Ultramarathon Daily News, Tue, Apr 14

Very cool story about an ultramarathon on Mount Baker with roots going back 100 years.  Crazy vert, snow, lava, beer vans, you name it.  Some intrepid runners in the Cascades are bringing it back with a goal of June ’16.  All the info is right here. Who’s in?

I know a lot of crazy runners and extreme athletes, but have a hard time figuring out who’d do this race. It’s either an Ironman a day for ten days, or 10x swim, 10x bike, then 10x run. Interested? It’s next May in Southern California. Update: Here’s the updated registration list…duh…Lisa Smith Batchen is on it. Of course.

Good read: Tim Tollefsen’s Lake Sonoma report.

This story is just too funny: Charity runners in Britain finish a race in tears after the course marshall ducked into the loo failed to direct them on the course. Meanwhile, an old lady drives onto the race course towards the front runners. Well done, RD.

Park that had previously banned trail running lifts the ordinance. 

Ian’s got a great collection of images from Marathon des Sables. I’m not interested in running it, but wow, what an amazing looking event.

Science: Is distance running an evolutionary signal for desirable male genes? 

Do you know any runners who smoke cigarettes? 

This is huge news in the marathon and road racing world: Two major Kenyan agents  suspended amidst doping investigations. Among the runners represented are Kipsang (2:03:23), Kimetto (current WE holder 2:02:57), Mutai (’11 Boston champ), Kilel (’11 Boston female champ), etc…yeah, pretty much all the top runners right now.

I wonder how this would’ve been handled in an ultra or a trail race. Would the guy have raised his hands in victory to pump up the crowd? Would the second guy have raced after him?  Same sport, different actions.