Announced not on their news blog or their media newsroom on their website but on Facebook:

As of this week, Vacation Races has been acquired by Motiv Sports/Y11 Sports & Media. After 12 incredible years, it is time for VR to enter a new era with improved management, more resources, and a fresh look for the future.

The post is signed by the original owners of Vacation Races but no info is give on who Motiv Sports/Y11 Sports & Media are. And no link to a website for more information.

Digging through the internet I found the website of Y 11:

Y11 is a diversified sport and media investment house, working with founders and their brands to maximise potential and reach collective goals.

Here’s what this private Equity firm has to say about their investment into the endurance sport sector:

We take heritage IP races and marathons and bring them into a bigger brand, “Challenge”. This is likely going to go beyond triathlon to represent a whole community of likeminded endurance and wellbeing participants. This will be a world-class brand and B2C business, if it uses the right skills and tech.

A online search for Motiv Sports takes me to the Motiv Group with the mission:

We are the vehicle that connects brands to audiences
at the point of passion.
Striving for the best, from start to finish.
We place the local community first, our event partners second and ourselves, a distant third.

I guess this feels like a typical story of VR “selling out” their races and community to cashing in on the success they’ve built over the years. But maybe I shall reserve my judgment until I see the official announcement by the buyer of this IP as they call it… or these running events, rather.

The founders of Vacation Races have moved on and are off doing this now.

The race that almost wasn’t. Threatened by wildfire the team only received green light a few days before the event. Courses were rerouted, even the start/finish line area was moved from downtown Big Bear across the lake. I’m glad they were able to still hold the event, although the altered course looked suboptimal, which is of course understandable given the conditions. I’d rather than a modified course after I put in all the training than get my race completely cancelled.

Belgian Dentist Karel Sabbe of PCT and ACT fame, running for On Running, ran the 50K and came in 6th. Was he there to collect stones?

For full results visit the UTMB website, below the top runners by race:

100M – (159.3KM – 4 Stones)

Women:

Kristina Chang – USA – 21:15:24
Coral Buitenhuis – Canada – 21:29:51
Kate Butcher – Canada – 22:14:23

Men:

Sam Wood – USA – 18:24:08
Mike Lavery – USA – 18:27:19
Cordis Hall – USA – 18:31:33

100K – (98.8 KM – 3 Stones)

Women:

1. Michelle Buncke – USA – 09:21:08
2. Priscilla Forgie – Canada – 09:45:02
3. Lindsay Allison – USA – 09:50:46

Men:

1. Nick Hirdt – USA – 08:25:39
2. Gordon Gianniny – USA – 08:38:44
3. Hector Rodriguez – Mexico – 08:41:31

50K – (50 KM – 2 Stones)

Women:

1. Helen Mino Faukner – USA – 04:13:09
2. Klaire Rhodes – USA – 04:18:44
3. Kristin Johnson – USA – 04:28:12

Men:

1. Ryan Becker – USA – 03:30:56
2. Jordan Clay – Great Britain – 03:35:22
3. Dylan Humberger – USA – 03:50:42

20K – (23.1 KM – 1 Stones)

Women:

1. Emily Clarke- USA – 01:53:11
2. Ellie Swemba Grimmer – USA – 02:19:52
3. Lorena De Luna Saucedo – Mexico – 02:28:35

Men:

1. Brandon Miller – Canada – 01:37:12
2. Mckennon Woltman – USA – 01:48:25
3. Matthew Walker – USA – 01:48:28

Below are the numbers broken down by distance and gender:

• 100M STARTERS: 299. DNF: 89 + FINISHERS: 210. Women: 37 (18%), Men: 173 (82%).
• 100K STARTERS: 320. DNF: 36 + FINISHERS: 285. Women: 61 (22%), Men: 223 (78%).
• 50K STARTERS: 533. DNF: 16 + FINISHERS: 517. Women: 144 (28%), Men: 373 (72%).
• 20K STARTERS: 280. DNF: 4 + FINISHERS: 276. Women: 109 (39%), Men: 167 (61%).
• 10K STARTERS: 78. DNF: 0 + FINISHERS: 78. Women: 54 (69%), Men: 24 (31%).

Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB saw a total 1,510 starters and 1,366 finishers. 405 (30%) women and 960 (70%) men reached the finish line and (expect the 10K runners) earned themselves their respective stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).

in 2025 Kodiak will be the North American Major – will be super interesting to see how these numbers will change and how this will affect Canyons (the previous NA Major) next year.

Next up on UTMB World Series Calendar we’ll travel to West Gate, China for Ultra-Trail Ninghai (17-20 Oct).

Rickey Gates is at it again. This time offering an absolute amazing, and slightly insane trip for this coming summer:

The Pacific Northwest boasts some of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world and we, as trail runners, have the ability to go deeper into these lands and experience them on a level worthy of their charm. With such vast distances between these gems, to visit them is a logistical and endurance feat in and of itself which is what makes Bus Run Bus such a tempting challenge. 

The bus route starts in San Francisco and ends in Seattle. For folks looking for an epic trip stopping at incredible places for runs, this is it. What an idea, fantastic, and yes, slightly nutty too.

More celebrity sightings today. Zoë Rom has her on the Trailhead podcast:

Zoë interviews Randi Zuckerberg (yes, that Zuckerberg!) about how she went from running a half marathon, to signing up for the Cocodona 250 in a year. Plus, they dive into what it means to go all in on your passions, and advice for athletes balancing training with busy lives.

She stacked up quite an impressive list of events on UltraSignup too.

Via Reddit, but linked here directly to the US’s Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s Facebook page with the entry:

My 34 mile run through red canyons and soft sands of Canyon De Chelly — the petroglyphs and ancestral houses made me reflect on the strength of Indigenous people. I’m proud and thankful that our running tradition has endured through the generations.

Inspiring.

Adam Ruggiero for GearJunkie:

Minnesota-based footwear maker Vasque will cease all operations, the brand confirmed to GearJunkie today. A subsidiary of Red Wing Shoe Company, Vasque began making hiking-focused shoes and boots 60 years ago — a market that, at the time, was just emerging among American consumers.

I wonder if Vasque would’ve ventured into the trail running space it would’ve had a chance to survive?

A fundraiser for the Old Fort Strong Fund in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene:

The Old Fort Strong Endurance Festival is 6/12/24hr trail run and mountain bike ride on the trails that encompass Camp Grier, right in the backyard of Old Fort, NC on December 7th, 2024.  The weekend will have a festival atmosphere with multiple vendors, live music, and. special guest speakers across the trail running and mountain bike world.  Full schedule will be sent out soon.

If you’re in the area: sign up and join Sally McRae, Anton Krupicka, Hailey Moore, John Kelly and Gordan Wadsworth. There’s a virtual option too, and you can donate directly as well.

Happening now from Oct 15 – Nov 14, 2024:

Immerse yourself in a month-long celebration of the stories that move us—stories of grit, passion, and the beauty of trail running. From October 15 to November 14, we’re opening our film archive to raise funds for our annual Filmmaker Grants, empowering emerging artists to bring your trail stories to life.

Get your tix and support amazing storytelling.

From their press release:

Last night, Swiss outdoor sports brand Mammut made a bold statement in central London with a spectacular activation aimed at awakening both dormant and new mountain enthusiasts, encouraging them to embrace the outdoors.

I don’t understand the “negative message” of proudly claiming to NOT be something. Say what you are. Celebrate it, invite people to join and inspire them. Don’t dig at other brands by saying what you’re not. Especially not if you’re Mammut and you probably sell a huge percentage of your product to people wearing it “on the street” and not just for serious mountaineering expeditions.

Mammut too is one of the outdoor companies with longstanding history and huge brand appeal, but now owned by some random private equity company.

