The week in ultramarathon and trail results, compiled by Justin Mock at iRunFar. Special attention to Sophia Laukli for that performance at Sierra Zinal. Wow! I watched her kill it at Broken Arrow last year and see that she's on the list for the ...
The week in ultramarathon and trail results, compiled by Justin Mock at iRunFar. Special attention to Sophia Laukli for that performance at Sierra Zinal. Wow! I watched her kill it at Broken Arrow last year and see that she’s on the list for the Mammoth Trail Fest next month. Ooooooh, that’ll be good. More analysis from Brian Metzler right this way.
Also a shoutout to Bev Abbs (ahem, 59 years young) who finished 1st female and 2nd overall (8:31)at the Headlands 50 miler this past weekend. (Official results not posted yet.) Simply astonishing. Want to know her secret? Follow along on Strava and check out the myriad activities she does each day.
Another reminder to be safe out there. Wait, Australian Alps? (Just teasing. A good friend was on the Aus ski team and had to show me pics of snow in Australia to convince me.)
And with that, folks, wraps up thirteen years of URP.
Sunny starts high school today (!) and my priorities will be shifting towards her and my son (Van, 11) as they both enter important stages of life. Something’s gotta give.
This will be the last post and let me tell ya, I’ve written, re-written, and hovered my cursor over the “publish” button more times than I can count. One of these times I’ll click it and it’ll mark the end of an important part of my life.
First day of high school and I’m more nervous than she is.
What was once a daily routine for me–URP Daily News 5x/week and at least one episode each week for ten years–has changed since the Covid response and it’s time to close the doors.
Both my personal life and the sport have changed a ton in the past thirteen years and more changes will certainly occur in both. Overall, I expect the MUT world to continue to improve, grow and innovate as our funky little hobby creeps closer to “the mainstream” and I’ll be watching along with you. Like the trails, there will be ups and downs, easy portions and also sections where we struggle to stay upright. I honestly don’t know where we are in that landscape right now but I’m dying to know what the next section looks like.
My hope for the sport and its growing media bubble is that the focus is redirected towards the trails, roads and athletes and away from the social issues and away from some of the narcissistic behavior that unfortunately comes with commercial growth. Neither of those will lead to growing the sport in a healthy way and in my opinion, they detract from the egalitarian, community nature we’ve long enjoyed for so long.
Big thanks to my co-hosts and reviewers Ethan, Sarah and Ben, and huge thanks to the guests…Your insight and stories were transformative for me as both an athlete as well as an interviewer. You taught me about story telling, empathy, and, hey, sometimes even BDSM! And to the sponsors and Patreon crew, this couldn’t have happened without your support. Thank You all.
I’ll still be around announcing races, cheering for friends, strangers, (and Sunny’s HS team!), running smooth trails and tweeting about the sport, but this site will shut down soon. I’m not sure what will happen to the episode files, so if you want them, better download them soon.
Opportunities or ideas, I can be reached at ericryanschranz@gmail.com or for a limited time, eric@ultrarunnerpodcast.com.
I never imagined I’d still be doing this thirteen years after Scotty, Scott and Don brought me on board, but now it’s time to say goodbye.
Thanks for everything and I’ll see you out there,
Eric
Update/edit: Thanks for all the kind words. I’m going to step away from the computer for the remainder of the day.
I tweeted (x’ed?) this yesterday but in a wholly self-promoting style, will repost it here: Here’s our interview with Courtney from 2017 when Sarah and I interviewed her right after her RRR100 win where she went completely blind around mile 80. Definitely one of the craziest race reports I’ve ever heard.
In case ya missed it, Courtney announced she’ll be running UTMB next month. I’m not usually a UTMB fanboy, but this news will transform me. Can’t. Wait.
For the first time in over a dozen years, I wasn’t up in Tahoe or Foresthill or Auburn for the Western States Endurance Run. I suppose it was a combination of my waning personal interest in the hundred mile distance combined with me having spent the previous three day weekend announcing Broken Arrow and the fact we’re going through another home remodel and I’m doing most of the work. Sunny and I had planned on heading up there after her run on Saturday, but one thing led to another and I was happier on a paddleboard then I was in the car so that was that.
