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The Mature Runner

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Watch Why You’re Trying To Break Records

By David Summerfield

I keep scanning the news to see who else has broken world records. Records fall every month. It’s a constant. So now (instead of feeling frustrated that I’m not on a record list) I’m looking into why people all over the world are specifically doing everything possible to get that “World Record,” or simply to get a substantial recognition from others.

Let’s start out with David Goggins, because he has accomplished so many incredible physical feats. Besides being the only human to be a retired Navy Seal and completed SEAL training, and the Army Ranger School, and the Air Force Tactical Air Controller training (get my drift?) but he also holds the World Record for the most pull-ups (4030) in 17 minutes. Bet you can’t do that! And he says he “broke” his arms in the process. Of course he has his own website so you can see all his achievements: davidgoggins.com/athletic-achievements and he’s not shy about tooting his own horn. That’s fine, but it does show he wants publicity and to be seen and recognized. All right, there’s nothing wrong about that. But it sorta smacks of something that makes me uncomfortable. One could say I’m just jealous and wish I could do all the things he has done. Well, you’re wrong.

I have to admit that David’s accomplishments are definitely aimed at motivating others to tackle life head-on, and to be tough in every sense of the word. He stresses that personally he has overcome all kinds of obstacles, and is quite proud of his physique, which is all part of his image (you too can look like me) just knuckle down and push yourself through all adversity. And that is his livelihood. OK. There you have it. Some records are for personal gain, and others are for helping others, pure and simple. I try to reserve judgment, though you could probably intuit where I really stand on all this.

Here’s the “Toughest Man Alive”. Enough said. via turbomind.com

At this point in my life, I want to find the real intent behind all these strivings for breaking records. Is the cause a good one? Let’s see. First off is Kate Jayden, a 35-year old from Derbyshire, England. She is a classic person out to make a difference, raising money ($50,000) for a charity. And she specifically set out to earn a Guinness World Record, needing to beat the current record of 95 consecutive daily marathons. She got to 100, and found out someone had already done that, so she kept going. She ended up with 106 daily marathons, and then found out there were two other Scottish ladies from Aberdeen who did the exact same number (106). So she shares the record with them. The other two (Fay Cunningham and Emma Petrie) raised $46,000 for several charities. While going after the world record, Kate did the same as Fay and Emma, all three just kept running another marathon everyday, hoping to surpass the other. Fay and Emma felt their effort was more substantial since they ran outside for every marathon, while Kate occasionally used an indoor treadmill. But they all got the nod from Guinness to be world record holders!

Via runnersworld.com/news/a40868973/guinness

Here’s Kate Jayden, a bundle of enthusiasm. The Rnners World author was Stephanie Hoppe, published Aug 11, 2022. This picture shows her holding the “baton” in a relay race called the Queen’s Relay in the Commonwealth Games.

Kate Jayden worked full-time during those 106 days, completing her 6+ hour runs after work. Somehow, those ladies weren’t doing it all for fame, but to accomplish something substantial. Fay and Emma both lost a parent “too soon” and wanted to help others “do it while you can”. Kate felt something wrong in a knee during the 46th marathon, but ran/walked the other 60 anyway. She got an MRI afterwards and found out she had a fractured knee needing surgery. Of course, she said she might have to switch to biking or rowing, but she’ll be back!

Fay Cunningham and Emma Petrie on their 106 quest. Via canadianrunning.com Article written by Marley Dickinson on June 2022.

Fay (35) and Emma (25) are both physical therapists and are dedicated to helping others lead healthy, active lives. Their purpose in taking up the marathon challenge was to raise money and awareness for 2 charities. Both ladies lost parents, one to Lou Gherig’s disease linked to ALS, which claimed Fay’s father’s life and Emma’s mother died of cancer (the charity was Macmillan charity for cancer support). “We both know that life is short and the ability to run or walk doesn’t stay with you forever… My father was fit and active and he inspired us to tackle this challenge,” Fay said.

A little trivia: the 106 marathons covered 2,777 miles, which just happens to be the distance from Scotland to Istanbul, and they each went through seven pairs of running shoes. So these runners are accomplishing a rather arduous task, all on their own dime. There was no “profit” involved, they weren’t running to earn a living, as is true for David Goggins. Anyway, here’s a story about the 4th person to take a stab at the same Guinness record:

Jacky Hunt-Broesma joining the crowded field of record-breakers via runnersworld.com – article written by Cindy Kuzma, published April 29th, 2022.

