By Mathias Eichler
Sponsor:
The Trail Running Film Festival - Online Watch Party Get your tickets.
The Trail Running Film Festival - Online Watch Party Get your tickets.
Matt Walsh takes a stab at writing a explainer for his newsletter Trailmix:
The business model of the series has been the same from the start. GTS do not own any races and race organisers do not have to pay GTS to be a part of the series. Instead, GTS supplies a sponsorship fee and has a series of event requirements such as live-streaming, press conferences and athlete presentations (varying on World or National series level) which organisers might spend their sponsorship fee on.
Created by Jake Fedorowski:
The Guide to Non-Binary Inclusion in Running was created based on multiple conversations with folx inside and outside of the industry. It is meant to assist race directors as they embark, or continue, on their journey toward creating a more inclusive event. It is also meant to embolden non-binary runners (and allies) to have more conversations with race directors regarding non-binary inclusion.
I’ve had this link bookmarked for a while now and been wanting to share it here with a few more thoughts around my personal efforts I’m trying to make as a race director. But given the conversation that ensued on Twitter after this weekend’s Javelina results I thought I’d share the guide, let people read it, and do their own learning.
This stuff ain’t easy, but moving into the future rarely is.
Jared Beasley for Ultra Running Magazine:
Running saved Leadville and brought new fire to Chamonix. A big ultra could make a big difference here, too—in the restoration of one of the nation’s most historic routes, and in seeing that it has a future as well as a past. “We have to look back,” says Marshall with a well-earned stoicism. “We have to see where we came from so we can move forward.”
A brand new ultra running experience is coming to Arizona, the Route 66 Ultra run. Marshall and Heather Ulrich created a 140 mile route miles along the history Route 66 from Seligman to Topock66 along Colorado River. The format sounds similar to Badwater, a road race with crew in support vehicles. The race is aimed to achieve a few things: raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. The price point of $660 is a bit… not sure how to say this kindly… expensive!?
The dreaded Hardrock 100 lottery opened up for registration this week. Thousands will apply, a few will run. But Stephanie Case has found a hack offering a possibility at more gender parity for the 2023 race.
On her Instagram she posts:
Calling all women ultrarunners! The @hardrock100run lottery opens on Monday!
Did you know that the lottery policy changed last year to help improve women’s representation in the race?? Now, the percentage of women chosen to start will not be less than the percentage of applicants that are women.
What does this mean? It means that if you are a woman and you have qualified for Hardrock, you should enter. Period. Even if you have no intention of running. Because 1) once you get in, you will likely change your mind quickly. 2) if you get in and you don’t want to run the race, you can decline your spot and it will go to the next woman on the waitlist 3) if you don’t get in (most likely scenario), just the fact of entering as a woman will increase the likelihood of other women getting picked. How cool is that??
So apply. Please. Last year when I ran the race, it was the highest number of women in any year (27?). But it’s still too low. Let’s keep pushing forward.
One caveat: the refund policy is only 50% of the registration fee. But Stephanie (and others have come forward since) and are offering to pay the $200 difference if you register and then withdraw to allow other women to run. Currently 18! refunds are covered by Stephanie and other donors if you sign up and decide not to run.
It will be fascinating to see if this effort has a sizable effect on the gender split for the upcoming race.
Aravaipa Running’s Javelina Jundred Arizona desert race around Halloween is not just one of trail running’s biggest party in the fall, it’s one of North America’s biggest trail and ultra races period. For the 2022 event Aravaipa is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the crazy party, congrats! For the 3 race distances the gender split numbers for this year’s event look quite encouraging. So let’s break it down:
Combined there are a total of 1,224 runners on the starting list, 556 are women or 45% of the total.
This breaks down as follow for the three races (numbers taken from UltraSignup):
There’s still room to grow on the 100 mile distance, but the overall breakdown is a super positive sign. From what I can remember this is probably one for best results we’ve seen so far. Aravaipa clearly is doing something right down there.
Reported by Francesca Bacardi for Page Six:
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the athletic company said in a statement Tuesday. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
In typical fashion a moron like Kayne is sure going to take this lightly.
Watch OS 9.1 is out and as Apple promised the new ‘low power mode is shipping in that update. DC Rainmaker is taking that option for a brief test spin and has some interesting results.
