The Speed Project: The secret 'Fight Club'-style race between Los Angeles and Las Vegas

Poole, an ultra runner from London, has competed successful the past 2 editions of The Speed Project

"When the cops propulsion you over, beryllium ace nice," says Nils Arend.

"So beryllium nice, beryllium cooperative. And erstwhile they inquire what you're doing conscionable say, 'Oh, we're conscionable a clump of friends moving to Vegas'.

"They don't request to cognize much oregon less."

Arend is sitting successful a northbound London barroom explaining the crushed rules of 1 of the world's astir sought-after ultra-running races.

Being friendly, but discreet, successful the look of the instrumentality is portion of the pre-race briefing helium gives astatine The Speed Project (TSP), an unsanctioned, unsupported 350-mile contention from Los Angeles to Las Vegas via Death Valley.

It has nary website, nary "register here" button, nary rules, nary authoritative route, nary spectators and, until a week before, nary authoritative commencement date.

It's a "Fight Club" of the moving satellite created successful the mould of its founder. Before helium recovered marathon moving aft moving to Los Angeles successful the mid-2000s, Arend organised a rave nighttime successful a borrowed brothel successful Hamburg's red-light district.

Despite the race's underground status, the commencement enactment is filled with immoderate of the world's fastest athletes, and the biggest brands.

How bash they get there? Well, that's a agelong story, shrouded successful secrecy.

Arend archetypal ran the way successful 2013 arsenic a relay with 5 friends - 3 different men and 2 women. Competing successful that format is present known arsenic the archetypal (OG) mode to race.

Since then, though, 3 different categories person been added, including, incredibly, a solo people successful which British ultra-runner James Poole has competed successful the past 2 years.

"It's hard to not dependable holier than thou, preachy, oregon that everyone other who is doing their happening is wrong," says Poole who, successful betwixt chaotic camping successful derelict buildings surrounded by utilized weapon cartridges and fuelling himself wholly with nutrient and portion from roadside state stations, completed the 2023 contention successful conscionable nether 119 hours.

"But I bash deliberation that erstwhile you person got a container afloat of medals you don't ever look astatine and a postulation of T-shirts that don't mean thing to you, past going disconnected the grid is simply a purist mode of doing thing that you love."

Arend shares the aforesaid emotion of the leftfield. And an outright dislike for the staid attack to competitory region running.

"When I moved to LA, I ran a mates of marathons," helium says. "But I felt truthful retired of place. I was similar 'these are not my people'.

"So the adjacent iteration of it each was for maine to commencement to bash my ain things. We make a harmless spot for everybody to amusement up the mode they are. No marathon tin bash that. They could. But they are not doing that. They are conscionable moving their ain programme similar it was 25 years ago.

"There are 2 fields of information arsenic to wherefore radical are attracted to TSP.

"One is 'OK, I privation to spell there, execute and crush it' and the others are 'I americium going to usage TSP and its assemblage to amplify my voice, my mission, the origin I americium behind'. As agelong arsenic it aligns with who our assemblage is, past that is precisely who we are for."

Most of the world's biggest moving brands privation to beryllium portion of Arend's vision.

The Speed Project celebrated its 10th day this twelvemonth and the database of brands who person sent teams is simply a who's who of the sport, from Nike to Tracksmith, New Balance to On Running.

Their beingness connected the lowest of low-key commencement lines - the contention begins astatine 04:00 astatine Santa Monica Pier - is 1 of galore paradoxes successful an lawsuit which some courts and shuns publicity astatine the aforesaid time.

Stripped of each the accustomed trappings of high-profile moving races, TSP's desirability to large brands has really sky-rocketed.

Poole knows much astir that unusual irony than most.

The 47-year-old's sponsors made a short movie astir the lawsuit successful 2022, accompanying him with a campervan to assistance with refuelling, sleeping and navigation.

This year, though, helium ran the lawsuit wholly unsupported, the lone idiosyncratic successful the tract to bash truthful - a determination adjacent Arend thought was "crazy".

It meant Poole was liable not lone for moving much than 500km done hugely adaptable conditions - helium spent overmuch of the 2023 lawsuit successful a padded down overgarment and trousers due to the fact that of unseasonably debased temperatures and snowstorms - helium was besides successful complaint of uncovering his way, his food, and his sleeping spots.

Competitors are liable for their ain route, nutrition, hydration and uncovering their ain places to rest

"I've got a mates of niggles from TSP but I'm definite it'll beryllium fine," helium says.

It's little than 2 weeks aft his instrumentality from Los Angeles, and Poole and I are connected a 10k tally on the Regent's Canal and his different regular moving routes successful eastbound London.

After casually dropping into speech the program to tally a marathon successful a fewer days' time, Poole tries to explicate the allure of the 350-mile TSP and a way that, connected the look of it, is celebrated lone for its featurelessness.

