Ultramarathon Daily News | Friday, May 18

For anyone who’s been watching this sport for more than a few years, Mike Morton’s incredible ultramarathon performances from a decade ago, subsequent disappearance from the racing scene, then rise again in 2013-14 was incredible. Mike’s a solider, a runner, an artist, and this morning he posted a brutally honest message about his struggle with PTSD, alcoholism, and suicide. I’ll be honest, his post chilled me to the bone. We chatted with him in this podcast, apparently in the throes of one of his worst episodes and now I feel I need to go back and listen for any clues. Get better Mike. Fight hard and get through this. The crazy and diverse ultramarathon and trail communities are on your side.

Nah, this won’t be exciting at all. Zach Miller, an Olympic XC skier, David Laney, a Mt Marathon Champion, and Tim Tollefson all battling on some wicked trail in Alaska.  Great write up and analysis right this way.

I make fun of sports and pop “science” a lot on these pages. Here’s an excellent analysis of why so much of it is flawed–and how it’s gone mainstream.

Simple request to PE teachers, coaches, and some parents: PLEASE do not use running as a punishment. It’s incredible how often this still occurs and it needs to end. Thanks.

— ultrarunnerpodcast (@UltraRunnerPod) May 16, 2018

There are 250k health apps out there, but little evidence that they are working.

OG URP host Scotty and I interviewed Rich Hunter five years ago this week. Rich introduced me to the incredible performances and struggles that the blind/VI community deals with and is instrumental in connecting runners and sighted guides around the country. He’s also got the first (and I believe one of a few) running guide dogs in the country. Klinger is up for a “heroic dog” award and voting is right over here. Let’s shine some extra light and accolades on an awesome team of runners.

Once you’re done here, head on over to semi-rad for Brendan’s Friday Inspiration.

The North Face Endurance Championships is going cupless. More right this way. And hey, if you’re signing up for Mass or Wisc, use URP20 for a nice discount…just remember to bring your damn cup.

Maybe someone will start serving alcoholic beer slushies at the next race?

Good article in Outside about what makes the USA’s top marathoner very unloveable. The accusations of cheating, of doping. His relationship with AlSal. His aloofness and isolation from media. I agree with the anonymous commentator: “Honestly, I couldn’t give a sh*t.”

As I hit the beach, I knew at this point if I had already made it 42 heinous miles, I could make it three more steep ones into the finishing town of Los Llanos. Rounding the final turn, was quite the sign of relief, as I was greeted by the warmest welcome I’ve ever experienced finishing a race

–And here’s Cole Watson’s report from Transvulcania.

Sabrina Little writes my favorite race reports, hands down. It often means having wikipedia open in another tab to understand some of the references, but they’re always good.  Here’s her most recent from the Trail World Championships.

Behind this paywall is most likely an interesting discussion about the culpability and liability of race directors when someone dies while competing.

Can CBD oil help triathletes? Could it also trigger PED tests? Consider.

Honest review: Sunny and I went to see The Snowman Trek last night and my wife asked me this morning how the movie was. While I liked seeing the incredible trails, environment, and people of Bhutan, the movie left me frustrated. While Tim and Frosty were there to run hard and set an FKT, the Bhutanese people were not ready (or warned?) for that type of expedition, and that’s not the athlete’s fault. The film came across as largely critical of their guides and porters, when it seemed that the organizer (and narrator) should have had the timeline set before they set off. 

After some epic hikes, Bighorn, and UTMB last year, Andrew Skurka is training for a good old footrace on the track. Painful!

Site news: I’m in the process of updating the look and the feel of the site, with one main emphasis being this page. My goal (working with a web designer) is to make the Daily News page more interactive with the ability to comment on each link separately. What other changes to the overall site would you like to see?