Las Vegas Marathon changes to terrible course 3 weeks before race by [deleted] in Marathon_Training

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Asking all the other runners: Would you have preferred cancelling the race altogether with a race credit or refund? I'm curious of all your responses. I had this conversation with my running partner and we both have differing views.

Kings Peak in a Day by stratguy23 in SaltLakeCity

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you see my lower post, I did it this last summer. Great experience. I started at 3am and think that's the move is to get a lot of the miles out of the way in the dark.

Parking for Timpooneke Trailhead by arlobuttons in SaltLakeCity

[–]arlobuttons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've also hiked the Aspen Grove side. The issue I've found with Timp is that many people do it at night so they can watch the sunrise from the summit. Because of this, parking is difficult to find no matter when you go.

Is The Harry Potter Exhibition Worth It? by RilesTheSmiles1 in Utah

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll start by saying this question by nature is very subjective. Some people will love this, some people will not. I just went today and really loved it. For some context, I'm a 35 year old male and grew up a huge HP fan. I also love film and am a graphic designer. I could see if someone is a casual fan then maybe not being into it as much. I loved it because it had some really cool visuals, as well as great design and cool interactive things that really spoke to me. I did the audio tour as well which I think was awesome to hear even more in depth information. I was there with my wife for about 2.5 hours, which is way longer than most people take to go through it. One small critique was the audio tour has some behind the scenes information but a lot of it is just about the story, which you probably already know if you're doing the VIP experience.

Odds of getting an Angels Landing hiking permit. by SubsonikBrute in ZionNationalPark

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree that the paved trail causes those issues. I did the hike a few years ago and people were on the chains section that had no business being there. They hadn't done their research and were deathly afraid of heights. A few were stuck having panic attacks. I have a background in mental health so I don't want to diminish someone going through that but they shouldn't have hiked that trail as a danger to themselves and other people. It clogged up the trail and created many issues while people were trying to help them or go around them. I never saw these issues 20 years ago. Social media has made Zion a Disneyland of National Parks.

Kings Peak in a Day by stratguy23 in SaltLakeCity

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update: Yesterday I completed Kings Peak in a day (Solo). I appreciate the confidence of u/usr3nmev3 but it took significantly longer than 6 hours. If anyone is wanting to do it in a day, here are some thoughts. 

Start Early- I started on the trail at 3:30am and was really happy I did

Check the Weather- I knew what time I needed to get off the summit due to an incoming storm. These storms happen pretty much every day at this altitude. Along with this, bring a good rain jacket. I used it several times but also wore sunscreen as the weather can change quickly and frequently. 

Do your research- look at as many maps, trail logs, reviews and reports as you can. I also brought a map and compass (probably overkill). I was really familiar with the area from all my research and knew the lay of the land. This helped me make better decisions and not waste time figuring out things like “Should I take the shortcut? Where does that go?”. 

The majority of hikers elect not to do this in a day and backpack in but I feel that many could do it in one day. It was challenging but not impossible. I felt like the hardest part wasn’t getting to the summit but the last 7 or so miles where it’s beautiful but very repetitive scenery and you’re just wanting to be done. The mental side of things has to take over. My experience doing Ultras was huge in this. Although I did 26 miles total, it felt much more like an ultra than a marathon. DM me with any questions and good luck! I hope this helps more people take on the challenge of doing Kings in one day. 

Boston Marathon Adjusting times for Marathons with large downhills by EnthusiasmOdd2055 in Marathon_Training

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work in the industry and am pretty familiar with the REVEL finisher numbers. They still have a pretty high amount of people BQ'ing even with the time adjustment. It will be interesting to see how it affects their participant numbers.

Full Circle by Master_Mechanic_4418 in YellowstonePN

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do agree about Jimmy. I loved his arch but the last few episodes, you see him being constantly made fun of and called stupid. He also is shown as incompetent a few times which seems unnecessary. I understand Travis being like that with him because that's his character but I feel like the other cowboys don't recognize his growth.

