Nancy Hobbs / Paul Kirsch interview – first part

1)Selection of American men at Mt Washington on 18/06 and women at the Loon Mountain 08/07. Does not believe the trials may be too far from the World Mountain Running Championships in September?

Nancy Hobbs: We face several issues in the USA with our U.S. Mountain Running Team selection program: a) We must first secure a venue for the selection race: This is a challenge since we rely on existing races to stage our selection race as part of their current program. The course we select is important to mirror the World Championship course in terms of terrain, elevation change, and distance. This is not always easy to do. With Mount Washington for the men, it is a mirror for an uphill year except…it is entirely on paved surface (well a bit on packed dirt/gravel) which is very different than a course with uneven footing like what we expect on a trail/grassy/rocky path. For the women, the course at Loon is more akin (like) that of the World Championships course in terms of elevation, terrain, and distance and the reason we are staging the women’s selection race at a different venue this year. Also, the race director at Loon is working with us to start the women in a separate race from the citizens/men (which we could not do at Mount Washington). This way our women know just who they are competing against. Paul Kirsch: As our sport continues to get more interest in the US, we are starting to also see more interest in hosting qualifying races. For 2013 we have already picked the sole qualifying race (Cranmore Hill Climb) and Cranmore always changes the course to match the Worlds course. For 2015, we have interest from a race out West to host the up/down qualifier, which is really exciting as we think the more places a qualifier can happen, the better exposure for our sport. Nancy: b) We also need to get a “buy-in” or excitement and enthusiasm from existing races about our mountain running program and this reduces the number of events who would be interested in staging a selection race. Paul: Although trail running has grown to a great extent around the US, we still need to continue to grow Mountain Running. Right now it's isolated primarily to the Rockies and New England. There are mountain races in other areas of the country but many of the races are a little too long to be a good qualifier race. Nancy: c) There is a cost to an event to host a selection race in terms of support for the elite athletes – housing, entry fee, etc. d) We have created “selection” races in the past, but we didn’t get as much participation from the “masses” and therefore, not so much publicity which is important to grow our sport. Paul: I agree. We have found much more success making it part of an established race. People get intimidated being part of a qualifying race if they think that is the only reason the race exists. We get better participation when there is a citizens race that is already established. Nancy: e) We asked our athletes in a survey a few years ago about having just one national team selection race (or one for men and one for women), where the entire team would be selected on one day at one event (or one for men and one for women) and the majority said yes. We used to have more than one selection race and at one point we even had one athlete on both the men’s and women’s team chosen by a panel of individuals on our USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council. Athletes wanted to show up on the day and earn their spot based on performance on the day. The main issue with just one selection race is that a top athlete may not 1) be able to attend the event due to personal reasons, etc., or 2) be injured and unable to compete. This is of course an issue for any sport.

Paul: I think we are better off with a single qualifying race or one for men and one for women. This year, for the first time, we do have one for men and one for women. One thing we are hoping for is this gives us some media exposure for a longer period of time. Rather than a single race and it all be over in a week or two, people will be following us over a period of a month. That gives us an opportunity to generate more interest and excitement in the team selection process. Not to say it is only about the publicity, but it is a nice side effect this year. Our sport will continue to get stronger and stronger the more people read and hear about it. This year gives us that longer exposure time. Nancy: So, to answer your question in simple terms, the timing of our selection races is more dictated by a host, then a time period. And secondly, we have to allow athletes enough time to secure a good airfare to the World Championships. If our selection race was too close to the World Championships, airline tickets would be very expensive.

2) The seventh place of world champion Max King decreed his exclusion from the team for the Usa team at Worlds , while it is still possible his participation in the Olympics on the hedges, taking into account its discrete 8:36, 10 days ago. How do you rate this? Nancy: I spoke with Max about this very issue the night before the race. In our USA 100km and 24 Hour Team selections, an athlete who places in the top 10 at the World Championships earns an AUTOMATIC spot on the following year’s U.S. team. I think this is a great idea for these teams. However, with an uphill one year for mountain running and an up/down the next year, it might dictate an athlete who is strong at one specialty and not the other. Having said this, I do believe it is important for our sport worldwide to have the promotional viability of knowing that the World Champion will be on hand to defend his or her title. And, it is an amazing feat to win at the World Championships which become more and more competitive each year. As such, I am going to bring this issue up at our annual USATF meeting in December 2011, for feedback from our Council and see if a rule should be in place for our Mountain Team selection that an athlete who wins the World Mountain Running Championships (ie: number 1 individual) have an automatic spot on the following year’s team. This would have to be a rule change which could be implemented if the majority of the council agreed. I must admit that I was heartbroken watching the race unfold and to see Max (admittedly not in top form as he was battling a serious cold) finishing in seventh position, just out of a spot on the team. Max of course will be offered a position on the team should one of the top 6 athletes decline a spot on the team due to injury, etc. This has happened in the past.

