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That year’s BSWD scholarship winners!

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A huge part of being a Wind Drinkers is the efforts we put back into the local running community, including each year we hand out scholarships to young runners to help them on the next stretch of their journey. We wanted to take a moment and celebrate the four scholarship recipients. One requirement is to submit an essay about how running has shaped your life, which each has shared with you all below.

Kyra Giese – Belgrade

When I joined the high school cross country team freshman year, I was the second-fastest girl on the team, beaten only by my older sister, who was a senior at the time. The next year, after my sister’s graduation, I was the fastest girl on the team, a surprising feat considering that I am only 5’2’’. While I am not a person who typically brags, this made me feel confident in myself and my abilities. I was used to doing well consistently and not having to worry about making the varsity team. Sophomore year, I fell just short of my goal of breaking 21 minutes in the 5k. I was not worried about falling short of my goal, I figured that I had two years left of running cross-country and expected that I was only going to get faster. But then, during the winter and spring of sophomore year, I had some trouble with my mental health. I started to stress eat and exercise less. I gained weight and lost fitness. The next year, while I was able to stay on the varsity team, I consistently ran fifth or sixth on the team instead of first. This year, I have run some varsity races and some JV ones. The shift from being the fastest on the team to having to fight for my spot on varsity was difficult. In addition to the pressure of being from a family of runners, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be fast and my ability as a runner was a big part of my identity. At the beginning of my senior year, I was very frustrated with my running, but I learned how to be content with my body and my new placement on the team. This was not the first time I had felt this way. I have struggled with my body image since middle school. My struggles on the cross-country team actually helped me to work though some of my self-esteem issues and body dysmorphia because it led me to begin to accept my worth as inherent and not a product of my fitness or body shape. I have also been able to apply this lesson to other areas of my life, including school, which has helped me reduce stress by focusing on who I am as a unique human being, not a sum of my achievements and failures. There is no magic switch that I can flip to see myself in this new light. Reforming how I think about myself is a long and ongoing process. While it can still be difficult at times, I have developed a better relationship with my body and with running. Before I had this challenge, I never took a run easy, even when I was supposed to, and often left my teammates behind if they were running slightly slower than me. I placed so much of my worth on my performance that I could not afford to give anything less than all the effort I had. Now, I am able to slow down, enjoy the run, and let my body recover from harder workouts. Also, I find myself enjoying running with my teammates much more than I used to, without feeling pressured to do better than them. I still hope to regain some of the fitness I lost and become a better runner, I plan to do so while maintaining the much healthier relationship I have developed with the sport. This experience taught me that even when I fail, I hold my head high and find my own way to be proud of myself.

 

Samuel Nash – Belgrade

I began running in the seventh grade when I joined my school’s cross country team. I had no intention of making it a large part of my life, no one I knew ran, I didnt even think it was a sport. Unbeknownst to me, it would change the way I lived my life forever. It gave me the first time I could admit to myself that I had cared about something, and failed at it, and I found new ambition and a deepened understanding of what it would take to achieve this ambition.

I started the day like any other, woke up, ate breakfast, and then went to school. I was missing six classes for my race, but I wasn’t worried, that was a stroll through the park for me, so familiar, so easy I could do it with my eyes closed, and I did. I never had to try hard in school, I would slack off in and out of class and still put up straight A’s, there was no reason to put in extra effort if I didn’t have to, and that was fine by me.

A friend recommended I do cross country one day after we finished soccer practice, and I figured I’d try it. I ran the minimum miles at practice for a week or two, and then it was time for a meet. I could run faster than everyone in the few practice miles I did; and I began to wonder if this would be like that pleasant afternoon stroll that I enjoyed through school. rather than the grueling trek traditionally represented by athletics. My answer was approaching rapidly.

When we finally arrived at the course I was mystified, there was no field, no referee, only a start line, and a line of cones that marked the course, there was no one here to monitor what I did or didn’t do during the race, all I had to do was stay on course. It was utter freedom over my own actions, freedom to succeed or fail as I pleased. So different from the usual structured games with their rules and coaches always deciding what we did on the field. In light of this freedom, I saw no reason why this should not be my race to win.

There was a moment of elation as the gun fired, I erupted from the line, focused on nothing but getting in front, I felt my legs pounding, faster than I could run for the whole race, but I knew we would begin to slow down. I was in front within ten seconds, as I felt my pace slow ever so slightly, no one was approaching me, I was in the clear. I had no idea who was behind me or how far away they were, but it didn’t matter, I was going to stay winning for two and a half miles. Easy. I ate up the turns, flew up hills, and sped down them, relishing my victory, before I even heard my first mile time. It was exactly how I imagined it, a dominant performance, the inevitable win that was becoming more and more solid with every step.

