By HPRS RD John Lacroix
We need to talk.
I wish that statement carried the true weight of its intention, as the words seem so trite. In order to be able to talk, it appears as though we first need to re-learn how to talk. I don’t know if this is just a byproduct of the societal climate we currently live in, or if it’s just indicative of the real problems that our sport faces today. Because let’s be honest… we have some problems, and there isn’t a leader in this sport who will save us more-so than the leadership of the collective will.
Look, I get it. Once upon a time, I wasn’t that much different from you. When I first got into the sport I had a personal blog. On that blog I would write opinion pieces about most any bit of gossip that came through the grapevine. In my writing I tried very hard to report the facts, offering my opinion about those facts, explained why it mattered, and offered solutions. Growing up in the Boston area, it was in school that this was presented to me as how meaningful conversation takes place. Civil conversation with a foundation built on facts.
I’ll openly admit to being one of the more outspoken individuals in our sport. I’ve never shied away from telling you the truth about negligent race direction, and unethical and/or immoral business practices. Yet I’ve always tried my absolute hardest to come to the conversation with facts that back up my claims and opinions, before I ask you to make an opinion of your own. That’s the important part… you. You making an informed opinion of your own.
This may come as a surprise to some of you, but making an informed opinion is not something based on hear-say. It’s based on your own personal experiences, your own personal facts, collected yourself and not offered to you with a biased axe to grind. We do live in a time where the very definition of “rhetoric” is bastardized. We live in a time where people take “facts” and stretch them to fit whatever narrative it is that they want you to believe; let’s face it, some folks provide “facts” that are mere opinion and not based on any fact at all, and we all willingly buy it in some form or another. We buy it like it’s on sale, hardly ever taking the time to discover for ourselves if the information as presented is indeed true, or only true to the individual supplying it.
Just like our country currently faces a reckoning on fact vs. fiction, and the invasive disease that is “fake news,” our sport does too. For a sport whose roots are entrenched in community, equality, and respect; we’ve undoubtedly found a way to shift the fabric of our make-up towards elitism, needless debates about anything that tickles our fancy, and a total disregard for respecting each other as human beings with differing points of view. In other words, it seems all we do now is attempt to cancel those who are doing more to lead than you are, debating things that don’t need to be debated, and disrespecting anyone who we disagree with even in the slightest.
A few examples:
How much time have we spent debating if a 50k is truly an ultra or not? Some believe that those who have run a 50k “aren’t true ultrarunners,” and in turn they seemingly fail to recognize that they disrespect everyone who has ever run a 50k as “less than.” Some of you like to pontificate that you’re not a real ultrarunner until you finish a 50-miler. Really? Last I checked, the very definition of an ultra is anything longer than 26.2 miles and typically no shorter than 50k. At what point in our sport’s history did we collectively decide that the definition of an ultrarunner needs to be edited to say, “typically no shorter than 50-miles?” I guess I missed that memo. Yet we’ve found a need to debate the issue and take the accomplishment away from those who have accomplished less than you. You lack the self-awareness to see that you’re throwing others down to build yourself up.
It seems that we a need to do this on any number of topics. Do trekking/hiking poles provide an unfair advantage to those who use them? Is muling (having a pacer carry some of the runner’s gear) acceptable or not? Is it okay for you to have your crew meet you at an unapproved location to provide you with aid? And if it isn’t okay for you, why is it okay for the front runners… or vice versa? We’ve incessantly debated the topic of marijuana in our sport, where those who are ignorant to the differences between THC and CBD, would have you believe that any and all cannabis products provide an athletic advantage; yet those same people have no qualms about taking a shot of whiskey, downing some oxy or a Zofran, and acting as if those drugs don’t offer the same athletic advantage as the very products they are on their high horse against. Ever notice how everything we debate circles around who is good enough, and who isn’t? Every debate lifts others up while tearing others down. This isn’t a coincidence.
I can agree that some of these items are just opportunities for healthy debate. They provide us with an opportunity to discuss things that we as a sport never saw a need to discuss. The truth is, a number of ultrarunners have always smoked marijuana while running, have always used trekking poles, have always utilized their pacers in ways they were never intended, and yes.. they also always RAN THEIR OWN RACE.
Prior to creating The Human Potential Running Series was a time where I wrote on my blog or offered my unsolicited opinions on social media. The common responses I would receive would always be:
“If you don’t like it, create your own race the way you think it should be done.”
“Dude, vote with your wallet. If you don’t like how they do it, you don’t have to run their race. If others agree, they’ll follow suit.”
