Ultramarathon Daily News, Fri, Sep 4

All sorts of interesting data from the Western States runner survey. Highlights:

Years running doesn’t correlate to faster finish time.
People love Hokas, Ultimate Direction, and Petzl.
Having a paid coach doesn’t get you much.

New site searches intrawebz to find cheapest rate on running shoes. A whole lot of techy runners thinking “Rawwr!, Why didn’t I think of that?!?” Meanwhile, running stores (rightfully) freak out.

This is what a road trip to SW Colorado and the Hardrock course looks like. Thanks for the great video Mike!

Check out the latest podcast right here. It’s a follow up from my post about the Team Scoring Invitational, and I had the chance to get all the details from USATF MUT Council’s Kami Semick. Interesting chat about the future of our sport.

Runner makes a U-turn on a bike path without looking, right into the path of a cyclist who crashes. Bonehead move on his part, but her injuries were more than just scrapes. What do you think of the $300k decision?

Seven ways to be the ultimate obnoxious biker.

Awesome dad Andy breaks Kilian’s Grand Teton FKT. Not many people can say that, can they?

This is what makes Alex Varner such a threat as a runner: Diversity. Ultramarathons, XC, bikes, beer miles, road races…

Here’s Ian’s preview of The Rut 50k.

My body was willing to go on – my legs were happy prancing along on painful feet – but the feet themselves gave me an excuse that I was all too willing to accept. The devil offered to halt the torture if I stopped. All I had to do was hand in my number and my soul. What a simple task.

–Robbie Britton’s UTMB DNF report.

One of the inherent dangers to our sport is forest fires, and the West has been hit hard this summer. Here’s how the trail running community is coping.

HELP! Musicians! I need new music for the show! I was under the impression that “bumper music” was legal to use, but apparently I was wrong. Going forward, I need a new opening track and something for the outro. If you’re an artist, please email Me. Thanks!

Competitor highlights fast young runners, including ultra studs Jared, Ashley, and Ford. They’ve all also appeared on URP…check out the interviews here.

Nick Symmonds’ head just blew up.

These TrailsinMotion Film Festivals are all over the place. Have you been to one? What did you think?

Have a great Labor Day weekend. What are you running?

34 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News, Fri, Sep 4"

John says:

September 4, 2015 at 6:23 am

Those are definitely ways to be an obnoxious cyclist. I know I’m guilty of a few of those things. One more I would add would be not announcing you presence to runners as you come bombing down the trail behind them. Can’t count the number of times I’ve almost been taken out by some Ahole who’s working on his sprints…
It’ll be interesting to see how Varner does in an official bike race. Always nice to see the elites expanding their horizons.
A question for you Eric- tried to order a >26.2 sticker since I just finished my first ultra a few weeks back. And the site says that it can’t ship to ND? It states that there are no shipping options available.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 7:25 am
  
  I can ship anywhere. I’ve even sent stickers to prisons! Did you donate and I missed you? If so, email me and I”ll get it out STAT! Sorry.
  
  Reply
  1. John says:
    
    September 4, 2015 at 10:23 am
    
    I figured you could ship anywhere, I mean, they’re stickers. But, I input everything and then click on the paypal link, and it puts me back at the top of the page stating “Invalid Shipping Method” and tells me to check my address. Kinda weird.
    
    Reply
Tyler says:

September 4, 2015 at 6:25 am

The runner that got hit by the cyclist is a friend of mine. The jury’s decision was terrible from just about every angle. The plaintiff’s attorney somehow managed to put together a jury full of people who had never been on the Greenway and had no clue about rules of the road. Just to give some context, the Roanoke River Greenway is a multi-use path that is full of runners, walkers, kids, and dogs where pedestrians always have the right of way. Everybody around here is shocked, particularly because we know Bill Bundy to be a smart, kind, upstanding citizen. Scary to think you could go for a run and come back with a $300k verdict again you.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 7:26 am
  
  Yeah, seems messy. We have a very similar pathway here–runners, cyclists, dog walkers, skaters–and I can see this happening. Problem is, like you said, getting a jury of your peers to understand the context.
  
  Reply
  1. Dave says:
    
    September 5, 2015 at 6:11 pm
    
    Pedestrian right of way does not include a lack of responsibility in all cases. For example, in a roadway pedestrians have the right of way but if they step from behind a parked truck and in front of a moving car that does not have time to brake, the responsibility is obviously on the pedestrian.
    