This fantasy collapsed with around a half of a mile to run, my confidence began to waver as a problem emerged: it was getting harder to run, faster than I was approaching the finish line. I was suddenly and startlingly aware of the two runners right behind me. Was Their breath steadier than mine? How were they still going so fast? I tried to force more effort out of myself, fighting my lungs to breathe harder or my heart to beat faster, I wanted to go beyond them, to do more than I could, but there was no response. I was too tired. This was a situation I wasn’t ready for, I couldn’t lose, I wanted to win so bad, this wasn’t the stroll I wanted, and I found myself on the familiar lower slopes of the mountain of difficulty which I had never ventured far up. I didn’t know what to do, and so I did nothing.

I ended up 4th in that race, a position I told myself I was proud of, but one that disappointed me nonetheless. I didn’t know how to feel, I hadn’t made a mistake in the race, I fought through the start to the end, so how did I lose? Easy. I had been outworked. I had messed around in practice and I lost because of it. I hadn’t taken my preparation seriously, and I lost because of it. I had done things the way I always did them when I succeeded, and I lost because of it. It turned out that running was neither as peaceful as school nor as demoralizing as other sports, but something in between. With success not so elusive to be deemed impossible, nor dropped directly into my lap, but rather just barely, tantalizing, out of reach, on

the crest of a molehill, a hike, but certainly not the trek I had come to fear. I understood that true success here was hard, physically and mentally, but for the first time, that did not scare me, rather I relished the challenge.

I began to pour more of myself into the things I did, first running, doing more at practice, and then eventually outside of it. This attitude soon spilled over into my schoolwork as I sought to challenge myself with more rigorous courses. My desire for a success that was just out of reach increased, as did my will to get there.

I talk to the younger runners on the cross country team now sometimes, and I see who I was inside of them, either too headstrong to believe they can lose, too disheartened to believe they can win, or somewhere in the middle. They are always set straight eventually, either humbled or inspired, and I attempt to guide them. I help them cultivate their new talents and can not be more proud to see their success. Especially when I get to watch the climb to the top, and whether it is summiting a great mountain, hiking a molehill, or simply strolling through the park, I am still proud to see their goals realized.

Their journey is my great joy in life. Running saved me from becoming a passive observer in my own life, it taught me how to understand difficulty rather than impossibility. Without my experience in running, I never would have pursued the challenges that I have now, I never would have failed, but I also never would have truly felt the success that can only emerge from feeling oneself lifted beyond previously thought up limitations, as I never would have left the comfort of my own ability.It is due to this great debt I owe the sport, that I take such happiness in helping those around me find it, I feel it allows me to give back to the sport that so radically changed the way I lived.

 

Samuel Konen – Twin Bridges

Running, My Worst Enemy

Since I was a kid the thing I always dreaded most was running. Whether it was laps around the gym at PE, tag at recess, or conditioning during little league football, I absolutely hated running. It wasn’t because I was lazy or thought I was too good for running, it was because I was awful at it. I was always the last in races and the slowest on the team, it was always such an embarrassing feeling for me. One of my worst memories from childhood was my 5th-grade county track meet during which my coach forced me into doing the 800-meter race. It was absolutely brutal, I came in last, but not just last, I managed to get lapped. I got lapped in the 800-meter race, a two-lap race! Everyone watched and laughed at me, it made me feel so insecure and ashamed that I almost quit every sport. So as a kid what running meant to me was a reminder that I wasn’t good enough, that I was too slow, and that I was an embarrassment.

I chose not to run track through high school, for fear that I would embarrass myself again. I continued my other sports of football and basketball throughout high school, but those didn’t go much better. However, unlike in 5th-grade, I didn’t let my shortcomings discourage me. I continued to work hard and it eventually paid off. No matter how bad the game went or how tired I was, I kept working. Countless hours were spent in the gym and weight room so I could improve my skills. I went from benchwarmer to starter, from water boy to all-conference. But, even as I got faster, stronger, and improved in my other sports, there was still a fear of returning to the track.

This year, after some strong convincing from my coach, I decided to go out for track once again. The confidence and encouragement from my coach gave me the courage to go out again no matter what happens on that track. The first track meet was last week. On the bus ride over, all I thought about was how I was going to fail and embarrass myself just like before. The meet came and went, and I was far from a state champion, but I did surprisingly well and showed lots of potential. That anxious feeling of failing was gone.

So what does running mean to me? Running was a symbol, a symbol for all the things I chose not to do because I feared failure. I missed out on countless opportunities because I thought I was going to lose. But the true loss was missing out on countless opportunities to have fun and improve myself. Running, even though I hated it for years, helped me realize that we cannot fear failure. We have to accept that failure is a possibility, in every aspect of life, and it shouldn’t hold us back from doing the things we enjoy.

