Trails Snacks- Issue 26, 2024
Trails Snacks- Issue 26, 2024
love it or hate it, that was UTMB and there are a lot of buts
Well UTMB is officially over for another year.
And it’s been a bit of a weird one.
Doug Mayer was pretty on the money with this piece over on Outside. He really captured the confusion that I think was felt across the internet, especially in the “we hate UTMB” circles.
The lead up to UTMB this year started kinda weird. People were excited, the athletes were buzzing, the questionable decisions and choices made by the organisation lost deep in the rose coloured glasses of inspired, back of the pack runners around the world who’s eyes were now focused on the Chamonix valley as they forgoe sleep and probably their previously held high horse to watch the race and obsessively count their stones.
Remember that Kilian and Zach Miller email and call for elites to boycott? Nope, didn’t think so.
Whilst clearly tongue in cheek, Amelia Boone’s “Remember when we hated UTMB” thread sparked a flurry of hatred directed towards the race and bouncing around the internet it was a common sentiment, even in the races own livestream. Which begs the question, if you dislike the race so much, why are you following it?
I get the vibe that most people aren’t sure why they hated the race in the first place and why they feel like it’s so important to publicly voice it.
UTMB arguably had one of it’s most successful runnings with even mainstream running publications like Runners World posting on their socials and main online publication about the race.
And judging from the discussions in the races new chat feature, the mainstream may have just started coming into UTMB. I shit you not at one point there was an argument about whether Jim was better than Goggins and how much Zone 2 training Heather Jackson does. Is this what it feels like to be one of the kids who liked Green Day before Dookie? Did I just age myself? Did trail ultra running just “sell out”?
“It's like trail running's version of a fast-food chain: everywhere, difficult to avoid, and not necessarily to everyone's taste.” Can you both love and hate the same thing?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge fan of the race. They have made some massive boo boo’s in their quest to become the Ironman of trail running (pun not included) but I can admit that they have made a lot of positive changes after the quite public backlash. Credit where credit is due.
But I’m not here to rant about UTMB, take sides or rehash the livestream (but the chat is toxic and does not give me hope for our sport or humanity).
It was a lot better this year though, especially when it came to covering the women’s race.
But race and coverage aside, what cool content do you find amongst the bombing of blatant brand advertising? (Did we all notice that Salomon running posted exactly the same content, down to the poses of each of its UTMB athletes).
Are you as bored as I am with the FreeTrail and Single Track rinse and repeat race coverage?
Anyone else have to mute David Roche because he’s still posting about his Leadville victory when we have all moved onto UTMB?
Here are some of my content highlights.
The return of Jess et Jim content. Well played to the folks over at Sports Shoes. This is cute.
Here for the Women’s race, in French of course
Hoka activations at UTMB
Lucy Bartholomew on The Trail Network podcast. I absolutely loved this chat, I’ve even added it my re- listen list. I’ve been finding some of the other podcasts that focus on elite athletes a little repetitive so this is was a really nice change.
Outdoor Wall podcast series- Unbeaten Trails.
When I saw this and their series of Instagram stories explaining the reason behind it (it’s saved in a highlight so head over to their page to check it out) I felt an immediate “yes thank god” come out of my mouth. It resonated so hard with me, especially as this year I’ve been really focused on content and so much of it has an American twang despite the sport being extremely International. I haven’t found a lot of podcasts that highlight athletes from different regions. There are various podcasts in the UK and Europe that are more mid to back of the pack centric or different incarnations of Trail Runner Nation to not too many that highlight athletes from different parts of the world.
What’s happening down under? Well thanks to the automatic entries of Ultra Trail Australia, Ultra Trail Kosciusko and Tarawera we have more Aussies and Kiwis in the elite fields of the UTMB races than I have seen in the 8 years I’ve been following the sport. Trail Running Nz gave a results breakdown.
Kiwi Shannon Leigh Litt is up to her 244th ultramarathon in a row.
Sean Bell became the fastest to run around Australia. It’s just 13,383 km.
And is there quietly a new ASICS Australia Trail Team? I’m looking at you Ronnie Spark and Jess Ronan!
There is a new race in town, the Barkin Mad Ultra. Yep it’s a BYO dog event! Mine are too old now, but it’s an interesting idea. A 10k probably would have done!
In general I was really disappointed in the content that came out of UTMB. I just felt like I had large amounts of advertising shoved down my throat rather than hearing the cool stories of the athletes involved (and no i’m not talking about the livestream, how else do you expect them to fund it if it doesn’t have ads?).
And I was totally suckered in. There is currently a pair of Hoka Tecton 3’s and Adidas Terrex speed ultras enroute to my house (one will be going back, there just isn’t anywhere in Victoria you can try on both shoes in store, don’t start me!).
And if there are so many cameras constantly on course I hope there is some cool stuff to come.
Ruth Croft did make an interesting comment in her post race iRunFar interview that Katie Schide wouldn’t have had a moment to herself throughout the entire race due to the live-streaming and the cameras. It’s an interesting conversation, especially for folks who get into the sport because they like spending time by themselves in the bush, but then UTMB isn’t that!
Well if you made it all the way to the bottom of this, then I’m almost as impressed as if you had made it the full loop around Mont Blanc.
If you saw something cool on the social webs, please send it on over.
Until next time, happy recovery folks.
I was actually disappointed in their live coverage of the woman’s race. While the top men were dropping like flies they were still on screen for at least 70% of what I watched. I felt it only switched to the women after the top men finished
Nice food for thought. Been a big week or two. Rest digest signed up for a couple more milers and thing an ausie one might be in the cards.