the far reaches of the earth, but the goal of National Camping Month is to encourage families and individuals to get outside wherever they find themselves – whether it be their backyard, a state campground, a multi-day adventure or one night of sleeping under the stars,” said Rendle. “Our commitment lies in educating and inspiring passion for the outdoors and outdoor activity in all the north face denali jackets.”
This climb was slower although Mike did move into third place along the way. There was more walking as the miles started to take their toll, even with the temperatures hitting as low as the 60s. From this point it was all about survival and maintaining the body through fuelling and electrolytes. This meant we constantly reminded Mike to eat, even though he had no appetite. Mike was passed by the eventual winner, north face jacket, along this climb. Oswaldo had looked pretty exhausted 30 miles earlier but was now fresh and moving at a great pace. We wished him well then continued the hard slog uphill. Soon after Mike felt so bad he had to walk even in the mild heat and on the flat. These are the times that really test the runners and make the difference between losing a lot of time and getting a second wind. Mike is mentally as tough as can be but couldn’t stomach food so it was difficult to turn him around and get him back to feeling more comfortable. north face denali jackets.After more walking he was able to eat a little and soon came back to us and ran again.
The hour before dawn is meant to be one of the hardest in any ultra due to the lack of sleep and time on the feet to this point. But at the first hint of light Mike perked right up. He started running fast enough to tire the other guys pacing him and I stepped in to sit behind him, offering anything he needed. Amusingly, he was listening to music and started accelerating even more as the songs got into his blood. He was in a zone and we’d covered over 100 miles,the north face jacket, but still had plenty left so it was too early for any kind of sprint finish. But Mike was in third and wanted to go for the win so he went with it, even throwing in surges which stretched out my legs more than I wanted to at this point.
After Stovepipe Wells, which is really only a hotel, store and gas station, Mike had the first of the three serious climbs. In addition, this was the hottest part of the day and a headwind of frazzling air increased the difficulty by drying out his eyes,north face denali jackets. nose and mouth. A good way to describe this section is a 5,000ft climb over 18 miles in dry sauna conditions with a hairdryer blowing in your face. Luckily for the pacers, we had Mike to block the hot wind so we could focus on spraying water on his upper body.
It got marginally cooler as we climbed and it was starting to get dark by the top. Mike was still talking and in great spirits. So much so that we let him jog the downhill on his own since he was moving reasonably fast and we wanted to save our own energy to keep as fresh as possible when the sleep deprivation set in.north face jacket. It’s extremely important for the crew to look after themselves as well as the runner since nobody wants to be a drag on the person who is actually in the event. We all wanted to be able to jump to help every time he needed it.
I had my first break as nightfall hit. Mike didn’t get any of these, but I fitted in a meal at Panamint Springs which is the third desert outpost along the course, at 72 miles. Mike came through around fourth place and still looked good as the second long climb started in the dark.
It was now completely dark but with almost a full moon to light the road enough to see. Everyone, including Mike, had red flashing lights on front and back for safety, north face denali, but while the moon stayed visible we didn’t need a headlamp.
Mike started conservatively and was a few minutes behind the leaders after two miles. This was the plan and we were glad to see he didn’t feel the need to zoom off at the start and was saving his energy. Most runners wore mainly white to reflect the heat, except last year’s winner, Zach Gingerich,north face denali fleece, who had a blue top with long, baggy orange shorts and led from the start. Mike had plenty of lycra to reduce chaffing, bandanas to give him an ‘ice turban’ plus more ice on his neck and around his chest. Everything we could do to keep him cool would help, even with the lower temperatures than usual (‘merely’ 115F).
The crew was kept busy switching his small water bottles using the multiple ice coolers and enough water in the cars to fill a swimming pool. north face denali.We had a huge selection of food for both Mike and ourselves and tried to offer it as and when he requested. This became easier after Furnace Creek at 17 miles since we could then pace him and carry a walkie-talkie to relay instructions through to the main van in advance of him arriving.
