Enter the BIG EASY MTB or Marathon before January and get a FREE pair of sun glasses.

Everyone entering Either the BIG EASY MTB ride or MOUNTAIN MARATHON before January will get a FREE pair of these in their race pack. Colour shown is ‘smoke’ but we will have ‘amber’ ones as well.

I’ve been wearing a pair for a couple of months now and they do the trick just nicely.

New Sponsors on board for Big Easy

What’s the BIG EASY mountain marathon surface like?

The trail is ‘high country 4WD’ tracks of mixed terrain.  Mainly good off road running surface with some small sections of loose rock.  I wouldn’t describe any part of this course as particularly steep. A good steady climb to the Pisa summit then a long gradual decent with a few wee ups over 20kms to Luggate. The last 12km are ‘low land’ gravel roads and 4WD tracks – no mud here.

I would definitely recommend a proper ‘off road’ shoe like the La Sprotiva Crosslite http://www.marvelox.com/pdf_talk_cards/La_Sportiva/Crosslite.pdf, (my currant fav off roader).

A shoe with good support,grip and good toe protection would be ideal.

Fingers crossed you will not have to run in wet feet until about 1km from the finish where you may have to cross the Cardrona River (at this time of year it’s more of a creek than a river).

All predictions are for a long hot summer so expect to be running in close to 30′ C for the last 12km of flat running. On the mountain it will be cooler and last year was quite cool due to cloud/fog that sat on the top of the mountain. You will be required to carry minimum gear of two layers of polypro plus a seam sealed (waterproof) jacket – that will keep you warm if the temp is in the single digits – which it could well be for the first 15km or so – however it is more likely to start in the low teens and get into the low 20′s by time you’re off the mountain.

This is a measured course of very close to 42.2km Exact distance will be confirmed on Friday when I go over the course again with a GPS and a measuring wheel.

Why the name ‘BIG EASY’???

Well, mostly it’s because Terry just loves the name ‘BIG EASY’ but here is my rational for the name.

1. It is BIG – although the distance is not huge, over 40km of rough terrain is worthy of a ‘BIG’ effort and at over 1900m above sea level Mt Pisa is worthy of ‘BIG’ mountain status.

2. The fact that we start from a ski field 1500m above sea level is the easy bit. If we made you bike/run from the bottom of the Cardrona valley to the top of Pisa that would definitely NOT easy.

However, for most people this MTB ride and marathon will not be that easy. The terrain is rocky and rough, there are 4WD ruts to ride in (aprox 50cm wide) and the weather could turn it into a real Adventure!

Please make sure you turn-up well fit, with all the gear and extra fluids/snacks that you would normally need for a few hours in the mountains.

Terry.