By Mathias Eichler
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The Trail Running Film Festival - Online Watch Party Get your tickets.
Singletrack – Episode 262:
Lifelong runner and founder of the US Trail Running Conference Terry Chiplin joins the show from England to share his story into running, his motivation to make running the focus of his career, and his perspective on what combines us as a community and how we can grow into the future.
In Portland of course:
Come join us on Thursday, December 1st from 4-8pm for the grand opening of the adidas TERREX pop up store. Store is located at 1411-1435 NW Flanders St. Portland, OR 97209.
Adidas has had a challenging go with its outdoor sub-brand ‘Terrex’. The first foray into the US market was with a subsidiary and their product was sold exclusively on their own domain adidasoutdoor.com. Then they canned that partnership, taking the product line in-house, and onto their main website Adidas.com, where it sort of gets lots now. That happened around the same time they bought Five Ten, the mountain bike and climbing brand. That brand was also usurped onto their main web shop essentially giving these markets as much visibility as some ‘fashion brand collab’, which might make sense financially. A Beyonce collab surely must make more money than selling some trail running shoes, but I fear the products, geared toward the outdoor market, are just getting lost amidst the thousands of sport and fashion shoes they sell.
Now this fall Adidas launches a big push through REI and are now promoting the Terrex brand in a standalone store. From a supply chain and inventory management point of view it must make sense to have all product lines under one roof but from a marketing point of view these products deserve their own platform and visibility. We shall see how this goes, and where it might lead.
ATRA has all the info, including dates, locations, and detailed maps of the various courses.
They also published qualifying requirements for US athletes wanting to compete.
Here are the US qualifiers
For the Vertical Race:
For the Short Trail:
For the Long Trail:
For the Classic Up/Down Mountain :
There’s more detail and nuance on the selection process at the link.
From today’s official media announcement:
The 96th Comrades Marathon will be a Down Run on Sunday, 11 June 2023, starting at the inland City of Pietermaritzburg at 05h30 and ending 12 hours later in the coastal City of Durban. Due to the ongoing roadworks, the distance will be approximately 90km. This will be the 48th Comrades Down Run, which is finally on par with the same number of Up Runs.
Entry period opens today and is open until 9 December, or until entry cap of 20,000 runners is reached.
20,000 racers! What an amazing event.
Just a couple minor housekeeping tweaks for my UTMB Events Calendar:
PS: Still no announcement about that possible forthcoming US race. The subdomain has since been completely taken offline.
PPS: On the UTMB World website: If you click on the link “UTMB World Series Events” that’s right next to the top left logo “UTMB WORLD”, you are presented with a navigable layover of all the UTMB events sorted by continent. Another visual guide that’s possibly helpful in navigating the website.
From the organizers of the Chiemgauer100:
Many reasons play a role, but above all the high organizational effort and the declining number of participants. The strong competition of many, partly at the same time of other running events, finally made us make this difficult decision.
Germany is a big country to not have a classic 100 Mile race, so this comes as quite a shock, especially in the light of seemingly endless expansion in our sport.
Singletrack – Episode 261:
Fresh from an incredible performance at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championship in Thailand Rosanna Buchauer joins Singletrack to talk about her year of racing, her inspiration to move to Innsbruck, Austria, and her role as project manager for Tourism Tyrol. We chat about delicious Kaiserschmarrn, the finish line atmosphere in Chamonix ,and what it means to wear a Team Germany’s jersey when racing ultras.
Over the weekend a new link and subdomain briefly popped up on the UTMB World website (it has since been removed). But it looked like a website snafu unearthed a potential new UTMB race for the U.S.. People over here have been waiting, longing, shouting for more races where they can acquire their stones and the website might’ve just spilled the beans.
Maybe I am completely off base and the whole thing is just a technical glitch… but the subdomain still exists, albeit goes to an empty page now. So take all this with a grain of salt.
Some sleuthing found the possible event that might become a UTMB race: the Desert RATS Trail Running Festival in Fruita, Colorado on April 14-16, 2023. Registration is currently open on UltraSignup with no mention of any UTMB affiliation.