According to Wikipedia:

The Mammut Sports Group belongs to the London-based investment firm Telemos Capital, a private equity company.

There are very few outdoor brands still in charge of their own destiny, sadly.

Tessa Wong and Flora Drury for the BBC:

Last month, a team of climbers filming a National Geographic documentary stumbled on a preserved boot, revealed by melting ice on a glacier.

This boot was believed to belong to Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine, who disappeared while attempting to climb Everest in June 1924 with his partner George Mallory.

Whenever these remains are found it’s such a relief to the families and such a crazy weird thing to think about for the larger mountaineering community. Who gets Jimmy Chin on their podcast first to tell the full story?

This just came across my desk:

Trailrunner HQ is the all-in-one mobile app that delivers content and catalyzes networking for your racers, sponsors, and volunteers.

Seems to be offering the same/very similar functions as the Capra app.

What I told the Capra founders when they asked me if I wanted to take their app for a spin and utilize for my races is that the biggest problem with these apps is that it cannot replace the race directors’ regular communication. So you end up not replacing and optimizing your communication but just adding an additional layer of where you communicate with your participants. If an app like this could replace all other communications, then it would be cool, but as it stands it results in just more work.

mozart 100 by UTMB in Austria gets some route reshuffling and is adding a 100M distance to their lineup of races. Previously their longest distance earned them just a 100K Index, but now with the changes there’s a 100M Index race in the mix. Here are the new distances:

• 100M – 119 KM with 5,800 M vert. – 4 Stones
• 100K – 92 KM with 4,700 M vert. – 3 Stones
• 50K – 45 KM with 1,900 M vert. – 2 Stones
• 50K – 37 KM with 1,600 M vert. – 2 Stones
• 20K – 23 KM with 1,000 M vert. – 1 Stone
• 9K with 300 M vert.

I’m not overly familiar with the trails in the area, so I can’t speak of how these numeric changes affect the actual trails runners run on. But mozart 100 is one of the OG trail races in the Alps and definitely on my list of events I’d consider traveling to. I mean, come on, the area is beautiful, when it’s nice out.

The ECC UTMB calendar is updated to reflect that change.

Last week I had a conversation with Mike McMonagle on Instagram:

.. i hate that i purchased them bc i dont think runners should have to pay for their photos; i think the races should pay the photographers and the photos should be provided at no extra cost to the runners.

I initially responded to his post with the following:

But wouldn’t that just mean that the runner anyway pays for the photo? Because if the race pays for the photographer then they just roll that cost into the entry fee?

Mike responds suggesting that it might be a better experience for everyone involved if the RD just pays the photographer upfront, includes the photos in the registration fee and makes them available for racers for free.

I’m not here to claim to have the answer for this. It’s a tricky situation:

• Race directors want to offer the best possible experience for their runners.
• Race directors need great photos of their event to market the event in future years.
• Runners want to race, have a great time and possibly not spend too much money on that experience.
• Photographers want to make a living, which I of course fully support.

So, what should one do?

Aside from creating a memorable racing experience one of the biggest challenges for race directors is trying to control costs. Not just for themselves, events management is expensive and trying to scrape out a few cents of profit is hard work, but also for the runners. No runner wants to see the cost of an event balloon to painful number.

To caveat this, before I share my thoughts: My races are small, my entry fees are cheap. This is all very much a shoe string operation and I view these issues from this perspective. Other race directors have different budgets to realities and will make decisions from their perspective – that is a ok. I am not here preaching the one true way of doing this.

My personal take is that the best experience of runners is to offer them add-on options and let them choose what other “things” they want to pay for. This a la cart offering keeps the basic entry fee low and accessible to the most runners and allows folks who ‘want the shirt’ to get a shirt. Challenge of course with that is that the numbers of shirts I am selling is not just lower, but the potential profits with it. It’s a trade off I’m making to ensure the accessibility of my events.

