September 12

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ADIDAS INFINITE TRAILS 2022: PERSONAL CHRONICLE 15KM HÉCTOR RUBIO

Posted by on September 12, 2022 in trail running, trail running spain | Leave a comment

ADIDAS INFINITE TRAILS 2022: PERSONAL CHRONICLE 15KM HÉCTOR RUBIO. Last weekend, September 10th, we enjoyed the alpine landscapes and the changing weather in Gastein, Austria, and the adidas Infinite Trails 2022.

More than 900 athletes of 52 nationalities have traversed the forests, mountains, slopes, hills and paths of Bad Gasteing and Bad Hofgastein, Salzburgerland area in Austria to complete any of the 6 different races within the program, and one of these 900 was me, Héctor Rubio, from http://www.trailrunningspain.com

 

ADIDAS INFINITE TRAILS 2022:
PERSONAL CHRONICLE 15KM HÉCTOR RUBIO

The adidas INFINITE TRAILS took place and no matter if you were to experience how a community really celebrates itself and its sport or you were a professional runner,  the adidas INFINITE TRAILS celebrated in the Gastain Valley, Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein,fulfilled all expectations.

Over 950 athletes from 52 nations arrived to Gastein/ SalzburgerLand (Austria) to crown their trail running season with a very special ending and as the organization promoted the event: #CELEBRATETHESPORT

The weekend started with a shake run where we had the opportunity to chat and run with some of the professional adidas athletes, like the Western States 2022 winner Ruth Croft, Janosch Kowalczyk winner of the mozart100, Toni Mccann who was 2nd at the Transgrancanaria Marathon 2022 and already experience de nice landscapes of the Gastein Valley.

INFINITE TRAILS | 15KM | + 900M/ -900M

The adidas INFINITE TRAILS 15K RUN gives you the opportunity to compete with trail running pros from all over the world. This individual race is open to everyone who is capable of running a distance of 15 kilometers with around 900 meters of elevation gain. 15K runners start in the adidas INFINITE TRAILS Arena (Alpen Arena Bad Hofgastein) on Saturday at 7:30 am.

START AT BAD HOFGASTEIN

The start was panned for 07.30 am, however due to some extra check-ups that had to be taken care of to safeguard the runners of the bigger distances (the weather was really changing in the highs, so all athletes were compulsorily checked for the mandatory equipment), our start was postponed for 15 mins, so 15 extra minutes to enjoy the atmosphere and be cold! It was cold, around 6°C-8°C down in the valley, and we expected to be 3°C-5°C at our maximum high of the day. However at the end it was much warmer and nicer.

 

 

Everybody was excited to take part in this “party”, where even a LIVE concert was taken part as of 07.00 am by PAENDA.

KM 2.3

After rolling through the streets of the village, we turn quickly direction the mountains and we start with the climb of the day firstly through a gravel path and then over the ski slopes from where we could even see the glaciers at the end of the Gastein valley.

Photo: @hekruca

KM 3.5- A BEAUTIFUL SEE OF CLOUDS 

This was for me my first race “postcovid” so there were many doubts of how could I feel mainly in the uphill so at first I took it easy and tried to enjoy the beautiful landscape and the see of clouds down the valley with the glacier snow at the end.

Photo: @hekruca
Photo: @hekruca
Photo: @hekruca

So, little by little we continued with the climb, in my case checking my watch and motorizing both my pulse (higher than normal, probably due to post-covid) and my ascent speed to nod over do it in the first kms.

KM 4- THE RUNNERS SERPENTINE

Around the KM 4 we arrive to a little flat section (about 200 meters) where I could turn around and see the colorful runners “serpentine” behind me. At this point I knew that i could continue pushing while trying to keep my pulse below 170 bpm and a constant average ascent speed between 900m/h and 1200 m/h

After the short flat section, the most demanding part of the ascent came through the forest where I keep on pushing but keeping in mind not to feel that I crossed a red line.

KM 6.3- THE UPHILL IS ALMOST OVER

The cold of the start became warm in the highs, as the sun opened its way through the clouds and by the time we climbed to 1600 meters it was actually warm and we could enjoy the views and think on running as fast as we could downhill

Photo: @hekruca

BAD HOFGASTEIN- FINISH LINE | KM 15 900M+

After a very interesting and intense downhill with no technical sections which allowed you to run as fast as your legs would give you, you start hearing the speaker and the crowd back at Bad Hofgastein.
I crossed the finish line in 1h 30min 50 seconds, which was 15 min faster than planned, based on this being my first postcovid race and in the Top 50 overall and Top 40 in the men’s category, receiving a wooden medal, handmade by one local kid from the village’s school.

Without much time to lose, shower and back to the finish line to wait for the other friends and also to cover the entrance of the pros and be able to tell you here, so below you can see how I did recorded the arrival of Aleksei Tolstenko, for you, winning the adidas infinite Trails 65 KM 08:09:30

So when we thought that the Infinite Trails organization and the Gastein could not surprised anymore, they came out with an event planned for the day after the race, Sunday, and a traditional Kaiserschmarrn (traditional Austrian sweet) party on the top of the Stubnerkogel, from where those who did not run the longer distances could also experience (even the weather on Sunday was not that good) the beauty of the Gastein valley and all directions.

Photo: @hekruca
Photo: @hekruca
Photo: @hekruca
Photo: @hekruca

ADIDAS INFINITE TRAILS 15KM : GEAR

Race start at 07.45 am and a planned weather that alternated between  6°C and 14°C

Thus, the material chosen was: Salomon Sense Set 5L backpack, which was empty because in this race, as there were no high mountain areas, there was no mandatory material beyond the shoes, a 0.5 L water reservoir and the telephone.

As for shoes, I chose the HOKA Speedgoat 5 and with which I am very happy in these kilometers that we have together. CIMALP shirt and CIMALP STorm Pro 3 jacket, as it was cold in the morning and some rain was expected in the coming hours and Suunto 9 watch.

 

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