1) While the scenario is definitely a "patchwork of compromises", what we like about MUT running is that every course is different. Literally; of the one million (guessing) “Trail Run” Segments on Strava every one is different. So while the goal of standardizing Championships and Qualifying races naturally sounds great, it is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole … or like trying to fit a cutout of a butterfly into a square hole. There’s no shortage of paved roads and 400m ovals if standardization is the goal.
2) Jason is correct that Gorge Waterfalls does not resemble the Canfranc course, as it is the US style of relatively cruiser trails and really long. What is not being said (although Angela alluded to it) is that race directors are not beating down the door of the MUT Committee volunteering to host Championships and Qualifiers. Why this is the case is a concern and a different topic, but for now it should be noted that unlike many sports, the Committee doesn’t organize events, and while they certainly have standards, they largely take what is offered.
3) Euro courses are generally more technical than NA courses, which is a long-standing discrepancy in preparing to race overseas. But holding qualifiers in the Rockies presents a different problem: we are much higher elevation than anywhere else; the vaunted Grand Col Ferret, the highest point on the UTMB World Finals course, is 1,800 feet lower than the city of Leadville, Colorado, population 10,000. There have been USATF Championships hosted in Colorado, which put the hurt on everyone not living in the Rockies.
4) If I were to pick the most important parameter for Qualifications and Championships, it would be that they are easy to get to. (Another curve-ball from me ;-). Because <travel> is by far the most negative impact on our environment, and the cost is a negative impact on most runners.
It’s messy, improvements can be made, but I think some alternatives would be less likable. Best of luck to everyone!
Buzz, you're right about this. The two things I'd add are, first, some of the "few races applying to be qualifiers" problem might be the MUT committee's own fault for having too-restrictive rules about what races are eligible to be qualifiers. I think they might have been able to cast a wider net and maybe gotten some races that more closely resemble the Canfranc course to apply. And second, this problem doesn't really matter at all because they still get to choose four athletes for the long trail team based on their running resume. They should pick some mountain goat badasses there, so it's not that huge of a deal if the qualifier race doesn't match up quite as closer as Schlarb might want.
So interesting. Last round Lucy Bartholomew posted that she wasn’t going and sited that one of the reasons was the lack of support.
I’ll post a link but essentially athletes were expected to pay for it all themselves, uniform, return flights to Europe, accommodation, membership etc
I’d love to see better development of younger athletes and support of the competitive ones here. Maybe the new Golden Trail series here and UTA being the new major will help.
All true! Very good. And …
1) While the scenario is definitely a "patchwork of compromises", what we like about MUT running is that every course is different. Literally; of the one million (guessing) “Trail Run” Segments on Strava every one is different. So while the goal of standardizing Championships and Qualifying races naturally sounds great, it is like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole … or like trying to fit a cutout of a butterfly into a square hole. There’s no shortage of paved roads and 400m ovals if standardization is the goal.
2) Jason is correct that Gorge Waterfalls does not resemble the Canfranc course, as it is the US style of relatively cruiser trails and really long. What is not being said (although Angela alluded to it) is that race directors are not beating down the door of the MUT Committee volunteering to host Championships and Qualifiers. Why this is the case is a concern and a different topic, but for now it should be noted that unlike many sports, the Committee doesn’t organize events, and while they certainly have standards, they largely take what is offered.
3) Euro courses are generally more technical than NA courses, which is a long-standing discrepancy in preparing to race overseas. But holding qualifiers in the Rockies presents a different problem: we are much higher elevation than anywhere else; the vaunted Grand Col Ferret, the highest point on the UTMB World Finals course, is 1,800 feet lower than the city of Leadville, Colorado, population 10,000. There have been USATF Championships hosted in Colorado, which put the hurt on everyone not living in the Rockies.
4) If I were to pick the most important parameter for Qualifications and Championships, it would be that they are easy to get to. (Another curve-ball from me ;-). Because <travel> is by far the most negative impact on our environment, and the cost is a negative impact on most runners.
It’s messy, improvements can be made, but I think some alternatives would be less likable. Best of luck to everyone!
Buzz, you're right about this. The two things I'd add are, first, some of the "few races applying to be qualifiers" problem might be the MUT committee's own fault for having too-restrictive rules about what races are eligible to be qualifiers. I think they might have been able to cast a wider net and maybe gotten some races that more closely resemble the Canfranc course to apply. And second, this problem doesn't really matter at all because they still get to choose four athletes for the long trail team based on their running resume. They should pick some mountain goat badasses there, so it's not that huge of a deal if the qualifier race doesn't match up quite as closer as Schlarb might want.
So interesting. Last round Lucy Bartholomew posted that she wasn’t going and sited that one of the reasons was the lack of support.
I’ll post a link but essentially athletes were expected to pay for it all themselves, uniform, return flights to Europe, accommodation, membership etc
I’d love to see better development of younger athletes and support of the competitive ones here. Maybe the new Golden Trail series here and UTA being the new major will help.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs8N-qjpVHt/?igsh=MXRkcXNwcmZ0NjhyZw==