Daily News, Mon, Apr 14

Ah, the big question of money in ultras.

Animal Athletics addresses the logo confusion. Hal weighs in with a comment. Definite food for thought right here.

Study: Late starters run faster in older years.

I can’t tell if these GPS shoes are a joke or not.

I probably look like this at the end of a race.

Weight loss: The neuroses of our peers will be come our goals.

Maybe you heard, Zach Miller and Emily Harrison won at Lake Sonoma on Saturday. Here are some pics and my thoughts from the race. Full results here.

Meanwhile in the Philippines, a women’s only 50k was taking place, complete with 24 aid stations and “tugs tugs” music.

NUC, but this crazy old man (hey, it’s a compliment!) is paddling across the Atlantic. Check it out.

Eight of the world’s most phenomenally nerdy beers. h/t Keith.

Here’s Jill’s playlist from her 350 mile Iditarod trek.

Ten tips to increase foot and ankle strength…including toe yoga.

Two runners tragically passed away during a half marathon this weekend. Not relating the two, but when was the last time a runner died during an ultra? I remember a few years ago a runner passed away during a PCTR race on Mt. Diablo, but that’s about it. Are there others?

Max King may have bonked at Sonoma, but he had one of the (inadvertently) funniest tweets yesterday. You’ll have to find it on your own…this is a family show, folks.

13 Responses to "Daily News, Mon, Apr 14"

Patrick Krott says:

April 14, 2014 at 5:33 am

In all fairness, there are far more people running half marathons than ultras.

That being said, if all factors were equal, I wouldn’t be surprised if half-marathons still proved to have a higher death or injury rate since there is a greater chance of beginner/under-trained runners at those events. Too many people go from couch to half marathon, or couch to marathon, without first going through the logical steps (5k, 10k, etc) and working their way up in distance.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  April 14, 2014 at 6:03 am
  
  Oh I completely agree. Simple math says that x amount of people are going to die if you have y people together. But I think your hypothesis about under-prepared runners at halfs and marathons is pretty good.
  
  Reply
Neel says:

April 14, 2014 at 6:30 am

Thanks for the shout out Eric.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  April 14, 2014 at 7:05 am
  
  Hey, great stuff Neel! Keep it up.
  
  Reply
Ryan says:

April 14, 2014 at 6:49 am

I agree, that there are way too many under trained athletes at Half Marathons. I have a friend who wanted to run her first half, but only ran about 12 miles a week and suffered the entire race. Not sure what she was expecting.

Anyway, most of these deaths are from cardiac abnormalities. Probably Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy which training would not have helped.

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Kelley Schranz says:

April 14, 2014 at 8:29 am

Loved the “Late Start” article! Since your dad started running when he was in his early 40s and I didn’t start until about age 50, we might have a few good years left in us. Yippee!!! Love Mom

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Bill Losey says:

April 14, 2014 at 9:30 am

John Marini passed away in 2008 at Collegiate peaks of a heart attack. 59 years young, super strong and fit. I had the pleasure of running the big ditch with him a few years before that.

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Dan says:

April 14, 2014 at 10:02 am

Lost a bit of respect for Mr. Koerner with that post on Animal Athletics…everyone’s entitled to their opinion, it just seemed a little odd and defensive…and a bit out of place.

But to the point, I believe if Hal had interest in growing his company’s brand (RVR) into a regional/national presence, instead of just his personal brand (Outside Magazine, Book Deal), he might care more about the rights of small businesses to preserve their ability to grow over time into something they didn’t expect when starting out and to maintain their autonomy, logo, ethos, etc. over the years it takes to do so. After all, that’s what TNF did – they didn’t start out to be a mega-brand, but here they are now. Which makes it doubly sickening that they are behaving this way…another classic case of climbing a ladder and then kicking it over. Is that the type of business we want to support in America? Or do we really care about the needs and ambitions of small-businesses who make our communities better?

One last food-for-thought: how would Hal feel if Road Runner Sports opened a store in Ashland/Medford and rebranded it as Rogue Valley Road Runners with a nice RVRR logo that was just ever so slightly different from the RVR and sold all the same merch and started a couple races that were just slightly different… The Lithia Mountain Marathon…the Siskiyou Over and Back…Pinon to Palm…Where’s Waldman???? Probably wouldn’t be so stoked about that healthy competition..

BTW – anyone who was out at Peterson Ridge Rumble 20M/40M got a great first-hand look at how much the PNW running community supports Animal Athletics and what they stand for – there were a ton of Animal Athletics shirts out there at all levels – Yassine and Willie both raced, supported, and hung out for hours afterwards to watch their athletes/family/friends give it their all on a beautiful day in Central Oregon. That’s the trail community I want to be a part of – no giant inflatable corporate banners – just great folks doing what they love.

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Steph says:

April 14, 2014 at 11:20 am

I cant find the links but I remember Ian Corless talking about a runner dying out on a mountain course in Europe.

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hal koerner says:

April 14, 2014 at 5:12 pm

Hi Dan – You lost respect for me because i was the only person who entered into the “discussion?” Everything has been one sided, and that’s fine, I understand the forum and who it caters too.