Jacky’s story is certainly as compelling as the other three. At 26 years old, a tumor in her left leg led to an amputation. Not being an athlete of any kind, she had many decisions to make while recovering. She found out the standard running blade cost over $10,000 and wasn’t covered by insurance. Her husband was an ultrarunner, so why not? After figuring out how to take care of their two grade-school children, she started running, many of the miles were around the school in Gilbert, Arizona, where she could put up a table with refreshments. The 5K led to a 10K, then a 1⁄2 marathon, and on she went. Learning about the current world record of 95 consecutive marathons got her going. She did use a treadmill when the stump couldn’t fit comfortably into the socket – too much jarring. So the treadmill was more comfortable for running. Her story is very compelling, you should look her up. And like the other three, she has raised nearly $200,000 for Amputee Running Blades, a nonprofit which supplies blades to those in need. And yes, she too thought by 104 consecutive days, she should have garnered the Guinness record, not knowing that Kate, Fay and Emma went on to #106! Of course Jacky has the record for running 104 on only one leg, plus one blade 🙂

I’ll finish off with a little inspiration coming from Kate Jayden: “My heart has always longed for a kinder world and country that welcomes people from all walks of life, especially those facing adversity. In the current climate with a hostile environment being created for asylum seekers and those fleeing war, it’s only the fact we happened to

be born here that we have such privilege.” –K

I wish you all well in developing your own motives for doing what you do!

The Mature Runner: Get Inspired To Do Something Epic

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This article will hopefully send you into the New Year with some ideas to do something epic. Something unique. Something doable, and something you’ve never dreamed of doing. Here is my current inspiration: her name is Jane Dotchin. She’s an 82 years old (maybe 83 by now) British lady who just followed her passion, no matter what the odds. Here’s her story.

Jane Dotchin with her pals on the yearly trek to Inverness, Scotland positive-info.com.

The Daily Record headline read “Pensioner rides pony 600 miles to Scotland every year with beloved dog in saddlebag”. What? I had to open it up, and read a very British rendition of the adventures of one Jane Dotchin. The pictures show her Jack Russell Terrier Dinky as seen stuffed in a saddlebag (Dinky has deformed front legs and can only walk on grassy surfaces). Jane is riding atop her 13-year old “poney” Diamond (who we’re told is an Irish cob mare). She has developed quite a following, having done her long 7-week ride for over 50 straight years.

Here are some specifics to whet the appetite we all have for a truly epic adventure of our own making. She lives in Hexham, Northumberland and rides up and back to Inverness in Scotland, over 300 miles away. She has a patch over her right eye, which doesn’t bother her much, since she knows the route by heart. She doesn’t take maps, and if there’s stormy weather, she’ll just switch her route to avoid the higher passes. She carries an old cell phone, which is rarely turned on – she keeps it to phone ahead when she’s nearing some acquaintances so she can stop by for a chat. She normally sleeps in a tent (which is tied onto Diamond) and Dinky cuddles up to keep her warm inside at night. This year she took off on August 31st (my birthday – so we’re related in an odd way, right?) and will travel throughout September and October. Her mainstay (which she purchases along the way) is nothing but porridge (the British word for oatmeal), oatcakes (look it up), and cheese -all of which she shares with Dinky. Diamond has the luxury of spending the night on a long tether to graze on grass to her heart’s content.

Her main complaint has nothing to do with the rigors of a long trek, but rather negotiating the unbelievable amount of trash along the route. Sometimes when Diamond can’t avoid stepping on pizza boxes or other trash (“single use barbeques”), Diamond will spook and quickly leave the path. I loved one picture which shows how Jane likes to mount her pony – she likes to have a park bench near where she gets off, so it’s easier to get back on that way.

Park the horse near a picnic bench! azviral.net.

A good source of information came from Bhupinder Singh, writing in the India Times (Dec. 20th, 2021). The public has taken notice of her rigorous adventures, and the British Horse Society awarded her the “Exceptional Achievement Award” a few years ago. As one can imagine, she called this attention totally uncalled for 🙂 She’s definitely my type of adventurer. She’s doing it for the sheer joy of being on the road where she’s calling all the shots everyday…and just being outside for long periods of time. Isn’t that why a lot of us love to do looooong treks – the longer the better? Ask our 100-mile weirdos in the BSWD club…Megan DeHaan, Franklin Coles, Ed Anacker, and I’m embarrassed to say I’m forgetting all the others that do that kind of stuff. I fall apart going out that far, so I’m happy just going on long walks. But, I’ve never gone out for over 9 hours, so the goad here is to go out for 7 weeks! I’d say my main inspiration has to do with the simplicity of Dotchin’s plan. Just get out there, and not be worried about how far you go everyday, in other words – forget about TIME, my big bugaboo! Evidently, riding atop an Irish cob horse has something to do with it. These horses are the national breed of Ireland. They are extremely friendly, gentle, and independent – they have a knack for figuring out problems on their own. They’re perfect for taking trail rides (or road rides) and they’ve learned how to take care of themselves. Dotchin says she averages between 15 – 20 per day, but I guess it makes no difference how far she goes each day. And her joy is finding friends she’s made on her treks to stay with along the way.

