A strongly supporting example would be World Pro Tour in cycling, whereby the big events that drive the sport, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España, are privately owned (mostly by the same company that owns the Tour). They sign massive TV contracts then mostly keep the revenue, so quite surprisingly, the famous cycling teams including the star riders we all have heard of rely on corporate sponsorship for revenue. Neither Vingegaard and Pogacar, nor Walmsley and Dauwalter, can support themselves from the famous races they win; corporations make it happen, creating an odd dynamic that leads to the fray being discussed.
"Sponsorship" is what we take for granted in MUT running, while it actually is a very uncommon revenue stream. Another topic.
One challenge: regarding your comment on trail running media such as Trail Running (Outside) or UltraRunning. The latter has many pieces about races in different parts of the world by authors who don't disclose that they are also employed or sponsored by the race organizers for the featured races. I noticed that about pieces from Dean Karanzes (sp.) in particular. And there is no place to put such questions for readers on their online site. Better disclosures are needed
"These arguments quickly go into a ‘who said what and when’ discussion, but regardless UTMB steamed on ahead knowing full well that it would be seen as displacing Gary’s race"
This idea was part of the debate we had within our race board on Saturday morning as we were deciding whether Eastern States 100 was going to continue its (admittedly tiny) relationship with UTMB. We wanted to be fair and hear the other side of the story, but we ultimately decided that exactly what you say here: there really was nothing that would make the situation defensible, regardless of the technical details. We ended up cutting ties. (My personal thoughts on our decision are here: https://rushofitall.substack.com/p/utmb-gone-astray)
"Only mention of trail running is how they’re ‘dominating’ the category and are going heavy on the opportunity."
Anecdotally, their growth appears to be in nurses (and other on-the-feet professions) and the middle-aged middle class. 100s of millions of opportunities there compared to such a niche category as trailrunning.
I'm not happy with the cancellation of WAM - as a PNW runner, it was an event I was interested in doing - but I'm not sure why the backlash has been so targeted at UTMB, not Vail. I think that's just because it's the organization that trail runners are most familiar with. Vail is the land manager who made the permit process impossible for CMTR - not UTMB. In Robbins' description of how this all went down, Vail had been making the race more difficult for WAM for some time, which seems to me would go against the online speculation that the WAM permit denial was master-minded by UTMB behind the scenes (speculation for which I have seen zero evidence thus far). Those familiar with Vail from the snow sports world certainly know how that organization puts money over its workers, the customer experience, and the community's health and values, so it's not like we should need much of an excuse to paint Vail as a villain here.
"This is true, but if you’re competing in a marketplace, not being transparent with your intentions and not considering the impact on Gary’s business is simply unfair."
Anytime you add a new race, product, or service you could/would be taking away business from anything that already exists. Competing in a marketplace is capitalism and this is how entrepreneurship works too.
Are you saying one needs to announce their intentions to every other business that could be impacted or else you're being unfair? If you want to open up a donut shop in town you have to consult with the other donut shops and consider the impact on their donut shops or else you're unfair and have nefarious intentions?
Furthermore, Gary chose to not move forward in Whistler any longer. How does a new event there, UTMB or otherwise, impact Gary's business?
I guess this is an opinion piece? Except you said it's like a break down, a summary, but it also includes your opinions and assumptions. Even so, I don't think it's a good practice to make such bold assumptions as this one - "These arguments quickly go into a ‘who said what and when’ discussion, but regardless UTMB steamed on ahead knowing full well that it would be seen as displacing Gary’s race." How is it obvious UTMB knew that? Sure it's ignorant if not, but ignorance on behalf of a triathlon corporation in the trail running world is not unlikely either.
On a US level, where does the American Trail Running Association come into this?
Taken from their website:
"The American Trail Running Association, ATRA, was formed in mid-1996 as a Colorado not for profit corporation to serve the mountain, ultra & trail (MUT) running community. Our mission is to represent and promote mountain, ultra & trail running."
This was just a wild ride last week, especially how little drama there usually is around it! It was crazy how quickly it all blew up and I'm very curious to see what Gary and Co. pull off next September! Full disclosure, Gary was my coach, and so I'm a very supportive person of anything he does!
