Comments on A Trail Runner's Blog: The Delicate Fate of Pacific Coast Trail Runs - Wi...

For those who are registered for the sold out PCTR...

2012-02-23T07:12:53.043-08:00

For those who are registered for the sold out PCTR Pacifica race on Saturday, 2/24/12, please see the following note that was sent out Tuesday about the event being canceled (moved to 3/17):

"I just learned that we can't hold the rescheduled Pacifica race this Saturday, February 25th, due to a technical glitch in our online reservation. This is not the park’s fault - something misfired when we entered the reservation weeks ago and it apparently did not "take" and, since then, a conflicting event was scheduled for this weekend by another party. I am very disappointed, as I know that you are (especially after MdO went so perfectly just 10 days ago). I've spoken with my contact at the San Mateo County Parks, as well as the Park Superintendent, about other dates. I've reserved Saturday, March 17th for this event. No other races, including those on July 7th in Pacifica/San Pedro Valley Park, are affected by this situation. I am very sorry for the inconvenience – just like you, I was all set for and really looking forward to this event – and I thank you for your patience with the Pacifica event.

Sarah
Pacific Coast Trail Runs"

Unfortunately, it appears the PCTR Web site is still collecting entry fees for races without confirmed permits. Please be cautious everyone.

For those who can't make the new race date on St. Patrick's Day, do note that Inside Trail Racing has a race at Chabot Lake on Feb. 25th with similar race distances. And they have a permit. ;-)

An apology of sorts from Sarah showed up on Facebo...

2012-02-02T03:17:45.494-08:00

An apology of sorts from Sarah showed up on Facebook in regards to the Stinson Beach run:

"I would like to personally clarify and apologize for the events that led up to the 2011 Stinson Beach Trail Run situation of which some of you are aware. Before we added that race to our calendar and opened registration months before race day, we got verbal approval for the date and the event concept from both permitting agencies, as we routinely do prior to opening registration. The Mt. Tamalpais District of the CA State Parks requires payment 30 days prior to the event day. I had not heard from their Special Events Coordinator, David Kopler, in the months leading up to the SBTR, and I was remiss in waiting until November 4th to contact him regarding the amount due and event details (such as the road crossing at Pantoll) which were required to receive our permit. By the time I was given the amount PCTR owed for the State Park permit on the afternoon of Thursday, November 10th, I hadn’t left myself enough time to deliver the check that day as required, even though Mr. Kopler stayed in his office to wait for me until 4:00 p.m. He was generous to do that.

Once I was told that no permit would be issued, I again made what is, in the Park’s eyes, a bad decision. After talking the situation over with a PCTR employee, we decided to cancel the event by my sending all entrants an e-mail message, but to still allow people who either didn’t get my cancellation e-mail message or who did receive it but wanted to run on the Marin trails to pick up their shirt and run on the unmarked trails on race day. According to the State Park rules and expected conduct, the way to cancel an event is to go to the start area on race morning, as I did, but to tell the entrants to go home and that any use of the park on their part would jeopardize PCTR’s future with all the State Parks, not just the Mt. Tam District. I didn’t do that and should have, I realize.

In closing, let me say that I take full responsibility for the situation that arose around the Stinson Beach Trail Run and that I want to publicly apologize to David Kopler and the rest of the Park personnel for the way I handled that situation. We have enjoyed a long, positive, and mutually beneficial relationship with the State Parks, and we look forward to great State Park events this year and onward.

Sarah
Pacific Coast Trail Runs"

Latest from PCTR on how they are dealing with coll...

2012-01-12T14:17:43.725-08:00

Latest from PCTR on how they are dealing with collected entries on race dates that are now changing (via e-mail). Good news, and options, for those of you who had signed up for events:

Dear Pacifica Trail Run Entrant –

We’re sorry to notify you that PCTR had to unexpectedly change the date of this month’s Pacifica Trail Run. We have added a Pacifica event next month, on February 25th, and have our usual summer running on the Pacifica trails on July 7th this year.

