Ultramarathon Daily News | Friday, August 2
Hey gang, Sean again, here to help you kill time while you are trapped in your cubicle, dreaming of trails, mountains, and beer.
“I got a van, man”. Throwback to the most entertaining URP episode ever, with Mike Arnstein the Fruitarian. I listened to this with my then 8 year old, and his mind exploded when Arnstein started talking about cutting the top off a watermelon and eating the whole thing with a spoon. For even more entertainment, check out his video of Oz Perlman barfing his way through Spartathlon.
Lacking motivation for your next workout? This guy has the answer.
Salt. Good, bad, neither, both? As we enjoy the summer, this article provides an in depth discussion of the hows and whys of salt intake. Personally, I find my taste changing during the summer and I need to salt my food WAY more. When running, I know that if I’m low in salt my fingers turn to sausages and if I’m high in salt (i.e. low in water) I start to chafe. Both of these can be typically be corrected within 20-30 min of addressing the problem if they haven’t gone too far. What are your experiences? Salty language encouraged.
Ever wanted to run Barkley but can’t get in? There are a handful of runs that are less well known but still provide similar formats, a mix of self reliance, navigation, cross country travel, and lots of vert. These include (shameless plug ahead) Euchre Bar Massacre, Baldy Marathons, John Cappis Run, and High Five 100. There are more out there, but many are under the radar since permitting is difficult for this sort of thing. Plug yourself into these races and you may find an Adventure Run in your area.
A few more “weird” format events to put on your calendar. Hilloween (get as much vert as you can over a set time period), Bob Marshall Open (traverse a big open space, route is up to you), and Sine Nomine (almost nothing is known before the race). What other non traditional race formats are out there? RDs, please comment with your links.
Somebody let the cat out of the bag that there are mountains in Los Angeles. So much for that traffic free commute.
Davy Crockett continues his excellent series on ultrarunning history with the story of the Redwood Indian Marathon. Apparently the marathon standard distance has been shortened slightly from 480 miles to 26.2.
And finally, some sad news out of Italy, where a runner was killed at a skyrace when struck by lightning. Looks like they had shut down the race on account of the storm, but this person was between aid stations and out in the open. Reminds me of Adam Campbell’s experience at Hardrock a few years ago.
Enjoy the weekend, get those miles and have fun!