The man prowls around the desert fire, beating his chest. “It’s in here,” he thumps fist to heart hard enough that you can hear the thud from the back row. “You gotta have it in here (thump). You gotta want it like nothing else (thump). No excuses (thud). If it’s in here (thud), nothing can stop you (glare).” The man, shorter in stature but larger in life than you could imagine, pauses for practiced dramatic effect, circling his stare around…
“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.” ― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat. “That was a fun run.” But what’s the meaning of ‘fun’? Aside from a cat in a hat, other potentially dubious online references tell us that: “Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure, particularly in leisure activities. Fun is an experience – short-term, often unexpected, informal, not cerebral and generally purposeless….
Trail Run Mag’s New Zealand Editor, Mal Law, signs off on his last edition as chief honcho with bigger projects about to be crammed into his running schedule. We’ll keep Mal on (if he’ll let us) as an Editor-At-Large, which simply means he’ll contribute as and when he can and tell us when we need to pull up our socks on New Zealand-based content. In the meantime, his editorial asks the question…who’s counting? (He is and he’s not gonna apologise)….
I look at the large format canvas in front of me and ponder. I guess I’m supposed to be pondering the way the artist has captured the light, the technique to be admired in the brushstrokes, what the scene – of a swathe of earth near Tibooburra located at the remote intersection of the Victorian, South Australian and Queensland state borders – makes me feel. I’ll tell you what it makes me feel: like I want to go run it….
Ah course marking. It’s a wonderful thing. There you are, out in the wilds, all by yourself. For hours. Not racing. In fact you even have to slow down stop, put up some tape (knowing the sweep will get it come race end, keeping the place pristine), work out in your head if anyone will get confused at this point as they speed along the singletrail. I went light-on when it came to marking the marathon and half marathon courses…
I know what it feels like to be an abused partner. I have been beaten up, physically, mentally and emotionally. Bruised and broken to an inch of my life. My being was stripped back to an empty shell. I have been brutalised by that which I cannot help but devote myself to, despite knowing that binds me to a beating every so often. It’s a blind love, I know. Or is it? Or are my eyes wide open to the…
It’s here, you’re awaited bit of dirty reading that gets to the nitty, gritty of the world of trail running. Sure, there’s gear reviews and shoes to salivate over, but more than that, and unlike any other trail running publication out there, we try to strike to the heart and more importantly soul of the pursuit we all love. We love to challenge too… so get your eyes and head into the latest edition and feedback your thoughts on what…
[Editorial taken from Ed#6 Trail Run Mag OUT NOW] Define trail running. Box it in. Put labels on it. Do you need a mountain? How much single track? Does there have to be a trail? What about deserts? Is multi day included? Or eliminated because you ran through a village in Nepal? Then, once you have squished your notion of trail running through a mincer of coloured ideology, package it, label it, hell, write the ingredients on the outside. Ah,…
Get your hands on the latest dirt on trail running with over 100 pages of gritty goodness! Edition 5 is now available to download HERE. (remember to save to desktop before opening in Reader or Preview – NOT in your browser!). HEART OF A HERO AU Editorial (slightly changed compared to in zine, with respects to the tragedy that has befallen Kilian Jornet’s mission). Kilian. Jurek. Roes. Jones. Bragg. They’re all good. Great, even. And inspirations to many. Not me….
Trail Run Mag catches up with South African and Salomon super trail star, Ryan Sandes, to get a vibe on how it feels to be the favourite in this weekend’s The North Face 100, a race with a fair few thoroughbreds on track, and the changing face of trail running as it booms across the world (hello Transvulcania…). INTERVIEW: Chris Ord IMAGES: courtesy RyanSandes.com. 1. Straight in to it – you’re roundly touted as the most likely winner this year, how…
