Category Archives: Alan’s Blog 2016

On the trail of Bolder Boulder Skechers: Memorial Day 2016

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Obligatory Bolder Boulder shot on Folsom Hill.

I don’t know why I do the Bolder Boulder 10K. Maybe it’s the familiarity – the Blues Brothers crooning  right out of the blocks; the girating belly dancers on the Folsom Hill and off key Elvis at the 7-Eleven; the Slip ‘n Slide – now there are two.

I used to buy a shirt every year but got rid of all of them except the 2002 race shirt. That was the race that remembered 9/11. That takes the guess work out of my annual wardrobe decision making.

I started covering the race in 2006 when I was with the public access TV station and have been going out on the course getting shots of pretty much anything but the race, including all the bands that entertain the runners along the way.

Mugging with Elvis at the 7-Eleven

It takes me around three hours to finish. I stop about 20 times and spend a few minutes with all the bands and live entertainment along the route. I get out too late to sample any of the bacon giveaway – the other power bar – around the 9K neighborhood. I did notice that the Colorado Pork Producers are now a sponsor and taken over the concession.

When I was recovering from my illness in 2014, I had to take a swig of oxygen staggering into the stadium just before the orange shirts – the mop up crew – threw me off the course. My strength and stamina are way better, except the rock climbing on Saturday took its toll. That’s another story.

This year, I took a step on the wild side and made a Bolder Boulder impulse buy.

I was bound and determined to find a pair of new sneakers – Skechers. Last year, I was sitting at the lunch table with elite runner Meb Keflezighi. In 2015 Skechers was named as the big sponsor of the Bolder Boulder and Meb swears by Skechers. That’s been his shoe sponsor since 2011.

He couldn’t stop raving about Skechers – sort of like when after winning Super Bowl 50, Peyton Manning said that he was going to relax and down a few Buds in reference to his Louisiana business interests.

Vintage Skechers

Not that I’m any kind of shoe aficionado, but I remember Skechers as pastel pink women’s walking shoes with the rounded bottoms. Now footwear for elite athletes?

If there’s anyone who’s the casual runner, it’s me. I bought a pair of Asics in 2002 and wear them once a year for the Bolder Boulder. Needless to say, my shoes are still in good shape.

Last year – 2015 – Skechers had a big trade booth on the Pearl Street Mall. The Flatiron Running Store was the local sponsor and was giving out T-shirts. I picked up a shirt and some literature about Skechers, but hadn’t made up my mind about the shoes.

Fast forward to 2016, this year I visited the Skecher trade booth and tried on a pair  of the 8 1/2 GoRun Strada shoes, but walked away. When I came back, they, of course, were sold, but I tried on every other shoe in my size, but none were quite right, even at $76. (Actually, any of them would have worked, but they were red. I don’t wear anything red because it reminds me of my high school rivals Cheyenne Central).

My $30 Skechers are little too colorful for my liking, but I won’t wear them until next year.

Not to be deterred, I went down to the Flatiron Running Store in the Table Mesa shopping center and much to my surprise, most of their Skechers were on the deeply-discounted sale table.

After searching around, I uncovered one pair, sticker price $130 marked down to $50 and marked down again to $30.

Retail is for suckers.

I got them home and as the Skechers shoe salesman on the Mall explained, the soles are made out of foam. They are light weight and felt good on my feet. As a general rule, it probably doesn’t make much sense to wear brand new shoes on a 10K run, but they were very soft and comfortable.

Afterwards, no bruised up runner’s toe or achy arches. For this kind of foot abuse, I normally need strong support, but not with these Skechers.

I sound like Meb.

Since I only wear them six miles per year, the foam should last me for a while. This model probably is not for hard core runners which may be why all these shoes were on the “buy these before we send them to “Aftica” sale table.

Ellen and infant Evelyn on Memoaial Day

One of my friends was due to have a baby around this weekend. In the pool, I had May 30th and sure enough baby Evelyn was born on Memorial Day.

Bragging rights.

I played the game of Risk in a past life. The custom of the group bestowed on the winner the imperial honor of folding up the board, sorting out the pieces and putting the game away.

Imperial bragging rights.

Baby Skechers rooted out of a pile at Nordstrom’s Rack.

In this vein, as the winner of the birth date guessing game, I felt obliged to get a present. I opted for a Memorial Day – Bolder Boulder themed gift of a pair of baby Skechers, which cost $30 – the same price as the pair I bought for the race. I’m pretty sure if Nike or Adidas sponsored the race, my baby shoes would have been way pricier!

After getting to Folsom Field, I happened to see two folks who were the last two finishers being escorted by the orange shirts past the finish line. Turns out the runners in their 70s were Don and Barb Worden from Rock Springs, Wyoming.

They said this is likely their last Bolder Boulder.

Maybe they have the right idea to end their running careers on a high note as the final finishers in 2016.