If you are able to make one of the other Pacifica dates this year, please reply to this e-mail with which event (2/25 or 7/7) works for you, and we’ll transfer your entry. In order to make up for the inconvenience, we’d like to offer you a free shirt upgrade with this date-transferred entry. For example, if you were signed up for a cotton shirt, you may upgrade to hi-tech, and if you were signed up with a hi-tech shirt, you may upgrade to a Patagonia shirt. Just let us know in your e-mail which that you’re upgrading to and the gendered size.

For those of you for whom the new dates don’t work, we’ve issuing a non-expiring coupon code, [code removed], which you may use to enter any standard PCTR event free of charge and upgrade your shirt (as described above) with that entry.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the relatively short notice of this change.

Sarah
Pacific Coast Trail Run
www.PCTrailRuns.com

Oops totally misjudged Tim of Inside Trail in bett...

2012-01-11T19:04:47.758-08:00

Oops totally misjudged Tim of Inside Trail in betting he had a deal with Sara. Sorry, my bad. Looks now like we was just being predatory in scheduling races of the exact same distance, time and place as his competitor. But wait, now the dates and places have changed. The hedge collapses revealing the snake.

PCTR has announced a new schedule, shifting a few of their dates. Looks like we're going to have plenty of races this year!

I ran some of the first PCTR events in the Bay are...

2012-01-07T23:09:01.946-08:00

I ran some of the first PCTR events in the Bay area a decade ago. I absolutely LOVED those events and really enjoyed having Sarah and Wendell as RD's. They were first class all the way. Plus they were just nice people. I gave up the running 5 or 6 years ago and now live in Bend so I have not kept up with PCTR. I am sad that it may be the end of a great organization. I'm wishing the best for Sarah. If it is the end of PCTR I will plan on being at the first race for whatever new endeavor she puts together.
Rob Edde

I read your blog last week re: PCTR/ITR woes. Just...

2012-01-07T07:59:15.036-08:00

I read your blog last week re: PCTR/ITR woes. Just wanted you to know I, my husband and 2 other friends just got our full refund for Skyline to the Sea (6/10/12) this evening! Email came from Sarah Spelt. We are SO stoked since we thought our funds are in limbo. It will be the first ultra for all four of us so getting a full refund after all the uncertainty is such a huge sigh of relief.

Regards,
G

For those still following this story, it appears t...

2012-01-07T07:54:26.779-08:00

For those still following this story, it appears that Inside Trail Racing has secured permits for all their race dates. This means that anyone signed up for a 2012 PCTR race will need to request a refund at PCTRrefunds@gmail.com.

This was posted yesterday (1/6/12) on the Inside Trail Racing Facebook page:

Many of you have understandably asked questions regarding the conflicting dates and locations of Pacific Coast Trail Runs (PCTR) and Inside Trail Racing (ITR) events. We apologize for not having officially responded earlier but we were in the midst of discussions
with the PCTR lawyers attempting to ensure that those of you who have registered with and paid PCTR will have races to run.

As most of you have noticed, PCTR has been accepting registrations for 2012 events that correspond to permitted ITR events. While we would love to simply transfer your registration to our ITR event, we were
unable to come to an agreement with PCTR representation that would facilitate such a transition. We welcome you to register for our
events through the ITR website and, if you can provide proof of PCTR registration for a corresponding event, we will upgrade you to a
performance t-shirt free of charge for that specific event.

To recap: The ITR races will be held as scheduled for those registering through the ITR website. Please contact PCTR directly for
any applicable refunds.

Hi Scott, Just a quick note to let you (and many ...

2012-01-05T16:31:56.089-08:00

Hi Scott,

Just a quick note to let you (and many of your blog followers) know that we just added a couple trail runs in Santa Clara county to our website: www.norcal-ar.com. There are 2 events that are now firm:

> Coyote Lake 5k, 10K, 15K (Coyote Lake/HBR)
March 31, 2012

> Mercury Mine 7K, 12K, 18K (Quicksilver)
April 14, 2012.

We're certainly not trying to replace PCTR, but just trying to add some more short-distance options for local runners and those transitioning from road-to-trail running. We should be adding more events soon as permits get finalized.

