Ultramarathon Daily News | Monday, Aug 20

Certainly a topic with many angles: Is the professionalism of ultramarathon running a good thing, or is it a detriment to our sport? Consider both.

I’m not familiar with Trevor’s other races, but the dude is dominating the Race Across Scotland. h/t Alwyn Williams.

Sure, rest days are good and easy days are…easy. But sometimes, you wanna feel like you just hit yourself in the face with a hammer, in which case you’ll refer to this post by David Roche.

What an incredible weekend for racing! New CR at Pike’s Peak for Megan Kimmel and whoa, Rob Krar is back with a big win at Leadville. I can’t think of a time in recent memory when the overall vibe has been so positive towards a win. Rob’s an open, honest guy with a massive fanbase (here’s the interview on Billy Yang’s show everyone is talking about), and I’m hoping this win heralds in a new chapter for he and Christina. More on this weekend’s results right this way, courtesy of Justin/IRF.

Ultra logic from New England standout Gret Soutiea:

“PBR’s are essentially water, so sipping on one for the last few laps was just perfect,” Soutiea said. “Cold, crisp, and rewardingly refreshing. I haven’t really had must time to just reflect on the big races of the year yet, but tossing back some cold ones after an important race is always one of my favorite ways to relax a bit for a few days before shifting focus to the next one.”

Good synopsis of Pete Kostelick’s run from Canada to Key West.

Fantastic story–with equally excellent writing–by Jade De La Rosa about she and Nick’s recent run on Vancouver Island and her new FKT. Looks beautiful!

The line between graffiti and street art is a long-standing conversation that’ll never be solved, but taking a running tour of a city’s street art would be a neat way to get around.

Boooo! CSU Boulder builds a track but denies access to public. We’ve got the same think here in Sacramento. CSU Sacramento built a beautiful stadium and track for Olympic Trials a few years ago and have zero community hours. Every other city I’ve lived in with a college opens up some time–maybe it’s just Tuesdays from 4-6, but something–but now Boulder is joining Sacramento in this unfortunate new trend.

Budget running hacks…and new runners, this is aimed at you.

I’ll say it again: You people in the south are craaaaazy.

You’ll have to stay tuned to hear our latest interview with Pam Smith. Sarah and I chat with the WS champ about her Badwater experience, why she doesn’t take running too seriously, and how/why sponsorships and social media have changed the landscape of our sport. Unfortunately the audio is a bit messy so I’ll have to edit, but expect it by Wed/Thurs of this week.

24 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Monday, Aug 20"

K says:

August 20, 2018 at 12:07 pm

Sorry to read about the issue in Boulder. I was asked to leave the Sac City College track more than once (both before and after the renovation) despite entering through open gates. Once, the rationale was because my laps (done in track shoes by a runner who is clearly no stranger to the facilities) was disrupting a PE class conducting a group activity in the bleachers (for 10 minutes).

For a time I used the CSUS practice track for early-morning track work during the summer. The football maintenance crew barred me from entering through (then–no longer) open gates, claiming the football team’s materials were compromised due to my presence. When the trials came to town, they locked it up permanently (to my knowledge). The completion of the softball field and the Well effectively made it a fortress.

Prior to the CSUS track renovation, Sac State partnered with Fleet Feet’s Sacramento Racing team to provide access for Tuesday night workouts. That partnership somehow soured, and although I don’t run for the team anymore, I know they have used various high school facilities in the region.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 12:36 pm
  
  Yeah, Sac City has some open hours on the weekends that seem pretty official. I’ve even been over to the Sac State track (not the practice track) at like 3am with a headlamp and security shows up and tells me to scram. Really unfortunate that groups can’t come together to make it work. 🙁
  
  Reply
  1. K says:
    
    August 20, 2018 at 2:02 pm
    
    Agreed. In each location, I was asked to leave and provided a rationale that seemed to be based on a protocol that didn’t make sense: (1.) I was somehow compromising the ability of students to use it (even after hours); (2) A non-student has not consented to appropriate uses of the facility (despite wearing correct shoes and keeping liquids on the cement; (3) My use of the facilities would somehow be a liability to the institution if I was injured (overuse injuries are squarely my own fault!).
    
    Reply
2. Peter Andersson says:
  
  August 21, 2018 at 3:12 am
  
  It might be worth looking into if the city, when the track was built, put some money into it for reasons of public availability.
  
  We have the same problem in Europe, facilities that were being built with city money as to be used by both Soccer teams, T&A teams, schools and the public. Soccer never totally slumps, whereas T&A can be more of an up and down thing – and once a down happen Soccer tend to take over and making facilities “their own” by putting up locks and blocking all others out with reasons they have no legal basis for, just that there’s no-one there to protest, and 2-3 years down the road those that don’t know take it for a fact.
  
  Reply
Will says:

August 20, 2018 at 12:07 pm

So is Jim going to pass on running TNF50 to run in some UTMB sponsored event in Oman? That’s kinda a bummer, but I will say that after 30 seconds of research that the Oman course looks pretty sweet.

