PART 2 OF A MULTI-PART SERIES
Read Part 1 HERE
Note: The following is a retelling of events from the 2022 Silverheels 100-Mile Endurance Run. Information provided has been pulled from Human Potential’s Incident Report; factual info gathered from participants, volunteers, HPRS staff, and race directors. The names of the individuals involved have been removed out of respect and for their protection. The purpose of this is not to denigrate, denounce, or embarrass the runner’s involved; but instead to provide a “teachable moment” to encourage all good decisions moving forward.
BACKGROUND
The Silverheels 100-Mile Endurance Run is a ultramarathon running event that is part of The Human Potential Running Series (HPRS) for it’s 8th year in 2022. It is the seventh scheduled event of the fourteen on HPRS’ calendar in 2022. The event is permitted by Park County, The Town of Fairplay, and The USDA United States Forest Service – South Park Ranger District. The trail running event is held at the High School Track in Fairplay, CO (and associated lands) and features distances of 100-Miles, plus a 50-Mile and 55k event called Last Call that takes place the following day. The event officially started at 04:00 on Saturday, July 9, 2022 with the 100-Mile distance, followed by the start of the 50-Mile at midnight on Sunday, July 10, 2022, and the 55k at 06:00 the same Sunday. A combined total of 94 runners started the event.
INCIDENT REPORT
The Human Potential Running Series (HPRS) welcomed 41 runners to the starting line of this year’s Silverheels 100-Mile Endurance Run. One of those runners will be known as “Runner A” throughout the remainder of this report. This year’s event saw an all time high finisher’s rate of 76% thanks to ideal weather conditions and HPRS extending the overall event cut-off from 36-hours to 38-hours. Of the thirty-one runners who finished this year’s event, Runner A was one of them. Simply because this runner finished the event unharmed, does not necessarily mean that the runner’s finish should necessarily be completely celebrated on merit alone.
“Runner A” is a 23-year old male runner who to this point had yet to complete any official ultramarathons. Because HPRS removed qualifying standards for this event in 2019, there were no standards this or any other runner needed to meet for entry. The 2022 Silverheels 100-Mile was Runner A’s first ever ultramarathon. “Runner A” is also registered for the 2023 Triple Crown of 200s, and the 2022 Bigfoot 200 without any previous ultra running experience.
Here is a chronological telling of events associated with Runner A:
Packet Pick-Up for this event was held on Friday Night, July 8th from 6-8pm at the South Park Track in Fairplay Colorado. Race Directors John Lacroix and Emily Royal held a pre-race briefing for 100-Milers at 7pm to discuss important course condition updates/changes, and more. Runner A not only missed the 7pm meeting, but arrived to packet pick-up nearly 30 minutes after it ended. Despite being late for packet pick-up, Runner A requested that we still accommodate his pick-up of essentials at that time, which ultimately inconvenienced HPRS staff and volunteers who themselves were trying to get to bed. We made room in allowing him to obtain his items at that time.
The race started at 04:00 on Saturday, July 9, 2022 and Runner A arrived late to the start of the race. Upon arriving at the start line, he recognized Assistant Race Director Emily Royal and approached her. He forcefully handed his wallet, phone, and car keys to Emily and asked, “Can you hold onto these until after I’m done?” He then asked, “Where’s the start?” The HPRS start/finish balloon was fully inflated on the track. Emily directed him towards the balloon and told him, “You go under the balloon, down the track, and take a right where the ribbons lead.” Runner A then went under the balloon in the wrong direction, and headed down the track opposite that which was prescribed. He was turned around, went under the balloon in the proper direction, proceeded down the track, and took a right following course marking ribbons.
Runner A arrived to the event with a brand new Ultimate Direction hydration pack. It was apparent to all that Runner A had not at all investigated his pack or its many compartments, how to use it, or other, as evidenced by him wearing the pack slung over a shoulder with the tags still hanging from the unit. During the first 3 miles of his run, Runner A removed the body bottles from his UD pack and littered by ditching them in the middle of the road.
Upon reaching the Beaver Creek 1 aid table, a water and drop bag only stop 3 miles into the race, Runner A drank directly from the nozzle of the water cooler present on the table. Assistant RD Emily Royal spotted Runner A doing so and she explained to him that this was not only unsanitary and disrespectful to all other runners on the course, but that he was not to repeat the behavior again. This is incredibly disrespectful to the rest of the field. There is still a world wide pandemic going on in Covid-19, and his drinking directly from the nozzle, even putting his mouth on one, is unfathomable during this time.
