Ultramarathon Daily News | Fri, July 23

Newsweek: Sad update on famed ultramarathon runner and adventurer Fred Zalokar.

Runner’s World: Comparing elites to amateurs and men and women on Strava.

iRunFar: Timothy Olson sets a new supported FKT on the 2600 mile Pacific Crest Trail. Here are his final few days on the FKT Boards. And in this new post, AJW writes about Timothy and Dylan and their impact on the sport of ultramarathon and trail running.

With DBo in mind, check out this incredible…I don’t even know what to call it…film(?) by Derrick Lytle of Hardrock 100 shot in s l o w m o t i o n. I want this on my desktop all day.

And speaking of Hardrock, be sure to listen to the latest URP episode with Hardrock DFL finisher Terry Miller. In our talk, Terry shares the raw emotion of what he went through during his 47 hours and 43 minutes on the trail. Great story with some strong messages.

Follow your heart, follow your feet, and take that first step. Literally. That initial movement, as we all know, can set into motion a momentum that propels us forward … from one small adventure at a local park near home to a weekend car camping adventure to an overnight backpacking trip. Then again no one says you have to go bigger, farther, faster when it comes to how you experience the outdoors … you do you, in whatever way that means.

—HOKA ambassador writes letter to anyone why feels “outside” the outdoors. Great stuff.

Honest question: So will Sherpa John’s race series really have seven different categories (and winners) for each event? (Male, female, agender, gender fluid, gender expansive, etc)
[UPDATE: Looks like I’m 180 deg wrong, or something? See comments.]

Trailrunner/Roche: Alcohol isn’t good for recovery so David’s done drinking. Whatever your reasoning, quitting alcohol is always a good thing.

Still no sign of trail runner Philip Kreycik. Case is baffling law enforcement and family, as there’s zero leads as to his disappearance.

URP News: Daily News updates will be scant next week. Immediately following my race on Sunday, we’re going on a road trip up through Rainier for some trail running, then to Northern Idaho, and ultimately over to Montana for a pack rafting (them on a raft, me on an SUP) overnight trip on the Yellowstone River, then back home through Twin Falls, ID. Lots of driving, but the kids are at a perfect age for this and we’re ready to go! Any trails I need to know about?

25 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Fri, July 23"

Andrew says:

July 23, 2021 at 7:42 am

I read that Sherpa John race guide stuff. Holy cow is that guy/that series on his high horse. All I could think when reading it is whoever wrote that really needs that in their life. It’s like a guy who got bullied in high school becoming a cop. It’s so absurdly beyond being a positive message to the point of being aggressive. I can’t see how this borderline militant languege is going to have a positive impact and help change people’s minds. You will do this, you will do that. Who talks like that to their customers?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 8:56 am
  
  John’s certainly a passionate guy. I’ll leave it there.
  
  This part honestly confuses me though: “Starting in July 2021, HPRS will no longer list a participants gender identity in our results. We will NOT debate this stance, nor will we entertain insensitive or bigoted comments from those who find issue with this stance.”
  
  So there’s just an overall winner? No female race winner? I hope I’m misreading this.
  
  Reply
scottywk2 says:

July 23, 2021 at 9:29 am

Eric: That’s the idea I get. Everyone is a finisher. And there’s no categories. But I’m sure someone familiar with HPRS can and will chime in.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 9:35 am
  
  I’m hoping that my take on it is wrong and that I’m missing something.
  If I’m not, they (John) has made it pretty clear he’s ~~unwilling~~ unable to defend the position so I doubt he’ll have anything to say.
  Again, I hope I’m wrong on this. Have a trans category and a million gender categories. I don’t care. But dang, at least allow space for a female winner and a male winner.
  
  Reply
scottywk2 says:

July 23, 2021 at 10:02 am

I feel like I agree with you. A genderless race likely screws female runners as a general matter. It’s a bad solution (although it’s a pretty easy one). Burt so far, all I’ve heard are bad solutions. This hasn’t come up for me as an RD yet and I am not looking forward to it, because I want to make everyone happy (and I probably want everyone to like me) and I also want to be fair and do the right thing.

Have you heard any good solutions?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 10:16 am
  
  My good solution is the one shared by an overwhelming majority of people in the world, but denigrated and dismissed by those on Twitter and social media. 🙂
  
  Reply
Nicolas says:

July 23, 2021 at 11:03 am

“But dang, at least allow space for a female winner and a male winner.”

