Daily News and Weekend MUT Calendar, Fri, Nov 7

Another person to make our sport even more interesting. MMA pro turned mountain runner Kyle Dietz.

Read this: When 99 is more than 100. Who do you compare yourself to?

100k World Championships are two weeks from today in Qatar. Check out the US team. Wow!

Lotteries are the worst! (Except for all other options.)

Vote for MUT Runner of the Year right here.

Check this out: What words make you dig deep?

With all the talk about attracting big sponsors to races, this article raises some questions. If corporate sponsors freak out about glitches at road races, imagine the issues they’ll have with MUT events.

Here’s a new race review site. The guy running it is giving $1 to Team RWB for each person who registers and leaves a race rave/review between now and Veterans Day. He’s also giving away a free pair of TNF Ultra Trails to one of the first 30 people who create a profile.

We’ve been singing the praise of Sonoma and Napa County beer for years. Fortune Magazine is now catching up.

Another insane/impressive Iditarod story from Jill and Beat.

New gear for that super-cold run where there’s a chance you’ll pass out on the trail? (Oh, and you’ve got a hankering to dress like a superhero?)

Why doping makes it hard to be a fan.

Alex Varner’s NYC Marathon report. Maybe I didn’t read right, but the elites run a different course than everyone else at the start? Can someone clarify?

This guy has a degenerative eye disease that’s causing him to go blind, but he keeps running trail ultras. Stud!

Four trail beards you’ll want to fondle. Nope.

Weekend Calendar

Rio Del Lago 100 in Granite Bay, CA. Covering much of the last 15 miles of the WS course (and this year with great weather), this’ll be fun to watch.
Upchuck 50, part of the Rock/Creek Trail Series. No first timers allowed.
Rhode Island’s only ultra: The RI Six Hour. Winners get beer, new records get cash, and the after party is at a pub.
Bootlegger 50k in Southern Nevada. $1,000 prize money by RD Ian Torrence. Is this his first event with prize money?
Rockledge Rumble 50k in Texas.
Owen Putnam State Forest 50/50 in Indiana. Claims to be the toughest race in Indiana, but the profile doesn’t seem very challenging. Maybe Indiana’s flatter than I thought.
Lake Chabot 50k near San Francisco, CA. Should be great weather on fun trails.
Stone Cat 50M in Ipswich, MI. Four loops on single track, but the race is sold out, so they must be doing something right!
Paris Mountain 50/50 in…South Carolina? (another race site where location is not clearly stated on front page.) RD trying to cut registration fees by runners donating food. I like the idea!
Icarus Florida Ultra Fest. Thirteen distances ranging from three hours to a six day race.
Chino Hills 50k in SoCal. Looks like a fun course on a trail system I didn’t know about.
Sky to Summit 50k in Georgia. Promising to be the most scenic 50k on the East Coast with waterfalls, water crossings, summits, and views…who’s doing it?
Rosaryville Veteran’s Day 50k in Maryland. Loop course through the deep woods on singletrack. No headphones allowed, but it’s only $40.
Peachtree City 50k in Georgia. Lots o’ loops on a golf cart roads, but it sounds fast.

Now go out and run.

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21 Responses to "Daily News and Weekend MUT Calendar, Fri, Nov 7"

Mic Med says:

November 7, 2014 at 5:58 am

Not sure exactly how the qualifications for the 100k teams are done, but given the year Larissa Dannis has had I would’ve squeezed her into the team that scores. Good luck to USA though. Men and Women’s teams are stacked.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  November 7, 2014 at 6:26 am
  
  Agree completely. She’s on fire!
  
  Reply
2. Joseph says:
  
  November 7, 2014 at 8:40 am
  
  I was pretty surprised about the team as well. But based on the qualifying website, Pam Smith won the 2014 US 100k champs = guaranteed spot. Then in 2012 (2013 was cancelled) Amy Sproston and Meghan Arbogast finished top 10 = guaranteed spots. So that left only 3 spots to be selected by the committe right? And they went with Cassie Scallon, Emily Harrison, and Kaci Lickteig over Larissa.
  
  I can see how it’s pretty much splitting hairs between those 4 at that point even though Larissa has been on fire as of late. I’m less upset now.
  
  Do the alternates still get to run the race though? Their scores just don’t count?
  
  Reply
  1. Pam Smith says:
    
    November 9, 2014 at 12:34 pm
    
    USATF has well defined rules on how the team is selected (http://www.usatf.org/Events—Calendar/2014/IAU-100-km-World-Championship/Athlete-Info/Qualifying-Standards.aspx) and the rules are applied in a certain order. 100km times are given preference over 50 mile times and 50 mile road times get preference over 50 mile trail times. This makes sense since it preferentially chooses qualifiers based on what is most similar to the actual World Championship race, but it does create the situation where a super speedy 50 miler gets bumped for someone who has a 100km qualifier. This is why I went to Mad City in the spring – to get a road 100km time. This year Larisa only had a 50 mile trail time within the qualifying window. But never fear, two people turned down spots and she is going to Qatar with the team. I am excited to see what she will do there.
    
    Reply
    1. eric schranz says:
      
      November 9, 2014 at 3:21 pm
      
      Thanks for the clarification Pam. The trail scene is super deep with the fellas right now, but the ladies are dominating the road ultras. Go get em!
      
      Reply
Jon A says:

November 7, 2014 at 6:03 am

Yes, Paris Mountain is in Greenville SC. I think anyone who would actually run this race would know where it is.

