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[at-l] Re: Running vs Hiking on the trail

There are ultrarunners and backpackers and there are a few who do both.  I
run a few trail ultras every year.  I backpack and hike on the same trails
all the time. Sometimes I backpack in, spend the night in my tent, and get
up and run 30 miles out and back for training.  Sometimes I go to an ultra
and camp the night before so I can have my coffee on the stove before all
the crowds arrive.  The two experiences are completely different.  The
goals are not even remotely similar.  In ultrarunning you are trying to
cover as much ground as possible in the shortest amount of time (take your
eyes off your feet for even one second and you will have a yard sale with
your face in the dirt); in hiking and backpacking you are trying to cover
as much ground as is meaningful(observe, listen, stop, breath deeply).
I've covered the same trails both ways and felt like I was on two different
places.

I've learned a lot about backpacking while training and running
ultras..what gear is essential and most minimal, how to handle fatigue,
blisters, disorientation due to bonking, fluid and energy needs, etc.

I've learned more about ultras while backpacking... how to filter water
properly so I don't have to haul 50 pounds of it, how to read a map and use
a compass, but most important to me, how to see and appreciate an area of
natural beauty even in the midst of quite strenuous effort.

There are a few of us on this list (AT) that are also on the ultra lists.
I see one thing that binds us together:  all of us are willing to fight to
protect the wilderness.  We are undeniably joined in this effort.
Ultrarunners spend an inordinant amount of time doing trail maintenance and
writing senators;  backpackers and hikers do the same.

I met a man deep in the wilderness one fine day.  He was hiking; I was
running.  As I approched him, he lifted his staff to me and saluted.  "Each
to his own," he said.  We went on about our ways.  Next time we may change
places.


**************
Dow Ford
Poplarville, Mississippi
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