 

Landon Scott – Manhattan Christian

Throughout my high school years I have been a part of both the cross country and the track team. I have had both great experiences and experiences that have challenged me. These challenges didn’t just occur in these specific sports seasons, instead they all began when I was born. When I was born, I was born with a pretty severe case of clubfoot. Clubfoot is when the tendons within the foot are not formed correctly and the result is an inward turned foot. Throughout my first couple years of life, I had several surgeries, I was in a wheelchair for a couple of months, and I also had several different casts on my left leg from the knee down. As time went on I grew stronger and when I turned 3 I was eventually able to walk without crutches and without a cast on. Between the ages of 3 to about 13, I was able to run without pain and I was able to participate in several sports. The sports that I participated in were tee ball, baseball, soccer, basketball, track, football and I also ran in several big 5k races in that time. As time went on and when I was in 7th grade, I began to notice an unusual tightness in my left foot and a random aching that was just annoying at first. As time went on and when my freshman cross country season came around the pain and the tightness started to become unbearable and whenever I tried to run, there was such an enormous amount of pain that I couldn’t run even if I wanted to. After cross country season ended my parents and I traveled to my foot doctor at Shriners in Portland, OR. This appointment would be one that I would remember for years to come, because I found out that this would be the start to a series of surgeries that would put me out of sports for about three-quarters of a year. This was because I needed to have a reconstructive leg surgery, and they would have to remove a piece of my tibia and fibula and hold the bone together with a plate with eleven screws. However I pulled through and was able to manage for the cross country team the following fall and even participate in basketball.

The next year however I had to have another surgery to remove the plate and screws from the bone in my leg. Between the first surgery and the second one, I had spent several months on crutches, several days in the hospital, and countless hours on the road to recovery through sessions of physical therapy. There were good and bad days within that mix, but throughout that time I realized how much I actually took for granted. It was a miracle in the first place that I could even walk, run, and do things that kids should have every right to do. There are so many people in this world that have been born with disabilities or have become disabled that cannot enjoy the action of running. Over the course of this past year I was finally able to run in a cross country meet again, and that entire season I never took anything for granted and I was excited for the practice, even if it was a hard day. Also since track has started I have run my first 100 meter dash since middle school. Even on days when it hurts, I still try my best to push through the pain and run, because it is a miracle in itself that I can even do this stuff. This is what running means to me, to find joy and gratitude through the good days and the hard days, to use the gift of running to help others in times of need or hardships, and to not take our mobility for granted. Running is a gift, a gift that cannot be replaced. I have learned this through my athletic experiences and it is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Bozeman Track Club: Who got you into running?

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Take a moment to remember – Who got you into running? For many kids in Bozeman, it was us, the Bozeman Track Club. Since 1995 we’ve been focused on providing supportive and skilled instruction in Cross Country and Track and Field events to Middle School and High School athletes. Sometimes we work in conjunction with the school district, but mostly we operate as a volunteer club.  We are a bit different from other sports clubs in that we only practice a few times a week, take whole seasons off, are low-cost, and everyone gets to participate equally.

Now that it’s springtime we are holding our Track & Field season at the shiny new GHS Track. It’s a great place for kids to try a new event or to focus on their discipline and compete at a regional USATF meet. Come Fall we run a Cross Country program for all middle school-age children that has gotten a lot of recognition for its welcoming and accessible vibe.

By being so accessible to everyone we are able to get a lot of kids into running, jumping, and throwing.  Some get hooked on it and go on to do amazing things.  Others choose other activities to focus on and maybe find it again later in life.  We believe that running should be like a foreign language, everyone should be exposed to it!

It takes a community of runners to do something like this and you are a big part of our success. The Big Sky Wind Drinkers have been generous supporters of our efforts since the beginning and we couldn’t have done it without you, we are so grateful!  So when you see us out doing tempos at the East G. or running in chat-packs at Peets Hill this Fall, please know that we feel your support as we get more kids into running. Runners Helping Runners!

– Michael McCormick, VP of Bozeman Track Club

Eliud Kipchoge Was Made A Hero, and Brigid Koskei Was Not

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The Mature Runner

By David Summerfield

Here I am still getting caught up with the breaking of world records. That’s what I get for not running competitively anymore – so, I lost track of the marathon explosions that happened recently. The more I looked into it, the weirder things became. I think this article might disturb some of you, and I apologize in advance. I got sucked into the heroic feats of the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge … world record after world record. Interviews put him in the same sentence as Roger Bannister, Neil Armstrong and stopped short of comparing him with Albert Einstein. My curiosity led me all over the internet. (I have no ill-will towards such this extraordinary runner by the way, only envy!) But the corporate world has gotten a firm grip on our shared everyday experiences such as “going out for a run.” In an article a few months ago I got a little cheeky about Nike sinking millions of dollars into the “Breaking2” project. Hired (and paid mercenaries?) rabbits were given orders to run in a pyramidal phalanx (oops, sorry, that’s from Ancient Greece) uh, formation ahead of the three superstars to reduce wind. They had a perfectly flat paved racetrack – a Formula One racetrack in Monzo, Italy, measured at 1.5 miles (thus 17+ laps).

