Ignorance of letsrun staff on ultras

There's more nuance to it than that. You could make an argument that lots of great sprinters are in the NBA or NFL. But so many of these athletes get some exposure to track, in fact, many of them participated at some point.

Ultra running is different. The closest you get to it is cross country, and cross country is nowhere near as popular as something like football in the US. And even then, cross country is a far cry from actual ultra and trail running. How do you get a start in ultra running? It's not easy at all and requires a lot of things before you can even begin.

There's money in ultras, how else do you think Jim Walmsley was able to move to France with no other job besides running? I wouldn't be surprised if Courtney Dauwalter is one of the highest paid female athletes in America.

Yeah, there's money, not much though. More than ever, but AFAIK the UTMB winners got like 10 grand. Rupp gets more than that to sit on the starting line. Like, probably a literal handful of ultra runners make decent money.

Got to love the delusions of ultra fans.

Courtney who? You mean, like, the drill?

Perhaps Rojo is too busy calling super agents to negatively impact the careers of young aspiring female middle distance runners to learn much about ultras? That’s from another podcast and other threads. But Rojo is not responding in those despite his promises to take actions so I will find him in this thread or another. His statements will have an accounting! Tune in for the entertainment!

So the position you are taking is that East Africans will not dominate ultras, despite their dominance of all other areas of distance running?

Also, if this person is serious, they really think Dauwalter makes more than Sha'Carri, Mu, or Sidney? And that's just track. Do they have any idea how much the Williams sisters were making? Or Biles?

You don't see them dominating other aspects of endurance sports. Mountain ultra running is more similar to xc skiing and skimo as far as the demands on the body. When have you seen them dominate those sports? I would be surprised if a 2:05 Marathoner would even finish UTMB or CCC.

Walmsley is arguably the greatest Ultra Runner of all time.

The question is what does the 50th or 100th ranked ultra runner make.

That said, give Walmsley credit where it’s due. Had he stayed with Marathons, he’d be a 2:15 guy with a day job.

You know why East Africans don't do much XC skiing? It's the same reason Jamaicans don't bobsled.

Skimo? Congrats, you just named an even more obscure sport than mountain ultra running.

It's all about barrier to entry and potential earnings.

Endurance sports like skiing or triathlon are expensive. Kenya and Ethiopia are poor countries and from my understanding it doesn’t snow much there.

Cool story buddy!

While we're all arguing, I just want to say, I don't think ultra running is inferior or that it's a dumb sport or anything like that. It's a niche sport and if you want to do it, more power to you. I have nothing but respect for people who do it.

I do, however, have a problem with the self-importance of the ultra world — as wonderfully highlighted by this thread. It's a niche sport with no money, and yet people believe it's as competitive as the NYC marathon.

I recently read this article and my eyes did a few barrelrolls into the back of my brain.

trailrunnermag.com

New Study Highlights Critical Steps Toward Equity in the Trail Running Community

zoe hrom

The Running Industry Diversity Coaltion’s study emphasizes the long road ahead for achieving racial equity in trail and ultrarunning

Open link

How much self-centeredness does it take to look at an issue that stems from centuries of systematic abuse, and say, "Well, how do we get more non-white people into our sport?" They're looking at the entirety of class disparity, a problem we may never solve, and trying to distill it down into some studies for their microcosm of a sport so they can pat themselves on the back.

Arguing with people who believe, "My favorite event is the best and all others are inferior" is a total waste of time. It's also the oldest, and dumbest take, in the book. But that won't stop people from forming this opinion and standing by it.

I don't know why this is being down voted as the proof is really none other than Jim Walmsley. You finally have a guy who can run a pretty decent marathon and he dominates. The "sport" is still relatively young and growing. Look at Western State's history - Scott Jurek won 7 years in a row and not once did he run it faster than Courtney did this year.

I agree that not every top marathon runner will become a good ultrarunner, but without a doubt, if every top marathon runner trained specifically for ultras and raced them, a bunch of them will dominate, they will win every ultra and break every ultra-record that has been set. Pay them all to live and train in Chamonix and they will win UTMB.

And, not an ultra, but in the trail running world, it's happening. Who came top three in Sierra-Zinal this year? Kiriago, Kipngeno and Kibet.

Just remember that Jurek was GOAT 15 years ago and people argued guy like Walmsley couldn’t “finish” an ultra lol.

if 125 pound Walmsley can dominate, there’s a slew of Africans that could as well.

let’s say Walmsley stays in the navy and never goes ULTRA, now we have 15 min 5k Zach Miller winning UTMB lol. Ultras are a COMPLETE joke and less competitive than a college quad meet.

You are absolutely high if you think the only sport higher paying that running with exceptional athletes are in the NFL.

What does your average Kenyan marathoner make? Not Kipchoge, I am talking average? Go look at how little it is compared to nearly every major sport.

You guys are living in a fantasy if you think there are not thousands of athletes in various other sports that would dominate the running world if running actually paid more.

You just need to look where runners are going.

Lots of failed long distance runners moved to ultras and suddenly became "good".

How many failed ultrarunnners moved down to road marathons or 10ks and became "good"? I'm not aware of any.

It's hands down a weaker talent pool.