V10 N. 41 Artsakh? Wanna Go There and Run? Jay Birmingham Does!

   

The Artsakh flag

Here at OUTV offices we're guessing that  99% of our readers, admittedly a well educated lot, have no idea what an Artsakh is or where one can be found.  No, it is not some new exotic product you'll find in your sock drawer.
                                                           
      Okay, now maybe you've done a computer search,  and you have a clue.  Artsakh is one of the newest states in the world.  It is so new that most nations do not officially recognize its sovereignty.   It is east of Armenia and Turkey; it is north of Iran; it is west of Azerbaijan.  It is a Christian enclave hemmed in by ancient conflict and animosities that go back well over one thousand years.  Azerbaijan thinks Artsakh should belong to them.  Armenia looks on Artsakh as kissing cousins.  And Mother Russia sheds a tear for a lost child who left the fold.   More than half the Artsakh army is made up of Armenian soldiers.  A century ago, Turkey thought that a genocide was the answer to an Armenian problem.  Iran must  also have some interest in that area, though what it is, we have no clue.  For much of the 20th century the old Soviet Union brought a form of peace to the region with its own version of colonialism.

     As  recently as 1994, the Atsakhs and Azerbaijanis were duking it out militarily. Azerbaijan would like access to some gold and copper deposits across the border that they had already been exploiting for years when many of these central Asian  nations had been part of the USSR.  And well, darnit, it just seems like a good idea from the Azebaijani point of view.  One of the concerning things about the region was the land mining of the area during latest conflict.   Mines were laid in the region from 1991 to 1994 by both conflicting parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) claims that 123 people have been killed and over 300 injured by landmines near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)  since a 1994 truce ended a six-year conflict between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.
The HALO Trust, a UK-based demining NGO, is the only international organisation conducting demining in Nagorno Karabakh. They have destroyed 180,858 small arms ammunition, 48,572 units of “other explosive items,” 12,423 cluster bombs, 8,733 anti-personnel landmines, and 2,584 anti-tank landmines between 2000–2016.^[49] By 2018, they had cleared 88% of the territory's minefields, with a target to clear the rest by 2020. The main cities of Stepanakert and Shushi, as well as the main north–south highway, have been cleared and are safe for travel. The demining effort has been largely funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

      Why do we at OUTV even care about these things?  We're a track and field blog.  The reason we care is because Jay Birmingham wants to run a six day stage race in that hemmed in country and return to tell about it.   A stage race would mainly be on old trails used by shepherds, caravans, and smugglers  to move between remote mountain villages.   Some are no wider than a tire track.  The organizer of the event is Chris Kostman, the founder of AdventureCORPS.  He was inspired by Telma Ghazarian Altoon, an Armenian ultra runner who has participated in many other ultra events.   She introduced Kris to the region.

Wikipedia says this about the state "Since no UN member or observer currently recognizes Artsakh, none of its foreign relations are of an official diplomatic nature. However, the Republic of Artsakh operates five permanent Missions and one Bureau of Social-Politic Information in France. Artsakh's Permanent Missions exist in Armenia, Australia, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and one for Middle East countries based in Beirut.The goals of the offices are to present the Republic's positions on various issues, to provide information and to facilitate the peace process."

 
     But let us digress and turn to Jay Birmingham and see why a 74 year old man with a lot of experience in long distance running would like at this time in life, and we might add, during a time of pandemic,  to go to a distant country in the southern Caucasus to run a 6 day stage race.

     Jay, as some of you may know, has an incredible resume when it comes to long distance running.   If there is one more mountain range to cross, one more desert to traverse, one more trail or road to be run, Jay is up for the task.  He has soloed across America from west to east.  He has run from Maine to Key West.  He has completed the Badwater run from Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney, and at age 74 is currently participating in the Great Virtual Run Across Tennessee (GVRAT) averaging about 17 miles a day.   Many of these runs he has done solo, unsupported by a fifth wheel and a team of dieticians, physiotherapists, masseuses, and pacers.  Jay is originally from Wilmington, Ohio.  He was a half miler in high school, never ran over a mile in training.  When he started in college, he went to the University of Dayton, a school without a track or cross country program at the time.  There he met some high school runners training on the roads.  He trained with them that summer and eventually went up to Worthington High School outside of Columbus and ran his first road race and liked it.  The organizers there suggested he go down to Monroe, Ohio where regular road races were being held. 

