This weekend is the midpoint between the 2 most well liked ultramarathons in North The usa. With the Western States 100 going down ultimate weekend and Hardrock 100 going down subsequent weekend, that is the time of 12 months when all ultrarunners glance to California and Colorado.
I’ve been privileged to run either one of those iconic occasions, and lately, I’ve traveled to Auburn, California, and Silverton, Colorado, every 12 months to spectate and volunteer. I’ve had the chance to look at and revel in what makes those occasions so other from every different and but, on some degree, very a lot the similar.
Kissing the rock on the finish of the Hardrock 100 is likely one of the extra iconic scenes within the ultrarunning global. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Vibes
I love to match the vibes of Hardrock and Western States to rock concert events.
Hardrock is that live performance that takes position in a modest venue with a couple of thousand seats, assume the Beacon Theatre in New York Town. Bring to mind the ultimate live performance you attended that introduced you as regards to the artist and allowed you to have interaction socially with different concertgoers. That’s Hardrock.
Western States, then again, is the huge stadium display, assume Kenny Chesney at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Those concert events tackle a pageant surroundings and produce 1000’s of other people out lengthy prior to the live performance is scheduled to begin. Loud, chaotic, and celebratory, Western States stocks the vibe with those huge stadium presentations.
Complete stadium seating across the monitor of Western States 100 provides to the stadium-concert vibe of the development. Picture: Michael Lebowitz
Monitor As opposed to Pass Nation
In my earlier skilled lifestyles as a highschool fundamental I attended greater than my fair proportion of monitor and cross-country meets. Over time I made some observations that ring a bell in me of the adaptation between Western States and Hardrock.
Monitor meets are slick and fancy. Monitor athletes put on crisp kits and graceful sneakers. Western States is monitor.
Pass-country meets are unfastened and within the woods. Pass-country runners are a ragtag workforce with unkempt hair and outsized kits. They understand how to run they only do it a bit of another way. Hardrock is go nation.
Tempo
Hardrock weekend strikes at a tempo comparable to a small the city. Positive, the runners up entrance wish to transfer speedy, and the ones on the again might really feel the drive of assembly the cutoffs, however via and massive, the race strikes at a laid-back tempo. Runners spend time regrouping at support stations, volunteers linger to speak and proportion tales, and race officers and veterans of the development make everybody really feel welcome and embraced via the group.
The tempo at Western States is extra like New York Town all through rush hour. Intensely aggressive on the entrance of the pack and difficult with tight cutoffs on the again, there’s little time for dilly-dallying for someone. It’s an intense, fast-moving tempo, the rewards of which can be a sparkly belt buckle and massive town reminiscences to ultimate a life-time.
Group
Each occasions have fun and embody group. In truth, they each enterprise to nurture a way of group within the many actions surrounding their occasions. Moreover, the words “Western States circle of relatives” and “Hardrock circle of relatives” are a part of the language round every race.
As you may be expecting, Hardrock is a close-knit circle of relatives — the sort the place many nonetheless reside in the similar space, get in combination continuously, and proportion many commonplace traits. The Western States circle of relatives is an enormous prolonged circle of relatives this is unfold around the globe, getting in combination handiest sometimes and with disparate objectives, attitudes, and temperaments. Each households proportion commonplace connections however accomplish that in very other ways.
A volunteer path paintings group prior to Hardrock 100. Each occasions have path paintings occasions to present again to the native space. Picture courtesy of iRunFar/Bryon Powell.
Irrespective of their variations in vibes, form of race, tempo, and group, each Western States and Hardrock have earned their puts at the most sensible step of North American ultrarunning tradition. Despite, or possibly on account of, their distinctive traits, those two occasions had been in a position to face the check of time, doing so in their very own distinctive techniques and on their very own impartial phrases. In consequence, they remain the 2 of probably the most sought-after occasions in American path working and ultrarunning.
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Ska Brewing in Durango, Colorado. Purple Vapor Stew is a bitter ale brewed with beets, carrots, ginger, and apples, generating a wealthy, earthy taste that tickles the palate. At 5.0% ABV, Purple Vapor stew is offered, crisp, and one of the vital greatest bitter ales I’ve had.
Name for Feedback
- Have you ever had the danger to revel in both of those iconic races as a player or volunteer? What used to be your revel in like?
- Do you like the slower tempo of an match like Hardrock or the frenetic power of Western States?