Perhaps an official announcement is imminent?
For the 146 entry slots 2413 people put their name into the lottery (and qualified by running a really hard 100 miler to begin with!). Of these, 1938 are men, 475 women. Based on that, and due to the new regulations we should see a field of about 20% women in the 2023 race. According to Jamil Coury that’s a slight increase from the 18.6% women who started the the 2022 event. Not sure on any further historical data, but I’d be curious to see if this number is the highest it’s ever been?
Stephanie Case made big waves in the ultra online world a couple weeks ago by offering a refund to any woman who enters the lottery but has to bow out for any reason. This, of course, annoyed a few old men, but it in the end it seems to not have moved the needle as much we had hoped. Overcoming inequality will take a lot of work and sadly won’t happen over night.
Last week Alex ran the Red Rock Canyon 100K | 50K, an endurance foot race in the shadows of the Keystone Thrust just outside of Las Vegas, NV and came in 6th overall in the 50K event, nice!
When adventurers start families they drop the risk level of their activities and, well, ultra running is perfect for that.
Discovered by Aidstationfireball and shared on Twitter.
Another big Euro race in the Alps is now officially a ‘by UTMB’ race: the KAT100.
The cat is out of the bag! We are proud to announce today that Austria’s longest ultra trail, the KAT100 by UTMB®, has been confirmed as the latest event for the 2023 UTMB World Series, giving runners the opportunity to explore the famous Kitzbüheler Alps during the fourth edition of the event.
They’ll offer 7 different distances, plus a kids race. Dates are 3-5 March, 2023. Registration is going to open on November 24th.
I have added the race to Electric Cable Car‘s ever-growing UTMB calendar.
Swiss outdoor gear and clothing company Mammut releases a limited edition outdoor watch that’s not really a smart watch, but definitely a watch that can help you in the back country. In partnership, not with any Swiss company but with Casio, the Japanese watch maker known for their G-Shock watches. It costs €500 and is sadly not available in the US. The watch has a distinct “Casio style” and is very much the opposite of the classic minimal Swiss design aesthetic. Totally not my cup of tea at all but, my kid, a huge watch nerd, thinks it’s awesome. So there.
Athletics Canada:
Athletics Canada, in collaboration with the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners (ACU) and the Canadian Mountain Running Association (CMRA) is pleased to reveal that the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Mountain & Trail Running Championship will take place in Squamish BC, under the umbrella of the Squamish 50 race weekend.
As Gary Robbins tweeted: “Exciting times ahead!”
Forgot to include the mozart 100 race in last week’s post mentioning well-branded races with long history which are now redirecting their domain to the official UTMB.World website.
We give the UTMB World website a lot of crap, and rightfully so in many ways, but it’s worth pointing out that the main website is available in four different languages (English, French, Italian and Spanish), and the Mozart race in addition, is available in German. In fact, several of the subdomains dedicated to their respective races in various countries are available not just in English but also in the native language for that respective country. Pretty cool operation they got going on over there to make this all happen.
Announced earlier during the iPhone launch, now enabled and live, via a software update for all iPhone 14 users:
iPhone 14 users can now connect with emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi coverage are not available; the service extends to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK in December.
Obviously I haven’t tried this feature yet, but this could be a potential game changer for how technology can help in the backcountry. The ability to SOS in the backcountry of course has existed for a long time, via satellite phones and other dedicated devices. But this is the first time a feature like this is available on everyone’s daily device, their phone in their pocket.
Currently the feature is free and takes users through a short questionnaire describing the situation they find themselves in, I’d love to see Apple extend this feature and offer a preset message to someone in one’s contact list. Not every situation requires full emergency operation, but a short “I’m running late” could ease a lot of worries for the folks back home. That’s where Garmin still has a leg up… and is charging for. Apple could add this for your iCloud family and make it part of Apple One?
Ari Schneider on Twitter:
Sources at Outside (parent company of @outsidemagazine) have told me that the company laid off about 12% of its staff today. An official announcement is expected shortly.
