A Few Spaces Still Remain

I wanted to post a quick reminder that sign up for my Summer running camps is still open. The June 6-12 session is full (taking wait list applicants), but the July 28-August 3 session still has 5 spaces available. I will be advertising the camps more extensively (have only advertised here so far) in the next several weeks so I wanted to do one more plug here to make sure all my blog followers had first chance to get signed up before I begin spreading the word in other outlets. You can find all the information about the camps HERE.

Udo's Oil

I've been aware of the reported benefits of Udo's Oil for endurance athletes for at least 2 years, but I had never used it with any regularity until a few months ago. Scott Jurek has been Udo's largest promoter among ultrarunners, and it's certainly hard to argue with his success and knowledge in the sport. And then this fall on a run with Krissy Moehl she also spoke highly of Udo's Oil and the effect it's had on her running. Finally I decided that the endorsement of two of the people I respect the most in the sport of ultrarunning was enough for me to give it a more serious try. I have now been taking 2-4 tablespoons of Udo's 3-6-9 Oil virtually everyday since the end of November.

The science behind the benefits of "healthy fats" for endurance athletes (or for anyone for that matter) is well documented so I won't go into it here. There are all kinds of resources on the web that explain this with much more detail and with much more knowledge than I have at my disposal. Here is a good spot to start if you're interested in reading more about this.

All this science and research doesn't mean a thing to me though unless a product works for me. Two months is not a conclusive amount of time to state with 100% certainty that any product is having a significant positive effect on my body. I tend to have natural ebbs and flows in my general physical well being which seem to last 3 months or more. This said I have felt significantly better in many areas in this time that I have been taking Udos. It's hard for me not to believe that this Oil has been a major player in feeling as healthy as I have.

The area that I have noticed the most improved physical well being since beginning on Udo's has been in my overall energy levels throughout the day. I have previously felt quite tired most of the time between my training runs. Typically I have turned to afternoon caffeine to get me through the low points, and then sleep as much as possible, and I'm usually able to feel pretty good and recovered in time to do it all over again the next day. In the past few months though I have noticed less and less of this low point between runs. Even on days when I do a really long or really hard run I tend to feel totally recovered and re-energized within a few hours. I am quite certain that the improvement I have felt in this area is directly a result of my consumption of Udo's Oil. The difference has simply been too much to ignore.

As far as my physical well being during runs, I would say the jury is still out on this one a bit. I feel like I have felt generally a bit stronger during runs in the past few months, but I have had a lot of variables that have been presented in this time. I have been dealing with the effects of adjusting to living and training at 8,500 ft. I have lived at this altitude since August, but only in the past month or two do I feel that I have fully acclimatized. I have also, in the past 3 weeks, taken my first significant break from serious training in over a year. Because of these variables it's pretty hard for me to really grade the effect that Udo's has had on how I feel during runs. I do look very forward to the coming weeks though as I get back into the "normal" swing of things to see how I feel running on 4 or 5 tablespoons of Udo's Oil a day. I'll keep you all posted on this one.

The other thing I would add is how much I have enjoyed the flavor that Udo's adds to some of the foods I've been eating it with. It adds a great rich, hearty, Earthy flavor to my recovery smoothies. This is a concoction that I have typically choked down in the past, but with a couple tablespoons of Udo's it's much tastier. I've also really enjoyed using it as an oil for salad dressing. I think my favorite is a simple dijon vinaigrette with a bit of dijon mustard, garlic, red wine vinegar, and Udo's. I also ate some on pasta the other day for the first time and was surprised at how satisfying that was.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, you should get some Udo's 3-6-9 Oil and try for yourself. As I said, it's only been a few months for me, but the early results are very positive, and I'm excited to move ahead with Udo's as a regular part of my diet.

Serious Return To Winter And Some Thoughts Surrounding That

So much for feeling like Spring is just around the corner. Two days ago it was over 50 here and today it's topping out at about negative 8. Supposed to go down to about 25 below tonight. Luckily it isn't windy right now or I'm not sure we'd be able to keep it warm enough in our little cabin.

All this cold has me thinking a lot about Alaska, and specifically about outdoor adventure in the winter in Alaska. More specifically than that, it has me thinking a lot about the Iditarod Trail Invitational (if you aren't' familiar with this race I highly recommend checking out the website. It still amazes me that this event really exists).

