From LA to Trento: Noah Grynberg

We’re sitting down in front of a beer in my apartment. We still have muddy calves and frost on our hair. It’s an autumn evening as many others, after a run at the end of the day for me, at the beginning for him. Noah lives down the street, thirty doorbells after mine. Drinking Pale Ale and munching nachos in dip sauce, that’s the Est-hill mood. Here in Trento, there is a long rock climbing tradition, but lately, a micro community of people who run far is rising. Noah is 36 years old, he moved in Trento from Los Angeles, and he immediately started running on the Marzola trails, training for his first 100-mile: Leadville 100, in Colorado, one of the oldest and hardest 100-mile races in the United States.

Come on, tell me the most absurd thing you saw at Leadville 100?
Two things come to mind: first, getting into Twin Lakes aid station outbound and seeing all the people who have been there all day crewing and partying, still going strong after so many hours. It was just a cool scene, especially at that point in the race, which for me was pretty low. There must have been 200 people yelling at me to get on my feet and get moving to Hope Pass. I missed the Hopeless aid station cutoff a few hours later, but I wouldn’t have even tried to make it without all the support at Twin Lakes. Second, all the people totally suffering on the climb up towards Hope (including me). People lying on the side of the mountain, half asleep, again, including me. It was a complete battlefield.

How was being there? Tell me about Colorado and the Rockies.
Man, Leadville is really a beautiful place. You look around and the mountains are pretty intimidating. Looking at them the days before the race I was kind of in awe. The weather is unpredictable: it can be sunny and warm one minute and then cloudy, cold and raining the next, especially the higher you get up the mountains. Aside from the mountains themselves, the altitude really gets to you. There’s nothing that can prepare you to run at 10,000+ feet (about 3050 meters) of elevation other than actually going to altitude and getting used to it. Leadville itself is a great place to visit, the town is small but there’s a lot of history packed into it, and you can tell. Good food, and everyone was super helpful the week before the race.

Why did you leave Los Angeles and came here, in Trento? I mean, maybe it’s just that we’re fascinated by far places.
The short answer is that my girlfriend is from Trento, and I moved here from Los Angeles to be with her. I’d been coming to the area since 2017 and realized early that it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited. Over the years it became clear to me that this would be a great place to live. The Dolomites are really amazing, being out in nature, whether it’s running or hiking or skiing, it’s good for the soul. I can walk out of my house and be running on some of the best trails I’ve ever seen a few minutes later. Plus, the city itself is great, much smaller than LA, which I like, and really a lot of fun.

How did you start running first and then competing in ultra races?
I used to run when I was a kid and then completely stopped once I started college. When I got to Los Angeles after law school, I tried to start again but work kept getting in the way and I was never consistent. Then I got a pretty bad knee injury on a trail run toward the end of 2019 and couldn’t run for over a year. At the end of 2020, I was in Trento and decided to try running again. I still had some pain in my injured knee but kind of ran through it (maybe not the best advice). I started off really slow, which ended up being great for me, I’d always tried to do too much too fast with my running, but the knee injury made me take a more disciplined approach, slowly building up pace and distance rather than doing something like trying to run a marathon on three weeks of training, which I’ve definitely done before (terrible idea). I’d been reading about famous American ultras like Leadville and Western States since around 2013 and they totally fascinated me, but I never had the guts to try one. But post-injury, I was just appreciative of the opportunity to run so I decided to go for it and entered the lottery for the Leadville 100. Once I got in, I found a terrific coach, got on the trails here in Trento and I was hooked.

Ultra running in US has a more local and familiar dimension, and the awareness of being part of a huge community is strong. At the Hardrock 100 board, for example, people there don’t care if there are guys coming from outside Colorado. What did you find here in Trento from this point of view?
I’ve loved the ultra running scene in Italy so far. My frame of reference is mostly limited to Trentino, but from what I’ve seen, it feels a bit like the early days of ultra running, in a good way: people are organizing runs and races for the fun of it, without sponsorships or prize money or anything like that. It’s really organic. That doesn’t mean that Italian ultra running is completely new, there’s obviously a strong history of trail and ultra running here, and some terrific ultra runners have come out of Italy. But at least in Trento, it feels like ultra runners are paving their own way, like it’s a sport with a ton of opportunity to build community and be part of nature, and that’s the focus of the ultra running community. Italy has some of the best places in the world for trail running, and the people here really know the mountains and seem committed to building a genuine mountain ultra running community, so I’m sure the ultra running scene will continue to grow.

Some weeks ago you ran the Venice Marathon, right? Was it your first time racing here in Italy? How did it go?
This was my second race in Italy, after the Trento half marathon a few weeks earlier. It was a great race. Like I said, this is the first time I’ve taken a disciplined approach to running, and the first time I’ve had a coach, so I felt way more prepared for this marathon than I had in the past. I think I set realistic goals, knew where I was in my running, and realized that improvement will come with consistent effort over time rather than all at once over a few months of training. I tried to keep a conservative pace early on and not let myself get caught up in the moment and go out too fast. I thought the race went well, even though I was definitely feeling the pain over the last two miles, and especially over those final bridges in Venice! The course is great, especially along Riviera del Brenta and then obviously once you cross Ponte della Libertà into the center of the city.

Which shoes did you use?
The Nike Alphafly Next%. This is my favorite shoe for racing, and just generally going fast. They really take care of my legs when I’m pushing the pace. Great cushioning and great spring, they really fly.

What’s the most beautiful place where you ran? Both in the US and in Italy.
In the United States, I’d say the mountains around Leadville during the Leadville 100. In Italy, I’ve done most of my trail runs around Giro della Marzola here in Trento, which has terrific views of some beautiful mountains and valleys.

Angeles Crest or Boston Marathon?
That’s a tough one! I’d say the Boston Marathon because of the history, and I’d go for a different hundred miler.

Next year?
I’m planning on a spring marathon here in Europe, maybe Rotterdam, and then a few ultras. I’m planning on a 50-mile, 50K, and/or 100K at some point in late spring or early summer and then, tentatively, I’ll either get back to Leadville for the Leadville 100 in August or wait a few more months and do the Javelina Jundred in October.

You tried the Nike Pegasus 3 GTX on the trails of Trento…
The Pegasus felt great on the trails. I felt good traction, and the shoe gave me good stability without feeling bulky. I felt light on my feet and got good support. I ran on a rainy day and the shoes were pretty water resistant and kept my feet dry. Overall, I thought they were a good trail running shoe and I’ll be using them on the trails a lot this year.