Choose a Race
Our data and research show an explosion in the number of ultramarathon and extreme races in the past decade. The marketplace for races is relatively uncharted, information is hard to find and not especially easy to digest. There are generally underlying considerations that are not obvious on the surface.
We offer a helicopter view of these options, we invest time to understand your requirement and might even introduce other considerations to your decision making. We leverage thousands of hours of research to choose a race based on your goals. Putting things into perspective, in our experience your training and preparation time, and your travel will far exceed the time spent actually doing the race, basically don’t pick the wrong race and that is easy to do. There are a myriad of considerations, from terrain, heat, humidity, altitude, difficulty score, race Organisers, costs, travel from your home, visa requirements, scenery, training needs etc. We help you navigate all of this.
We get to know you, we discuss the range of considerations and we present a long list and then a shortlist. Sounds complicated, it’s actually not and your time invested will, of course, pay dividends.
Coaching and Preparation
Once a race is chosen we can then embark on a preparation plan. There is a lot in this. At Meraki we race in our spare time, we have businesses, careers and young families so we identify with time constraints. We will help you build a plan based around you and your life. We are recipients of a lot of coaching over the years, we find this is often “one-size fits all”, at Meraki we prefer to curate a plan for you, for your race, to meet your goals and the restrictions that you might have with family and work.
If people are using a gym coach to help prepare for a desert ultramarathon, chasing up sand dunes in extreme heat, you have the wrong partner. We come from professional sports backgrounds and have exposure to a broad portfolio of fitness, strength, physiology, nutrition exposures to draw from. But most importantly we know exactly what challenges you will face and we are here to add in strategy and guidance every step of the way.
We will build as extensive a plan as you want and phase two is offering ongoing advice and support and solidarity along your journey.
Coaching and Preparation
Once a race is chosen we can then embark on a preparation plan. There is a lot in this. At Meraki we race in our spare time, we have businesses, careers and young families so we identify with time constraints. We will help you build a plan based around you and your life. We are recipients of a lot of coaching over the years, we find this is often “one-size fits all”, at Meraki we prefer to curate a plan for you, for your race, to meet your goals and the restrictions that you might have with family and work.
If people are using a gym coach to help prepare for a desert ultramarathon, chasing up sand dunes in extreme heat, you have the wrong partner. We come from professional sports backgrounds and have exposure to a broad portfolio of fitness, strength, physiology, nutrition exposures to draw from. But most importantly we know exactly what challenges you will face and we are here to add in strategy and guidance every step of the way.
We will build as extensive a plan as you want and phase two is offering ongoing advice and support and solidarity along your journey.
Equipment Sourcing
Again, to the uninitiated, this is also a minefield. We have hilarious stores ( which we are happy to share ) about how very wrong we got it when we started out. Depends on the race but it is highly likely that you will need somewhere between 50-100 items on your body, in your rucksack. Choosing weight effective, durable, productive items is essential.
Sitting in our comfortable armchairs at home it’s hard to imagine the brutality that our minds and bodies will endure for many months down the line, choosing the wrong shoes, socks, glasses, sun cream etc… and you will be in a world of pain.
Fitting yourself out can also be expensive, outward bound shops thrive on seeing the credit card armed novice ultra runner. You’d be amazed what you will end up buying, most of it will be overpriced, or wrong, we give you a direct line to what you need, the right product at the right price.
Be in the Loop
As our audience builds and the demand rises, we started to build our app-based news built-in, named ‘yourmerakilife’ to evoke the spirit of the life-enhancing experience that you have a mentality signed up for. The app is a consolidation of events, racers, equipment manufacturers, information from races around the world and useful tips. It’s a simple weekly read summarising your extreme racing universe with an A to Z of topics.
Be in the Loop
As our audience builds and the demand rises, we started to build our app-based news built-in, named ‘yourmerakilife’ to evoke the spirit of the life-enhancing experience that you have a mentality signed up for. The app is a consolidation of events, racers, equipment manufacturers, information from races around the world and useful tips. It’s a simple weekly read summarising your extreme racing universe with an A to Z of topics.