    I was running in a race three feet behind and to the right of another runner. When the runner decided to step off the pathway to tie his shoe, he made a hard right without looking and tripped me into a hard face plant on his way out. I thought he was completely responsible.
    
    When biking, I say “on your left” as I approach pedestrians from behind and I give them lots of room when oncoming traffic allows, but if they ignore me (earbuds, talking, clueless, etc) step in front of my bike without looking and I don’t have room to brake or dodge, how could that not be their fault?
    
    The details of the accident in the article were not clear enough to make it plain who was at fault, but right of way does not apply to “surprise” moves.
    
    Reply
    1. Micah Ward says:
      
      September 10, 2015 at 8:52 pm
      
      This is a frustrating topic for me. I regularly run on a greenway and regularly (three times today) am passed by speeding bicycles, with no warning and often within arms length. Often I do not hear them coming and my hearing is fine and I NEVER wear earphones or carry a cell phone with me. The fact that I usually run with a 75 pound dog on a six foot leash just compounds the potential danger.
      
      I always loudly thank any cyclist that gives me an “on your left” or the ring of bell. But unfortunately they are in the minority. On a recent Saturday 8 miler, I counted and was passed by 51 bicyclists and received only 13 warnings.
      
      I’m sure this rant won’t solve anything but it does make me feel better.
      Micah Ward
      Colorado Springs, CO
      
      Reply
Emir says:

September 4, 2015 at 7:06 am

Don’t you think they did that on purpose because of what Nick did?Reference

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1. rachel says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 8:17 am
  
  Emir, I was thinking the same thing. At the very least they wouldn’t want to push Nike gear on the runners after all that media attention. I think Nick definitely had an impact on that.
  
  Reply
Emir says:

September 4, 2015 at 7:07 am

Eric, you might want to reach out to Ethan, the Ginger Runner, and see if he can hook you up with one of his tunes?Reference

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Benton says:

September 4, 2015 at 7:11 am

Eric I love the music, NO!

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 7:28 am
  
  I enjoy choosing outro music too, but don’t want to step on anyone’s intellectual property. That’s a no-no, and I’ve been inadvertently guilty of it. Plus, I think it’d be cool to have some tunes written by runners.
  
  Reply
Daniel Slater says:

September 4, 2015 at 7:18 am

I would love to see one of these lists for mountain bikers.

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Mark says:

September 4, 2015 at 8:15 am

Used the site to find Hoka Cliftons. It came up with a retailer I didn’t know about, which was good. But when I went online to see how it did with Running Warehouse, the price on RW’s site was different than Shoekicker was reporting.Reference

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Jamie says:

September 4, 2015 at 8:18 am

I don’t use a coach, but those stats don’t tell you much about what you could get out of one. They just tell you that most people don’t need a coach in order to finish. The roughly 1/5 of people who did use coaches may have done much worse without coaching. And a significant part of the coachless group might have done much better if they had been coached.

Odd fact: Brooks are much more popular among the over 24 hours group.Reference

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1. Sarah Lavender Smith says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 9:21 am
  
  Thanks Jamie, I agree! My dear friend Eric, I too gotta wag my finger at you for the third bullet point, “paid coaches don’t get you much.” The survey asked how many WS finishers used a paid coach, and not many did; it concluded: “It seems there are a lot of ultrarunning coaching services out there yet very few WSER finishers use them. Maybe because a lot of the coaches actually ran the race this year. Or ultrarunners are an independent bunch and don’t like a training schedule.” I don’t think that you can draw from that conclusion that paid coaching doesn’t get you much.
  This topic is on my mind not only because I’m a paid coach, but also because Scott Dunlap has a new post extolling the downloadable McMillan coaching plans now synched with Strava. I’m glad it helped his training, but it’s important that people realize a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all training plan is not a substitute for a real coach. A personal coach is worth the investment (and by the way, we charge less than the typical personal trainer at a gym) because the coach monitors and modifies a client’s training based on progress/setbacks, the client’s quirky schedule, and based on the specific challenges of a specific race; the coach provides motivation and seasoned advice for all the mental and logistical prep that’s essential for reaching a goal; the coach considers and adjusts training based on the context of a larger training cycle and the client’s history and life circumstances, etc etc … so who knows, maybe if more WS finishers had used a coach, they would’ve had a better time! Thanks for listening and now I’ll get off my soapbox :-).
  