But oh boy did I miss out! I’ve heard talk of a men’s race going on, but all four of my eyes were on Courtney (and Katie!) and watching history unfold in real time. After all the hyperbole and superlatives have been spilled on laptop keyboards, Courtney’s record will stand for a very, very long time and I’m sorry I missed it. She’s simply and indisputably the best female MUT runner of all time.
And here’s Kevin’s argument that the best female distance runners in the world would win most US ultramarathons outright. What do you think?
Jean’s race report from the SF One Day 12 Hour. Come on Rangers! Change the permit policy back!
This is the same race that I ran many years ago. I’m sure you’ve heard the story before, but my day started at my wife’s company party where I consumed dangerous amounts of hot links, triptip, sauerkraut and beer, then thought it’d be a good idea to start my race. (It was an evening start for the 12 hour.) Ran OK until I didn’t, then I had a pitty party for myself, panicked, and used this new-at-the-time “uber” app to call a car to come pick me up. (I screwed up and ordered a limousine which considering the circumstances was laughable.) The driver took me to the bus station where I bought a ticket and went home and sulked. Pathetic then, but I can laugh about it now.
I dropped off Sunny and three of her friends at Max King’s Trail Running Camp yesterday and the energy in the car was CRAZY. These kids are stoked to run in the mountains. Highly recommended for your 13-18 year old.
Last year, Kae Ravichandran did pretty well at road and trail races around the country. (Note the sex.) In April, Ravichandran won the NB division at the Boston Marathon. And this past weekend, Kae won the Finger Lakes 50k in the women’s division.
And for the greatest irony, Finger Lakes is a “Trail Sisters Approved” race, which ostensibly is meant to support the efforts and needs of women in our sport. Seems that TrailSisters needs to add “Make men feel good about themselves by allowing them into our races” to the Standards listed on the front page.
A request from readers: Please don’t email or message me with “I support you on this position but can’t say anything publicly.” I get too many of these and it’s time to take a public position in support of fairness in women’s sports–at every level.
Thanks —Eric
Wanna run Elkhorn 100 this year? Good news…it’s free! There’ll be no course marking and the aid stations will be manned by your crew, but everything else still applies. Sounds like a great opportunity to see some killer trails in Wyoming. More info right this way.
Not to be confused with Bighorn 100...Here’s a great video make by Morgan Schick about his run last year. If you’re running it this year, watch this video.
“If Caster came to Comrades, we would all welcome her and I would be fascinated to see her run. But her build doesn’t look like an ultra-runner and at her best, she is a 800m and 1500m runner,” says Fordyce
Broken Arrow runners! The field is looking nuts and the course is going to be incredible this year! Please check your email and respond to the Athlete Questionnaire so your friendly and frantic Race Announcer can share something about you as your cross the finish line and ring das bell. Danke schön.
And hey, if you’re headed to Palisades Tahoe to watch the race, maybe consider helping out in the media/announcing booth. I need a couple of volunteers to help out Fri, Sat, and Sunday. Message me or Brendan if you’ve got time. Thank You!
Help! I’m looking for a few volunteers to help out in the announcing booth during Broken Arrow Skyrace June 16-18. Have a few hours to spare? It’s a fun, fast-paced job with the best seats in the house. Shoot me an email if you can help out. Thanks!
Might be weird looking, but it’s an incredible impact-free workout. (Just imagine an SUP breeding with a Stair-Master.)
Speaking of WS (and I guess we’re truly in “the season” now, so prepare for lots of WS info), here’s a new short documentary on the history of the race. Very well done and worth your fifteen minutes.
Below: Trail conditions for WS between Hwy 49 and Quarry Trail as of yesterday: Perfect.
Sage seems to entirely miss the point about fair competition, testosterone, hard work, and reality and again fails to see the issue from a female’s point of view.
Athletes —-
The whole “argument” that: “Doping is okay because all the top athletes are doing it” has always been a silly one in my mind. Same as: “It helps level the playing field because people have other advantages.”
Bullshit! There are top athletes that are clean that work…
What do you think about “pace inclusivity”? Does it make sense (permitting, volunteers, etc) to allow unlimited time to finish a race? I don’t know the answer to this.