This year's version of the "ITI" occurs in March and I will most definitely not be taking part. Next year though, who knows? I've tried this race twice and dropped out both times. Part of me isn't sure why I would want to do it again. But most of me is very intrigued by the idea of doing it again. It has an appeal to it that is similar to the way I felt about the first couple 100 mile races I ever did. It's not a challenge to see how fast you can do it, but rather a challenge to see whether you can do it at all.

I miss this aspect of my athletic endeavors a bit. Back in 2008-2009 I participated in 3 events like this within a 16 month span (ITI twice and the GDR), but since July '09 I have focused entirely on "short", high performance running races. It has been really nice to put all of my energy into one type of running, and it has been very satisfying to have the success in doing this that I have had, and I am excited for the schedule of races I have lined up for the next 10 months. I do however find myself missing some of the more adventurous, longer, multi day events that have to this point been very difficult and elusive to me. Despite my lack of "success" in finishing these events, I have had some of the most fond memories of my entire life in the midst of these events. There's just something so satisfying about being out in a harsh and beautiful landscape, for days in a row, with nothing to move you forward but your own strength, stubbornness, and determination. I don't know for sure if I'll participate in the Iditarod Trail Invitational next winter, but I will certainly put a lot more thought into this over the next couple months, before I would need to sign up in April.

Spring is Just Around the Corner

I'm still keeping my running super low key for another week or so before gearing back up for a new season. 2011 is looking to be a really fun and really challenging year of running. It has however been really nice taking a bit of time off. Ironically some of the most enjoyable runs I've done in quite some time have been in the past couple weeks. One with Dave and one with Joe. Both runs were satisfying because we had virtually no agenda and in both cases ended up off trail climbing up Green Mountain summit along ridge spines coming in from the South. I really miss this kind of "running." That is to say, the kind of running I do so much of in Juneau. Steep, rugged, off trail, and with no agenda.

Next week when I get back to "normal" training it'll be with my eye on 3 killer spring races to get me ready for another huge summer.

First I'll be heading up to Washington to run Chuckanut on March 19th. I've never run this race and this year's field looks to be as competitive as ever. Should be a great early season test of leg speed. Much like Way Too Cool last year, although this year I have no intention of getting lost on course.

On April 2nd I'll be racing Lake Sonoma 50, another one that has a really good solid field of runners planning to toe the line.

And then on April 29th I'm going to head down to Santa Barbara to run the DRTE 100. This is a new race that has been trying to get off the ground for a few years now. Normally I shy away from races until they have a few years to get the kinks worked out, but this one is just too tempting to pass on. 35,000 ft. of ascent. That's enough to get me interested. I'll definitely be running this one as more of a long hard training race (usually the best way to approach a 100 miler anyway) to get ready for UTMB and WS (and/or Hardrock - lottery pending). It'd be nice to run Hardrock and have it be less vertical than my previous 100. Provided things went well at DRTE that could be a killer confidence boost for either Hardrock or UTMB.

I'm getting more and more excited for the huge races coming up this summer, but right now I'm not even thinking about that a whole lot because I'm really excited for these 3 early season races that are kind of just around the corner now.

"The Championship Race"

There's been a lot of talk lately about the interest in a true championship race in American Ultrarunning. There have been several attempts at this over the years, but in my opinion no one has gotten it just right. No race has been able to separate itself as the race that all top runners flock to each year to test themselves against the best. Western States has probably come closer to this than any, but really hasn't come to stand alone as an undisputed championship race. In the past few years the North Face Championship race in San Francisco has emerged as another event that comes close to doing this, but they're still coming up short as well. UTMB has come even closer to this than Western States or North Face, but it's in Europe. Until some race becomes "The Championship" race here in The United States there is going to continue to be a demand for this.

Some people express concern about this idea of a championship race. Concern that races which so definitively emphasize elite runners will have a negative effect on the experience of the 99% of ultrarunners who are not elite runners. I think there is some validity in these concerns, but I think it's important to keep in mind that what people are talking about is a desire for there to be ONE true championship race. I don't think anyone wants anything more than this. That means ONE race unlike anything we have now, and hundreds of races which would be the same as they are now.

At any rate, I think the discussion of what effect a true championship race would have on the sport is a moot point. I think that there is such a high demand for this that it is absolutely going to happen within the next couple years. It's a simple aspect of a free market that when you have a large demand for a product/service that is not available someone will provide a product/service to fill that void.