Why? Nobody has to run the race. Women know what they’re signing up for if they do, so mostly likely they won’t complain about it. Everyone’s free to run the races they want or not. You don’t like the rules, don’t sign up. As people often say in your defense here, your blog your rules.

Does Big’s Backyard Ultra have gender categories (I don’t know and couldn’t find the info)

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 2:13 pm
  
  Nic, I agree 100%.
  I hope you hold the same position when an RD has a policy that biological men can not run in the women’s division.
  
  Reply
Kyle S. says:

July 23, 2021 at 2:49 pm

If I am reading the prizes and awards page (https://humanpotentialrunning.com/prizes/) correctly, there are only finisher’s awards — no special recognition for top finishers in any category.

“Whether you come in first, or second to last, all finisher’s will receive the same unique finisher’s award. At HPRS we do not celebrate 1st-3rd, nor do we celebrate age groups. Heck, we don’t even have a podium! It is an old-school tradition in our sport to celebrate all runner’s as equals and we do that here at HPRS.. unless of course, you finish last…”

I don’t know if this is a new policy to align with the updated policies regarding participants’ gender identities in or if this is something HPRS has already been doing for a while.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 2:56 pm
  
  How did I miss that? Thanks for the info Kyle. Weird policy. Not for me, but I’m sure some people like the non-competitive aspect.
  
  Reply
Kyle S. says:

July 23, 2021 at 2:58 pm

It also seems like Sherpa John goes more into detail regarding this policy in a recent blog post. https://humanpotentialrunning.com/from-the-rd/which-is-more-important-the-human-or-the-race/

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Oscar says:

July 23, 2021 at 4:18 pm

I don’t understand why in gods name anyone wants to run anything that guy puts on. I can think of two or three other RDs with such an insane ego, inferiority complex, and predisposition to be butthurt at the drop of a dime over anything, who also happens to find a way to whine about *anything* and dismiss *everything* about himself (I could name names, but that’s pointless). Just his self-given nickname is enough to cue anyone in to all of this.

It’s not a race anymore. Which good for him, he found a way to make people pay to do something they can do on a weekend self supported – run around the mountains. He’s a great precursor to the deluge of outsiders to both the sport and west, who likes to show up, jump on the bandwagon, tell everyone how it’s gonna be, and try to make a buck off of trail running, while holding up some insane claim to be part of the ‘old school’.

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Patrick Stewart says:

July 23, 2021 at 6:14 pm

I’ve run numerous HPRS (Sherpa John) races and have finished first in a couple of them. Nobody at the races – John or the participants – seem to care about time/place. I don’t say this as a knock, it’s just a matter of fact at HPRS races, and for some it can be refreshing. I enjoy competing with others, but ultimately I enjoy the sport for the same reason most of us do (not for recognition or to win a medal).

Regarding the updated gender categories…from what I read/understand I don’t think it really changes much from a ace standpoint because there have never been awards, guaranteed re-entry, etc. at HPRS races. If it makes participants feel more comfortable then there’s not really a downside for the HPRS series. I’m sure I’ll run an HPRS race in the future and it won’t feel any different to me…maybe others will feel more welcome???

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 6:28 pm
  
  Interesting. Thanks for the input. So they’re crewed fatasses that you pay for?
  
  Reply
olgav100 says:

July 23, 2021 at 6:25 pm

I am with Oscar. Old school he is not. Went and read his policies. Wow, people pay for that. Or for anything he organizes.

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Patrick Stewart says:

July 23, 2021 at 6:40 pm

In some sense, yes. But they are still events that are often times competitive, have a ton of awesome volunteers, bring together the ultra community, and allow participants to push themselves and have experiences that can’t be achieved in a normal training run.

From my perspective, most of the people that are “racing” any ultra are not elite/professional. So, people pay for the experience, the support to push themselves further than they could during a training run, the aid stations, the camaraderie, etc.. A vast majority of people that race – whether it’s at Leadville, Hardrock, an HPRS event – are not in the race to get a trophy or recognition. In a sense, I think most people are pay to enter races to run a “crewed fatass”, right?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 23, 2021 at 7:54 pm
  
  Fair points.
  