3) Mount Washington race this year, has seen the victory and the proper placement of athletes for the first time they tried their hands with the uphill races. Do not you think that the asphalt road would still have made it easier to run extremely athletes not accustomed to off-road trails like what you are going to face the Worlds? Nancy: This is always a concern for us and becomes a two-fold response. We are thrilled when athletes cross over from a non-trail/mountain background and give our discipline a chance. It creates buzz and interest when an athlete either does well, and even when he/she doesn’t do well. Often times a top road runner comes to a selection race thinking he/she is unbeatable and the conditions tear him/her up and spit him/her out! These individuals usually gain a much better respect for our discipline which is a good thing, in my opinion. The concern for us is that if someone makes the team with little to no trail/off-road running experience (with significant elevation changes and often-precarious footing), they will be in for a rude awakening at Worlds. We provide as much information as possible – in advance – to alert athletes of the course to expect at Worlds so there are no surprises. I will admit that we have had athletes on the U.S. team who went to Worlds and were absolutely amazed at how unprepared they were for the conditions/course. One year we even had an uphill-only selection race for an up/down event. We quickly realized that this was not a good idea and have not since repeated this mistake. I must say, when Mount Washington has been a selection race (and it has been many times), all of the athletes that have made the team and made the trip to Worlds, posted very good results.

Paul: Luckily, Mount Washington has such a storied history, it attracts the best of the mountain running world but also gives us exposure to the road running community. Ideally it would be on another surface but at least the grade and distance makes for a good measure of our athlete's strength.

4)How will be the selection of the junior team to bring the World Championships? Nancy: We have taken juniors to the World Champs since 2002, and this has been a great addition to our program. Since 2002, our juniors have been selected based on running resumes. Our junior outreach coordinator – also known as our Junior Team manager (Paul Kirsch since 2010) – connects with coaches to recruit athletes. We received a small grant from the USATF Foundation in 2011 to prepare a promotional/educational DVD which we have placed on You Tube, and at usmrt.com. This has been a great recruitment tool. Having coaches support our program has been a challenge. Athletes must take time away from high school and/or college to participate which cuts down on those who may be able to make the trip to the World Championships. Since we use track, cross country, road performances for selection, it is difficult to measure how an athlete will do on a trail, on a mountain course. We have endeavored to have juniors run a trail, or mountain race course so they are not “surprised” at Worlds. Those that have a background on trails, or mountains always do much better at Worlds and we include this aspect in our educational materials and in discussions with athletes and coaches. Paul: We have more applicants for our Junior team this year than ever before. That's because of our social media exposure and the relationships we have begun to build with some collegiate coaches. As the coaches learn how our sport can help their athletes grow, they want to send more of their athletes.

Link to Junior Team Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RykiINUlT4

5) The U.S. Mountain Running Association organizes some Training Camps to which federal athletes participate in preparation for the events? Nancy: There are no organized camps, nor is there funding for such camps. The one time all athletes are together is at World Champs (or perhaps selection races).

6) As (and if) it changed the relationship between USA mountain running association and Federation of Track and Field after the American successes of the last two years? Nancy: We don’t have a separate association for the team. The team is under the purview of USA Track & Field. There has been increased success from the U.S. at World Championships for a variety of reasons, the most important is funding. Financial support has been so important in the growth of our sport. We hope that in the future, we will receive full funding from our federation. This is not the case at present. The team receives uniforms and partial funding from USATF. Additional funds are raised by the American Trail Running Association (ATRA) through donations from individuals, groups, events, to assist athletes with their travel to the World Championships. Our structure has been honed over the year so that the selection process is clear, and fair. We always look at ways to make the program better. Feedback from athletes is important and encouraged.