Suunto athlete Patrik Nilsson was a long distance runner, but it didn’t satisfy his desire to train. Then triathlon found him, and now he’s one of the fastest in Ironman history. © KMD IRONMAN DenmarkAt this year’s KMD Copenhagen Ironman, 25-year-old professional triathlete Patrik Nilsson had his mind set on one thing – having fun – but he achieved much more. He came first, smashed his own best time by 20 minutes and got the seventh fastest time in the history of Ironman: 07h49m18s. “It was the perfect day,” he says. “In Denmark it’s so open, and flat, and close to the sea so there’s always wind, but that day there was no wind. When we did the swim it was all flat, no waves at all. The conditions and course were perfect for a really fast day.” Only one year ago, Patrik wasn’t in such good form. Personal difficulties with his then coach were adversely affecting his training and outlook. It all came to a crunch at Ironman Cozumel 2015. He was in first position, with only 10km of the run remaining. But he was hating it so he quit and walked home. “To do well in races, you need to have fun,” he says. “That’s why I couldn’t run those last 10km; when it starts to get tough, you need to feel that it’s fun, and that’s what I felt again in Copenhagen.” © KMD IRONMAN DenmarkFrom Stockholm, Sweden, Patrik has lived to train since he was a kid. At school, he competed at a high level in long distance running, but it didn’t quench his thirst for training. He did his first triathlon in his last year at high school and finally found a worthy outlet for his energies. “With triathlon, there’s always something you can train,” he says. “If you can’t develop your running, maybe you can work on the swim or the bike. There are so many aspects. That’s what inspired me.” Patrik is currently training for Ironman Barcelona 2016. If he performs well, he’ll qualify for the Kona world championships in 2017. He’s working with a new coach, who also happens to be his girlfriend. “It’s good to have a close connection with my coach, which is easy when the coach is your girlfriend,” he says. “It makes it really easy for her to understand how I’m feeling. “There have been a lot of small things we’ve been trying to work on. One of the biggest was around my mentality – to make sure I’m having fun and really enjoying it. It’s worked out perfectly.” While he enjoys pushing his limits with racing, Patrik doesn’t overdo it. Training is what he loves and that’s the focus for most of the year. “For me, it’s better to have one, two or three months of really good training and then do one race and go really hard,” he says. “The most important thing is to have fun. “In Copenhagen I really felt it was fun, I really enjoyed standing on the beach next to the guys and saying, ‘I’m really going to beat you, I’m going to kick your ass and this is going to be fun’. That gives triathlon something more than just the expectation you should win.” Stay tuned for part two of series about Patrik! MAIN IMAGE: © KMD IRONMAN Denmark

The GORE-TEX Transalpine Run across the Alps demands just as much mental toughness as endurance. For those who have what it takes, an unforgettable adventure awaits. Suunto-supported trail runner Philipp Reiter has competed in and photographed the GORE-TEX Transalpine Run four times, including the 2016 edition that finished in September. He and teammate Iker Karrera won the 2012 edition. The seven-stage, 247.2 km race was the 12th edition and followed a new route. It included 14,862 m of vertical ascent, rocky trail and a glacier crossing. All participants must compete in a two-person team. Due to injury Philipp couldn’t compete this year, but he was there to photograph its beauty and intensity. He tells us all about it below. Stage one: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to Lermoos, Austria Distance: 36.7 kmVertical ascent: 2088 mVertical ascent: 1791 mHighest point: 1634 m Experiencing the cultures of the Alps is part of the fun. © Philipp Reiter I’ve seen the same thing every year; some of the top teams start too fast and push too hard and bomb out because one team member becomes exhausted. It’s important to remember there are six more days after the mountain run on the first day. It’s best to hold back. Stage two: Lermoos, Austria to Imst, Austria Distance: 33.8 kmVertical ascent: 2009 mVertical descent: 2237 mHighest point: 1742 m © Philipp Reiter A lot of teams from north Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark compete. Maybe they’re good runners, but they underestimate the terrain – the rocky trail and the ascent. They don’t move fast enough to meet the cut off times of each stage. It’s more like a speed hiking race than a running race. You have to train your muscles to climb day after day. Stage three: Imst, Austria to Mandarfen-Pitztal, Austria Distance: 47.9 kmVertical ascent: 3037 mVertical