Jon Albon: Transvulcania to Western States

Pushing up the final climb at the Transvulcania, Jon Albon trusted that the lead he had built at the start of the race would hold up. 

Despite grappling with some nutrition issues, Jon Albon persevered through the last third of the decorated race, transitioning from a cheerful rhythm to a determined push, ultimately crossing the finish line in a remarkable 7:03:10. 

What had initially been pegged as a ‘training run’ had become a victory at the incredible Transvulcania, a 73km race with 4000m of elevation across the Canary Islands. Since the beginning of 2024, Jon has been laying the foundation to attack a big goal, the Western States Endurance Run a 100-mile point-to-point race traversing the State of California. 

>>> Read more about Jon’s preparation for Western States and the data behind his training from COROS. 

Jon, a British athlete with The North Face and COROS, lives in Norway, where he’s surrounded by illustrious mountains, a prime spot for a professional endurance runner. While the country has incredible trails to scramble, he has found that runnable trails are sometimes challenging to come by.

He combats this with an intense training schedule, which first led him to Transvulcania and now to Western States, which takes place at the end of June. 

“As a cross-training athlete in the winter, it can be tough. I also participated in an obstacle race, the first in the past two years, in February in Saudi Arabia. So that was good to do some running for that and then gradually build that back up.”

The skiing provides Jon with a “really big aerobic base,” a unique training method that supports his running training: “I’ve actually developed a load management system to help me with that.”

Jon’s training schedule was created using algorithms he uses to track his training load, heart rate, and running impact. This allows him to maintain his fitness without running himself into the ground. 

“I wanted something to help me gradually increase the amount of running I’m doing, but it was more powerful than time, running or distance; that’s precisely what I did.