'Rona Racing: Why Matthew Hammersmith Is Still Holding Races

‘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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