descent: 2144 mHighest point: 2292 m © Philipp Reiter[To properly prepare] you have to get your body used to doing endurance workouts many days in a row. Usually people work so they only have the weekend. But you need to try to do long sessions six or seven days in a row. Your body has to know what that feels like. Stage four: Mandarfen-Pitztal, Austria to Sölden, Austria Distance: 25.7 kmVertical ascent: 1887 mVertical descent: 2214 mHighest point: 2982 m This year's race included a glacier crossing. © Philipp Reiter [My mental strategy] is to cut the course into smaller pieces and objectives. For example, I focus on going from food station to food station or from stretch to stretch, climb to climb. Getting to that next location becomes the only goal. Stage five: Sölden, Austria to St. Leonhard in Passeier, Italy Distance: 33.3 kmVertical ascent: 1453 mVertical descent: 2111 mHighest point: 2492 m © Philipp Reiter Everyone goes through ups and downs. If you and your race partner get along well then he or she motivates you and the other way around. Usually one is up and the other is down and you can help to pull each other along. If you work together you can equalise the weaknesses of each other. Stage six: St. Leonhard in Passeier, Italy to Sarnthein, Italy Distance: 33.6 kmVertical ascent: 2440 mVertical descent: 2153 mHighest point: 2683 m © Philipp Reiter This year a lot of people struggled during stage six. The mood was at a really low level, with a lot of tired faces. One team took a taxi and went home. Stage seven: Sarnthein, Italy to Brixen, Italy Distance: 36.4 kmVertical ascent: 1934 mVertical descent: 2348 mHighest point: 2440 m © Philipp Reiter I enjoy this race because for the seven days you live in your own little world, with hardly any influence or contact with the outside world. You can switch off and focus on this one simple undertaking.

At the end of last month, on beautiful late-summer evening in Helsinki we hosted a group of runners to enjoy one of our favourite routes in our hometown. It was our first “Destination Run” and we loved it, and loved meeting all the runners who joined us! Members of the Suunto team – engineers, marketing folks, local runners (some just back from UTMB), and even those who happened to be traveling in the city from overseas (NYC) joined us for some invigorating seaside miles and we shared our passion for running, together. The runners were split in two pace groups to keep the going comfortable for everyone. After the 8 km route, the group soaked up the final, stunning moments of the day, and chatted about running, training, upcoming races and product. It was a great evening and we were thrilled to see so many join! You can find the route we ran as well as our other Helsinki go-to routes here Next stop: London We are continuing our Destination Runs in London on Thursday, September 29th at 7pm local time. The Run will be in Hyde Park and will start near Lancaster Gate beside the Italian fountains. You can sync the route we’ll be running to your Suunto Ambit3, Traverse or Spartan. More details will be shared on the Destination Run's Facebook Event in days to come, so if you are in London, traveling or otherwise, we hope you’ll join us for an invigorating 8 km run! Did you know that you can earn Finnair Plus points by running this summer? 10 million points are available. Learn more at finnair.com/beactive Find must-run routes in Barcelona, Helsinki, London, New York City, Paris and Stockholm & stay tuned for more! Images ©Teemu Maikkola

Helsinki, Finland, based running coach Aki Nummela is no stranger to transforming weekend warriors to competitive runners. His company, Runner’s High, coaches hundreds of runners through clinics and private coaching every year. “There are no quick wins in marathon running,” he says. “Many marathon runners only focus on mileage and actually train to be slow. And there’s no point in doing so. It is impossible to run a sub-3h marathon if you can’t keep up that pace for 10 kilometers. Versatility in training is very important for long distance runners." Running a marathon in under three hours is a serious challenge: Some talented runners can make it with very little training. For many it is simply impossible. Suunto's training database actually reveals that 10% of 30–40-year-old men run a marathon in 3 hours, and the top 10% of women clock in about 15 minutes slower. For reference, let’s take a look at what our numbers tell us. The top 10% of men 30–34 run a marathon in 3.00.08 and top 10% of men 35–39 run in 3.00.31. The top 10% of women 30–34 run a marathon in 3.16.34 and top 10% of women 35–39 run in 3.13.59. The times are based on over 25,000 marathons. “A sub-3h marathon is a serious goal,” Nummela continues. “Most who set out to reach it are already established runners who know their level and have experience in running