Gary Robbins | Trail Running at a Crossroads
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Gary Robbins is a longtime beloved athlete, coach, and race director based in Chilliwack, BC. Last Thursday, UTMB and IRONMAN announced a new race in Whistler - an action that’s been interpreted by many in the community as a hostile takeover of Gary's former independent race, Whistler Alpine Meadows (WAM). We talk about how he learned about the news, the circumstances that led to the cancellation of WAM, the community response, and the path forward.
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Gary is the hero we didn't know we needed
We knew. 😉
Thanks for covering this Dylan, especially assuming you took a risk with your own brand’s relationship with utmb and their associated brands/sponsors by shining the light on this troubling situation. Much respect
"WE ARE BUILDING THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY DEPEND ON TO SUCCEED" thank you both for bringing this to light
Having raced and volunteered with Gary and his team for years I can say that his races are unparalleled in the support they receive from our local community and we will continue to support him!
Thank you DBO for getting this out there. Best wishes to Gary!! Support your local races people!!
You're amazing, Gary! You're always such a class act - You have all of our support! ❤
As others mentioned, great integrity from DBo seeing as he has worked for utmb and by interviewing Gary he might have lost future opportunities.
This makes my dream of running the Squamish 50/50 ever stronger.
Gary, Dylan. Absolute integrity. Both legends. Thanks for what u do for this sport and community. From Australia. ❤
Gary is such a legend....BC trail running peeps need to support his efforts
Both of you handled this difficult conversation with great grace, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. Thank you.
Coming from snowboarding/ skateboard industry background I can tell you that Vail is at fault and not UTMB. Vail stole so many events, including the US Open for snowboarding and many people, including the major pros boycotted it.
I am sorry Gary! Thanks for being candid about this and thanks for all you are doing to promote running on beautiful trails.
That sucks. It hits every confirmation bias that I have regarding Vail and Iron Man.
I was planning on WAM in 2023. I won’t be signing up for not-WAM on the same course hosted by Iron Man.
Good luck, Gary. Not that it matters, but I’m sorry for you and Coast Mtn.
Great interview Dylan. Really interesting to hear direct from Gary. I wish him and his crew the best of luck setting up their new event and going head to head with the corporate machine.
Hats off to Gary...well done to Freetrail and all those who have risked much by bring the working practices of UTMB and IRONMAN to account @ a time when respect for people, their environment and the planet is so important...
You are making the Cornerstone races that build up the community to go to those Majors. We love you guys. Keep up the amazing work.
very informative and a little more info then what people have been writing. Good to hear it from the Gary. Good luck!
Gary is one of my favourite peeps in the world
Will be at the CMTR race in Sept! Let's all be there, eh!
The utmb Whistler event needs to boycotted to send the message.
Ironman organization relies on volunteers. What if volunteers banded together and didn’t volunteer this race
Thanks for this interview!
Gary is the man.
I think the running community and this podcast should organize and give a clear message to UTMB that we will not compromise the values of the trail running community for commercial interests. There is no place for the Fossil Fuel industry to sponsor their unsustainable products, nor we should accept hostile absorption of races with such a cultural drive as Gary Robbins. I will personally not join any UTMB race till there is a change in sponsorship policy, and we keep hearing about the treatment of local races that make this sport so awesome. Races go on because the pack goes or not, so we should not expect elite runners to stop doing their job, but rather amateurs to massively not participate in such events till policies change. Not doing anything will make trail running the new MTB and Triathlon. The choice is ours. Thank you DB to give visibility to Gary story!
Great chat Dbo, hearing it all from Gary really helped explain things that we've been piecing together from various posts and articles. Really looking forward to what race CMT puts together, I was hoping he'd give us a hint but he didn't bite! Great job.
Gary’s next race should be The Big Chill 100! It will be way better than WAM!
Moral debate in my mind... listen now? or wait til my next run?
I was jockeying for Gary to be on Crack a Brew with AJW after Andy's eloquent diatribe last week, but I take this. Can't wait to listen. #futmb
How about having the competing event be held in Squamish? I wish all the best to Gary and the CMTR crew.
Just signed up for Acorns so I can start saving up for Gary's race.
TY for the interview DBO. My reply to a UTMB email received this week (to which I received an automatied support ticket reply):
Bonjour
I am looking forward to running Grindstone 100M next year.
However, I’m a little disappointed to see and read about the Whistler 100M. I feel there are already enough UTMB events on the West Coast. I wish to support UTMB and the individual 100M’s like WAM that have so much character. I’m hoping that UTMB does not seek to monopolize trail running races around the world. These individual 100M’s remaining free to evolve each in their own unique way are also key to UTMB’s success I believe.