My approach to trail work donations is a bit similar. My organization dedicates a portion of all entry fees as donation to trail maintenance organizations. But beyond that, I am offering runners to give additional dollars I am passing on the the organizations I annually donate to. This is optional and not a requirement. Again, I’m trying to keep the entry fees accessible.

Now, when it comes to race photos it may be warranty to approach this a bit differently. Creatives need to get paid and their services valued. My initial approach was to forgo photographers as the events couldn’t justify the expenses. Then I realized I needed the photos for marketing and paid for it out of that budget line item, but runners loved the photos and wanted to download them. So I gave them away for free. Which of course, seems like the nicest thing to do for the runners and gives both the event and the photographer the biggest exposure. People love free photos and clearly will download and share them in larger numbers as supposed to paid ones. So, I clearly could just leave it there. Pay the photographer out of the marketing budget, give the photos to the runners for free.

But having taken on the expenses for photographers for a few races I did some research and realized that most big races charge for photo downloads. It values the work of the photographer if I don’t just give it away for free but put a price tag on it for the runners. Those who want to pay for it get great photos. Clearly this diminishes the amount of photos downloaded and shared. It’s an additional expense, and not many runners will fork over the dollars, but maybe that is a way of recouping some of my expenses for the race director, and maybe if this pays for the cost of hiring the photographers I could expand this out and hire more photographers for additional spots around the course?

That’s my current thinking. That’s where I currently stand.

Could I maybe increase the usage of the photos and exposure for the event if I’d make the photos free to use? Yes, probably. And there’s certainly a case to be made for this, as Mike does. But I feel that race photos aren’t part of the essentials piece that I would consider what runners pay for when they sign up for my races. Aid station supplies, safety and first aid, permits, a bib, and course marking. That’s the basics, right? Everything else is extra and it should be treated as such.

Yes, the conversation changes if sponsors want photos, then their sponsor contribution could pay for the work of the photographer. My thinking also might change if sales of photos are too low and I end up with an expense I anyway pay for, but the photos aren’t shared – then what?

So, this is a developing thought, but rather than just hashing this out on Instagram I thought I put it here.

UTMB just released a 52 minute documentary about the 2024 UTMB race:

“Conquering Mont-Blanc: the path 2 UTMB” showcases the intense moments: from the start to the summits, from moments of doubt to triumphant victories, where every runner, whether elite or amateur, pushes themselves beyond the challenges of the mountain. You’ll be plunged into the heart of the action with its epic stories of humanity, solidarity and going beyond personal limits.

The main narrator of the film is Topher Gaylord, newly named President of Western States which is just another example of how closely these two races are actually working together and shaping our trail running world.

The runners the film follows are:

• OCC: Sunmaya Budha – Nepal – DNF
• OCC: Vincent Herdoin – France – 1200th
• CCC: Sylvia Nordskar – Norway – DNF
• CCC: Petter Engdahl – Sweden – DNF
• UTMB: Marianne Hogan – Canada – 3rd
• UTMB: Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz – France – DNF

What’s a bit of a bummer, and always such a gamble for the filmmakers, is that of the six runners featured four DNF’ed. But maybe that is exactly what needs to be shown to showcase how hard these races are and that success is not assured, even with the elites. Overall the film is a fantastic recap of the 2024 events, especially as someone who raced OCC myself. Good thing I just got myself more stones.

Episode 318 with Katharina Hartmuth:

After a year plagued by accidents and injury Katharina finds herself at the starting line of her dream race: the massive, and mighty Tor des Géants in the Aosta Valley of the Alps. Over the following days Katharina goes through the usual challenges any trail runners faces in a massive ultra distance event but always stays in the leading position and in the process crushing the women’s course record and arriving in seventh overall, almost 5 hours ahead of the second woman. This episode is not a race recap but a conversation about what motivates us, what drives us, and what inspires us. Why do we take on these challenges and what adventures are we seeking?

