By HPRS RD John Lacroix
It was March 13, 2014 when I registered “Human Potential LLC” with the Colorado Secretary of State, formalizing the inner workings of The Human Potential Running Series as an official business venture. Not but a week had passed when I received a phone call from another Colorado race director. I think anyone in my shoes would have hoped that the call was a “welcome” of sorts, where one of Colorado’s Race Director’s welcomed you to the RDs club, but that’s not at all what the call was about.
At this time in my life, I was 32 years old with a one-year-old toddler, a wife, and my first house that I was just 18 months into paying a mortgage on. Like many before me and around me, I was struggling to make ends meet and find a way to survive in my new home of Colorado. I held onto the dream of living here for nearly 15 years before it happened. When I got here, both my wife and I struggled to find and keep employment that would pay us enough to keep the dream alive.
When this race director called me, she explained, “I heard you were starting your own race series so… I wanted to hear firsthand what you were cooking up.” I hesitantly explained to her my plans to start a new 100k and 50k down in Woodland Park. How I aspired to create a series of races up in Fairplay to go toe to toe with Leadville and bring the version of ultrarunning I felt Colorado deserved to the state. I told her that I felt that with all that Colorado had to offer and given the very weird competitive atmosphere that seemed to trump any resemblance of community, that most of the RDs weren’t doing it right, and they were doing it for the wrong reasons.
She went on and on about how race directing was hard work featuring long back breaking hours, many sleepless nights, an incredible amount of risk and liability, and all to make very little money. She used my present situation in life to try and convince me to back out before I had even gotten started. “You have a wife, a child, and a house to think about; and race directing won’t ever make you enough to pay for all of that. I have another idea instead.”
She would go on to give me this incredible sales pitch asking me to join her in a pyramid scheme (God forbid I call it that) of selling anti-aging supplements for a doctor in Denver. One of those deals where I sell supplements, I make some money, she makes some money off my sales, and the doctor make’s some money from both of us. I let her talk for well over an hour and a half and even watched a 15-minute YouTube video explaining more about what all of this was. All so that I would change my mind about starting HPRS and walk away from being a race director not even a week in to having created my own LLC.
After hearing her out for all that time, I decided to just play it straight on my end and said, “So, I don’t think you did your homework vetting me and my experience so I’ll just say it. In 2008 I directed the first 200-Mile ultra in the world up in Vermont. Not only have I directed the longest trail race in the world to date but I had also spent 3 years working as an assistant RD/apprentice and was ground floor when Spartan got started. I know full well what race directing entails, the time, the effort, the risk and liability, and how much you can make. So why don’t you just tell me why you really called.”
After a noticeable silence on the other end of the line, “Well, I just really wanted to make sure that you’re not planning to host any of your new races on the same weekend, or in the same area, as mine.” BOOM.. the truth came out. Telling you this story nearly 8 years later doesn’t make it feel any better than it felt back then. I wasn’t being welcomed into Colorado race directing. Instead, she was actively trying to keep me out of it and exploiting my current position in life to do it. Snake.
When I was first a race director, and even learning to race direct, back in New England, there were some customs in the community that were widely accepted by all RDs. One was that you don’t plan a new race on the same course that someone else already uses. Another was that you don’t plan your event on the same weekend as another race unless you’re a fair distance away (like, 100+ miles at least). Another was supporting each other by providing space in our race packets for other race directors to advertise their events, because at that time in our sport it wasn’t a business. Community came before all else, and we all supported one another by running in, volunteering at, and advertising each other’s events.
The next week I began planning my first Colorado Race, The Tommyknocker Ultras in Woodland Park (September 2014), and I emailed another race director to ask if I could put advertisement cards in their runner packets for a race they were hosting in April. Their response was, “Sorry John, but we typically only provide ad space to paying sponsors.” So I asked them, “Alright, well.. how much does it cost to sponsor your event? I’ll gladly pay you for the opportunity to advertise my event in your swag bags.. as a sponsor.”
The response I got was, “I guess what I mean to say, John, is that you are the competition, and we wouldn’t advertise our competitors’ events at one of ours.”
Competition. In the first two weeks of being a race director and business owner here in Colorado, everything I learned, knew, and loved about the supportive community of ultrarunning had instantly been shattered. My “welcome” to the RD’s club was pretty shitty, discouraging, and honestly broke my heart for our sport. Competition? They held a trail half marathon in September, and I wanted to advertise my 100k and 50k taking place 151 miles away, a two-and-a-half-hour drive without traffic, and at their Spring Half Marathon no less.