A public statement of UTMB’s future intent may be in its and all trail runners interest. As you know we are all very connected and keep informed of current news in our community.
Wishing you every success for 2024,
John
Long live local races!
Done may Coast Mountain events and Gary and his crew run a tight ship. Really looked forwards to running WAM 100 miler one day.
They run a tight ship, and they genuinely care for their athletes. I have personally experienced such care from Gary himself during a CMTR race.
Dylan- not oblivious.
Ironman does not care about its participants-AT ALL- beyond collecting entry fees.
"We are more important because we are building the community that they depend on for their mass events to succeed". Enough said.
Thank you for Speaking up for the trail running community 🏔️🏃♀️I enjoy the smaller events ☀️
Dang...was only here for the 27km Frosty Mountain race, blow by blow.
Go, Gary!
Thanks to Gary and D-Bo for talking about this. People in the community know what the deal is. Never supporting UTMB/Ironman races
Not going to be the popular opinion, but I still don't really think UTMB is the conspiratorially organization they're being painted to be. Was there some shady individuals at Vail Resorts? Sounds like it, but it does really sound like UTMB at worst just took advantage of a failed business relationship with Gary's company and Vail resorts. Also, Gary seemed to gloss over the fact that UTMB has since reached out to him and he's neglected to meet with them. Thanks Dylan and Freetrail for providing a balanced look at this situation.
nice try. sounds like a facile attempt by an individual who wants to sleep in utmb's bed to wash their conscience of the misdeed done by their good buddy vail. the two orgs are inextricably linked from this point forward. and were in the past to an extent left purposely opaque to the public. the close alignment of race courses at the whistler run events at the very least implies strong complicity by utmb. I fully expect lots of astroturfing by vail and maybe even utmb to make people forget the dirty they've done. i will not forget. i will fight through seo and find those lesser known races. And I will do self and hut-supported runs that have nothing to do with races. i welcome others who will too.
Big corporations just bury the little guy. Boycott UTMB/Ironman races! they did the same thing with Kona. Gary laid all the groundwork, a big name comes in and steals it.
Everyone is just getting to see another example of how corporations operate. People, loyalty, and feelings do not matter -- money does. It's the world we live in. Sign up to races accordingly everyone.
How much would you just love to have a beer with these two?
Thanks Mr. Bowman. Total B.S. move by Vail and UTMB. The innocence and unity of the trail running world is shattered.
A catalyst for major change.
If we don’t stand together now, our sport will change. It will be like Walmart coming into a community.
Large corporations often exhibit behavior reminiscent of bullies across various industries.
Looking forward to DAVID 2024!
I predict that UTMB will partner with Vail to create races in places like Breckenridge.
Regarding the "pinch of not offering stones", let's not forget folks that a LOT of us started running on trails in mountains because we love the back country and enjoy the freedom of travelling fast and light in it. My worst nightmare would be running in the mountains with 1500 other people! You will not see deer, chamois or any wild life with 1500 people pounding around...
Sadly I still think the event will sell out despite what has occurred 😔
I’m so sorry Gary, I’m with you man! It doesn’t sit will with me for what all happened with IM
Did you just call Gary the Batman? 😮
Gary is too cool. And as my wife says - always assume virtuous intent
UTMB WHISTLER CANCELED!
UTMB WHISTLER CANCELED!!
UTMB WHISTLER CANCELED!!!
Yeah unfortunately it seems that Ironman/UTMB had been looking to take over or partner with an event in Canada for a while, which is usually a far better and easier option than creating an event from scratch, and I understand why the Whistler location is very attractive to Ironman/UTMB. Gary would have been aware of this due to having been approached re the Squamish 50 event, it would also be interesting to know how that had played out from initial approach through to a clearly unsuccessful end. Don't get me wrong I'm still gutted for Gary and his team, it must be heartbreaking to be seemingly steamrolled by big business (in this case Vail resorts, Ironman, and the areas tourism organisation). Having run some major trail events in multiple countries I am still wanting to run at UTMB to experience the unique atmosphere and scale of that event. Yes I continue to support shorter local races to the point where I haven't even run at my nearest UTMB event (Mozart100), that said I have travelled further afield to UTMB backed races as I still need the stones and 'qualification' to be in with a shout in the lottery, which just goes to highlight UTMBs successful business model. It's a shame Gary and Ironman/UTMB aren't able to work together as that would be incredible...
Did you just call Gary the batman? 😮
The ultra running scene has been a cash cow for nearly a decade now. Sadly this does not surprise me.
Boycott
A catalyst for major change.