Mountain Running

Some of the people to talk with regarding your questions are:

Buzz Burrell - Manager, La Sportiva GoLite Running Team

Nancy Hobbs - Chair, USATF MUT Council

Matt Carpenter - legendary mountain runner and cofounder of the Barr Trail Mountain Race, which he won again yesterday

Dave Dunham - race director, Northfield Mountain Run and others on the USATF NE cicuit.

(I won't post their contact info, but their email addresses are easily found). The Central Mass Striders also have a good men's team with some mountain runners on it (www.cmsrun.net), including Paul Low.

These people are very approachable and informative. The mountain running community is a friendly, interesting and close knit one. The is not much money in it and I don't believe the sponsorship levels extend beyond travel and gear. However, the racing is very competitive and rewarding. In Europe, the racing are quite high profile and there is quite a lot of money involved.

And for you track stars out there, please don't assume you will jump into mountain running for some quick money. To give you an idea of what you will currently be up against:

Matt Carpenter - VO2max of 92 recorded at the OTC in Colorado Springs. Ran a 2:52 marathon at the Fila Everest Sky Marathon at 14,435 ft of elevation!

Simon Gutierrez - 3 time World XC member of US team, 3 time Mt. Washington winner. PRs of 14:20, 29:15, 1:03 & 2:18.

A few track/XC from Colorado universities have done very well in the mountain races the past two years. Tim Parr and Matt Levassiur, who train and live at high altitude have excelled on the mountain. Levi Brathall from Colorado Springs ran well at BMTR yesterday as well. Clint Wells did surprise at the Vail qualification race in June in the snow and mud. But he is excellent at altitude and obviously a tough runner. Other athletes, especially snow shoe experts and triathletes, tend to do well in the tougher, steeper races. For example, Josiah Middaugh from Vail has done well, following his US Snowshoe championship and Xterra overall win.

However, there has been some success from the East Coast as well, maybe due to the great circuit of events they have there. Ryan Pauling from NY just made the US team by winning the Wisconsin qualification race yesterday (crawling across the finish line apparently). Eric Blake and Paul are two other very successful mountain runners from the east coast.

Now I see why Galen Burrell was able to get sponsorship from the La Sportiva/GoLite running team after only posting a 4:27 at his first Pikes Peak Marathon (of course, he won last year; but he gained sponsorship before that). Not that there's anything wrong with having connections...I just didn't understand how some people can get sponsored and others don't. (Note: I am NOT bashing Galen or any other mountain runner--I think it's a great sport and he's a great athlete).

Take Carpenter's VO2max with a grain of salt. The metabolic cart in use at the time was giving sketchy numbers.

Not to denigrate Matt; his accomplishments speak for themselves.

Your perspective is probably a little off in this situation, although I realize you are not trying to be negative.

The Sportiva/GoLite team is full of a whole range of characters. As Buzz has put it in many interviews, it is a "grassroots" program. Being a new member of the team, I am amazed at some of the achievements respective members have amassed. Some are fast, some are tough, some are crazy, etc. Making the transistion from the roads I may be one of the faster runners on the flats, but I am way behind on the acsents and over technical terrain. For example, Buzz just completed a speed climbing feat covering Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. Ranier in 28 hours (including the driving time in the valleys between) in less than ideal conditions! The common trait among the members is stamina and passion for their sport and the products they try to represent. In addition, these companies are committed to the sports they provide for and show this through their various sponsorships at even the smaller events. GoLite has at least 3 other teams with 3 additional company partners involved in tangential sports.

I will mention that Galen has definitely proved himself by winning the Pikes Peak Marathon last August. I don't care what the winning time is, that is a unbelieveable mountain to run up and down. Having suffered on the lower half of it yesterday, I can't imagine completing the part from 10,200 to 14,000+ ft! I mean it is a constant grind up at 10+ min per mile.

I don't think sponsorship from Sportiva/GoLite or Teva can be compared to that of Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc. Those companies can/have provided contracts that include basic annual salaries (or training grants) to graduating collegiate track stars, etc. As was mentioned in the 2nd post, sponsorship from companies involved in mountain/trail running is currently more focused and is centered around the events. There is clearly a great opportunity for these companies to get their brand out there at such events, because the brands are unique and recognizable.

If you go to road race, the brands on the different runners blend in. At mountain races and even adventure races, the brands are clearly recognized and the products often make a difference (expecially in adventure racing). It is fun to be a part of this growing sport. The people involved have a refreshing attitude. They are not always worried about splits, weekly mileage or race times. PRs are measured on particular courses, not for specific distances. They meet for beer after workouts. They climb over rocks up mountains on tempo runs. They run intense races with separated shoulders (Bernie is one of the tough ones), and compete well! I feel lucky that I ran into Buzz and Galen at a local trail race they were doing as tempo, joined the team and am now learning from some of the best guys in the business. The founders and employees at La Sportiva and GoLite are awesome, and the products are definitely at the top of their space. Of course I may have a biased opinion, but check out the stuff to compare.

If you are interested in sponsorship yourself, the easiest way is too jump in a well know mountain race and compete well. This is how Tim Parr, Matt Lavassiur and Eric Blake seemed to get into it. I mean Tim and Matt showed up to the Hill Climb in Vail last year, and just tore off up the mountain. They did surprise a lot of the experienced trail runners, then performed well at the World Mountain Tropy in Italy on a much more challenging course.

Thanks for your perspective, and good race yesterday! Believe me, I am intimately familiar with that mountain and the top half is WAY tougher than Barr Camp and below (although the W's do suck...the simple fact is you're just not very tired at that point of the trail.)

'pvail'...do you have an e-mail for more inquiries. Or, please e-mail me so you don't have to post your information.

Stay on the roads! Run a good marathon this fall.

I am not sure the mountain running won't help the marathoning. I realize anyone must do a lot of running on the asphalt to prepare for the beating the marathon gives out, but the hill work incorporated in the mountain running should pay off in other ways. As a trail runner builds a great aerobic base with healthy , varied mileage, he/she also should build a balanced muscle base (including the arms from the long climbs), which logically will help prevent injuries when you want to push the limits a bit more. That is, unless you keep crashing on the rocks or into trees, as I have been known to do. We are also often doing tempo efforts up at 8,000ft+ and this should make sea level running (and the marathon pace) feel easy. At least I hope!

I'm just asking questions...DAD! Got a little mountain fever this weekend. Besides I have got the look down to a "T". I'm still trying to get in shape to run a social run on Wednesday nights without getting dropped!

After a race like yesterday's, it's hard not to get excited about running up and down huge hills fast...dropped on Wednesday social runs...give me a break!

Does anyone here know anything about the half-marathon in Vail this weekend? What's the course like?

You youngsters! Check out the course profile at Vailrec.com