You Tea Em Bee

🫵🏻 🫖 Ⓜ️ 🐝

I had plans to travel to Thailand in a few weeks to race the Doi Inthanon by UTMB 100k, but I have decided to cancel the trip. A week ago, UTMB (which is owned by Ironman) announced a new race at Whistler on the same weekend and on nearly the same course as Garry Robbins’ former Coast Mountain Trail Running race. It appears that UTMB/Ironman effectively “stole” Gary’s race, as Whistler forced CMTR out, while greenlighting UTMB’s event. In short, UTMB/Ironman (along with Vail Resorts, which owns Whistler) acted like scumbags, and I did not want to support them by racing their Thailand event. Gary is one of the most respected dudes in the sport, and seeing his company and community hurt by UTMB/Ironman’s actions has caused a lot of anti-UTMB sentiment in the North American trail/ultrarunning community. I met Gary at the Minotaur Skyrace a few years ago, and he was super nice. And he even knew who I was and said he was impressed with my career as an athlete! That was probably the third most honored I’ve ever felt, behind when Kilian said he knew who I was and when Anton followed me on strava (#notbragging).

I’m bummed. I was looking forward to going to Thailand, traveling around, and eating lots of Ab Ong Or (Roasted Pork Brain). I was excited to run a gnarly 60 mile course that has over 20,000 feet of vert (just writing those specs got me all hot and bothered). And I could not wait to (hopefully) qualify for and race the 2024 UTMB. As a currently unsponsored athlete whose strengths align with the race, performing well at UTMB would be the simplest way for me to earn more money from the sport.

Until last week, UTMB seemed well on their way to monopolizing the most competitive and prestigious mountain ultramarathons in the world. They have created a system where you have to race their subsidiary events (such as the Thailand and Whistler races) to qualify for UTMB/CCC/OCC (the de facto Super Bowl of trail/ultrarunning). In theory, I don’t think centralization and corporatization for our sport is a net negative. Certainly UTMB-style events have less of a grassroots/dirtbag “spirit” than old-school races. But as an athlete that has vague intentions of doing this at a semi-professional level, there has to be some give and take if I’m ever going to be able to retire in Nantucket off my race winnings. I think there is room for both local/grassroots events and big spectacles like UTMB (and events like the Rut and Broken Arrow prove that these don’t have to be mutually exclusive).

For the time being, I will not be racing any UTMB/Ironman events. If there is going to be a dominant corporate entity in trail/ultrarunning, I want it to be one that seems to have good intentions and values the ethos of our sport. If UTMB/Ironman take steps to become that, great. But in the meantime, there are other worthy ultras that are internationally competitive and incredible mountain courses. A lot of the “Spartan Trail World Championship” races look amazing. Transvulcania seems sick. And when I went to the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa website, I audibly moaned in rhapsodical ecstasy. On the sub-ultra side of things, I can personally attest to how awesome the Skyrunning and Golden Trail Series races are.

In conclusion, I have a fat ass.