Ultramarathon Daily News, Wed, Apr 26

Is this you? Ultrarunners and alcohol habits. Chase and I sound very similar in this regard, except I “go Mormon” every few months and abstain from alcohol and caffeine all together.

Latest episode of Mountain Outhouse is out: Jenn Shelton, Sage, Timothy Olson, and more!

It sounds like the names have been chosen, but they’re just waiting to announce the winners of the UD/Gu/LaSportiva FKT Grant Program. Ironic that a contest for Fastest Known Times is late?

Candice Burt: How to mitigate fear in the wilderness. Good stuff, and great advice. Read it, then go outside and do something awesome.

Speaking of fear, remember the trail running woman mauled during a race in NM last year? She’s back to running.

Industry folks: Tired of OR? Check out this new take on an experiential trade show. I’ll be there in September….you?

More industry news: An analysis of how run specialty retailers are struggling with the digital era. New brands aren’t getting shelf space and the consumer experience isn’t being attempted for an online platform. Questions:

Where do you buy your gear/shoes? Why?
If online, is it from a retailer’s e-business or is it from Amazon/Zappos/RunnersWarehouse?
Do you feel a connection to your local independent running store via its website?

IRF: Womens pay vs mens pay in trail and ultramarathon events.

Whoa! Michele Yates is back! She does well in a MTB race, then wins a 40 mile trail run.

Got slippage? How to tie your trail shoes.

Short news day today. Prepping for two new interviews: Blake Wood and Jess Mullen.

19 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News, Wed, Apr 26"

Alex says:

April 26, 2017 at 5:48 am

I honestly have no idea where my shoes come from.

My wife cares a lot more about what shoes I’m wearing than I do. And I hate shopping. So I just wear whatever she buys. Other than knowing they’re Brooks I don’t even know what model they are without going and looking at them. I know she buys them online but not where.

If I were to buy my own, I’d look at the shoes I have, buy more of those and just do it on Amazon if they’re available there because I measure life success by how little time I spend shopping.

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Mic Med says:

April 26, 2017 at 5:55 am

Running Warehouse. Free 2 day shipping. Free returns, an even better return agreement than my local running store. 15% off through my running club, off the already ridiculously low prices. I don’t “try” a lot of stuff, so being able to simply order the same shoes that I know have worked for me in the past makes it a very obvious choice.

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Mdh says:

April 26, 2017 at 6:09 am

I’d buy all my shoes through a local store if i could, but around here they all close by 5 or 6. if you’re employed in a 9-5 you’re out of luck. Throw in a Saturday long run, doing them the courtesy of showering after, and bay area traffic and you can’t get there on a Saturday either. It’s pretty simple to throw up an online store, i wish more running stores had them.

You miss out on the community/ knowledge part but even so there’s a lot of that which can be shared online in a small retail environment through employee access to the pos, social media, etc.

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Brian says:

April 26, 2017 at 6:36 am

Running Warehouse or Amazon. We don’t have a local running store any more. There are a couple in the towns near me, but none of those stores carry my preferred brand, which is a bummer. So I buy online. I’d like to buy some from a local store, but I also don’t mind the easy shopping and rather large savings that come from buying online (especially as I tend to buy the old model).

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1. DF says:
  
  April 26, 2017 at 4:34 pm
  
  Same here, Brian. I live in DC and there’s plenty of running stores. How many of the local ones carry trail shoes? Nada. Zip. Now we have an REI which I’ve bought some Hokas from but the vast majority are from Running Warehouse.
  
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twlz says:

April 26, 2017 at 6:46 am

We (my houseful of runners) all get our shoes from our local shop, Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company. AKA: Ian’s.

All sentimental reasons aside, I want to get my shoes at the store where I can try them on and run around the block if I feel I need to.

We get some of our gear there, and some from Old Goat Gear Exchange around the corner, they sell used, new, and sample stuff.
I don’t really ever look at their websites.

Going to the stores just to say hi is normal. I’ll buy a gel or a sticker as an excuse to talk shop and sniff shoes. Not that an excuse is needed.

For our outdoors centered life these two stores are hubs for everything, not limited to spending money. I’m a sustainability professional (a comrade recently coined that title) and these brick and mortar stores supply a lot of networking and moral support for intertwined disciplines of trail running, trail maintenance/preservation, recycling/compost/waste management at races, local food and farming, camping/hiking, wildlife appreciation/preservation, etc. Plus, more and more with FLRTC, – politics.

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Zach says:

April 26, 2017 at 7:00 am

I currently buy most of my shoes from RunningWarehouse, where I can consistently get 20 or 25% off, plus free expedited shipping.

I used to purchase from a local running store where the staff knew me and I’d get a modest 10% discount or a free pair of socks or a store logo singlet or something added when I came in. It was those personal interactions and recognition that kept me coming back and paying higher-than-online prices. I was happy to support the store and the staff. They’re now closed though (for other reasons)

I have two other local options. One is a tri store where my perception is they don’t want to waste time on me because I’m not buying all of their tri specific stuff.