     After that first year in Dayton Jay transferred  to Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio, but  they too didn't have a cross country team.  He started one, but since he couldn't be a student and a coach, he got a faculty member to sign off as the coach.  NCAA rules being what they were and still  are, he also had to sit out a year due to transferring, even though neither school had a team.  From there he got into road running around the Southwest Ohio bluegrass and rust belt as a young man.   He ran for the Ohio Valley Track Club and learned that old guys in their mid twenties could still be running like 25 year old Steve Price, one of our OUTV research and editorial team.  Jay started getting savvy to longer running.

     Grad school found him at Michigan State University where he helped organize the Mid Michigan TC.  They just contacted the Road Runners Club of America and followed their instructions for forming a club.  That club is still functioning.  Jay stayed there one year.

He then returned to Ohio and co-founded the Ohio River Road Runners Club with Steve Price.  That club is also still functioning, just as Jay Birmingham still is functioning.

     As a junior in college Jay ran his first marathon, the Heart of America Marathon in St. Louis, MO.  He did so well, 10th overall in 2:51.57, that it was a shock.  He has now done 72 marathons, twenty of them in the 2:40's.  His best was Boston running for the Jacksonville (FL) Track Club placing 441st in 1978 in 2:39.13.  That's his favorite course.

     He has run Boston 4 times, NYC 6.  His second marathon was Pikes Peak.  With his graduate degree he found himself teaching Anatomy and Physiology in Blair, Nebraska as well as Omaha where he ran another 4-6 marathons.  He also worked at a local hospital as an ER aid and helped with autopsies.

      In 1973 he got into two a day trainings and eventually longer races including the JFK 50 miler in Hagerstown, MD where he finished 20th out of 1200 runners.  He managed to squeeze in another master's degree in  exercise physiology  at Adams State in Alamosa, CO.

Jay in his coaching days in Florida

     He eventually settled in Jacksonville, Florida and taught school and coached his school's cross country and  track teams while going on these incredible running adventures in the summers.

     In 1977 he attempted his first Transamerica run.  He actually tried twice that year and broke down both times.   Then Ted Corbitt suggested that he try it like Don Shepherd did in 1964, unaccompanied.  Bruce Tulloh, attempted and completed the run, but was accompanied by a support team.  And of course, the Bunion Derbies in the 1920s had been done with support, but still under very primitive conditions.    In 1978, Jay followed Bruce Tulloh's route and made it in 71 days 22 hours and 59 minutes.  His longest day was 59 miles in Ohio.  The shortest day was 0 miles in Amarillo due to a sore shin.    Six to eight times he had to hitchhike to a place where he could sleep in a motel, then hitchhike back the next morning to recommence from where he had left off.

Here is a five minute video about Jay's Trans America done by an Oklahoma news station.
                       Jay Birmingham Runs Across America

     Jay mentioned there is a website for USA Crossers up to 2014.  John Wallace III is blog master.  There are 32 crossers since 1978 though over 300 others  have claimed to have done it.  Go to  usacrossers.com   There are numerous different routes, so it is not easy to compare results.  Jay is listed as the 106th crosser.  How many have done it unassisted is not mentioned.

     With all the incredible feats in running, the most he has received financially were a couple of pair of running shoes.  One of his more interesting efforts was a solo run geared to go through every state in the lower 48.   That is one of the few things he did not complete, not because of lack of ability, but mainly out of boredom.  In his words, "In 1988 I attempted to run through every state on the lower 48.   I lasted 147 days and got overwhelmed by the tedium and the constant interviews at every stopping point and decided to end it.  Got through 26 states trying to run at least one day in each one.  Totalled 4, 526 miles.  Two key dates I had to deal with were the Women's Olympic Trials  in Pittsburgh, because I had several athletes competing there, and then there was my high school class reunion in Wilmington where I had been class president."

