The Ultra Minute ⛰️ September 9, 2024
New Katie Schide interviews, Hayden's fueling, trail running vs surf culture, more David Roche science, Candice is back, Amelia presses pause, a Grand Teton FKT, and the livestreams to watch this week
Happy Monday, ultrarunners!
🎙️ New Katie Schide post-race interviews - I know, I know, UTMB is over. But, we still have some good stuff coming out of Chamonix. Firstly, Katie Schide made appearances on the Freetrail and Singletrack podcasts to chat about her record-setting win.
💧Hayden and Eli’s fueling - If you’re curious how elite trail runners fuel, Precision Hydration released case studies for Hayden Hawks’ CCC win and Eli Hemming’s OCC win, wherein they outline exactly how these athletes fueled and hydrated before and during their respective races.
🌊 Trail running compared to surf culture -
wrote about UTMB cracking down on ambush marketing, comparing the state of marketing within the trail running community to that of surf culture:🧪 More David Roche Science - Outside of UTMB, we have more Leadville 100 David Roche content. This time,
chatted with David about how he leveraged science to set a new Leadville record. We’ve heard quite a bit from David himself, and his wife Megan, on their podcast about how he pulled this win off, but it was nice to have someone like Brady who studies this stuff interview David:🌻 Candice is back -
is back at it, having been given the green light from her doctor to run as much as she’d like (and yes, her doctor does know who they’re dealing with!). She wrote about how difficult this year has been, with multiple accidents and injuries, and the perspective she’s gained from it — finding gratitude on every run:⏸️ Amelia presses pause - Where Candice’s training is picking up, Amelia Boone is pressing pause. The Obstacle Racing World Champion and ultrarunner, wrote a moving piece reflecting on the decades she’s spent training and always preparing for the next race, and how for the first time she’s pressing pause for an unknown period of time:
⛰️ New Grand Teton FKT - Michelino Sunseri set a new FKT on Grand Teton after 4 years and 200+ hours of recon:
Race results
Cirque Series A-Basin - Patrick Kipngeno and Jane Maus took the wins in the sixth race of the Cirque Series at Arapahoe Basin, Colorado. The Cirque Series is based in the U.S. with short distance, high vert, trail races that welcomes pros and amateurs alike. Case in point, Johen Deleon finishing in second place behind one pro and in front of another (Joseph “joegeezi” Gray). Freetrail sat down with the winners and Johen, who they’ve dubbed “the next big thing in trail running.” Listen to the episode or watch on YouTube.
Wasatch 100 - Over at the Wasatch 100, Jimmy Elam and Elizabeth Butler took the wins.
Races to watch this week
📺 If you’re jonesing for more live-streamed action from the trail after UTMB, you’re in luck as Mountain Outpost will be covering two races live on YouTube this weekend, while UTMB will be covering Wildstrubel:
Run Rabbit Run 100 livestream on YouTube (coverage starts Thursday September 12 at 8:00pm EST)
Run the Rut 50k livestream on YouTube (coverage starts Sunday September 15 at 9:30am EST)
Wildstrubel 100 livestream on YouTube (coverage starts Sunday September 15 at 3:00am EST)
That’s it for this week. If you enjoyed it, please forward this email to a friend (or a few 😉) and encourage them to subscribe at this link so it lands in their inbox next week.
See y’all on the trail,
Ken
Thanks for sharing the MoB article comparing trail running to surfing in the discussion about Ambush Marketing. I worked in the surfing industry during the glory days, in the early 2000s, when it burned hot and was in the zeitgeist. It was a wild time, and it was all about growth (plus a lot of partying and breaking things). At the same time, many bemoaned that surfing had already lost its way, that the big brands had sold out, and there was no longer any soul. Specialty retailers were hoping for upstart brands that didn't dilute their equity by selling to Kohls, et al.
The UTMB article reminds me of what it was like to be on the North Shore during the Triple Crown. Each brand had their own house and put on their own events, with their own vibe. It's apples to oranges, but an interesting take nonetheless. When it comes to trail running, we might not be there yet. Because as of today trail running isn't creeping into the culture in the same way that surf/skate bled into the mainstream, infiltrating the malls, magazines, ESPN, and MTV. Trail running hits an older demographic, and while its inspirational, I'm not convinced that the lifestyle is aspirational. At least not in the same way that surfing was. But an interesting comparison, still.