I think we can and have learned some things from the "what effect would this have on the sport" discussion, but I also think it's time to move forward and focus more on the discussion of what a true championship race should and likely will look like. It's been good to see (on blogs) and hear (from other runners or interested parties) a lot of talk about this in the past couple months. I couldn't begin to count the people that I've had quite detailed conversations with about this type of event in the past few months. The surprising thing to me has been how similar people's ideas about this are. There are several things which almost everyone I talk to about this agree on. My purpose of this post is to outline what I see (from conversations with others and from my personal opinion) as the primary aspects that any true championship race should have. I don't think that all of these are necessary for the emergence of a race like this, but I do think that most of them are, simply because any race that tries to emerge that is lacking in too many of these aspects will be replaced by a race that provides more of these things.

Here's the list of the most important things (in my opinion) for a race to include to become a true championship race:

• Entry guaranteed to any runner who wants to run the race who would have any chance of competing for the win in a race like this. There are many ways to do this. I think the best would be a combined system of invitees and auto qualifiers based on previous race performances
• 90%+ trail with at much of this as possible singletrack
• Single loop or point to point course (as compared to multiple loops or out and back)
• 100 miles - this seems to be the preferred distance among a lot of top runners, but I think a 50 mile or 100k distance could pull this off as well. The shorter distances would just have to put that much more energy into convincing top runners to show up because you will have a few that will not be inclined to take it seriously at first because it's not 100 miles.
• prize money - not necessarily a lot, but enough to make the race in the very front that much more appealing to the front runners and to spectators
• 150 to 250 ft/mile of elevation gain - not too little nor too much climbing
• Average altitude less than 7,000 ft. and high point less than 9,000 - you don't want to eliminate from the race those who don't have the time or money to acclimatize for several weeks before the race.
• Location within reasonable distance (less than 100 miles) from major airport
• Location in Western United States - there are places in the East that could work, but probably not any that would be as appealing as something in the West, especially considering that probably 75%+ of the runners who would be competing live and train in the West
• Race date no earlier than June 1st and no later than October 1st - you want competitors to be in top shape, not early season legs or late season fatigue.
• Stand alone championship event as opposed to an event which also tries to incorporate a middle/back of pack race at the same time OR permit space to accommodate 500+ runners in one event - probably a race in conjunction with a "standard" race. Maybe a week apart, or maybe just a day apart. I think, as many have said in comments that this would appeal to the masses more if you have non-elites racing the same race with the elites. I agree with this, but I think most places in the United States are hard to get large enough permits to accommodate this. If you have enough space to do both together than that will work fine but if you are ending up not being able to take on all the elites that want to run then you are simply ending up where Western States is now.
• Start/Finish area with very easy access and space to accommodate thousands of people, preferably in a large population center - opportunity for large amount of spectators
• Points throughout the race that pass through accessible population centers - same as above point
• High quality pre, during, and post race online coverage - I mean really high quality. This is where a race like this could stand to bring in the money to pay for all of this. With today's technology it wouldn't be hard at all to do WAY more than any races are currently doing in this regard. If you do it right you could charge viewers a small fee for access to interviews, analysis, race tracking, race footage, etc. A fee which I suspect thousands, if not tens of thousands worldwide would be happy to pay for in depth coverage.

As I said, not all of these things are necessary, but I think the more of them you have the more likely you will have a race that will emerge and remain as "a championship" race. What do you all think? What am I missing? What do you agree/disagree with? I think the most likely scenario is for a new race to emerge in this manner, but are there any races out there that can/do already provide most of these things? Certainly there are some which provide a lot more than others, but I don't know of any who currently provide enough to emerge (and this is why, in my opinion, none have really emerged yet) as The Championship Race.

Anonymous

Thanks all for the congratulatory comments about UROY. Based on a few private emails I received yesterday I wanted to clear up something I said in my previous post. I am not any less proud or honored to receive this award this year as I was last year. If fact I'm probably more proud and honored than I was a year ago. Defending something like this is almost always harder than winning it the first time around. Defending it for another time in 2011 is looking (based on some of the race schedules some of the other top runners are putting out there) to be even more challenging, a challenge I'm getting really excited about. What I was trying to convey in my previous post was simply that the actual announcement of this award didn't have as much of an effect on me this year as it did last year. I'm sorry if this sounds cocky: but I kind of expected to win it. I don't think this was me being cocky, I think this was me being informed and realistic. I think receiving every single first place vote shows that I had reason to expect it.

