Daily News, Mon, Mar 16

I don’t know of another pro athlete in any sport who has the diversity and depth of Max King. Full results from LA Marathon right this way. Here’s Max’s Strava data from the race. More race recaps here and here.

My new favorite running term: Whamsauced.

Many companies have been avoiding “Barbie gear,” started listening to MUT chicas and have been making gear targeted towards real women. Story here.

I chose some names at random on Friday and gave away some cool gear from The North Face and Feetures! socks.

Is it OK to pull someone out of a race for being too slow?

For true race stat geeks, nobody does it like realendurance. Check out all the info from Way Too Cool. Wow!

It seems that the PCTA doesn’t want to cancel all trail races–just that they want to keep existing races to their current sizes and not add any for the time being. Am I missing something? Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Stephanie has her first DNF at Transgrancanaria. What caused it? What did she learn? Here’s a cool video from the event.

Ten things Moses learned at the ITI.

Report and pics from the gorgeous Marin Ultra Challenge.

Here we go again: Exercising is unhealthy.

I reviewed a beer 3 years ago that was so-so. Had an aged bottle this weekend and it blew my mind. Review forthcoming.

What runners need to know about depression.

17 Responses to "Daily News, Mon, Mar 16"

Chris says:

March 16, 2015 at 7:04 am

Seems reasonable to keep races the same size. Ultra running is growing really fast (from what everyone tells me who has been in it awhile, I am part of this wave of new comers) and having that many people running on a trail can cause serious trail erosion.

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Jamie says:

March 16, 2015 at 7:52 am

I was hoping for some thoughtful LA Marathon analysis from the Let’s Run forums.

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1. Trevor says:
  
  March 16, 2015 at 9:03 am
  
  I will just leave this here…
  
  http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6304127
  
  Reply
  1. Meghan says:
    
    March 16, 2015 at 5:20 pm
    
    That’s hilarious…. did Ryan comment on why he dropped?
    
    Reply
    1. Zach says:
      
      March 17, 2015 at 4:32 pm
      
      Haven’t heard anything, but watching it on the live-stream, it looked like he just blew up. When Jared Ward and two other american men passed him just after the halfway point, they stormed past and Ryan gave no effort to surge with the group. He had nothing left. Maybe from the heat or maybe he just went out too hard. He might have been able to relax and regain some steam to finish the thing out, but he was about to catch and pass the group his wife was in and I think he didn’t want her to see him drop.
      
      Reply
Jorge says:

March 16, 2015 at 8:39 am

a few weeks ago you had a post from rock creek runner, I’d like to hear how Peter did on his ITI, from his page it looked like he crushed it
https://www.facebook.com/ripmasterReference

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Brett Ashley says:

March 16, 2015 at 8:56 am

That is awful. Only time that would be appropriate is if there are established cut-off times.Reference

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Garret says:

March 16, 2015 at 9:39 am

I disagree. I think reasonable would be to avoid making a blanket statement like ‘no new races’ and instead issue a set of recommended guidelines for the Forest Service to use when considering issuing permits. They could require trail work, limit entry size, etc., but instead the PCTA has arbitrarily said that 3,000 user days per year is the absolute limit. 3,000 is only a very small percentage of the total user days.

Also, I don’t the “for the time being” aspect of the PCTA’s blog post. Once this kicks in, there’s nothing to indicate it will ever change.

Lastly, the PCTA calls the one race on the AT “controversial.” That race is JFK, which has been around for 53 years, pre-dating the designation of the AT as a national scenic trail. So to call that “controversial” seems to reveal the absurdity of the PCTA’s position to me.Reference

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eric schranz says:

March 16, 2015 at 9:49 am

Sounds like both sides are coming to the discussion with different starting points for negotiations. Since both essentially want the same thing (upkeep and access of the PCT), I’m confident they’ll all come to a positive conclusion.Reference

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Paul B says:

March 16, 2015 at 10:03 am

The human race is becoming a bunch of wussies

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James Varner says:

March 16, 2015 at 12:11 pm

In my opinion definitely not reasonable. What might be good for one part of the PCT is not necessarily good for the entire trail. The PCTA is based in California and from what I can tell their recommendations are based on what is happening locally where there are many more trail running races than on the rest of the trail. Oregon has 4 races that are use some of the PCT(one of them–our Gorge Waterfalls races only uses a few miles of the PCT) and Washington only has three none of which are in the northern half of the state. 7 races in about 1000 miles of the PCT does not seem like it’s too many to me.

