Team relays: one way racing is returning in 2020
Athletics Canada held their elite relay, American pro teams participated in an Ekiden. And the Big's Backyard Ultra added a team element to this year's race.
Hello -
This week, I look at the results from the Athletics Canada 42.2K relay that took place over what was supposed to be Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend.
I also recap Big’s Backyard Ultra, which took placed last weekend in countries participating in a team head-to-head format.
This emergence of team events during COVID as a time to create camaraderie and racing opportunities for elites is a trend I hope continues.
I also get into why Big’s Backyard Ultra represents so much that is wrong with the ultrarunning community, namely it’s extreme whiteness and its comfort being that way.
And a BIPOC run crew was stopped by police in Hamilton for, well, existing, it seems.
Let’s get to it!
Elite Canadian runners participated in Athletics Canada’s marathon relay last weekend
Athletics Canada hosted a virtual elite relay last weekend. Elites were invited to form teams of four (all women, all men or mixed gender, which would have two men and two women) to split up the marathon distance of 42.2K any way they wanted. Team members did not need to be the same place to be on a team together.
In the women’s division, the Quarantine Queens (Malindi Elmore, Kinsey Middleton, Emily Setlack and Natasha Wodak) took the top spot. The team divided the distance evenly, running 10.55K each, for a finish time of 2:22:39.
Bonus points go to Malindi Elmore for bedazzling her race bib.
Newfoundland’s Rockin’ Rock Ladies (Kate Bazeley, Jennifer Murrin, Jennifer Barron and Jade Roberts ) placed second in 2:31:36.
The Bayfront Bellas (Krista DuChene, Brooke Biggs, Shannon Kelsey and Victoria Pringle) placed third in 2:45:14. Krista DuChene ran a 27.2K leg, as part of her training for an ultramarathon: she’s running the Sulphur Springs 50K on Nov. 8.
The mixed division was won by the BC Endurance Project White team, which was comprised of Justin Kent, Kevin Coffey, Erica Digby and Kirsten Lee. They ran 2:11:46.
Kent was supposed to run the world half-marathon championships, but Canada decided to not send a team at the last minute. He did a time trial on the Vancouver sea well instead, and his time of 1:02:34 for 21.1K counted toward his team’s relay effort.
BC Endurance’s Project’s Red team (Ben Preisner, Luc Bruchet, Rachel Cliff and Ali Gill) placed second in 2:12:41, with Random Track Club (Matt Hughes, Matie Davidson, Paddy Birch and Madeleine Kelly) in Toronto placed third, running 2:17:36.
The men’s division was won by the Backroads Bandits (Chris Balestrini, Mike Tate Phil Parrot-Migas and Jack Sheffar), who finished in 2:09:01.
Balestrini has had a busy few months. He recently ran a marathon PB of 2:17:05 at the Fast is Fun marathon in Waterloo and successfully defended his PhD thesis (which his girlfriend, Julie-Anne Staehli, proudly shared via her IG stories).
“The event was really fun!,” Balestrini told Athletics Canada. “Initially we didn’t plan on putting a team together, but in the COVID world, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to race.
“These virtual and small in-person events are key for setting checkpoints in training and keeping the motivational fires roaring during the pandemic.”
Guelph Marlins of Southgate (Mitchell Ubene, John Perrier, Nicholas Bannon and Ethan Kruisselbrink) placed second in 2:12:41 and a Mile2Marathon team (Dylan Wykes, Rob Watson, Tony Tomsich and Josh Potvin) came third in 2:14:22.
You can see the full results here.
Big’s Backyard Ultra becomes international team competition because of COVID and everyone forgot about Laz’s racist behaviour this summer
The 2020 edition of the Big’s Backyard Ultra took place on Oct. 17, 2020.
I didn’t write about it last week, because it was still happening while I was writing up last week’s issue.
The event, which is run by Lazarus Lake/Gary Cantrell, is simple: runners have one hour to run an 6.7K loop. Every hour means a new loop. The race continues until there is one runner left. The final runner then must successfully compete one final loop to be declared the winner; else everyone is a DNF.
This year, the race introduced a competition between countries, with concurrent backyard ultras held in 21 different countries, with 300 participants taking part.
Belgium’s Karel Sabbe won the event outright, completing 75 laps to run 502K. You can watch his finish here.
Belgium took the second overall spot too, with Merjin Geerts completing 74 laps (496K).
Courtney Dauwalter won the American race, completing 68 laps and 455K. She placed third overall, behind the two Belgians.