And Kipchoge emerged as the only one of the elite three to keep the pace and finished in 2:00:25. So, Nike still got to sell millions of $$ of their newly developed “VaporFly Elite” after the race was done (and of course all those runners were wearing the “barrier-busting” shoes). Since it was billed as a “private race” with rotating groups of three rabbits every few miles, this effort could not be counted as a World Record. To make the story even better, Nike “teamed” up with National Geographic, which recorded the whole battle …er race, and got it up on YouTube. When I wrote this part a few months ago, I felt something was fishy. Besides going to such extremes, it seemed a bit inhuman, or plainly not human. The time and effort and money could have been spent on building a running robot that would not have any human-like tendencies/foibles and could guarantee it would cross the finish line in exactly 1:59:59. And then, changing the dial on some of the diodes and transistors, they could program a 1:49:59 “effort” the following year. But surely humanity is not ready for such a blatant usurping of a hugely popular activity called running.

And now on to Oct. 12, 2019 and the INOES 159 Challenge. Again, I’m not really wanting to discredit anyone here, but a little research keeps coming up with amazing things!! First off, INOES is the fourth-largest chemical company in the world. What? And sponsoring an athletic event? Hmmm. I don’t think they need the money, and they don’t have running shoes to sell. They have a $61 billion/year revenue and employ 26,000. Well, Nike employs 75,000 and its yearly revenue is $37 billion. At least it’s clear both companies are putting on these events out of the goodness of their hearts and are not trying to get rich quick.

Back to the name INOES, which combines Latin for a new beginning, and Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, and Neos, Greek for something new and innovative. INOES states its name represents the “dawn of something new and innovative.” Okay, okay. So two years after Nike’s commercial venture into staging an event to display their prowess in running shoes, along comes a global chemical company. (I would have enjoyed listening in on their board meetings back then “Hey guys, let’s put on a splashy running event which has nothing to do with petrochemicals, you know, to relate to the average bloke).

Vienna, Austria was chosen as the venue – they boast a wide avenue in a park-like setting – it runs about 6.5 miles in a straight line, and only has to be run four times. This time Kipchoge is asked (paid?) to be the only runner (what? Talk about a private race), but there’s a phalanx of 41 world class runners to do the pacing. They also had an electric vehicle (no fumes) driving exactly at the 4:34.8 mile pace. In fact (this made me gasp) the pace vehicle blazed onto the pavement behind it a laser rectangle grid so the rabbits had to just run to keep up with the moving laser beam. This means there was no guesswork, and each posted kilometer time was within 3 seconds of each other.

So, Kipchoge ran a completely steady pace, with no variations, no hills, and the date/time (Oct 12) was 48 degrees, with slight rain at the start at 8:15 a.m. …that’s Austrian precision! Everything was calibrated to allow NO flaws. And Kipchoge had trained well and stuck to the script perfectly. With 1⁄2 mile to go he broke free from the rabbits and almost coasted across the finish line. The INOES company obviously had a much better PR manager than Nike – there were thousands of spectators along the course, urging Kipchoge on. Again, this was no private race, it was a spectacle devoted to one Eliud Kipchoge.

What amazed me was the Guinness Book of Records did recognize this as a world record, though the relevant sports federation did not. Oh well. And one last thing, an interview mentioned that the bicycle always by Kipchoge’s side, the one who handed over his drinking bottle (I wonder what was in it…) would quickly send the bottle back to be examined by the handlers where they determined if he was getting too much or too little fluids down his throat so they could tell him to drink more or less the next time. In my book, this is NOT an unassisted race. Yes, Mike Wolfe had friends at each Aid Station on the Bridger Ridge Run to hand him bottles of whatever he was drinking that day. So, he really could just run the darn thing without having to stop. My gosh, I wouldn’t want that! At each Aid Station I counted on the many minutes spent sitting down in the shade of a tree and casually drinking/eating to my heart’s content. Oh, I wasn’t going for any record, that’s right 🙂

In wrapping up this exposé (I mean article) I discovered that the Women’s Marathon World Record was set the very next day (after Kipchoge’s) in Chicago. No hype. No conspicuous sponsorship from big international corporations, no splashy anything. There she was, Brigid Kosgei, also a Kenyan. Oh my gosh. She took a minute off Paula Radcliff’s record from 2003 that had stood for 16 years. So let’s find out about Brigid.

