Tips for Night Trail Running

Jamil CouryRunning Tips

If you are running your first night trail run this summer as a part of the Insomniac Night Series, we have a few tips that should help make your experience fun and memorable. Running at night poses some unique challenges that you should prepare for.  Take note of these tips and you should be able to enjoy your experience out on the trails at night and successfully finish your run. Lighting The runs take place in the dark on naturally unlit desert trails. Be prepared with a quality headlamp or handheld flashlight to light your way (cell phone apps just won’t cut it!). A headlamp can be a good choice if you like to keep …

Perfect Day at 36th Annual Kendall Mountain Run

Jamil CouryRace Report

Over 150 runners lined up on Saturday for the 36th Annual Kendall Mountain Run and 4th Annual “K2” Double. Both races start at 12th Street and Greene and follow the Kendall  Mountain Road 6 miles up to within 250 vertical feet of the 13,066 foot summit of Kendall. Runners then scramble up a steep trail to tag the summit marker before flying back down to town the way they came up. K2 Doublers make the ascent to the top twice for a little more than 24 miles. The race was first held in 1978, started by running enthusiast Bill Corwin who modeled the race after a famous bar bet made back in 1908 which sent …

My Nutrition Failure and Epic Resurrection at the 2013 Hardrock 100

Jamil CouryRace Report, Ultra Thoughts

Moving step by step along a dusty road winding several hundred feet above a roaring river over 10,000 feet above sea level, I was struggling to keep my pace at a something resembling “running”. I was still hiking strong on the ups, but when the road flattened, it took every ounce of my will to shuffle my feet into a run. I was queasy and not eating. Even water tasted bland and un-refreshing, not a good sign just 30 miles in to the 2013 Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run. Three weeks prior I had bounded up this road fresh and fit on a 56 mile dress rehearsal training run. Soon the road gave way to …

2013 Silverton 6/12/24 Hour

Jamil CouryRace Report

A smoky morning greeted runners at this year’s 2nd Annual Silverton 6/12/24 Hour Mountain Runs held at the Kendall Mountain Recreation Area.  The run takes place on a 1 mile loop on the Kendall Trail which was hand built by Rodger Wrublik and Jamil Coury in 2010 specifically for the Silverton 1000 mile challenge. The loop is not easy enough being at 9318 feet above sea level, but also climbs 250 feet up to the top of the ski lift on single track trails and a small section of dirt road. This is no Across The Years! The loop was accurately measured with a Rolotape surveyor’s wheel to be exactly 1 mile and runners aim …

avalanche chute

Kendall Mountain Avalanche Chute

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

Wednesday morning I climbed to the summit of Kendall Mountain, a peak that rises to 13,066 feet, towering directly over the small mountain town of Silverton, Colorado. When sitting in most homes and shops in town, this mountain fills most of the entire view looking out the window. When looking at Kendall you can’t help but notice the unique “Y” shaped avalanche chute on the face of the mountain facing town. Being a runner and someone who enjoys climbing mountains, when looking at Kendall, I can’t help but wonder how fast I can get up to the top and furthermore how fast someone has EVER gotten to the top. I’m not the only one to …

First Weekend in Silverton

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

My first weekend training in Silverton is now complete and I’ve got a full growler of beer from Avalanche Brewing ready to drink tonight to celebrate a solid 7 hours of running on the Hardrock course. I am constantly blown away by the beauty and ‘epic’ness of the San Juan Mountains. The vast mountains and valley’s make me feel quite insignificant in the larger sense. A lightning strike off in the distance while running along a ridge at 12,600 feet on my first training day sent a shot of adrenaline through my body. Running along a thin strip of “quarter” track trail above 11,000 feet on the Kamm Traverse with a ridiculous drop off to …

Run Steep, Get High

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

Ok, so I have a bit of an obsession with the San Juan mountains of Southwestern Colorado and The Hardrock 100. It all started innocent enough. I had run a couple of ultra marathon races in 2005 and I was excited to see how far I could run. Sometime in the summer of 2006 I stumbled across these photos taken by Klas Eklof of the 2006 Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run. As soon as I got through the second or third page I knew that I HAD to run Hardrock. It was if it was calling my name. High altitude, steep & unrelenting climbs and descents, unpredictable weather, wildlife and amazing scenery staged through some …

Scorched Runner – Training In The Heat

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

Triple digit temperatures have settled in for us in the “Valley of the Sun” for the foreseeable future. It will hit 110 on Friday and the expected low during this weekend’s Adrenaline Night Runs will be in the 80’s. With recent news stories of heat related deaths in our local mountain ranges, it’s time to think a bit about heat acclimation and safety when going out for our training runs. Just because it is hot out doesn’t mean we as endurance athletes need to hide in the gym and run on a treadmill, but understanding the effects on the body and how to prepare are important. I actually find running in the heat to be …

Flagstaff Trail Running – A Guide To Sucking Wind

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

It is an annual summer pilgrimage for us “desert rat ultra runners” living in Phoenix. A chance to escape the sweltering heat and enjoy a sweet respite of cooler weather . Some locals may call us the weekend warriors of altitude, but nonetheless we are happy to migrate north for some of the best trail running our state has to offer in the summertime. No, Arizona is not just desert. I was first initiated into the beauty and benefits of a weekend away on the trails north of Flagstaff could be while training for my first 100 mile race, Angeles Crest back in 2007. The “old guard” of Arizona ultra runners had been using the …

Nutrition Experiments at 100 Mile Races

Jamil CouryUltra Thoughts

I’ve had my fair share of nutritional disasters during ultra marathons, especially during 100 mile races. The nature of a 100 miler magnifies all of the little factors that go into running or racing long distances. Sure you can miss a couple of gels or get behind on hydration in a 50K and still be able to push through to a reasonable finish, but in a 100 mile race, mistakes are sure to catch up with you at some point. While I would like to go into other keys to success in 100 mile races in future posts, today I will focus on nutrition. This will not be an scientific article or a dogmatic preach, …