What Is The Sound Of One Solo Clapping?

The Solo Runner category in the current 100-mile race scene is bullshit, and should die immediately. Its unenforceable, and subject to gaming by the more clever out there. 

 "Oh hey, I didn't really understand that part of the rules where it said a solo runner was Lonesome Me, with no crew or pacers, gosh..."
Somehow these people pass their DMV tests.

 In theory it supposedly confers a registration advantage at the AC100, and reduces the number of cars out on the course and in aid stations. On the face of it, OK; because this is America, and every runner has 3 friends and 4 extra cars. But is a solo runner theoretically a nobody, with no casual admirers? 

 At the AC100 this is Panic Level DefCon 2. Runners got a multi-signature contract form, pretty much like buying a house. You swore that you know all the rules, you read the rules, understand the rules. Got that Adventure Pass, Crew Parking Pass? Don't give aid out on the road [because there's 12 miles of asphalt butt-hurt on Highway 2]. Fine, but you can give emotional support, as long as you don't shout from your car etc. 

 Perhaps golf-clap is OK. Time will tell.

 Highway 2 is a weekend mountain motorcycle shooting gallery. Every GoPro'd flatlander takes their motorcycle up there, so look out. You're the lucky duck out running on the highway.

 I know aid-station captains that said "fuck being a cop, I gotta station to run, not gonna check parking passes etc." The multiple signature mania is completely Ken. His deepest desire is to eliminate all spectators forever. One good way to solve that problem is to have 300 treadmills in an unused Fontana industrial park, fence them off, and then make it a YouTube follow-along from home. Maybe have a Vegas line, oddsmakers and so on.

 Finally, I saw one ostensibly solo runner pass by Dead Man's Bench [79mi] with a full-on posse. Maybe by the time she passed thru Idle Hour, Merrill and Millard aid stations everybody was too tired to give a shit. She wasn't DQ'd either.
_____________________________
*"Lotteries" are mostly RD Sharpie, and even the open-draw executions have their WTF moments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AC100: 2023 Is A Matter Of Course

Image
The 2023 Notional AC100. The venerable Angeles Crest stumbled into 2023 with a finally redone website.  Congrats! Most of the photos are bright and shiny, and non-synchronous to actual locations. However, it's a considerable improvement. No idea if the signup is as buggy and weird as it was when the Next Day Lotto was unleashed several years ago. Everyone Has A Plan… RACE CANCELLED FOR 2023: SKIP TO THE END The Race has been able to rejoin its point-to-point origins, with continued mods by fire and bio-edict. RIP incinerated Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog [MYLF]. 2022's out-&-back is now an asterisk in the rear-view mirror. The new course map and descriptions are confusing. It was deja vu to 1990 for me all over again, only in color.  Map shows a Chantry pass-thru, while text indicates an out-n-back from Red Box to Newcombs, then up the Kenyon Devore over Mt Wilson. Thence over the top down to Idle Hour, to its eventual conclusion at Loma Alta in Altadena CA. Any Kenyon Devor
Read more

I Didn't Conquer Kilimanjaro

Image
  THE SUMMIT I didn't conquer Kilimanjaro. I paid attention, cooperated with the mountain in optimal conditions. Made the summit on Mar 10 2024; and more importantly, made it back down safely on my own steam. This was a pilgrimage for my late wife Leslie Sowle, who'd done it in Dec 2003. When I reunited with her in Jan 2022, I repeated my admiration for her accomplishment. She looked at me and said "its just a long walk. You could do it" Leslie in red parka. Kilimanjaro, 2003. Photographer unknown. At the time I demurred, because Kili was irrelevant in the face of her oncoming death. I began thinking about it in September 2023. If not now, then when?  I started training with her very good 2003 Arcteryx RT25 pack at home in Ventura County, CA. I made no mention of it on the socials. Bad juju. I'd booked the longest trip possible [11 days Northern Lemosho Route] with Simon Mtuy's Summit Expeditions to get as much altitude conditioning possible. A shorter trip [
Read more

If Carhartt Made Wedding Dresses…

Image
"La Paloma de Alba" This lovely two-piece bib overall mermaid gown has delicate, feminine details throughout. From the hand-beaded, antique-finish nickel hardware brooch detail on the sweetheart bodice, to the cascading rose at the hip, it is a gorgeous dress for the modern bride. Field-Tested, multiple tool and utility pockets. Faux-braided ribbon closure at back; breakaway honeymoon closure on side. Made of 11.75-ounce, 100% denim cotton, with triple-stitched main seams, satin-polyester facings and taffeta trim material. Also available in Nomex®™. Shown in Sandstone. Available in Moss, Dark Green and Enhanced Black.
Read more