What do you get if you mix an extreme 50km foot race and the biggest annual experiment in community, self expression and self reliance?  The new Burning Man Ultramarathon of course!

Going to Burning Man has been on my list for many years now, and I’ve always wanted to run an ultramarathon too so could this be a match made in heaven?  Well you decide – it’s a 50km race which looks set to be one of the toughest and most unique ultramarathons (comparable to the Badwater).  It’s probably the only ultramarathon in the world where there’s a high liklihood of several runners attempting the event naked – though I think some parts are likely to chaff over such a distance!!!

The official FAQ states that each competitor must bring at least 1 gallon of water, sunglasses, a dust mask, goggles and a headlamp!

Their suggestions is to “run slow, eat potato chips, and have  blast!”

It looks like 12 people have signed up to the event so far.  Unfortunately there’s no way I can get to Nevada this yea, but if this becomes a regular event I think I’ll have to add it to my must do list!

Here’s a link to the official Burning Man Ultramarathon web site.

Image courtesy of Aleksander Soender

I read an article on BBC news today about “The Worlds Most Dangerous Road” in Bolivia, and instantly had to add mountain biking it to my list!

The Yungas Road (known as Death Road, Grove’s Road, or Camino de las Yungas) is a stretch of road in Bolivia which is known as the worlds most dangerous road. It was built in the 1930s by Paraguayan prisinors during the Chaco war. The road is a dirt track in the mountains, a huge portion of which is downhill, and had vertical cliffs and severe drops along both sides in many places. Combine that with hairpin bends, and breathtaking scenery and it’s easy to see why it has become a mecca for mountain bikers.

The main downhill section drops 11,800 feet over 40 miles making for what looks like a truly awesome days mountain biking. Wikipedia reports that at least 18 cyclists have died on the road in recent years, but before the La Paz-Coroico highroad, when the Yungas road was the only route, there were reportedly 200 – 300 deaths on the road annually.

The picture above is taken from Wikipedia and shows an example of the vertical cliffs and no crash barriers, but a quick search on Google Images shows just how scary the road can be, and how awesome it would be to ride!