On your marks, get set . . .

Go.

15 countries.

45 cities.

85 days.

Starting September 6, 2010, Blaze Travel Guides is Running The World.

(we've been training all our lives for this, and we're very excited about it).

Sporting the Style

Running through Parcul Carol, Bucharest

One of my mentors in the fitness community is fond of saying, "Remember, Taylor, sport is not about whether you win or lose - it's about how you look." This sentence speaks volumes about his athletic ambitions for me. But let's be honest - no matter how not-superficial we like to think we are, there's definitely a special sporty style that surrounds the active community. You don't just throw on that cute pair of yoga pants and dark purple halter top that shows off your sculpted shoulders. This and other such outfits require forethought, planning, and, in some cases, as many dollars as nicer wear.

It's kind of funny to think that, just a little over thirty years ago, this whole sport-fashion industry didn't exist. There was barely such thing as a running shoe, there was no such thing as a woman's running shoe, and there was even no such thing as women sporting attire. Research shows that sport-brand clothing is the fastest-growing line of clothing in the US, and a significant percentage of its purchasers are women. Companies like Prana, Lululemon, Title 9, and a significant number of others are specifically geared towards women, and if you go to the REI Flagship store in Denver it's interesting to note that women get their own floor for clothes.

Take a walk outside the US and the world's wealthier countries, however, and this story changes. On the streets of Bucharest, for example, many runners hit the road in cutoff jeans and no-support Keds. Long-sleved warmup uniforms with full-length pants can be seen at all times of the year and in all temperatures of the day. In other places, the effort to appear in athletic attire is so overdone as to make one shudder. Sparkles and glitter shine from some shirts to such an extent as to blind the runner that is running their way. And the shoes . . . oh, don't get me started on the shoes. High-tops that go up to mid-calf with elevating bottoms. Point being, while sport is a style in this part of the world, it's still one that's inaccessible to most people and misunderstood by the rest.

The talk of clothes makes me feel so much like a girl, so I don't like to dwell on it too long. The point of this whole conversation is to say that, in each chapter of Running The World from Blaze Travel Guides, we talk about running attire. In some places we talk about it in the interest of safety - both physical (if it's really cold or hot) and cultural (if women should have their arms covered). But we also talk about it because its interesting. The assumptions we make about the most basic of things - like running shorts - are all overturned once we hit the road and head overseas. And that's what makes travel so amazing.

Woman on the Run - Part 1

~by Taylor

September 1 is my eleventh birthday. My what, you ask? I know there are various individuals out there who believe I really don't pass for much more than 12 (although I am 27), but even they agree that eleven is a bit young to start a company and run the world.

Actually, it's just the right age.

Game on.

(A Portrait of a Runner as She Hits The Road ~ Running The World Europe, 2009)

On September 1, 1999, I was sixteen. I kissed my parents and sister good-bye and boarded a plane to France. I was to spend the next ten months on the other side of the Atlantic working hard to learn the language, trying my best to actively integrate with the culture, and ensuring I ate the cheese following the meal (not hard). But on that late summer day eleven years ago, standing outside of the gate in those last moments before I left, "active" was not the word to describe my mindset. Terror, was much more like it. Paralysis. Extreme consciousness that once I turned around and took a step I'd be setting off on a very different life. And I couldn't turn back. Once I took that step, I knew I'd never be the same.

It was my birthday. Not just the beginning of a new life, but a new approach to life and style of living that has been a part of me ever since. Once I took that step, I'd be a different person than who I'd been.

Would I never be the same? That was an understatement. During that year I quickly discovered my impulsion to travel, my drive to discover, and the beautiful unknown impetus that drove - and drives- me to write. But it took me many years to realize that my addiction is to something simpler, and deeper. It was that step, that first step, that pirouette to turn around and go. And the sensation that came with it - that deep rush of fear and energy and palpable life.

That moment before you leave on a trip - not just any trip, but an epic trip - you physically stand at a junction of space and time that converges on your concentrated location. There among your family and friends your past and your present surround you. But when your flight is called, you take that step and turn around. In one step the past and the present melt behind you, and the future opens up in front of you. A gaping time warp beaming sunlight, and you walk right in.

