Photo Credit: Damiano Levati for Red Bull

A new addition to the 2017 race calendar, the Vertical Kilometer™ World Circuit hopes to capitalise on the growing popularity of uphill, vertical racing with the introduction of a competitive series.

A spin-off of the popular Skyrunner World Series, the VK World Circuit includes 16 vertical kilometre races around Europe (plus one in the US), raced as a series. The idea: gain points for your position in each race and compete for the overall series win. A mix of new courses and classic race routes, the race length actually varies from 1km to a max of 5km.

For us mere mortals, however, it’s not about racing but the simple (!) goal of reaching the summit to enjoy a nauseous mix of elation and total exhaustion.

*Olympic gold medallist claxon!* If you were one of the 9 million people in the UK who tuned in to watch the England Women’s hockey team scoop gold against the Netherlands in last year’s Olympics, you’ll be familiar with 31-year-old forward and all-round hockey legend, Alex Danson MBE.

A senior England player since the age of 16 (wow) and a pivotal member of the Olympic team, Alex took time out of her busy schedule to chat training, nutrition and how the team built their winning mindset.

I love fitness and I love trying new sports. However I sometimes (erm… often) cross certain sports off my mental list through no other reason that I *assume* I might not be fit enough, not coordinated enough, too old, or just not the right fit for the sport etc.

Rugby is one of those sports. And it seems like I’m not alone, as England Rugby (clearly familiar with this disappointing mind-set!) are introducing ‘Warrior Camps’ around the country from 12-21st May to give women and girls a taster of contact rugby and encourage more women and girls to try the sport. Importantly, you don’t need to have any rugby experience or be ‘match fit’ to take part – it’s open to everyone! And the sessions are FREE (visit www.Englandrugby.com/innerwarrior to find a camp near you).

Few people have the talent to compete successfully in multiple endurance sports, but 26-year-old Canadian (and two-time obstacle course racing world champion) Lindsay Webster has podiumed in cross country running, cross country skiing, mountain bike racing and obstacle course racing.

A huge name in OCR and the current women’s OCR World Champ, Lindsay’s been on my ‘wish list’ of interviews since I first dreamt up Lessons In Badassery, so I’m really thrilled to have her up here! *EXCITED FACE*.

In between training, racing and her new job, Lindsay let me delve into her training and goals for 2017.

There’s 24-hour endurance races and then there’s World’s Toughest Mudder; a 24-hour obstacle course race of epic proportions. Think a hot and dusty Nevada desert. Think lap after lap of the 5+ mile, 20-obstacle-heavy course from midday Saturday until midday Sunday. Think crazy obstacles. Think masses of water submersions. And a 30ft cliff jump. WAHHH.

It’s a test for the biggest names in elite obstacle course racing, so how does it feel to take part?
32-year-old paramedic, Tough Mudder lover and ordinary gal, Corinne Luckie, shares her experience.

Just eight months before she became WORLD CHAMPION by winning her age category in the 2015 Duathlon World Championship, Claire Steels had never dipped her running toe into the run-bike-run world of duathlon. That’s right, she had zero duathlon experience, which is totally bonkers. In fact, she’d only bought a bike a few months previously, and when she did eventually compete for the first time, she hated it!

I love a story like this, so I quizzed 30-year-old Claire (who’s also the current ITU Duathlon World Champ in her age group) about training, her journey to world champion, and how she grew to love duathlon.

Muddy Kit obstacle course racer and nabber of podium spots, Nicola Callison, is well-known for her gritty endurance on long-distance obstacle course events (often in excess of 20-miles and 8 hours of racing). But how would she fare in a totally different beast – one that’s just 400 metres long, but up a 37% incline ski jump? Here, Nicola shares her experience of last year’s Red Bull 400 uphill running event in Basel, Germany.

Find out more about the Red Bull 400 event here