On August 4th Maria competed at the Volcanic 50, a “rugged and challenging 50k+ run circumnavigating Mt. St. Helens.” “All but 4.5 miles are run on the Loowit Trail. Racers scramble over boulder fields, cross rivers, run through the blast zone, as well as through dense forest – all with ever-changing views of the volcano. The course is 32 miles and feels more like a 50-miler. In all, this Mt. St. Helens race has approximately 7400 ft of elevation gain and 7400 ft of loss. It’s tough, but so are you!” Maria took 3rd F/13th OA. RESULTS! For a great recap, check out Maria’s blog, Volcanic 50: Racing Around Mt. St. Helens. Here’s a little snippet, “‘There is no way I am racing this in two weeks!’ I scream ahead in frustration to Tad as I am crawling like a baby monkey over a vast boulder field. Fast forward two weeks, and I have cross the finish line of Go Beyond Racing’s Volcanic 50km with a swollen butt cheek from a hornet (my signature sting location), black and blue palms, a busted hip, and the most incredible feeling that I did something that was so far out of my comfort zone despite the voices of anxiety trying to talk me out of it…”

This past weekend featured some diverse, extravagant and challenging races for some of our teammates. For starters, Alyson competed in the elite sprint division at the Portland Spartan Sprint in Washougal MX Park in Washougal, WA. It was her first race in the elite division, and she rocked it, taking 6th F! Sprint Spartans are made up of 3-5 miles and 20-23 obstacles. This one in particular consists of ‘…the perfect mix of steep and gradual climbing, technical descents, fast trails, and demanding obstacles.” We’re really excited for Alyson! Results HERE!

In a whole other country, Corrine dropped it way down to the 31k (I mean the woman did Western States at the end of June) at the WMRA World Cup Race in Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland. The 31k race was the third WMRA World Cup race of 2018, part of the Golden Trail Series, and featured 2200m in accumulated height gain. Spain’s Kilian Jornet and Kenya’s Lucy Wambui Murigi were the champions. Corrine wrote, “Today #sierrezinal was a whole lot of type 2 fun. Is it possible to both love something and suffer mightily for it? Needless to say I’m not exactly in 30k race shape right now…but it didn’t stop me from loving every minute of it! The final downhill stole my heart as I managed to pass 48 men in the last 10km, I’ll be coming back to this valley as long as they’ll have me.” Results for the Top 30 M & W can be found HERE!Over the weekend Hazel competed for Team GRRLS at Ragnar Colorado in Frisco…and they WON! First All-Women’s Team OA! From the GRRLS, “The GRRLS Colorado team crushed it at Ragnar this weekend! 200 miles of unbelievable altitude, elevation, and heat was well worth the new friendships and overall victory! The prelims are in and we placed 1st female team and 2nd overall! What a beautiful state to race in!” Full results HERE!