Out on the road, and close-up of Dinky and Jane indiatimes.com.

I also found out she has written a book about her adventures, but I could only find it on “Abebooks.com”. It has 94 pages and is entitled “Journey Through Britain On A Pack Poney 1985-1987”. If it would help, the cover does show the Foreword is written by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall! So, you’ll be in great company if you purchase this book, and it just might be the convincer to go plan your own adventure. 2024 could be the year you graduate from your “same ‘ole same ‘ole” workouts, and go do something out of the ordinary!

Thank you to our Resolution Run (A Fat Ass 50K) volunteers & participants

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Big Sky Wind Drinkers ran in the New Year on January 7 at the Headwaters State Park with our annual FatAss 50k (resolution run). The weather was chilly until the sun came up over the frosty ridge of the river, and the footing was a challenge but we were ready with a fire, snacks and hot soup. In the end, three runners were able to run the entire 50k!
We were pleased that we had 25 runners taking part, including a runner who interrupted his road trip from Pennsylvania to Missoula to join us; a runner from California;  and new runners from Montana towns like Toston and Townsend.
Three runners completed the entire 50k run: Ryan Ojeda from Auburn, CA; Randy Oostema from Manhattan, MT;and Grant Marcuccio from MT.
Thank you everyone for making this year’s FatAss 50k a big success!

Ryan Ojeda from Auburn CA runs the Fat Ass 50k.

Runner Grant Marcuccio at the Fat Ass 50k.

How to “Run” a Running Club

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Q:  What does a running club run on?
A literal answer, of course, might be, “Our FEET (or legs) … DUH!!”.  But, in a figurative sense, it’s really our volunteers that ‘make the club go’!  From our races, to our Fun Runs, to our social activities, all our events require volunteer efforts to plan and execute. Without volunteers, there are no events!
The bulk of our volunteer efforts are performed by your Wind Drinkers officers, race directors, and committee members.  This involves scheduling events, coordinating with land and venue managers, plotting out race courses, meeting with vendors who support our events with timing services, porta-potties, refreshments, etc.  It also covers related administrative functions like managing memberships and running the business side of the club – functions like registering with the state and filing tax returns.  Unlike some large running clubs, which can afford to pay CEO’s to manage club activities, these functions are all performed by volunteers, in the Big Sky Wind Drinkers (with the exception that we DO pay some of the race directors of our largest race events).  In addition to these “standing” volunteer roles, we also solicit volunteers from our membership to support additional needs for specific events – these might include helping with Sweet Pea registration, or flagging along a race course, or, for some of our smaller runs, help with handing out race bibs, or performing hand timing functions.  This support is critical to our being able to hold our events, which is one reason we require people to volunteer in order to earn participation awards during our Fun Run seasons.
Over the past several years (seemingly, since COVID first started impacting our events), we have struggled to get the volunteers we need to conduct our events.  For many of our Fun Runs, volunteer timer and run support positions go unfilled, and this impacts the conduct of the events – from delays in posting results, to errors in capturing race times, or not having refreshments available for all the runners at the end of a run.  This past summer, we went almost a whole month (4 Fun Runs) when we had no one who volunteered for any of our Fun Run volunteer positions.  So far this Winter season, we are seeing a similar trend – of the 10 volunteer positions we have posted for our upcoming Winter Fun Run events, only 1 has been filled.
Our Board of Directors is trying to address this issue.  The first step is making sure our members are aware of the need (hence, this article!).  We discuss making sure the Vice-Presidents mention the need for volunteers in their pre-run announcements at Fun Runs, but sometimes, in the excitement of listing upcoming races and explaining the race course, this call for volunteers gets overlooked.  Aside from knowing of the need, though, what might motivate our members to increasingly volunteer?  We would love to come up with some creative incentives to bolster our volunteer numbers – if you have an idea you’d like to suggest, please let us know your ideas, using one of our Contact forms (on the right side of our Officers and Contacts page, at https://winddrinkers.org/trailhead/club/officers/)!
Volunteering can really be fun – it’s a great way to participate in running events when you can’t, or don’t want to, run (e.g., due to injury, or tapering for a major race), and is a way for non-running friends and family to be involved!  Right now, our biggest needs are for race-day support of upcoming Winter Fun Runs.  Our website’s Volunteers page (https://winddrinkers.org/trailhead/fun_runs/volunteers/) has a listing of available volunteer positions, and signing up for one of them only requires a click and entering your name and email address!  We are particularly in need of help for our first event of the new year, the Resolution Run (also known as the Fat Ass 50K) on January 7th – and, unlike last year, I can promise you it won’t be 26 Below for the 2023 edition!
Whether volunteering, or simply coming out to run, we look forward to seeing you at BSWD runs in the New Year – the Wind Drinkers’ 50th Anniversary Year!