Outstanding UTMB fracas summary!
A strongly supporting example would be World Pro Tour in cycling, whereby the big events that drive the sport, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España, are privately owned (mostly by the same company that owns the Tour). They sign massive TV contracts then mostly keep the revenue, so quite surprisingly, the famous cycling teams including the star riders we all have heard of rely on corporate sponsorship for revenue. Neither Vingegaard and Pogacar, nor Walmsley and Dauwalter, can support themselves from the famous races they win; corporations make it happen, creating an odd dynamic that leads to the fray being discussed.
"Sponsorship" is what we take for granted in MUT running, while it actually is a very uncommon revenue stream. Another topic.
One challenge: regarding your comment on trail running media such as Trail Running (Outside) or UltraRunning. The latter has many pieces about races in different parts of the world by authors who don't disclose that they are also employed or sponsored by the race organizers for the featured races. I noticed that about pieces from Dean Karanzes (sp.) in particular. And there is no place to put such questions for readers on their online site. Better disclosures are needed
"These arguments quickly go into a ‘who said what and when’ discussion, but regardless UTMB steamed on ahead knowing full well that it would be seen as displacing Gary’s race"
This idea was part of the debate we had within our race board on Saturday morning as we were deciding whether Eastern States 100 was going to continue its (admittedly tiny) relationship with UTMB. We wanted to be fair and hear the other side of the story, but we ultimately decided that exactly what you say here: there really was nothing that would make the situation defensible, regardless of the technical details. We ended up cutting ties. (My personal thoughts on our decision are here: https://rushofitall.substack.com/p/utmb-gone-astray)
"Only mention of trail running is how they’re ‘dominating’ the category and are going heavy on the opportunity."
Anecdotally, their growth appears to be in nurses (and other on-the-feet professions) and the middle-aged middle class. 100s of millions of opportunities there compared to such a niche category as trailrunning.
I'm not happy with the cancellation of WAM - as a PNW runner, it was an event I was interested in doing - but I'm not sure why the backlash has been so targeted at UTMB, not Vail. I think that's just because it's the organization that trail runners are most familiar with. Vail is the land manager who made the permit process impossible for CMTR - not UTMB. In Robbins' description of how this all went down, Vail had been making the race more difficult for WAM for some time, which seems to me would go against the online speculation that the WAM permit denial was master-minded by UTMB behind the scenes (speculation for which I have seen zero evidence thus far). Those familiar with Vail from the snow sports world certainly know how that organization puts money over its workers, the customer experience, and the community's health and values, so it's not like we should need much of an excuse to paint Vail as a villain here.
"This is true, but if you’re competing in a marketplace, not being transparent with your intentions and not considering the impact on Gary’s business is simply unfair."
Anytime you add a new race, product, or service you could/would be taking away business from anything that already exists. Competing in a marketplace is capitalism and this is how entrepreneurship works too.
Are you saying one needs to announce their intentions to every other business that could be impacted or else you're being unfair? If you want to open up a donut shop in town you have to consult with the other donut shops and consider the impact on their donut shops or else you're unfair and have nefarious intentions?
Furthermore, Gary chose to not move forward in Whistler any longer. How does a new event there, UTMB or otherwise, impact Gary's business?
I guess this is an opinion piece? Except you said it's like a break down, a summary, but it also includes your opinions and assumptions. Even so, I don't think it's a good practice to make such bold assumptions as this one - "These arguments quickly go into a ‘who said what and when’ discussion, but regardless UTMB steamed on ahead knowing full well that it would be seen as displacing Gary’s race." How is it obvious UTMB knew that? Sure it's ignorant if not, but ignorance on behalf of a triathlon corporation in the trail running world is not unlikely either.
On a US level, where does the American Trail Running Association come into this?
Taken from their website:
"The American Trail Running Association, ATRA, was formed in mid-1996 as a Colorado not for profit corporation to serve the mountain, ultra & trail (MUT) running community. Our mission is to represent and promote mountain, ultra & trail running."
This was just a wild ride last week, especially how little drama there usually is around it! It was crazy how quickly it all blew up and I'm very curious to see what Gary and Co. pull off next September! Full disclosure, Gary was my coach, and so I'm a very supportive person of anything he does!