There’s about 67,000 feet (over 20,000m) of ascent Which you cover over the course of two and a half days– if you can keep going that long, of course. And for better or worse, the course isn’t an A-to-B – it’s a loop that you do 5 times. Thus, the ‘Barkley Marathons’. Gary at the yellow gate that marks the start and the finish of the Barkley Marathons course. The race is one hundred and thirty something miles No one knows for sure – the route evolves every year at the whim of the race organizer​. If there are no finishers the course stays the same, if there is a finisher the course is made more difficult by adding another checkpoint that involves an additional climb and descent. Most think the loop, done 5 times, is a bit longer than an actual marathon​ ​, and there’s no question the terrain is absolutely brutal. Only 14 people have finished the race in nearly​ thirty years​ And what’s worse – every time there’s a finisher, they make the course harder​ but not necessarily​ and longer. Oh, there’s no trail markers A huge part of the challenge is to navigate the race course. To prove you’ve completed the whole course, you tear a page out of books you find hidden at various points along the race route. After every lap, the organizer will count your pages. You have no idea when the race will start Anytime between midnight Friday and noon on​ Saturday​! So it’s tough to plan your rest before the race. The race takes two and a half days. How do you train? You go up I live in Vancouver, BC, and we’ve got three peaks right in town, each of them claiming about 3,000 feet of prominence. I do a couple laps at a time for 20k vert training session about once every seven days – that takes about twelve hours. The other days of the week I go out for a few thousand a day. ​In the final three weeks of training I'll likely do a 15,000ft workout, and maybe 2x 20,000ft. The 20k workout can take up to 12hrs. Other than that I do at least one near daily lap and attempt to get my overall weekly vertical up to at least 30k ft​. What’s in the pack for a 20k climb? The way the race is set up, racers can return to​ a campground​ (where their cars are parked) at the start line at the finish of every loop. So that’s how I do my training – I can access my vehicle twice​ during a long training session​ a​ ​day. I’ll bring a water for three hours, food for 12 hours, and gear like a waterproof breathable kit, shirt, gloves, micro spikes for snow. I need 250 calories an hour ​Running is a calorie deficient sport and you can only digest so many calories while moving. 250 per hour is the formula for success. ​With that, you should be able to move forward, so that’s what I’ll do during the race. After​ each lap​ (about 8 - 10 hours, I’ll ​quickly down about 500 calories ​go for a full meal, then reset, then get going again. Liquid intake is totally dependent on weather – if it’s hot, more water. Cold, less. You need two pairs of shoes I do most hundred-milers in one pair of shoes, but the brush and briars on the Barkley is so brutal that it just​ can tear​ shoes apart. ​​ Navigation skills are crucial to success in The Barkley. And you absolutely need a compass Having a map, compass, and the skills to use them is an absolute necessity. It also helps if you have a course veteran to glean knowledge from. Getting lost can mean the difference between finishing and not finishing. You have 60 hours, and clock doesn’t stop if you get lost. I love the weekly vertical totals on my Suunto My goal is to get as much vertical as possible. It’s the only way to prepare for this event. The watch shows you your daily and weekly vertical totals. My workout ENDS when I get as much vertical as I need – so my watch makes it easy. The weekly graph that is a great reference point I can’t get away from. It’s a daily reminder that if I don’t get out of my door, I’m not getting my vertical in, and I’m not training hard enough! Stay tuned during Suunto Vertical Week 2017, as Gary plans to put up​ over 60k vertical in just a two week stretch – and make sure to check out the Barkley Marathons documentary, now showing on Netflix.    All images: © Matt Trappe / Trappephoto.com

World Vertical Week will be held globally on February 27 – March 5. You can climb where ever and choose whichever human powered sport you want. Last year the biggest average ascents per Move were climbed in Switzerland, Austria and France. Ski touring and mountaineering led the highest average ascents for individual sports. Which countries and sports will lead the way this year? The only thing you need to do to participate is to make sure your country information in your Suunto App settings is correct. After that your ascent will automatically be calculated in your home country’s total figure. By the end of the week we’ll find out where in the world the real climbers live. Have fun! #VERTICALWEEK PHOTO CONTEST Share your Vertical Week experiences on Instagram or Facebook with #VerticalWeek for a chance to win a Suunto Spartan Ultra GPS watch. (Terms and conditions apply. Read them here.)   Read more How to enjoy the outdoors with your partner: a chat with Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet Greg Hill's mountain rules 7 tips to accelerating your uphill speed

