I thought this blog post nicely captured the feeling of running up a big mountain.  Of course this is from the perspective of an ultra-elite runner.  For those of you running the Colorado Trail tour, we’ll be experiencing many of these same feelings as we run to the top of Mt. Massive’s big sister Mt. Elbert (maybe it’s a big brother) – the highest point in Colorado!  Although, I know I’ll be doing a lot of walking as we near the summit!  Check it out (click on the link below):

Riding the Wind – Mt. Massive

Video of our 2009 Maah Daah Hey Trail tour in North Dakota with Western movie themed music fitting for this “Wild West” tour.  The tour was wonderful – great views, great weather, great food and great people!  Everyone had a good time and we’re already looking forward to Maah Daah Hey Trail tour 2010!  Check out the video.

Next up – the Colorado Trail including a run to the top of Colorado – Mt. Elbert!

Click on the photo to view this great trail running video put together by Matt Hart

Adventure Running Co. is happy to announce their partnership with Vasque.  Vasque will be outfitting our guides with their award winning trail running shoes.

Vasque makes the most comfortable trail running shoes we’ve run in.  They have a great selection of trail running shoes that offer light weight, stability and super traction.  They’re so comfortable, you can take them right out of the box and run 100 miles in them (though we don’t necessarily recommend it, we’ve done it!).

Finding a great pair of shoes that fit and a great pair of socks is the key to happy feet and preventing blisters.  On multi-day tours, this is critically important.  We’ve had great luck avoiding blisters with a combination of Vasque shoes and Darn Tough socks.

Adventure Running Co. unveiled their “Trail Team” jerseys at the Chippewa Moraine 50K in New Auburn, WI.  Chippewa was a great race run on the scenic Ice Age Trail, passing 55 lakes and traversing up and down the many moraines in the area.  It was a beautiful day on a beautiful trail!

http://www.chippewa50.com

Adventure Running Co. is happy to announce partnerships with companies supplying the best trail running gear and nutrition available.  These companies will be providing gear for our guides and some product for our tours.  Some of our partners will also be providing discounts on their products and other benefits to runners participating in our tours.  The Adventure Running Co. will be providing a great opportunity for our partners and sponsors to test their gear and products in the field and provide them with the feedback necessary to help them constantly improve the quality of their products.  We’ve chosen to work with these companies based on their product’s performance and dependability.  If we didn’t think these were the best products out there for trail running, we wouldn’t be using them.

GoLite is the industry leader when it comes to clothing and gear that provide maximum performance with minimum weight.  Their gear is light and durable and will ensure that our guides have the best clothing and gear for any condition we might encounter on the trail.

Darn Tough socks are a product that truly live up to their name!  These are absolutely the toughest, most durable socks we’ve ever worn.  Not even close.  And, they’re super comfortable too!  We’ve got pairs of Darn Tough over a year old and we still haven’t worn a hole in them!  There may be some other socks out there that might be as comfortable, but there aren’t any that are this tough!

Black Diamond makes the best headlamps for runners available today.  We particularly like their Spot headlamp which provides incredible brightness and light weight.  Black Diamond is constantly working on improving their headlamps for trail runners and will be releasing new models in the near future.

Honey Stinger was developed to take advantage of the superior source of carbohydrates and energy that natural honey provides.  Plus, it tastes great!  We’ve found that when other gels start to get “old” and the last thing you want is to suck another gel down at mile 90 of a 100 mile race, honey, with it’s natural flavor stays fresh and inviting.  Honey Stinger makes great tasting gels, organic energy chews (mmmmmm…), protein bars and energy bars.

Headsweats makes the best, most comfortable running hats available.  We’ll be providing custom designed Adventure Running Co. running hats made by Headsweats to those runners who elected to receive a hat as their complimentary item.

Thanks again to these wonderful partners for providing the gear that we can depend on!

We’d love YOUR help in determining which tours currently in planning you’d like to see offered next.  We’re setting our tours for 2010 now and your input will help us focus our planning.

