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Death Valley Puts Brakes On Running & Cycling Races (Read 305 times)


Not dead. Yet.

    How can we know our limits if we don't test them?

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    rectumdamnnearkilledem

      I wonder if this would affect charity events, too.  I was hoping to return to DV for the JDRF Ride to Cure event this year.  The last time I was there they wouldn't let anyone ride up Jubilee Pass due to heat.  We've heard that the new park manager is cracking down on large groups and suspected that a ruling like this would be coming down.  They had to cancel this year's ride due to a section of washed-out road and the govt shut-down.

      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

           ~ Sarah Kay


      Kalsarikännit

        This may be the end of Badwater (as a race, the individual Badwater crossings have been going on long before the race existed).

         

        They bring a ton of money into a few very, very small communities and have an impeccable safety record, so I don't see where the problem lies.

         

        Something posted to the ultralist that I found to be funny and true:  "There is a certain irony in that badwater's over-the-top hyperbole will probably be used against them."

        I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

         

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        rectumdamnnearkilledem

          They bring a ton of money into a few very, very small communities and have an impeccable safety record, so I don't see where the problem lies.

           

          The new park sup. appears to be the problem, from what I gather.

          Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

          remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

               ~ Sarah Kay


          Kalsarikännit

             

            The new park manager appears to be the problem, from what I gather.

             

            There is a concern that this will have a domino effect, and other National Parks that allow racing (not all do), will now consider banning organized events for one reason or another. I've been able to race in Crater Lake and Cutohoga Valley National Park and consider it a blessing.

             

            If a race made a negative environmental impact on the park I'd be 100% in favor of yanking it. This does not appear to be the case, though.

            I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

             


            #artbydmcbride

              I wonder if it just a reaction to what happened in Boston?  Maybe they just want to review all of their safety measures.

               

              Runners run


              Kalsarikännit

                I assumed it was the reaction to Michael Popov's death.

                 

                http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/running/trail-running/Michael-Popovs-Last-Run.html

                I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

                 

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                rectumdamnnearkilledem

                   

                  There is a concern that this will have a domino effect, and other National Parks that allow racing (not all do), will now consider banning organized events for one reason or another. I've been able to race in Crater Lake and Cutohoga Valley National Park and consider it a blessing.

                   

                  If a race made a negative environmental impact on the park I'd be 100% in favor of yanking it. This does not appear to be the case, though.

                   

                  That's a really good point -- this Fall I participated in the newest JDRF ride, on the Natchez Trace…also a NP.

                   

                  These events are all self-contained.  The only issue I've really ever been aware of, at least in terms of the cycling events, is potential for traffic problems.  There were never very many cars during the DV ride I did, nor on the Trace (the Trace was eerily empty, actually).  The Nashville JDRF ride is even being moved further out of the city, since there was a lot of car/bike traffic congestion as riders re-entered the city limits later in the day.

                   

                  Nixing these events really does limit a lot of tourism dollars, as you pointed-out.  AND goodwill for these areas.  It's a lot easier to care about maintaining and protecting DV after having experienced it more intimately than from the confines of a climate-controlled car cabin.

                  Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                  remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                       ~ Sarah Kay

                  jpdeaux


                    Their public stance seems to be more about logistical hazards than runners' health hazards.

                     

                    "Chipman said the study wasn't prompted by any accident but by observations of rangers and visitors that an increasing number of endurance contests were jamming the park's narrow two-lane roads with participants, support crews and spectators. That, in turn, was creating traffic hazards for the competitors and others, she said."

                    pcaharrier


                      I wrote about some of the potential legal issues raised by this whole kerfuffle here.  I hope there are some folks here for whom this might be of interest.

                      BeeRunB


                        Too bad, Badwater Ultra is one of my favorite races that I like to watch other people run, and will never do. Its safety record should speak for itself. Not too many deaths, if any.

                        pcaharrier


                          NPS released its safety assessment on sporting events in DVNP. Based on an initial reading of the assessment (by no means a close reading) I think it's fair to say that Badwater 135 as we have come to know it is a thing of the past.  More here.


                          Kalsarikännit

                            So you now have to save a grand on the world's most expensive fatass and do the solo crossing, treating it like a FKT, just like they used to do before every ultrarunner was doing FKT's, and before this group took it over and made it "a victim of it's own hyperbole" (as someone far smarter than me labeled it).

                             

                            I'm cool with that.

                             

                            MTA:  Plus you can get the Mt Whitney permit and do all 148 miles of it, not stopping at the portal.

                            I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

                             

                            pcaharrier


                              So you now have to save a grand on the world's most expensive fatass and do the solo crossing, treating it like a FKT, just like they used to do before every ultrarunner was doing FKT's, and before this group took it over and made it "a victim of it's own hyperbole" (as someone far smarter than me labeled it).

                               

                              I'm cool with that.

                               

                              MTA:  Plus you can get the Mt Whitney permit and do all 148 miles of it, not stopping at the portal.

                               

                              Good points. You're pretty much known around RA for finding the silver lining and your generally sunny disposition, right?


                              Kalsarikännit

                                 

                                Good points. You're pretty much known around RA for finding the silver lining and your generally sunny disposition, right?

                                OMG!  I'm well known around here?  I'm honored you have noticed me.  (So you observed snark around here?  When did you join that this is a shock?)

                                 

                                As you can see by my post when this issue was first raised, I poined out that it is wonderful honor to get to run in National Parks and I wouldn't want their ruling to take that away from everyone, especially the communities and small business owners that result from it.  Super assholish, right?

                                 

                                Sorry you don't like my points.  I know many people that have done Badwater (and were extremely competitive there), but I have no sympathy for a race disappearing that is full of hype and costs $1000 to enter with no aid (or anything else) given.

                                I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

                                 

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