For many D.C. area residents the annual blossoming of the cherry trees signals the start of spring. For other locals, opening day of the baseball season has marked spring’s return…
Here is the second in the iRunFar series on ultrarunning sponsorship in 2008. While the previous post focused on the largest nation-wide ultrarunning teams, this post will focus on smaller…
Dear iRunFar readers,You may have noticed that for some of the most recent posts only a portion of the post is displayed when you come to iRunFar. If you start…
New outdoor and running products are always hitting the market, but it’s rare when I learn of a new product and think “why didn’t I think of that!” Such was…
The scope and nature of ultrarunner sponsorship has changed greatly in 2008. One primary cause of this change is the former 800-pound gorilla of ultrarunner sponsorship, Montrail, greatly reduced the…
I admit, I’ve been a bad, bad blogger, baby. Both my personal and work life’s been crazy for a few weeks now. (For instance, from Monday and Thursday last week,…
Maybe the old axiom, “Ask and you shall receive,” is truer than I ever imagined. Way back in May of ’07, I wrote about the need for a fall east…
Synopsis of Week’s Training: Oh, the joys of the really lengthy long run. With the Old Pueblo 50 on Saturday, I managed to run the fewest number of days in…
iRunFar’s favorite trail running and ultrarunning websites and blogs.
Beginning in 2009 (if not sooner), the Wasatch Speed Goat Racing Team will join the ranks of sponsored ultrarunning teams. To join the team, runners will need to have 6…
A quick shout out to fellow Arlingtonian, Michael Wardian, who set the US 50k Road Championship record this weekend at the US National 50 championships in Camusett State Park, NY….
Here’s a slide show of the pictures I took yesterday during the Old Pueblo 50 miler in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains outside Sonoita, Arizona . Note the…
As I type, I’m airborne in route from DC to Tucson, Arizona. As with many of my vacations, this one involves a race -the Old Pueblo 50. The Old Pueblo…
photo credit – Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Today’s New York Times includes an article discussing sports drinks aimed at women. The article also reviews four female-oriented sports drinks, including:…
Gretchen and Mason dropping me early on Friday’s run. Synopsis of Week’s Training:For reasons I do not recall, I took Monday off. Tuesday, I logged a decent 7.5 miles around…
More Trail Running Shoe Options To find more options for trail running shoes, check out our Best Trail Running Shoes article. La Sportiva Fireblade Review Every once in a while…
My run at the Mount Mitchell Challenge yesterday can be broken into four distinct sections. However, before I get any further into my race report, I need to cut to…
I’ve wanted to run the Mount Mitchell Challenge (MMC) held outside of Asheville, North Carolina ever since I heard of it. Earlier this decade, my sister spent some time living…
Recently, ultrastud Mike Mason commented enthusiastically about the La Sportiva Raceblade in response to my review of the Montrail Streak. Mike said, Phenom shoe. Flat, fast, just enough protection, elastic…
My buddy and ultra-stud Sean Meissner will be managing a new Fleet Feet store being opened in Bend, Oregon this April by his fellow stud ultramarathoner, Rod Bien. While I…
Last week, in reflecting upon why he trains, Scott Mason over at Wasatch Speed Goat noted La Sportiva runner, Anna Pichrtova, was spotlighted on mountainrunning.com. After looking over the piece…
Synopsis of Week’s Training:Another week and yet more progress in the right direct. I started the week off right on Monday by reintroducing my “Walker’s Fear” loop back into my…
Synopsis of Week’s Training: Hi, my name is Bryon and I’m a runner. This past week and this past weekend, in particular, definitely showed me that I’m a runner again….
[2/12/08 11:30 PM Note: I’ve voted, but keep the ideas coming for all the trail runners in states like Wisconsin, Texas, Wyoming, Vermont, and Ohio who have yet to vote…
More Trail Running Shoe Options To find more options for trail running shoes, check out our Best Trail Running Shoes article. Montrail Streak Review It’s rare that I await a…
Recently, a friend passed along the following request for “3 running suggestions” for newer runners. My division at work has organized a group called “The Biggest Loser,” like the tv…
As this post is longer than I originally intended, I’ll ask my question to iRunFar community up front: What is the longest period of time that your dedicated to training…
Synopsis of Week’s Training: Now THAT’s what I’m talking about! Six days of running this week with a 10 mile weekday run, a 16+ mile run on the weekend and…
Even if I’m no longer training for Hardrock, I’ve taken a liking to taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work. This change surely can’t hurt my training for…
Well, I’m 0 for 2 in lotteries for 2008 ultra. The Hardrock lottery was held yesterday and I came up a wee bit short. After the HRH board draws the…
I’m not sure how I first came across One Pink Fuzzy, but it’s become one of my favorite running blogs. That’s right, I regularly read a blog called “One Pink…
Howdy readers,I’m thinking of profiling some races here at iRunFar and am wondering how you choose which races to run. Do factors such as date, size, cost, and location –…
My friend Anthony Portera from over at Run-A-Long-Way blog was kind enough to write the following post on Rockefeller State Park Preserve as the second installment of the My Places…
Most of the time I end up running alone. In fact, a quick query of my mental mainframe reveals that I’ve run everyone of my 28 runs in 2008 by…
Synopsis of Week’s Training:After two back-to-back harder efforts, my legs were a bit tired on Monday. I headed out planning on run 8 to 12 miles, but bagged that idea…
Last fall I stumbled upon Canadian Mike’s blog. His pictures from runs in the Canadian Rockies are inspiring and often made useful by the inclusion of elevation profiles and trail…
Synopsis of Week’s Training:I came into this week having run 13 straight days, including my YTD longest run of 8 mile the preceding Sunday. On Monday, my legs felt tired….