… but practically speaking, the amount Apple has turned off here makes this kinda a non-usable situation. If we compare to companies like Garmin, COROS, and Suunto, their low-power modes are still relatively full fidelity except for the GPS sampling rate.
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My point here is that for *sports* usage, the new lower-power mode isn’t super helpful.
This assessment doesn’t surprise me. Apple has shipped a super power hungry display and doesn’t just want to copy the battery performance decisions that the other adventure watch makers are making basically in lockstep with each other. Apple’s perspective is always “we’re coming at this from a different angle”. If they succeed with this perspective in the market waits to be seen. What they seem to be succeeding with is that a lot of regular watch fans all of a sudden enjoy 49mm watches and are proudly wearing ‘Ultras’ as fashion statement. Market segment unlocked.
UTMB shares on social media:
12,000 people transported.
150 buses deployed.
6000 cars avoided.
4 tons of CO2 avoided.
This is the outcome of this UTMB Mont-Blanc 2022.Thanks to our partner Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc, we have, once again this year, deployed an exceptional plan to transport runners and those accompanying them to the start points and throughout the course. Every year, we are committed to putting everything in place to reduce the number of cars in city centers, to improve the carbon impact of the event, and it is thanks to the ATMB, and to you, that we were able to achieve this again in 2022.
Is this good? Good enough? A good start? Better than nothing? It’s something, and more than most other races do. So, that’s worth noting.
Also worth noting that these buses were far from perfect and I heard from several people how getting around with them was challenging. (Not that if everyone would’ve driven in their own car and hoped for a parking spot it would’ve solved all this.)
Singletrack – Episode 256:
In this episode of Singletrack we connect with multi-faceted athlete Marchel Höche of the Adidas Terrex team calling in from beautiful Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the south of Germany. Marcel shares his FKT on the iconic and quite exposed Jubiläumsgrat on the Zugspitze. We chat about the diverse trail racing landscape in Europe and what it means to run as part of a larger trail running team. Finally as a cofounder of the German Skyrunning Federation Marcel shares some challenges and opportunities in getting the organization positioned in the outdoor nonprofit landscape of Germany.
Tayte Pollmann for ATRA:
Race directors from around the United States and internationally, brands, trail runners and influencers gathered to learn and share their knowledge on how to progress the sport of trail running in new directions of sustainability, diversity and better business practices.
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The 2022 conference attracted individuals who push boundaries and take the extra step to make positive changes in their communities.
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This year’s conference offered a welcoming space to discuss some of the toughest topics in our sport, including the lack of diversity and increasing environmental concerns. Speakers raised discussion about how as our sport continues to grow, the industry should be doing more to ensure the inclusion of more diverse communities (women, BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) and the LGBTQ+), as well be focusing attention on reducing carbon emissions from events and increasing our protection of the natural spaces where trail races are held.
The conference was small but mighty. Addressing the tough topics in such an environment felt powerful and made me hopeful that we as society are starting to address the uncomfortable. Good steps!
Our local running shop Seven Hills just received their first shipment of the brand new NNormal shoes ‘Tomir’ and ‘Kjerag’. According to their unpacking videos the Tomirs are being shipped with an extra pair of laces.
I’m all about adding pizzazz and freebies to the boxes, especially if the prices of the shoes are flirting with $200, but for a brand celebrating ‘sustainability’ and minimizing wastefulness this seems unnecessary or even downright wasteful? When was the last time you had a lace break on your shoe and needed to replace it? Like never? Kind of a weird marketing choice, in my opinion.
Singletrack – Episode 255:
Summer’s not over. Mountains are still open and this week we get a full dose of high alpine inspiration from Chris Fisher who’s the first person to complete the famous WURL, but make it double! Yes, that Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup dreamed up by Jared Campbell. And Chris, with the help of some friends and the incredible mountain running community is the first person to complete the full out and back of the route.
In a new blog post Damian, author of the We Can’t Run Away From This and somewhat decent ultra running (I kid, I kid) shares his thoughts on pro sponsorship and the challenges of wanting to lower his carbon footprint while still making an impact and living his life.
It’s important not to pretend to be perfect. No one can be. Adding to the illusion could put people off joining in the merry jamboree in the first place, both elites and non-elites. There has to be a middle ground, where people who care about the Big Kerfufflefuck might also reluctantly get on a plane occasionally, do a solo-occupant car journey or accidentally leave their laptop on standby overnight (gasp!). People who care are already making sacrifices and suffering emotionally. To be perfect, in our current system, is impossible.
