I love Ultra Trail Runners. It is hard to explain. I was brought into the fold by some great people at Bakersfield Distance Project that took the time to explain what it is to be a a UTR. Im newer, but old school thinking thanks to them. An aid station- that is cool! Loosely organized- awesome! Chatting with elites just like everyone else- amazing! However, even I can see some of the changes and I find it hard to understand. Cheating? Complaints about aid stations not being a virtual mini mart? People being rude? Not enough swag? Blaming RD for not marking a course every 15 ft? Crews misleading other crews at races? Lawsuits?? Maybe the answer to keeping the Ultra community this amazing group of people is for those veteran runners to show the newbies HOW to be an ultra runner. If someone is coming from road races they wont just magically know, it is different. The difference is what makes it magical to me. Im slow, it took me 17 hrs to do my first 50 miler, but I found great support and friends in those 17 hrs. What if veteran runners took 5 minutes and adopted a newbie. Teach them that arrogance is best left at home. Kindness, support, sharing and ethics are for the trails. Show them why it is more like a family than a social media club. Newbies, if you dont feel the need to give back to the community via volunteering, crewing, pacing and such, then this might not be your group of people, nothing wrong with that either. Jimmy Dean Freeman , Andy Noise and Ed Ettinghausen have ingrained the spirit of UTR in their groups and created a great environment. Trail And Ultra Running Ultra Runner Podcast Shasta Trail Runs Trail Runner Nation I am trail runner. Sole 2 Soul Sports Bakersfield RunJesterRun I Am Endorphin Dude Vanessa UltraMermaid Ken Michal Rogue Valley Runners So what say you? Am I totally off base or onto something here? #trailrunning #ultra #adoptanewbie
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:06:49 +0000
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