Beast Makes the Local Paper

Gotta interrupt the endless and ongoing barrage of UTMB content for a very important post. Writer for our “big local paper”, The Seattle Times, Gregory Scruggs came out to race our Beast of Big Creek Skyrace earlier this month and he wrote an article about it all: “Mount Ellinor hosts WA’s first world series trail running race”. The article is paywalled, like most newspaper articles these days, I am working on getting a gift link/PDF version for ya’ll. And if you’re local you can pickup a print copy of The Seattle Times this coming Sunday with the article in it, I am told.

A couple of highlights from the article:

For the Skyrunner World Series, the U.S. return was a chance to grow a niche sport in North America. For foreign athletes, the Aug. 1 race was an introduction to Pacific Northwest mountain culture. And for local runners, it was a rare chance to lace up next to some of the world’s top athletes.

This is why I did this. Over three years of work went into bringing the Skyrunner World Series back to U.S. soil, but bringing people from all over the world together, to share a common love for mountains, for trail running, that’s what it’s all about for me and why I love these big global race series’.

So, how did Beast of Big Creek end up on this global elite sporting calendar? For Olympia-based race director Mathias Eichler, of Rock Candy Running, the rationale was simple: “Yes, it’s part marketing, but it’s also a good way of bringing the trail running community together.”

That attitude stands somewhat at odds with other North American race directors, who have historically been less enamored of the international racing circuit. In 2017, directors of nine U.S. races, including the Cascade Crest 100, issued an open letter explaining why they refused to pay fees to count as qualifiers for the UTMB. (Beast of Big Creek, Leavenworth Ski Hill 50K, Skyline 25K and North Bend Skyline 30K are UTMB Index races, meaning competitors earn points that grant privileges when registering for UTMB majors.)

“That attitude stands somewhat at odds with others…” This is me, in a nutshell. You’re welcome!