Watching trail running is so entertaining!

I’m 4.5 weeks into recovery from meniscus repair (knee) surgery, and so no running still from me. Dr’s orders were no running for 6-8 weeks. I’ll be honest, when they first told me that, I thought I could start again in half that time. Chalk that up to half part foolish and half part optimist. But now I’m dealing with a full dose of reality. And what that means right now is that I feel good, but not 100%. On days when I am on my feet all day, or do a more aggressive hike or bike ride, I feel it in my knee at the end of the day. So I’ve told myself that I will wait at least the 6 weeks for running and then go from there. Until then, it’ll be a combo of biking, walking/hiking and icing.

Trail Running Live Race Coverage is Evolving - and is so Entertaining!

Despite the unusually chilly stretch of spring here in Vermont, I have been enjoying the uptick in trail running event live streams. The first trail/ultra event that I remember watching live online, and devoting a lot of time to, was the 2021 Cocodona 250. It was the first version of that 250 mile race and the live stream was a combination of awesome race coverage, entertaining banter in the YouTube chat, and what happens when you ask two guys to cover an ultra race via live broadcast in a studio for way too many hours in a row (Aravaipa after dark anyone?). Big shout out to the team at Aravaipa Running for the event in general, and their role in being pioneers of live trail race coverage in general.

Not only was it the first large event to have multi-hour (multi-day) live coverage, it was also just about a year after COVID-19 started and was one of the first in person events to start up again, so seeing people interacting and getting out there on the trails was so awesome. I have fond memories of seeing Michael Versteeg win that race, of Jeff Garmire call into the live stream live while out running it, and so many good memories.

Later that year, I was glued to the live coverage of CCC and UTMB. I remember watching Francois D’haene and Courtney Dauwalter dominate and feeling as it we were there in Chamonix, lining the streets with the spectators. (side note, if you want to see an incredibly entertaining and funny video about these two world class trail runners, check out the Salomon Long Short video here:)

Later in 2021, and throughout 2022, a number of trail and ultra events started doing live streams. We saw the rise of the Golden Trail Series - who is doing both live race streams and awesome race recap videos, the full broadcast of the Western States Endurance Runs, and more live coverage of races like the Ultra Trail Cape Town, Black Canyons 100, Bandera 100k, Canyons 100k and many more!

One of the most recent live stream events was the Zegama race, which took place last weekend. This is a race that has been historically dominated by Killian Jornet, who has won You can check out the full results of the race here. Killian has won the race 10 times, but this year it was Spain’s Manuel Merillas and Germany’s Daniela Oemus delivering the winning times. It was a very wet and slippery day out on the trails for this marathon-distance course, which includes 8,800 ft of elevation gain.

• Chuckanut 50k

• Gorge Waterfalls

• Black Canyon 100k

While I’m not training for any particular race at this time, I do hope to set some goals for later this year. What are you training for right now? Shoot me a note or respond to the comments section of this newsletter online! I would love to hear what you are up to so I can cheer you on.

Until next time, run healthy, run happy, and run the trails!

Ricky