recent news
11 november 2008
quick link here to a uk running website
article:
25 october 2008
a few days spent with salomon for introducing the next winters ('09/'10) range of trail gear and apparel. fascinating to see how it works where the factory team have to really work to get the country distributors to buy into the new ideas and concepts - its quite amazing for me to see how some good ideas are often met with mixed reviews due to difficulty in getting the market to accept and buy into the products. we have been hosted at tignes in france - a nice ski resort high in the french alps next to val d'isere. i took this photo on self timer on my morning run - a 1.5hr jaunt all above 2100m in altitude - c'est magnifique!
21 october 2008
have finished up now for the running part of the season. tomorrow is a short to trip to tignes in france for a salomon presentation. i had to quickly organise to change the summer tyres for winter just in case i strike snow up there - i have to drive the petite san bernard, about a 2000m+ pass.
an older article from running raw:
18 september 2008
25 races in 14 weeks, not sure that was right, i might have to count that up again - sounds like a lot of racing!
18 september 2008
back from the world trophy, it was great to hang out with the new zealand team in switzerland. michael campbell was in town the week before at the european golf masters and then it was the mountain runners turn in crans montana. i had a tough time with a speedsters course that had a lot of flat and down parts in it but in the end with a steep long last 2km climb i overhauled the two leaders to win in 55min04s by 12s.
09 september 2008
recently returned from austria with
races in the kitzbuehelerhorn and redbull dolomitenmann, our kolland topsport
team won with me on berglauf (mountain run), christian amon paragliding, herwig
natmesnig kayaking and alban lakata mountain biking. also recent
events include norwegian races and a hit out in the prologue of the cycle tour
of germany. see the tour2008 for details
.
16 june 2008
just found an article from the nz mountain running champs. i am not much of a journalist though!
http://www.athletics.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=3587
10 june 2008
i ran a great run a few months ago in new zealand from the bridge to no-where after jet boating in there with mates, callum, paul and bazza. now its been the the challenge of the month on the salomon international running site. link up to it here:
http://www.salomonrunning.com/uk/xt-wings-challenge.aspx
09 june 2008
with the tecar treatment finished (although clinics in italy are always trying to get you to pay more money by coming back when you don't need it) its now time to race. see the tour2008 page for the first series of races in italy, switzerland and austria
01 may 2008, i am having a bit of treatment on my leg involving a tecar treatment, which is a machine to stimulate cellular repair through a heating and electrical current process. i have to take away the pressure of trying to run fast and work on sustained endurance in this period.
30 april 2008, its been some time between news blogs so there is a lot to catch up on. well, not that much actually. it's therefore time to get back into the mountains after what has been a pretty disastrous attempt at qualifying for the olympics. 2 very good training months in new zealand were not rewarded at all in zurich. the consolation was to win the nz mountain running champs in motueka just before leaving there.
18 december 2007, had a training day at the salomon hq in annecy, france by way of geneva on a joint project with nokia using a telephone as a gps device. of course it brings up the ethical outdoor issues of getting away from it all and being at one with nature but we use the camera and also its a safety thing too.
15 december 2007
antonella had her best result so far of the year in ribynsk, russia finishing 14th in the world cup 15km mass start freestyle technique (skating). she stays in the red group for the next period meaning that she can travel to the next world cup races including the tour de ski starting in 2 weeks.
9 december 2007, here's a link from the last race of the year a tough 5.2km 590m climb up the Kolsassberg in the austrian winter. with my leg strapped because of a pulled hammie it was a tough run but its such a cool event and it's great to be chilling out with friends for the last race of 2007. check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A439Jz8Bxk
27 november 2007, after 6 weeks of a really good recharge of the batteries i am off back to europe. it's a pity that the last week before leaving i have strained a hamstring and so it means a bit more of a longer recharge. 2007 really has been a year of on and off again form and injury. pre christmas i have to work hard talking to sponsors for new contracts before the next year as well as help antonella with her cross country ski races. its pretty interesting and a very technical sport getting the ski and wax combination right for a race: www.antonellaconfortola.com
30 september 2007, had a busy weekend with two races, one in puchberg near to vienna and then hopped in the alfa and sped across to bergen for the hochfelln berglauf in bavaria. made it two from two so for the first time this year i feel i am getting back into my 'normal' fitness.
15 september 2007, assistant manager to the nz team at the world trophy is a little strange but also its a good decision to take a step back this year. the jungfrau marathon was fantastic and now its a period to enjoy rather than keep grinding away.
taking the kiwi team for a run near sion in switzerland through the vinyards beside an aquafer
12 september 2007, well its all over....a win in the long distance completes all of the challenges in mountain running - now what's next!!!
the time was 2hr 55min for the marathon distance with an advantage of 3minutes of hermen achmueller and gerd frick, both from sud tirol in italy. all three of us live inside a 65km radius.
these shots are from the 20km mark in lauterbrunnen and later on at the 30km mark in wengen
28 august 2007, 2 weeks to go until the long distance in interlaken. had a good hit out over 16km in susa, italy with a win by 5min over antonio molinari but a fair way off my best time there.
10 august 2007, have just returned from Norway (www.fjellstreif.no) where bad weather meant we had to run on a shortened track. very muddy conditions proved challenging
27 july 2007, my first hit out in a gp mountain race and came out ok, bloody hard, but that is normal! heiligenblut was the first race i have run for salomon and it was a great way to start. salomon are a great fit with their strength in outdoor sports
22 june 2007, 2 races down, and a first win since the accidental accident, see tour 2007 for details. some changes happening to on the sponsorship front:
a big thanks and welcome to panaceo, these guys have a great range of natural anti-oxident products and removing free radical. they help recovery and help prevent illness when under the stress of training or.... stress
also welcome to sport2000 who have offered to help me out for my mountain races this year
31 may 2007, now that 2007 has started again for me after a 5 month rehab on the sidelines i have finally updated tour2007 so its all go! a small accident/incident at the end of last year has meant a long but steady road back to fitness.
15 december 2006, confirmation of one race for '07. its time to take up the challenge in norway! check out: www.fjellstreif.no
25 november 2006, full news and report from nigeria in the on tour 2006 section. finished in 5th with a time 1min 10s behind the winner. tough race and not totally 100% with a head cold but gave it all on a hot day and found a part of the word that was quite fascinating.
20 october 2006, recently i had an outing in the tor de tirol, an event covering more than 73 km in 3 days through the austrian countryside.
the first day was a 10km city race where i placed 3rd behind 2 kenyan athletes, ambrose bitok and micah kemboi, with martin cox from england 4th and another kenyan in 5th. day 2 had us run a mountain marathon climbing 1700m vertical metres and having 7-800m of descent also. with a 17minute advantage going into the final day and event, i could afford to relax and closed with 73 minutes for the half marathon distance. Bitok finished the tour 2nd 15minutes back with austria's thomas heigl in third place overall
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