For the last few months, I’ve been working on following the move of our friends at The North Face Endurance Challenge to go cupless. After a few false starts — and praying that the cups would get here in time for Skyline 50k– they’ve arrived!

Anyone who has directed an ultra or volunteered at an aid station has noticed the appalling amount of waste that these events create. It’s impossible to escape the irony that a sport which is meant to put people alone in nature also stuffs the same people with unnutritious food and creates a lot of garbage. I’ll never forget running up to my friend Sarah Lavender Smith at a North Face San Francisco Aid Station a few years ago as she dragged a bag of garbage with a sad face. I could never convince her to volunteer again.

In any event, the cups are here and we’ll be using them for Skyline 50k and also for Firetrails in October. Then if all goes well, they’ll be a permanent fixture. My intent is to not charge for them but to give them out with our entries. I guess other people are charging, which is fine. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

All right then!

Adam