Winter Fun Run Schedule

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The Winter Fun Run schedule is out! Stay motivated and warm through Montana’s chilly winters by joining a FREE monthly Fun Run. And yes, that is a New Year’s weekend 50k on the schedule. A few insider tips:

-The Jingle Bell Jog usually involves cookies.

-The Resolution Run is a “Fat Ass 50K” meaning it is a grassroots, minimal support, backyard ultra (look up the history of the term on our website – it’s fascinating!). It’s always a bit Western, and ALWAYS a fun time.

-Froze Nose and Handicap are comparative races; run the same route and try and beat your previous time.

-Back from the M is a LONG time BSWD tradition and a great way to “spring” back into warmer weather.

Hope to see you there!

12/17 — Jingle Bell Jog

GVLT courtyard

1/7 — Resolution Run; a Fat Ass 50K

Headwaters State Park

2/4 — Froze Nose

Town & Country lobby (S 11th location)

3/4 — Handicap Run

Town & Country lobby (S 11th location)

4/16 — Back from the M

M trailhead and Story Mill Park

You’re Invited to Our Annual Meeting!

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Editor’s note: A previous version of this article listed the meeting time at 5 p.m., and has since been corrected to 6 p.m.
The Big Sky Wind Drinkers will be holding our Annual Meeting and Officers election on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Story Mansion. We won’t be hosting a run like in year’s past, but you are welcome to run there for bonus points. Meet club members, fellow running enthusiasts and enjoy food and drink as well as a recap of the year’s events. We also have some fun participation prizes this year to hand out.
BRING: Yourselves, a friend or family member, a dish to share and drinks (BYOB). Hope to see you there!

Summer Happenings

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We’re off and “running” this summer with Bridger Ridge Run lotteries out of the way and invites sent, and Old Gabe out of the way, we’re in full swing training, hauling water and running every Wednesday at 6:30. A few announcements:

Signs ups for the John Colter race are open! Sign up soon, this is one of our most popular race and we are capped at 300 runners. (SIGN UP)

We had a VERY successful weekend of water hauling for the BRR to the point that we have fully stocked both the Baldy and Halfway aid stations along the southern portion of the route. Next up is Ross Pass and Bridger. Stay tuned for more information and how you can help! Volunteering doesn’t guarantee you get into the next BRR, but it helps a LOT and we appreciate our volunteers tremendously.

Our July Fun Runs are as follows:

6-July                           Glen Lake Rotary Park (formerly East Gallatin)

13-July                         Middle Cottonwood

20-July                         Bear Canyon

27-July                         Kirk Hill

Just show up at the trailhead and be ready to run by 6:30. Each run has a 1, 3 and 5 mile option. Hope to see you there!

Spring and summer race updates

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Hello Wind Drinkers! A few updates from the team concerning spring and summer races.

The Baldy Blitz is May 14. We have to cap this race, so please sign up beforehand to ensure you are able to participate. Register here.

The Frank Newman Marathon and Half Marathon is May 28. You can register and pay AT the event, but please download and print the registration form beforehand to bring with you! Form can be found here.

We are in need of volunteers! We need an equipment manager and someone to help with our membership team. For more info on the equipment manager position, please contact twholleman@gmail.com, for more info on the membership position, please contact memberships@winddrinkers.org.

Join the Bozeman Running Company for Thursday social runs! We are partnering with BRC for a few fun, summer fun runs every Thursday starting April 28 for 3 and 5 mile options. Learn more here.

Summer 2022 Fun Run schedule

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Spring is just around the corner, and it’s time to ready yourselves for our 2022 summer fun run season!
This year, we kick off the season at The Mountain Project on April 27th, where we’ll have a run through Story Mill Park, and listen to informative and inspirational talks from runners, the Mountain Project staff, and local public land managers, followed by a bit of socialization,  Come start the season off right with a fun evening!
We are also trying out some new running locations this year – including making a return trip to Manhattan for an early-season run, heading up to some new trailheads in Bridger Canyon, and conducting a joint event with the Bozeman Running Company during their June Brew Pub Run at Bozeman Brewing.
Here is the planned schedule (bear in mind that all locations are tentative while we coordinate these dates with the necessary local land managers!):

January Fun Run recaps & more

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Happy February to our Wind Drinkers! We had a busy kick off into 2022, with a successful (and cold) Fat Ass, Resolution Run at Missouri Headwaters State Park as well as a fun for the Cats around the MSU football field to cheer them on before their big game.

Randy Oostema reigned supreme in the Fat Ass run, completing seven laps in sub-zero temperatures. Thank you to our volunteers for serving pipping hot soup, providing a cozy Solo Stove for warmth and for cheering all the runners on. Here are some photo highlights from the day!

About a dozen showed up with their Bobcat spirit in full force for a quick fun run celebrating MSU’s championship game later that day. We encouraged participants to donate canned food for the food bank and wear yellow and blue!