Ultramarathon Daily News, Mon, Apr 13

Big race this past weekend in Sonoma. We camped the night before, hit the start, then I stayed at Madrone Point a/s with the URP Golden Shower. Full results here. Billy runs with the top group for awhile in this sneak peek video. USL has interviews here. Bryon’s recap is here. Derrick has some awesome shots of the leaders here. And if you’re wondering who those 19 year olds were who each finished third, I interviewed them last week here.

P1130421 — Tim Tollefsen following Max King through the URP Golden Shower at mile 31.

I think the Nike Trail Elite team is great for the sport, exciting to watch, and made up of a solid group of guys and gals. I also totally support Robbie Britton’s protest of Nike signing drug cheat Justin Gatlin to the swoosh.

Full results from Int’l Association of Ultramarathon 24 hour Championship in Italy. Women here. Mens here. Both did great, but I think it’s fair to say the fellas got chicked. Maggie Guteri came back from 19th place to seal the deal for the ladies. Guts!

Very cool. Vasque used to be a huge brand in our little corner of the running market, then they had some rough years, but now they’ve got Krissy Moehl on board. I played with some of their shoes at last year’s Outdoor Retailer and was impressed!

Stephanie’s tales of running and exploring are always good. This one’s no exception as she runs through Afghanistan.

Jean posts a great report from Mad City 100k. I’m in awe of guys like him who can race so much, train religiously, hold down a demanding job, and have a family. Full results here. Holy cow! Camille Herron 4th OA and over three hours ahead of 2nd female. Is that right???

Recent Beer Mile controversy might require new rule for verification: Dumping the finished bottle in a bucket and measuring remainder at finish.

I released this interview on Friday. It’s not an audio podcast, but a transcribed interview with Emily Richards who’s quickly making a name for herself in the MUT scene. She also had some life threatening struggles with anorexia as a high school runner and opens up to Sarah and I here.

Good read: Bill Rodgers, 40 years after his big Boston win.

This is the greatest billboard in the world.

And here’s the finest route in the High Sierra.

Somehow in all the commotion, I forgot to mention that Devon Yanko finished 7th female at Two Oceans Marathon in RSA earlier this month. You know when people say “just wait until the Africans start running ultras!”….Yeah, in Africa, they do. I’ll be interviewing her later this week to learn more about it.

Read this: Train with the tools you have. How to train for altitude, technical trails, and heat when those aren’t close by. Or you could always pull a tire around town.

24 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News, Mon, Apr 13"

Mic Med says:

April 13, 2015 at 6:31 am

Nope, this is utter BS in my opinion. 1st, you can be mad at THE RULES but it’s not Gatlin’s problem if they’ve allowed him to come back to compete. Plus, if you know the dude he’s a total stand up guy who was suspended the first time for taking an ADHD drug that he had been taking since he was 8 (which had he delcared and the 2nd time after his coach/massage dude was giving him testosterone cream without his knowledge. Anyways, he served the ban handed to him, which was somehow only 4 years. Again, not his problem. So he’s clean, he served his ban, he runs for a crappy company out of China cause no one will sponsor him and he throws down the 4 fastest 100m times last year. He’s doing everything right, and Nike signs him and people are mad at him and Nike??? It’s BS. I’m not a Nike fan myself, but there’s nothing wrong with this.Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  April 13, 2015 at 6:39 am
  
  The “my massage therapist did it” defense is garbage. Dude needs to take some responsibility.
  
  Reply
  1. Mic Med says:
    
    April 13, 2015 at 6:53 am
    
    Why? If he feels he’s innocent, his responsibility was to serve the ban and come back and compete. And what does that change? So because people don’t like that he didn’t own up to something he thinks he didn’t do yet still served the ban, then Nike shouldn’t sign him? So it’s a personal thing?
    