Granted, she wasn’t trying to do anything but run her best. There was no fanfare about breaking a mystical barrier of time. Well, Paula Radcliff’s WR of 2:15:25 had been that impossible barrier to break – for over 16 years. Maybe I’m so amazed and upset that there weren’t thousands of fans urging her on like Eliud had just the day before. But then if I had been following her career, maybe I would have been one of those thousands to cheer her on!

In contrast to Kipchoge, Kosgei is a rather quiet person, keeping her personal life to herself. I did find one interview where she was asked about having children while training to be a world-class runner. She was very frank, and in so many words said it’s just a natural thing, and her advantage was being able to raise two wonderful children. It seemed so obvious she didn’t have a “handler” at her side during the interview and having this other person do the talking. Nothing was rehearsed. Looking over all the statistics, it’s interesting that both Eliud and Brigid won the 2019 London Marathon as well as the Tokyo Marathon. And, like Eliud, Brigid has a long string of winning the world’s most prestigious marathons.

As an aside, I have to comment on the official name of the two marathons where world records were set: the Virgin Money London Marathon, and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon…get my drift? $$$$$). The last similarity I could find: they both were wearing Nike’s infamous Vaporfly shoes.

You just can’t get away from it. I better stop here before the blood pressure goes up any higher 🙂

Hmmm, does this article assuage my not running anymore?

The Mature Runner

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He Won the Ridge Run…and Then Everything Else!

By David Summerfield

In the search for something interesting to write about for this newsletter, I chanced upon the official list of running world record holders for every distance and age category imaginable. I had fun learning about (again) Derek Turnbull and his running exploits, which are worth noting again. He is a New Zealander, lived to be 80, and started running when he was 40. In a 3-month span in 1992 (65-69 age category), he set six World Records, ending with the London Marathon in 2:41:57! I remember finding out about that some 20 years ago, and instantly realized I would never set a world record in the marathon. Sigh. (His other records include a 4:56 mile, a 16:38 5k, and a 34:42 10k). Here he is setting one of those records!

(Photo from mastersathletics.net)

So then I went down the list of various distances, and my eyes popped out when I saw Jim Walmsley as having the fastest ever (in history) 50 mile run last year. Somehow I consider Jim a “local” hero, even though he didn’t set the BRR record. As I remember he was having foot problems from a previous run and was trying out Hokas to ease the pain (he needed more padding). He signed up just like everyone else and made it through the lottery somehow. I remember his essay included the fact that he could run well and was likely to be a potential winner. Here’s what the official BRR plaque says, 3:14:03! But he won, even though the year before Minde Erickson ran a 4:13:37!

All I could remember of Jim was his outlandish Rim-to-Rim that same year. So, I was propelled down memory lane once again…In 2015 Stacy and I did the Rim-to-Rim (south to north) of the Grand Canyon in a mere … 13 hours. Here we are arriving at the North Rim Trailhead, which would be Jim Walmsley’s start and finish just two months after his BRR in Bozeman (how egotistical to put us in any kind of league with the world record holder, but it’s sorta fun:-)

After we met Greg Young, Terry Leist, and Carrie Krause at the North Rim we all feasted the night away, and sent them off to do the North-South route the next morning…in a mere 7 hours. Here are the 5 of us the next afternoon as the trio arrived at the South Rim Trailhead:

That seemed SO fast to Stacy and I – almost twice as fast 🙂 Then along came that Walmsley fellow who had the audacity to do the R2R2R in a FKT of 5:55. Sheeesh. That was no “mere” time! He had moved to Flagstaff, AZ, so was a short drive away from the South Rim. He did “repeats” down into the Canyon and back, honing his skills and comfort level (even if agonizing pain is the price of getting comfortable tearing down the path and back up). For those of you who haven’t done this yet (and really, you should) there are 1000’s of steps created in the paths with logs or rocks as steps and those steps (to cut down on erosion) are between 6” and 12” high. And the steps are anywhere from 2 to 6 feet apart, so the body is constantly landing hard at irregular intervals. And going up, there’s the constant need to hoist yourself up ever changing heights. Stacy and I got worn down, and on the way out to the North Rim we pulled out the hiking poles so we could more easily push our way up each step. Jim, on the other hand (and there is NO comparison of course) developed his strength over time, and also knew every bend in the trail so well. He developed a “battle plan” over several years, especially using conversations with Rob Krar (the record holder before him in 6:21:47). It is really worth the read (irunfar.com/jim-Walmsleys-grand-canyon-r2r2r) for those interested, especially if you intend to even do the “simple” crossing (Rim-to-Rim). Here is Jim finishing the first half of his trip, arriving at the same kiosk as us the year before – actually, his time for the South-to-North was a FKT as well. 2:46:08 … hmmm, that means he was 5.3 times faster than our trip. Okay, he’s fast!

