What is the point of a 50k World Championship when there is a Marathon World Championship?

To give non-East African B-listers something to win.

To give the fringe people who aren't good enough to do well in the marathon something to brag about. Notice all the "ultra-runners" are those with something to prove. They weren't necessarily the top-notch athletes. They move up because it is "easier" to compete well there. The competition isn't as steep.

THANK you!

Which race distances should be allowed then, to avoid redundancy? Where is there a significant enough difference in a race distance to not be redundant? Is there a significant enough difference between a 3k and a 5k? Is a steeple allowable to make it different enough? Is cross country different than track? Does it matter if it's indoors or outdoors? etc.

Ultra also has it's own governing body, is that allowed?

Why do they allow D1, D2, D3, etc. and they all have their own "championships"? Why?

Please describe your uniform allowable running distances and the name of the new league all runners must run under.

Next year I'm hosting a 26.3 mile World Championships from my house - the only of it's kind. It's not an Olympic event and there is no prize money, but my wife is pretty good at sewing and we put "TEAM USA" on the from of some Fruit-O'-The Loom tees. Anyone welcome.

Farlflung wrote:

To give non-East African B-listers something to win.

Have they banned the EAs from running the 50k world champs?

FruityLoomy wrote:

Next year I'm hosting a 26.3 mile World Championships from my house - the only of it's kind. It's not an Olympic event and there is no prize money, but my wife is pretty good at sewing and we put "TEAM USA" on the from of some Fruit-O'-The Loom tees. Anyone welcome.

Perfect, thank you - because if you really did that, who cares? It just would not matter except to you.

I know very little about ultra running, because I'm just not interested in it. The most I ever hear about it is people bashing it on here. It is crazy how insecure and pathetic people get about other people holding races/events that can't possibly affect them in any way. And, the people bashing it are people who are just not very good at running any distance yet get all twisted up about somebody running a distance they don't agree with. It's just ridiculous.

And if people are so obsessed with "allowable" distances, surely fixed metric distances would be the way to go? So instead of 26.2 miles there should just be a 40K race? Or maybe 45K? Or does anything more than 30k matter? Is it all the same once you get past which distance?

IamGroot wrote:

While the 100k makes sense as a beast worthy of an Ultra World Championship, the 50k has some redundancy to it. The Olympic Trials standards were raised were supposed to make our best runners train harder, smarter, and embrace something called "sacrifice" in their lives. Instead, I see the 2:18-2:22 settling for less and chasing cheap glory, hoping their precious fans don't notice the difference when they are crowned "World Champion".

I vote that the event either gets pulled out as World Championship to push the runners to the more plausible 100k or Kenenisa Bekele gets a bonus check next year to remind these cheap glory-seekers what being a World Champion entails on this "Alt-Marathon" perversion of an Olympic classic event.

World Champion and World Record Holder Robert Young was counting on no one noticing the difference…until some people here at LRC did notice the difference.

All of your ideas are excellent.

At this point in time there are NO ULTRAS IN THE OLYMPICS.

Let's keep it that way.

Let's also eliminate all the stupid racewalking events at all competitions anywhere in the universe…forever.

I can't stand a Doper-Cheater-Liar- Racewalker that would involve the wonderful figure skater Carolina Kostner in their constant doping/racewalking nonsense.

In conclusion:

All racewalking competition must be STOPPED.

They're doing it to encourage marathoners to step up and try an ultra distance. Not a bad way to try and increase participation and be a stepping stone to longer ultras.

You know how a marathon is a 20-mile run followed by a 10K race? Well, a 50K is a marathon followed by an 8K race. So there!

I don't see these 2:18-2:22 dudes showing any interest in attacking the 100k's, they are just hanging out in the 50k hiding from the Marathon.

They hold the 50k World Championships to see who and how many of the best marathoners in the world are SCARED AND AFRAID to run the extra distance required to join the exclusive club of ULTRAMARATHONERS. It has worked so far as many have been shamed and ridiculed by those with the iron will and stamina to compete.

Although this thread is a bit ridiculous, I do agree that the 50k road world champs are silly. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Kipchoge/Bekele couldn't run an extra 8k to win these races by many minutes.

I don't care if they keep running them, but they need to stop pretending that the win is something to brag about.

yezzzzir wrote:

Although this thread is a bit ridiculous, I do agree that the 50k road world champs are silly. .

Are you calling me silly or ridiculous?

I'm calling you both.

Why does Ultra have it's own governing body? Rejected by USATF?

Geb crushed the competition over 10000m on he track but his best 12K cross country was 3rd. It is not a given that a fast marathoner will do well in a trail 50K. I could definitely see Walmsley beating Rupp over a tough 50K.

For orthopedic health and aesthetics I do most of my training on trails. It makes sense that that is where I would prefer to race (planning my first 50K this spring after six marathons). I have no interest in pounding my bones on the road anymore, but if any other washed-up geezers want to meet up on the track over 800m I will be there next summer as well ;)

And yeah, all distances over 100m are just untalented wannabes ducking the real competition.

How does having a Marathon, 50K and 100K World Championship positively or negatively effect your life? It has zero effect on my life. Why do you care?

NeverSeeHer wrote:

I don't see these 2:18-2:22 dudes showing any interest in attacking the 100k's, they are just hanging out in the 50k hiding from the Marathon.

Max King won the 100k world championship and then qualified for the Olympic trials in the marathon. He does do quite a few 50ks.