LINKS

• Katharina Hartmuth on Instagram
• Katharina Hartmuth on Strava
• Tor des Géants
• Cover shot by Jonas Hill

This was the third edition of Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB on the south coast of France. And while that sounds like a lovely place for a race, the weather usually is quite finicky and provides an interesting added challenge. Notable results include Courtney Dauwalter smashing yet again all previous records, arriving 5 hours ahead of the second woman and in 2nd place overall within just 13 minutes of first place. I wonder how first place Cristofer felt the over the last 5 hours of the race when there was a honest chance for Courtney to overtake him. But she wasn’t the only one racing this event aiming for stones to get back to the UTMB Finals this coming year. This year’s UTMB winner Vincent Bouillard ran and won the 20K, I’m assuming to also get stones for the coming year.

For full results visit the UTMB website, below the top runners by race:

159K (100M – 4 Stones)

Women:

1. Courtney DAUWALTER – USA – 21:35:57
2. Enrica DEMATTEIS – Italy – 26:33:34
3. Agathe LEBEL – France – 26:37:57

Men:

1. Cristofer CLEMENTE MORA – Spain – 21:22:14
2. Nicolas CERISIER – France – 22:28:24
3. Vincent FABRE – France – 22:56:36

107K (100K 3 Stones)

Women:

1. Ingrid M DUE-GUNDERSEN – Norway – 15:02:49
2. Wonny KEIL – Austria – 15:10:45
3. Aurélie DE BREMOY – France – 15:37:08

Men:

1. Valentin LACROIX – France – 11:19:04
2. Yohan VIANI – France – 11:40:29
3. Guillaume HANSEL – USA – 12:01:48

54K (50K – 2 Stones)

Women:

1. Sylvia NORDSKAR – NO – 05:08:48
2. Camilla MAGLIANO – IT – 05:13:18
3. Louise SERBAN-PENHOAT – FR – 05:20:34

Men:

1. Jonathan ALBON – GB – 04:15:31
2. Simon PACCARD – FR – 04:23:27
3. Ezekiel RUTTO – KE – 04:30:32

22K (20K – 1 Stone)

Women:

1. Marie NIVET – France – 01:48:04
2. Alexandra YATZIMIRSKY – France – 01:51:50
3. Jekaterina GALLAMOVA – Latvia – 02:02:46

Men:

1. Vincent BOUILLARD – France – 01:32:07
2. Clement GÉNOT – France – 01:34:32
3. Morgan LE TENNIER – France – 01:37:37

Below are the numbers broken down by distance and gender:

• 100M Starters: 576, DNF: 179 + Finishers: 399. Women: 32 (8%), Men: 367 (92%).
• 100K Starters: 1111, DNF: 214 + Finishers: 897. Women: 80 (9%), Men: 817 (91%).
• 50K Starters: 1884, DNF: 52 + Finishers: 1833. Women: 312 (17%), Men: 1521 (83%).
• 20K Starters: 1195, DNF: 13 + Finishers: 1191. Women: 480 (40%), Men: 708 (60%).

Another massive event in the UTMB World Series the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB saw 4,766 starters and 4,320 finishers. 904 (21%) women and 3,413 (79%) men reached the finish line and earned themselves their respective stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).

Next up on UTMB World Series Calendar we’ll travel to South Korea for TransJeju (11-13 Oct) and to California for Kodiak Ultra Marathons (11-12 Oct). Kodiak received the green light just a a couple of days ago with the Line fire having threatened the course and nearby towns over the last few weeks.

adidas TERREX will be the new title Sponsor for the races:

New for 2025, adidas TERREX is the official partner of the Lake Sonoma 50 Mile, Marathon, Trail Sisters Half Marathon, so expect great gear and the opportunity to demo TERREX products.

