By HPRS RD John Lacroix
This is the time of year, traditionally, when we look back and look ahead. Even the sport of ultra running takes the time to look back and celebrate our runners, and performances, of the year; as well as the growth (or regression) of the sport as a whole.
Ultramarathon running continues to grow in North America, with 2019 experiencing a new surge in both the total number of races and finishes. The growth experienced in 2019 has not been seen since the boom year of 2012. Since the 2006 start of our sport growing exponentially year-over-year, when Dean Karnazes released his book, “Ultramarathon Man,” this was our single biggest year of growth ever. It is therefore safe to say that state of our sport is bigger and stronger than it’s ever been, while a shift in how we ultra could be taking shape.
North American Ultrarunning Grows While Gender Disparity Reverses
2,376 ultra distance races were held in North America in 2019, an 11% increase over 2018 (2,151). This is a 253% increase from a decade ago (2009), where just 674 ultra races occurred.
There were 127,296 ultra finishes in North America in 2019, a 13% increase over 2018 (112,551), and up 218% over 2009’s number of 40,070. The 14,745 finisher increase over 2018, is our largest year of growth in total finishes ever. (previously 14,446 finishes in 2012).
Of those who finished in 2019, 65.66% were male, with 34.34% being female (down from 34.73% in 2018). This marked the first time since 2006 that finishes by women, as a percentage of the total number of finishes, has declined. It regresses to the 2017 number of 34.34% female.
(Stats compiled from Ultrarunning Magazine online)
Discussion:
In the past, our sport has only experienced growth like we have in 2019 as a result of some motivating factor, such as a book. Our two previous industry surges have been as a direct result of bestselling books such as Born to Run and Ultramarathon Man. With no recent bestselling book grabbing runner nation’s attention, it begs the question: Why do you think we grew so much in 2019?
After nearly two years of our sport discussing gender inequality and how to bridge the gender gap, this isn’t a good sign that we’re moving in the right direction. Again, this is the first time in 13 years that the gap in finishing percentage, between male and female runners, declined for women and increased for men.
The regression in percentage of finisher’s being female could highlight that…
- our initiatives to bridge the gap could ultimately be the wrong initiatives
- or one could argue that the continued discussion on gender inequality, and the initiatives that have been proposed and implemented, have worked to only widen the gap
- or one could argue that men are more likely to run and finish a greater number of ultras in a year, than women, for a variety of reasons
- or this could be the strongest year of female participation ever, but it might be masked by male finishes growing at a faster rate.
The real number we need to be looking at is the percentage of females participating not just the number of female finishes. A number we simply don’t have, and likely never will. So it could simply be that more men joined the sport this year and ran a ton of ultras, on the way to burnout train. This could have been our biggest year of growth ever for women, but it could be masked by a bigger influx of male finishes.
As a whole, our sport needs to collect more data. For example, we need to be able to figure out if men sign up for more races in their first year of ultra, as compared to women. What are the stats on DNF’s by gender, continent wide? What is the percentage of first timers to our sport in 2019? What is the longevity of an ultrarunner, and the same stat based on gender? We simply don’t have enough data points to make any reasonable fact based positions on these subjects. All we know is that we have more races, and more people are finishing them, and that the percentage of male to female finishers has shifted.
What this ultimately brings to light, is that we don’t truly have enough quantifiable data to base good faith arguments on gender disparity in our sport. Therefore, the efforts being made with regards to bridging the gender gap, don’t have a way of knowing if they’re being successful or not. We’ll always struggle in measuring the success of these initiatives, and therefore the argument(s) will continue to rage on. From what I’ve seen, these arguments are not working towards bringing us closer together, but instead they are working to drive us further apart.
Corporate Culture Takes A Hit
Under Armour, who created their own trail and ultra series comprised of events at 3 locations around the country, called it quits in 2019. Their series lasted just two years with events held in 2017 and 2018, which they chose not to renew in 2019. The website now simply reads, “Happy Trails. Thank You For Running The Mountains With Us.”
At the completion of 2019, The North Face announced the cancellation of its Endurance Challenge series, which they’ve kept running for 13 years. Their end of year email remains confusing, where in one breath they mention ending the series outright, and in the next they discuss revitalizing it. Time will tell if North Face stays in the game by producing their own events, or if they’ll decide to remain in our sport by sponsoring others. Should they stay in the game I suspect they’ll move on to the shorter distances and away from Ultra, becoming a direct competitor of Spartan.
