iRunFar 专栏 AJW's Taproom 在连载15年后正式停更

The post Last Call at AJW’s Taproom appeared first on iRunFar.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

– Dr. Suess

In 2011, on October 14, I introduced my first column on iRunFar:

“Greetings, iRunFar Nation! Andy Jones-Wilkins here welcoming you to a new feature here at iRunFar called “AJW’s Taproom.” This bi-weekly column will be an editorial voice for iRunFar and will be published every other Friday beginning today. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas about ultramarathon running and to stimulate lively discussion along the way.”

Bryon Powell, the founder of iRunFar and long-time Editor-in-Chief (now, joyfully retired from that role), offered the following as a postscript to that first column:

“I’m psyched to announce the addition of a good friend and great person to the iRunFar team. Andy Jones-Wilkins (I’m told that’s his real name) is and has been a great voice and spokesman in the ultrarunning world for a while and, now, he’ll share some of his ruminations on the sport in editorial format here at iRunFar.”

Today, after 15 years of writing here on iRunFar three or four times a month, I am closing the book on this chapter of my life. It was one of the most fulfilling and soul-enriching things I have ever done.

The decision to close the Taproom after 15 years has not been an easy one, and I have gone back and forth multiple times about how, when, and why to do so. In the end, however, it just feels to me that, as the leaves fall from the trees and before winter sets in, it’s time to cozy up by the fire and move on to other things.

Through 600 articles over the past 15 years, I have obsessively written about my favorite race, the Western States 100, reflected on the history and tradition of ultrarunning, opined on a wide range of aspects of trail running and ultrarunning culture, and written extensively on running and aging. I have penned an annual article series about race directors, ultrarunners of the year, under-the-radar races, and legendary aid stations. I like to think that in recent years, I have provided readers with ways to connect the past to the future of my beloved sport while doing so in only a mildly curmudgeonly way.

Bryon and Meghan Hicks have provided a home for my voice. Consistently giving me full editorial freedom, Bryon and Meghan have allowed me to present my authentic self week after week, month after month, year after year. For that extraordinary gift, I am forever grateful. Put simply, iRunFar has given me my voice.

Turning the page on this special period in my life comes with a fair bit of melancholy but also with a healthy dose of hope. Looking ahead, I am keen to do the best I can in my new favorite job as a grandpa. With my granddaughter Kelly Jo turning two in February and twin grandkids arriving in March, our family is getting busy, and I don’t intend to miss any of it. It’s true what everyone says: Being a grandparent changes everything.

Additionally, I have been increasingly called upon to help bring the trail running and ultrarunning community together. Through racing, podcasting, speaking, and coaching, I seem to be more involved than ever in the sport that I love, and connecting people for a shared purpose is one of the great loves of my life.

Finally, as I have intimated in this space over the last several years, I would like to finally sit down and write my book. My 83-year-old mother, Joan Anderson, is herself a bestselling author, and I hope to write my book while she can still help me. So, in the next year in particular, I plan to focus closely on that task. Here is the prologue to the manuscript as it stands today:

Blowing Out the Carbon

Legendary University of Oregon track star Steve Prefontaine had an unorthodox and successful pre-race custom. Typically, a few days before a major track meet, Pre would head over to the historic Hayward Field track in his adopted hometown of Eugene, Oregon, and run a single, all-out, four-minute mile. Not sanctioned by his coach or even backed by science, Pre simply did that, as he liked to say, to “blow out the carbon.”

These hard, pre-race runs were, to Pre’s way of thinking, a way to flush out his system both literally and figuratively. A firm believer in high-risk/high-reward, Pre felt that “blowing out the carbon” in the crucial days before a big race put him in a better place not only physically but also emotionally, psychologically, and perhaps even spiritually. This commitment to pouring himself fully into whatever he did made Pre an inspiration to an entire generation.

In looking back over my four decades on the run, Pre’s concept resonates with me as I seek to reconcile my love of running with the rest of my life. How often do we need to blow out the carbon in our relationships, our jobs, and our lives? When does the time come for us to flush out the system with a good, old-fashioned, full-throttle cleanse? And, perhaps most significantly, how does the cathartic act of blowing out the carbon not only make us better runners but also better people?

This book is about running and living. Divided into four distinct parts — vulnerability, balance, authenticity, and transcendence — each chapter attempts to connect the dots between running and life and, in the process, tells the story of one man’s lifelong effort to “blow out the carbon.”

And with that, dear readers, the Taproom is closed. I look forward to seeing you out there, wherever that may be. And, until then, for one final time:

Bottoms Up!

AJW’s Beer of the Week

This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Waitsfield, Vermont. While I typically don’t repeat beer reviews, I am making an exception for my last one. Sip of Sunshine IPA is my favorite beer in the world. Flowery, not bitter, with a smooth aftertaste, Sip of Sunshine is true to its name. As for me, I hope I have given you all just a little sip of sunshine on Fridays over the years.

Call for Comments

Please join us in saying goodbye to AJW’s Taproom in whatever way you see fit!

A Note from Your Editor-in-Chief

As they say, everything has its endpoint, and that’s even the case with iRunFar’s longest-running column, AJW’s Taproom. We are so honored to have hosted AJW’s voice on these pages and are grateful for how he’s encouraged each of us to broaden our perspectives, become better versions of ourselves on and off the trail, celebrate tradition, just plain be joyful about the act of running, and much more. AJW, thank you! -Meghan

Last Call at AJW’s Taproom by Andy Jones-Wilkins.