Keep up the great blog and let me know when Injinji releases that new product you want to see developed. :-)

Rich Brazeau
www.norcal-ar.com

Having owned and operated a trail running business...

2012-01-05T06:04:55.508-08:00

Having owned and operated a trail running business, Redwood Trails, I too needed to deal with some medical issues a few years back and was lucky enough to have Scott help me out as "guest" race director. My family will always appreciate and hold Scott in great affection. When things flared up again I sold the Bizz Johnson Marathon to Wendell and discontinued the other events. Fortunately, I am 100% now - although a few pounds heavier.

I started Redwood Trails after volunteering and then working for Envirosports. Dave and I became great friends and I had helped him out over the years and briefly tried a business arrangement. As I created a calendar for Redwood Trails my first business objective was to find dates and locations that did not conflict with Envirosports events - not because of a sense of loyalty - but seemed like the right business decision. After all, my thought, great businesses are created by building something unique, new and novel. Sometimes we lose sight of our own objectives because we are so anger we want to hurt others for our pain. I suggest we forgive all and look forward to some amazing new trail events and businesses. If PCT or ITR wants my help - I'm here. Lets all go run some trails now. Eric

Hey, Scott, are you considering shutting off comments?

2012-01-02T14:23:46.065-08:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Jason Reed - I am truly impressed by all the event...

2012-01-02T06:18:00.107-08:00

Jason Reed - I am truly impressed by all the events you've done, and thanks for your recap on the different organizations.
If anyone is interested -- I published a Rodeo Beach race report yesterday that offers some commentary on the race management and some comments from Tim Long. It's at http://www.therunnerstrip.com/2012/01/report-from-rodeo-beach/
The tragic and sobering news shared above of Robert and Linda Mathis certainly puts everything in perspective. I was so saddened to read the news reports from Tahoe last night about the randomness and senselessness of their accident.
Carpe diem and appreciate life.

Sarah Lavender Smith had a nice epilogue about this after picking up a win at Rodeo Beach.

Glad to hear yesterday's event ran smoothly. H...

2012-01-01T18:02:03.529-08:00

Glad to hear yesterday's event ran smoothly. Here's hoping the best for both parties. Now lets go run!

Also: 4. My intentions for 2012 and beyond (partl...

2012-01-01T16:03:19.122-08:00

Also:

4. My intentions for 2012 and beyond (partly based on events, partly on preference):
*PCTR - I've done 49 of their events. I haven't run any in the past 6+ months due to my schedule so I was not affected by this year's problems. I would strongly recommend against preregistering for any event until it's clear they have gotten back on their feet. I would consider entering an event same day though. I would show up prepared to run on my own in case the event falls through.
*CTR - I've run 5 of their events, including one yesterday. I won't hesitate to do so again. The organization and attention to detail that Wendell brings is what every race director strives to attain.
*ITR - I've met Tim Long once several weeks ago, before many of the recent events transpired. I have not met Tim S. I have no experience with them or ITR and will treat it as a new company. I will probably wait until a couple events happen and see how they go before entering an ITR event.
*Envirosports - I've run 6 of these events. Not a big fan, but I run them from time to time on courses I really like.
*NorCalUltras - I've run 7+ of their events, all of which were part of the PA Ultra Series. Well organized and my biggest complaint is lack of course variety since many courses are in the American River region. My deprioritizing the PA Ultra series will lead me to reduce the number of NorCalUltras I participate in.
*Ultrarunner.net - I've run 3 of these. They are off the beaten path (at least from this bay Area perspective) so there are fewer "recreational" runners there. I was saddened by the news of the deaths of Robert and Linda Mathis. If this series continues (which I'm not expecting) I would be happy to participate as a racer as well lend a hand on race day with anything before or after I've run.
*Brazen - I've run 7 of these (4 of which were on the same day). They hold races in parks that are rarely, used for other races which is good because I like the variety. I'd prefer if it were a little more competitive but I will probably increase the number of these I do because of the course/park variety.

Jason Reed

Scott, It took me 2 hours to read all of the posts...

