Walmsley’s OTQ bid - Houston half marathon

You know every time Walmsley is contested he folds like a cheap tent. I suggest the cocochina cowgerls camp at mile 10 to help him when he dnf’s.

SouthernFriedRealist wrote:

I see this as him testing the waters a bit to see if he can go out there and run a sub 2:19. If he can run 65-66, he should have no problem running an OTQ a month or two later with some "real" marathon training.

I had this same thought...like maybe the 1:04 qualifier is his "Pie in the sky" target but really his goal is to trial this race. See how he does at the pace and see if he can make a legit run (pun intended) at sub 2:19.

Will be interesting to watch his buildup over the next month and half as he gets ready for this. More road and track workouts? More flat land running?

I can kind of see this. He has nothing left for Western States which I would venture a guess means his next main need to cross off is Mont Blanc. He can run a January half and if things go well but he doesn’t hit a standard he has time to jump all in and chase it at a spring event, possibly. Even if it’s an early spring race he is probably skating a bit thin on time to really get prepared for UTMB. It’s the Sage conundrum all over again.

The more I think about it I see 8 weeks of hammering with the NAZ guys and going for broke in Houston. If it doesn’t happen he turns his focus back to UTMB and his sponsors.

I agree. He completely folded at WS this year with everyone paying attention. Horrible performance.

Let's root FOR Walmsley. It's a cool story if he's able to get it. He seems like an incredibly likeable guy (minus the drunk interview..ha) and obviously works his butt off.

I hate how he is criticized for going out hard and front-running, yet everyone on these boards whines and bitches how every track race and a lot of road marathons use "sit and kick" tactics producing "slower" times.

This

People can't hate on sit and kicks and hard running at the same. Pick your poison.

Agreed wrote:

This

People can't hate on sit and kicks and hard running at the same. Pick your poison.

Did you ever think about how there are different people that post on these boards and they might have different opinions, which is why you see both opinions mentioned on these boards?

I hope he goes out at a suicidal pace and hold somehow to finish in 63 high.

OTQ or DNF, there's nothing in between for Walms.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

I had this same thought...like maybe the 1:04 qualifier is his "Pie in the sky" target but really his goal is to trial this race. See how he does at the pace and see if he can make a legit run (pun intended) at sub 2:19.

Based off the one interview I've seen, I think he doesn't want to devote too much time to this. I'd think his chances would be much better in the Marathon, but he said he was going to do a the half just to get it over with. We'll see, but I'm guessing he goes out at 1:04 pace and tries to hang on for dear life. Either he gets it or DNFs. It will be interesting to see and will finally put this debate about whether ultra runners are elite or not to rest. No just kidding. The only sure thing you can predict out of all of this is that, whether he gets an OTQ or not, nobody is going to change their opinion about him or ultra running.

Walmsley isn't even a real ultra runner. Dude only has done a few 100's. He only picks races he can win easy or where he stands to profit. He's not doing it for the love of the mountains or to run beyond his limits. He'll never win UTMB, he'll never run races like Tor or multi day races or do any long routes such as Nolan's. He is in it purely for his ego and is scared of real ultra's which is why he chokes at places like UTMB. Most real ultra runners don't even like Walmsley, his fans are all the recent bandwagon fat ultra hobby joggers that can't even imagine running a single 6min mile. Just go look at the comments from his fans where they are like '6min pace on that terrain, I can't even! OMG!' Their fat asses never can barely muster a 8min pace tempo.

Real ultra runners know Kilian is the truth. You don't see Kilian saying he's going to try to qualify for the olympics because he doesn't give a sh*t. He loves what he does and doesn't have a fragile ego. When he dropped from UTMB this year he was like 'oh well' and moved on, he didn't wallow in pity like a little b*tch and then decide he needs to prove himself to a bunch of nobodies online. He doesn't choose races purely on how much he stands to gain monetarily. He's a true ultra runner because he loves to challenge himself in toughest terrain available.

From a training perspective it makes perfect sense. This is the time of year to focus on getting faster at shorter events. No matter how he does it will help him running longer races later in the year.

I agree. The most annoying thing about this, are the fanboys who have no clue.

UltraTrail wrote:

The dude averaged 8:42 per mile for 100 miles with 18,000 ft of climbing and in 100 degree heat at Western States...and ran 6:34 per mile for 50 miles at JFK..your claimed 12:00 miles is false...

+1 He ran 13:52/29:08 in college. That, for sure, puts him in the conversation for it. I think Sage is a good example because you do lose some leg speed training for ultras. I do think Sage has been ready for sub-2:19 over the last couple of years. I think he ran 2:19 in Houston and in Boston. The Boston result wasn't in the best weather. He probably had a 2:17-18 in him. But back to Walmsley. This will be a good result to look at in the ultra/roads+track debate. I would love to see him in Atlanta. I do think he'd have more success going after a full marathon since it's no longer a 1:05 that gets in. 1:04:00 is a pretty strong mark. I think he'll be awfully close. Even if he runs 1:05-1:06 I would still think he can run a marathon and go under 2:19. I'm rooting for him. Going to go on record with a 1:03:53. He still has two months to do some specific training. I hope he hits the tracks and roads for his workouts.

> 1:05:00 He's a hobby jogging choker

< 1:05:00 He's a doper

NewtotheSouthSide wrote:

He ran 13:52/29:08 in college.

For perspective, when he ran that 29:08 he finished 5 places in front of Jared Ward. But that was also 6 years ago. When is the last time he ran a flat sub 5 mile? 1:04 is back to back+ 30:20 10ks.

Fortheglorious wrote:

Looks like we will get to see soon enough what he is capable of on the roads. Just announced on his Strava.

It all depends on how seriously he takes the training. He is more than capable of running sub-64 - if he puts in some decent work on the track over the next couple months I predict 63:27.

team Unruly Bush wrote:

NewtotheSouthSide wrote:

He ran 13:52/29:08 in college.

For perspective, when he ran that 29:08 he finished 5 places in front of Jared Ward. But that was also 6 years ago. When is the last time he ran a flat sub 5 mile? 1:04 is back to back+ 30:20 10ks.

I'm not sure if he's done a flat fast mile since this strava post -

which was in the final week of his build up to States this year. 5x1 mile repeats with the last two being 4:57 and 4:55.

Oh. So quite recent.

One thing for sure is NO one in LetsRun can beat him at any distance half mary or above.