It isn’t up to the PCTA to decide what is right and what isn’t for the entire trail. Each ranger district along the trail gets to decide since they know their area better than anyone else and they monitor each and every permitted event and thus far for the most part each district has taken the PCTA’s recommendations with a grain of salt. However there are a few districts out there that for one reason or another(in my opinion often tied to budget shortfalls and/or some belief that the PCT need to be held in some higher regard) they decide to cite the PCTA’s recommendations as reason to disallow a race even though there are no good reasons to do so.

The PCTA’s argument that races and other large recreational events “disturb the tranquil backcountry experiences” of other users is misleading. First off that is a very subjective statement and one that I believe many people would disagree with as long as the size of the event was reasonable for the trail/area. Second “tranquilty” and “peacefulness” that the PCTA is supposedly trying to protect are not attributes that the PCT was created for, wilderness was created for those reasons and for the most part competitive events and large groups are not allowed in wilderness. Instead the PCT and all of the other National Scenic Trails were created ” In order to provide for the ever-increasing outdoor recreation needs of an expanding population and in order to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nation”.

It is my belief that the PCTA is trying to give their vision of the trail priority over other users desired vision of the trail and over the stated vision for the trail set forth in the National Trails System Act(http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/nts/legislation.html)

All trail runners and anyone else who wants the PCT and all other National Scenic Trails remain to be managed the way they were originally intended please contact your local forest service district and/or sign the petition expressing your belief that trail running races should be allowed on the PCT( https://www.change.org/p/pacific-crest-trail-association-united-states-forest-service-allow-trail-running-events-on-the-pacific-crest-trail-pct?tk=o8VTbdZWv8aFyriKM_rqDU4qw-D9tfnZrN7kOyyicaU&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email )Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 16, 2015 at 2:41 pm
  
  James, thanks for you reply.
  
  Seems reasonable to me that local ranger stations would decide how many events are permitted. With a trail so long, it’d be tough to apply one rule to the entire route. I’m all for local rule.
  
  Here’s my problem though. I can’t help but think that when the MTB crowd petitions to be allowed on the trail again and uses the same arguments as this group, the trail running crowd will be shrieking. I don’t want them there either, but I’m more interested in being clear about the argument than being right. Let’s not push this situation to a point where “all things go” on a trail that we all want to conserve.
  
  I’m looking for analysis from a group who doesn’t have a financial stake in the situation, as admittedly, I’m new to this discussion and trying to understand both sides fairly.
  
  Reply
  1. Runcandice says:
    
    March 16, 2015 at 5:35 pm
    
    ATRA is taking this on so there you go.
    
    Reply
  2. Runcandice says:
    
    March 16, 2015 at 5:40 pm
    
    In regards to Mountain bikes, they have a legit claim as well and are already in discussions (have been for while!). Fear should not stop us from standing up for our beloved events.
    
    Reply
Runcandice says:

March 16, 2015 at 5:36 pm

ATRA is taking on this issue, so there you go.

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Runcandice says:

March 16, 2015 at 5:39 pm

Awesome, thanks for explaining the PCTA issue James. Saved me some time 🙂

My main points are:

1. Where’s the scientific study that says it’s trail running events that are causing a problem?
2. Where are the studies that say there actually is a problem?
3. How do we know the claimed “overcrowding” is caused by trail running events, perhaps the PCTA should consider their promoting the movie “Wild” which will surely bring thousands more than any event ever would

I have stake in the issue as a race director, yes, but none of my races won’t happen because of the PCTA’s stance, although I have had to move the routes.

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Ryan says:

March 17, 2015 at 6:10 am

The PCT sounds like it’s trying to do the same thing that happened with the Appalachin Trail. No races can be held on the AT. The only exception is JFK 50 Miler, and from what I understand, that’s still a nightmare every year, and it’s getting harder to get the permits for that race to be held on the AT.

I just don’t understand what the big deal is with using these trails for race events where people use caution to be good stewards, and do their part to keep the trails in good shape.

Reply

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