scott jurek at jack rabbit running

yesterday i went to scott jurek's slide presentation and lecture at jack rabbit sports. the short version - the hour and a half flew by and it was utterly fantastic! in addition to scott's slide presentation covering his races and training techniques, he shared slides of his trip to copper canyon and the race with the tarahumara indians (popularized in chris mcdougall's "born to run: a hidden tribe, super athletes and the greatest race the world has never seen").

for fans of the "born to run" (and count me among them), scott's bonus presentation of the copper canyon slides illuminated the region, the tarahumara, and the race - and added an incredible visual dimension to the book. scott's primary slide show was also engaging. above and beyond images from his own legendary race experiences, he talked about running and training techniques (including nutritional aspects).

the question and answer period was equally informative (except for the lead off inane inquiry: "why do you do it?" - which he answered gracefully). most asked about training issues. emmy asked him about recovery techniques following his back to back training weekends (he prefers two back to back runs instead of one long run). others asked him what his most memorable race experience was (his western states course record - and he won the race for 7 straight years!) and his toughest race (a toss up between the spartalthon 152 and hardrock 100 - and he gave the edge to hardrock!).

afterwards, scott signed books (and posters), gave out samples from his sponsers (i got a jar of organic chia seed to try out!), and took pictures. he was incredible gracious with his time - and an overall great guy!

tomorrow is a group run with him in central park - don't pass it up!