  Reply
KS Petty says:

July 23, 2021 at 6:53 pm

Sherpa John’s policies don’t prevent finishers from figuring out when they finished relative to other ages, genders, etc. and claiming their place. It might not ultimately pad their Ultrasignup, but something tells me if they’re racing his events that’s not something they care about.

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scott says:

July 23, 2021 at 11:10 pm

It’s been covered, but he already didn’t do podium awards. His intention is good and the only problem this could potentially be is just with a registration site needing more dropdown menu additions or something like that.
Responses like Oscar’s are pretty sad and remarkably ignorant of the person he’s talking about. John has a podcast. Pick a couple episodes and listen or go back and read anything he’s written. From what I’ve seen of him, his heart is almost always in the right place even if he presents in an antagonistic manner.

I wish it wasn’t people’s urge to express negativity that was needed to have this many comments on a daily news post.
I hope someone, somewhere, is happier that they’re finally able to register for a race and click a button that they feel represents them. Those are the only people who are actually affected by this.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  July 24, 2021 at 5:02 am
  
  I hadn’t realized (until it was pointed out below) that John’s events were non competitive. It’s not my type of thing, but if people are into that format, then great. Why ask about gender at all though? Why not just have the entrants name?
  
  Reply
olgav100 says:

July 24, 2021 at 8:41 am

I give it to all the folks who come to defend John and his views. I agree, being negative does not solve a thing, and does not deliver the opinion (guilty). I guess because his (John’s) own language in communication, both on his website/blog, and in other media platforms, is hasty, it triggers folks. So, lets back off. It IS his company, and it is called “human potential running”, not racing, and there are plenty of runners out there who appreciate basically an approach of communal runs, or fat ass events type of things, while exploring NEW places (not simply a backyard) and having an access to aid stations with some food, water, marked course, and permits. Fare, totally fare. His front page states that his is the only “race series” held in 2020, so there’s a race. Plus, if it doesn’t matter, the time, the gender, the place, the age – his “about” it brings up how he is the youngest and the only and etc. Discrepancy, but ok. He had no problems outing people by name in his latest post about policies (with links) and calling them “old white men” like it’s a bad thing. Or the RD of a certain event that chose to split the field 50/50 male/female. When the point is driven across so forcefully, in so many sentences, it raises questions. If the intention is to bring people together, what might have worked better is “We don’t award anybody, this is a run, no questions asked about gender/age/whatever”. That’s it. No explanations needed, really. Free market would decide how it goes – and granted, it seems to go pretty well, his company exists for quite a number of years, so the appeal to certain runners is obvious, and we do need all kinds of events to appeal to all kinds of people. Just please, if he/whomever has a strong opinion on something, don’t shout it numerous times in abrasive manner, and then don’t let a conversation happen (no comments allowed, “don’t contact me” statement).
I truly appreciate Eric here for allowing the discussion in a civil manner – and I would hope to go for a long run next time BEFORE I comment first impression. I am only human, but I will make an effort.
p.s. still, though, no “old school” association from me, for sure.

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Sherpa John says:

August 19, 2021 at 4:15 pm

Hi Everyone… John Lacroix here…

• Just a point of clarity to start off. I haven’t referred to myself as “Sherpa John” in any way, shape, or form since June 2019. I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t actually engage with me on a daily basis to observe this change, but since it seems to keep coming up as something I call myself… I don’t. Thank you.

• I appreciate those who provided some constructive feedback in the comments here. I have read them, and will continue to do the work we all do as humans.. to better ourselves. I am far from perfect.. I am listening, I hear you, and I am excited to get to work. Thank you to Olga for her final response here which highlights the behaviors of mine that she feels need improving. Thank you for pointing them out.

• HPRS has never had a podium. We’ve never had age group awards. We’ve never celebrated 1st, 2nd or 3rd anything.. regardless of gender, age, or anything of the like. We have always treated every runner as equals here. No prize money, no free entries for the elite. Why? Because some of us recognize that such a small fraction of runners actually compete for the accolades that we don’t see a need to focus on it. So we don’t. We’ve been in business for what is now our 8th year, and we’ve seen tremendous growth over the last 3 years. If folks want to go have a race and compete for money, prizes, comp entries, and their ultrasignup ranking.. There’s races out there that will allow them to do that.. We’re not one of them.. and that’s okay. 🙂 Something I have been told on the regular… “There’s something for everyone out there.. so worry about YOURself.” Trying…

• When it says that I don’t want to debate our stance… that’s just like your Blog Eric.. Your Blog, your rules. My race.. My Rules. No level of debate is going to get me to change our position on gender identity… so why have the debate? I’m just being honest.. this is our policy, run or don’t. Do you debate with Target or Verizon when they change their policies? So I took this verbiage out so that when the debate emails come in.. I can just click delete.

