I’ve been working lots currently. Individuals hold asking me what for. Maybe these aren’t their precise phrases, but it surely’s the vibe. They wish to know what the miles are pointing towards, what race is arising.
To be sincere I don’t have any races on the schedule for the remainder of 2023. Maybe I’ll soar in a turkey trot over the American Thanksgiving vacation. I really by no means have. It will be a primary for me, and it’s been ages since I’ve raced on the street. And my coaching seems removed from that of turkey trots, so what offers?
I’ve a couple of solutions. I inform folks that I’m having fun with fall and/or that I’m constructing my base for subsequent yr. I additionally communicate of early season race choices and to some, I admit that I’m eyeing up a tough effort throughout the Grand Canyon and again. I assume that’s what you name a quickest identified time (FKT) try, though for some cause I really feel sheepish about it.
Of all the reasons I’ve been giving folks, I feel I just like the having fun with fall reply greatest. It appears probably the most pure.
You see, one of many biggest issues about working is its means to thrive by itself. Whereas it may be carried out in a aggressive context, it doesn’t should be. It may also be carried out for health, stress reduction, transportation, and even only for enjoyable. Its worth isn’t rooted in a single particular factor.
A sundown view of the Grand Canyon. All photographs: Zach Miller
Currently I’ve been considering lots about working and the place I want for it to take me subsequent yr. Extra particularly, I’ve been fascinated by what I wish to race. Just a few weeks in the past, I felt fairly strongly that I needed to return to UTMB. Simply as I used to be feeling pretty comfy with that potential choice, I — and what appears like the remainder of the path working world — realized of a new UTMB World Sequence occasion that will take over an occasion house beforehand occupied by the Whistler Alpine Meadows occasion, placed on by Coast Mountain Path Operating, in Whistler, British Columbia.
The information of this taking place precipitated fairly a bit of shock amongst the path working neighborhood. To make a protracted story brief, folks felt that Whistler Alpine Meadows had been unfairly pushed out and changed by a lot bigger, company entities, one among which being the UTMB World Sequence that’s affiliated with UTMB, in fact. As I realized of and analyzed the state of affairs, I struggled with figuring out what to do.
On one hand, I actually needed to run UTMB. Then again, I used to be involved that the UTMB World Sequence group could be behaving in a manner that went towards my morals. Unexpectedly, one thing so simple as deciding what to race appeared much more complicated. However don’t fear, this text is much less about what occurred between Whistler Alpine Meadows and the UTMB World Sequence, and extra about what I spotted within the aftermath.
As I’ve been processing what occurred between Coast Mountain Path Operating and the UTMB World Sequence, I’ve continued to spend so much of trip on the paths. I’ve run to the depths of the Grand Canyon and to the very best level in Arizona. I’ve seen lovely sunsets and run beneath darkish, desert skies. I’ve cruised alongside the Tonto Path, marveling at the fantastic thing about the Grand Canyon and feeling that uncommon sense of untamed awe. I’ve plunged deep into the canyon on the North Kaibab Path and powered my manner again out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, feeling the rhythm and power of my physique as I went.
The Tonto Path, under the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
In doing these items, I’ve realized one thing. These moments are the essence of the game. Certain, races are enjoyable. They provide us an goal and a option to check ourselves. They, nevertheless, are only one piece of the puzzle, and never even a obligatory piece at that.
Even when all of the races ceased to exist, we’d nonetheless have working. We’d have the facility in our legs and the breath in our lungs. We’d have the mountains to climb and canyons to cross. We’d have sunrises, sunsets, and starry skies. We’d have the flexibility to marvel how far and how briskly we may go and the means to seek out out. We’d have pleasure, awe, and marvel. We’d have drained legs and overflowing hearts.
We’d have all these items and a lot extra as a result of they don’t depend on a race, a company, or a coverage.
And so, as the game of path working continues to develop, I’m optimistic. Optimistic not simply because I feel it could develop and develop in a constructive route, but additionally as a result of even when the competitors aspect of the game throws some challenges our manner, what it’s at its core can nonetheless stay.
The problem, the wonder, and the awe gained’t stop to exist. We’ll all the time have the ability to take to the paths and discover these bits of gold. We will endlessly be, having fun with fall.
Name for Feedback
Would you continue to discover pleasure in working if there have been no races to coach for?