I didn’t understand or see the logic of how we were “competition.” I thought that we were all part of the same community, with the same mission to help as many runners as possible accomplish their athletic goals and better themselves. That we had a duty to lift all ships, by supporting one another to foster a better community for us all. Not only that but they had half marathons and I had a 60 miler!
These two interactions really shaped the way in which I would carry myself in the Colorado ultra-community going forward. It greatly affected the way in which I would not only conduct business but circle my wagons to protect what I was building at all costs. Those of you who wouldn’t quit if you were in my shoes, would have likely done and felt the same. Hell, to this day I’m still trying to unravel the hurt inside of me, the disgust. A lot of my bull headedness and stubbornness as an RD comes from these interactions that were rooted in tearing me down and blocking me out before I ever got started. Want to know one of the reasons I’m so salty and paranoid? Look in this story.
Then again, ultra-running has changed dramatically over the years. It wasn’t long after Lifetime Fitness bought the Leadville Race Series that scores of wannabe race directors got into business because they saw dollar signs. “If Lifetime was willing to pay millions for Leadville, imagine what I could make!” Countless business consultants and entrepreneurs would tell you that “if your main mission for getting into business is to make money, quit, because you’re destined to fail.” This is where the “competition” came from. We were no longer a community supporting one another, we were a collection of competing businesses and community suddenly became “insular.” We were no longer a part of the collective community; we were each building our own communities. To hell with everyone else.
Now, I know what some of you are saying as you read this. I too am one of those who became a full-time race director at the start of the “Born to Run Boom”, after Lifetime had bought Leadville, but I directed my first race a few years before Born to Run was ever published. You’re correct about the HPRS timeline. You’d be correct in pointing out that I own and run a business and do it for profit, and that I was one of a small collection of RDs in our sport to do it first. Eight years later, I can clearly see that ultrarunning is more business than community… but as I think about this last statement, I realize that this is mostly only true in The Wild West.
I still connect with a handful of race directors back East. I hear stories about them still talking to one another, picking up the phone to let them know about when their race will be this year so that they don’t schedule theirs on the same weekend. Stories about them borrowing gear from each other to serve the runners better without having to pay for it. Stories about making sure they don’t steal from each other’s volunteer pool. Stories about the RDs working together to create their own alliance, where they support one another on ways to make their races better… for the community at large.
I get it, the sport has changed, and it’s a business now more than it’s ever been. In Colorado, there are 120 ultrarunning races on the calendar this year, the 5th most of any US State. More than 90% of those events will take place between the months of May and September. With that many events over the span of just 20 weekends, its hard as a race director to find a weekend where you’re not scheduling something at the same time as everyone else. When I started Human Potential in March 2014, Colorado was host to just 56 ultra distance races. In the eight years that HPRS has been in business, I’ve seen many races come and go, many race directors come and go; hell, Leadville is on its 7th race director in that time span alone! Hardly any of us talk. We certainly don’t want or need anyone’s help and it’s every RD for themselves. The saving grace? Colorado has more surface area than the state of Texas. If you were to put a cloth over every inch of land in this state, up and over every mountain, deep into every ditch, it’s bigger than our biggest state. There’s plenty of places to host a race.
::Fast Forward to 2022::
The largest trail and ultramarathon series in the nation is Aravaipa out of Arizona. Owned by Jamil Coury, who employs a handful of race directors to host his events. Aravaipa recently announce their building of a new “Colorado Hub” in Colorado Springs. Aravaipa isn’t new to Colorado as they’ve hosted a few events out of Silverton for many years now. I always considered the southwest corner of our state to be “their territory” just like I always felt like the North was run by GNAR, and Gemini Adventures had the Western Slope. Mad Moose came into Colorado Springs after I had already created my first race there, and I moved Tommyknocker up to Golden in order to get out of their way and allow them to grow. Justin Ricks and I had even had a handful of email conversations about permitting in the Pikes Peak region, an information share that I had hoped would help him on his way.
Mad Moose moved most of their ultra-operations out to Moab, which I felt opened the door for me to return to the Springs in 2017, in February when nobody else was directing ANY ultras in the whole state. Last year I noticed they had moved completely out of Mueller State Park in May, which opened the door for us to host an event down there instead. Two RDs communicating, and two RDs not stepping on each other’s toes. Imagine that.
So as you could also imagine, with Mad Moose still having a hub of their own in Colorado Springs, which I always viewed as their “territory,” with a few HPRS events in the Springs, Jordan Ricks (Justin’s brother) starting his own company in Revenant Running out of Woodland Park, and the handful of others who direct events in the area as well, it came as a complete and total surprise to us all that Aravaipa would create a hub in the springs, and even paint their logo on the wall of a local brewery. Business owners always look at a market and determine if there is a need before ever even setting up shop. If there is, Green Light. If the need is already satisfied by who is there, look at another area.