    Reply
    1. eric schranz says:
      
      April 13, 2015 at 7:00 am
      
      First, I support lifetime bans for positive tests.
      Second, I totally recognize that TUEs make positive tests tricky to figure out. (FTR, I don’t think ADD/ADHD drugs should qualify for TUEs, along with most other non-life threatening disorders or diseases.)
      Most importantly though, I know that if I were competing at such a high level, with one sketchy test in my past, I wouldn’t let ANYONE put ANYTHING on or in me without a full vetting.
      His fault.
      
      Reply
      1. Mic Med says:
        
        April 13, 2015 at 7:12 am
        
        Let’s say there’s a raffle for kids. There’s 10 prizes and 10 kids. Billy wins the first prize, and instead of putting his ticket to the side, they put it back in the shuffle. He wins again. He wins 5 of the raffle prizes! So 4 kids end up with no prizes while Billy gets 5. Are you going to be mad at Billy?
        The “rules” allowed Gatlin to compete again and now he’s killing it as usual. I’m not debating whether or not it was his fault. He was working with a sketchy ass coach, but he claims he’s innocent. (I’m with you 100%, I would’ve checked and double checked every oz of every product that I came in contact with) He was banned for 4 years, not a lifetime. What I’m having a problem with is people are mad that he’s been allowed back in for a second chance (if not a third chance) and are mad at him for it. If I went to jail for theft and it was so bad and ruined so many people’s lives that I deserved to be in prison for life, but the judge and jury decided that 14 months was all I had to serve, I wouldn’t say “dude… umm, come on, give me life.” I’d serve my 14 months and that’s that. Not my fault that’s all they gave me.
Beth says:

April 13, 2015 at 6:38 am

I think Maggie Guterl would make a great interviewee for URP!

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Andy says:

April 13, 2015 at 6:40 am

Whenever I read the “golden shower” thing my mind goes to the completely wrong image.Reference

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eric schranz says:

April 13, 2015 at 6:43 am

Double entendres are fun!

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1. Stew says:
  
  April 13, 2015 at 7:18 am
  
  Wondering if the beer was that Watermelon beer you hate so much 😛
  
  Reply
  1. Stew says:
    
    April 13, 2015 at 7:19 am
    
    I mean if the shower was that Watermelon beer!
    
    Reply
    1. eric schranz says:
      
      April 13, 2015 at 7:30 am
      
      No, we’d had a growler of Russian River pilsner the night before. 🙂
      
      Reply
Stew says:

April 13, 2015 at 7:17 am

I thought it was really cool that Jared and Ashley did so well after your interview. I’m also blaming Jim W’s hot start on you!!

You may have noticed also that Katy and David did fantastic races!Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  April 13, 2015 at 8:05 am
  
  I’ll take full credit for their successes, but zero blame for Jim’s.
  That’s how it’s done, right? 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. David says:
    
    April 13, 2015 at 2:54 pm
    
    Thanks, Stew! I had a blast out there (and it was a hoot meeting up with Eric at the Golden Shower)
    
    I tried to “Scott Dunlap” it and take a bunch of pictures. I’ve posted them here
    
    http://warmupmarathon.blogspot.com/2015/04/lake-sonoma-50-miler-welcome-to-jungle.html
    
    Reply
eric schranz says:

April 13, 2015 at 7:28 am

And my beef isn’t with him. I mean, aside from being a convicted cheat with poor decision making skills, he isn’t my target.
My complaint is with Nike, who’s showing other athletes that it’s OK to dope because you’ll still get a contract in the long run.
Combine that with their relationship with Salazar, and it doesn’t make them look good…it makes them look awful.
I just wish the Nike Trail Elite team had a different logo.Reference

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1. Mic Med says:
  
  April 13, 2015 at 7:43 am
  
  Fair. But I don’t think that’s what Nike is showing people, they made a good statement that said while they don’t condone what he did in the past, he served his ban and is making incredible improvements since coming back on and off the track.
  Now, I’m in agreement that it doesn’t make Nike look “good”, but when was Nike the face of good morals? Everyone knows Nike is about the dollar, but people are somehow surprised or outraged they signed Gatlin. Its the exact type of company that would sign Gatlin.
  