As to the obnoxious anonymous comments about a whole range of other random things on my previous post, I agree with most of you who responded to those comments: some good entertainment, but not a whole lot of substantive value. I have had these type of "feather ruffling" comments in the past. A few times in the past I've even allowed them to get under my skin a bit. I have however never taken steps to not allow anonymous comments. Despite being sometimes totally out of line, I think there is usually some value in what everyone has to say. I'm a big fan of listening to everyone's opinion. I think sometimes I even learn some valuable things from some of the most obnoxious comments.

This said, I have thought about this a bit in the past day and have decided to no longer allow anonymous comments. I have no desire or intention to limit what people say on my blog, I just no longer am willing to allow them to fire away anonymously. I've tolerated this kind of thing in the past, but I have decided to draw the line at people using my blog to throw inflammatory, anonymous comments in the direction of other people. I think it's really obvious to most everyone reading these comments that this person is obnoxious, ignorant, and likely quite envious of Tony. In trying to define Tony as foolish, they have of course made themselves the ultimate fool. I hope the readers of this blog can be mature enough to avoid making these kinds of comments in the future, but if you feel the need to you will no longer be able to do so anonymously. At least this way we can all know who we are laughing AT.

Sorry to those of you who post constructive and reasonable things anonymously just because it's easier than setting up an account and logging in. I don't want to keep people from sharing their thoughts. The process of setting up an account and logging in each time is really quite simple. Less than 5 minutes of your time.

Ultrarunner Of The Year

Results for Ultrarunning Magazine's Ultrarunner of the Year award were announced today and I was named Male runner of the year for the second year in a row. Finding out about this was a little less exciting for me this year than last year, partly because last year was the first time for me, but mostly because the voting was a lot closer last year. This year I kind of knew that I was going to win it. That said it's still a huge honor and something I am very proud of. It's never easy to defend an award like this and I certainly ran my ass off in 2010 to win this award a second time.

In general I think the voting panel did a pretty good job. Each year there are some surprises in this voting, but I think when you have something as obscure as ultrarunning being measured by a panel of 18 voters you are going to have some weird outcomes.

It still baffles me how little recognition this panel gives to the North Face Championship race in December. Granted I didn't win this race, but I beat more truly world class ultrarunners in that run than any North American ultrarunner has in a long time, if not ever. It certainly wasn't my best race ever, but not good for a single vote in the performance of the year category? Tony's vote tally for his Western States performance, which I think he deserved, shows that the panel is willing to vote for a second place finisher, but my lack of even a single vote for NF race shows just how unwilling the panel is to acknowledge that that race has become, without question, the most competitive ultra in North America.

I think another example that illustrates this is the fact that Dave Mackey got one total vote for runner of the year. Yes, he only ran 2 ultras all year but he won Firetrails and finished 3rd at North Face. Max King (not to take anything away from Max, but just to prove a point) also ran (to my knowledge) 2 ultras this year. He finished 2nd at Way Too Cool and 3rd at American River and finished with 8 total votes and 11 places ahead of Dave in the voting. Perhaps Max picked up some votes due to his dominance at shorter races, but I suspect it has more to do with voters who are unwilling to place as much importance on a new race like NF 50 as they are on some of the old classics like Way Too Cool and American River, even if the new race had a significantly stronger field.

At any rate, this is a pretty minor thing to be my biggest question with the voting. Overall I really do think they do a pretty good job at something which is really not as easy it sounds. The women's side of things was certainly a lot closer and likely will raise a lot more questions, but I think the panel did a good job there too. Personally I think Ellie deserved female runner of the year, but without having run a 100 miler I certainly didn't expect her to win it. She has the talent to dominate the women's side of things for the next several years, I'm excited to see if she's able to stay healthy and turn that potential into a reality.

Montrail

I've been a part of the Montrail Ultrarunning Team for two full years and am really excited to be starting another year with them. Also, for almost 3 years before joining the team I wore Montrail shoes most of the time. In the past 5 years I have probably run 95% of my mileage in Montrail shoes. Despite being a big fan of Montrail shoes for half a decade there has never been a time when I've been as excited about the shoes they have on the market, or are bringing to the market soon as I am right now.