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Francois says:

November 7, 2014 at 7:01 am

yes varner was saying to the ginger runner on his last video podcast that the elites start on the other side of the bridge (on their own), and therefore have to follow a different route for the first mile(s) before both sides of the bridge reconnect with the same route… something like that

Reply
1. Emir says:
  
  November 7, 2014 at 1:31 pm
  
  There are two starting corrals, one goes on the bridge upper side and other on the bridge lower side. Once you go over the bridge, the both paths merge. When I ran last year I ran on the top of the bridge. Elites run on the top for media coverage, but for everyone else is luck of the draw. Same distance in the end.
  
  Reply
John Gamrat says:

November 7, 2014 at 7:29 am

TBunk endurance challenge (200 and 150 milers) started today in the Southern Kettles in WI, tomorrow the 100 starts and Sunday the 50 and 50k start.

Reply
Mic Med says:

November 7, 2014 at 8:17 am

I’m sure you’ll post this as it gets closer (as you’re working it), but my word the talent at TNF 50 is incredible! Krar, Canaday, Bowman, Foote, Gates, Dakota, Zach Miller, Nichols, Olson, Ornelas,Vargo, Varner, Vollet, Wardian, Wolf and Wolfe, Aish, Ahern!!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aq3Wi7jS-GLqL_N7VuiBa4b_xk99HWdQ9F2z_fhkB1A/edit

Reply
Alex Varner says:

November 7, 2014 at 9:01 am

Eric – to clarify: the northeast/southwest-bound sides of the bridge are separated by a median that can’t be crossed. the sub-elites (and some corrals) start on one side and the elites (and other corrals) start on the other side. the elites/other corrals also start 200-300m farther back on the bridge. since the on/off ramps are different, each side runs a slightly different route into brooklyn. if you look closely at the route my gps follows, coming off the bridge, we went left on 92nd St, left on Fort Hamilton, and then right on 94th St before turning onto 4th Ave. The elites/corrals that started on the other side of the bridge came down a different ramp into brooklyn and i would assume didn’t do that little double back we did due to the extra distance they ran on the bridge. from what i remember, it looked like they turned onto 4th ave off of 90th or 88th. that makes sense hopefully?

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  November 7, 2014 at 9:14 am
  
  Thanks for the clarification. I’ve never heard of a race doing that, and am pretty surprised. The one thing I love about running and racing is that everyone’s on the same level, so to speak, so to hear that’s not the case is a bummer. As much as I love marathons (and understand the need for some accommodations given to elites), the special aid stations and different course (however short a section it is), makes me appreciate MUT running all the more.
  
  Reply
  1. Francois says:
    
    November 7, 2014 at 10:05 am
    
    would you have run the “Foulées de Vincennes 10k” (“what?”, “where?”, “hugh?”) you would have experienced the 2 corrals (odd bibs vs even bibs) / 2 routes thing (for the first 300m).
    
    Now are you stoked? 🙂
    
    Now if you want a price purse at TNF50 and are not in the elite corral you’ll have to run at least 1′ faster than the elites. Fair?
    
    Reply
  2. Paul says:
    
    November 7, 2014 at 10:07 am
    
    Eric – Alex is roughly right. This is due to the sheer size of the race – and specifically, NYRR (the org that stages the race) really does roll out the red carpet for the professional athletes. To cater to everyone: the pros, ESPN for pro and entire race coverage, sub-elites, weekend warriors, social runners, and athletes with various disabilities, and trying to mininimize the toll shutting down 26mi of a major city takes, there are some modifications that the race makes. As an aside, the 50,000+ finishers doesn’t include many ppl on the course (yours truly) who for example, may be running as a guide for a ‘challenged’ (physically handicapped – in my case, severe autism) athletes. The Verrazano has 2 levels and a good half of the participants run on the lower half. In all, more or less everyone runs the same course. The top level as Alex said, has a traffic median down the middle – and the bridge is opened as soon as the runners make it over – so in essence, everyone is really running the same course other than perhaps half a mile.
    
    Reply
    1. eric schranz says:
      
      November 7, 2014 at 10:39 am
      
      Hmmm, I had no idea. Makes sense logistically, I just didn’t know there were different courses. Thanks for info.
      
      Reply
  3. Tim Tollefson says:
    
    November 8, 2014 at 7:47 am
    
    Hey don’t knock our special aid stations! Although I’ll admit, after years of getting used to those, I became soft….You want me to do what?! Carry a bottle for 30+ miles? In my own hand?!…
    
    Reply
Trevor Nederlof says:

November 7, 2014 at 9:09 am

Yep Eric the NYC marathon has so many freaking people they start people in different color camps, all of which go separate routes for the first few miles and join up in Brooklyn. Looks like the elites/sub-elites were split at least onto two of these routes. Pretty amazing from an organizational standpoint to see, I was amazed.

Reply
Myles says:

November 7, 2014 at 9:36 am

For NYC that doesn’t even tell the whole story. There are actually 3 starting routes and 4 waves. So if you break it down there are essentially 12 races started that all become the NYC Marathon. The inbound (What Varner was on) and outbound upper level and the outbound lower level are the 3 route options you could be assigned to. Then based on your pace you will be assigned to one of the 4 start times. Pretty crazy how they can tie it all together but it works.

Reply
1. Paul says:
  
  November 7, 2014 at 10:24 am
  
  ….and different corrals for each wave…
  
  Reply
  1. MylesMyles says:
    
    November 7, 2014 at 11:45 am
    
    That too! It’s pretty crazy to be a part of. I finished with enough time to go home (I live near the course) drop off my stuff, and then run up to mile 22 and pace my girlfriend down to mile 25 or so.
    
    Reply
Jake says:

November 7, 2014 at 3:25 pm

Napa County has some praise-worthy trails too btw! Sonoma really has Napa beat in good beer though.

Reply

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