I’ve been operating so much recently. Folks hold asking me what for. Maybe these aren’t their precise phrases, however it’s the vibe. They need to know what the miles are pointing towards, what race is arising.

To be sincere I don’t have any races on the schedule for the remainder of 2023. Maybe I’ll soar in a turkey trot over the American Thanksgiving vacation. I really by no means have. It will be a primary for me, and it’s been ages since I’ve raced on the street. And my coaching appears removed from that of turkey trots, so what provides?

I’ve a number of solutions. I inform folks that I’m having fun with fall and/or that I’m constructing my base for subsequent 12 months. I additionally converse of early season race choices and to some, I admit that I’m eyeing up a tough effort throughout the Grand Canyon and again. I assume that’s what you name a quickest recognized time (FKT) try, though for some motive I really feel sheepish about it.

Of all the reasons I’ve been giving folks, I feel I just like the having fun with fall reply finest. It appears probably the most pure.

You see, one of many best issues about operating is its means to thrive by itself. Whereas it may be achieved in a aggressive context, it doesn’t must be. It will also be achieved for health, stress aid, transportation, and even only for enjoyable. Its worth shouldn’t be rooted in a single particular factor.

A sundown view of the Grand Canyon. All pictures: Zach Miller

These days I’ve been pondering so much about operating and the place I want for it to take me subsequent 12 months. Extra particularly, I’ve been desirous about what I need to race. A couple of weeks in the past, I felt fairly strongly that I needed to return to UTMB. Simply as I used to be feeling pretty comfy with that potential determination, I — and what seems like the remainder of the path operating world — discovered of a new UTMB World Collection occasion that will take over an occasion house beforehand occupied by the Whistler Alpine Meadows occasion, placed on by Coast Mountain Path Operating, in Whistler, British Columbia.

The information of this taking place precipitated fairly a bit of concern amongst the path operating neighborhood. To make a protracted story brief, folks felt that Whistler Alpine Meadows had been unfairly pushed out and changed by a lot bigger, company entities, considered one of which being the UTMB World Collection that’s affiliated with UTMB, after all. As I discovered of and analyzed the scenario, I struggled with figuring out what to do.

On one hand, I actually needed to run UTMB. Alternatively, I used to be involved that the UTMB World Collection group is likely to be behaving in a approach that went towards my morals. Hastily, one thing so simple as deciding what to race appeared much more complicated. However don’t fear, this text is much less about what occurred between Whistler Alpine Meadows and the UTMB World Collection, and extra about what I noticed within the aftermath.

As I’ve been processing what occurred between Coast Mountain Path Operating and the UTMB World Collection, I’ve continued to spend so much of day trip on the paths. I’ve run to the depths of the Grand Canyon and to the very best level in Arizona. I’ve seen stunning sunsets and run beneath darkish, desert skies. I’ve cruised alongside the Tonto Path, marveling at the great thing about the Grand Canyon and feeling that uncommon sense of untamed awe. I’ve plunged deep into the canyon on the North Kaibab Path and powered my approach again out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, feeling the rhythm and energy of my physique as I went.

The Tonto Path, under the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

In doing this stuff, I’ve realized one thing. These moments are the essence of the game. Certain, races are enjoyable. They provide us an goal and a approach to take a look at ourselves. They, nonetheless, are only one piece of the puzzle, and never even a needed piece at that.

Even when all of the races ceased to exist, we’d nonetheless have operating. We’d have the ability in our legs and the breath in our lungs. We’d have the mountains to climb and canyons to cross. We’d have sunrises, sunsets, and starry skies. We’d have the power to surprise how far and how briskly we might go and the means to search out out. We’d have pleasure, awe, and surprise. We’d have drained legs and overflowing hearts.

We’d have all this stuff and a lot extra as a result of they don’t depend on a race, a corporation, or a coverage.

And so, as the game of path operating continues to develop, I’m optimistic. Optimistic not simply because I feel it might probably develop and develop in a constructive path, but additionally as a result of even when the competitors aspect of the game throws some challenges our approach, what it’s at its core can nonetheless stay.

The problem, the sweetness, and the awe gained’t stop to exist. We’ll at all times be capable to take to the paths and discover these bits of gold. We will eternally be, having fun with fall.

Name for Feedback

Would you continue to discover pleasure in operating if there have been no races to coach for?