I like dunking on Outside for their NFT initiative, and they were peddling their NFTs at last week’s Warren Miller show in my hometown, but layoffs are never fun and I feel for the people affected.
This moment in time does really feel more and more like the early 2000s. Buckle up, everyone.
Singletrack – Episode 260:
In this episode Thomas Reiss shares his experience as the international athlete manager of the epic and unique Snowman Race that just happened a couple of weeks ago in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This event was about so much more than racing. It’s goal was to bring people and cultures together to share the urgency to address climate change. Especially as it affects people living in the shadows of massive glaciers high in the mountain regions of our world.
Let’s support Yassine Diboun on this important cause:
We must find ways to see the light, and hope for better days ahead. I am compelled and motivated to continue to help people find a way out of the darkness, in partnership with the Alano Club of Portland. …
On Saturday evening December 10, 2022 at sunset I will start my GPS watch from the Alano Club, and begin running around Portland, Oregon, and I won’t stop until sunrise!
I encourage you to pledge $1 per mile. For example: if I stop at sunrise and my GPS says 62 miles, you donate $62 to our cause. You are welcome to give more (or less), and your donations will literally be helping change and save lives.
Singletrack – Episode 259:
Stephen Johnson is back on the show to share his first impressions of the Apple Watch Ultra and how it holds up in the backcountry. He’s is also bringing us an exciting update of his app Topo Maps+ that includes CarPlay and a renewed focus on the watch. The new, bigger, and beefier Apple Watch Ultra holds lots of promise for us outdoor lovers and we discuss some challenges, opportunities and differences with this new product on the market.
The UNESCO just published a report stating the obvious. All of the glaciers in most of the World Heritage sites will disappear. That includes the remaining glaciers in Yosemite National Park, Italy’s Dolomite mountains, the continent of Africa, and thousands of other individual ice giants are set to disappear over the next 30 years. This doesn’t just result in the loss of pretty year round white mountains.
Climate change will inevitably cause glaciers in World Heritage sites to keep retreating, and many will even disappear.
The most important protective measure to counteract substantial glacier retreat worldwide is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The impacts of climate change on glaciers in World Heritage sites show the urgent action that is required to protect the outstanding universal value of glaciers and ensure the benefits they provide to humanity.
While we sit around watching Twitter burn itself into the ground… might I suggest focusing on something that actually matters?
Both, the Eiger Ultra Trail and the Lavaredo Ultra Trail websites have disappeared and the old domains are now redirecting to their respective subdomains of the UTMB World website. This is somewhat surprising to me as these big events clearly had huge brand recognition on their own. Especially on the Eiger’s side, the old website had fun articles about the local products the were serving at the aid station, which was cool content, but has since disappeared.
On Lavaredo’s side I am curious if and for how much longer La Sportiva will be the sponsor of the event, since La Sportiva is not a key sponsor of UTMB, but Hoka is.
These moves could be an answer to the question if these big marquee events are merely partnering with UTMB or were actually bought by UTMB.
And here drops another one…
Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB®️ joins the best races in the world in the 2023 UTMB®️ World Series! A spectacular South African trail adventure with top-quality organization and unprecedented access to @utmbmontblanc , meet your extraordinary with us in 2023.
Announced this morning on the official UTMB Instagram accounts, but not fully integrated into the UTMB World website yet, this race is the first UTMB race in Africa and in an absolute stunning location. (And for international travelers fairly accessible, just 4.5 hrs east of Cape Town along the famous Garden Route). Many many moons ago I bungee jumped off a bridge just a couple hours from the starting line of this race. According to the website the trail races there have been happing since 2018 but it wasn’t until this year that they added a 100K, and now, for the coming year they will offer a obligatory 160K race, as with all the UTMB races. From afar this looks like another purchase by UTMB, which clearly indicates that their ambitions aren’t reached yet. How far can they push until the reached their limits? We shall see.
This new event has now been added to my UTMB calendar.
