Ultramarathon Daily News | Fri, Mar 15

Excellent piece by Alastair Humphreys on the changing definition of adventure and how it fits into our lives.

UR Mag: The basics of running your first hundred miler.

Brrrrr.: Jill shares a day in the life of an adventurous woman in Nome, Alaska.

Cheater: I wouldn’t even know how to cheat in a bass tournament, but this guy did, got caught, and is now looking at a felony.

The fighting in Israel has me worried about Wardian and Ian. Stay safe out there, fellas.

Weddings: REI launches wedding registry. Makes sense. But what if these outdoors people want to survive on something other than energy bars?
(I’ve never understood why every outdoor carries fishing gear except REI.)

Friday Funny: What does a baby think when strapped into a running stroller and rocketed through an alien landscape?

NatGeo: Heather “Anish” Anderson named one of six Adventurers of the Year.

Is MUT running not inclusive enough, or is it just a representation of society in general? (I’m anxious to read MacNairn’s dissertation this Spring and will link to it.)

Race report: Excellent report on Transgrancanaria with detailed pictures that show the course. I’ll admit, the confusion about medical certificates and signatures will likely give me a few restless nights leading up to July.

ATRA: Young Tayte has some good words for trail running etiquette, even addressing the runners-and-MTBs-who-yields-to-who issue.

Adventure Blog: I’ve thrown out two sleeping pads in the past few years due to leaks. I had no idea fixing them was a relatively simple possibility.

Stay strong, New Zealand.

9 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Fri, Mar 15"

scott says:

March 15, 2019 at 6:52 am

Re: Sealing pads

This guy did it way harder than it needs to be, too. First, I think most air pads come with a little kit that is just a scraper to cause abrasion and 1/2″ “sticker” for the hole.

Besides that you can literally get away with just putting duct tape on it. While not the best, I can still use my neoair short after taping it 5~ years ago.

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Sandy says:

March 15, 2019 at 9:16 am

I’m wondering if there is a similar gender disparity in mountain biking? It’s also disappointing that statistics always seem based on races. There are plenty of trail runners who simply can’t afford or don’t have the desire to enter races, but that shouldn’t prevent them from being counted. Looking at lottery entries would at least provide better data and I believe that both Hard Rock and Western have seen a larger number of female entries in recent years. I think many of the lottery systems really need to be updated to help reduce the inequalities and it may actually encourage more participation.

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LB says:

March 15, 2019 at 9:17 am

REI having a wedding registry isn’t new. Use of MyRegistry is.

As for fishing gear – REI outfits people to get outside and enjoy the wilderness but doesn’t carry any kind of equipment for acquiring wild creatures. (Not intended as a judgment – just having trouble finding another way to phrase it.)

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Nick says:

March 15, 2019 at 11:20 am

If there were no barriers, pure equal opportunity, whatever best case scenario you can imagine, what percentage of women would you expect in the ultra running population?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 15, 2019 at 12:11 pm
  
  What barriers are there, aside from a very few lotteries?
  
  Reply
  1. Stephanie says:
    
    March 15, 2019 at 1:52 pm
    
    As a female, I sure don’t see any barriers that keep me from signing up for races due to my gender. There are barriers from other things – job, schedule, money, travel distance to race – but these are barriers everyone faces, regardless of gender or race.
    
    Reply
Paul says:

March 15, 2019 at 5:33 pm

Some factors impact women more than men. Two that immediately come to mind are the ability to train safely on trails (safe from creeps) and child care.

Of course most pastimes are not evenly distributed between men and women. I’m sure we can all think of hobbies dominated by women and others dominated by men. Interestingly, when this topic came up elsewhere I was wondering if hunting had the same issue. It turns out there indeed are efforts to increase the number of female hunters (partially in response to numbers of hunters decreasing overall).

The cynic in me wonders if increasing female participation is an answer to the trail running industry asking “where is our future growth going to come from?” rather than a deep concern about inequities in the sport.

Although I personally would not like it (as a man) I think it is a fair question to ask if races should have separate male and female lotteries.

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Gary Aronhalt says:

March 18, 2019 at 7:46 am

I’m 99% sure that REI used to have a fly-fishing section, at least at the flagship store here in Denver. But, I can’t quite remember when it went away. I think fishing in general, and fly-fishing in particular, are dying out, which is sad and unfortunate. A LOT of conservation money for the outdoors comes from hunting and fishing, and we MUT runners have more in common with them than many might guess.

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Steven says:

March 21, 2019 at 4:12 am

In Canada we have mec – mountain equipment coop. They sell everything for the outdoors except hunting and fishing

Reply

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