I hadn’t expected to be running through Death Valley with a radio in one hand, a spray filled with iced water in another and gels, bandanas or whatever else he wanted in pockets or balanced in our hands. For some reason I thought it’d be fairly easy to pace and crew this race, but it was great from my perspective that we were all more involved. It felt more like we were in the race. Except, any time we got tired we could just sit in the air-con of the van and relax. None of us ever ran more than about 3-4 miles at a time with him and had plenty of time to north face jacket. The first 42 miles are basically flat to Stovepipe Wells, but were hot and hard enough to cause multiple finisher and winner, Pam Reed, to have to drop out. Mike looked strong at this point and we had an ice bath ready for him to help cool him down. Given that conditions weren’t quite as bad as they could be, we hoped he wouldn’t need too many of these but the use of the radios meant we could always have one ready for him if he needed it.
And until this year it had a cut-off time of 60 hours (now it’s been reduced to 48). 60 hours of non-stop racing in the most debilitating conditions imaginable while feeling like hell.north face denali jackets. Sounds fun to you?
Even though it didn’t sound like it would be enjoyable for the runners, it’s clearly an epic challenge and I asked Mike if he’d like an extra pacer to add to his crew so I could see first-hand. Luckily he took me up on the offer and I joined a group of his friends (Vince, Andy, Rick, Jay and Mike’s brother, Matt) who he’d known for years although only Jay had serious ultra experience, having run Badwater and crewed for it numerous times. He was the man we all looked to for advice and it was invaluable to have his logistical knowledge.
I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for since I’ve run many ultras,north face jacket, some with pacers, but Badwater involves so much more input from the crews and pacers. Usually pacers can’t ‘mule’ for their runners, which means carrying supplies and kit for the runner. Only the crew can do this and usually only at designated aid stations. But at Badwater, the crew drives along the route and stops every mile or so to offer food and drink refills while a pacer runs behind (not in front or side-by-side according to the rules) carrying water etc. No pacers are allowed for the first 17 miles from the start at Badwater but then the pacers can carry iced water in a spray and continuously spray their runner.north face denali jackets. That’s a lot of effort given the harsh conditions.
Anyway, the pre-race days went well with everyone getting to know each other and Mike giving off a relaxed vibe, even though he said he was nervous. Race day came along and Mike was in the third wave of runners at 10 a.m., reserved for those expected to run the fastest times. This meant he’d spend much of the race catching people who had either a two or four hour head start.
Denali and I are currently working on a new photo to add to his Denali The Dog photo collection. Thankfully, Wednesday was a cool day while Denali was in all his glory, modeling for me in some of his extensive wardrobe. As usual, Denali just being Denali with his model attitude, decided at 11am, to be exact, that he was done working for the day. So I am sharing with you all today, one of many ‘on strike’ photos.north face denali.Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
My goal over the weekend was to wash Denali. However, after finding myself lost in some lovely poison ivy while on assignment in Michigan, I decided to hand the duties off to my dad and brother. To refresh everyone’s memory, Denali loves the water but hates the water when it comes to bath time. After playing a three to one person game of ‘catch me if you can’ with Denali losing, our afternoon adventure began. In the midst of running after Denali and having my father yelling at me numerous times, “I will never give the dog a bath again!”, I found time to take a photo. Have a fabulous week everyone!
I’d heard that Mike was running Badwater earlier in the year and my first thought was ‘rather him than me.’the north face jacket. I’ve run two 100-milers so far this year and am not feeling the need to extend the distance just yet.
Friends have run this before plus it’s a race with a big reputation for being brutal due to numerous factors – it’s 135 miles, it starts below sea level but finishes around 9,000ft plus it’s in Death Valley with temperatures reaching 130F (50C) in the shade, of which there’s almost none. Blogs and personal account of this race include horror stories of very experienced runners being reduced to crawling while unpleasant things happen in their stomachs, causing extreme issues which I don’t need to go into. This is why it calls itself ‘the world’s toughest footrace’.