Singletrack – Episode 258:
After a rather long break from racing ultras I am back and in this episode I’m in the hot seat with my coach Matt Urbanski from Team Run Run checking in after my brutal, but glorious DNF at Rainshadow Running’s Orcas 100 Miler last weekend.
Heather Jackson, runner-up of the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and the third-place finisher at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Championship runs Javelina Jundred. On Instagram she summarizes her experience:
… It truly was like no other race experience I’ve ever had. One of the biggest questions I’ve received is: Which is harder, Ironman or this? This was definitely harder to physically and mentally finish…
There it is.
This week has been all about an event the trail and ultra running world has never seen before in that fashion. Initially slated for 2021, and postponed due to COVID, the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand to some feel like ‘another event that’s trying to be a world championship to crown the best trail runners in the world’, but is the only event where runners compete not just for themselves or their sponsors alone, but wear their country’s singlets and colors. Sanctioned by ITRA, the World Mountain Running Association, and the International Association of Ultrarunners athletes from 49 countries race in shorter distance events and compete for medals, and even team medals. It’s worth following as this event feels like a good example of what trail running could look like if it’d become an Olympic sport, with opening ceremony and fireworks. Next year’s event is already announced and is going to happen in October 2023 in Innsbruck, Austria.
The World Mountain and Trail Running Championships has the potential to be a great alternative for trail running fans who are getting a bit fed up ‘the old boys club gatekeeping their favorite trail races’ or folks freaked out by Ironman’s super dominance rolling over our sport. What it is though, is an event for pros. A very traditionally setup structure favoring athletes in the top 5% of runners, not an event for everyday runners to aspire to compete in. Which is fine, if the event creates the a great spectacle and allows us fans to follow along from the proverbial armchair.
Singletrack – Episode 257:
This week we’re going climbing. Literally, because Lena Müller from Innsbruck, Austria is a world class climber. And figuratively, because Lena brings the seemingly uphill battle of our changing climate to the Singletrack. We discuss the limitations of our public transportation systems and what we can do in our daily lives to make an impact and reduce our carbon footprint.
Stephanie Case responds to criticism for her “Hardrock Hack“:
The criticism is that I am “manipulating” the system by encouraging women to sign up even if they had no intention to race. Here is my response…
It’s worth reading her entire post and reading the comments below too, there are many now. Most are positive and supportive of Stephanie’s brilliant portrayal of the current situation of the Hardrock Lottery and her efforts in creating more gender parity at this event.
Her follow up post was needed after “mostly men” “discussed and wondered” online about her attempt to balance the scales. Naturally that would happen, but what surprised me a bit (or perhaps it didn’t surprise me at all) who the voices were who felt the need to speak up and bring the good ol’ “…but what about the men…” into the conversation.
The Alpenglow Sports Winter Speaker Series is an eagerly anticipated winter tradition for North Tahoe’s adventure community.
…
The Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series blends two goals: 1) to inspire and motivate mountain athletes to pursue their own outdoor dreams and 2) to educate about, and raise funds for, nonprofit organizations making a tangible difference in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee community. The Winter Speaker Series is the largest free community speaker series in the country that hosts the biggest names in the outdoor industry.
One of my favorite events for the outdoor community, although I never attended it in person. But I love everything about it and can’t wait to join virtually this winter, some great speakers are lined up to share incredible stories.
Brian Metzler explains what happened this weekend for Outside:
“We basically screwed up. I’ll own it,” (Jamil) Coury said. “We miscategorized them in the online race results, and our team was amplifying that on social media based on some internal miscommunication. We didn’t play through every scenario, and there are probably scenarios that are still unforeseen.”
The Aravaipa team with the help of Western States’ Craig Thornley jumped in and got things fixed and figured out. This is the first time in the trail racing world (in my recollection) a high stakes situation involved non-binary runners and it created some unforeseen situations that, if I observed correctly mainly frustrated men on Twitter, everyone else seemed cool with the changes, updates and fixes.
We’re learning and we’re moving in the right direction.
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