• “So why ask someone’s gender identity at all?” I’ve seen this and heard it a lot on this discussion. My #1 job as a race director, I believe, is risk management. It’s not the race, or the standings, or prizes.. it is risk management. I HAVE to ask someone their gender identity so that in the event of an emergency I know what I am walking in to. I need to know what pronouns to use when addressing someone.. because we all know, if I got that wrong, I’d be crucified for using the wrong pronouns. I need to know if an unresponsive athlete may be on medications to help them transition. I need to know what I might “find” or want to “avoid finding” on an athlete when performing an assessment in the event of injury. Asking someone their Gender Identity assists us with this and is why we still ask the question. I would ask folks in our community to think Big Picture before you just start throwing out questions to debate our stance.. there’s a reason we ask the question, and it’s for health and safety.

Lastly… I really doo appreciate other points of view, specially when those points of view are delivered in the same way others wish I delivered my messages.. with dignity and respect for everyone. That seeks to bring people together.. right? I’ll never understand why attacked a person is ever conductive.. especially when you never discuss the subject matter. In my blog posts on this subject, I don’t believe that I’m naming names or attacking anyone personally.. yet, Eric posts something here and here come the torches and pitchforks, name calling, threats and general harassment. If you folks want to talk about the issues or the subject.. let’s do that. But to take the time to attack a person simply because your personal values and beliefs don’t align with theirs.. I’m not sure what your intention or goal is there other than to just hurt someone. That’s the saddest part that I read here… So that said, I’m so very sorry that anything I say or do angers some of you to the point of name calling. I hope you find the peace and enjoyment you seek in the world, more than worrying about what I say or do moving forward. It’s just running…

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John Lacroix says:

August 19, 2021 at 4:21 pm

Pardon…. Yes.. I did name names of the individuals from the Ultra list who instead of wanting to have a calm, collected, and jovial discussion about the HPRS position on gender identity.. instead decided to call me names “like queer,” impose their own religious beliefs on me, or threaten to kick me off the ultra list simply because I didn’t want to debate the topic. I did so.. because I really do feel that this behavior is truly bullying in nature, and unnecessary. We can all have spirited conversation without threatening each other or calling each other names. And yes Olga.. each of them were middle aged white men.. that’s not me calling them names, that’s me pointing out something they all have in common.. which I believe, was no coincidence.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2021 at 8:33 am
  
  Thanks for the comment John. Didn’t realize you’d dropped the “Sherpa” moniker.
  I didn’t realize your races (your word) were not competitive. Thanks for the clarification. I also understand your attempt to be as 100% inclusive and woke as possible. Obviously, I think it’s a bit over the top, but you’re right, it’s your race and you set the tone and the rules.
  But isn’t a bit assumptive and hypocritical to write something like “middle aged white men.” How do you know those who commented identified as men?
  See how ridiculous this all gets?
  
  Reply
John Lacroix says:

August 25, 2021 at 5:04 pm

Sure.. That could be considered by some to be a bit assumptive and hypocritical. But I think you’re missing the point made in the article, just to create an argument of your own. Here we have a group of individuals who identify as Men.. who are also all White.. and also all Middle Aged.. who felt the need to push their politics on us, or their religious beliefs on us, as a way to get us to change our policy. The same rules apply to them… You can identify as any religion or political party that you want and run with us, just not something we really need to know or care about. How do I know that each of them identified as “Men”? They told me so.. But you’re not privy to those private conversations so you’re making mountains out of moles hills for the sake of argument. And hey… Eric.. honestly… Stop throwing the word “Woke” around like you do. You’re using it as an insult to people who are trying to do the right thing by being inclusive.. and it’s really pretty offensive. If someone isn’t “woke”… can we consider them “Asleep?”

Reply

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