I am still doing almost all of my running in the Mountain Masochist (as I have for almost two years). In my mind these are the best running shoes ever made! I think they are a perfect balance of everything that a good trail shoe should be, and they fit my foot perfectly. I would recommend them to anyone for pretty much any type of trail running. At 10.8 ounces I think they are a perfect balance between the traditional 13+ ounce trail shoes that have dominated the history of trail shoes and the minimalist (6-8 ounce shoes) that are the latest trend in trail running. With the Masochist you get the best of both worlds: plenty of support, cushioning, and protection, but still light and flexible enough that you really feel the agility and quick foot speed that you feel in a really light shoe. I could go on and on about these shoes, but I've done that on this blog in the past and I think you get the point: If you haven't worn these shoes, you're missing out.

The one bad thing about having a shoe that I love as much as the Mountain Masochist is that I hardly ever have the patience/interest to try out other shoes. I've dabbled with all of the shoes that Montrail has on the market, as well as those that they'll be bringing to the market this year. I haven't however worn any of them enough to give any kind of in depth review. What I can say is that I like every Montrail shoe that I have worn in the past 3 years, just not any of them as much as I like the Mountain Masochist. Here's a bit about a couple of my favorites that we be available very soon:

The Rogue Racer is Montrail's answer to the minimalist trail shoe trend, and the demand in the marketplace for ultra light trail racing shoes. They will be available retail sometime very soon. I have been fortunate enough to do some running in a pair for the past several months. There are a lot of things I like about this shoe. If I ever raced shorter trail races (anything under 2 hours) I would likely wear these shoes. They fit exceptionally well and feel great under my feet, even on the most technical trails. For my taste they are a bit too minimal for runs over 2 or 3 hours, but for those who like an 8 ounce shoe even for longer runs I think it'd be worth your time to try these out.

The Badrock is another new shoe for spring 2011 that will be available retail very soon. This is a sturdier trail shoe (more in the line of the old Hardrock) that is actually a lot lighter (just a bit over 11 ounces as I recall) than it looks. When I first got a pair of these shoes I didn't think I would like them much, but as I've run in them more and more I'm liking them more on each run. They will be a great shoe for heavier runners or any runners who really like a lot of support and cushioning under their foot. I've been loving them lately for running in the snow. They have great traction on packed snow and the spacious foot box allows me to wear thick socks and still have plenty of room for circulation. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this shoe end up with a loyal cult-like following similar to the old Hardrock shoes. They will also be available in Montrail's new Outdry waterproof technology which I think is going to be infinitely better than the GoreTex shoes that we've all more or less avoided over the past couple decades.

Alaska Mountain Ultrarunning Camp - Second Session

I've made it official, I will be doing a second session later in the Summer for my running camp. This second session will be July 28th-August 3rd. The entry form for this session will be available on the camp website by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday). Hope some of you can join me in Juneau in July.

Down Time

I've been enjoying a really relaxing week post Bandera. It feels weird not to have a next race so close that I feel like I need to get back at it as soon as I'm recovered. I feel entirely recovered from my little 50k outing on Saturday, but instead of getting out running right away I'm just hanging out, catching up on some work, changing the look of this website, doing a little skiing, and taking the little one out sledding (when I can actually get her out the door).

My running camp scheduled for June is just about full so I am moving forward with plans for another session later in the summer. I will be announcing the dates of this second session by early next week. Keep an eye on my camp website if you're interested in that.

Also, over the next few weeks I'm hoping to do several posts about some of the products that I prefer to use in my running. Most of these will be companies I am sponsored by and/or receive free or discounted products from. However, this will not just be me plugging my sponsors. I believe strongly in all of the products that I will mention. For each of these products there are several competing products which I've tried that have not been satisfactory to me for one reason or another. Lucky for me I've been able to secure partnerships with most of the companies who make my favorite products for trail running. If I don't care for a product I won't endorse them. I suppose if someone offered me enough money to endorse a product I didn't believe in I might be tempted, but this is ultrarunning we're talking about, nobody is throwing enough money my way to make me even tempted to endorse any product/company that I don't fully trust and believe in. So keep an eye open for some product reviews and recommendations over the next couple weeks... if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Bandera DNF

Well, certainly things didn't go as planned this weekend at Bandera, and I ended up dropping out at the halfway point. I'm still not sure exactly what was going on, but pretty much everything felt "off" right from the start. I've kind of known for awhile that I need a bit a break from racing. I think this past weekend certainly confirmed that. I've done 10 races in 10 months and for the next couple months I'm going to give myself a bit of a break. Probably won't race again until late March and will take the rest of this month off from any kind of focused training.

Anyhow, back to Saturday. I had a nasty head cold last week, but by race day I thought it was more or less gone. And then I slept better on Friday night than I ever have the night before a race. 7:30 am when we started I thought I had everything in line to have a good solid run.

