Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, Feb 26
Wired UK: Excellent piece on the rise of ultramarathons, with an emphasis on Tom Evans prep and run at Western States. Great coverage of our sport from a non-sporting mag that also covers Courtney, Camille, and others.
This graf (below) did pique my curiosity though…did I miss something?
Ultrarunning’s watershed moment may take place in 2021. For the first time, the official governing bodies of ultra, mountain and trail running are working together with World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations) to produce a combined world championships, giving ultrarunning disciplines official World Athletics branding. Ultramarathoners will get more prominence on a world stage, opening the door to greater recognition and funding for the sport.
AP: There’s a three month window to decide if Coronavirus will cancel the Tokyo Games. If they were next week, would you go?
…and I’m hoping that articles like this that highlight the incredible work and opportunity of the athletes are not for naught.
Spartan postpones and modifies upcoming event in Hong Kong amid fears of Coronavirus.
Slate journos chat with the NYT writer who profiled Jim Walmsley last week and ask many of the lay questions we hear every day. A bit sensational, but decently done.
TrailSisters: To all the hills I’ve loved before. Oh, I could write some odes to hills around here too. Funny how some would conjure up drastically different emotions and memories than others, as I’ve targeted them at different periods of my life.
American RD’s just read “course has 33 road crossings” and spit up their coffee. Probably shouldn’t be a big surprise the route is being reconsidered.
LetsRun: More on the shoes and how they are affecting elite contracts. Would you sign a contract that put you at a (supposed) immediate disadvantage?
Take a second to digest this tweet below. That’s Yiannis Kouros running 11:46 for 100 miles en route to running 177 miles in 24 hours. Fine, he may not have been a mountain runner, but no one has come close to these performances in nearly 40 years.
This popped up in my phone photo gallery. Sri Chinmoy 24 hr race results (road loop) 1984 in which Yiannis Kouros split 11:46 for 100 miles enroute to his, at the time, 177 mile WR. I believe that remained his 100 mi PB as he never really raced the distance. @UltraRunnerPod pic.twitter.com/L6UEUORqWt
— SteelTownRunner (@SteelTownRunner) February 25, 2020
Take an hour and check out this new film about Irishman Paul Tierney running trails in the UK. Reader Sabine describes it as such: The Wainwrights are the 214 peaks in the Lake District National Park that Alfred Wainwright listed in his books “Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells”. The map of the route in and of itself looks impressive. The bare numbers: 318 miles, 118000 feet of vert. It took Tierney 6 days, 6 hours and 5 minutes. Dave McFarlane has put together a very worth seeing film – fellrunners like Nicky Spinks, Joss Naylor and Steve Birkinshaw comment on Tierney’s feat, and the landscape shots are phenomenal.
Ultrarunning Mag: Running is more than just the races–all hell could break loose on race day–but it’s about the process and the benefits of training.
Treeline Journal: Should the running community rally behind Galen Rupp? As a fan since high school, Chase writes about his opportunities in the post-AlSal era.
CNN: Those electrolyte drinks used by ultramarathon runners? Pfffft.
New Yorker: Good piece about survivor’s guilt in the mountains. While most of us stick to the generally safe practice of running, things can still go south fast. I was reminded of Wookie Kim’s incredible story yesterday and how close his running buddies came to losing him.
The World Mountain Running Championships 2020 are starting to take shape with course info and schedule released this week. I’m sure it’s a beautiful course, but on the beach? Don’t the Canary Islands have a more suitable route? Or is that just the senior course? Anyone know?