Runner A was so focused on “being in first” place that he got lost (the first time) within the first 8 miles of the event. One he got back on track, he braqgidociously reported to many runners, HPRS staff, and volunteers that he “already had 15 bonus miles” on his run. It should be noted however, that Runner A was not wearing a gps watch or other tracking device that would afford him any kind of accurate measurement of the miles he spent off course. Should he have had his phone, or a gps device, on his person he could have avoided going off course altogether.
The next two aid stops are at the High Park Aid Station, the highest altitude aid station in HPRS. Here runner’s check in the first time, then run out and back to the Silverheels Mine, then check in a 2nd time before continuing on the course. At one of these two High Park stops it was reported that Runner A once again drank directly from the nozzle of the water coolers. He deliberately ignored our staff and volunteers, after having already been told NOT to do this, in a way that posed a health and safety risk to others.
The next station is Poor Man’s Gulch 1, which is just 21 miles into the 100-Mile run. Upon his arrival at Poor Man’s, Runner A asked for a cup to get liquids with at aid stations. In our runner’s manual it states that our races are Cupless, and that the runner is responsible for bringing their own. When he asked for a cup at Poor Man’s, the answer he was given was the bottles that came with his pack. Runner A had no idea that the two bottles that were handed to him at Poor Mans, were the two bottles he ditched in the road during the first 3 miles. Yes.. he was handed his own litter back so that he could adequately care for himself throughout the race. How did we know the bottles were his? They still had the silica gel inside of them…
At Jungle Hill 1 (Mile 29) Runner A again proudly reported 15-Bonus Miles after having been off course. He was asked where his phone was in order to use one of the THREE (3) apps we provide for runners to track themselves and navigate, and he replied “I refuse to carry a phone while on a run.” (Again… he handed his phone to ARD Emily before he started) Our assistant race director then gave him a paper map so that he would be able to navigate the course on his own, and she also gave him his ONE (1) Warning to “get it together” for his own health and safety.
To our knowledge, he never took that map out and looked at it again. This runner did not arrive to the event prepared to be personally responsible or accountable to himself. To this point he has already risked the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and other runners because we, at this point, had to give him an extraordinary amount of our time and energy to ensure that he was safe and on track. Yet, with all the time and energy we gave him, he still ignored the tools provided to safely navigate the race. He used zero (0) of the 6 tools provided for navigation. It is a rule at EVERY SINGLE RACE in our sport that it is up to the runner to know the course.
Throughout the entire event, Runner A would go into aid stations and demand that our staff and volunteers help him with retrieving items from, and putting items back into, his pack. It is not unusual for runners to ask for assistance with this, here and there, during the course of an ultra when they don’t want to spend the energy taking their pack off or putting it back on. Normally this happens when a runner thought they grabbed everything they needed, but forgot that one last item inside their pack. “Can you help me grab my headlamp?” Runner A required volunteers and runners to help him every single time he needed something from his pack, and at every aid station.
Just imagine for a second; a runner comes in to EVERY . SINGLE . AID STATION, and each time he swings himself to turn his back to volunteers and demands they service him. Why did Runner A behave in this way?, “Because I don’t know how to take my pack off or put it back on.”
This behavior was truly exceptional and incredibly unheard of. This runner utilized the energy of every single runner and volunteer along the entirety of his run, having others take care of him simply because he refused to take care of himself. This runner received the most top notch, 1st class, service at all of our aid stations as runners, volunteers, and other crews alike waited on him hand and foot. Ignorance is NOT an excuse. “I don’t know how to put my pack on” is not an excuse. If you don’t know the basics of your own gear, you should not be starting a race of this magnitude.
At Tarryall 1 (Mile 38), Runner A was provided very detailed instructions on where to go next for the Gold Dust loop. At Tarryall 2 (Mile 52) he was provided very detailed instructions on where to go for the Como Out and Back. Never once did he take out the paper map given to him at mile 29. This runner did not know the course, did not study the route, and was blindly following the direction, and running, of others throughout.
At one of his stops at the Tarryall Aid Station, likely Tarryall 2, the aid station captain at Tarryall asked Runner A where his headlamp was. It was getting dark and the sun would be down over the course of this next leg. Runner A stated at that time that he, “doesn’t have a headlamp” and that he did not come to the race with one. He didn’t have one in his pack, or in a drop bag. It was stated to him at that time that he would not be allowed to proceed without one, to which he replied to the aid station captain, “Well, what can we do about this?”