Would you like to run around Lake Tahoe?  Run one of the great 100’s?  Run in the south on the Ozark Highlands Trail or East on the Appalachian Trail?  Or, are you ready for an ambitious circumnavigation of mighty Mount Ranier?  Maybe you’re looking to get away in the Spring to a place like Utah for a supported run on the White Rim Trail or Kokopelli Trail.  Perhaps there are some spectacular trails we don’t have listed that you’d like to see a supported running tour on.  Let us know what you’re looking for.

The tours we have listed in planning are currently being developed, permits acquired and itineraries set.  With your input we’ll have a better idea which tours to focus on to get the permit process moving along more quickly.  Click the comment button below and let us know.  We’d really like to hear from you!

We’re really looking forward to hitting the trail at the end of May on our Maah Daah Hey Trail tour.  We’re ordering up sunny skies, wild flowers in bloom and singing birds for all of our tours this year.

Just a few notes about our upcoming plans:

Tour Nears Capacity – Our Maah Daah Hey Trail tour is filling fast. If you’re interested in this tour, contact us soon to verify that there is a spot left.

Online Payment – If you’ve made a payment online and need to pay off the balance of the tour fee, please visit our Payments page to complete the transaction.  You can make a secure online payment from this site.  We also now have a link to our Payments page from our Home page.

Also, if you’re participating in our Maah Daah Hey Trail tour, the time to finalize payment is nearing.  March 26 is 60 days from the start of the tour.

Itineraries – If you’re participating in one of our tours or have requested more detailed itineraries for our tours, we’ll be sending those out to you soon.  Unless you requested your information packet by regular mail, we will be sending these out electronically.  Along with the itineraries will be packing lists and release forms that you should sign and bring along with you to the start of the tour.

Tour Plans for 2010 – Along with our first Quest Series multi-day race in Minnesota, we’re planning to offer more in 2010.  More tours, more locations and more fun in amazing locations!  We’ll be offering our Maah Daah Hey Trail and Colorado Trail tours once again in 2010 and adding our first Great 100’s tour on the Hardrock 100 course in July.  Our Hardrock 100 tour will be a blend of Inns and camping with overnight stays in Telluride and Ouray and a couple of nights under the starry skies along the Continental Divide.

In addition to those tours, we’re working hard to secure permits for our first tour around Mt. Ranier on the Wonderland Trail.  We’re also planning to offer our first spring break trip in Utah.  We’re currently looking at securing permits from Canyonlands National Park for a supported tour of the White Rim Trail.

And, along with these great tours we’re also planning to offer both our Tahoe Rim Trail tours back-to-back.  So, for those hardy souls out there who would like to complete a supported run of the ENTIRE Tahoe Rim Trail in one push (with a couple of rest days in between) this will be your opportunity.

Stay warm while winter lasts, stay healthy and stay hydrated!  We’ll see you on the trail soon!

As Adventure Running Co. grows, we’ll be offering more tours in more locations.  Check out our Future Tours on our website http://www.adventurerunningco.com/new-tours.html

We have tours in planning on the Appalachian Trail, Wonderland Trail and many others.  Permits and other logistics are still being worked on, but we’re excited to be developing these tours in exciting new locations.  In addition, we’re exploring the potential of offering tours on some of the most beautiful trails in Europe and South America.  We’re planning on truly offering running adventures on some of the most beautiful trails in the world!

In 2010 we’ll be kicking off our Quest Stage Race Series with the Voyageur Quest Stage Race on the Superior Hiking Trail overlooking Lake Superior.  Races will be 5 days in length and each race will be unique in its environment, topography, stage length and character.  Some races may be geared more towards ultramarathon athletes with longer daily stages while other races may have shorter daily stages.  The format will be similar to our tours:  you run (or in this case race) and we’ll transport your gear to the next evenings campsite or lodging facility.

We’ll have aid stations along the way, and runners will be required to carry mandatory gear as well.  Other stage races in the series are in the works, so please check our website for more details as we have them http://www.adventurerunningco.com/quest-race-series.html