Environmental politics and the euthanized bison calf

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bison yellowstone

Waiting for a bison in the road – Yellowstone National Park a couple years ago.

Bison have been in the news lately.

President Obama signed legislation designating the American Bison as the national animal. (See, Congress can get stuff done when it wants).

One of the more bizarre bison stories made the rounds this week which explains why the Northern Arapaho community in Wyoming has had a tough time getting any bison for its tribal ceremonies.

Seems a couple international tourists visiting Yellowstone National Park was quite concerned about the health and safety of a newborn bison calf that had wandered away from its herd.

bison_calf

This now famous bison calf was collected by a couple tourists in Yellowstone recently. They thought the young animal was cold and in danger.

The well intended park visitors scooped up the maverick and placed it in the back of their SUV and proceeded to notify the park rangers of their concern.

Turns out their unlawful act of kindness resulted in a ticket and fine.

The story has a not-so-happy ending because after repeated attempts to reunite the calf with its mother and herd, it was rejected and park wildlife officials had to put the young animal down.

Some of my friends were aghast wondering why there isn’t a bison rescue organization,  that could have taken the orphaned calf and nurtured it.

That makes a lot of sense but unfortunately, bison are among the most political animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

gye map

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been the home for conflicts between wildlife and livestock interests.

This bison calf would have a big identity crisis had it wandered into Wyoming because it could be treated as livestock or wildlife or both.

There’s a political skirmish between cattle ranchers and wildlife managers as to the proper jurisdiction – in fact, the state vet and wikdlife managers both have jurisdiction.

What complicates the matter is a contagious disease called brucellosis which isn’t harmful to people, in most cases, but when the bacteria gets into a cattle herd, all animals generally have to be destroyed and the state quarantined.

You’ll recall there was a big furor a few years back about mad cow’s disease. Most recently, there were many chickens destroyed because of avian flu which is why poutry is still expensive.

How does all this happen?

The disease epidemiology is very complex biologically, but causes huge economic impacts that not only include the domestic livestock industry and wildlife management, but also the tourism industry.

Over the years, due to US National Park Service herd management, certain elk populations outgrow their environments. Bison contracted the disease from the over populated elk herds in this case, the GYE.

Bison wander out of the park, elk migrate to and from and the conflict originated when cattle ranchers began to develop infected herds and the blame fell primarily on the bison because they are more sedentary, as opposed to migratory.

Montana treats bison mire like wildlife and through the state veterinarian’s and wildlifr offices there and the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a brucellosis quarantine facility set up just ourside the park. (Fun Fact – APHIS is the agency that oversees the safety of airports so the chance that birds smack into airplanes is minimized).

Bison that leave the park are given a blood test and checked for brucellosis. if they are positive, they are slaughtered, if they are negative, they are put into quarantine and eventually released back to the park.

kids bison

This bison was part of a Northern Arapaho tribal ceremony in November. There are community members who want to reestablish bison on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The bison calf in question could have been tested. If it tested positive, it would have been put down. If it was negative, it would have been quarantined and someone, would have had to stick with it for 30 days or more.

Even if that care taking did happen, my druthers would have been to give it to the Northern Arapaho Tribe to help them reestablish a bison herd on the Wind River Indian Reservation in a highly managed pasture – as opposed to free-roaming.

The fact is, Wyoming is currently NOT a brucellosis free state. In the Cliff Notes version of the process, this means the bison calf, if it was tested and found to be brucellosis-free, as well as others could be culled from the Yellowstone herd, quarantined on Northern Arapaho land and allowed to propagate for tribal ceremonial purposes.

There’s currently a prototype already operating at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins with Yellowstone brucellosis-free bison. There’s a small herd now on the Soap Stone open space park by Livermore.

Take away the politics and this isn’t rocket science.

 

 

 

Forget Trump, Hillary is the big GOP unifier

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donald-hillary-billThe three men in Hillary’s life right now will be nothing but trouble until she can get them in line. I, like Noam Chomsky and Robert Reich, am Feeling the Bern until I can no longer.

Bernie can’t win. Why doesn’t he quit?

The better question is why doesn’t Hillary adopt some of Bernie’s tenets before the convention?

As long as Hillary keeps wearing the blinders, her path doesn’t get any straighter.

Bernie is sticking around to nurture his populist movement. So far, do good, but I thought Occupy would get traction, but turns out Occupy morphed into Bernie.

Hillary, likely, is betting Bernie, like Occupy, will be irrelevant. His followers have zero chance of changing Wall Street.

Trump is showing his campaign hand. He’s going after Bill. I’m pretty sure, he’s dis-entombing Monica Lewinsky, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and others we might not have known were hidden in the crypt.

It’s gonna get ugly.

Hearsay, innuendo, made up stuff, the whole shebang.

