[pct-l] do you like to run on the PCT?

walt Durling durlfam4 at icloud.com
Sat Mar 14 21:19:19 CDT 2015


The trail is open to the public for use by the public.  As long as an organization receives permission from whatever agency oversees that particular trail segment, they have as much right as anyone else to use it to their enjoyment.  

Most hikers give way to faster hikers overtaking them. What's the big deal for giving the same courtesy to runners who are expending vastly more energy in a shorter period of time than a backpacker?  Runners have to be more focused on the trail itself due to bigger injury risks, so they may appear to have the attitude of having the right of way.  Either way, what's the harm in giving way on the very rare occasions one may encounter runners?  As for stirring up sediment in a creek, it only  takes several seconds for the current to clear the water.  Compare that with pack animals crossing streams and creeks.  Now that makes a helluva mess!  

One final note.  Given the numbers of backpackers, we do significantly more damage to our trails than the relatively few runners out there. Just sayin' 

Sent from my iPad

> On Mar 14, 2015, at 19:16, Emily Toby <emilytoby at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I had the misfortune of hiking on
> the PCT the day the Timberline marathon was running the PCT between Timberline lodge and Clackamas Lake in Oregon many years ago. 
> 
> Not a single runner gave way, not the first runner, not the last, not going uphill or downhill, often in awkward places. And almost everyone expected me to get off the trail, and out of their way quickly, some very rudely.  It was interesting, at first.  It got so annoying, we just took a lengthy break and did 'the wave' sitting on a log next to the trail while the bulk of them ran by. 
> 
> There were signs and race markers on the trail, and no sign of a sweeper at the end of the race, or on the following day removing them. Then there was the disapointment  I felt when I realized 'TM' wasn't trail magic (Timberline Marathon). 
> 
> Nope, I'm not a fan of organized events on the trail. Very different from the solitary or small group of runners trail running.  IMHO.
> 
> ÜberBitch
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Mar 14, 2015, at 1:24 PM, marmot marmot <marmotwestvanc at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Of course I have. 
>> Marmot
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Mar 14, 2015, at 11:06 AM, Brick Robbins <brick at brickrobbins.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 2015-03-13 21:38 GMT-07:00 Dan McKean <danlmarmot at gmail.com>:
>>>> More to the point: I don't want to be asked, commanded, or bullied to step
>>>> aside so some competitor on the PCT can shave a few milliseconds off their
>>>> course completion time.
>>> 
>>> Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever been to a trail running
>>> event, or met a trail runner out on the trail?
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