last night I had the pleasure of running 20km at Sulphur with nine or
so 'ultrarunners'. Being new to this sport, it was interesting to both
experience night running in a group, and to hear the banter amongst my
fellow runners, as well as listen to the advice and experiences.

I am a triathlete (small 't'), and apart from training with some local
athletes (small 'a'), there is very little camaraderie like I see in
your sport. And, on race day in triathlons it is 'every man for
himself'.I hear, "Get out of my way!". My first race, Seaton , I heard
words like "hole", " branch", "runner", "would you like to pass?",
"good job!"

Ron Gehl made a comment last night. He said, "This is a great group of
people in this sport, but we are all crazy. You have to be! ". I am
seeing that there is a great deal of truth in what he said.

My expectation was that, with so many people running these distances
in these conditions, that there would be a lot of very big ego's. I
have seen that a lot in triathlons. So far I have seen that, like me,
most don't expect to ever win a race. You are just there to meet the
challenge that you have set for yourself and to enjoy the moment (very
long moments!). So, the part about this being a great group of people
is indeed true.

And as for being 'crazy', here is my take on that. Anyone who lives a
sedentary life sees any kind of physical activity as being a little
insane and a waste of 'couch time'. We all have different reasons for
doing this. Mine is that I have found triathlons to be too intense and
chaotic. I love the solitude of trail running. I have a very
competitive nature, but have no desire to be one of 10000 in a
marathon on the streets of Toronto.

OK, 'crazy' does exist in your sport. I discovered it today. After the
run at Sulphur, I drove to Creemore, where I spent the night at the
home of Pierre Marcoux. At 8.30am we ran his 'Creemore Vertical
Challenge' course. I had previously heard that there are some hills in
the Creemore area. Before leaving, Pierre told me that there are four
hills on the course. I soon lost count of the times that Pierre said,
with a big grin, "this is not 'the hill'" . I live in Huntsville, and
I am no stranger to hills, so I had felt confident going into the run.
I soon realized that it is called the 'Vertical challenge' (BIG 'V')
for good reason! So the 'crazy' is in the folk who design these
courses. It is all making sense to me now.

I would be remiss if I did not also say that Pierre has a fabulous
course there in Creemore, hills and all. It is spectacularly
beautiful, and indeed challenging. It combines double and single track
trail with gorgeous country roads, and everyone should be there in
July to experience it. I will be there for sure.

Have a great week everyone. See you at 'Sulphur'.