The political pundits are dancing around the issue, bracing for the onslaught. Hillary is ignoring it.

Then there’s the email thing. I don’t agree the latest reports are a rehash. She’s tried joking it off, ignoring it, sending Claire McCaskill to run interference, even apologizing.

She can’t shake it. It keeps popping up in the tabloid and ‘legit’ news cycles with click bait headlines of all kinds. She isn’t helping her cause.

gennifer-flowers-monica-lewinsky1It’s gonna be uglier than any campaign I’ve seen before, which isn’t saying much since none of them have been this gossipy and personal.

This seems different than Nixon’s lying, cheating, and stealing, but campaign 2016 is being treated as if it’s the same as politics as usual though.

In fact, many of the Hillary supporters I know, at least who I read on facebook, say something to the effect, “Well, the Clintons have baggage and have had their clocks cleaned for 25 years or more, and have emerged relatively unscathed – so, blah blah blah?

I don’t think the election season will play out like typical politics.

Hillary just said that Bill is in charge of job creation. He’s officially fair game assuming Hillary finally gets enough delegates and she’ll have to accept not only his successes but his less successful actions.

Trump may have a 70 percent disapproval rating among women voters but he’ll prove his detractors wrong by being one of the biggest supporters of women when he continues to pile on an abusive Bill Clinton.

Hillary needs to own the violence against women narrative and along with it, solidify the electorate behind her story. So far, she doesn’t really have many stories. She’s campaigning on her political savvy – which is diverse at the state and federal levels and in the community. There’s no doubt she’s smart and experienced.

Without a good narrative, her political experience and knowledge will go the way of Mike Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry. These three also campaigned as highly experienced statistics-spewing policy wonks and ignored the simple Republican story lines against them.

dukakis-hortonDukakis didn’t respond to attacks about being weak on crime and Willie Horton. Al Gore couldn’t shake Bill Clinton nor did he have any answer to the “fuzzy math” comments by Bush 43 about his Medicare lock box  that couldn’t get any traction a month before the election. Kerry ignored the “Swift Boat” smear campaign and allowed George W. to paint himself as an “ah, shucks rancher” when he and Kerry both shared the same upper crust pedigrees.

What if Hillary said something like, “You know, it’s no secret that my marriage has had it’s share if problems, maybe like yours. There were times I thought my husband was a big SOB there were other times when things were great. I’m not proud about how my personal life went down like an episode of “Scandal.” Bill was impeached, he’s had a tough hill to climb. I have to tell you our entire family paid for his screw ups, and we moved forward.”

Victim blamers ask, “Why did Hillary stay?” as opposed to “Why didn’t Bill change?”

Well, Bill got a loud wake up call from the public-humiliation perpetrator treatment program almost lost his job and that was that. Hillary is putting him in charge of job creation. I did think his welfare to work program was a good one. The same could happen with a new look for incentive-based Medicaid.

Trump’s misstep about his “Bill strategy” is blaming Hillary because she “enabled” hom to philander – he leaves a lot of subtext there without having to explain. That will back fire except among the men and women who believe that women should be subservient.

So far, Bill has been brushing Trump off like lint, but his message should be the same. Something like, “Well, Anderson, we had some rough patches. They were all caused by my stupidity and it really messed up our family, in fact, I don’t know if it will totally heal up.

“We’ve gotten through it. Chelsea has a family of her own now and being a grand father has really put things into perspective. Hillary could have sent me packing, but instead we decided to work things out and I can’t say that’s been easy, but we support each other 100 percent now and want to get down to being responsive to the American people.”

What about Bernie.

He’s not going away anytime soon. He has a pretty good chance to win the rest of the states, including California. Lucky for Hillary, she has the super delegates mostly in the bag come June 7th.

If Hillary wants Bernie to go away, her campaign needs to start capitulating a bit. If it’s viewed as a zero – sum game (we won, so go home) there will be a bunch of disgruntled Bernie supporters, myself included.

Here’s how I would mansplain her strategy.

What if Hillary called up Bernie and said, “You know Bernie, you’ve raised a lot of good points over the past year and figured out how to harness that grassroots energy particularly among young people. To tell you the truth, I’m not so good at that.

Buffett Gates“You’re right, I agree with you about figuring out how to keep money out of politics and I’ve been a little to complacent on that and it’s going to be a little uncomfortable for me to deal with the big banks and Wall Street after the PAC that’s been supporting me has accepted all that money. I didn’t think it was that big a deal, but apparently it is.

“But you know what? They’re going to have to cry in their beer when I’m not with them. I’m also okay with raising taxes on the upper one percent and they better get on board with that like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and others have about spreading out the wealth.

“So are we going to do this together? That means you’ll have to reign in your young horses and let them know we’re all in this together!”

It will take some doing, but she can win this thing. It’s not going to be politics as usual.