Ultramarathon and Trail News, Tue, July 12

Ultramarathon and Trail News From Around the World

Spaff traveled from Canada to Seattle, then Portland, Tahoe, and the Bay Area, and wrote a great description of all the trails he ran. Check it out.

I’m heading to Boulder on Aug 6 to drink good local beer, listen to music, meet people, and go on a run or two. Details still being worked out.

I brought this up on FaceBoook yesterday, and here goes again: Hayden Hawks just made a big splash finishing 4th in the Mountain Running Champs earlier this month, then winning the notoriously difficult and competitive Speedgoat 50k last weekend.  To be clear, all the credit in the world to him for parlaying sub-Olympics 10k talent to the trails in a matter of weeks. But my question was/is: Why the constant turn-over of top talent? Are guys–like Karl has brought up–forgoing domestic races for fun trips overseas? Or are we just seeing a large influx of roadie/t&f guys coming over to MUT running?  Be sure to check out Justin’s Q&A with Addie Bracy here, where they discuss this trend, among other things.

This article (and comment) about an Aussie who finished Western got me thinking: If Americans find it strange to wear a huge belt buckle, what do international runners do with theirs? Foreign readers, care to opine?

Head on over here to vote for your favorite youtuber.  Like The Ginger Runner? Let’s see if we can help him repeat his win from last year.  I’m not sure who else is eligible…that’s a medium that’s still pretty foreign to me.

I just bought Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild off Amazon.  It’s a true story about a father who took his daughter deep into the Alaskan outback and how their relationship was forged.  Very anxious to read it with Sunny.

Here’s Mario’s Morning Shakeout, largely focused on the Oly Trials this week. I continue to be conflicted with Lagat, and that seems to be the only place to be in t&f nowadays: “I like him, but…I have to overlook and ignore all this crap.”

Speaking of the Olympics, later today I’ll release a list of events that I feel should be phased out.  Yeah, it’ll upset some, but come on, do we really need the triple jump and the long jump???

Campgrounds vs Festivals: Who Roughs it Best?

This Chinese guy ran 120 miles around Beijing looking for love and eating mustard root.

Indian celebrities participating in a multi-day ultramarathon relay.  I’m excited to visit the country in October to get a first-hand sense of the booming running culture.

And to complete the international section of the URP Daily News, runners–ultramarathon runners in particular–are being used as pseudo-diplomats in foreign countries.

Sharing territory: Bikes and bears in the back country.  Great (cynical) idea: Pass a law mandating that bikes must stay 30′ away from all bears while on the trails.  That’ll solve the problem.

Personal note: I’ll be visiting a university lab today for some testing.  Apparently they’re the only facility with instruments capable of measuring how little I care about fu&(ing Pokemon.