Who would have thought: a relationship interview with Kilian? Strange things happen on Valentine’s Day! But don’t worry, both Emelie and Kilian were ready to chat about the topic without hesitation. We caught up with them in Andorra, after the first ski mountaineering world cup races of the season where they both finished on the podium. Emelie and Kilian, do you train a lot with each other? Kilian: Maybe once a week we do a full training session together. The other days we often start and end at the same place and make loops. Emelie: Yes, we often start together but he will do more. Sometimes, if I want to do intervals, I ask him to go before, so he can make the tracks. But I often catch him so the intervals often aren’t super good. If he goes with me, he goes easy. Kilian: And if there’s a nice, more technical summit, we do it together and take a nice tour out. How has training together changed during the five years you have been together? K: I don’t think it has changed that much. We know each other a bit better now. We feel more comfortable if we see the other one wants to go faster or slower and we don’t always need to talk or say things. And when we go to more technical places, we know how the other is doing and reacting. I think that is mostly what has changed. E: Maybe now I ask you to do more intervals with me? Kilian can help me do well in the intervals. "Kilian can help me do well in the intervals." Are skiing and running together different? K: Skiing is always a bit more tricky. E: When you go running you don’t need to worry about avalanches. K: If we go to a summit with some climbing or some steep slopes with Emelie, my brain is working much more. It is not the same feeling when I am with my friends. With her I think more. I mean, when I am with my friends, I take good care, but am less stressed. E: Not me! I know that you will be fine! K: It’s not that I don’t care [when being out with friends] but the pressure is not the same! E: But you don’t need to feel that! K: I think it is just natural. What’s the difference in being out with your partner or your friends? E: When I go out with Kilian he’s always very comfortable. He takes the rope and everything. But when I go out with my friends, it’s often the opposite: I’m the one who is more comfortable. Talking about confidence, are there some activities you do together where Emelie is the one feeling more comfortable? K: Yea, one time we were swimming in a lake and I almost died. Then she was definitely more comfortable! E: We wanted to go to a mountain, but there was no trail, so we decided to swim. K: And it was a big, big lake. I don’t know how long, maybe four kilometres? Emelie needed to put some of our stuff, like the phone, on her head, like a turban not to get them wet. I was just looking for some wood or something to grab! E: And maybe when we go cross-country skiing, I am also more comfortable. But you never want to do that! You don’t want to feel uncomfortable! K: Oh, I like to feel uncomfortable – if I am in the mountains. If I am cross-country skiing I am only looking up to the mountains, but don’t go to the summits. E: But you go so much faster, just enjoy the speed and the surroundings! "Just enjoy the speed and the surroundings!" Emelie, do you carry a Clifbar with you so you can give it to Kilian when he starts to get grumpy? E: He doesn’t like to eat when he is out! I take some food with me when I am out longer, like eight hours. And sometimes I wish that Kilian had some. I have been telling him that why can’t he have some chocolate in his backpack for me. Just in case. But it has not happened so far. So, I often take my own. K: But some days in the mountains I take food – and water. Is finding a schedule that works for both of you hard? E: I think we are spending much more time with each other than many other couples since we don’t go to work from nine to five every day. K: There can be like a month when I go on an expedition or you go to a race in the US but… It would be hard if the other one wouldn’t do this. We don’t stay at home all that long. But we are both travelling – and doing it also together. Are there some things you don’t do together? K: She really wants to do base jumping, but I have told her she really shouldn’t do that. E: No! I hate base jumping. It’s playing with your precious life. K: (Seriously). I think we both have the confidence to say when we feel uncomfortable. She’s very good at that, I am worse. If I see the summit close but the conditions are so-so, I