My first inclination was to welcome them, that welcome I never got. The welcome that I would have received back east. I reached out to Jamil and his new race director here in the Springs to give them as much insider beta on the permitting of races here in Colorado. I told them what counties were not permitting new events on their managed properties and which counties were. I told them what USFS Ranger Districts were understaffed and less likely to give a permit, which districts had a moratorium on the permitting of new events, and which districts they’d have good luck at finding space to plant their roots. I even told them what races I had heard through the grapevine were up for sale since the RD was burned out from the Covid fiasco, who was broke, who was simply looking to move on and Aravaipa’s ability to possibly purchase events that are already here. I welcomed them. I handed them everything I knew on a silver platter.
Jamil was gracious, he thanked me for the welcome and all the info I had provided. He even went so far as saying something to the effect of not wanting to step on anyone’s toes as they come in.
A week or two later, they announced their first Colorado race, “Ring the Springs.” Their announcement included a picture of runners on High Drive, and the date was on the same day as The High Drive Challenge hosted by Mad Moose. Mad Moose even replied to their Instagram post asking how they intended to host their new race, on the same day, using the same trails as their long-standing event. After talking with Mad Moose, they moved the event to June 11-12th, which is the same weekend as The Garden of the Gods 10-Mile, 10k, Trail Run and… their event also proposes to use trails in Garden of the Gods. Not only that, but a complete and total lack of risk management is on display as they propose runners utilize many of the paved bike paths in the Springs that go through many of the city’s homeless encampments at night!
Aravaipa continued with the stoke, asking us to wait with bated breath for their second new race announcement. A few weeks later they announced their Rampart Range “Ram Party” out of Rampart Reservoir in Woodland Park on May 14th. Their event is 10 miles away as the crow flies (maybe) as our Endure 12-Hour, 24-Hour and Half Marathon scheduled for THE SAME DAY. Mad Moose has historically hosted their all-women’s Valkyrie Marathon and Half on the last weekend in May (would have been the 28th in 2022) in Colorado Springs, but this year… they moved the date up to May 14th. Three events, all on the same day, that all flank Pike’s Peak. The next weekend? Jordan Ricks (Revenant Running) hosts his new Great Divide Ultra (100 mile, 100k, 50k and 25k) also at Mueller State Park in Divide, where our Endure is held.
So what’s the problem?
This is honestly unprecedented in ultrarunning, and unprecedented here in Colorado. Four race companies are hosting four events over two weekends, in an area that connects all of us by 20 miles. We’re all fighting for the same runners and the same volunteers, and if any one of us messes up… it stands the chance at dooming us all with the same permitting land managers.
We all are walking a tightrope, and we’re all stepping on each other’s toes. We could argue until we’re blue in the face “Who was here first” or “Whose territory this is” or “Who has earned the right and who is just coming in to disrupt our community.” The runner’s will ultimately decide the answers to these questions, and they may have some questions of their own, but I’ll say this for sure…
Mad Moose, Revenant Running, and Human Potential have all individually spoken to Aravaipa about their new events. Some of us have been more welcoming than others. The RD and Assistant RD of these new Aravaipa races have never directed ultramarathons before, and it seems as though the owner of their company isn’t guiding them on best practices based on principle or integrity. No. So much for “not stepping on anyone’s toes.” We were sold a bill of goods, that was all talk, and the actions that followed are clearly not rooted in integrity or being a man of your word.
In a few short months, all Aravaipa has done is step on toes. This is one of those stories where Goliath, with his deep pockets and millions in yearly revenue, starts throwing his weight around to disrupt David. Davids who are in this for the community we learned about from the legends before us. Jordan and Justin Ricks from their accomplished ultrarunning dad who slayed Leadville for decades, and yours truly who learned from the old guard back East, from the likes of Andy Weinberg, Jeff Washburn, The Vermont 100, and Doc Horton.
I know the sport has changed. It’s never good when we all start fighting over our home turf. Through this experience, I can see where those RDs were coming from, and what they were afraid of when I started HPRS in 2014. In 2014 I was David going after Goliath! Not the other way around. I understand why they didn’t want me to start a race on their weekend, close to their turf. I understand why they felt I was competition. I get all of it, especially how it feels knowing that something you’ve worked so hard to build and create is threatened by a newcomer, and an outsider. This is that same moment except for some drastic differences…
I welcomed the new kids to Colorado. I told them everything I knew. I offered support, friendship, and kindness. In 2014 I didn’t start any races 20 miles away from a competitor on the same weekend, or even on the same course. Yet here we are, in 2022, when all human decency and integrity has left us with The Wild West.