Crowd Sourcing for an article on WA Trail Running!
Hey Folks -
I'm working on a piece for publication about the WA trail running community, and as a relative nube to the scene, I could use some of your wisdom and experience. I've contacted a few people directly, (and might contact some more), but I'd love to tap into the collective conscious.
I want to gather that input in one place as well, so I'm hoping you'll leave comments below, with your name and email so I can quote you (I won't be able to fit in everyone's thoughts, probably, but I'll let you know if I want to include something you said)! If you'd rather send an email directly, I'm at timothy_mathis@yahoo.com. I'm trying to avoid Facebook posts b/c I'll be working on the article for a couple of months, and posts there disappear into the ether too easily.
It's still taking shape, but the article is going to be a narrative piece that basically tracks the impact of the success and notoriety of the 2004 - 2009 elite community (Jurek, Uli, Hal Koerner, Krissy Moehl, Brian Morrison, William Emerson, etc.) on the development and expansion of the current community. Any thoughts or good stories you have that might fit would be awesome! (I'm particularly interested in the stories!)
Some specific questions I have:
What people and factors made Seattle such an epicenter for ultra running in that period?
Washingtonians don't seem to be dominating races at an international level the way we were. Thoughts on what's happened?
What do folks see as the strengths of the current trail running community? Do you have any stories about how the current community has been shaped or influenced by runners from that earlier period?
Any other thoughts that you have are also greatly appreciated!
I'm working on a piece for publication about the WA trail running community, and as a relative nube to the scene, I could use some of your wisdom and experience. I've contacted a few people directly, (and might contact some more), but I'd love to tap into the collective conscious.
I want to gather that input in one place as well, so I'm hoping you'll leave comments below, with your name and email so I can quote you (I won't be able to fit in everyone's thoughts, probably, but I'll let you know if I want to include something you said)! If you'd rather send an email directly, I'm at timothy_mathis@yahoo.com. I'm trying to avoid Facebook posts b/c I'll be working on the article for a couple of months, and posts there disappear into the ether too easily.
It's still taking shape, but the article is going to be a narrative piece that basically tracks the impact of the success and notoriety of the 2004 - 2009 elite community (Jurek, Uli, Hal Koerner, Krissy Moehl, Brian Morrison, William Emerson, etc.) on the development and expansion of the current community. Any thoughts or good stories you have that might fit would be awesome! (I'm particularly interested in the stories!)
Some specific questions I have:
What people and factors made Seattle such an epicenter for ultra running in that period?
Washingtonians don't seem to be dominating races at an international level the way we were. Thoughts on what's happened?
What do folks see as the strengths of the current trail running community? Do you have any stories about how the current community has been shaped or influenced by runners from that earlier period?
Any other thoughts that you have are also greatly appreciated!
Comments
Until very recently, there were few full-time professional ultra/trail runners. Seattle is a major city with myriad professional opportunities that also happens to have miles and miles of wonderful trails within 30 minutes and countless more within an hour as you head into the Cascades. However, as more and more of the internationally elite runners have been able to forego traditional careers, they've been able to leave big cities and relocate to smaller towns closer to trails like Boulder, Colorado, and Ashland and Bend, Oregon. Of course many elite runners still support themselves with traditional careers, and many of those runners can be found in cities like San Francisco, Portland, and Vancouver, but I'm sure one part of the decline in metropolitan elites is their relocation into the job-poor mountains thanks to more supportive sponsorships.
Danny Naylor
naylorda@gmail.com
2) People relocated and the community changed.
3) A strength are the number of people stepping up to create more events in different venues, but really, what was lost was the sense of family. The people you listed are foremost friends not idols and lost were the days of get togethers, potlucks and game nights.
Probably misreading your intent but were they? Certainly for some American mountain races, which didn't have much international participation, but overseas?
Jao
Not like it used to be. Maybe on a segmented and cliquish level, but I'm talking whole community, regardless of speed, doing things together other than just running.
It seems like you guys at Seven Hills are doing some things to try to rebuild that community - has that been intentional?
Apologies to bug you with followup questions, but you're a great resource, and you're touching on stuff that I'm really hoping to get into - the importance of the community side of trail running for the growth of the sport. We can go offline too if you have thoughts/want to send me an email! timothy_mathis@yahoo.com.
- Ultra running is a subset of trail running which is a subset of running in general. When you get immersed in this activity it seems like a BIG deal but really it's a niche activity when compared to pretty much any other sport. Think cycling or soccer or any American ball sport and you get my drift.
- Based on my experience, the NW trail running community is not hyper competitive. Most people are out there to push themselves, set a new PR or run farther than they ever have. The number of people trying to win is small.
- As someone else mentioned, other than a few standout individuals, NW runners have not really dominated anything other than a few select races for a few select years.
- If the NW has any ultra notoriety at all I think you need to give the lion's share of the credit to Scott Jurek. His book (Eat and Run) and the book Born to Run (which lauded Scott's accomplishments over and over) were huge in terms of impact. In my opinion. :) Krissy is a phenomenal runner and promotes races and is a great ambassador but I'll wager a fraction of people that know who Scott is know who she is. Plus, has she written a book? Does she have a YouTube channel like Sage Canaday? Not that I know of.
- Notoriety requires getting the athlete and the sport out there in the face of the public. Because there is less money in this sport than others this is harder to do.
- We need Red Bull to sponsor us.
i'll add that, the Seattle/Western Washington scene is just changing. With post 2009 groups like SMRG and Guerilla Running, James Varner evolving one or two races into RainShadow Running, and the expansion of Evergreen Trail Runs and Northwest Trail Runs, there's a lot that we have now that we didn't back then.