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1. Peter Andersson says:
  
  August 21, 2018 at 3:18 am
  
  It’s not just Dubai Marathon any more – arab contries are putting up rediculus prize money to get in on the big hosting stage with new events – how about $267’000 to the winner of a debut HM? (Yes, it happened this year):
  
  https://www.arabianbusiness.com/sport/390621-riyadh-hosts-first-international-half-marathon
  
  Reply
  1. Johnny Boy says:
    
    August 22, 2018 at 10:45 am
    
    You could mountain bike the marathon Peter.
    
    Reply
Max says:

August 20, 2018 at 12:32 pm

I would like to clarify this point. The article is about CSU, which is located in Fort Collins, Colorado. This is a different school than CU which is located in Boulder, Colorado.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 12:36 pm
  
  Ah, thanks for that clarification. I didn’t catch it.
  
  Reply
2. selby says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 1:49 pm
  
  haha i was just going to say the same thing!
  
  Reply
DF says:

August 20, 2018 at 12:33 pm

Living in DC, I have close access to multiple high school tracks that have pretty open hours to the public. I never even thought of looking into collegiate ones. Is it that big of a deal? I imagine Sacramento and Boulder have plenty of high schools with tracks…

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 12:46 pm
  
  The closest high schools to me are dirt and are a few miles away. The University is less than a mile away.
  
  Reply
  1. K says:
    
    August 20, 2018 at 2:03 pm
    
    McClatchy is at last our local savior.
    
    Reply
Jade de la Rosa says:

August 20, 2018 at 12:55 pm

Thanks for sharing the post, Eric! By the way, I’m curious to hear what you thought about Vancouver on your recent trip?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 1:07 pm
  
  If I ever disappear, I’ll most likely be hiding out in Vancouver. Despite some major obstacles (lost luggage, car wreck) we had a fantastic time. My wife actually just emailed me…she just checked her iPhone and on our final day there we walked all over downtown (Gastown all the way over to the gay area and back to Kits) and ended up clocking just over 8 miles.
  
  Reply
Chris Rusch says:

August 20, 2018 at 4:05 pm

I think public universities should be required to make things like the track open to the public. After all, they are funded in part by the tax payers.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 4:08 pm
  
  Though vague and noncommittal, “reasonable accommodations” should and could be made for some amount of public use. The current program “allows” the public to rent the track for a few thousand dollars. 🙁
  
  Reply
Tony Konvalin says:

August 20, 2018 at 4:06 pm

Hmm, who makes state schools possible, oh yes the tax payer yet they are not allowed access when they should. The school needs to be reminded it is a “state” school not a private institution.

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ed says:

August 20, 2018 at 4:30 pm

Colleges are non-profits and get huge tax breaks. Would two hours once a week be that much of a drain?

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 20, 2018 at 4:35 pm
  
  From what I know, all excuses/reasons point to “liability reasons” rather than expenses.
  
  Reply
Cathie says:

August 20, 2018 at 7:18 pm

Hey Hey– they just shut down New Mexico State University track the start of this year. They opened a park a little east of the track as a concession. But the park has a concrete path– it isn’t comparable. And the high school tracks are behind lock and key. Guess it was the nudge I needed to relax and run for time and do drills on the grass fields (that they keep green in the desert, watering on my dime) next to the track!
I remember a long time ago when I ran for Arizona State the track stayed open for the public. At one point there was an Australian marathoner (can’t remember her name) running intervals as the coach was closing up the track. He warned her multiple time he was locking up. She kept at her training session. She finally got herself locked in! Had to call the campus police to get her out! Thanks for bring back the memory!

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Peter Andersson says:

August 21, 2018 at 3:04 am

And in a related story 10000 ultrarunning midpackers just headed down to the local shop and ordered a Mountain Bike so that they can cross train like Rob Krar.

Or make that 5000, the other 5000 already knew since they had read Scott Jurek’s book-chapter about MTB training with Hippie Dan.

BTW – Any chance you could get that Hippie Dan guy on the podcast? Assuming he’s still alive of course.

Reply
1. Johnny Boy says:
  
  August 22, 2018 at 10:28 am
  
  I am going to my local Bike shop right now! Aren’t you a midpacker? At least according to Ultrasignup you are, maybe you need some cycling
  
  Reply
Paul S says:

August 21, 2018 at 7:27 am

Public money pays for all sorts of things that are not available to the public. I can’t borrow a police car when it is sitting in the depot going unused. Owners of facilities also have a responsibility to maintain them. That gets a lot harder when the public is allowed in. I don’t think it flies to say, serious runners are allowed on the track, but others are not.

Regarding the money saving article. It always bugs me when I read “you don’t need trail shoes”. That may be true, but not buying trail shoes doesn’t save you any money. The reason is that when you wear trail shoes, your road shoes are not wearing out. Trail shoes may even last longer on trails. Put another you wind up buying two pairs of shoes every six months instead of one pair of shoes every three months.

Reply

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