One of the great things about running is that you end up exploring the areas where you live, work, and visit. During these explorations, we come across places that we…
What follows is the first in a new feature here at the iRunFar blog – weRunFar. weRunFar entries will be dedicated to collecting blog entries, blogs, photo albums, websites, and…
I hope y’all don’t mind that I’m mostly posting about my mundane running at the moment. It’s a quiet time of year for ultrarunning and with me neither racing nor…
Synopsis of Week’s Training:After not running 12 of the final 14 days of 2007, I started running again in the new year. Heading into this week I’d run 6 straight…
Last night I went for a 5 miler jaunt and it almost felt like I was running. I was still slow and I probably sucked more air than a Dyson….
Happy 2008 everyone! In consideration of my previously discussed endocrine fatigue, I took a brief hiatus from running… and as tends to be the case, I also took two full…
Alright, since my running for the year is basically over and Olga tagged me, here’s my 2007 year in review. (A more technical analysis will follow after the year’s out.)…
Folks, I need your counsel. It’s now been over a week since I dropped out a third of the way into Hellgate and I’m still not at 100%. Nowhere near…
While I’ll have more to say later, I did, in fact, drop out of Saturday’s Hellgate 100k. By 10 miles in I was feeling very weak and despite pounding Clifshot…
I’ve been told to go to hell on many occasions and at 12:01 tomorrow morning I will. You see since RD extraordinaire, David Horton, spawned his Hellgate “100k” half a…
In doing something I thought I wouldn’t do for many years, that is sign up for the Massanutten 100, I have learned that only a short while after opening just…
Another Western States lottery has come and gone and many a top ultrarunner’s name is not to be found on next year’s entrants list. A number of top runners who…
Sometimes pictures speak for themselves. I think these pictures I took in Buck Hollow and at Mary’s Rocks in Shenandoah National Park yesterday morning do just that. Enjoy the rest…
I received a tremendous amount of great feedback from the likes of Andy Jones-Wilkins, Scotty Mills, Greg Loomis, and Olga Varlamova regarding my draft proposal for revising the current Western…
Congratulations to Greg Crowther and Nikki Kimball on being named the 2007 ultrarunners of the year by USATF. Both Greg and Nikki attended Williams College, a NCAA Division 3 school….
Tom Hayes and Garrett Graubinsclimbing Engineer Pass at HR ’05 On Monday, the entry criteria for the 2008 Hardrock 100 were posted. As far as I can tell at first…
Matt Hart has already written about entering this year’s Western States lottery, which will be held on December 1. Andy Jones-Wilkins has already reviewed the possible men’s field for next…
Some have suggested that in running three 50 milers in 15 days I’ve stumbled upon a new training regimen. Others have suggested that I’m crazy. I think both of those…
The following is a post that my good friend Gavin “Sparky” Boyles was kind enough to write up about his experience at the Stone Cat 50. Enjoy. 1) “Get ready…
Beginning in 2008, the Montrail-Nathan running team will be reduced from its current size of nearly 90 runners to 15 or 20. I am one of the many who will…
For me the Stone Cat 50 is as much about community as the race, so let’s start with me touching down in Boston just after noon on Friday. Upon arriving…
I need to apologize for portraying individuals that I highly respect in an inaccurate or negative light in an earlier version of my MMTR 50 race report. I honestly believed…
It’s not often that you hear about great customer service, but I recently encounter some so here goes. As I alluded in my post about chafing, I developed a rather…
[To begin, I need to apologize for portraying individuals that I highly respect in an inaccurate or negative light in an earlier version of this post. I honestly believed when…
Did you know you could chafe your [insert body part here]? Having run for 15 years, I figured I know pretty much every part of my body I could possibly…
While hanging out after a pleasant trail run in DC last week, discussion turned to schwag given away at ultramarathons. The discussion focused on whether a club should have input…
