Peter BG Shoemaker » Ultrarunning

Getting over yourself, or, a race report of sorts

Peter — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:40:06 +0000

http://ultra.petershoemaker.com/2010/10/getting-over-yourself-or-a-race-report-of-sorts/

…this last weekend I had an exquisite opportunity to once more realize how important it is to get outside of yourself, and recognize that while most of the time the ultraworld does – in fact – revolve around you, sometimes it doesn’t. And those can be the most rewarding of times on the trail.

A Running Fun Snowy Short

Peter — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:04:00 +0000

http://ultra.petershoemaker.com/2010/02/a-running-fun-snowy-short/

Every morning for the last month, I’ve woken to enormous gratitude for Global Warming, since I simply can’t imagine what life would be like without it right now. This morning 40-60 mph winds, a foot of snow, all on top of the nearly 30 inches we had earlier in the week. To celebrate today’s little bit of joy, I present a poorly-edited short highlighting the ‘best of’ this morning’s jaunt.

Running to the end

Peter — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:33:45 +0000

http://ultra.petershoemaker.com/2009/06/running-to-the-end/

A week ago I finished my running of Tom’s Run – a 200 mile relay race hosted by the Coast Guard. It is run from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC along the C&O Canal towpath. I had set out to run the back hundred – from Williamsport, MD to the end. I managed 63.8 miles over about 20 hrs. It is not the result I’d hoped for, nor the experience I’d prepared for, but it was unlike anything I’d ever done, and I’m thankful for it.

Peter — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:03:06 +0000

"I wasn’t a truly genuine trail ultrarunner until March 7, 1992 at the
Wild Oak 50 near Harrisonburg, Virginia.  It was a rainy day and
simultaneously, while I was piddling on the run, chewing on an energy
bar and washing it down with Mountain Dew, my nose was dripping and I
farted.  That was the ultimate defining moment in my trail running
career, if not my entire life."
- Bob Boeder

"Perhaps the genius of ultrarunning is its supreme lack of utility. It makes
no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances
on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the
approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted
from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense.
The ultra runners know this instinctively. And they know something else that
is lost on the sedentary. They understand, perhaps better than anyone, that
the doors to the spirit will swing open with physical effort. In running
such long and taxing distances they answer a call from the deepest realms of
their being -- a call that asks who they are ..."
- David Blaikie

"The people that I have met are not foolish; they are aware of how
tired and cold and hungry and frightened and hurting and discouraged
and disoriented and how possibly injured they will become. They know
they will face great physical, mental, emotional, and possibly
spiritual challenges as they make their way to the finish. This is
what they are racing against. This is their challenge. This is what
I admire."
- Carolyn Erdman

"The race continued as I hammered up the trail, passing rocks and trees
as if they were standing still."
- Red Fisher, Wasatch '86

1 week to 100

Peter — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:29:48 +0000

I woke up this morning at 5.43, and instead of grunting and going back to sleep, I reached over, turned on the radio, and watched the clock move towards 6am. As the nine resolved into a zero, I thought ahead one week. That’s when I’ll be starting: 6am next Friday.

Tick tock, or in this world of digital,”…. ….”