(Photo from Runningmagazine.ca)

In his account, he had an encounter with a mountain lion down near the Colorado River, and his watch recorded 2 consecutive 5-minute miles as he “ran for his life”. It was still dark, and all he saw by headlamp was the glowing pair of eyes, and the long tail disappearing up a nearby rise as he went by. He figured that must have changed his game plan, and as he neared the North Rim, he figured he should just stop, knowing he had already gotten a “fastest known time”. But there was a crowd there, and everyone was expecting him to continue going for it. I like the look in his eyes… “Darn it all, I’ve just had the run of my life, and you guys want more….can I really pull this off?”

While getting all this information, I finally found out another reason he’s so famous. Back in 2016 he had gotten to mile 93 in the Western States 100-miler, and was way ahead of everyone else. Then he made a wrong turn, and lost enough time to only come in 20th. His last 3 miles took him an hour – he was broken! That set him up for a major depression, and the Jim Walmsley we saw at the starting line of the BRR was a much chastened and recovered ultrarunner. The 2016 Western States was run on June 25th, just 6 weeks before the BRR that he won. Seems like he was maturing the champion he was to become. By 2018, he entered the Western States again, and broke the course record, and broke that record again in 2019 (14:09:28) and won again in 2021 (14:45:56). Somehow with all these records flying around, he is staying healthy and if you go to the Wikipedia thing, they list all his 1st place finishes. It’s a long list.

And the last thing I really wanted to write about was his actual World Record 50-miler. It happened May 4th, 2019 in Folsom, CA, and he ran the “Hoka” event on a USATF-certified course that includes an 18.8-mile point-to-point stretch from Folsom to Sacramento on the American River Parkway followed by nine consecutive loops around a 4.7-mile circuit in Sacramento. The more I read, the more nauseous I felt! This was a publicity stunt! Everyone (12 hand-picked elite HOKA runners) ran in a “top secret” shoe called the “Carbon-X”, but that name was a secret until May 4th. Of course, the shoes were available in stores on May 15th – be the 1st on your block to own a pair….. And this next piece is taken from an article written by Adam Ruggiero at “GearJunkie”: “The 36-year-old 50-mile record fell to Jim Walmsley running in a pair of HOKA ONE ONE’s Project Carbon X, a shoe release focused on breaking road running records.

A dozen HOKA athletes, all striding in the same pair of shoes, pounded the pavement Saturday in Folsom, Calif., each of them focused on setting records. Dubbed Project Carbon X, the event was part athletic endeavor — the 100km course received USA Track and Field (USATF) approval and was eligible for IAAF world record status — and part publicity stunt for HOKA’s upcoming racing shoe, the Carbon X.

“And while the coveted 100km record eluded the HOKA fleet, 29-year-old American Jim Walmsley managed to take down the 50-mile record set by Bruce Fordyce in 1983. Walmsley eked past Fordyce’s 4-hour, 50-minute, 21-second mark with a new record time of 4 hours, 50 minutes, 7 seconds.”

There. For those of you who follow the current ultrarunning world, this is old news. But for the rest of us, I’ve brought you up-to-date a bit. Who among us has been the 1st to buy a pair of Carbon-X’s? Do any of us really wear 8.5 ounce shoes? I need gobs of cushioning. Well, Kyle Klickir probably has a pair – right Kyle? Anyway, happy melting of the snow and ice, and hello to the mud and receding snowfields!!

The Mature Runner: The Silva

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The Silva – Laroupe Duo Set A High Standard!

By David Summerfield

A headline today really caught my attention: the name Germán Silva brought back so many memories that had fired my imagination 28 years ago. He won both the 1994 and 1995 New York Marathons (2:11:21 and 2:11:00) as an unknown Mexican in the running world. He even took a wrong turn with 0.7 of a mile to go, corrected his mistake (and his last mile was a 5:11) … and won a few steps ahead of his countryman and training partner, Benjamin Paredes.

(Photo from sports.vice.com)

He epitomized the unpretentious, humble, quiet runner who just knew how to run fast and long. I had completely forgotten about him until I learned he’s been running the entire length of Mexico for the past three months, averaging over 30 miles a day … even though he retired from professional running almost 20 years ago. I remember he took his New York Marathon winnings and helped bring electricity to his hometown.

