Unofficial official Western States 2022 Thread

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3 years ago 06/27/2022 9:42am EDT

re: arunner84

arunner84 wrote:
Well said. I find that "professional" talk here in the US quite amusing.
People quote that the runner is sponsored by this or that company. But what does the runner actually get? It's probably just some free product and maybe some race expenses. I can't imagine that there are more than 5 US ultrarunners who make a decent living from running with a real cash incentive of $60,000 or more per year. Jim Walmsley is one of them, not even sure who else I would put on that list.

Courtney Dauwalter has twice Walmsley's following on Instagram.

3 years ago 06/27/2022 10:06am EDT

re: arunner84

arunner84 wrote:
looktowindward wrote:
Yes and no, there are still a lot of sub communities within the off-road running scene. I'm predominantly a fell runner, which I realise is a fairly UK specific thing, but we have very, very few high level athletes in the scene who don't also have a job. A fair few people are sponsored but being sponsored by Walsh or Alpkit (both small British companies) is never going to net you enough to live off, so at most you're going to just going to have a slightly easier time getting new kit if you're an elite level fell runner.
If you start competing in in the trail races Europe or can get to the golden trail series races and manage to do well then yes, you can end up on the path to high level sponsorship, however, that is still a grind and as far as I can tell a lot of the high performers still had to work full time jobs for a good while before they could justify going full time pro.
There will obviously be people who have a much easier start in it due to family money, but that's pretty much the case in every sport.
Well said. I find that "professional" talk here in the US quite amusing.
People quote that the runner is sponsored by this or that company. But what does the runner actually get? It's probably just some free product and maybe some race expenses. I can't imagine that there are more than 5 US ultrarunners who make a decent living from running with a real cash incentive of $60,000 or more per year. Jim Walmsley is one of them, not even sure who else I would put on that list.

I bet there's quite a few that make a comfortable living from ultras/trails. Too many on this site don't realize how fast ultras/trails are growing and how this is causing companies to invest more into this area of the market. And what's one of the best way to promote your shoes to get the average Joe to buy your shoes? Answer: to sponsor the best trail/ultra runners. I mean from just a sponsorship POV the trail/ultra side does a better job of creating a story line and getting people engaged with the sport. In traditional forms of running too many athletes just become reclusive and out of the spotlight to train till the few times a year they race. As where with the ultra/trail world the athletes do a better job of promoting their sport. Look at during the pandemic, track/road runners did very little as far as competing and representing their sponsors as where the ultra/trail world just took that as a opportunity to really go after some FKTs. Also for the average person that knows nothing about endurance sports, what do you think they would rather watch if it popped up on their suggested videos on YouTube: A. 15 minute video on a trail runner effort over some mountains or B. a full length diamond league 5k video? Companies aren't in this business as a welfare program to skinny runners, but to make money.

3 years ago 06/28/2022 7:41pm EDT

re: Do you even ultra bro?

Saw the runners come in at Robinson Flat aid station and saw many hours on TV. this particular event is very appealing in terms of scenery, effort, and family/team support. A lot of love out there, which is missing from the money-mad sports. Can’t wait for next year.

3 years ago 06/28/2022 7:58pm EDT

re: zzzz

zzzz wrote:
arunner84 wrote:
Well said. I find that "professional" talk here in the US quite amusing.
People quote that the runner is sponsored by this or that company. But what does the runner actually get? It's probably just some free product and maybe some race expenses. I can't imagine that there are more than 5 US ultrarunners who make a decent living from running with a real cash incentive of $60,000 or more per year. Jim Walmsley is one of them, not even sure who else I would put on that list.
Courtney Dauwalter has twice Walmsley's following on Instagram.

Makes sense because she is twice the ultrarunner than Walmsley.

3 years ago 08/22/2022 5:47am EDT

re: arunner84

I don't recall her beating Jim in any race.... Mhmmm.

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