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UltraRunning October 2017
- Fall Shoe Review
- A Primer on MUT and USATF by Traci Falbo
- Tahoe Rim Trail by George Ruiz
- Living the Dream by John Trent
- Ego: A Double-Edged Weapon by Errol Jones
- Skyline
- Lightweight Running Jackets Review by Donald Buraglio
Commentary
Why?
A friend asked me, “Why would you enter a 100-mile ultramarathon? It just seems so outlandish for an otherwise rational thinking person to wish to endure such torture.” My answer was long and he seemed to understand when I was finished. It is my soul that I am searching for out there in the midst of what you called torture.
Featured
Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody
Patagonia’s lightest and most compressible jacket to date utilizes an innovative new insulation material called PlumaFill that provides excellent warmth to weight and maintains its loft and positioning even with extended use.
Featured
Sheep Mountain: 50 Miles Up High
Only the legendary San Juan Solstice has a higher average elevation for 50 miles, making Sheep Mountain the second highest 50-mile endurance run in America. The course has been described by its runners as “beautifully difficult.” How else could one describe a 50-mile course near 11,000 feet average elevation with around 10,000 feet of elevation gain?
Featured
Rick O’Donnell Memorial 8 Hour Ultra Challenge Course Record Crushed
Referred to by most as Rick’s Run, the 5th annual race was held on Sunday, September 17, 2017 on the trails of Greenbrier State Park, Boonsboro, Maryland. Rick’s Run Ultra Challenge participants have eight hours to navigate the 5.22-mile loop course as many times as possible.
AfterShokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Headphones
If you’re like me and prefer to run with a soundtrack, you likely have a drawer full of various headphones that didn’t quite work out. I heard about the AfterShokz Trekz Titanium, a bone-conducting Bluetooth headphone that, at first glance, would solve many of my problems with standard-issue earbuds.
A Primer on MUT and USATF
Participation in mountain, ultra and trail (MUT) races continues to grow by leaps and bounds each year. However, many people in the sport have little understanding of the role that USA Track & Field (USATF) plays in the MUT world. As a MUT representative with USATF and a member of multiple US Teams for World Championships, my goal with this article is to shed some light on that relationship and its history, as well as the history and structure of various World Championships in MUT.
Oregon Coast 50K: Come For The Beach, Stay For The Trails
The mystical beauty of the Oregon Coast harnesses thousands of visitors every year. Just drive Highway 101 any time between Memorial Day until the kids to return to school, and you’ll find a steady stream of cars filled with those who are dying to dip their toes into the 50-degree temps of the Pacific Ocean. Which is why early October is perfect for the Oregon Coast 50K, as runners begin looking for peaceful shores and deserted trails without having to worry about dodging seasonal tourists.
Solo, No Crew
“3-2-1… Have Fun!” Without a crew or a pacer ahead, I am able to just run along. There was a spreadsheet, but I don’t need it now – I’m not going to be late for anyone.
Cacapon 12 Hour Challenge: Five Years and Fifty Miles
The Cacapon 12 Hour Challenge Trail Run enjoyed a successful fifth running this year. Four of our runners received special awards for completing the run every year.
UltrAspire Lumen Collection
This fall UltrAspire has expanded the Lumen collection and also created some thoughtful offshoots of their original two belts.
Marathon On a Treadmill
An annoying man decided to use the treadmill directly to my right, despite there being several available options farther away. He immediately set his pace 1 mph faster than mine. The audacity of this individual was simply frustrating! So I did what any man in my position would do. I increased my speed by 2 mph.
Trails 4 Tails 40-Mile Run Marks 10th Anniversary
This year saw our largest number of runners, most dogs in attendance, most money raised for donation to Animal Rescue, and some other interesting stories along the way.
Discovering New York’s Ultra Scene
Visit New York and you’ll find a variety of trail and ultra events, a passionate running community and some very special history.
Blissed Out at the Marlette Lake 50K
After 10+ years of only road racing, I had converted to mostly trail running and was looking for a race to help me transition from road racing to trail racing. I wanted a local race so I could practice on parts of the course and a scenic course so that if all failed and I ran horribly, at least it would be pretty. The Marlette Lake 50K fit my criteria perfectly.
Yeti Snakebite 50K: Influenced by Skateboarding and Punk Rock
As someone who once thought my non-conformist lifestyle would be compromised by participating in any kind of sport, running with the Yetis dismantled any remnants of that way of thinking.
Rock Away Night and Day: The Spider Factor
Rock Away Night and Day is a Friday night trail half marathon followed the next morning by a 50-mile trail run in the heat and humidity of a northeast Kansas summer.
Wildcat 100: Finishing Is Winning
The Wildcat 100 Ultramarathon in Pensacola, Florida on Labor Day weekend was my fourth 100-miler, 21st ultra, and first “racecation.”
Issues Facing our Sport
If you’re reading this you probably love ultrarunning. The challenge, the fitness, the lifestyle. But as with everything, even good things, there are issues. And in ultrarunning we gots plenty: Long-odds lotteries for race entry, access to public lands, commercialization of the sport, gender equality, performance enhancing drugs, overtraining syndrome/burnout, too much growth, loss of culture, escalating costs of participation, central organizing bodies over-reaching and under-committing – the list goes on and on.
Camelbak Pursuit Series Wrap-up: Tips to Run Better and Marketing Myths
The 2017 CamelBak Pursuit Series wrapped up its two-event debut in September at Sanborn County Park, nestled in the redwood trees approximately 50 miles south of San Francisco. We enjoyed an inside look at the event and spent time with Golden Harper, founder of Altra Running, a company that was a major event sponsor and conducted a series of trail running clinics throughout the weekend.