Pennsylvania hesitantly embraces UTMB

Ben Mazur writes on his blog ‘Rocksylvania Dispatch’:

UTMB’s arrival in Pennsylvania is not just the addition of another race; it is the collision of two very different versions of trail running.

Jeff Calvert adds on his blog ‘The Rush of it All‘:

In the end, it was less about UTMB (I guess I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt) and more about supporting the local runners who are organizing and directing the race. I know and trust them — they have deep roots here, they care about this race and all it represents. And in this case, the race is a collaboration, not a hostile takeover.

Ben concludes:

None of this is to suggest that UTMB’s arrival is inherently detrimental or that it should be resisted outright. It is, however, to say that the situation deserves a level of attention and thoughtfulness that goes beyond surface-level reactions. There is opportunity here, but there is also risk. The challenge, as always, will be navigating both at the same time without losing sight of what made this community worth investing in to begin with.

Both were vocal in the Whistler aftermath, boycotting UTMB and pulling several race from the region they were involved with from the UTMB Index calendar. Now both are back supporting and rooting (albeit hesitantly) for UTMB to succeed and do this right. Will be interesting to see what their postmortem will be after this weekend.