Fires/Smoke Cancel Local World-Class Athletic Event

The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run was to be held this coming weekend, and it has been cancelled for the first time in its 35 year history.  Some idiots have been calling radio shows saying that if the runners are stupid enough to go 100 miles, then what’s a little smoke?

The bottom line is that hundreds of people have invested countless hours and few thousand dollars (at least, for the locals — even more so for people coming from every corner of the world) to train for this.  I was an entrant in the race in 2006, so I know how much of an emotional, financial, and physical investment this takes.  

It’s a huge hit to the economies of Squaw Valley, Foresthill, and Auburn — the three key points of the course.  Even if the smoke cleared for the weekend, meteorologists are still predicting dry lightening for the weekend, and because most of the race is in extremely remote areas (accessible only by foot or horse), having another fire start up could easily turn tragic.

I know that the cancellation of a race pales in comparison to the threat of loss of life and property — not to mention the risk and hard work that the firefighters are facing — but this really is a shame for a lot of folks.  So, don’t be surprised if you see any very fit people roaming the streets with an empty look in their eyes, especially on Saturday when they expected to be running all through the night.