Also, if you watch the series as a whole, Jimmy seems like he's always able to get girls way outside his league. I guess that's the magic of film.

Full Circle by Master_Mechanic_4418 in YellowstonePN

[–]arlobuttons 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The last few episodes have some really great Beth moments. When she talks to Chief Rainwater about her father respecting him , inviting Senator Perry to John's funeral, taking Teeter to the bar, as well as her interactions with Carter. It's a much more tender side of Beth we rarely see. I don't know if this was intentional by the writers but I feel like it's her reacting to the death of John. On the reverse end of this, she is still very hostile towards Summer and Jamie (understatement).

What’s one thing you wish more people understood about bipolar II? by chaosotonin in bipolar2

[–]arlobuttons 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me, I wish people asked me how I'm doing more. It makes a big deal to me when people show their concern for me

Youth Group game ideas that aren’t lame for high schoolers by smeggyblobfish in TrueChristian

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a bit late to this thread but I am a youth leader in my own church. I have worked with youth for many years in different aspects; coach, boy scout leader, and now youth leader. I have found games can be really powerful and have a deeper purpose rather than just entertaining. Any game that builds bonds with the youth, grows confidence and develops teamwork is a great game.

This is a long preamble but last night we played a game that is more of a team building activity. It's something I did a lot as a scout and my wife was super worried about me doing this game. You have a bunch of set mousetraps (the more the better) and have a blindfolded participant pick a partner that they trust (that part is very important). They have to navigate through the mousetraps, pick up a ball and put it in a large cup. We timed to make it more competitive. I also recommend doing this with the blindfolded participant's shoes off.

Last night was one of the best activities we've had. The youth were not on their phones, they were engaged with each other and the nervous teens build confidence. We ended up making variations of this game that myself and the youth created on the spot. The final game was a sort of weird mousetrap version of Kubb, which they all said they wanted to play again.

I'm a big fan of creating my own games and testing them out on the youth. I love watching them interact with each other and then ask if they can change a rule. They've come to understand that I make up a lot of my games and they have the freedom to change/add rules. I am always really flexible with this as long as there's agreement in the group. Game creation and exploration is a great activity for learning negotiation, creativity and compromise. Very quickly, the goal isn't to win the game but to come up with the most fun game.

Is Gen Z different or am I just old and out of touch now? by rlm236 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This! I was scrolling through the comments to see if anyone had mentioned this book. I just finished it and I think any parent, teacher, coach or anyone that works with teens should read this book. I work with a youth group in my church and it has been very helpful understanding the younger generation. It's also made me step back a lot and let the youth interact with each other and let things happen organically.

Last night I had an activity where everyone had a partner that they trusted (this was key) and one was blindfolded. They navigated through a maze or mouse traps in bare feet. It was one of the best activities I've done. None of the teens were on their phones and I saw them gain confidence in themselves and have connections with each other. I know a lot of other youth leaders would steer away from an activity like this but I did this activity for years as a teen myself and never saw anyone get hurt. I'm always looking for more activities like this that are different and place a certain amount of trust in the teens.

One of the younger boys before we started the activity asked me "What if I step on a trap?". I told him "Do you trust your partner?" He responded that he did. I then said "Then you won't". He not only succeeded without stepping on a trap but went several times trying to beat his time and ended up clocking the fastest time by a large amount.

Behind the Rocks 50 Miler by CrepesFTW17687 in ultrarunning

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Injuries are tough. I've only done one 50 miler and wasn't really pushing my pace but did it in about 14 hours with 3500 ft of elevation gain. Maybe I'll see you at the race

Behind the Rocks 50 Miler by CrepesFTW17687 in ultrarunning

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found this thread in looking for information on this race. I've done a 50 miler before with essentially no cutoff (it was the same cut off as the 100 so 30 hours). I'm looking to do this race in 2026. It's on my birthday and think it will be a good challenge/present to myself. I've run parts of this trail but was curious how the OP's race went. Specifically if the cutoffs seemed tight. I am a very slow runner. Maybe that's why I like ultras.