can be pushing more, but Emelie can still say, no, it does matter, we go down. E: And Kilian is very good, when he needs help with the rope. (general laughter) No, it was not a joke! K: You do yoga at home and I am really bad at that. I may do it for five minutes but then start doing something else. E: But you should really try it. K: I think it is really important for the body, but it is hard when I am at home. E: Yea, but you won’t follow me to the gym either where they have a really nice yoga studio. I've even asked you because I need practice. (Ed. note: Emelie is a certified yoga teacher.) I should have given you ten yoga lessons as a Christmas present! "I should have given you ten yoga lessons as a Christmas present!" Any tips or learnings you wish to share with other outdoor couples? E: I’ve heard that many couples don’t like to be out with each other because they’ll get angry. I think in that case they push themselves to where they don’t want to be. But if you really know the other one’s limits and your own limits – and are able to talk about them – then it’ll be better. K: Maybe you plan one day that you don’t have any expectations. You just go out together and enjoy the company. Not like “I want to run 10K or do this or that”. E: It is important to make it nice when you are out together. It is such a nice way to spend time. Try to make it nice and comfortable. It can be good for your partner to know what are the reasons for you to go out together. READ MORE Meet the endurance super-couple aiming to do 100 triathlons in 100 days Kilian's Everest Dream Lives On

I've always been a runner. Yep – I was a cross country and indoor/outdoor track runner at Central Michigan, a D1 program, where I studied Exercise Science, which I then followed up with a Master’s in Kinesiology. After school I moved to Colorado, and it’s such an active community. I look out my window and see a bike riding by every few minutes. I got into triathlon almost immediately. I like to run uphill. And bike, too – I’m tall and skinny, but I still tend to do well on courses with big climbs, whether it’s on the bike or on foot. I think a lot of has to do with living altitude. My favorite XTERRA race location? I thrive on mountain courses – any kind of course that requires a big engine – especially with sustained climbing, that’s where I excel. Swimming is my weakness, but I make up for it on the uphill. Two of my favorite races are the Beaver Creek XTERRA, right in my backyard, and the National Championships in Ogden, Utah. The toughest races are in Hawaii. No question! Last year in Kapalua, Maui, we had a ton of mud on the course. It was the first time we encountered that at a World Championship. It wreaked havoc on bikes and drive trains, and it came down to whose bike held up on the mud. Down in Wailea, also on Maui, I had flat tires four out of ten years racing there. That made for interesting races! Carrying the bike, carrying wheels, tubes wrapped around my neck… but I’ve always finished the race! Cross training is important... I do more consistent strength training in the winter, and take advantage of the winter environment with snowshoeing, nordic skiing, and a bit of fat-biking. Not quite as much alpine skiing as I’d like to fit in. ...But not as important as regular training, done right. I’ve been using Suunto products for a while, starting with the original multi-sport watches from nearly a decade ago. I’ve always taken a very scientific approach, and that turned me on to Suunto products. Mainly, I’m looking for objective ways to measure intensity and training load. It depends on the sport that I’m doing – pace if I’m running flat ground, heart rate if I’m running up Vail Mt with snowshoes, power on the road bike. But it’s all a guide – I’m not locked into any one metric. For 2017 I’m refining my approach – last year I had come off the championship win, and did a lot of racing all over the world, ‘saying yes’ to everything – I spread myself pretty thin. This year I’m competing less, training smarter and more efficiently, and will build in a little more spacing between my key competitions. One guy I can’t shake is Braden Currie. XTERRA is a race against mother nature – but I can’t seem to get away from Kiwi Braden Currie. I’ve been locked into many man-on-man battles with him over the years – including an epic photo finish last year. But we just had a fun race together on the same team for once at his event in New Zealand. I’m ready for battle in 2017. I’m feeling strong and healthy, ready to go for another year. Motivation is high! It’s still really early, but I think I’m setting myself up for another good year. First race of the year is in Costa Rica!   Ready to have your best year of racing yet? Then stay tuned for Josiah’s training tips on suunto.com – and make sure you check into the Middaugh Training Corner on XTERRAplanet.com.