But this current run of his … he’s supposed to finish on Feb. 20 at Tulum, in the Yucatan, overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Of course, he is being tracked by all the high-tech instruments cataloging every step of the trek, and he has covered 3,134 miles. On the map, you see him starting in Tijuana, on the Pacific, and he made sure he visited all the important aspects of Mexico, going through 17 states – this is a trek to publicize the real Mexico … as he put it, he ran the full length of the “veins” of Mexico. He didn’t skirt around the drug cartels – he went right through the heart of the cartels, being filmed the whole way by his support crew (his wife, kids and physiotherapist). He wanted to show the normal world of the cartels where people don’t get killed – being stopped by armed gunmen though, explaining what he was doing – seeing their faces light up who then called ahead to the next checkpoint where he was greeted with open arms. He climbed to the summit of Mexico’s highest peak (a winter ascent!) – Pico de Orizaba (or Citlaltepeti), at 18,491 feet. It straddles the states of Veracruz and Puebla, and is the 3rd highest peak in North America behind only Denali (Alaska) and Logan (Canada). It is really worth looking into the reporting of Kevin Seiff of the Washington Post.

(The route up Pico de Orizaba. Photo from exploringtherockies.com)

(The summit of Pico de Orizaba. Photo from summitpost.com)

He was followed by his own film crew who took great pictures and he relates his conversations with Silva. Kevin had just run a 2:48 marathon before meeting with Silva, and tried to run with him on a “typical” 30-mile day. Just as I would have, Kevin thought he surely could keep up with a 54-year old who’d been running for over 1500 miles, and had been having some physical problems. Little did he know that toward the end of that day, they had to climb (jog) over a mountain on a rocky trail (the support vehicles had to take a different route). He realized he’d blown it, said good-bye, and quickly retreated to find the support crew going down the rocky road. I love Kevin’s reporting as they first met to run together: “His toenails were falling off. His left calf hurt. And his right hamstring. And basically everything else. He was 1,574 miles into the journey, deep in the mountains of central Mexico. Silva guessed we’d run 32 miles or so, but he wasn’t sure. ‘I’m not feeling great. You’ll have to be patient with me,’ he said so tenderly that I believed him.” As Kevin wrote in his article: “The run he says, is meant as a pivot away from the country’s narcos-tequila-and-beaches caricature; a nod toward something less Hollywood, less Instagrammed.”

This storied runner obviously still had his mojo going quite well!! I found out that Silva started coaching kids in his hometown, and over the years it became his profession– coaching people of all ages. He was a national hero after all. And then he started organizing races, formed his own company, and still leads a very active life, supporting runners all over Mexico.

(The route going over the “veins” of the country. Photo from cronica.com.mx)

In trying to find out if he made it to Tulum, I went through the Internet asking, “Did German Silva make it to Tulum today?” I was saddened to see that the vast majority of articles that day wrote about all the killings going on in Cancun, Tulum, and other popular Mexican resorts. Silva obviously has a huge role to play – or rather a very long path up a very steep slope to change what’s going on in Mexico!!

I was also happy to see his work promoting a good, healthy running community which earned him many accolades – the Abebe Bililla Award for promoting running in the Mexican community; and through the NY Road Runners, the King Felipe of Spain “Prince of Asturias Award” was given to Silva and Tegla Laroupe! Oh, my gosh – Tegla Laroupe! I’d forgotten about her too! So, of course I had to look her up! I’d forgotten she won the NYC Marathon the same years as Silva, and for a while she held the world record of 2:20:43. And she established the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation “Peace Through Sports”. And her story has to be told now.

(Tegla and German, happy winners in New York City. Photo from wsj.com)

She was one of 24 siblings, her father having 4 wives – part of a tribe of northern Ethiopia. Her father told her she was useless and would end up just babysitting the rest of her life. Well, school was 10km away, which she ran to and from every day. She realized she was faster than others, and tried to get help from a national sports federation, but was deemed too small and skinny. HA! She went on to win all the most prestigious marathons in the world many times over! And her dedication to promoting world peace through sports caused Kofi Annan (Secretary General of the United Nations) to name her the United Nations Ambassador of Sport.

(Photo from Pinterest)

So, what do we learn about all these extraordinary runners who came from incredibly humble backgrounds? They both excelled beyond their wildest dreams, and with their winnings, they gave back to the world in wonderful ways. I can’t help but ask, dear reader … you probably haven’t come from such humble beginnings, but how are you (we, me) giving back to the world that has nurtured you? Yes, you’re working to provide a comfortable living for yourself and your family, and once that’s taken care of….what else can you give? I think this running community of ours (BSWD) is a great place to start, as most of you already know firsthand!! And I congratulate all of you who are giving so much to this great running club of ours. The Secretary General of the United Nations probably won’t be giving you an ambassadorship anytime soon … but heck, then you’d have to start a global running organization, and your life wouldn’t be yours anymore. So I DO admire Germán’s and Tegla’s ability to give their whole lives to helping others. Their example is a great shot-in-the-arm to do our part as avenues open up! Happy March, and happy melting of the snow and ice 🙂

-David

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!

