Runner's World September 2014

LOCATION Zion National Park, Utah PHOTOGRAPH BY Josh Letchworth RUNNER Jimmy Pelchat THE EXPERIENCE Titanic sandstone canyons, carved out over 250 million years by ancient rivers, set the backdrop for Zion–Mt. Carmel Highway, a scenic park road that runs near West Temple, one of Zion’s highest peaks. “This place has such a mythical feel,” Pelchat says. “The immensity of the rocks makes you feel so little. Yet I felt so powerful and free running here.” FOR DIRECTIONS, RESOURCE INFORMATION, AND DOWNLOADABLE WALLPAPER IMAGES, VISIT RUNNERSWORLD.COM/RAVERUN.…

IF YOU AND I HAPPEN TO MEET one day and if my eyes move down your legs and I say, “Nice foxing!” please don’t take it the wrong way. It’s just that I’m a bit obsessed with shoes. And as I recently learned, foxing— a swath of material that is manually stitched onto most running shoes, joining the upper to the midsole—isn’t easy to apply. Nicely stitched foxing makes your shoes look smart and streamlined. Poorly stitched foxing makes them look like a Picasso painting. I should clarify that I’m now more obsessed with shoes. For a decade, I’ve been a free-range wear-tester for the RW Shoe Lab, which means I run in two or three different pairs every week and wear several others around the office during the day.…

STEVE FRIEDMAN “I’m drawn to stories about people who experience loss, redemption, or the attainment of wisdom,” Friedman says. “People like James Bonnett” (page 50). The writer’s June 2013 RW feature, “Bret, Unbroken,” was recently nominated for a National Magazine Award in Feature Writing. BENJAMIN RASMUSSEN Despite the epic backdrop provided by Colorado’s Garden of the Gods, the photographer wanted to capture the “unassuming and kind” character of cover subject Matt Elliott, a teacher turned track star (page 74). “I wanted him to look like the boy next door who pushed himself to be great,” he says.…

CREEPY CRAWLER I read with horror about the runners suffering from Lyme disease (“Ticked Off!” July), so much so it made me begin scratching all over. Lo and behold, I found a tick in my hair that had been there for three days. If it weren’t for your article, who knows how this would have ended? I’m on antibiotics now and looking forward to running again. —THOMAS R. HARDY, via e-mail THAT TIME AT CAMP Thank you so much for featuring ZAP Fitness (“You Call This a Vacation?”) in the July issue. I had the opportunity to train at their facilities, where I gained knowledge that I still use today. Every runner should spend time there at one point in his or her life. —JULIA VEGAS, via e-mail GOOD HUMOR?…

ON A SUNNY TUESDAY AFTERNOON, 11 students from Reflections Central, a San Diego high school for juvenile offenders, are running repeats up and down 100 stairs at San Diego’s Convention Center. They finish, collapse at the top, and immediately start one-upping each other. “How’d you do?” one boy asks. “I did 15.” “Well, I did 22,” the other says. Ryan Richter, a 17-year-old junior, has finished 23 sets. “Why don’t you just make that an even 25?” asks Michael Rolan, the group’s probation officer. “All right,” Richter says, his face determined and serious. He turns around and heads back down for two more. Richter is “unrecognizable” from when he first joined the running club, Rolan says later. “It was hard to be around him, his behavior was so bad, and…

DEAR MILES, I think it’s obnoxious when runners snap selfies midrace and that cell phones should be banned at events. What’s your take? —ELLEN S., Winter Park, Florida I’m with you. I find this obnoxious on two levels. First, I’ve sort of had it with our collective pathological need to digitally document every single thing we do, rather than just doing it. Second, at a road race, pausing for a self-portrait is rude at best, and dangerous at worst. An outright ban, however, is unlikely. No race director in his right mind would risk enraging a legion of smartphone-equipped, social-media-savvy runners. Besides which, many runners carry phones in races in the name of safety (not selfies). All we can do is keep an eye out for those telltale outstretched arms.…