marathons. Random goals simply don’t work. You need to start with your current form and progress step by step within your own abilities. There are no short cuts.” KNOW WHERE YOU’RE AT Reaching the goal depends a lot on the past, too. If you already have trained well your progress will be slower than for someone who hasn’t put too much effort in structured training yet. “When the base is strong, there’s no need to cover maximum amount of miles. Trying to add more miles in our busy lives may just wear us down before the week’s key workouts,” Nummela says. “For some of my athletes it has come as a surprise that there may be less weekly training hours in their plan than before. But cutting mileage by half does not automatically drop performance.” TEST YOUR SPEED “Many marathoners are afraid of running fast” Nummela says. “But you need to start fast to have a fast time. Picking up the pace during the run is very difficult.” A sub-3 hour marathon equals a pace of 4min17sec per kilometer, “but don’t get stuck running with the 4'20 pace in training,“ Nummela reminds you. “You need to build the speed capacity and once you’ve got this, you can add more marathon specific workouts in your plan. “ Nummela says that taking a good look at the times 3-hour marathoners have ran in shorter distances will give you a good idea where you are at. “If you can run 10 kilometers in 37 minutes, the pace needed to run a marathon in under three hours will feel easy.” FIGURE OUT YOUR BEST WORKOUT A classic workout for marathon is a progressively paced 30–35 km long run. “This workout should be finished off with your actual marathon pace,” Nummela says. “But keep in mind that this is a hard one, like a race, and proper time for recovery is needed.” He also suggests running half marathons. They are not only great workouts – they’ll also teach you a thing or two about racing. In addition to long runs, Nummela always makes his athletes run shorter intervals, too. Something like 6 times 1000 meters (at 5.000–10.000m race pace) and 4 times 2–3 kilometers (at 10.000m–half marathon pace) are great practice for fast, efficient marathon running. At the end, he always stresses changing it up: “Versatility is the key. After a long hard one I suggest running something different, like the 6x1km mentioned earlier, so that the stimulus is different every time. Otherwise your progress will slow down.” TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS Coach Nummela thinks that both pace and heart rate are valuable info to runners. In training HR will prevent you from going too hard. “But feeling is also very important. One should not look at the data on the sport watch too much either. You will need to learn to listen to your body and its signals, too. ADJUST ON THE FLY Goals are important – but you should be prepared to adjust your goals if needed. “Running a sub-3h marathon depends a lot on the day’s form and conditions as well. If for example the race day is extremely hot, it is only wise to back off a bit. It may be smarter to run a 3:10 marathon than to end up on a drip. Be agile in your running and your thinking and you will eventually reach your goal.” “And once you have trained right, and are in great form, all you have to do is go out and do it. Then reaching your goal is easy.”

Let’s start simple, Gediminas – why’d you win? Easy – I don’t take defeat well. I wasn’t happy with my second place finish in 2015 – I was so close to first, but I made a mistake in the Grand Raid Reunion. I wanted to come back and do better. I also got a little bit of a nudge from Red Bull – but not in the normal way. I went for a little workout with them, but in the end, they weren’t keen on taking me on as an athlete. Those two things gave me something to prove. How long have you been running? I started in 2005 after my mission in Iraq. I didn’t do my first Ultra until 2009 tho. It’s been a very moderate progression over the years, but losing so closely last year really inspired me to train better and smarter. Gediminas Grinius was crowned the champion of Ultra Trail World Tour in 2016 Tell us about 2016: I kicked off with a 3rd in Hong Kong, and quickly followed with a 2nd in Gran Canaria, a 2nd in Lavaredo, and a second in UTMB. There were ten races on the tour, but only Sange Sherpa ran 6 (and never finished in the top 10) and two other runners did five. Four races with a podium finish was good enough to lock up the title! What was your training strategy? Quality over quantity. I tried to run from 100 to 150 km a week, depending on the block of training and periodization. In general, I am trying to run 5–6 times a week, between 20–40 km a week, including HIIT, intervals, back to backs, stuff like that. There are difference skills I am trying to develop. I needed more speed in UTMB so I am adding in more speed work, for example. But as I approach a race, I do more