From Heaven to Hell and Back! Gripmaster-Trailrace in Croatia ***SIGN UP NOW!!!!***

A monastery from the 16th century, three canyons, an abandoned shepherds’ village, lonely Adriatic beaches, endless views to the neighbouring islands…..

First things first: the Online Registration Link for those who ask no questions:
http://www.racebase.hr/eng/event/14/14

Sounds like a vacation? Well – it’s not!!!

On july 19th 2013, in the morning, only the bravest trailrunners will attack the premiere edition of our brand new trailrace which we very appropriately named “From Heaven to Hell and Back”.

Start at the ancient monastery “Pustinja Blaca”, steep ramps, an andrenaline-filled downhill to the beach, a wavy trail along the turquoise sea with fast turns and deserted coves. A small fisherman village, a merciless canyon which more resembles a river bed. A hill devastated by a recent forest fire.

And that was just the first loop!

If you still haven’t had enough, then go on round two, on even rougher trails, if one is even inclined to call them that, on century old, rocky paths into the neighbouring canyon, through an abandoned village which is overgrown with thorns and other hostile plants.

Then fight your way up a ridge, a real ankle-breaker, no step is like the other, no foot ever finds an even landingzone. Sheep meadows, covered in big and small rocks, separated by interminable stone walls, then a few hundred meters of actual dirt road, an easy to run surface, for just a few minutes – a terrain on which “runners” spend their entire sports life, but for trailrunners, this is just a transition – into round three!

And round three is nothing less than round one, but in the opposite direction… Leave the historic monastery by a grueling uphill in the now almost unbearable heat, pass the hundred year old beehive terraces, race through the olive trees and dive into the canyon at full speed, stones and spiderwebs flying right and left, as you zig-zag down to the small village by the sea. The folowwing videogame of a trail will ask all willpower from the trailrunners, so big is the temptation to just run into the dark blue sea and never come back out! Then a last and final battle, 200m of climbing, the trail meanders upwards from the beach, to the finishline in the courtyard of the white monastery which awaits the winners, the fighters and the survivors…

For the statisticians among us:

1 round : 14,6 km / 790 m asc

2 rounds : 28 km / 1500 m asc

3 rounds : 38,5 km / 2100 m asc

The online registration will open soon – as soon as we have found our programmer, who has inexplicably got lost in one of these canyons. Until then, check your routeplanner, book a flight to Split or start walking, so you can be at the startline on time on july 19th!

Since this is not a trip to Disneyworld but straight to hell and back, take the time to read these race rules which will be most vigorously enforced:

FROM HEAVEN TO HELL AND BACK trailrace takes place on July 19th 2013, on the island Brac, Croatia.

This is a trailrace, it is super wild, lots of fun, incredibly hard, potentially dangerous.

The basic rules are very simple: We mark a course, you show up at the start on the specified date at the specified time.
You run as fast as you can and follow the markers, so you will not get lost. Also you do not take shortcuts.
If you arrive at the finish first, you win. We will provide the service for all following runners, to count in which order and place you’ve arrived and also in what time.
Also we will carry drinking water to the start/finish area, which will be passed by those who go on the medium route once, and those on the long route twice.
To keep track of you all, you will be getting, and wearing bib numbers.

As mentioned, while this is intended to be a lot of fun, we wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt beyond a few scratches or a sunburn, so in the interest of your safety, we want you to take along a few things, which in a more formal set of rules would be called
MANDATORY EQUIPMENT:
– Water or other non-alcoholic drinks, 1 liter (yes it is a lot, but please believe us, it WILL be HOT!)
– Trail shoes. This is rough croatian trailrunning, no white roadrunning shoes or tennis sneakers are really adapted for this (remember, you’ll be passing through hell!) – so in the interest of making it through to the finish line – do wear trailshoes with grip, protection and stability! What they probably won’t have to be is waterproof… If you’re a direct descendant of the Tarahumara, then you can show up in sandals, of course!
– small first aid kit (we have mountain rescue teams on the course, but they are not everywhere)
– tape for your ankle (in case you twist your ankle it can make all the difference between going on and finishing the race or lying in a ditch until we come and get you)
– cap / sunprotection (you’ll see why!)

Highly recommended: sunscreen, sunglasses. (did we mention, it will be very hot and intense bright light)

“Dangerous? You’ve said dangerous”, you ask?
Because we wouldn’t want to hear you say we didn’t warn you, here are some of the potential dangers encountered by all the brave participants of “FROM HEAVEN TO HELL AND BACK”:
death, fainting, heat stroke, sunburn, dehydration, broken bones, skin rash from crashing or running too close to a tree, severe scratching from thorns, accidentally swallowing a large spider, falling into burning nettles, getting lost, twisting an ankle,
broken ribs from elbow fights with other trailrunners. This list is neither complete nor to be taken as a discouragement from taking part in the race.
For, on the other hand we do present many great benefits:
The list contains for example: being part of a unique premiere of a fantastic event, and as such becoming a pioneer of trailrunning and awesomeness, running a course rich in challenge and adventure, visiting a sixteenth century monastery, getting an awesome suntan,…

By signing up to participate in the race, you accept all aforementioned risks as well as all others that we may have omitted, forgotten or not anticipated, like getting hit by an asteroid, kidnapped by hostile farmers, drowning in a riverbed, getting married to another participant…
Also, you expressly agree to be photographed, filmed, painted or carved in stone by the assembled media and artists that will be on course to report from the race, promote future events or even turn the organizers into millionaires. Or simply we will publish as much as we can on the world wide web and whoever else is willing to talk about it, and thereby glorify you and your heroic race action.

and NOW – the online registration!!!

http://www.racebase.hr/eng/event/14/14

One Response to “From Heaven to Hell and Back! Gripmaster-Trailrace in Croatia ***SIGN UP NOW!!!!***”

1. Lukas says:

   June 2, 2013 at 10:25 pm

   Vacation or hard work – I want to make experience the same…

   Looks amazing!
   Beautiful Pics