'Rona Racing: Why Matthew Hammersmith Is Still Holding Races

 

This episode is sure to spark controversy. Despite the coronavirus, some small races are still happening, including the "Carolina 'Rona Reaper" in Greenville, South Carolina. Some runners are relieved to be racing again; others are angry and think holding races right now is irresponsible. Race director for the event, Matthew Hammersmith, answers Coach Claire's questions on how events like this are even legal and possible, addresses the risks participants take when they sign up for a race, and talks about what his organization is doing to minimize those risks. Listen in and see if you would be willing to risk racing in person during the pandemic.

Matt Hammersmith founded Upstate Ultras in 2014 and serves as the race director. He's a lifelong runner who kicked off his career by hosting a running series (now known as the Knock on Wood Ultra Festival) as a way of meeting runners. He describes the event as "poorly organized" and "chaos," but the results were "utterly fantastic" and he has since dedicated his career to coaching athletes and hosting races of all distances and surfaces.

Matt was born in Ohio, raised in Indiana, and found his long distance running path while competing at Eastern Michigan University. He started running at age 14 and is still going. Matt's personal bests range from running the 400 in 51.6, the mile in 4:08.17, the marathon in 2:31, and 100 miles in 17:48. 

Matt coaches about 40+ youth athletes every year and about 40+ adult runners throughout the country. His organization has over 20 events on the calendar including kids' races (always free), trail races, 5K beer races, some gimmick fun races, and of course some epic mountain ultra races! His events are cost effective and always have a charity component. He is very proud of some of the big impacts his events have had over the years.

Matt has always been impressed by those who want to improve personal fitness and overall well being through physical fitness and nutritional awareness. An overall athlete and fitness guru, Matt's competed at the local, state, and national level in sports like cross country, track and field, wrestling, football, and basketball. His passion and intensity is summed up quite perfectly here: "I have seen the outer limits of the human body and there is no better feeling when your body, mind, heart, and soul are connecting on every cylinder and you transform your image into something that you have always wanted."

Matt's motivation comes from wanting to offer opportunity and challenge. He enjoys watching overwhelming accomplishments, especially since he knows from experience that most will fail in a spectacular fashion. But ultra/trail running is ultimately not about the finish line; it's about the growth through the struggle, which should be good enough for anyone. 

Questions Matthew is asked:

        

3:03 On your bio on the Without Limits website, it says you are a life-long runner and fitness guru.  Can you tell us a little bit about how you fell in love with running and eventually became a coach?

 

4:27 How was your progression from going from running 2 miles to running a 50K or 100 miles? Did you really just get an invitation for a 50K and you were like, "Sure, why not?"

 

5:18 How did you start getting into race directing?  

 

6:31 Can you talk about some of the events that you organize?

 

7:35 With the pandemic, most running races around the world have been canceled and runners and race directors have had to make massive changes, and I wanted to talk to you about that. You decided to go ahead with your  "Carolina Reaper," which this year was called the "Carolina Rona Reaper."  Can you talk about the decision to go ahead and what safety measures you had in place?

 

9:31 I would love to get into the details of the safety measures you have in place. So for the Rona Reaper race, how did you actually do it? What do the safety measures actually look like?

 

11:06 Were runners wearing masks during the race?

 

12: 01 What's your advice if somebody did want to sign up for one of these races? How do you pass somebody at a socially safe distance?

 

13:01 It's my understanding that the governor of SC issued an executive order prohibiting large groups, but it's up to local law enforcement officials to enforce that if they choose.  How did you address this issue?  Did you work with local law enforcement while organizing your event?

 

14:13 How do you address those who might be critical to hosting events like this during the pandemic, especially as cases are rising?

 

15:23 What about the next races coming up? Any particular challenges with those?

 

16:24 I've seen a lot of thumbs up for what you're doing. What are some of the people who have attended your events or wanted to attend your events, what kind of reaction are you getting from them?

 

17:12 I would imagine if you were positive for COVID, it would be pretty hard to run a 30-mile or a 30-hour race?

 

17:57 What do you think is the future for racing in general? All of the majors have been canceled, the major marathons, with the exception of London. Probably by the time this airs, London will finally kick the bucket. What do you see as the future of racing?

 

21:39 Are there any silver linings or things that you have learned from this whole experience that you think will help you put on better races in the future?

 

26:03 I'd love to talk a little bit more about virtual races. Obviously, for a lot of people, that is the only option, and it's harder obviously mentally to train for a virtual race. It's not the same dopamine rush as it is having a real in-person event. How would you as a coach coach somebody who is training for a virtual event, or somebody who is just not on board with virtual but needs that carrot?

 

29:16 How do you feel about virtual racing? With technology there are a few things happening that some companies are doing to make it a little more interactive and make it feel like you're racing somebody else. Have you seen any of these new technologies?

 

32:13 What is up next for you and Upstate Ultras?

Questions I ask everyone:

 

33:22 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started running, what advice would you give yourself?

 

34:06 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?

 

35:34 Where can listeners connect with you?

Quotes by Matthew:

 

"Once I knew I wanted to start coaching and I wanted to meet some runners, I'm like, 'Well, you know what? The best way to meet runners is to put on a race.'"

 

"Everything in life has a risk. We did everything that we possibly could to minimize the amount of risk that I thought was basically attainable for us as a race organization, but you're going to have risk whether it's endurance running or walking down the street or driving your car to Target. There's always a risk."

 

"We just focused on what can we do for the community right now, and putting on a virtual race is a great way."

Take a Listen on Your Next Run

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Mentioned in this podcast: 

 

UpstateUltra@gmail.com

Without Limits

Go-Green Events

Upstate Ultra

Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community

RunnersConnect Facebook page

claire@runnersconnect.net

 

Follow Matthew on:

Facebook - Without Limits

Facebook - SCUMRunner

Instagram - Upstate Ultra

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