      If you have a lot of free time on your hands,  in this period of pandemic, try mapping the shortest route through all the lower 48 states.  It would also depend on what you select as a starting point.


     Jay had come into an inheritance that enabled him to devote the time to the 48 state run.  He obviously had to miss some of the school year.  To complete the whole run would have taken about 12,000 miles.  He travelled with a backpack, and that was it.  He had already tried it once in 1984  and dropped out after 1700 miles. 

      I met Jay briefly on that run in west central Ohio between the towns of New Bremen and St. Marys on State Route 66.  We had a brief chat and he and his old friend Steve Price continued on that leg.  There is speculation that Steve went 20 miles with Jay that day, but that is the stuff of legends.

     These days Jay says he prefers stage running, a race run over several days over a fixed course and distance which may vary each day.  But the whole spectrum of racing appeals to him.  Today he would be lucky to break 10 minutes for a mile.  He trains at 12/13 minute pace.  He always trained slower than he raced.

     Since retiring from teaching in December, 2018, Jay has started increasing from his 20-30 miles per week.  He had an eye injury, detached retina, and had to reduce his  pace from 10 minute miles to the slower 12/13 min./mile.  He can drop into a 50Km race one month and a 5Km the next.
                                               


    So how did Jay get the idea to go to Artsakh and compete in this six day race?  Well,  Chris Kostman who founded AdventureCORPS that promotes the Badwater race every year, made contact with someone in Artsakh about promoting tourism in the country by staging an international event.  They sponsor several heavy duty endurance runs including a three race series, the Badwater Ultra Cup each year. Jay is a member of the Badwater Hall of Fame, so I imagine he reads their newsletter and was inspired by this new event.
His answer to me on that question was:   " I first heard about the country of Artsakh two years ago at the  2018 Badwater Cape Fear race in North Carolina.  Then, in October 2019, race promoter Chris Kostman posted the information about the 6-day, 160-mile event.  I was immediately captivated: A remote, little-known country, mountainous, rich religious tradition, stage-race format.  Turns out, I was the first person to enter! "

You can learn all about the Artsakh Ultra at  https://www.badwater.com/blog/2020-artsakh-pr/

 Artzakh barely has a sport history with only a few cross border soccer matches in the area.  This is going to be something new for the populace.  It will make them feel more a part of the world instead of apart from the world.  Least that's how we read it here on the 14th floor at OUTV.

Below are some stock photos of the Artsakh landscape.  It is a mountainous country and there will be a lot elevation changes (26,000 feet)  in the Artsakh Ultra event.  Distances will vary each day from 16-34  miles.  Much of the run will be along the Jananpur Trail.  About 10 miles will be on pavement.   By the way the entry fee is $3200 and the cheapest flight from Miami Beach to Yerevan,  the capital of Armenia is $1500.  I think the entry fee covers your ground transport, food and accomodation during the event, but don't quote me on that.  The organizers are hoping for at least 30 international runners to come to the race.  In light of the current pandemic, on June 1, the organizers will make an announcement about whether  the event will be taking place this year.  It is scheduled to run from August 29 to September 4.

Yes, it's going to be hilly

"This is the kind of great stuff that the ave person doesn’t get to experience."   Mike W.

"Some day in the next 30 years Jay will no longer be with us, but he can absolutely say he got the most out of his time on Earth."  Bill Schnier


"George,

Loved the story about Jay.  Here its something I wrote about him 3-4 years ago."

Bob Roncker

http://gcincyrunhistory.blogspot.com/2016/10/v1-46-jay-birmingham-usa.html

(If you are interested in a much more detailed account of Jay's TransAmerica run, check out the link above.  Much of it is in his own words.  Thanks, Bob. ed.)