 James Carney. This past week I was having a brew with James Carney and Benita Willis. Both were just coming off of stand-out performances at the previous weekend’s Houston marathons (US Olympic Trials on Saturday for James, followed by the actual Houston Marathon on Sunday for Benita, where she qualified for her 4th (!) Australian Olympic Team with a more-in-the-tank 2:28 clocking).
James’ 27:43 10K PR had always indicated something better than his previous 2:15:50 marathon PR, so his 2:12:23 in Houston was a satisfying fulfillment of known potential. Only problem was, Carney was 9th, two and a half minutes from an Olympic berth. Basically, James was four years too late. His 9th place time this year would’ve been 4th place or better in every previous Olympic Marathon Trials, and would’ve won six of the 11 Trials races that have been held since the qualifying system was instituted in 1968. And 10th place in Houston was only a scant 6 seconds in arrears; not much breathing room for James despite his three and a half minute PR.
As we sat discussing such inequalities of life over pizza and beer, I couldn’t help but think about the obvious parallels in my sport of choice, mountain ultra running. For instance, look at the recently released Ultrarunning Magazine year-end rankings. As an analogue to Carney’s top-10 finish at the Trials, let’s look at this year’s 10th place in the UR rankings: Oregon’s Tim Olson. Tim is fairly new to the sport, but due to ample inspiration, diligence and miles, has enjoyed a fairly meteoric rise over the past two years. In 2011, he ran:
- - 3:36 at Way Too Cool
- - 3:50 at Chuckanut (only a week apart!)
- - 16:18 at Western States (a time that would’ve won all but six previous WS100s)
- - 6:59 at White River
- - 17:19 at Pine to Palm (for the win, and 1h20 removed from his CR), and finished
up the year with an impressive
- - 4th place finish at the hyper-competitive The North Face 50 mile Championships, falling just a couple minutes short of the podium because of missing a turn in the second half.
 Tim Olson. Even just a year ago, it would’ve been tough for me to believe that this kind of rap sheet would barely yield a North American male a top-10 ranking, with such stout performances at so many classic races. And that’s not knocking anyone who was ranked ahead of Tim–everyone up there was deserving, in my opinion.
It’s just that, just like in men’s road marathoning, mountain ultra running in this country has experienced a remarkable leap forward both in absolute quality of performances (i.e, CRs are falling left and right) and in depth in just the last five years (or so).
Trying to answer how? and/or why? is a complicated task, however. As many will like to point out (and with good reason), runners of yesteryear were just as competitive and just as intent upon running fast as the current crop of trailers. Some of these current guys (maybe most prominently, the 2011 UROY himself, Dave Mackey) could even be considered part of the old(er) guard, having been at this sport for the past decade or so.
I think the answer is messier, less simple and less black-or-white than the way that the human mind usually likes to categorize things. I know that for me the catalyst was Matt Carpenter torching the Leadville 100 course back in 2005. His performance there coincided nicely with the other more situational elements in my life–finishing an undergraduate degree and no longer having the strictures of collegiate cross-country and track seasons, mostly–to motivate me to try my hand at going long and fast in the mountains.
Surely the Internet and the rise of ultrarunner blogs and sites like Ultrasignup and iRunfar have made the sport more accessible than ever in the past. And Born To Run has probably been a factor, too, by simply broadening the base of interest in the sport. But the problem with these “explanations” is that they fall into the classic “chicken-or-the-egg” paradox: are these forms of media motivating participation or are they only possible as a result of increased participation?
In the end, it doesn’t really matter. All I know is that now is a very exciting time to be exploring my personal limits in the sport and it’s neat to see so many newcomers get excited about running and the mountains. Additionally, if the Marathon Trials were any indication, ultra mountain running–a much more young sport than marathoning–has many, many more decades of progress to look forward to.
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Wondering if “outside” influences have been introduced as popularity and sponserships etc have gained? You know what I am asking!
…but the sponsorship would not be there without demand. Granted, once the ball gets rolling demand and exposure can feed each other…. but the corporate entity must be given a reason to, at the least, test the waters.
The amount of trial and error and publishing in the media has a great deal to do with popularity and seems to increase the odds that someone out there will be able to run faster. I also think compared to the past, getting proper fuel before,during,and after has jumped leaps in bounds.
[...] Here is a link to Tony Krupicka’s article with Running Times where he talks about Ultra’s becoming more competitive. He gives me a shout out in it, which was a HUGE compliment. He is one of a few people who have inspired me to push beyond what I thought was possible and be free running in the mountains. I feel we share a connection through our love and joy of nature and running up to a peak every morning. Thanks Tony! [...]