Support or No Support?

A couple of weeks ago Kilian Jornet dropped an interesting article on his blog titled ‘The aid station debate.’ Inspired by first hand accounts at his run at Western States earlier this summer he makes the case that the aid station support at races like Western States might’ve “jumped the shark”:

Is ultra-trail running becoming like Formula 1 or pro cycling, where performance depends not just on the athlete but on the size of the team, the technology, and the money behind them? Do we want a future where athletes have a team of support cars following the course, where gear changes and cooling strategies become decisive advantages?

At what point does support for elite athletes cross a line and create an unfair advantage just for the folks and/or brands who can afford it. And as Kilian is always a thoughtful writer he finishes his opinion piece in a very respectful tone:

Let’s think on how will look the sport in 10 years from now. Do we want a sport where to perform we need bigger budgets, bigger teams and where athletes «only» need to run? Or do we want a sport where all runners are provided with same opportunities and where management of the humans we are in face of the challenges of the natural spaces and conditions are still part of the journey?

It’s pretty easy to guess what side Kilian chooses here and when presented with a scenario like this most folks would probably pick the same side.

Let me be a little bit less respectful though and bring up a few other angles I’ve been thinking about following the Western States coverage and then reading Kilian’s post:

Wondering about the fairness of the competition is one important way of approaching this conversation. We absolutely want to create a level playing field in our sport for anyone competing, but especially for elites, whose bread and butter is measuring themselves against others.
The other point here, and one that Kilian didn’t really dive into is that these brands are increasingly using the support they provide for their athletes running Western States as a way to market themselves without directly giving back to the organization. The caravans of branded tents and huge crews, including embedded media teams, that travel from aid station to aid station create a huge circus, are a distraction for other runners, and have a massive environmental impact. Western States absolutely needs find a way to reining this in.

Lastly, I am quite surprised that I haven’t heard much response in the media about Kilian’s post. Usually when someone as public and as much revered as Kilian puts out a think piece about our sport the trail media is all over it. Did it fall into the proverbial summer hole? Or are folks just hoping that it fades away because it’s a criticism of Western States, and one cannot mess with America’s trail running flagship event.