Ultra Trail Lake Maggiore
Stars and stripes at the II HOKA Ultra Trail Lago Maggiore on the first weekend of October: in race 29 Americans of the Aspen Foundation
The confirmation comes from overseas that the II HOKA Ultra Trail of Lake Maggiore, organized with passion by the staff of Sport PRO-MOTION A.S.D., has in effect made the strings of emotion vibrate in trail runners from all over the world. We interviewed the Chief Financial Officer ofSolidarity Challenge Aspen Jenni Petersen che sabbot 1 and Sunday 2 October will be at the start with a special delegation, a group of 29 US athletes.
Could you tell us about Challenge Aspen?
“Challenge Aspen is a charity based in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Since 1995 we have been offering recreation and wellness programs for people with physical and cognitive disabilities. People from all over the world join us to participate in activities including adaptive skiing / snowboarding, archery, rafting, hippotherapy, fly fishing and much more. Our goal is help people find courage and skills and teach them to exploit these skills and continue to develop them as they return to their daily routine. We all deeply believe in our mission and in the fact that the experiences we offer to those who participate can change lives.”
Who are the athletes on the team and how do you get support from participating in competitions?
“Every year we work on looking for races in an exotic destination, such as II HOKA UTLM. We then recruit our runners / hikers to participate in the training and travel. Each raises funds to support the Aspen Challenge programs. This year is our 20th of coordinating this activity, the group that participates is incredible. Caring and talented people who care for each other and Challenge Aspen’s mission. It is a very heterogeneous group in terms of age and ability, in the last 5 months we have enjoyed training under the guidance of our coach all together..”
Which races have you participated in and for which are you registered in the UTLM?
“To date we have participated in the Marathons of Amsterdam, Auckland, Bariloche Mountain trail, Budapest, Dublin, Lisbon, Lausanne, Maui, Monaco, Omis Crotia trail, Park City – Utah marathon, Reykjavik, Toronto, Washington and now… UTLM! Some are enrolled in 18K, others in 37K and 52K and even 81K.”
How did you find out about UTLM and why did it catch your attention?
“I’ve always wanted to travel to Italy with a team and searched for the best trails. I found the UTLM after entering the search “lake and mountain” in Italy. The videos looked so enticing and I told myself we had to work hard to make that happen. At that point I turned to the clerk of the course, to be sure there was room for my large group. So I started working on organizing the trip and advertising with our riders. Everyone was immediately excited about the idea of signing up for a race in Italy and in particular for the UTLM, a panorama of beautiful and challenging races, just what we are looking for!”
Will you visit other places in Italy? How many days will you stay?
“We will stay in Verbania for 5 nights even if some of us will move to other places in Italy after the race. We would love to visit the area and learn about the history and receive the warmth of the Italians, take a boat ride and relax in the resort. You will recognize us easily, we are grateful and smiling Americans, delighted to be in such a spectacular area of the world!”
Appointment, therefore, to Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October. Registrations are open on the site, CLICK HERE. Caution to the maximum number of participants for each distance and to the quota change per slot of participants.
