The Red Bull X-Alps – Dawn Westrum Team USA3

The Red Bull X-Alps, a 1038km race from Salzburg to Monaco by foot or by paraglider, is less than two weeks away.

With a reputation as the toughest adventure race in the world all eyes are now turning to the athletes and their supporters as they reach the final stages of their preparation.

For the past 10 yesrs the bi-annual event has had an all male line up.  This year that’s different and we’re delighted to see Dawn Westrum from the USA and Yvonne Dathe from Germany.

This weekend I had a quick catch up with Dawn who arrived in Europe on May 5th.

How is training going?
Training is going well, a good mix of flat road hiking, hills, upper body training (via ferratas!), and flying.   With only a couple of weeks to go now I am starting to taper…better to be too rested than over trained.

How do you feel physically?
Physically I am ready for the race to start.  Bring it on!

How do you feel mentally?  Is it as you imagined?
Mentally I am a lot more confident than before we arrived.  Being able to see the terrain, fly it, hike it has been perfect.  Now I know what is coming and I know the fastest routes on the ground and in the air.

Have you been training with the other teams, how is that?
We traveled for a few days with Dave Turner and his supporters, which was fun.  We were able to help each other out by comparing notes and checking out the maps for the area.

Are you feeling a lot of pressure as only one of two women in the event?
No, I don’t feel too much pressure.  Well, I may be lying about that, as I think everyone in the race is feeling a lot of pressure!   But I’m going in with the idea that I’m competing against myself.  As long as I do the best I can then I will be satisfied.

What are you thinking about when you go to sleep each night?
I’m sleeping pretty well at night, actually.  I’m trying to store up a little although I know I can’t do that.  I think since I spend a lot of the day thinking about the race, I can let it go at night and sleep well.

Describe how you feel in three words about the race starting in just two weeks.
Let’s start tomorrow!

Big thanks to Dawn for taking the time to chat and Good Luck!

I’ll be arriving in Salzburg in a weeks time with the Powertraveller team who are partners of this years event – we will be following the race and supporting the athletes for their off-grid power needs.  New for this years race is the Powertraveller Prologue Race – on the 2nd July the athletes will take part in a mini X-Alps completing a triangle around Fuschl Am See, amongst the mountains made famous in the classic film – The Sound of Music!  Unlike the race itself the Powertraveller Prologue will allow fans to be really close to the action for the entire duration.   The first three athletes to finish will earn a five-minute head start in the main race and they will also win an additional Led Lenser Nightpass to journey through the night, which is going to make things very interesting!