A crew member of another runner overheard the conversation and jumped in to hand Runner A her runner’s extra headlamp, which he used for the remainder of his run. While this would normally be considered most helpful, in this case HPRS Staff and volunteers viewed it as “enabling poor decisions.” It’s not that he “forgot” his headlamp, it’s that he didn’t own one, expected to run the race so fast that he wouldn’t actually need one. It is not the responsibility of HPRS staff, volunteers, or the crews of other runners, to provide anyone with the necessary gear for the adventure someone else signed up for. That is the runner’s responsibility and Runner A repeatedly failed in that responsibility.
Just 1/4 mile outside of the Camp Comp aid station (Mile 56) Race Director John Lacroix came upon Runner A who was taking a shit just barely (6″) off the side of the trail. The view running down the trail was that of Runner A doing a break dancing maneuver with his testicles showing and a turd dropping from his backside. By only being 6″ off the trail, it meant that John, his pacer, and a few other runners had to run by Runner A within inches of him and his defecation. After Runner A was done, he made no attempt to bury or dispatch his droppings further away from the trail to ensure no other runner stepped in it, or to ensure that local wildlife would not be disturbed by it.
Runner A joined RD John Lacroix at Camp Como Aid Station where he asked volunteers to provide him with one of the following food items, “Bacon and half of a whole avocado.” The aid station had neither item and after volunteers explained the menu to him he exclaimed, “I’m on a Strategic Keto Diet and I require only foods that are on that diet.” He was offered peanut butter which he mixed in with his water in his water bottle before continuing on his way. Runner A had a half of a whole avocado at every single aid station where one was present, personally eating 6 avocados that were meant to be shared, while on his run.
Runner A tagged along behind John Lacroix and his pacer for half of the trek back to Tarryall from Camp Como, all told about 2.3 miles. It was during this time that Runner A told John and his pacer that he “has been running 140 miles per week for the last 2-3 months.” When asked why he runs so much he explained, “Because that’s what Jim Walmsley does.” Runner A then divulged his fandom for Jim, having watched countless hours of Jim Walmsley YouTube videos, and wanting to emulate him in every possible way.
Runner A left Tarryall 3 (Mile 61) ahead of John and his pacer. As John began to climb up to the pass that separates Tarryall from Trout Creek aid stations, he and his pacer noticed a headlamp coming down the hill in their direction. It was Runner A, who even with the glow of a borrowed headlamp, couldn’t adequately navigate the hung ribbons on his own. He repeatedly made wrong assumptions about the direction the course takes in the darkness, by walking into areas of blowdowns and piles of branches. The course through this area had been marked by volunteers with expert precision, no other runner got lost or turned around, but Runner A simply could not find the way. “Which way John?” was uttered through the darkness a handful of times.
After completing his run, Runner A was late to the awards ceremony. No big deal as it’s everyones prerogative to attend the awards ceremony or not. When he did arrive back at the finish to receive his finisher’s medal and buckle, two things happened: 1.) The company who crafted our wooden finisher’s awards packaged the awards up prior to the paint fully drying. Naturally, the awards then stuck together. When HPRS pried the awards apart, a small amount of white paint was visible on a small segment of blue paint, and a small segment of blue paint was visible on white areas. Were the awards perfect? No. Was it enough to return the award or not accept one? We don’t think so. Runner A asked for a different award, “one without the smudge” of which we didn’t have any. 2.) He also received his finisher’s buckle, what every finisher at Silverheels receives in its 8 year history. Right after receiving his buckle from Assistant RD Emily, Runner A said to her with a chuckle, “Oh Man, can you believe how unprepared I was and still got it done?”
AFTER ACTION
Following the race, HPRS staff emailed Runner A to document the totality of these incidents throughout his run. While he has not been “banned” from HPRS events, we have placed his ability to register with us on pause until he volunteers with us for 24 total hours, spread out over the course of 3 events (at least 8 hours at 3 races). We are also requiring that he sign up for and participate in our We Belong Virtual Series (Held Annually in April) as well. It is imperative to us that he perform this volunteer service and complete We Belong in order to gain first hand knowledge on how the sport of ultramarathon running works BEFORE he register for another event with us.
