Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, March 10
iRunFar/Powell: Running with friends. I agree with Bryon in every single respect here. While the majority of my runs are solo, getting in some miles with a group is incredible rewarding for all the reasons he wrote about.
On a similar note, this story about a grandmother running with her granddaughter hits home. The joy I see in my mom and daughter when they run together is powerful.
If you’re running in Stanely Park in Vancouver, watch out for coyotes. They’ve been attacking runners at an increased pace recently. (Personal note, even with coyotes and crowds, Stanley Park is a true jewel of that amazing city.)
Interesting: Historically, the beer industry was led by female master brewers…until they were charged with witchcraft and the dudes took over.
Trail got washed out during our run yesterday. NBD, the girls came up with the slogan “When life gives you rain, sometimes it’s a waterfall and sometimes it’s mud.” They all appeared to appreciate both.
Mate, stick to your looks.
Read this: Scott Fauble sounds off on the super shoe drama.
The K-6 XC/trail team I coach took advantage of this Oiselle Bras for Girls program two years ago and it was great. Apparently many elementary school girls hold back from sports because of growth issues (it had never occurred to me) and Oiselle provides a very approachable program to help remedy that. Highly recommended.
Super cool that Des Linden is running a 50k. I wished she’d been able to run Two Oceans (as a real race), but this will still be exciting to watch. Alright, who’s next? Come on steeplers!
Bay Area Trailrunners RD and all around good guy Rob Rhodes’ cancer has taken a turn for the worse. Here’s a heartbreaking video he released a few days ago where he talks about his condition. The latest update on FB (from yesterday) is both heartwarming and grim…he’s asking for no more calls or texts because there are too many of them and he’s too weak to reply. Rob, if you’re reading this, fight hard man. You’ve got the entire trail community behind you. Anxious to share some dirty miles with you again.
Olympics Update: The Games will happen, but with no spectators from overseas. Oh, what fun.
Runner’s World: Meet the 62 year old woman who just ran a 2:52 marathon. She’s trying to beat that this weekend. Dayum.
My hackles go up any time I see “social media” and “better” in the same sentence. In this piece for Canadian Running, the author argues that social media–specifically those platforms that cast video–have been a net benefit for track and field. She makes some good points about athlete exposure, sponsors, etc. and some of those aspects aren’t necessarily exclusive to track and field. So the question…Overall, has social media been a net positive for trail and ultramarathon running? Not just for the athletes, but for the overall good of the sport?
TrailSisters: Katie Harris writes about the types of detritus left by visitors on the trails. I’ve wondered the same thing about underwear…how did that get there? Found a giant dildo once, and I’ve been finding floss picks all over the damn place recently. Good read about caring for our environment and what we can do to help clean it up.
Similarly, Todd Wilkinson writes in Adventure Journal about massive influx of people to outdoor areas, particularly in the West. It’s a tough balance, and I don’t know which side to err on. Increased participation or increased protection of the environment. Here’s what I do know…whichever one of those I choose to highlight, some commenters will have a problem with it. LOL.
Something tells me we’re going to see more of this kid. He’s 18 and just ran his first 100 miler, wants to run Moab 240, and the first thing he did after high school gradation was buy an old RV so he could drive out west. Welcome to the club, Samuel.
(Note, not sure which record his family was referring to. Course record for a minor maybe? Certainly not 100 miles for youth, right? Ford Smith ran low 16 at Rocky Raccoon when he was 17.)
Housekeeping: I realized yesterday that my feedblitz subscription had waned, so those of you who subscribe to this newsletter were not receiving it. Should be all fixed and good to go. Sorry about that.