And then we started and within minutes I felt really crappy. My stomach was off, my legs were off, my lungs felt really stressed, and the pace felt way too fast. I should have slowed down right then. Dave James took the pace out really fast, but instead of slowing down I thought I could just push along and get warmed up and start feeling better. This has after all worked for me numerous times in the past when I haven't felt that good at the start of a race.

Not this time though. I felt crappy and kept feeling worse. Eventually I knew I needed to slow down, but by that point we had covered about 15 miles and the damage was done to me. I was in this "No Man's Lan" where I felt like all I could do was hold on and hope for a miracle. Of course slowing down then would have still been wise, but at the time it felt very much like I had already done enough damage by going out too hard (for what my body had on that day) that I may as well just stick with it and see what happened.

And so this is what I did. Dave James, Dave Mackey, and I were running this entire stretch together. I had a few moments where I felt good for a minute or two, but overall it was just bad and getting worse. The most tangible problem was that my stomach wasn't taking in calories. I would eat a gel and it would take 45 minutes or more for my stomach to settle and absorb the calories. By mile 25 I knew I was in serious trouble and I finally slowed way down and let Mackey run out ahead.

Usually when I feel really crappy in a race it's still really fun, and I relish the challenge of trying to manage things back to a point of being able to race again. It never felt this way on Saturday though. The crappy feeling just didn't feel fun at all and the slower I went the worse I felt. By mile 28 I hadn't eaten anything in over an hour and my stomach was feeling even worse. I had only had 300 calories all race and so I slowed even more.

I can't really explain what makes me choose to stop in a moment like this as opposed to pushing on and trying to find a way to turn things around. It's just not a tangible thing that can be explained, but for me in the moment I just know when to stop and I know when to go. My body, my mind, and every other part me was telling me it would be better to stop in this race.

When I struggled for almost 30 miles in the middle of Western States last year, not once did the slightest thought of stopping creep in. And so on Saturday I stopped at the 50k aid station.

As soon as I dropped I walked to my tent and just laid on the ground for an hour. Finally after that I was able to stomach a little water (first water in about 2 hours). About 3 hours after stopping I was finally able to eat some food. Within 6 hours of stopping I felt great, and having dropped out felt really silly. But at the time, and right now, I know that it was the right thing to do. This just wasn't my day. That happens every now and then. The last time this happened for me was Miwok in 2009. I came back a few months later from that race a significantly stronger runner than I was previously. That's what my plan is this time around too.

In the end Mackey had a super solid race and finished in 8:17, taking more than an hour off the previous course record. This was the biggest reason I was bummed to have not had more in me on this day. It would have been fun to battle it out to the end with Dave. Hopefully I get that chance again soon before Dave is retired and in a nursing home. Dave James also had a great run, finishing less than 20 minutes behind Mackey, and also way under the previous course record. Two more great runners with a shot at Western States if they choose to take it.

Racing Again - Gosh This Came Up Fast

I'm heading down to Texas to race Bandera this weekend. It kind of feels like I just raced in San Francisco a week ago. It's actually been 5 weeks. Should be a fun trip though. It looks like it's supposed to rain on race day, but there should be some nice sunny weather tomorrow and Sunday. And this race has $5 camping right at the start area - something every good race should have. I'm excited to spend an entire weekend outside. I'm also excited to run on all day on dirt. It's been nothing but running on snow for me for about 4 weeks now.

The race itself should be a good one too. It's certainly not one of my primary races, but come Saturday morning I'll be running to win. Dave's racing this one too so I really look forward to running all day with him again. There should be some other great competition also. This one aint gonna come easy (not that any of them really do).

Thanks to everyone for the great, informative comments on my post about a UTMB type race here in the States. Good to see that I'm not the only one interested in something like this. Hope everyone is having a great start to 2011.

Alaska Mountain Ultrarunning Camp

I've got all the details ironed out for a running camp that I'll be directing in Juneau this summer. Check out all the details here: http://www.akultracamp.blogspot.com/

Right now I am planning one session (June 6-12), but if there is enough demand I'll be doing another session later in the summer. Please do let me know if the June dates don't work for you, but you'd be interested in a session in late July or August. Each session will be limited to 10 runners so sign up soon if you want to guarantee a space.

UTMB in the US?