2012-01-01T16:01:48.419-08:00

Scott, It took me 2 hours to read all of the posts above, with a couple breaks to cook lunch and watch some football. On 12/28 you asked for comments for the ultra/trail running community so here are mine. I don't intend this to be a response to the other posts above, although I will touch on some of the themes already discussed:
1. I think there are 2 things to consider here - one our friendship with the various race directors and the other is our opinions of each of the series. My opinion can be based on whatever I want and I shall not make any of those public. I will make public my opinions of the racing companies/series. I base those opinions strictly on facts and actual events - not gossip or suggested truths.
2. I think most of the negative events that have transpired have been due to 1 major failure in PCTR's business management. The obvious failure is lack of a disaster contingency plan. Any company, especially one that constantly deals with the public, needs to have a plan in place to continue fundamental operations in the event of a major catastrophe. When Sarah's medical issue came about, there was no plan to continue to already scheduled events, notify the public (especially already-paid customers), and discontinue registration for future events that clearly would not happen.
3. A 2nd (possible) failure was failure to ensure their business model cannot be used in a competitive way by ex-employees. This can be accomplished by having all employees upon hire sign a "Do Not Compete" document. This should also include using any proprietary information, such as course maps, measurements, etc. I am withholding judgment on where or not the (possible) 2nd failure is valid. There is a lot of unfair criticism (and worse) of the Tims above. At this point it is not fair because it's Sarah's place to make that charge, not any of ours. If Sarah makes that charge (of Tims’ poaching), then we can weigh in on it but until (unless) that happens I think judgment is best off withheld.

Jason Reed

Confirmed - check out the comments from Robert's brother, Mark, on this story. Sounds like they were struck by an intoxicated driver while crossing a crosswalk in their home town of Incline Village.

Such sad news.

SD

... very sad news. My wife and I enjoyed many of ...

2012-01-01T08:04:30.759-08:00

... very sad news. My wife and I enjoyed many of their great events over the years as well as their good humor and friendship.

Scott Weber

Todd - I am so sorry to hear this. Can you e-mail...

2012-01-01T07:39:20.091-08:00

Todd -

I am so sorry to hear this. Can you e-mail me at scottdunlap [at] yahoo.com?

Our thoughts are with you and your family. They will be missed by many.

SD

Todd, That is sad news. My thoughts are with you ...

2011-12-31T23:40:56.898-08:00

Todd,

That is sad news. My thoughts are with you and your family in this difficult time. RIP Robert and Linda.

Dennis Mui

I was also introduced to ultra running through PCT...

2011-12-31T22:43:50.046-08:00

I was also introduced to ultra running through PCTR and their most challenging run I ever attempted was the Diablo 50Miler. So since I live 15 minutes away from MT Diablo today I decided to go run up Mt Diablo. I didn't quite run 50 miles today, but I did follow the same start up the hill and than ran back the same route. It was awesome. Thanks PCTR!! Good luck.

Scott, Thanks for being out there today! What a d...

2011-12-31T20:32:27.298-08:00

Scott,

Thanks for being out there today! What a dumbass, I didn't even realize that it was you!!! You're a blogo celebrity!

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to be out there today, and also for keeping us posted on a series that has meant so much to so many of us.

Happy trails.

Claire

I ran rodeo beach today, and it was put together q...

2011-12-31T20:21:53.082-08:00

I ran rodeo beach today, and it was put together quite well by inside trail running. The only real difference from last year was the shirt design. However, when I looked at the pctr and itr's site, I noticed that the two were holding the same races at the same places on the same days, except under different names. For example, on jan. 22nd, itr is holding the Brooks Falls Trail Run in Pacifica, while pctr is holding the pacifica trail run on the same day. Does anyone know why they are the same? and RIP Robert and Linda.

Scott, Please pass along, Robert and Linda Mathis...

2011-12-31T20:17:48.210-08:00

Scott,

Please pass along, Robert and Linda Mathis - Ultrarunner.net were killed in a pedestrian/vehicle accident Dec. 30th. This is Linda's brother Todd, I wanted to pass this along. We lost 2 great people last night. RIP ROBERT & LINDA!!!

Todd Plumer