Belgium placed first in the country competition, with America coming in second and Canada coming in third.
The full race results can be found here.
Stephanie Simpson is the top Canadian finisher, Canada places third overall
The Canadian edition of the race was held in Kelowna, B.C., with 15 runners taking part.
Competitors included Dave Proctor, who placed third in this event last year, and Terri Biloski, who was the first person to finish the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee this summer.
Stephanie Simpson was the top Canadian, finishing 21st overall. Stephanie completed 43 laps, running 288K in total. Matt Shepard was the second Canadian, finishing 42 laps (281K) and Chelsey Topping was third, finishing 40 (268K).
Stephanie is a 34-year-old mortgage broker, ultrarunner and mom from Montreal.
Team Canada’s Facebook page has a good recap of Stephanie’s race:
Her pace did not fluctuate by more than five or six minutes for the first 36 hours, regardless of near freezing temperatures so cold she insulated her sports bra with napkins. She did that rather than wear a jacket because she ran through ten hours of rain without enough gear. Team mates shared clothes, she borrowed a jacket from one of the crew and at one point ran with plastic bags in her shoes because she didn’t have any dry socks.
She slowed at 37 yards and began to question, out loud, how many laps she left
in her. At one point she only finished her run with 65 seconds to spare before the start of the next run. Her crew pushed and she kept going out. She kept saying she could not finish in time but kept coming in with mere minutes to spare.
Get Out There magazine interviewed Stephanie after the race:
Tell me about some of the highlights from the event.
A few times between loops, I was working from my cell phone, writing emails and sending instructions to my assistant. My area was a total mess. I had stuff all over the place. I also insulated my sports bra with napkins because I was so cold (and I didn't have enough dry gear). I ran with plastic bags in my shoes because I didn't have any dry socks/shoes. (To prevent injuries). BEST THING: The team was just amazing.
And what were some of the challenges?
I came from Montreal with a suitcase. There was a limit to what I could bring. I didn't anticipate such a cold night and rain for 12 hours. I was so cold. I had to start a few loops by accelerating the pace to be able to warm up. I had a few rough times during the night, but I was on a "one more lap" mindset and I know that dark zones are only temporary. I was so happy when the night was over. Around the 37th loop, I wanted to stop, but I ended up always going for "one more loop," which led me to victory.
Canadian Running talked to Canadian runner up Matt Shepard about the race. He said the team element made the 2020 edition memorable:
Shepard says the team aspect made the racing much more enjoyable than usual. “When you have a common goal, it really helps quiet those negative thoughts in your head,” he says. “It goes from ‘Me versus the race’ to ‘Me helping these people.’ We were all working together.” Going into Big’s, Shepard says he was confident the team would have a great race, and he was absolutely right.
We can’t talk about Big’s Backyard Ultra without talking about the whiteness of ultrarunning
All 15 Canadian participants were white.
All 14 American participants were white.
The only social justice statement I saw online was American Amelia Boone wearing a Say Their Names tattoo while competing. (If there were others and I missed them, please let me know!)
In a year where social justice and protests were seen all over sports in the NBA, NFL, NHL, WNBA and elsewhere, the absence of it in major running events is even more apparent.
Why does this matter?
Lazarus Lake/Gary Cantrell, the race organizer, received attention this summer when he was censoring Black Lives Matter statements in his Facebook group for another major event of his: the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. Ben Chan, who is Asian American, finished the race and posted a recap of his journey — which included enduring racial slurs while on the run and wearing a Black Lives Matter singlet to finish his race. His post was deleted, and it created a conversation about what is “political” and what constitutes a “refuge” in running.
It grew from there: People could not post about Black Lives Matter in the group, could not wear shirts that said Black Lives Matter or include photos of windows they ran by with stickers that said Black Lives Matter.
It was covered in Runner’s World and in Outside magazine. Ben discussed it — and racism and lack of diversity in ultrarunning in general — on the Ali on the Run Show podcast and the Road Dog podcast.
Ben Chan tried to submit a team called “Black Lives Matter” to Laz’s next virtual distance challenge, the Circumpolar Race Around the World, and Laz told them to change their name or leave the race.
In the wake of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, running as a whole was reckoning with racism our sport. BIPOC runners shared their experiences, run crews changing their names to be more inclusive, and running brands making statements in support of diversity, equity and inclusion.
And Lazarus Lake stood there and said, ‘Not here. Not in my races.’ He believes Black Lives Matter is a political statement, and there will be no political statements in his races.
He was trying to find a neutral ground.