  Reply
  1. Mic Med says:
    
    April 13, 2015 at 7:44 am
    
    Also, I love the Nike Trail Team. I was such a non-fan of Nike that I never purchased a single piece of their gear/shoes/anything until last year, when the Nike Team started killing it and I decided to try their Wildhorse shoes and now have a total of 8 pairs of Nike shoes.
    
    Reply
  2. Tim Tollefson says:
    
    April 13, 2015 at 8:05 am
    
    I completely agree they are sending the wrong message. Signing Gatlin is further bruising Nike’s black eye reputation of winning at all costs. It makes me sick that the higher ups don’t have a better sense of the greater good. They capitalize on the fact that we as the public are dumb and easy to forgive and forget, which unfortunately is true.
    
    What these cheats like Gatlin are doing is criminal. They need to be prosecuted for grand theft and serve jail time. Lifetime bans need to be issued. Lessening the sentence for information and whistleblowing perhaps but cheats need to forever lose their right to compete at World Championship and National level meets forever.
    
    Cheating in sport is our unforgivable sin. If we want to be treated like a profession then we need to act like one. Second chances after doping is bullshit.
    
    Reply
    1. Tim Mickelson says:
      
      April 13, 2015 at 8:39 am
      
      So switch sponsors.
      
      Reply
Justin H says:

April 13, 2015 at 7:58 am

Speaking of altitude: I know altitude is somethings that’s tough to train for. I have a gym near me that has a High Altitude Training Room and I’m trying to decide if it’s worth paying for. Also from what little i know this can be seen as cheating by some…

Does anyone here have experience with a high altitude training room and is worth it?Reference

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John Morelock says:

April 13, 2015 at 9:30 am

Staying up way late Saturday night following and sharing the 24-Hour Championships was great fun — an international event with the U.S. women truly shining brightly. The U.S. men made a valiant effort, falling only a few miles short of the podium. rgot

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Paul says:

April 13, 2015 at 9:34 am

It was known going in to the 24hr WC that the US women were favorites. This was one of the deepest US womens fields to date and that is even without runners like Sabrina Little, current US womens 24hr record holder with 152 miles. The mens team, credible as they were and solid effort, were never considered as strong as the women

Katalin Nagy finished within sniffing distance of Sabrina’s record. Traci Falbo (US record holder for 48hrs with 242 miles) finished with 149. And Maggie held strong for 146. The team was deep enough that it could afford an off day from 3 of its athletes. The ‘weakest’ qualifying number was Sky’s who still had 137mi, which still meets the Mens qualifying standard.

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Paul says:

April 13, 2015 at 9:40 am

Camille finished in 7:26:xx. Some context, this was her first domestic ultra, but she races marathons very frequently and is a 2:37 marathoner. She was in the hunt last year (top 5) at Comrades before collapsing several times in the last few miles and DNF’ing – leading to a trip to the ER. She’ll be returning this year.

At Mad City, I believe she was chasing Ann Trason’s US record of ~7:00:xx, and gradually gave up on the pace after 50K. Hopefully we’ll see more of her down the road.

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Jean Pommier says:

April 13, 2015 at 2:56 pm

Thanks for the plug, Eric! The big competition was certainly not in Wisconsin this year, or this weekend for that matter. I’m enjoying the titles, but maybe we have too many championships, and age groups, that defeats the purpose. At least I shared some insights about this MadCity 10K course for those interested. Great organization, very friendly atmosphere, but not flat enough for setting up serious records in my opinion. Speaking of which, it was cool to see Bill Dodson smashing the M80-84 American record by 2 hours and 34 minutes! We all wish we can run 62 miles when we are his age, don’t we? 😉
PS: and great job “catching” Jared and Ashley before their amazing performance!

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