In the end, we need to rethink our behavior, take stock and evaluate, but must remember that we’re not the problem:
People like us aren’t the problem. The richest 1% cause double the ghg of the poorest 50% (a stunning 75 times higher if you include investments, a more recent study shows). 100 companies created 71% of global ghg. Big Oil are the problem.
In a historic move, Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi who represented Iran at the Asian Climbing Competitions finals in Seoul, competed without hijab, disobeying the Islamic Republic’s restrictions for female athletes.
Breaking via BBC: Persian Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi who competed without the Islamic headscarf at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday has gone missing.
The courage these women display is truly astonishing.
Yours truly will be in Mukilteo, Washington on Thursday and Friday and will present a session on Friday at 3pm on the Trail Running Film Festival. Come say hi! Would be fun to connect with you all there.
Just a first look from him, but his main points I echo just by looking at the product from afar and how it’s marketed:
The Suunto 9 Peak Pro seems to be a bit of a turning point for Suunto. Or at least, it might appear that way. On one hand we’ve got revamped hardware internals, which should make the watch not just more accurate with its higher-end GNSS components, but also simply faster to use with the increased processing power. Meanwhile, on the software side bits like refreshed user interface help considerably, as does running power and the soon-to-arrive features like Strava Live Segments. And finally, the platform changes all indicate Suunto is investing in the business, the platform, and time with their partners.
…Ultimately though, I’m happy to see Suunto kicking things up a bit here. The last few years have felt a bit stale, but this might be the beginnings of renewed focus for the company, and hopefully increased competitiveness.
Beyond the software refreshes, there’s a ‘mermaid mode’, an app developer kit called ‘SuuntoPlus Editor’, and a few more things that make the product interesting to folks beyond us trail and ultra runners.
I love the 9 Peak hardware design language. I tried on that watch for a few moments at my local REI and still think it’s the best looking watch. Suunto dropped the price of the 9 Peak and introduced the 9 Peak Pro at the same price point but with refreshed software, which is a smart move and shows their willingness to stay in the game against Coros and Apple. I don’t know if the hardware works well in practice, but in my perspective this design could stay the same for years to come. Suunto should work on reducing the black bezel, make the screen brighter, and keep up to date with the latest GPS technology and they will be my favorite watch for a long time to come.
The Lucky Labrador Beer Hall in Portland, Oregon will host the Women Who FKT Year End Part on Nov 6th. Nominate your favorite FKT.
Party is open to everyone supporting the Women Who FKT project, from FKT setters, to FKT supporters from non-binary runners to trail misters. Get inspired and inspire someone else. Let’s meet and tell stories.
What an amazing project this has been to follow. What started as a simple idea has turned into a movement. Inspired!
The Pfänder, a lower elevation ski resort in the northern foothills of the Alps is packing up their ski lifts. Located just above the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in Austria, this tourist destination is taking the inevitable steps to our rising temperatures due to climate change and packing up their ski lifts.
We will see a lot more of this in the near future.
On Monday 10 October 2022 the Athletics Integrity Unit informed the Sierre-Zinal Management Committee that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the winner of the men’s race at Sierre-Zinal 2022:
“The winner of the men’s race Mark Kangogo tested positive for two substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) at the 49th edition of Sierre-Zinal. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and the athlete has been provisionally suspended. The violation could lead to the athlete’s results at Sierre-Zinal 2022 being invalidated. The procedure is ongoing.” the Athletics Integrity Unit stated.
As our sport grows this will become an even hotter topic. Trail running need to adopt proper procedures that will allow the top athletes to compete fairly. Sage Canaday has been on this for a long time.
Singletrack – Episode 254:
Adventurer, climber and FKT Chaser Travis Soares shares the story of his massive summer project linking all 247 peaks of the Sierra Peak Section List in an incredible 117 days and change. We chat about the beauty of the Sierras and the inspiration we find in following other’s footsteps.
It’s a busy weekend of trail racing as Jeffrey Stern of Ultra Running Magazine points out:
The pace always seems to pick up during fall months on our UltraRunning Calendar, and this week is no different—we have 60 events happening across the country.