It would have been easy for me to sit back and say nothing, that’s for sure. I would rather sit down with people so my tone is not misread via blogs and written messages. But to say I come off defensive or that my comments were “odd” when there are knee jerk reactions and negative comments being thrown around is not being fair and yeah, I guess i have an opinion like the rest of you. I thought mine was pretty well thought out and I took some time to be so shortly dismissed. So thanks, I may have lost some respect for you. I imagine we both know about the same of each other. I would also like it if you could point out where you lost respect in my comment, and comment to the points? That’s all I’ve done, while supporting what AA does?

So, I lived in Seattle when Road Runner Sports put a store a block away from the most successful specialty running store west of the Mississippi, if not further, Super Jock and Jill. You know what, they are still there and so Is RRS. Probably more as a billboard for RSS because I understand the PNW commitment to local, better than most who say they shop local. I know that a loyal following is worth it’s weight in gold and that it is in the more intelligent markets where that ethos prevails. So, when an REI opened up in my town and folks found it easier to shop shiny and new or with rewards points and a return policy second to none, or a marketing effort that I could afford I adjusted. I didnt ask for REI to move? My vendors didnt uphold any special clause not to sell to them, that would be suicide for them. SO, i get it.

Just like I do when online companies offer discounts I cant afford and free shipping.

I am seriously asking you to consider if what they are selling is the same thing? You already know the answer to that, all of you have mentioned it one way or another in your comments. You cant replicate what AA has done.

Reply
1. Dan says:
  
  April 14, 2014 at 6:32 pm
  
  Hal, you’ve got a great point – I too would rather sit down over a few beers and discuss this stuff than have opinions and a lot of not-the-whole-story flying around the interwebs.
  
  The thing is, I love what you’ve done with RVR, for the whole ultra-community in the PNW, for growing the sport, supporting elite runners, all of that. I had a great time running Lithia last year (existentially…had a pretty mediocre clock time) and think you put on stellar races. So, keep that in the background..
  
  The other thing is, I’m not speaking for or even officially coached by Animal Athletics – I just partake in the community they’ve built in Portland and have a lot of respect for what they’ve done and continue to do…and for where they could grow things in the future…they really are doing incredible work here (http://animalathleticspdx.com/community/community-adventures/) and extending their reach beyond the PNW all the time from what I hear…
  
  Further complicating things, I enjoy following a number of the TNF ultrarunners (yourself included) as a super-fan and think TNF has some great products on the shelf for runners.
  
  This whole issue got my dander up from a philosophy-of-business angle though and that’s why I’ve felt the need to opine in a couple corners of the webs…
  
  So, back on point – I do think there are a lot of differences in the examples we’ve trotted out. TNF/MountainAthletics infringes on Animal Athletics in a totally different way than REI would/could on RVR — there’s no confusion in-store or online that you’re partaking in one shopping experience vs. another, the logos don’t overlap, etc. — likewise with when RRS opened next to Super Jock n’ Jill (I was there too…and worked for RRS when they opened a store in Tualitin…but that’s another story) where there was no doubt that RRS was running a distinctly different business, with different branding than Super Jock n’ Jill. The key issue at play here is copyright infringement and the ability of one business to usurp the domain of another business, effectively blocking them now and into the future from growing their business on their own terms.
  
  It is clear by now that I believe TNF with their Mountain Athletics logo has in many ways created confusion about possible connections with Animal Athletics and has stunted AA’s ability to have a clear path to continue building the unique brand they started in 2012. I do not think they are immediately selling the “same product” – I think TNF is trying to build a user-experience to drive sales of their clothing/shoes…which I have no beef with (what they put out there is pretty cool and probably highly useful to a lot of runners/outdoorsy-folks around the world)…and it’s obvious TNF isn’t at this point trying to monetize their training offerings. BUT – that doesn’t mean that they should get to squeeze out Animal Athletics for all time to come – Animal Athletics has a right to their brand and a right to grow a business that could one day compete with whatever TNF is doing in the training, apparel, or whatever space down the road. Just because AA is smaller today, doesn’t mean their brand/logo is any less worthy of protection…that’s the simple fact of the matter on a legal and ethical basis.
  
  And that’s probably what galls me the most about all of this – TNF certainly has a history of going after anyone who threatens THEIR brand – and if the shoes was on the other foot, if TNF had started Mountain Athletics in 2010 with the current logo/brand and AA started up with their logo/brand, you can bet they’d be suing AA on day one. But turn things around and AA should just change their logo and business and stay clear of TNF into the future? That just doesn’t sit well…
  
  Anyway, I’ve said my piece, I’ve got a recovery run to do and waning sunlight to get it done in. I appreciate your willingness to enter the dialogue and put your thoughts out there. I don’t agree with them – but the respect-o-meter is back to center – and I’m not just saying that so you’ll let me in to Lithia again this year! (I got unfinished business on that course..)
  
  Dan
  
  Reply
hal koerner says:

April 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm

Dan,

I am a business owner who is desensitized to competition, myopic i know. I guess that is my main fault here. If i worried about everyone who sold running shoes or put on a race I would go insane. I have plenty of stories for that too, and there would be multiple beers.

I can only hope that our experience down here wins folks over, and with that I haven’t attached that much to a name and partly because I haven’t had to.

I hope you make it back to LLTM in the future, we’ll indulge about something else I hope. No respect lost.

hk

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  April 14, 2014 at 7:48 pm
  
  Per the AA site, it looks like both “sides” are talking.
  
  Reply

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