I took these sayings to heart. Prior to even starting HPRS, I sat in a room full of my closest friends who were all trying to convince me to become a full time RD. I mean, who the hell has an intervention to convince you to do something?! In that room, I spent 45 minutes explaining to them how my owning a business was a bad idea. My biggest reasons were:
“Ultimately, as a business owner I’m going to make some decisions for my business that you won’t like or agree with, and I’ll lose your friendship over it. Your friendship means the world to me and I don’t want to lose it.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time speaking out against RDs who make money off of ultra, and I would be selling my soul to do the same.”
“I’m not mature enough to own my own business, and I’m doomed to fail.”
Yet one of the biggest reasons I had to jump into the fray of race directing was, “If you don’t like it, create your own race the way you think it should be done.” Yeah, the good ole “Okay then… you do it.” So I did… and I wasn’t at all wrong on these points I’ve shared.
Yet I stepped up to the plate and created my own version of how I feel ultrarunning should be done. I know it’s not for everyone. I know not everyone will enjoy running with us, our rules, our policies, our courses, etc. That’s life! It is literally impossible for any RD to please and appease everyone. There are in fact many people who have demanded that I change, that I be someone different, that I do my job how they want me to do it. But that’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works!
I work for those who do enjoy the way we put on races here, for those who do like me just the way I am, and for those who could care less about the race director in general. I’m not going to please everyone, so I’m not even going to try. HPRS handled less than 5 complaints in all of 2020, when we were the only major race series in the world to host our full calendar of events. Seems to me like the right folks are here, and we’re serving them just fine. Those… are facts.
We have the power to collectively cancel “cancel culture.” Cancel culture only builds community around negativity, instead of building community around the positives that we share as a whole. Think about it. Any time these cancel clubs come into our purview, they’re unified by some grave injustice, some anger and hate filled injustice that may or may not be an injustice at all. Where do we really want to spend our energy as a community? Bitching about what’s wrong, or working together to move us forward around what we all see as what’s right?
Unity around a common cause that is negative, never lasts. People forgive, people change, people realize that we’re all human after all and we all make mistakes, and there is no manual. People also often realize, hopefully, that there may be more to the story than what you’ve actually been told. You know that narrative cancel culture wants you to hear that only includes facts about someone else’s wrongdoing and is frequently void of any admission of their own guilt in a situation. Most times these keyboard warriors are always the victim, and never display the self-awareness to acknowledge where they went wrong in, or their contribution to, the situation.
Yet, we move on, and at the end of the day most people want to refocus their energy on what is positive. That’s something I’ve always loved about this sport. If you spend a 100-miles thinking about the pain in your knee, you may not get far. If you spend 100-miles thinking about all the good that you’ve experienced on the journey and focused on the mile that you’re in, you may just make it to that finish line.
I want to provide you with the best example I can think of to present this argument to you. Lazarus Lake (aka. Gary Cantrell) has been a leader in our sport since the mid-80s. Just let that sink in for a moment. He was a leader, a race director, when Ronald Reagan was in office. Most of us know him as the co-creator of The Barkley Marathons, and creator of The Last Annual Vol-State Run, and now Big’s Backyard Ultra.
Last year, as the pandemic began to grip our sport with a darkness we’ve never seen, Laz got to work creating unique opportunities for us to still come together to run, even if virtually, and for charitable purposes. Long story short, in one of his virtual events someone wanted to name their team “Black Lives Matter.” Laz felt that his event is no place for politics and told the team that they would either need to change their name or withdraw from the event. Then all hell broke loose…
Outside Magazine took up the “news” and wrote a sensationalized article crucifying Laz as part of the racial injustice problem in our nation. To them, and many others, it highlighted just how far we have to go in understanding that we really have no idea how someone leans simply because they choose to remove the debate from their business. Some of you, and Outside Magazine, have attempted to “cancel” Laz over this.
Look, I’m not defending Laz. I have my own issues with the man, as I’ve personally seen the misogyny that surrounds the Barkley Marathons and the immoral hazing that transpires within the community therein. Yet the man in charge remains silent and allows it to live a life of its own by choosing to not engage. That’s who Laz is. He chooses not to engage, and not pay any mind to anything that has nothing to do with running or himself personally, and that’s his prerogative. Through experiences like this I have had to learn a very important lesson over the years, and it’s this:
Do you know who cares about my opinion of Laz?
No one.
Do you know who cares about yours?
Also, No one.
At the end of the day, Laz does not hold public office. As a race director, he is the owner of a private business. As the owner of a private business, he can provide or deny service to anyone he pleases, so long as that denial of service does not impose on one’s constitutional rights or depending on his permits is discriminatory in nature. Simply telling someone to change their team name, is not discrimination; it’s choosing to keep politics out of his business. Hell, how many of us run as a way to get away from having discussions about today’s politics?! Just like a private business can refuse service if you’re not wearing a mask, Lax can refuse service if you’re not down for doing what the RD says.