  Reply
  1. Joey says:
    
    September 4, 2015 at 10:50 am
    
    Also, it’s just a sample survey of one race. And anyone can get into the race through the lottery. It’s not like everyone that does WSER is elite or had to have a qualifying time. So it’s just a tiny survey of the general ultrarunning community, in my opinion.
    
    Reply
  2. Scott Dunlap says:
    
    September 5, 2015 at 7:46 am
    
    I totally agree with you Sarah. Although the fixed training plan from Strava was better than nothing, the fact that it didn’t incorporate any core work, weights, balance, hills, heat training, nutrition, injury adjustments, life adjustments, feedback on how I was feeling, or client-specific tuning means I would never find my best. Should I actually get into States this year (my biggest loser streak continues!), I plan on using a personal coach. There are just too many factors, and I need that silver buckle. 😉
    
    Reply
Mike D says:

September 4, 2015 at 8:48 am

What about Matt Flaherty?Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 8:49 am
  
  I already emailed him. He’s in Chamonix for a few more weeks. I LOVE his stuff.
  
  Reply
2. Scott Dunlap says:
  
  September 5, 2015 at 7:42 am
  
  +1 for Flaherty. He’s got some chops.
  
  Reply
Mike D says:

September 4, 2015 at 8:57 am

I absolutely agree with the decision based on her long term injuries. Here in Philadelphia, I both run and bike on the very popular Schuykill Trail. As runners, when we turn, we should be turning off the trail not into it. This is one way to minimize these types of collisions. Sadly, as a cyclist, I have had two incidents where my bike came into contact with a runner. Much of it was minimized by trying to turn quickly. Both had headphones in and could not hear my audible of ‘passing on your left’.Reference

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Victor Ballesteros says:

September 4, 2015 at 9:09 am

Yo! I’ve got your music. You can even have it in any genre you’d like. 😉

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1. Michael A. Jimenez says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 1:56 pm
  
  Voodoo Switch on URP :-)# Love that!! Check the Jack Straw cover on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXP4vS_1SGo
  
  Reply
Andy Rhine says:

September 4, 2015 at 9:21 am

Might do some searching around. I was always amazed you got away with this for as long as you did. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/14-websites-to-find-free-creative-commons-music/Reference

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Paul says:

September 4, 2015 at 9:47 am

No mention of A Race For The Ages!? Perhaps the most exciting race of the year
http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=31290

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Chris says:

September 4, 2015 at 2:10 pm

Just wanted to say thanks for turning me on to the Flipbelt! I got one in July and I think I have only run without it twice since. My running vest is jealous.

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1. Michael A. Jimenez says:
  
  September 4, 2015 at 2:20 pm
  
  I second this, I too bought one due to the review Eric wrote. The one item I do not put in it tho is my car key, it’s awesome for everything else, especially for feeling minimal, but even w/my key hooked onto the hook gimmick inside, it came undone and was half slid out of the Flipbelt. That aside, this is a really comfortable way to get out and run shirtless, yet still hold things like an Iphone, ect. Still waiting to see the video of Scotty and Eric going ‘Apocalypse Now’ on the sunglasses that are supposed to be indestructible. :-)#
  
  Reply
Michael A. Jimenez says:

September 4, 2015 at 2:15 pm

Tremendous, retelling, I was on the edge of my seat with this one.Reference

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Pete K says:

September 4, 2015 at 2:41 pm

Too bad about the music licensing; I too thought it was legal. I always looked forward to hearing a different outro song that’s somehow related to the guest or something discussed during the interview. Matt Flaherty’s music is pretty rad – maybe he’d have something to contribute.

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Koop says:

September 4, 2015 at 4:06 pm

+1 for sara’s comment. BUT… the coached athlete population should do better than the non-coached population. If not, then it’s poor coaching! Not enough data presented in the report to determine, but it would be easy to slice out.

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Mike H says:

September 4, 2015 at 4:39 pm

Thanks for posting this! Here’s the website I’ve used for free and unique instrumental music.

http://freemusicarchive.org/Reference

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Sam in Oakland says:

September 4, 2015 at 6:39 pm

Darn, probably the last podcast to use Rob Zombie as an intro/outro.Reference

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Sam in Oakland says:

September 4, 2015 at 6:53 pm

The coaching market is ripe for analysis. It seems an entire ecosystem of coaching has arisen in the past five years. I agree that an objective voice is important in training, but a great deal of money is changing hands… making the topic worth exploring.Reference

Reply

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