Sola DUO

I had heard about Sola DUO from a friend in my running group and he basically kept reiterating how amazing it was, and how really only the craziest of the crazies even attempt it. Naturally I was a little intrigued (It is no real ultramarathon, but a solid leap away from marathon on the crazy scale)
So it is a little tricky to explain. It is a team event with two people and one bike. The team must stay together at all times, and they trade off who rides the bike. I had wanted to do it, but my partner backed out, and I ended up finding someone else in the same pool and we happened to be almost exactly the same strength runner.

The run was basically invented because after running Sola (a hood to coast like relay race around the zurich area) a bunch of guys were like this is way to complicated with the logistics of getting everyone to the right start spot and making sure everyone is one time, and knows who they are handing-off to and picking up from. So they simply decided the event could be done with just 2 people and a bike. Where one person rides and recovers (navigates as well) while the other runs, and they just trade off.

It is a brilliant idea, and it was really a blast. You feel really well connected to the outcome and involved in every detail of the strategy. Plus you see the same people the whole time (basically), and everything gets a bit shaken up at every hill climb. Plus having someone ride next to you the whole time really keeps you motivated, and we ran faster than either of us alone could do a single marathon.

Plus it is fun to run in the middle of nowhere and ungodly hours, the world is so calm and silent, and having people leaving the bars look at you with utter astonishment, and again when the newspaper delivery men see everyone and just stare and cheer you on.

SOLA Duo . 50 miles St. Gallen to Zurich at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Community