Daily News, Fri, Feb 28

Dave Johnston obliterates the Iditarod Trail Invitational record by fourteen hours, finishing the 350 mile trek (in the Arctic, while pulling a sled), in just over four days. Oh yeah, and it was one week after he blew up Roes’ record at Susitna 100. Wow!

Though I’m admittedly guilty of a few, I really dig Candice’s new post: When ultrarunners go too far.

Turns out you can get a ticket for running in Central Park before it’s opened.

Are your shoelaces going extinct? Miss Zippy sure would like to see them gone.

Matt Trappe’s movie about Scott Jaime’s Colorado Trail FKT premieres next weekend. Wish I could be there to see it. I’ll have to wait until the end of April.

Registration for Waldo 100k opens tomorrow, and if last year was any indication, you better not be on dialup to get in.

Thirteen best ultrarunning excuses.

NUC: Yelp releases its list of top restaurants in the US, and it’s an awesome combination of taco stands, BBQ joints, yeah, some fancy places, and all lead by a little poke shack in Hawaii. My type of eatin. Any of these in your area?

Sarah reports from her first race back after an injury (it’s good news, don’t worry), and discusses the life of one of the Bay Area’s major trail racing companies.

Boston will be the Hoyt’s last.

Amy Palmiero-Winters did an ultraman last weekend. Unstoppable!

I’m confused by this entire thing: So these are shoes we’re allowed to wear while not running? Or out of the gym? Or huh?

Never mind the fact he’s barefoot, here’s a great video of a guy running the John Muir Trail.

Some final news and pics from this weekends TheNorthFace Transgrancanaria race in the Canary Islands.

…but if you don’t happen to be there, here are offerings from this side of the world:

Weekend Calendar:

The Palm 100 in Deerfield Beach, FL. A few different distances, including one relay where one person runs and one rides. That could be cool.
Neuces 50/50 in Texas.
The Razorback 50/50/100/100/125 in San Martin, CA. I was signed up for this race ( a 2 mile loop), but I’m getting over a calf injury and am taking a DNS. Big props to the RD for allowing rollovers to next year. Thanks!
The Green Jewel 50k in Ohio.
The Annapurna Crossing 100 in Nepal. This looks so beautiful.
Peak 100 and Snowshoe Marathon (ouch!) in Vermont. Expect snow.
The Old Pueblo 50 in Arizona. No pacers unless you’re over 60, and even then, no age group award for you!
Caumsett Park 50k Championship in New York with some cash offered for the winners.

———————–

Just to clarify, URP is alive, well, and moving forward.

Just as when Don and Scott left in 2011, the show will go on. For the next few weeks, I’ll be doing some shows alone, and some with a revolving set of guest co-hosts.

There’s no doubt and no way to over emphasize the great chemistry Scotty and I had in the studio. When we pushed record, our brains connected and our passion for the sport led the way. We exchanged looks, laughed at one another as our jaws dropped to the floor, and gave wild hand gestures for a silent language that only we knew.

But from my perspective, the success and popularity of URP has been the great guests. Hearing wild stories, old tales, harrowing races, crazy diets, incredible comebacks, and valuable advice has been the true highlight of our little show, and that will not change.

Just as when you lose a pet, friend, or spouse (Scotty falls into the middle category, for clarification), you don’t rush out and attempt to replace them with something exactly the same. It won’t work. Give me some time to get it right, let me know how I’m doing, and I promise it’ll be OK.

Will there be glitches? Sure, but we’re all endurance runners and have probably encountered bumps in the road before, right? If I fall hard, reach out a hand, help me up, and point out where I tripped up. I’ll appreciate it.

Daily News, Commentary, Reviews, Pictures, Food, Beer and great guests will all continue, unchanged.

Thanks for sticking with URP, and big thanks to Scotty for all he’s done.

Thanks,

Eric

If you’ve got questions or comments, shoot me an email at [email protected]

misszippy says:

February 28, 2014 at 6:15 am

Thanks for the share! And I’m sad to see the Hoyts go.

Hone says:

February 28, 2014 at 6:29 am

You need to do a show with Dave J. He is an awesome guy and a close friend of mine. I will guaranteed to be one of the most entertaining podcast you would ever do. The dude is hilarious.

eric schranz says:

February 28, 2014 at 6:31 am

Dave James?

1. Hone says:
  
  February 28, 2014 at 7:05 am
  
  Dave Johnston silly.
  
  1. eric schranz says:
    
    February 28, 2014 at 7:22 am
    
    Duh. The Alaskan connection. I’d love to chat with him soon, but he’ll probably be sleeping for next two weeks, right?
    
    1. Derrick says:
      
      February 28, 2014 at 7:55 am
      
      Dave Johnston’s race should definitely be UR performance of the year unless something crazy happens later (like Hardrock). Just incredible!
      
      …and to make it that much more amazing, it was only 1 week after Susitna!
Brandon says:

February 28, 2014 at 8:03 am

Agreed. Dave is a hell of a runner, and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Super friendly and always has a smile on his face. Dave is also going to be running Joe Fejes’ 6 day race up here in August. It will be interesting to see how he does at such a different type of race.

And one small clarification – the ITI 350 started just ONE week after Dave smashed Geoff Roes’ course record at Susitna 100.