I train 5–6 days/week for a total amount of 5–600 km/week. Not so impressive if you consider the normal activity of a pro rider, but that's winter conditions, under the rain or the snow, and usually includes about 8 - 10k of ascent per week. Last year I did 31.000 kilometers, between training, races and solo adventures. My coldest ride saw temperature of -20 to -32°C. It was the last stage of my 2016 Norwegian adventure. It was by far the coldest ride I’ve ever done. Spikes and disk brakes are the way to go. You need spiked tires – and disc brakes For winter rides like the one I will do in Finland I use a Wilier Triestina Cross Disc Carbon, equipped with a Shimano Ultegra Disc Groupset and Mavic Disc Wheelset. I will use two kinds of tires: normal tires in case of standard conditions, and spiked tires in case of very icy roads. On my stem I will put my Suunto Spartan Ultra watch: I love recording the ride to analyse the performance and to see what I’ve done. But one of the most important things is disc brakes – I did my first Arctic adventure with normal brakes, and it was horrible. Always listen your body During my adventures I usually have a support car. They film my ride, and support me in case of an emergency. My girlfriend is an expert in first aid. The most important thing is to stop when you “hear” something strange from your body. During 2016 adventure in Norway, for example, I stopped for two hours because I simply lost all feeling in two fingers. "Listen to your body," says Omar. A standard day is 10–12 hours on the bike I wake up to a good breakfast at 6. I’m on the road at 8. Somewhere between 18:00 and 20:00 I stop, have a good dinner, then check over the bike. You’ve got to eat right You need the best possible food to have enough energy – and in cold conditions, your consumption will be higher than ever. It’s a challenge for me -– and my support team too! Follow along with Omar during his current Arctic challenge – cycling across Finland from South to North – at his Facebook page! So far he has covered 826 km on complicated icy road surfaces in four days. READ MORE Ultacycling man Omar Di Felice is heading straight north The art of cycling around the world

“No two courses in the world are alike,” says Tom Kiely, XTERRA CEO. “Each a different experience. All are in nature. Mother Nature is your toughest competitor.” The courses are often wet, muddy, and unquestionably challenging, with events upcoming in Alabama, Colorado, Utah, and of course, XTERRA’s home turf, Hawaii. Competitors are known for being tough as nails and extremely dedicated. The most impressed Tom has been? “Had to be the lady who completed the Maui trail run on crutches.” For XTERRA, it was Suunto’s position as an authentic and credible adventure brand that made the partnership work. “There’s great synergy between our two companies,” continues Tom. “XTERRA athletes are all about discovering unknown territory, challenging themselves to be the best, and embracing the community. Suunto is too, and its world-class ‘XTERRA-proof’ GPS watches offers exceptional mapping, training, and community features.” Those features mean the real ones benefitting from the partnership are athletes themselves. As part of the alliance, Josiah Middaugh, the 2016 XTERRA Pan American Tour Champion, who wears Suunto to train and race, will be sharing his workouts, tips, and more with bi-monthly Middaugh Coaching Corner, presented by Suunto columns this season. Bryson White, Suunto’s brand manager for the Americas, says: “We’re looking to standardize XTERRA course maps, provide training content specific to upcoming events, host demo days, and inspire the XTERRA Tribe to get out and Live More.” Suunto’s XTERRA course maps will make routes easier to read and follow, and provide more information to racers with layers of data that show altitude profiles, 3D terrain flyovers, and in some cases, historical user-data analysis of what it takes to succeed on a given course. What does that mean? XTERRA athletes will be able to re-create course-like training situations on their own in preparation for the race – and use watch data to assess how they’re performing in those conditions.   Suunto representatives will be on-site to educate and engage with the off-road community at XTERRA Oak Mountain (May 20-21, Pelham, Ala.), XTERRA Beaver Creek (July 15, Avon, Colo.), XTERRA Pan Am Championship (Sept 16-17, Ogden, Utah), XTERRA World Championship (Oct. 29, Maui, Hawaii), and XTERRA Trail Run World Championship (Dec. 3, Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii) as well as other select races throughout the year. Learn more about XTERRA at xterraplanet.com   READ MORE Meet the endurance super-couple aiming to do 100 triathlons in 100 days How to run a sub-3h marathon 3 must-run routes in New York City