Fast Running Blog

Is anyone planning on making it to the Ogden Marathon this year?   If not and you would like to release your entry drop me a note through my blogspot or private message.  Thanks!!  Steve Ashbaker.

Is Ogden allowing transfers?  If so, that is news to me.

I did not know that.  If I'm not mistaken I think Utah Valley does allow it so I assumed Ogden would.  Why is that do you think?  Are you running it this year?

Yes, I am running it this year.  I have a friend who has registered but can't run and another person who wants to and didn't register it time.  They asked to transfer the entry and were told flat out no!  I think it says this on the website as well.

Thats too bad because I really wanted to see if I could break my 2:29 PR there. 

Maybe try UVM instead?

Steve - forget Ogden. If you feel you are in shape to run sub-2:30 go to UVM full. Otherwise run a half, a full when not in shape really messes up the process of getting in shape. Based on what I've seen in your training, though, I think you need until September to be ready for a good marathon. Good = under 2:30 on TOU-like course.

Thanks for the encouragement, You don't mince words do you..

Sasha, you can be totally out of online at times and only think of running and not the person.  It doesn't mess the process of getting in-shape it can only help.  The more endurance runs you do can only help.  Why do you always knock a person's confidence and not give encouragement.  You don't always have to run a marathon for the best time possible, but for a training or for fun.  You really should consider shutting the blog down if all you want to do is hurt people.

Sasha, Why can you not encourage people and help them reach there goals? Life is too short to be putting others down. I know i would not be as far today without the help and support of my friends. I believe that we are here to lift up others and not put them down. Also, he does not want to not be competitive  and win, but to have fun and reach a goal. 

I didn't read the comments quite as harshly.  What I like about Sasha is he'll tell you exactly what he's thinking (whether or not you agree with him).  He can be the Simon Cowell of the running world- not always right, but sometimes more truthful than we are comfortable with.  This leads to debate at times, yet for me it's refreshing to hear his comments admist our politically correct world.  It would also be fun to see Ashbaker go out and break 2:29 just to prove Sasha wrong. 

No, you know exactly what you're getting when Sasha says something to you: his unbridled, unfiltered opinion. It is what it is, and you're free to disagree. Personally there's nothing that Sasha could say to me that could possibly offend me, and I know I can say whatever I think to him, and he won't take umbrage. Don't read into it too much. A thicker skin or a back like a duck are both good things to have around here.

Or possibly just a thicker back! 

(Just bringing up an oldie-but-goody from Sasha a few years back to Joe Wilson!)

+1 to Dave for bringing up something out of Classic FRB.

By the way, Sasha has called me "fat" to my face on two separate occasions. It was true only one of those times. The other time, we disproved it by finding a scale and weighing me.

I'm only going to reply once on this issue and then I'm done.  You really have to understand our past relationship to fully appreciate the nature of it all and I'm not about to lay that out on a public forum.  I'm not so offended as I am annoyed really,  I just asked for an entry to the Ogden marathon and nothing more.   I didn't want his or anyone's opinion on my capabilities  period..

He may be correct on his analysis, however my road work times and training heart rates tell me I am close to that capability right now.  Not to mention cranky and tired as I'm writing this..  I'ts just really difficult for me to have a good performance when I have school and I'm flipping from the graveyard schedule to days 2-3 times a week LOL!   Anyway, I really regret putting this request up here now and it's just one more reason why I think I should keep my training and running private now.   Happy trails gentlemen..

Sorry to have kept this thread off-topic with my usual stale attempts at levity. But I just wanted to encourage you Steve to keep with it. I enjoy reading your training, and root for you in races. Sorry that Ogden may not work out due to their policy (although it's worth a direct phone call to race management, IMO -- then they have to say "no" to you directly). Any race worth their salt will give a contender a change to compete, again just my opinion. But if not, I believe Utah Valley is your next best bet. True it's 6 weeks later, but it's the next local race on the calendar, plus the race director has shown a commitment to reaching out to runners of your caliber. Best of luck.

from my experience, Ogden will still not say no to your face, even when you call them directly.  They tell you some half-truths in order to appease you for the moment and to get you off the phone without ever actually saying no.  When I tried to get into the Ogden half in 2008 I never got a straight answer from any of the management, despite calling multiple times.  It took one of the employees at the running store to finally tell me the truth.  He basically said that the race directors could care less about elite runners, that they view Ogden as a "family race" and will never give any benefits to elite runners, or even allow them in the race past the registration deadline.  Basically what I am saying is, the race is not worth its salt.  I am ok with race directors who have policies that differ from what I think is best because it is their race not mine, but I do not like getting lied to.

I don't let Sasha comments bother me because I know he loves the Lord and he's very direct.  The whole point is Steve wasn't asking for advice on what race to run or what type of shape he's in.  All he wanted was an Ogden entry.  I apologize for my lack of dedication on this site and I'm open to being criticized for my comments.  I just had to say something because it felt like someone trying to knock someones confidence out of them.

Sasha you are a tremendous athlete I just think sometimes you trying to help someone might be delivered in too much of a direct approach.   I still like you though.  :-)

Jeff - thanks for sharing that. Interesting. I was able to get comps for both 2005 and 2007 with minimal effort. And back in 2005 my PR was 2:35, so my resume wasn't even as good as Steve's. I'm guessing the management changed in 2008??

I also find it very strange that they don't advertise their prize money. Most races brag about their prize pots for publicity, not keep it a secret.

Paul - do you think they deliberately don't share it to draw the elite runners to call directly?  Who knows, or maybe they want to make sure the prize money is there.  :-)  Don't know if it's true but I heard Salt Lake Marathon didn't have prize money this year.

Kory - no idea. Whatever they do, however they do it, it's their business, not mine. So goes capitalism. Which means I can just not run their race if that's really there attitude. There's plenty of options out there.

Paul, it is possible that they still do give comps for the full marathon, but not for the half.  I do not know, I just know that they won't give comps for the half (or even let you in past the deadline if you are a paying elite), and I would be surprised, based on the attitude that they seem to take, if they actually did give comps for the full anymore.

I agree with Jeff about Ogden and salt. It used to be a good race, but it has lost its salt (too many people on the race committee?), and we know from the scriptures what you do with the salt that has lost its savor. Races like that deserve to be won in over 2:40, and it is about time that guys that can run faster than that unite and make it happen by running at their potential in some other race.

Regarding Steve - I've trained with him for long enough to know when he should and should not run the marathon, and I have not been wrong once either in the positive or in the negative. He has never surprised me in the marathon. When he did well, I knew he was going to, and when he did not I was expecting that as well. Other people have surprised me on numerous occasions, but Steve never has because we have trained together for a long time. As things stand right now, he has a good marathon in September, an average in June, and a terrible in May. I would really hate to see him pay $100 to run slower than 2:40 and go home with nothing when he could be in the low 2:30s or under off a comp + money in the bank if he waited.