Red Bull, a brand known for extreme athletes pushing the envelopes of their respective sport, also tried to foray into trail and ultra as far back as 2014. They hosted a Colorado 12-hour Ultra in 2014 , but cancelled it due to lack of interest. They held it in 2015 and 2016, cancelling it again in 2017, and never came back. One of their remaining trail and ultra events of the world (Red Bull X-Alps) held it’s final edition in 2019, signifying the end of Red Bull as a player in race direction as well, though Red Bull remains as a sponsor of select races, and series, throughout the sport.
This leaves just one corporation that has any remaining skin in the ultra game, and that’s Lifetime Fitness. Lifetime hosts The Leadville Race Series, and a handful of qualifiers around the country that they have now started outsourcing the race direction of. The Leadville Race Series has another new race director, their 3rd in 3 years, signifying that they continue to struggle with retaining a quality race director for the long haul, which raises all kinds of questions that I’ll leave to the peanut gallery.
Ultra running has always been a sport built upon grass roots endeavors. Runners continue to be faithful to specific brands, race directors, and their ideals. While some have warned about our sport going the direction of Ironman, with exorbitant entry fees and a corporate feel, ultra runners have continued to vote with their wallet clearly stating that it’s not the direction we want our sport to take. Like many companies before them, Under Armour, The North Face, and Red Bull suffer the same fate.
Time will tell if Lifetime will be the only corporation who hangs on, and I truly believe that they’ll only do it by creating a culture of their own, and having it be one that focuses on community and less on the bottom dollar. This is just how our sport was before the boom years began, and how we remain more than a decade and a half after. After Ken Chlouber took the reigns of Leadville from Jim Butera, he built an awesome community surrounding a world-class series of events that he expanded upon. Hopefully while Ken is still around, Lifetime can learn valuable lessons from him, and the community that still exists around him.
Culture Shift
Since the fall of 2017, I have openly discussed a shift in the ultra climate, where we as a culture are starting to get away from the over exuberant celebration of performances and the insertion of prize monies, and are instead focusing on the stories. Who is Jim Walmsley? Who is Courtney Dauwalter? What is Rob Krar’s Why… and how does it relate to my why? How does my life, and role in this sport, connect with Jim and Courtney?
In a recent Instagram Post, Destination Trail owner and RD Candice Burt stated, “I believe that we are indeed seeing a shift in the Ultrarunning world, one toward adventure and exploration and away from the other side of the spectrum that is growing into increased commercialization and larger companies getting into the sport, tight competition, sponsorships & professional runners. Nothing wrong with that- it’s good for all of us to a point, but it’s not the ideal I hold as important.”
There are few things Candice and I have agreed on over the years- But her recent statement is one of the most important statements on Ultrarunning of the last few years. Candice hits the nail on the head, and I couldn’t agree more. We as a culture continue to shift away from “the race,” ogling the elite, and the over commercialized/corporate races, and more towards adventure and exploration.
Just watching The North Face, Red Bull, and Under Armour walk away should tell you that we are indeed moving away from corporate culture. From an RD’s perspective, I can tell you that the money companies are willing to shell out to sponsor events has all but dried up. Most companies are finding new ways to sponsor events instead of financially, mostly by getting branded/co-branded product into the hands of runners instead. This is both good and bad for our sport. Good in that runner’s are receiving more useful things at check-in, or upon their finish; bad in that races really do rely on sponsor dollars to defray the cost of hosting our events at reasonable entry prices.
We’re focusing more on the stories of every day people like you and me, and how we can learn from each other because we choose to share with each other. I don’t recall a time in the last 15 years where the chatter about the elite’s and their performances has been quieter. Less and less races are offering up prize monies, and the competition matters so much less, that we’ve stopped debating the need for drug testing.
More and more runners are planning adventures, and they want to do them together. We’re collecting stories more than we’re collecting awards or buckles. It could very well be the rise of the podcasts that is to answer for our sports growth in 2019, as more and more runners share their own stories and are hearing more of the stories of others. I’m willing to guess that Candice would agree with this statement, as much as I agree with hers.