But neutral ground does not exist in the fight against racism.
And dozens of white ultrarunners decided that it was still OK to show up at a race Laz organized, and not say anything about the whiteness of their sport, or the lack of anti-racism work in the community or the willfully ignorant actions of the race organizer. Several media outlets covered Big’s Backyard Ultra and didn’t say anything about what happened just a few months ago. Race announcers — who had to fill literally days with commentary — didn’t say anything on air.
In fact, the only place I saw this being discussed anywhere was on Ben Chan’s Instagram and in the Fast Women Facebook group.
Ultrarunning needs to do better.
Running needs to do better.
If you ever find yourself in a space that’s all or mostly white, ask yourself why that is — and what you can do about it.
Because in 2020, it’s not OK to be OK with that.
Racism in running happens in Canada too: BIPOC run crew in Hamilton confronted by police while on the run
On Oct. 7, three runners from the Air Up There, a BIPOC run crew in Hamilton, Ont. were stopped by the police while out for a run.
They were out on their regular Wednesday night 5K run when stopped by a display of red dresses hanging outside a police station — an installation to bring awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous women.
While they were taking photos of the installation, they were questioned by a police officer.
Mohamad Bsat wrote about the incident on Twitter. You can read the whole thread here.
The crew also shared the experience on their Instagram account:
CBC Hamilton wrote about what happened.
Bsat said the interaction made him feel "small" and "really dehumanized."
"We were judged and racially profiled because of the colour of our skin and we were made to feel like we weren't a part of this community, that we were seen as just threats," he said.
Bsat asked the police for an apology. According to CBC Hamilton, the police are “committed to continuing the conversation,” but no apology has been issued. Bsat has filed a complaint with the office of the Independent Police Review Director.
Last week, 15 runners came out to protest by running around a Hamilton police station.
Bsat, Vince Kuber and Clair Andean went on the Shakeout podcast to discuss the incident and how we can make running a safer and more equitable space for BIPOC runners.
This is why the fight to make running safer and more inclusive matters.
This is why stories like Lazarus Lake being dismissive of Black Lives Matter matter.
Running is not yet a refuge for everyone. It’s not yet safe for everyone. And until it is safe for every single person who wants running in their life, there’s work to do.
Strides: Other stuff to watch, listen to and know about
🎽 Hansons Brooks Original Distance Project organized an Ekiden for pro teams in the U.S.: teams of four split up the marathon distance into six legs: 10K, 6.1K, 5K, 10K, 6.1K and 5K. Think: the relay I recapped above, but the distances are set and all the runners are in one place.
Six teams competed, with NAZ Elite (whose team included Canadian Rory Linkletter) winning it all in 2:10:11. Runner’s World has the full results here and Lope Magazine has a good recap of it all (most of the story is behind a paywall), and poses the question: is this a thing that should continue post-COVID? NAZ Elite coach Ben Rosario also talked about the event and how it came together on the Citius Mag podcast.
👟 Krista DuChene talked to the Sherwood Park News about deciding to run a 50K, picking up coaching during COVID and how much the marathon landscape has changed since making the Olympic team in 2016.
👟 Sherwood Park News also had a piece with Dayna Pidhoresky about how her 2020 is going and how she’s surviving the pandemic while gearing up for the 2021 Olympics.
🎧 It was a year ago on Oct. 18 that Dayna Pidhoresky and Trevor Hofbauer won the Canadian Olympic marathon trials and booked their ticket to Tokyo. The Shakeout podcast revisited their conversations with the champs this week.
🚩 CBC Toronto profiled Ibrahim Abed, a man who decided to walk the entirety of Toronto when the pandemic closed his gym. He’s covered most of the city on his daily walks, and has walked up to 30K at one time.
📺 Athletics Illustrated talked to Canadian steeplechaser Genevieve Lalonde. She talks about the pandemic, getting married in the middle of the pandemic, relocating to the Victoria:
🌟 Erika Sahlman, like so many of us, decided to run her fall marathon virtually once it was cancelled. Erika was registered for the Chicago marathon, which she was running in memory of her brother, a Chicago resident who died suddenly last year.
Erika ended up doing her run on the roads near her house in Maine. Her mom made her a custom bib. Well, a stranger on a bike saw the bib and decided to say hello. The stranger was 1985 Chicago marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson. Runner’s World has a recap of this entire story, which is a lovely mood lifter and a good reminder that real bibs for virtual races are worth it — you never know who will see it.
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Thanks for reading. Keep on running, and stay safe. I’ll see you next week.