Part of his 2023 way took him down the Yermo Road - a 75-mile consecutive agelong of tarmac without a azygous turn.

"You tally for six hours and you are connected the aforesaid road," helium says. "You bash six much and past you're inactive connected the aforesaid road.

"If you're doing astir 75 miles a time arsenic I was, past you walk the full time connected the aforesaid roadworthy without a azygous turn."

Paula Radcliffe utilized to number to 100 successful her caput connected repetition during marathons.

"Can you ideate however galore times I'd get to 100 if I did that?" Poole laughs. "I deliberation the important happening is to conscionable beryllium present. And that is what's going on, I think, with Paula's counting to 100, you are not reasoning astir the happening successful the future.

"You've got to beryllium enjoying the infinitesimal arsenic overmuch arsenic you can. If you commencement reasoning 50 miles successful that you've got 250 oregon much to go, that conscionable blows your mind."

Poole, who took a camera with him connected the contention and captured immoderate of the images successful this article, continues: "The TSP way is benignant of beauteous successful a brutalist benignant way. Beauty is everywhere. It's conscionable the mode you spot it. The state stations are arsenic disfigured arsenic misdeed but they're beauteous erstwhile you get there.

"For a British person, we don't person wide unfastened spaces similar that oregon the aged Americana ghost-towns.

"I could, and did, slumber successful derelict buildings, which is rather hard to bash successful the UK."

Is it not scary? "Yeah, a small bit," helium says. "When you slumber successful buildings with weapon shells successful there, you think: 'How harmless is this?'

"Last year, I retrieve seeing a car afloat of slug holes, but it had a seat spot successful the back. I was truthful tired, I truly considered sleeping successful determination it but decided it was a anserine idea.

"It was evidently utilized arsenic shooting signifier by radical - tin you imagine?"

At a glance, Arend's travel from organising underground raves successful Hamburg to heading up an ultra-endurance contention successful Los Angeles mightiness look an improbable one.

But helium insists determination is simply a nexus betwixt the two.

"It's the same, it's an endurance athletics of folks, a batch of whom person parted ways with the nightlife," helium says. "Lots of folks who had issues, alcohol, drugs whatever, they find themselves successful that athletics and we're creating an situation wherever they consciousness understood."

Organiser Nils Arend antecedently enactment connected rave nights successful the red-light territory of Hamburg

Poole feels similar, insisting that TSP should beryllium understood arsenic a reset from society's norms. An extreme, yet mindful, godforsaken retreat from the monotony of nine-to-five living.

"There's a benignant of joyousness successful being self-sufficient [at TSP], and looking aft yourself and not needing anybody," Poole says.

"These days, everything is beauteous easy, right. We unrecorded successful a satellite of convenience, peculiarly successful the UK and the US.

"You tin person Deliveroo bring you takeaway. You don't person to permission your house.

"This is similar the different extreme. No-one brings you anything. You don't get it, until you find it. And if its closed, that's the mode it goes."

Poole should know.

There were routinely stretches of this year's contention successful which helium went 8 to 10 hours without an enactment to restock with nutrient oregon water.

Arend besides knows, and thrives, connected specified feelings of escape, and pushing the boundaries of carnal endurance.

In fact, if rumours are to beryllium believed, past going 8 to 10 hours without nutrient oregon h2o options volition beryllium a locomotion successful the parkland compared with what helium has planned.

Poole did the 2023 lawsuit solo and unsupported

Poole lets gaffe successful our speech that Arend is reasoning of attempting a Speed Project-style contention successful November successful Chile.

It volition beryllium akin to TSP successful region and ethos, but overmuch much utmost fixed it would nonstop runners crossed the full Atacama Desert, 1 of the world's harshest environments.

A contention crossed the Atacama would person zero resupply options. Teams would request to beryllium wholly self-sufficient, carrying each their instrumentality successful pick-up trucks due to the fact that of the quality of the terrain.

Arend is coy astir the question of what's next? "That's the truly hard question," helium says. "We are exploring different elements.

"I'm ever going connected my ain adventures and, akin to however TSP was born, if I travel crossed an escapade that I deliberation is worthy sharing with the community, I volition proceed sharing that."

Poole is little equivocal.

If Arend brings the contention to the Atacama, he'll beryllium the archetypal sanction connected the teamsheet, careless of the risks. Why?

"What I don't recognize is the radical who bash the London Marathon again and again and walk the remainder of their moving vocation trying to shave 5 seconds disconnected a clip that no-one truly cares about," helium says.

"My reply to that is to halt chasing this happening that is not that important and spell and bash thing that is exciting.

"There are tons of subtle reasons for not going to bash these benignant of things similar TSP. But yet the pithy, somewhat obtuse, reply to wherefore bash these things is conscionable due to the fact that you can. And if you tin bash it, past wherefore not springiness it a go?"