Of course he and all other runners are always free to run with any other race/series around and we welcome him/them to explore other options if they so choose. Ultimately, he still has a great deal to learn about our sport and we hope he’ll take the responsibility of doing so seriously before he signs up for an event with anyone else. We offer this respectfully and offer these repercussions as suitable ways for him to be guided appropriately and learn about ultra.. This is for the health and safety of our own staff, volunteers, and runners; and for the health and safety of other events he may participate in.
We acknowledge that what transpired during Silverheels, and the after action of these events, could be discouraging to a young ultrarunner like Runner A. Race Director John Lacroix was also once a 23 year old ultrarunner “trying to figure it all out.” It is important to review the facts associated with this near-miss incident in order to understand our need to protect ourselves as a business, protect our other runners and volunteers, while also trying to guide the runner in question.
Prior to each event, HPRS provides runners with the following tools for navigation of our courses: GPX files of each route, pdf files of all course maps, course routes on the Colorado Trails Explorer App (Free to use), course routes on the HPRS App (Free and for iOS only), and course routes on the GaiaGPS app, and detailed instructions on how to use all of the apps. HPRS relies on volunteers to mark each course with surveyor’s tape and laminated signs at junctions where multiple courses intersect. Runner A showed up to the race without a single one of the tools provided for navigation. Even after being provided one of those tools by race staff, Runner A also chose to ignore the use of the tool.
HPRS also provides a document titled “Responsibilities of the Runner” where-in it states: “Navigation: Familiarize yourself with the course map, aid station locations, crew/pacer rules, and all available navigational tools at your disposal (Apps, Maps, gpx files, etc.). While we will mark the course, it is always up to the runner to know the course.” Runner navigation and the responsibility for the runner to know the course is also discussed in each event’s Participant’s Manual.
Also in the “Responsibilities of the Runner” document, Runner A ignored/violated the following:
Personal Accountability: is the belief that you are fully responsible for your own actions and con-
sequences. It’s a choice, a mindset and an expression of integrity. This means taking responsibility for the outcomes of your behaviors and actions, whether they be good or bad, and doing your best to
rectify the situation.
Self-Reliance/Self-Responsibility: Should you have any specific needs related to medical support,
clothing, or food sensitivities/preferences, you will engage in best practices for self-care by bringing
the things you need and not expect us to cater to each runner’s needs individually.
Do Your Homework: Read the Runner’s Manual as well as all race related communications &
publications (Race webpage, HPRS policies, E-mails, Registration Agreements, etc.) to adequately
prepare for the challenge before you.
Have A Plan: HPRS is here to support you through the facilitation of the event, but we cannot run
the miles for you. It is entirely up to you to properly plan, prepare, and perform. We have provided you
with the tools that you need and have eliminated the tools that you don’t. It is up to you to utilize the
tools at your disposal or to acquire tools above and beyond the standards present at HPRS.
In this case, Runner A relied on the support, direction, time, energy, and effort of countless other runners, volunteers and HPRS staff in order to continue through and complete his run. Despite the best efforts of our entire community along the way, this runner never took on the personal accountability, self-reliance, or self-responsibility required to participate in an event like this. A high altitude, high alpine, 100-mile run that some regard as worthy of being a qualifier for Hardrock, is not the place to show up unprepared, under prepared, and completely ignorant to the merits of what is about to transpire. It is because of this runner’s actions that HPRS is once again re-implementing Qualification Standards for participation in this event.
Runner A showed up late, handed his personal affects off to someone who is not responsible for those affects, and started running in the wrong direction. He littered on the course within the first 3 miles, and added bonus miles within the first 8. While we still grapple with the long lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Runner A chose to repeatedly drink directly from race water coolers, even putting his lips on one of the nozzles. Runner A did not come prepared with any of the tools provided to navigate the course on his own, and safely. When provided one of those tools, he ignored it. He did not come with an understanding of his own gear, how to even put it on and take it off, and without a headlamp for night running. This runner, despite finishing, was a liability throughout the event.
Runner A was in first place until getting lost. Once he found the course again, he chased the runner who was now in first only to dramatically crash and burn. From that moment on, it was up to the entire field of runners, our entire army of volunteers, and our staff to carry him safely through to the finish line. HPRS and its community went above and beyond to help this young man realize his potential as a human, at the same time providing a disservice to him by showing the runner that others will pick up the slack for his many poor and ignorant decisions. While we celebrate his 100-mile finish, we cannot in good conscious celebrate the totality of the accomplishment considering everything that went down.