At the other running-specific store, I don’t “feel a connection” there, so I have a hard time paying full retail is hard when there’s no ancillary benefit and I don’t feel it’s appreciated (even though I’m sure it is by some). A pair of Hoka Cliftons at my local store is $139.05 with tax, while I just paid $96 for the same pair on RunningWarehouse.

The local store runs 99% of our local races, so they are still doing quite well and still get plenty of my money. I’m also not one of those that goes to the local store to try things on, only to buy the same exact model online. And for those reasons, I feel neither an incentive nor “moral obligation” to purchase my shoes locally.

I do wish I “could,” but with the current climate, I just don’t see that happening any time soon.Reference

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1. Zach says:
  
  April 26, 2017 at 5:05 pm
  
  Edit: Make that RoadRunnerSports.com, not RunningWarehouse.
  
  Reply
Robert Bird says:

April 26, 2017 at 7:34 am

I buy a lot of shoes from running warehouse too but I also love to visit the local running stores when I travel and the last two pairs I bought were clearance deals I found in the back of these stores. I’d rather browse through those shelves than racks of souvenirs any day. Even if I don’t buy shoes I love to get the feel of the local running scene and I can always use to pick up some new piece of gear or nutrition. Plus I’ve had some great conversations with the staff and owners of these stores. The shop in Breckinridge was a treasure trove of intimate details about Leadville. The clerk at Flagstaff ran in the Olympic trials, I restocked bodyglide and gu on my way to the Vermont 100 in Manchester and got some great tips for the race, I bagged a pair of Altra’s half price on clearance at a shop in Ormond Beach, FL I could go on. Every shop was unique and I had a great experience.Reference

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Jacob says:

April 26, 2017 at 7:51 am

I live in Portland so we have more options than normal people. First, Nike Employee store if I can get a pass, Adidas employee store passes are super easy to get, then the Columbia store has always had Montrail available but now they have a larger presence. All three of those places are 50% off retail.

If I can’t get a pass, I watch Nike 20% off clearance sale with free shipping is excellent. If that’s not available then I would go to running warehouse. Super convenient with 2 day shipping.

I haven’t bought a pair of shoes for me (one pair for my wife 2 years ago) from a running shoe store in probably 10-12 years despite only being 28.

I felt more connection with my local store by going on their group runs than anything else. I couldn’t justify walking in and paying retail when I average 50% off. That’s serious money.Reference

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Charlie says:

April 26, 2017 at 7:56 am

I buy my shoes from Runningwarehouse.com and E-bay.
Gear and miscellaneous running items from local store.
Shoes are just cheaper online, but can’t always get the fit & feel right, like I would be able to through a local running store–so there is a drawback. Runningwarehouse.com has always been great though.

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Lucus says:

April 26, 2017 at 8:31 am

Most of my shoes come from 6pm.com and Running Warehouse.com because local running stores do not stock what I buy (mostly Inov-8). Running warehouse is the source of nearly all of my apparel and accessories too. They have the best selection of good running gear – not the general mass market stuff at most big box retail. Plus their customer service has been fantastic if I’ve ever needed anything.

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Nate X says:

April 26, 2017 at 10:24 am

The reality is that running “specialty retailers” usually don’t have what I need, or don’t have the specific brand that I want. I get it though. They need to appeal to the masses to try to be profitable.Reference

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Joel says:

April 26, 2017 at 11:29 am

This is great news! After the article yesterday regarding Anton and the backseat he’s taken in recent years in the trail running spotlight, I was thinking of all the other promising athletes who have quietly disappeared from the ranks for one reason or another and Michelle was one of the people that came to mind. Whether she makes a big return to the sport or not she seems like a high quality person and ambassador for our sport and any further participating she does can only be a good thing.Reference

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ScottD says:

April 26, 2017 at 11:41 am

An interesting story about a guy who got caught lying about murdering his wife, thanks to Fitbit. https://www.buzzfeed.com/maryanngeorgantopoulos/fitbit-murder?utm_term=.ke7YKZjww#.ej8dR2300

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Michael J says:

April 26, 2017 at 11:59 am

Good stuff!Reference

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Sean says:

April 26, 2017 at 5:26 pm

I try to support the local store as much as possible, so I go there whenever I want to try new brands or models or gear, and pretty much always buy my first pair there. But when I can get shoes for $50 (or more) cheaper online, it’s hard to buy pairs 2-5 at the store.Reference

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scott says:

April 27, 2017 at 12:59 am

Aside from getting fitted for your first shoes or going out of your way to support something local, there’s just no reason to shop at a B&M in 2017 (or 16, or 15…).Reference

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John says:

April 27, 2017 at 6:20 am

I would love to buy shoes from the local stores, but they make it so hard. 1st of all, there is a markup of 30-50% on shoes. They have limited color selections (don’t care that much, but if I’m dropping a $100 on shoes, I may as well get the color I want.). They don’t always even have the model I want. Plus there is also the 30 minutes to drive there and back.

I buy online mostly and then like every 4th pair, I’ll buy at my local store.

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