long runs and back-to-backs. What’s a back-to-back? I go for a long run late in the evening, then have a short recovery time – basically going to bed on an empty stomach, then waking up and running again. Generally I’ll try to do between 25 to 30km both of those days, and have a negative split – faster on the second day. Who do you hate to see next to you on the start line? I like the competitors in the field, and I like the challenge. No runners which I hate. Gediminas training in Cappadocia, Turkey in December 2016. Where do you like to line up? I do well in the longer races. I think my strength is in my mind – up to 100km, your physical state is a big factor, after that, many things come in to play. Even in our ordinary life, we have a lot of stress factors. We can cope with them in our ordinary life, and when you do back-to-back runs, you give your mind understanding of how to deal with stress while running – this is how training of mind goes. What’s the plan for 2017? Honestly? I had a very intense last three years, and right now I feel a little exhausted. The plan for 2017 is to run a bunch of races I didn’t run before because of the point counting system – spend more time with family, and run the races. The first will be Tarawera Ultramarathon in New Zealand, Madeira Island Ultra Trail in Portugal, and then I want to do the Cappadocia Ultra Trail in Turkey. And beyond? I’ve got my eye on a FKT – running around Lake Tahoe in Northern California in 2018. Then in 2019, I’m going for a combined record time on the Ultra Trail Grand Slam. Big goals. Any changes in your training plan? Yeah. I think I’m getting a coach. Images by Salomon Cappadocia Ultra-Trail READ MORE Four myths about ultra running that you need to know How to transition from flat to off-road How to run a sub-3h marathon

Mira Rai now joins the group of Suunto adventurers, like Kilian Jornet, Ueli Steck and Greg Hill, who have been nominated as the Adventurers of the year in the past. We got in touch with Mira to hear the latest news. Hey Mira, congratulations! You are now the 2017 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year. How does it feel? Wow! Amazing! I am very happy! I am very grateful for the support of everyone who supported. What does this award mean to you? It is very, very valuable for me. I had never thought I would win with top adventurers of the world in the competition. I am really thankful to everyone who has supported me and voted for me. I am very grateful to Trail Running Nepal, the director and everyone who worked behind the scenes to help me win this. This is not my win; this is an award for Nepal. How are you going to celebrate this? How will I celebrate? (laughs) I have not thought about celebrating! I want to thank everyone who has supported me. I think I will invite brothers and sisters for run/hike to one of the trails in Kathmandu at the weekend. You organized a running race in your home-town last year. Why did you do it, how was it and are you organizing it again? I wanted to introduce a trail race in my village, and let my village people experience what I do. I think organizing races and letting village kids have exposure to competitive running can inspire them to take athletics seriously if they are interested. I want to give the opportunity as I had had before. I also wanted to gain experience of organizing races. My first race had 124 participants. Everyone from children to elders were excited to participate. Since it was raining that day, so many people who were interested couldn’t join. I am thankful to get support from various agencies. I was able to donate 90 pairs of goldstar shoes to the kids and they loved it. It was a successful race. Yes, I want to organize it again. It is a very hard work. I will need more support. Why do you think sport is important for women in Nepal? Women living in the hills of Nepal are very strong. Many of them can carry heavy loads on technical trails without breaking a sweat. I think women should be encouraged to partake in sports in Nepal because like me, there can be many women who can make the country proud if given an opportunity. What are your plans for this year? Some interesting projects or races coming up? I want to focus on organizing trail races in Nepal this year with my Trail Running Nepal team. Also, I will be participating in races in China, France and Spain. How have you recovered from the ACL injury you had last year? My knee has not completely recovered. It might take another 3 or so months to fully recover. But I am working hard now doing physiotherapy, yoga, cross training to keep fit. Images by Anuj Adhikary For more info on running in Nepal, visit trailrunktm.com and trailrunningnepal.org   READ MORE MEETING NEPALESE TRAIL RUNNER MIRA RAI UELI STECK NOMINATED FOR ADVENTURER OF THE YEAR AWARD KILIAN JORNET NAMED ADVENTURER OF THE YEAR