Divine Madness, Love Lost and Other Passions

Leadville CO, 1994

[Post updated Nov 2021] 

The Divine Madness running cult of Boulder CO was a hot topic in the mid 90s. I got to see them in action during the 1997 Leadville 100. It had everything lurid for the pre-clickbait era: sex, running, weird diets, and behavioral compulsions.

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(4/09) further reading on Divine Madness running cult :

This Women's Sport and Fitness article on Divine Madness and a reporter's infatuation has really gotten a head of steam up. I read it with considerable interest, and located the following pressure points:

  • a sense of longing and lack of fulfillment on the part of the reporter
  • observations of a group dynamic that are manipulative
  • the curiosity of the reporter about how to do better
  • some editorial tweaking to pump up the text for the non-ultra readership [which is infinity minus 8,000, give or take].
For those who've seen Yo Tizer in action at Leadville and are willing to remember, it's memorable. Watching the "Yo Ladies" circle while he's having his feet rubbed and blocking traffic at Twin Lakes gave a lot of crews the burn. Never mind that their runners were on their way out or back.

If you missed that, the Awards in '97 were instructive, and over the top in '98. You missed a real treat.

Keeping all this in mind while reading the article was a useful grounding device. It looked like the same crew to me.

The larger themes outlined two years ago are still in place. Constant motion, caloric restriction, intellectual constraints. All of this would be meaningless if the dynamic wasn't giving something to the participants. Ponder that for a spell. Why? THE TECHNIQUES WORK.

And what about the reporter? I'll bet dollars to donuts that everyone of you out there has at one time followed an inescapably attractive man/woman into a place you never thought you'd go. We got to read about his, and he or she may not be the better for it.

For those who have not been in bad marriages, perhaps the cult dynamic was a little too intense. Maybe for those out there in bad marriages the same could apply.

Obsession? Really? Never woulda guessed that one either. Sometimes it takes a really good metaphorical whack up the side of the head to figure out you don't have a life, and that is the root of obssesion.

Well, gotta roll. See you on the flip side.

--As ever, Mr Trail Safety

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