Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Oct 27

TrailRunner Mag: More on the life of ultramarathon/trail/adventure RD Matt Gunn.

Reddit: Canadian cyclist took his whole day to draw some Stravart in Toronto. What did he draw? A moose, of course.

Ian Corless: Kilian will attempt to break the 24hr track record, currently held by Yiannis Kouros. I love that he’s doing this stuff and mixing up his repertoire, but really wish he were coming here and making the attempt at Desert Solstice a month later. Ah well. My prediction is that he lands in the area of Camille Herron’s female WR (167.8), but will not touch Kouros’ 180. Update: He’s not running it. Dealing with an injury instead.

WaPo: Kids sports take a punch during the shutdown, but it’s not all due to that. Waning interest, e-sports, and other activities are crowding out what, in my mind, is one of the more important aspects of childhood. We’ve got a kids running club going and there’s no shortage of enthusiasm here.

Always a good listen to refresh your brain and your soul: Mike Strzelecki’s 18 ultramarathon tips from 30 years on the trails.

IRF/AJW: Take the patience you’ve learned in ultramarathon training and apply it to dealing with the shutdown for the next few months.

NYT: 2020 has been a banner year for dopers and cheaters.

I realized a few days ago that we haven’t had a rodeo-rider-turned-ultramarathon-runner on the show before. That’s changing this week. Stay tuned.

YouTube: Triathlete nonchalantly throws down a 28:06 10k on the road.

The Japanese Ekiden scene is so hardcore that they’ve had to add a new rule that allows referees to stop athletes who are trying to drag themselves across the finish line. And yes, the name of the race will trigger some readers.

I haven’t heard much about this, but it seems that UTMB Thailand is happening this weekend.

Dave VanMiller says:

October 27, 2020 at 1:27 pm

The loss of Matt Gunn is devastating. He was one of the kindest and most generous humans I’ve ever met. I was introduced to him through a message board about running the Wonderland Trail pre social media days. He was trying to start a summer gig crewing adventure runs on classic routes. I lived close to Mt. Rainier and helped him stage a trial run w/ the first group. After running the trail solo, through the night, I think with just two handhelds, he came to my house and stayed to get set up for the group he had coming the next day. Instantly, I felt like I knew him. I’ll never forget how he chatted with my brother in-law and wife in our living room, and in an evening, I learned most of the things mentioned about him in the linked article. He was just so warm and 100% honest about himself.
He crewed 5 us on the Wonderland run. He picked up everyone form the airport, secured our campsites, cooked for us, met us with coolers filled with beer, soda, and food along the way. Matt wouldn’t accept a single dollar from any of us, not for food, his rental car, supplies, campsites, gas, nothing. It was a mind-blowing 3 days for all of us. I didn’t really know any of those people, but what I do remember is all reconvening at our house Sunday night to drink beer, eat pizza, ice cream, and watch ultra-running films. I am the truest of introverts, but that’s probably the most connected to the ultra-running community I have ever felt. Matt drove everybody to airport on Monday morning and then drove to Bellingham to see his cousin play minor league baseball.

The following spring, my wife and I spent our Spring Break in Southern Utah. Matt met us right away in Springdale. The following days he showed us the best parts of the Zion 100 course while he was tirelessly marking it after full days of teaching middle/high school Spanish. When we drove over the Bryce Canyon, he had us stay at his family cabin. Before we left, we spent a night at his house, cluttered with the gear for the upcoming Zion 100. Most impressive, he had a collection of handpicked flowers that he was using for his 100 mile finisher belt buckles. We slept in one of his kids rooms that night, he was just that giving, he barely knew us.

A year later he came back up and we did the same Wonderland trip with a super cool group of women from British Columbia. Again, another amazing weekend, 100% crewed and created by Matt. Since those trips, I’ve exchanged a few emails with Matt about races in the NW. When I finished my first 100, the first email in my inbox on Monday morning was a sincere congratulations from Matt. I always intended to run the Zion 100, and still do. When I’ve met others that had, I always made it a point to tell them how great of a guy Matt was. It’s been exciting to see from a distance the success of his races and the following they created.

I’m sure I’m just one of hundreds of people that could share a similar story about Matt. My wife and I are deeply saddened to hear of his passing. Our thoughts and wishes to go out to his family and all those close to him. Matt was an amazing human being, he obviously touched so many people in his impactful life

Dave VanMiler
Tacoma, WA

eric schranz says:

October 29, 2020 at 8:20 am

Thanks for the memories Dave. Matt was the truly the best part of this sport.

Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Oct 27

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