UltraRunning July/August 2020
- Dewayne Satterfield: The Rare Heart of The South
- Training Without A Race
- The Future of Trail Running
- Racing Through A Quarantine
- Maintaining Fitness During Detraining
- Following in The Footsteps of Latimer
For Latoya Snell, there’s something about the smaller ultra community. She’s drawn to the enthusiasm shown for new runners toeing the line and feels right at home on the trails. It’s why she encourages others to invest in themselves by getting out the door each day from her home in Brooklyn, NY. Leading by example, it’s a risk that Latoya continues to take and one where she finds that the hardest things can become the best teaching moments.
John Trent has become a fixture in the ultrarunning community on the West Coast and is one of the best storytellers in the sport. Not only has he been on the Western States board since 2004, he’s also a race director and 10-time finisher of Western States. We discuss John’s big plans for 2020 prior to COVID-19 and his incredible ability to tell people’s stories in his column, Voice of the Sport.
This longstanding trail favorite is the most famous model in the Brooks lineup, and for good reason, as it performs well for a broad spectrum of users under a variety of conditions. The shoe dependably gives you a comfortable, stable ride with more than enough support and durability to handle ultra-distance mileage.
The Warriors UltraRun stands as one of the most unique road races in the country and allows runners to recreate the escape route from the iconic 1979 cult film “The Warriors” by Walter Hill, wherein a street gang is framed for a murder and must race through the dangerous streets of NYC in order to reach their home turf in Coney Island.
Like most of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic hit us hard – as people, as a company and as members of the racing industry. As the shelter-in-place orders continued, we realized that waiting this out wasn’t an option. The Bryce Ultras at the end of May was our first opportunity to see if there was a way to hold races during the pandemic while also keeping our runners and staff safe.
Originally Candice Burt had planned to spend the week before her next race, the Badwater 135, adapting to the heat in the Badwater Basin, but with Badwater’s official cancellation, she instead spent a week at altitude in Lake Tahoe for her new goal: the 171-mile Tahoe Rim Trail unsupported fastest known time.
Was I nervous? Absolutely. I had one week to prepare for a high elevation mountain race. But despite that aforementioned absurdity, my excitement to pin on an actual race bib completely trumped my fears, and I dove in head first without looking back.
Were it not for the circumstances of the pandemic, I would never have been shopping around for a race, but fate brought me together with the Strawberry Fields Forever 30 Hours in North Bonneville, Washington, near the Columbia River. It turned out to be a wonderfully well run and satisfying ultra with just 3,200 feet of elevation gain.
At the end of the day, whatever it takes to preserve our sanity and keep us moving is a good thing. And maybe, just maybe, when all this is over, our running community will have gained a few members for life from this surge in virtual races.
During the long summer days, the sun rises before 5 a.m. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home to the hardworking mother of four, founder of Native Women Running and ultrarunner, Verna Volker. She heads out the door for her daily morning ritual: a run towards the rising sun.