There's been something I just haven't been able to get out of my mind since running the first few hours of the canceled UTMB race in August. This being the question of why don't we have any races like this in the United States? That is to say races with the kind of energy that UTMB has. Sure we have a handful of road marathons that have this kind of participation and energy, but as far as trail ultra goes we have nothing even close. Western States is probably the most "energetic" of our trail ultras, but compared to UTMB, Western States feels like a church bake sale. And where I see the real difference is that at a race like Western States the energy doesn't really spread out of the very isolated bubble that is American ultrarunning. Sure a few Auburn/Sacramento "locals" get a little bit excited about Western States, but for the most part the general American public doesn't give a shit about a bunch of people crazy enough to run 100 miles. Or do they?

Now before I go too far here let me acknowledge what a lot of you are probably thinking: that this is a good thing. A big part of me agrees with this. Some of the most enjoyable races I've ever been a part of have been the ones that are the most low key/low energy. Bear 100, HURT 100, Run Rabbit Run - to name a few. A larger part of me though feels like a balance of the two would be more appealing and more satisfying. This touches a bit on a few points I made in my previous post about prize money. I think the more races you have with high energy (or hype or attention or prize money or whatever you want to call it), the more super low key races you are going to have as a response to that. To me these are the types of races that appeal to me: the ones out on the edge of either edge of the spectrum.

Back to my original point though: why don't we have any trail ultras that are even close to UTMB in "energy?" This is the question that has been bugging me for 4 months now. I've talked to a lot of people about this, and most seem to feel that there is simply a difference in American popular culture as compared to European (or at least French) popular culture that Americans simply don't have an interest in these kinds of events. I don't agree with this opinion. I think instead that it's a result of the fact that almost every trail ultra in this country does everything it can to create a route that takes the runners out into as much wilderness and away from as many settled areas as possible. We do this because we love running in solitude through the mountains and through the forest, and because here in the United States we have enough open space to actually do this. Thank God for that. I love this aspect of these races as much as anyone. In Europe they don't really have this option. If you want to create a Tour De France or a UTMB you are going to have to pass through settled areas. You bring the race to large populations of people and the people respond. Here in the states we just haven't brought these kinds of events to large populations of people because we don't have to the way that they have to in Europe.

And so the next question becomes: if we bring the race to the people, how will the people respond? I don't know the answer to this question. I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this question because I don't think anyone has really tried. I want to try. I want a mountainous trail ultra that embraces populated areas, rather than avoids them. Race mostly through the mountains, but also race right through the center of numerous towns. Promote the race in these towns. Get local businesses on board who get excited about the prospect of several hundred (and potentially several thousand) spectators being out and about their town on race day. We have places we could do this. There are places along the California coast where you could put together a 100 mile route, mostly in the mountains, but where you could also hit a dozen or more villages or cities along route. It would be a little trickier but you could also do this in a couple places in Colorado and perhaps some areas of Washington or Oregon. Or for that matter, out East, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, etc. where there are plenty of mountains and trails, but also, like in Europe, small villages scattered throughout these mountains.

Anyhow, just a random thought that's been running through my mind. I think it'd be awesome if we had a race or two like this. And I think it's possible. I just don't think anyone has tried. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm curious to hear what others think. I can't be the only one who has had this thought. I suspect many are going to comment that they feel races like this would damage the existing low-key ultrarunning culture. I can certainly respect this opinion, and I certainly have some of these same concerns, but if you have been to France and been a part of UTMB it's really hard not to feel (at least for me) like there is a whole another aspect to ultrarunning culture that we are really missing out on here in the United States.

Prize Money

There's been a lot of talk lately about the future of the sport of Ultrarunning in regards to globalization and money. I think a lot of this was a result of the recent North Face race in San Francisco that drew a large international contingent of runners wanting to get a piece of the "largest purse in ultrarunning." I realize that to 99.99% of the people in the world this might be the most boring topic imaginable, but for the .01% who give a shit I suspect that there are some really passionate thoughts about this. Here are mine:

Globalization to me is an easy one. We're all humans. When I line up to run a race it really doesn't matter much to me where the people are from that I'm racing against. It's a fast growing sport and this is leading to races with more and more people from all over the world. I love running day in and day out, but the thrill of lining up with hundreds of like minded runners and testing myself in a competition with them is something that I can only do in races. I thrive on the competition. Generally the more top level runners in a race, the more excited I get about that race. And thus, the worldwide growth of the sport makes me really excited to open up so many more possibilities of talented runners to race against. I want to race against the best in the world. More and more that is becoming a possibility. A possibility that might not have existed in trail ultras a few years back. To me these are all good things. It's the money issue where things get a little bit stickier:

There has been a fair amount of prize money making it's way into Ultrarunning in the past few years. There still isn't much, but if the amount of races with prize money (and the total amount of this prize money) grows as much in the next few years as it has in the past few years it will begin to be a fairly substantial amount. The North Face Endurance Challenge races are the most obvious examples of new prize money in the sport, but there have also been dozens of other new races to pop up in the past few years with small amounts of prize money. Why is this?

