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THE NORTH FACE ‘TRANSGRANCANARIA’ TRAINING CAMP

Sebastien Chaigneau and Zigor Iturrieta train more than 40 runners in The North Face ‘Transgrancanaria' Training Camp

Chaigneau, winner of the two previous editions of The North Face Transgrancanaria, shared his experience as elite runner. Iturreta, on the other hand, encouraged the runners of the Canary Islands to take the race calmly

This Training Camp, organised by Arista, was aimed to train trail runners for the next edition of The North Face® Transgrancanaria, which will start on the 1st of March

After four successful previous editions, The North Face® Transgrancanaria 2014 is back. Last weekend, around 50 local runners who will take part in the run during the 1st and 2nd of March attended the The North Face® Transgrancanaria Training Camp which included the visit of top world-wide professionals on trail running.

The runners from the Canary Islands took benefit from their presence in the sport facilities of El Garañón and had the opportunity to listen to their pieces of advice.

The attendees of this campus had the chance to get first-hand knowledge from the French runner Sebastien Chaigneau, elite trail runner and winner of the two previous editions of Transgrancanaria, and from the Basque Zigor Iturrieta, winner of 2011 edition.

The campus also included talks by several experts on topics related with sport and specific trail-running-oriented training.

Chaigneau, front-runner of the next edition of Transgracanaria for the second time, highlighted the importance of taking part of this kind of runs “because is difficult study the route in only 2 or 3 days before the race. I think that is better to go before to inspect the conditions of the roads and think about your strategies for the race”.

On the other hand, the Basque runner Zigor Iturreta shared with the participants the most impressive trail runs he has taken part in and he encouraged the runners from the Canary Islands to travel outside the archipelago and outside Spain in order to experience other runs.

He encouraged riders to take the race calmly "the most important and what most people fail is that they have to go from low to high, the progression is very important.”

Fernando González, Sports Director of The North Face® Transgrancanaria: “The fact that the runners have the chance to listen to this pieces of advice from elite runners and experts some weeks before the run will indeed improve the level”. He in particular underlined: “This opportunity will help them both in the physical training and to become familiar with the route in order to know how to face the different stretches”.

This Training Camp was held from the 17 to the 19th of January in the sport facilities of El Garañón with the aim of sharing both practical and theoretical knowledge on how to face such an intensive and tough run like the The North Face® Transgrancanaria.

This year, the run includes five races each of them with different difficulty level: Promo (17.4 kilometers), Starter (30), Marathon (44), Advance (82) and Transgrancanaria itself (125).

Also this year top level professionals attended the Training Camp in order to guide and advise those interested in improving their skills and in acquiring new techniques to be applied in trail runs.

Furthermore, thanks to the talks given and know-how sharing by professionals, the attendees, who showed big interest and took active participation, had the chance to widen their knowledge on training, hydration, health and nutrition. As well, 32 runners tested the new The North Face® footwear in a 10 kilometers training.

Throughout the two days the Campus lasted, the participants had the opportunity not only to attend talks but also to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the trainings. This event allowed them to train hand in hand with trail running stars, such as Sebastien and Iturrieta, and to get to know some of the new stretches of The North Face® Transgrancanaria.

The gained knowledge is of high value for the participants, specially for those which will take part in The North Face® Transgrancanaria during the 1st and 2nd of March. Thanks to the help and know-how of experts like Sebastien and Zigor the runners will be trained to avoid physical injuries caused by the effort during trainings and trail run competitions.

The North Face® Transgracanaria Training Camp is sponsored by The North Face and organised by Arista. The event also counts on the collaboration of VIVAC Aventura, company that will give the participants the chance of being lodged in one of the cottages of the campsite.

The official site of the run includes all the information regarding to The North Face® Transgrancanaria: www.transgrancanaria.net