From the inspiring to the tragic, this is GearJunkie’s wrap on exploration and adventure news of the week. Here’s what you missed and a few things to look forward to.
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On April 28, blade runner and cancer survivor Jacky Hunt-Broersma completed her 102nd marathon since mid-January. Her achievement set the women’s world record for most marathons run on consecutive days — but she didn’t stop there. On Saturday, April 30, she exceeded her goal by running her 104th, reported iRunFar.
Hunt-Borersma started the challenge to raise funds and awareness for the nonprofit Amputee Blade Runners. The organization provides free athletic prostheses to amputees that want to pursue an active lifestyle. As a below-knee amputee, its cause is hugely important to her.
After learning about Hunt-Broersma’s effort, nutrition company RXBar stepped in to sweeten the deal: it would match all donations made to her GoFundMe by 11:59 p.m. on May 1, up to $104,000.
Running prostheses can cost up to $20,000, Hunt-Broersma’s team stated. Many insurance companies consider running a “luxury” and won’t cover the cost of a specialized prosthetic limb. Groups like Amputee Blade Runners aim to make running accessible regardless of budgetary constraints.
At the time of publication, Hunt-Boersma had raised more than $85,000. The GearJunkie crew congratulates Jacky on her remarkable efforts!
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It’s peak adventure racing season, y’all.
For 2022, GearJunkie is the official media partner of the U.S. Adventure Racing Association (USARA), and Toyota Tundra serves as the title sponsor of the race season.
Team Toyota Tundra competed this past weekend in Wisconsin at a regional event called Chasin’ the Bone. Tough conditions, including rain and low-40s temps, made for a chilly bike, run, paddle event. The team, including Justin Bakken, Mari Chandler, and Stephen Regenold, managed a first-place finish after obtaining 30+ checkpoints in 6 hours and 12 minutes on the course.
And speaking of USARA …
The 2021-2022 USARA National Points Series (NPS) is still wide open at the midpoint of the season. In the NPS standings for the female-3/4 division, team Fragile Flowers is leading the charge after their third-place finish at Shenandoah Epic, while in the male-3/4 division, team Some Assembly Required is out in front.
There is a tie for first in the premier Mixed-3/4 division between Rootstock Racing and Strong Machine after Rootstock’s win at the Shenandoah Epic Regional Championship. Rib Mountain Racing, VERT, and ARGeorgia round out the top five.
“The NPS season brought to you by Toyota Tundra is off to a great start,” said Michael Garrison, USARA Executive Director. “We are really interested to see how the next couple of weeks shakes things up with lots of races on the calendar.”
The Regional Championships are the races to watch, including the Blue Ridge AR and the Mission AR next weekend and the Longest Day AR the following weekend. All division teams receive five NPS bonus points for their participation. Plenty of points are available in NPS races before the USARA National Championship on Sept. 16-17 in the eastern Sierra mountains.
Across the pond, climbing GOAT Adam Ondra proved himself yet again — this time indoors at the European Bouldering Cup in Prague. It was Ondra’s first time back on the competitive stage since the Olympics last August. “Great memories, great night,” the Czech native said on Sunday. “I’m now looking forward to more competitions in the coming months.”
Edvards Gruzitis (LAT) and Time Reuser (NED) joined him on the men’s podium. Eva Maria Hammelmüller (AUT) took gold in the women’s comp, followed by Sabina Van Essen (NED) and Lana Skusek (SLO). Replays of the men’s and women’s finals are available to stream now.
The next major climbing event occurs May 6-8 with the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Seoul.
Rescue workers on Annapurna successfully located two climbers on Saturday, April 30. Tim Bogdanov and Gianpaolo Corona were picked up by longline helicopters at around 24,600 feet and 24,275 feet up on the mountain, reported ExplorersWeb. According to Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, both were transported to a hospital in Kathmandu, frostbitten but stable.
Italian, Swedish alpinists spotted, evacuated
https://t.co/a2fmtTmWcY— The Himalayan Times (@thehimalayan) April 30, 2022
If you’re in Denver this week and ride MTB, consider checking out the BIPOC Exclusive Women’s Mechanics Class hosted by the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA). The bike course is open to all members of a BIPOC community that identify as female, femme, or non-binary.
Riders of all experience levels are encouraged to attend the event, which takes place May 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. MST at evo Denver. Learn more and reserve a spot for $10 at comba.org.
This article is sponsored by Toyota. Find out more about the 2022 Toyota Tundra here.