Yet, here comes cancel culture, the people in the room who can’t accept that not everyone agrees with them and they’re not saving the day, the sport, or anything really. The people in the room who bring their pitchforks and torches over every and any topic as if it’s somehow affected them personally, when it doesn’t even affect them at all. The people in the room who always seem to have their own “facts” that rarely come with any shred of undeniable evidence to back up their argument. You know em.. the people in the room who respond with, “I don’t have time to debate this” when actual facts don’t align with their altered sense of reality (it’s hard to debate when the facts presented prove you wrong after all). The people in the room who don’t know how to agree to disagree or utilize the only real vote that they have; their wallet. You may also notice that it’s always the same people in the cancel-mob as well, and how exhausting a life of outrage they must live.
We cannot continue down this path of crucifying each and every individual who we don’t agree with. During his inaugural address, President Joe Biden said, “Every disagreement does not have to be a cause for war.” Regardless of your politics, we cannot deny that this statement is a harsh truth many of us need to hear. I keep reading in social circles, “I have no idea how anybody can run that race director’s races.” I’ll tell you how and the reason may shock some of you…
No one cares.
No one cares that you’re hurt. No one cares about your petty dirty laundry. No one cares about your feelings. Just ask Gary Vaynerchuk, he says it near every day. Nobody cares.. they only care about running. The very fact that others are in fact running the races of those you campaign against people running, should tell you that your facts, your reality, may in fact be wrong… to some people, AND THAT’S OKAY.
I want to provide you with an example of one hell of a respectful way to have discussion on Social Media without the need for bashing a business or ruining someone’s livelihood. A few days ago I saw a friend post this on Facebook: “I just registered for a race that asked standard demographic questions, but also had mandatory (key word – mandatory) form fields for “company name,” “job title,” and “industry,” with no option for things like “unemployed” or “student.” I found it an oddly invasive and offensive line of questioning for a trail race. Anyone else find that wrong?”
This sparked healthy discussion in the comments amongst their friends, of which I also filed in for commentary. In response to my comment which basically said “Run, or don’t,” they responded, “I agree. You can either choose to run or not. I did choose to run as this race is more of a means-to-an-end event and I decided to “pay to play” to get what I wanted out of it. I also was intentional about leaving out the race series, date and location in my post because I chose to go to that business – they did not reach out to me.” < BOOM! “…because I chose to go to that business – they did not reach out to me.”
I highlight this conversation because it is the very definition of what I’m talking about. Here is someone who is curious about other’s reaction to what a particular race said or did. They didn’t need to bash the management company, or the race or race director, in any of their commentary or responses. No talk about the RD’s love life, estimated income, or past personal relationships. They provided their thoughts and feelings respectfully, and even engaged in respectful conversation with others. There were no over the top calls to action to boycott the race, or to tell the RD where to go. The conversation even included solutions pertaining to what should have been asked/done instead. I commend this friend for their way of communicating, it’s refreshing in a world where so many people can’t handle cordial.
Running is a mode of transportation. It affords you a chance to get from A to B, and A isn’t always a starting line and B isn’t always a finish line. In a sport where so many of us choose to be here to do good work on ourselves, to run for therapeutic means and to distance one’s self from the day-to-day news reel and politics… we sure do find a way to care way too much about all that’s going on that which does not affect us. We all have one very simple question to answer: Run, or Don’t.
We have the power to collectively cancel “cancel culture.” Unity around a common cause that is negative, never lasts.
So let’s get back to our roots and remember these simple rules:
Vote with your wallet.
Run your own race.
If you don’t like how they do it, then you do it. Show us how it’s done Karen/Brian.
Run… Or don’t.
If you’re committed to making a better ultra community, I’m asking you to join us. Let’s focus on the positive. Let’s cancel “cancel culture.” Let us approach our differences with civility and a desire to understand one another, and not necessarily to agree with one another. When this post is shared around social media, pay attention to those who poo-poo it, or tear it down, or resort to calling names; because that isn’t ultrarunning or community. This isn’t our sport. We’re better than that. Because what we’re doing out here is about #MoreThanTrails
I invite you to share your positivity with the above hashtag. I invite you to call out those in the cancel culture and challenge them to find a way to talk to one another, and listen to the other side. I invite you to be the change you want to see in our sport, to be positive, to be supportive, and to let your wallet be your voice and not your hurtful rhetoric.