Innovative format allows road runners and trail runners to compete anywhere in the world on an equal footing
CALGARY, AB– Personal Peak Endurance Coaching, organizers of last April’s Quarantine Backyard Ultra launch registration of the MTU™ SHOWDOWN.
The MTU™ Showdown is a free event that begins on January 1st, 2021, and racers will have 6 months to complete the footrace that follows one of three virtual routes through Canada’s Rocky Mountains.
How the Showdown works: Racers will track their daily distance and elevation using a GPS watch, smartphone or fitness tracking device. The Showdown’s results system will analyze their daily activities and match them to one of the three Showdown routes.
The GDT Route (1,124 kilometres / 47,600 metres) simulates Canada’s longest thru-hike and is intended for participants who normally train on steep hills. The Scenic Route (1,410 kilometres / 19,000 metres) is longer, but incorporates less elevation. The Prairie Route (1,531 kilometres / 6,900 metres) is the longest, flattest route and is ideal for road runners.
Learn more about the MTU™ Showdown.
About MTU™s: The Showdown will also introduce Personal Peak’s proprietary measurement unit, the MOUNTAIN TRAINING UNIT (MTU™). Created by Personal Peak Head Physiologist Travis Schiller-Brown, MTU™s combine both horizontal distance and vertical elevation gain to create a simple unit of measurement to calculate each racers’ relative effort. All three of the Showdown routes require a total effort of 1,600 MTU™s to complete (roughly equal to 1,600 flat kilometers).
Using MTU™s means that participants can compare their results regardless of their route or whether their daily activities include walking, hiking, trail running or road running.
Learn more about how MTU™s work here.
Virtual Tour Guides: Local runners, races, and businesses are invited to volunteer as virtual tour guides for the MTU™ Showdown. Tour guides will take participants on a video tour through some of Alberta’s more scenic communities and countryside.
Personal Peak Founder Ashley Schiller-Brown says, “We believe that the Tour Guides will be the secret key to success of this challenge. They will truly bring the experience to life and allow us to draw attention to the amazing humans in our Alberta Running community.”
Applications for tour guides are open now and close Wednesday, December 15, 2020.
Learn more about becoming a Tour Guide here.
About Personal Peak: Personal Peak Endurance Coaching provides coaching services to endurance runners across North America. We offer a variety of comprehensive coaching packages, designed by a Certified Exercise Physiologist, and monitored by an experienced athlete coach. We have made it our mission to create, support, and promote athletes.
About the Quarantine Backyard Ultra: Last April, what started as a side project to design a race for our athletes turned into a global phenomena involving over 2400 athletes from 65 countries. Trail Runner Magazine described the QBU as “The Race We Deserve During The Coronavirus Pandemic”
