Video depicting one mile running with Uli Stiedl and Geoff Roes at the 2009 North Face Challenge Championship race in Marin County, CA.

We hope the holiday season finds you well and full of good cheer! As 2009 winds to a close, we’re happy to announce our tours planned for 2010. We’ll be offering a couple of tours that were very successful and well received by participants last year as well as a couple of new tours in 2010.  We’re also planning our first stage race scheduled for August 2010.

At the end of May (May 31 to June 4) we will be running our popular Maah Daah Hey Trail tour which follows the 100 mile long Maah Daah Hey Trail and explores the badlands of this enchanted landscape.

In June (June 14 to June 18) we’ll be running the Superior Trail tour which follows one of the most scenic segments of the spectacular Superior Hiking Trail high above mighty Lake Superior.

In July (date to be one week prior to or week after the Hardrock 100 race) we’ll be running our first Grand 100’s tour on the Hardrock 100 route.  Over the course of 5 days, you’ll be able to explore the spectacular scenery along the Hardrock 100 course while enjoying a mix of lodging opportunities which include two nights in lodges in Ouray and Telluride and two nights camping along the majestic Continental Divide.

Finally in September (date to be determined) we’ll be setting out to explore the dramatic Northeast segment of the Tahoe Rim Trail overlooking the turquoise waters of Lake Tahoe on our Tahoe Rim Trail tour.

In addition to our tours, we’re also planning our first stage race in 2010, the VoyageurQuest Stage Race to be held in Northern Minnesota on the Superior Hiking Trail.  This will be a four day stage race beginning on Thursday August 26 and ending on Sunday August 29.  More information will be coming soon on a new website dedicated to the VoyageurQuest Stage Race.

We’re now offering the same great Honey Stinger products we use on our tours on our new Gear page at Adventure Running Co.com.

Go to our Gear page to find great deals on Honey Stinger products.

http://www.adventurerunningco.com/gear.html

Honey Stinger was developed to take advantage of the superior source of carbohydrates and energy that natural honey provides.  Plus, they taste great!

We’re hoping to offer more great deals on products from our partners that we use on all of our tours on our Gear page soon!

Video of Colorado Trail running trip.  Beautiful trails and great friends!

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!