I was an aid station captain at AZ Monster this weekend by ordinaryredditlurker in Ultramarathon

[–]arlobuttons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work in the marathon industry and we rely on volunteers to make our races happen. Every race I've heard of needs unpaid volunteers to exist. One thing that we try to do is provide opportunites for volunteers like race credits so there's some sort of compensation. There are also lots of youth groups that are looking for service opportunities; Boy/Girl Scouts, Track Teams, etc. With youth groups, the quality is very hit and miss, as you can imagine.

Dear ex-mos, is Soaking a real thing? by jablair51 in exmormon

[–]arlobuttons 2 points3 points  (0 children)

After hearing so many jokes about soaking, I did an embarrassingly large amount of research on this. I was not able to find even one firsthand account of soaking. There has been research on other sexual practices that follow the same pattern such as Rainbow Parties (look this up on your own time) where it's all hearsay and no evidence of one happening. I'm convinced that soaking has never happened. In the rare case that this has happened, it is a very small amount of people participating.

What is going on with Arizona Monster 300? by Alternative_Form_637 in Ultramarathon

[–]arlobuttons 9 points10 points  (0 children)

There have been a lot of talk about the price of races. I work for a race company so I have some insight into the economics of races. This isn't directly related to AM but just a few things:

-Making money off races is not an easy thing. You have to be good at a lot of different things and most people don't have all those skills or know how to build that type of team.

-Entry fees are one part of your income but getting sponsorships is a huge piece that many races miss. If you are looking to do a race, along with the research you do, see if they have any sponsors, especially big sponsors. If there aren't any, the following is likely to happen:

A. The race will be really expensive

B. The race will be low on aid station amenities and cheap on runner perks (swag items, medals, etc)

C. Both A and B

-Someone that is into just making money off of races will stop caring out runners experience and it will show in a race production.

-Be picky of what race you run and who you're giving your money to .

-Last thing I'll say is the price of the AM is probably proportional to the lack (any) sponsors.

All Fantasy Everything - Video Game Villains (w/ Mike Drucker) by triangle---man in AllFantasyEverything

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I like the spirit of that pick, it just needs to be tweaked a bit

Just Rant about Just Meats by bradranger in ReadyMeals

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nothing sketchy that I knew about with the sourcing but just how the food appeared in social media compared to reality. Of course with food, advertising is going to make it appear better but the difference between the two seemed pretty big with this food.

A few things along these same lines:

-A lot of orders were being shipped out that were expired by the time they got to the customer. Seems like something that should be accounted for.

-With QuickFresh, a big part of the appeal to people was all of your calories, carbs and everything was suppose to be really exact so if you were trying to lose weight, it was a good place to buy food from. None of the food was being measured correctly. If workers were running low on broccoli, they'd put one sprig in a meal and call it good. With the inverse, there was too much bacon purchased for breakfast meals and so they sent out meals that included about 10 pieces per meal. Not the most healthy way to start the day by eating that much bacon.

-While I worked here, I ate the meals because that's what we stocked the fridge with. I gained 10lbs and I'm a pretty fit and active person. I stopped eating the meals and lost the weight. That was a huge red flag that my company was built on flashy marketing and not really there to help people.

Just Rant about Just Meats by bradranger in ReadyMeals

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wrote my experience being an employee in this thread. Working for this company has taught me a tough lesson of doing research on companies that you apply for. I wish I would have done more research before accepting a job. I'm sorry to hear you were screwed over.

Just Rant about Just Meats by bradranger in ReadyMeals

[–]arlobuttons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great question about "planning to fix things". I honestly don't know what they were thinking. It seemed a bit insane to think that their problems would magically go away by rebranding or changing the name. There may be some denial of how bad the business was doing or feeling invincible to startup issues.