Interview with Lavaredo winner Hayden Hawks

Photo Credit: Jan Nyka

Today I am interviewing my husband Hayden Hawks about his recent win in the The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail120km race (75 miles). This race takes place in the Dolomites in Northern Italy, which is what I would consider to be the most beautiful place in the world. It is considered the most competitive 120km in the world and part of the UltraTrail World Tour. It is very difficult as it has 19,000 ft of climbing on rocky terrain and the majority of the race takes place during the night with a start time of 11pm. This was Hayden’s debut at the 120km distance and was a smashing success!

Before the interview: Here are my quick thoughts on the whole race.

1. What an amazing place, out of the many countries we’ve gone to, I would consider it the most stunning! I want to go back!

2. The vibe of this race is crazy! Imagine this, the start is in the late night, the streets of Cortina packed with thousands of runners and the world’s best from many different countries are represented, loud pump up music is being played, and hearts are racing as they count down from 10,9,8….3,2,1, Inizio!! As the runners started you could hear a roar throughout the city until they headed up the mountain and all you could see was the glow of headlamps lined up the mountain side. It made me want to race it!

3. I wasn’t sure if Hayden was going to win halfway through as he said he wasn’t feeling good, but he taught us a lesson, that if you keep pushing through hard times with a positive attitude good things can happen, and they did! He made a big move on the climbs after 80k and went from 6th to 1st!

4. Ultra Running is just so cool! In what other sport do you become friends with your competitors? I met Pau Capell’s girlfriend and she was so nice even as Pau and Hayden were going back and forth to fight for the win!

Now to the interview!!

Photo credit: Jordi Saragoss

Why did you choose Lavaredo Ultra Trail this year?

I chose Lavaredo because when I first started ultra- running, I saw pictures of the the area and saw how beautiful it was and said “one day I will do that race!” This year I had an injury come up in March that prevented me from running other races and decided to do this race because I had to change up my schedule. This ended up being a blessing in disguise but didn’t feel like it during the injury.  I had to shift my training and Lavaredo fit perfectly into my training block to prepare for my ultimate goal in August, UTMB 100 mile. It was a night race, I had never ran 120km before, and it was turning out to be one of the most competitive races in the world. I want to race against the world’s best competition, and I knew this race was would have it and be my best chance to prepare for the kind of field I would see at UTMB.

What were your thoughts before the race?

I had the opportunity to get in some very good training while I have been living in Europe the last few months. I trained in Spain, the Tatra mountains in Slovakia/Poland, and Chamonix, France running numerous 100 mile weeks with 30,000+ feet of elevation gain. I felt very fit, mentally prepared, and confident going into this race. I knew if I raced how I could race and didn’t beat myself, then I had a good shot of winning the race.

What were your goals for the race:

My first goal was to finish the race and then to win the race. I always go into races with that goal. UTMB is the big goal for the whole year and I needed to learn what it felt like to run through the night and what a longer race would feel like. I wanted to gain confidence from this race and learn all that I could.

How was running through the night for the 1st time?

Photo Credit: Jan Nyka

Running through the night was very difficult.  I tried some night runs before the race in Chamonix but was stopped by weather. But I did try to change my sleep schedule by staying up late and watching Netflix movies. I still felt tired during the night though, I felt like my legs were stones, but I tried to focus on conserving energy, eating, and trying not to fall! I hoped that once it got light, I would start feeling better, and I did! When the sun came out, I felt like a new person and the race changed for me.

Tell me more about the race, go through it for me?

For the first 60km of the race I was trying to conserve energy, not beat up my legs, and eat. I felt very  tired and lethargic, but that was probably a good thing as that helped me slow down and conserve energy. At 70km, when the sun came out, I felt like a new person.

From 70km to 110km it was probably the best I’ve ever felt in the race. This was the hardest part of the race but I was able to push and run most of the climbs!

From all of us that were watching, you went from 6th at about 60km to 1st by about 100km. How were you able to do that?

The last 50km I felt good and I caught everyone including the leader. I pushed hard on the hills and made up 10-15 min and put an 8 min lead on the leader Pau Capell. My goal was to push the last 40km, knowing that’s where the real race began.

Tell me about the last 10km of the race, you said everything felt good until then.

I was not eating as much as I should have when I was pushing it, and the last 10km felt awful! My blood sugar dipped really low and I started to get dizzy. I felt like I wanted to fall asleep but kept pushing.

Why did you keep pushing?

First, my family and friends were at the finish waiting. I also had worked so hard to get into first and didn’t want to get caught. I wanted to win the race and could hear the cheers from the crowd down in the city. I kept asking people where the finish line was because I didn’t think I would make it. I made it, but collapsed right after the finish line. They took me to the medical tent and fed me sugar cubes and pumped 4 bottles of fluid into me to treat my dehydration and blood sugar which got very low. Going forward I learned that I need to do more night runs and get my nutrition down, especially at the end of the race for these long races!

What’s next for you?

I have a small 2 day relay UTTJ in France to get the needed points for UTMB on July 14th and 15th. Then Fjall marathon in Sweden at the beginning of August as a tuneup. Then UTMB 100 mile (Ultra Trail Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France) on August 31!! Follwed by a short 28km race in Iceland and then we weill head back home to the United States. I will finish my race season in Cape Town, South Africa on December 1 at Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km.

Anything else you would like to add?

I would like to give a shoutout to:

-The race organization for a great, beautiful, well organized race!

-Tim Tollefson for pushing me and helping me work through a tough first half and for the other competitors in the race, especially Pau Capell for pushing me to my best.

-My sponsors HOKA ONE ONE, Nathan, Unived Sports, Drymax Socks, Suunto, Revant Optics, St. George Running Center, Insidetracker, and Runners High Herbals.

-My wife and son Crosby for inspiring me and supporting me. As well as my family, friends, and fans across the world and back home.

-My friend Roman for crewing and supporting me the entire night and race!

-Training partner and friend Robbie Britton for training and advice.