Ultramarathon Daily News | Fri, Oct 2
iRunFar highlights one of the best people in this sport…Errol “Rocket” Jones. Can’t say enough good things about his attitude, his encouragement, and his LAUGH. Here’s our interview with him from 2012…definitely check it out. And here’s a great short film about Rocket.
Podium Runner: When it comes to thirst, new studies show that runners should trust our guts. Are there any runners who get thirsty and say nah, I’m good?
–Take 80 minutes this weekend and watch Transamericana, the story of Rickey Gates’ run across America. Yeah, it’s about running, but it’s really about meeting people from different walks of life and getting in touch with the backroads of our country.
Spotify dug into the playlists of UK based runners getting ready for the London Marathon and listed the top five songs on most peoples’ lists. Name one?
A race! An actual race! Three Days at the Fair starts this morning in New Jersey and will feature, started this week and features, among others, Camille Herron’s attempt at the 48 hour record. Live tracking, though it seems to be spotty.
London Marathon is on Sunday. I’m not sure what’s more difficult: Running a sub 2 marathon, or trying to figure out how to watch it live. Here’s one option…for some. And I hate being this cynical, but the two top women are also managed by people with…less than stellar reputations.
Lindsey Weaver jumps into the FKT game and sets a new record on the C&O Canal Towpath. Nice!
Adventuring parents (King, Wardian, Grant) took part in a zoom talk on Facebook about how to encourage and enjoy the outdoors with kids. I haven’t watched it yet so I’m not sure if it focuses on general outdoors, or finding time to get outside during Covid.
What I’m listening to right now: Live recording from Oingo Boingo, Phoenix, 1983. Phenomenal recording quality with all the Boingo energy you’d expect.
SCMP: With the increased popularity of trail running in Hong Kong, a new study shows that it would be beneficial to have surcharges tacked on to race entires that would help maintain the parks and trails.
Sounds reasonable in theory, but I’ve got a few questions. Don’t income and business taxes pay for maintenance? I’m not familiar with HK tax collecting but wouldn’t that be a good route? And…if littering and trail degradation is a serious issue, it seems tightening up RDs and permits would be a good solution, right? Allow fewer entries and or/events and make littering a serious issue among participants. Also, the fact the moneys would have to be filtered through an NGO means the parks would get a small amount of the actual funds. Once salaries, bureaucracy, and the mandatory “studies” are factored in, I’m curious what percentage would actually go to the trails.
More on parks and usage: Here’s how Alberta, Canada deals with park economics with some ideas for different approaches.
–Could you squeeze in ten minutes for a quick academic survey? Reader/listener Jill is completing her PhD thesis at Harvard and needs data on mental health from ultramarathon runners. She’s on a bit of a time crunch, so if you could click here soon, she’d appreciate it. Thanks.
Statham’s views on the meaning of accidents and the value of risk continue to evolve. “People should be able to climb what they want,” he says, but clearly, he has some provisos. “When I was younger, I was always going for it. Risk was part of it, I embraced it and didn’t think past it. Now, I go to all these accidents and they don’t affect me individually, but collectively I think they add up. Now I see these family members of victims and I question so many things I believed in about what I love and its cost.”
—Fascinating article about mountain rescue and SAR teams.
Kudos to Ultimate Direction for making cool gear for dogs!
Trailrunner Mag: On the trail to sobriety. There are SO many great NA beers out there…try them out!
Semi-rad: Life, in twelve bicycles. Very creative.
And more good news: Saw my ophthalmologist and my vision has not degraded in the past six months! Very relieved and happy. It’s never going to get better, but I’ll take “not worse” gladly. A Covid miracle!