There are so many ultra races now that a new race needs to do something to separate itself from all the other races. One way of doing this is to offer prize money. The more money, the more separation. So far this trend hasn't really had much of an effect on the sport. The old established races are generally still the most recognized races and to my knowledge not one of these "old" races has yet added prize money. I'd be surprised if this still true in another year or two.

By putting up a $10k prize the North Face has created a race that in 5 years became what was generally considered to be the most competitive 50 mile trail race ever in the world. Surely someone else has noticed this and has thoughts about upping the ante. The North Face has done almost nothing to promote this event and tap into the real potential that they have in their lap here. Instead it feels like they just kind of threw down the prize money for the hell of it and then forgot about it. Someone soon will put down more money and will do more to take advantage of the runners that this will draw, and in short time they will have one of the most recognized trail races in the world. To me this seems like a given. And when this happens I think it will begin to force some of the existing "most recognized" races to make some decisions.

Right now there is a void. The North Face has shown that by simply putting down a little bit of prize money you can draw a ton of attention from top runners around the world. As more new races begin to follow suit this void will begin to fill up and existing races will need to decide if they want to play the game or if they want to fade aside into the category of largely non-competitive races. Most will probably choose the later. A few will choose the former and there will become a fairly distinct divide in terms of the level of top competition seen at various races around the world. Not unlike the current marathon racing dynamic around the world.

Maybe none of this is actually going to occur. I think it's going to though. I think it's already started and is virtually unavoidable at this point. Thus the question becomes whether this is a good thing, a bad thing, or neither.

I'm actually kind of split on this question. I would love to be able to earn decent money racing something that I love so much. More than this though I would love it if there were dozens of races around the world that drew the kind of competition that the North Face race is now drawing. I want enough money in the sport that truly elite marathoners (sub 2:10) are inclined to try their hand at it. Large amounts of prize money will make these things happen.

Where the problems with prize money start to creep in is when you start to think about where the money is going to come from. Ideally large corporations (North Face and others) put down the money and draw enough attention to the event (because of the elite runners), and their products, that they feel confident that they are making a financial gain. The other option is that races pay out large sums of prize money with money generated from race entry fees. In some situations this might be able to work (specifically in races which are allowed huge numbers of people), but in most cases this prize money will result in significantly increased entry fees or significantly decreased amount of amenities that we receive from races on race day. I think entry fees are already really high in this sport ($370 for Western States), and certainly nobody wants races to provide less for them before, during, or after the run.

And herein lies the potential problem with more prize money in the sport. Ultra running is already a pretty exclusive, middle to upper middle class activity. Right now I think this has as much to do with demographics as it does with the costs related to participating in events, but the thought of making events even more expensive, and thus less accessible to individuals with less money doesn't seem like a good direction to head towards.

Ultimately what I hope and think will happen is that large corporations will follow the lead of The North Face and put down some serious prize money to get their hands on some of the void that exists right now because of how fast this sport is growing around the world. Just think how strange it is that by simply throwing down $10k (which is virtually nothing to a company like NF) they were able to create one of the most competitive ultra races in the world almost overnight. It shows just how much the established races aren't keeping up with the growth of the sport. Companies that are able to maximize the attention they get from being attached to such a worldwide event should have no problem recouping the prize money they put down without any need to charge super high entry fees.

Many races will take a staunch stance against prize money and they will "thrive" as old-fashioned, low key, low competition events for individuals who are drawn to this aspect of ultrarunning. The ironic thing is that many of these will be the same races which are currently some of the most recognizable and competitive events in the sport. Personally I think this is all a good thing. I like the low-key, low competition events just as much as the events with world class competition. In fact I think the further toward either end of this spectrum that an event falls the more appealing it is to me. It's the ones in the middle that are kind of boring. Luckily these are the ones that will likely fade into oblivion (by moving far to the left or to the right) as more prize money comes into the sport.