On Friday I’ll be making another attempt at a 100 Miler and will be with my friend Scott Michie on Orcas Island in the San Juans of the Puget Sound just northwest of Seattle. Orcas Island is a looped course (the island isn’t that big) and much loved by the PNW running community. One of the original 100 mile races in the area and run by James Varner and his team at Rainshadow Running, this race usually is in February making it one of the more challenging races, give the weather during this time of the year. James moved the 2022 race due to COVID concerns on a small island earlier in the year. Now, in October the race is on, and hopefully for me, is one of the easier races in its history given the mild weather forecast.
The full entrants list just dropped and here’s what the gender breakdown looks like:
There are a total of 60 runners registered.
I can’t wait to leave town early tomorrow. Drive through Seattle, hop on a ferry, and spend a couple days running these twisted trails on the famous Orcas Island course. Let’s hope I finally get a damn buckle, I’m ready for it.
After I had just finished updating the UTMB calendar I published here, UTMB announces two new races today.
Valhöll in La Cumbrecita, Argentina on May 12-14, 2023:
The most epic race in Argentina! A great challenge for runners where they will experience the most diverse sensations mixed with the warmth of our people.
Paraty Brazil in Paraty – Centro Histórico, Brazil on September 22-24:
Between the mountains and the sea
Not counting the two races in China, which are listed on the website, but one of them is a hybrid/virtual event and the other hasn’t been updated since 2021, there are now 24 UTMB World Series races + 2 World Series Majors.
Still no race in Canada, still no race on the East Coast, and still no Major in the Americas announced.
Announced on Instagram:
Tomorrow we will celebrate the launch of nnormal.com. We are working hard to make sure our products take us far – figuratively and literally. And we won’t stop.
I assuming due to COVID but the two UTMB races that were previously in China didn’t happen the last couple of years. Now they popped back up on the UTMB World website. PandaTrail by UTMB is listed to happen in November, but there’s no information on the actual website that this race is actually happening. For the TransLantau by UTMB event in Hong Kong there’s a version of the race available to run UTMB calls ‘Hybrid’. A virtual, self-timed event on the trails of the race course without aid or support. Runners can complete the route from 28 Oct – 18 Nov and will receive Running Stones.
Hybrid (virtual) update:
I’m quite surprised UTMB is offering this type of event as a way to get official Running Stones. But it’s great to see that UTMB is trying to give folks in China the chance to acquire their required stones to participate in UTMB this coming year.
Singletrack – Episode 253:
Barrett Gray and Charlie Levy are the first ones to successfully follow my footsteps and complete the Cushman Six. This FKT route above Lake Cushman in the Olympics is just the right mix of trail running, bushwhacking, and climbing to make it challenging, fun, and a very unique adventure experience. And Barrett and Charlie bring just the right amount of experience and speed to the project and take 4 hrs off the time I, Scott, and Chris established almost 2 years ago. Here is the story of their successful run of the Cushman Six. So honored to have them complete this project.
I don’t know about you, but browsing the UTMB World website is pretty annoying. The site is convoluted, bloated, difficult to navigate, and things don’t display in a way that it would make things easy to understand. So, I made it simpler. I pulled all the dates/events/distances and locations from the website and added it to a Google spreadsheet.
I embedded the spreadsheet here for quick browsing, but also added a link so you can download and modify it yourself as needed – and resort, if you want to display the content in a different way.
I might make some changes to it in the coming weeks as I think of other elements to include, but I wanted to stay away from making the spreadsheet too complex.
And I certainly will make changes to the spreadsheet as new information is published by UTMB.
Are you missing anything? Know of anything I could add? Let me know.
Insane footage, sort of putting an exclamation point on a very dangerous climbing season at Manaslu.
I’m sharing the thoughts Ian Corless tweeted:
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND this!!! After all the avalanches around Manaslu WHY? Are people STILL in this high risk zone
Great write up of an even greater performance at this year’s CCC.
The effort felt so honest, the thought of being disappointed to be in third didn’t even cross my mind. I was doing exactly what I came for: wringing out every last drop to put together my best CCC possible.
I’m excited to read race reports like these and I hope that more athletes are dusting off their personal blogs and start writing again. Not just ‘creating content’ for social media, but writing! The internet is better for it.
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