WS100 Buckle For Sale



Screenshot of my original Facebook post, for those who need pictures

It was bound to happen. The sport has "matured", if that's a proper term; to the point that sub-24 hr WS100 buckles are now being sold by their recipients on ebay. The first incident I heard of was a dealer selling one several years ago. It was recovered by the Western States 100, and it wasn't cheap.

Frankly, I'm startled. Yes, its his to do with as he pleases. He could lose it in a card game for that matter. But still. I was under the remarkably quaint impression you just didn't do this kind of thing.

Here's Jared Hazen's Facebook post: the ebay listing:

Jared's post: show me the money.

I caught a lot of flak for posting this.

I made it clear that yes, I understood that he could do what he wanted with it. That seemingly overshot many of my critics. 

 Whatever. 

 Twitter was especially fun, as a bunch of aliased weenie-boys hid behind their keyboards and were flinging poo. Also funny that "@SteeltownRunner" and "@DouchebagUltra" stats never showed up on UltraSignUp.com. 

 But, I digress.

Here's the New Paradigm: Its All For Sale.

Any notion you might've had based on your early apprenticeship in The Halogen Era is irrelevant. The Age of Monetization has been here for a while. Now we're seeing the knock-on effects. This was the first time (to my recollection) that an actual recipient had tried to sell his buckle. Oh yeah, there was the Auburn/Foresthill/Foothill antique/estate dealer who had sold a WS100 buckle several years ago. For whom, and how he got it, who knows?

 The market still rules. I doubt anyone will give more than $5 for that Rocky Raccoon, Graveyard 100, or whatever buckle. Unless Kilian Jornet got shot in it.

 Now everybody in ultras gets to look at that buckle you're sporting and thinks "wonder which ebay auction that came from."

Update: Jan 31, 2016

Buckle sold for $519 to a private party. For someone "not attached to inanimate objects", well-played.

Update: June 27, 2016

Hazen had not been invited back to Western after this episode.

Comments

Unknown said…
I like, "whatever."
1:40 PM
aatjourney100 said…
I sold my 2000 (first 100 finish 23:52) and 2001 (second 100 finish 22:48) AC100 silver buckes when silver was over $60 an oz, I think 2011? and my family and I need the cash. It was easy to part with....dust collectors worth over $700 combined paid out by a local coin dealer. No regrets....one of the few perks ac100 actually ponied up.
8:28 PM
Mr Trail Safety said…
And here's the critical difference: You sold the buckle for a direct monetary benefit [your family], without going through the whole Sorry-Not-sorry bullshit dance.
10:38 PM
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