Title sponsor announcements usually don’t make headlines here on Electric Cable Car, but the language used to announce this on Instagram piqued my interest:

Lake Sonoma Relentless joins the @adidasTERREX family of trail and ultra races

“The family of trail and ultra races.” Is that a first hint at adidas TERREX getting into the race series game, rather than just seemingly sponsoring random events across the globe? HOKA has this on lock with the UTMB World Series, and Salomon owns an entire series themselves. Clearly adidas must be taking a long hard look at this themselves. Especially given their investment into a dedicated trail team over the past years adidas has been no stranger in the trail running space for many years now.

Salomon owns the Golden Trail Series and see it as a marketing tool for them. This isn’t news but through this light we need to see the various changes Salomon is announcing for the Series. Athletes don’t seem to love it. Francesco Puppi on Instagram:

After checking the course of the Golden Trail Series final last week, I feel like it’s not aligned with the idea that I have of a nice, logical course.

This will be an interesting tension going forward. The money in our sport will be in making it more spectator friendly. This money in turn will flow to the pro athletes. Complaining about a course being too contrived – to support spectator viewing – feels shortsighted.

Here’s how the GTS speaks about the route:

The finals will be held on Saturday for the women’s category and on Sunday for the men’s category and will feature a “flower format” course with a total length of 23.5 kilometers and a total elevation gain of 1,400 meters. The course offers a variety of tracks to suit all types of runners and is designed to take athletes through the fan zone six times.

I also didn’t love the repetitions at the Whistler, so I get it in some ways. But I understood why they made these decisions, and there are more trails they can take advantage for future races. If spectators would’ve been allowed on the mountain I doubt I would’ve even pointed it out.

My feeling is that this “flower format” will become the signature formant for the Golden Trail Series. They will try to maximize their opportunities to bring spectators close to the event, allow seamless live coverage and present a model of the sport that could become an Olympic event.

Most likely this sort of athlete whining is similar to the complaints about UTMB: It’s voiced, it’s noted, and then the athletes all show back up at the events the following year.

Strava had been on a good run, adding some seemingly good features. Now though they add AI, because every tech company has to shove AI slop into their app to appease the tech community, Wall Street and investors:

AI breaks down your workout data into simple, personalized insights instantly. No extra steps, just powerful feedback—exclusively for Strava subscribers. It’s the upgrade you didn’t know you needed.

Yepp, and I still don’t need it – thank you very much. But it seems the tech company needs to keep these data center humming.

Jason Koop of course uses this announcement to dump on other coaches:

Let’s be honest, Strava’s Athlete Intelligence function is already better than 90% of the feedback the coaches who use Strava for coaching give.

Such a nice fella.

Announced via their Instagram:

After careful assessment together with local authorities and U.S. Forest Service, we have received approval to host the 2024 Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB on October 11-12. 

From the Cal Fire monitor page (updated today 10/5):

Crews continued to hold the Line Fire close to its current footprint, with minimal growth since yesterday. Around the fire perimeter where it has been contained, crews monitored and patrolled the lines with no issues or challenges. Where the fire line is still active, crews worked hard to improve and hold the lines, again with no issues or challenges. In the northeast corner of the fire, sawyer crews focused on removing hazardous trees which allowed safer access for firefighters allowing them to mop up deeper into the fire area.

Yesterday, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department lifted the remaining evacuation warnings for the city of Big Bear Lake and they downgraded Angelus Oaks to “Evacuation Warning” status. 

I’m not a fire expert (although watching 2 more Youtube videos and I will be one) so I am not making any judgement calls here from my cheap seat.

I’m glad they got the fire under control before it had gotten too close to Big Bear. I’m glad the race organization got their go-ahead call from the authorities and can have their event. I’m glad for the runners who had booked travel that they can now start planning and won’t be losing any money. But if it’d be running these trails I’d be a bit nervous knowing that a fire is smoldering close by.

And yes, this post too will be tagged with the tag:’climate change effects’. I’ve said before, we only will see more of this in the coming years.