Entry Fees Will Increase Even More
Expect entry fees to participate in ultras to increase even more. Congress recently passed a law requiring that all online sales be taxed. Ultrasignup recently informed race directors that starting on the 1st of this year, entry fees may be taxed in 30 US states where states require taxes for online sales. Each state is different; some will only tax on shirts, hats, and other add-ons you may purchase on Ultrasignup, while others will tax on the entry fee. Tax is based on the state the start line is in.
For Example: If you choose to race in Utah in 2020, you’ll be charged a 6.85% sales tax on your purchase, plus the 6.5% Fee that Ultrasignup charges you. So, if you want to run in Candice’s Moab 240, which is now priced at $1,145 (With spot tracker rental), expect taxes and fees to raise the price another $152.78 to $1,297.78. Most of you will add, that if you’re willing to pay that much to run a race, you’ll have the extra $152 kicking around; but for others, it makes running that event a bit further out of reach. This is the question we as a sport will need to ask moving forward: Are we going to charge whatever we want because we know you’ll pay it, or are we going to see the need for accessibility and price events at a rate which more can join us at?
To see a full list of states where you’ll be taxed, click HERE.
HPRS is lucky in that Colorado does not mandate taxing of registration fees, so you won’t see an increase here or on our Arkansas event.
In general, race directors across the board are raising prices as the cost of goods sold increases, and as other competitors increase their prices. The market is trending up as we piggyback off of each other’s pricing strategies. As some races become Hardrock or Western States qualifiers, they’re also increasing their entry fees based solely on event popularity, or the addition of the qualifier status. This is simple supply and demand, but while many of us have warned against our sport going the way of Ironman, and becoming over priced athletic events for those who can afford it, the trend is now in full focus: Our sport is indeed becoming less accessible and more for those who can afford it.
As entry fees continue to rise, so too will the tax and ultrasignup fees we all incur at checkout. Literally overnight, running 100-miles (in some states) will cost you near an extra $50 at checkout in just taxes and fees alone. Our sport has just become even less accessible, and now shines a light on the impending plateau of our growth, which I imagine is soon to come in the next 5 years as fewer runners can afford to race as much. This should certainly begin to thin the herd on the supply of races to choose from.
As our culture continues to shift away from the elite, the competition, corporations and professional athletes; we must now decide the direction we want to go in the next 3-5 years. If we’re going to bridge the gender gap, we need to focus on young women and making it okay for them to be athletes at a younger age. We need to get away from calling active young women “tom boys,” and simply refer to them as athletes, and that it’s okay for a woman who is starting a family to maintain running in their lives.
We need to speak more with our wallets, and stop paying for races with exorbitant entry fees, so that our sport is accessible to those without an overabundance of expendable income, and is instead a place for all regardless of gender or financial status. Otherwise, our current shift in culture won’t matter, as we indeed turn into Ironman, and succumb to race companies who are the only ones left that can afford to put on good races for a living. I refer to this as the “pending demise of the one-offs.”
Brief Colorado Snapshot
In 2018 Colorado lost The Devil Mountain 50 and 50k after 4 years of decline, which had been in existence since 2009. Under Armour bailed on it’s 50k and 25k at Copper Mountain. Grand Mesa Ultras walked away from their 100-Mile offering, and instead focuses on their 50-mile and 50k. Aravaipa cancelled Steep Camp in Silverton, and the Frozen Foot 50k came and went, without ever happening. Mad Moose has parted with their NORAD marathon and half.
Sasquatch Running Company came online offering “Fun runs” across the Front Range at accessible entry fees. The series held 4 events in 2019 with 110 total finishers. They have also taken over the 24-Hours at Palmer Lake Death Race in April. The North Fork Trail Races changed hands to The Bear Chase Race Series.
Races seeing a decline of finishers in 2019 include: Elk Mountain (Grand) Traverse, Run Through Time, Cheyenne Mountain 50k and 25k, HPRS Indian Creek Fifties, all GNAR Runners events (excluding their new Longview Marathon & Half), and the Estes Epic. All other races and series were up.
Dating back to 2004, this was the biggest year of growth for Colorado ultra, and of the last 5 years the ratio between races lost, and added, to the calendar were at its best in 2019.
For what it’s worth, no guarantees, an honest opinion. We all have work to do, so let’s move in that one direction we all know… FORWARD.