Running For More Than Records

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The Mature Runner

By David Summerfield

I haven’t been involved or even interested in the elite USA running scene for a long time now. This does give me some guilt. Writing articles for a running club should deal with current running events, and so here’s my foray into what’s going on in the American running scene today.

I scoured all the various publications that I haven’t paid any attention to for so many years. Yes, I’m a “has-been” runner, but I can still get totally inspired by a good story! I was so happy to discover the Ryan and Sara Hall story. I do remember the emergence of Ryan Hall in the early 2000’s. Ryan and Sara were running at Stanford, got married in 2005, and these intervening 17 years is a story of incredible steadfastness, determination and one-point focus. For those who don’t know them, their story unfolds as follows.

I’ll start with their athletic achievements, but frankly, those are the least of what they’ve done. The more I look into what they’ve accomplished, the more unreal it seems. Athletic prowess, yes, but behind it all are two lives who are really committed to helping humanity in every way possible. So, here’s what many of you probably already know (I had forgotten). Ryan trained hard, often too hard, and kept getting injured. He did end up running the fastest American marathon (coming in 4th in the Boston Marathon) in 2:04:58, and then the American Record in the 1⁄2 marathon in 59:43. Of note is that Sara established the women’s American Record in the 1⁄2 marathon herself in 1:07:15, just a few days ago (Jan. 16, 2022). Those two records were 15 years apart. But, the story has just started. Both Ryan and Sara are obviously devoted Christians, and I took this off their internet site.

Said Ryan, “God was telling me that He gave me a gift to run with the best guys in the world, but He gave me that gift so that I could help other people … I started seeing myself how God sees me, and that was a really, really powerful shift for me.”

And from Sara, here’s what came out in an interview, “Although she might not be outwardly vocal about her faith, she’s never been shy or felt the need to hide her convictions. ‘You have to have a sense about what you’re being called to do,’ Sara says. ‘I never really envisioned doing this career for more than a few years; it wasn’t necessarily my dream. I would have been fine stepping away from the track in 2009 when I was dealing with a lot of injuries. I attribute it to God speaking to me and letting me know that there was more ahead. I always sensed something in my training and in my racing that there was more ahead.’”

Ryan and Sara put all this into practice by adopting four sisters from Ethiopia (Hana, Mia, Jasmine and Lily) They had often traveled to Ethiopia to train, so … they did what was most important to them!

In doing more research, I found out that Ryan (after officially ending his professional running career) decided to join a hearty group of runners to do the 3rd Annual World Marathon Challenge, who ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. Now that sounds like an adventure! He averaged a 3:39 marathon. Not bad. But the best was he realized he could finally stop training so hard (and get healthy), and I really love what he came up with next: he started weightlifting, and ended up gaining weight (from 127 pounds – to 165 pounds). Now, that’s something that will nag me for a while!! I think I have a natural running weight too … but how “healthy” is that? If I’m no longer trying to win races, why not really get strong, and forget a faded ideal of the “perfect weight” … Oh no, me, a weightlifter? Maybe that’s the next best thing for now 🙂

Here are a few thoughts about their STEPS Foundation. Ryan and Sara have worked on behalf of millions of women and children living in extreme poverty in Ethiopia through their foundation, the development organization they established in 2009. “In a country of over 4 million orphans, Ethiopia is in great need of sustainable orphan care. One of our most recent grantees, Kingdom Vision International, needs your help in their work in orphan care and education of some of the poorest children. KVI has placed over 1000 orphaned children into loving homes and has been a forerunner in starting domestic foster care and adoption in Ethiopia (the first to place a child into foster care) and successfully deinsitutionalized six orphanages with all the kids being taken in domestically. Its founder continues to do weekly foster care trainings all over Ethiopia and is working on a program for respite care. These services are not funded by the government and depend on donors. KVI continues to house older kids in group homes and special needs children and other children who are unable to be adopted. Recently they became very close to being unable to pay rent for their children’s home because of the hold on international adoptions that provides funding to orphanages.” Here they are “at work” in Ethiopia! I hope this story of the Halls has shown what can happen with elite runners who realize there’s so much more than just running fast! Happy February!

The Wind Drinker Newsletter October 2017

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In this edition you will find What Running Means to Me essay by one of our scholarship recipients Colter Barney plus local races calendar and BSWD Fun Runs results.

We’d love to hear your running stories and publish them in our newsletters.
Favorite trails? Did you experience a close en-counter with wildlife? Find a loop through familiar terrain that is worth sharing? Are you dreaming of an epic tour through unforgiving terrain? Whatever it is, we want to hear about it. Send in your stories. Short or long. Poetic or technical. Just make it interesting, fun, inspiring, or memo-rable. Send it to james@redpointmontana.com.

Happy trails!