Ultramarathon Daily News | Thurs, Dec 5
Kevin Beck: The state of the overall running media is not great.
I think we have it pretty good in the MUT world though. From major pubs like ultrarunning magazine and TrailRunner to blogs like iRunFar, our major race coverage is taken care of while other big pubs like RW and Outside have become clickbaity garbage. Add in smart commentary from people like Mario Fraioli, smart and funny thoughts from Sabrina Little, sprinkle it with just over a million podcasts (right?), then count the remaining personal blogs/sites (like Kevin’s!), add in Jamil Coury’s media empire, and consider whatever the heck this site is, and trail and ultra runners have myriad choices of where and how to get info pertaining to this silly sport.
As it grows, let’s be sure to hold on to the independent sites and focus on intellectual diversity.
Sarah Lavender Smith: How to take time off this holiday without losing your running base.
More on base building from David Roche in Trailrunner Mag.
And the state of run speciality retail. It’s slowed since the “3rd boom” from a few years ago, but still strong. Issues like e-commerce, employee retention, product cost, and engagement are still major hurdles for brick and mortar. While I used to go into our local Fleet Feet every week, I only visit every few months now. If they had a stronger community and MUT connection, I’d be there a lot more. How have your retail habits changed?
What also drives sales for small business run specialty? There’s always this.
If someone inspires you because you can relate to their journey and who they are, let that fuel your training. If seeing another person makes you feel the opposite, unfollow for now, don’t hang around, and just go run your own race.
—Trail Sisters: Jenni writes about where and how we get the confidence to perform well in races.
Canadian Running: Could you do a backwards bear crawl (errr, a BBC? Really?) for 200m on a track? If so, there’s a race for you!
New trans-con FKT. 106mph average…wow!
Hmm. A women’s only trail half marathon has been added to the Lake Sonoma weekend. The race will take place on the Friday before the big race and run many of the same trails as LS. Two issues: One, is this a gender-based or sex-based race? I haven’t seen that distinction mentioned anywhere and it’s important. Also, one thing that draws so many people to Lake Sonoma is the chill, grassroots, low-key atmosphere. Adding a big event to “the weekend” threatens this scene, doesn’t it?
Redbull: Eight trail running events in the UK to check out in 2020.
Olympics: The marathon and race walk are still going through changes in an epic clusterfu*k of disorganization. They’ve only has 12 years to plan this though.
Ultimate Direction Blog: Michele Yates writes about the importance of adding cross training to your MUT regimen.
Forbes: This beer is suuuuuper gay.
Treeline Journal: Chase highlights some of the MUT runners from Bend making their way down to Sacramento to run California International Marathon this weekend. Any other MUT women running on Sunday? When I started on the trails, there were very, very few crossover runners and now we’re seeing it a lot more frequently. I love it.
And yo, CIM runners…forecast is looking wet. Prepare for wet roads and worse, discarded plastic bags all over the ground that can trip you up.
Adventure Journal: Fascinating story about the first woman to summit Everest without O2. Lydia Bradley did it in ’88 and her achievement was doubted–and not defended publicly for various reasons–but now she’s sharing her story and it’s remarkable.
And what does it cost to climb Everest? 2020 edition. Yikes.