Blog »
PrimaLoft® chats with The North Face athlete Diane Van Deren - talking about her story, her foray into mountaineering, and her trail running strategies.

Recently, I attended a 50k trail running event in Chattanooga, TN hosted by Rock/Creek Outfitters, which was also a stop on The North Face Speaker Series; both events proudly supported by team PrimaLoft®.  Those of you who are in the know have already read the Outside Magazine article on Chattanooga, where it was selected as the best outdoor town in the country.  The people of Chattanooga are well aware of the natural gifts that surround them, and utilize the lush trails of the Appalachian Mountains surrounding the town with mountain biking, and of course, trail running.  But one of the biggest highlights of the trip was the opportunity to meet Diane Van Deren – The North Face ultrarunner, who has an incredible story to tell as part of her stops on The North Face Speaker Series.

Van Deren used to suffer from epileptic grand mal seizures, and used running as a way to combat the onset of an impending seizure.  In 1997, she had a kiwi-sized piece of her right temporal lobe removed, which was responsible for causing those seizures – affecting her short-term memory.  She has gone on to become an endurance athlete for The North Face, where her ability to lose track of time becomes an advantage to her perceived level of fatigue with 100-plus mile trail runs, and her most grueling task to date – running the 260 mile Iditarod trail while pulling the sled…without any canine assistance.

In 2010, Diane Van Deren was observed by the Mayo Clinic, to understand what about her body creates a performance advantage as it does.   As part of her preliminary tests, she strapped on a 35-pound daypack and ran at full capacity at the steepest incline on the treadmill for approximately an hour – with electrodes taped all over her core, head, everywhere to see how her body functioned at maximum load.  Following this barrage of tests was a mountaineering excursion up Mt. Aconagua, the tallest peak in the Western Hemisphere, with the Mayo team – who monitored Van Deren’s vitals to see how she reacted to the altitude.  What the Mayo Clinic doctors found was astonishing:  Her VO2 max (the maximal oxygen consumption, or aerobic capacity) is nearly twice that of a normal human, her lungs have one and a half times the surface area versus an average size, and she was able to sustain her heart rate at 97% of its peak capacity – whereas a typical person exercises at 60% and pro athletes at 80%-85%.

Even with all of these physiological gifts, Diane Van Deren is an incredible person to spend time with – she is warm, genuine, very enthusiastic, and has a seriously sharp wit.  We shared some laughs, and were able to discuss everything from her foray into mountaineering as she climbed Mt. Aconagua, to her incredible story, to trail running tips as she hopes to motivate others to fall in love with the sport that gave her so much.

// Nick Martin