I am a part of all that I have met / Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough / Gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades / Forever and forever when I move

September 1 is my birthday. I remember leaving for France at only 16, and thinking I'd never have another experience like it that that was the peak of incredible travel. How wrong I was. Each time I predict an end to my adventures they only get crazier.

And this year, on September 6, Kate and I will board a plane and begin an adventure more concentrated, more intense, more unforgettable, and more epic than any, in my life, that has come before. Stay tuned :o).

Sights not ordinarily seen

Why run when you travel? At BTG, we maintain that running is a great way to see a city's sites. But it's also a fantastic way to see sites in a city that you didn't even know existed.

For example, about a year ago I was in Zagreb, Croatia. Zagreb is a fascinating capital to spend a day or two in (and that's about as much time as you need). I woke up early my first morning to get in some preliminary running research, which consisted largely of a quick cruise around the towns central gardens (In two months see Zagreb Run #1 - The Unfinished Garden U").

It was a beautiful morning before what was going to be a hot day, and I was in a hurry so that I could put my notebooks away and rent a bike to explore the nether-reaches of town. Interestingly enough I found that, although the Zagreb Gardens are full of wonderful fountains, beautiful flower beds, and great paths, and all-in-all make the perfect city-center spot for an early-morning run, I didn't see any runners there.

The only people I did see running, as a matter of fact, were several streets down at a dirt running track that ringed a dilapidated soccer field. The scene was far from dramatic - it was a nondescript neighborhood lacking the history and charm of the nearby area - but I remember I stopped for a long time there, and took a lot of photos.

Why? On the one hand, I needed to - actions shots would be a great addition to the Zagreb chapter, of course. But also, I was fascinated by the contradictory scene I had wandered through that morning. Just a few streets away were gracefully-designed buildings and monuments but here, under the hot sun and grey-block buildings, was a much more real version of Zagreb. A version that was very human, a version that was at the same time very foreign and very easy to identify with.

Why run when you travel? Let's start with the question about why run. We run because we are human, and movement and breath and heartbeat and pace combine to concoct the ultimate celebration. When we run and travel, we take ourselves to sites that any other means of motion would not let us discover and experience, and we are reminded of the everyday beauty, humanness, and normality of those on the other side of the world.

Your Estimates Suck

So say Jason Fried and David Heinmeier in their bestselling Rework, the anti-guide to starting a company. Anti-guide, you ask? Well, that's the premise of the book. Forget about the rules and orders, timings and deadlines that individuals often associate or implement in the business-starting process. Their version of entrepreneurship can be understood as sort of yogic - while the savvy business-starter cannot be lazy and loll with the flow, it is very important to not force anything either. You have to give your business the time to develop and blossom as it needs. There's no need to wait forever, or until you have that ultimate perfect product to launch. On the other hand, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and there's no need to serve the world with a faulty product or service. All in its time, when it is ready. And whenever you think it might be ready, add about 6 months to that date. Because really, you have no idea how long any of this is going to take.

Blaze has learned a lot about this in the past couple of months. Kate and I find ourselves at that uncomfortable 'tween phase, with a business and a plan, and two months before we can really show the world what that is.

But all in good time. New expected launch date is August 1. Of course, you can take that estimate for what it's worth.

Running The World - Tallinn, Estonia

June 4 and 14 are important days for this tiny country. June 4 is National Flag Day and June 14th is the Day of Mourning and Commemoration, a memorial day held in honor of Soviet deportation victims of the 1940s. These days when you're running through Tallinn you're far more likely to note the proud blue-white-black banner waving from the heights of ancient medieval towers than you are to sense the Soviet legacy, but both play a very important part in this country's history and current mentality. 

In recognition of these two important days, BTG is releasing the route for a great run through central Tallinn that will allow you to celebrate each day and get your workout in at the same time. Take this run through the Town Gardens and nearby parks, and you'll see what we're talking about:

1. Start your run at the intersection of Nunne and Suur-Kloostri streets, at the northern end of Toompark.

2. Take a loop around Snellii Tiik, the pond in the center (.7 mi / 1.2 km).

3. Second loop: pick up the pace with some sprint intervals on the nearby paths that wind through the trees (1.5 mi / 2.3 km).

