It all happens where sky and earth meet

Pic taken by moi of Talk Ultra's Ian Corless running in the Alps above Zinal 
With just two days to go before South Africa’s first Skymarathon®, the Matroosberg Trail Challenge, and five weeks before Africa’s first Ultra Skymarathon®, the Lesotho Ultra Trail, I thought I’d add to the hype and excitement around skyrunning in SA by showing a clip that some trail heads will have already watched about 10 times over. It’s a 20 min video showing highlights from the Limone Extreme Skyrace®, run 10 days ago above the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy.

The clip is incredible – not only does the aerial footage give us a chance to watch many of the world’s fastest and nimblest trail runners doing what they do best, but it also shows the incredible pace at which they’re able to descend technical single track.

Many of you will recognise three familiar faces who have visited South Africa, including Kilian Jornet (who needs no introduction anyway), Stevie Kremer (who smashed the women’s record at this year’s Hout Bay Trail Challenge and was recently crowned the Skyrunning Sky Series World Champ 2013), and Salomon International team manager (and speedster) Greg Vollet.

Check out around the 12 min mark to watch how Kilian makes a sharp steep descent look like he’s tapdancing along a flat road.
Limone Extreme Skyrace clip

This weekend, after months of waiting, and much anticipation, South Africa will have its own South African Skyrunning Association (SASA) sanctioned event, the Matroosberg Trail Challenge.

see the Nov issue of Runner's World for more on skyrunning hitting SA
The second will be the much-awaited Lesotho Ultra Trail, Africa’s first Ultra Skymarathon®, which will cover 55km in the Maluti Mountains in the Kingdom of Lesotho on 30 November.

And 2014 promises more skyrunning excitement, with the announcement of more skyrunning events, a skyrunning circuit, and – wait for it – SA’s first Vertical Kilometre®


So flex your legs and lungs, trailers, the sky’s the limit!

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