Team ELM Canada rocks the 55km Iceland Laugavegur Ultra Marathon!

TEAM ELM COMPLETES 55KM ULTRA MARATHON IN ICELAND

Eight local trail runners have just returned to the Comox Valley after completing the 55km Laugavegur Ultra Marathon in the wild Highlands of Iceland. ‘Team ELM Iceland’ trained for 5 months to prepare for the event and traveled to Iceland along with their Coach, Sarah Seads (owner of Equilibrium Lifestyle Management) for a week long adventure leading up to and including the race. Their results were impressive, considering all but two were attempting their first ultra marathon. Many of the runners, began their training at 8kms and with just 3-4 days of running per week, their race specific training plan helped them prepare effectively for the challenging 55km ultra.

From Coach Sarah:

Wow just wow! The Team did absolutely amazing on the challenging 55km course. Although the course had a net loss of elevation, it still included over 1900metres of climbing and the hills were relentless. The weather was perfect- the best possible, with sunshine and temperatures in the mid-teens, and we were all grateful for that. The river crossings and snow fields were exciting and the vista’s were completely out of this world. Geysers, glaciers and the terrain was painted every colour that you could possibly imagine. The Team raced smart, followed their race plans and had very strong finishes- and big smiles at the end! What an adventure!

From the race website:

"Laugavegur is located in the southern highlands of Iceland and connects the nature reserves Landmannalaugar and Thorsmork. Due to its location, Laugavegur is serviced for only a few weeks a year. For many runners the Laugavegur Ultra Marathon is the most enjoyable race in Iceland. The course takes runners through areas of outstanding natural beauty at the same time as being a challenging course. Hikers normally cover this distance in four days. The course is multi-terrain; sand, gravel, grass, snow, ice, rivers and streams."

Congratulations go out to Team ELM: 

John Wall

AshleyTitus

Melissa Caldwell

Emily Morris

Chanace Vanderheide

Sara Sandwith

Nicole Schalich 

Jen Walker

and our Canadian contingent- Bill and Jody;)

Complete race results can be found online on the Laugavegur race site and images from the trip are posted on the Equilibrium Lifestyle Management facebook page.  Read Coach Sarah’s race report here.   For more information on ELM's programs and future travel adventures go to www.elmhealth.com .