4. After the second loop, head straight through the park to its southern end 

(2.2 mi / 3.5 km).

5. Cross Falgi Tee and head for the hills of Lindamägi for some hill repeats (2.5 mi / 4.1 km; add .25 mi / .4 km per hill repeat).

*Breathe deep during your recovery intervals.  Many of the trees in Lindamägi are over 250 years old.  

6. Leave Lindamägi and head south towards Hirve Park, at the base of the hill (2.7 mi / 4.2 km).

7. Cool down with a loop around Hirve Park (2.9 mi / 4.7 km).

*Hirve Park was an important center of Tallinn’s 1988-1991 Singing Revolution.  These continuous mass protests inspired around 300,000 people to come to the center of town and call to the world for their freedom.  

8. Cross back over Falgi Tee, and end in the shadows of Toompea Castle (3.1 mi / 5 km).   *Toompea Hill has been Tallinn’s seat of government and site of some large fortified structure since the tenth century.  The Finns originally build a wooden fortress; in the thirteenth century the Danes erected a stone one. Their Toompea still stands strong today and houses the Estonian Parliament.

*If you run during sunset or sunrise, plan to stretch near Piik Hermann, Toompea’s tall tower off Falgi Tee. The structure’s history stretches back to 1360, and today it is the symbol of Estonian power. The flag atop it is raised and low ered at the beginning and end of the day, and if you listen closely you can catch some strains of Estonia’s national anthem being played during the process.  

Global Geography Game

As writers of the international running scene, we have to travel to and report on the most unexpected places. This is actually one of the most rewarding parts of the job - we learn about cultures and cities that, before our arrival, we didn't know about, couldn't spell, and for sure couldn't pick out on a map. Running is the perfect way of increasing our awareness of our bodies, our surroundings, and ourselves. It makes us more conscious of the organization of the world.

But if you've only got ten minutes to work on your international awareness, try playing the Global Geography Game. Cheers to Tanya for sending this our way - it's quite addicting, and a great way to put off going about a day's work. For all you other procrastinators out there, give this one a shot!

Reckon those approximately 53,700 Runners are in . . .

There's only one place those runners could be :o).

David Sokol no longer in Cambodia,

on the run and having fun at the start of the Bolder Boulder

 

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. Home for Blaze Travel Guides is Boulder, Colorado, and on Monday, 31 of May we were given over 53,000 reasons why. In addition to being one of the most educated, most adventurous, most in-shape, and most innovative cities in the U.S. of A., Boulder is home to one of the largest footraces in the lower 48 (and the other two as well, now that we think about it). Runner's World calls the Bolder Boulder the Best 10K in America, and the event earns the title for good reason. The race is a tradition, with the first Bolder Boulder being held in 1979. Today it has become for the town the equivalent of a religous event. Starting the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend streets close, amusement-park rides and craft booths come out, and Boulderites take to the street. On the Monday of the run, everyone from the most elite of racers to the most laid back of families and friends finds a reason to come out and celebrate.

Grand finale!

The course ends for runners with a loop around University of Colorado's Folsom Field Stadium, garnering the BTG number-one ranking in our Kick-Ass Finishes for the 10K category. Over 50,000 runners and walkers made it to that point by 11:30 MDT. Then the pro races began. Officially, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia was the victor in the mens' race, crossing the finish line with a 29:17 time. But , but the finish will be better remembered for the inspirational way in which he crossed the finish-line hand in hand with Tilahun Regassa and Tadese Tola, his fellow countryment.

Running brings out the best in people, and we like to think Boulder does too. As travelling runners and running travelers, and two young women with a travel guide company, Kate and I know that we've got a lot of world and a lot of road to explore in the next few years. We will not cease from exploration, but the end of our exploring will be to arrive here, where we started. And know the place for the first time.

Yours truly  at Chautauqua Park  :o)

By the way, T.S. Eliot? Totally a runner.