Hoka Carbon X project 100k WR Attempt Official Thread (Sponsored by HOKA ONE ONE)

If this is the right course, there won't be any world record. It's a downhill course. Just like the Boston Marathon.

Not sure why these guys are even bother with this.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29541053

Interesting. What if several of them are on track for the 50 mile record? Will they try to outsprint each other for the record even though they need to run another 12 miles afterward?

I believe having the start and finish within 50% of the distance is a factor (Boston does not meet this, but London does) for eligible courses. The elevation difference is 159', which is well inside the allowable amount

The devil is in the details wrote:

If this is the right course, there won't be any world record. It's a downhill course. Just like the Boston Marathon.

Not sure why these guys are even bother with this.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29541053

I believe the rules allow the start and finish to be 1/3 (or maybe 1/2) the race distance apart, with a maximum of 1/kilometer drop. This course seems to be about 20 miles of point to point running which drops around 200 feet to the finish line, then a repeated loop around the finish line. It seems like a course that is designed to be almost as aided as it is legal for a course to be.

It also looks similar to the Cal International Marathon course, although I'm not familiar enough with Sacramento of CIM to know if its mostly the same route.

Phantasy Star wrote:

Literally 5 or 6 people on Earth have ever been "contenders" for the "best 100k runner". It's meaningless.

Previous 100k record holder had either a 2:10 or 2:12 marathon PB, current record holder at it has a 2:17 marathon PB.

a course can be net downhill as long as the average is under 1m/km, so 1/1000 or 0.1%. the elevation drop will be about 200 feet over 50+ miles. call it 250 to be conservative (as the course isn't public yet) and that's 250/(5200*50) = 0.096% realistically it will be even less than that as the race doesn't end at sea level.

can also be point-to-point as long as the start and finish aren't separated by 50% of the distance of the course. for this race the separation is 18 miles out of 62, or 18 out of 50, so they're good.

It fits within IAAF per mile drop rule. Remember this is over 100km, not 42.2km.

Novan wrote:

It also looks similar to the Cal International Marathon course, although I'm not familiar enough with Sacramento of CIM to know if its mostly the same route.

The course runs somewhat parallel to the CIM course for around 18 miles. The CIM course is on Fair Oaks Blvd. The 100k is on the Parkway (no cars, just bikes and runners) which in many places is adjacent to Fair oaks blvd. At around 18 the 100k starts doing 5 mile loops so that it ends at around 1/4 mile from the 19.5 mile mark of CIM.

Wish it was open to other elite road ultra runners. Odd to do it in a year with no World 100k team

The organizers did a really poor job of alerting the local community. This trail cannot officially be closed except for 2 events. When the trail is officially closed i.e. cops on motorbikes kicking people off, it is required that they put signs out at least 2 weeks in advanced. Nobody knows this event is taking place!

This is a really high use trail on the weekends especially now that Sacramento has "May is Bike Month". This means that hundreds of cyclists and runners are going to be on the trail at the same time as the race. On the parkway, runners are supposed to run on the left and cyclists stay on the right ( like on streets).

i guarantee you that if i were trying to set a 100k record, i would be running the tangents. Cyclists are going to be on the right and ride straight into runners cutting the tangents.

These race organizers are obviously clueless.

mark my words, there will be a bike, stroller, or elliptigo vs 100k runner collision.

google it chevin wrote:

Additionally, five teams of ten runners each will simultaneously participate in a 10x10K relay on the same course. A mix of HOKA athletes and athletes from select retail partners, these mixed-gender teams will also seek to break the 10x10K mixed-gender World Record.

Just because you invent some nonsense race doesn't mean you get to call it a world record.

We have written an article where we answer many of the question that you have about the project. https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/05/hoka-project-carbon-x-is-here-a-50-mile-100k-world-record-attempt-by-jim-walmsley-and-others-in-brand-new-carbon-x-shoe/ The one thing that was confusing to me is not everyone is going for the record. I don't think we put this in the article but Mike McManus of Hoka told us that he thought Hideaki Yamauchi, the two-time World Champion at 100k, would go out at a more modest 6:20 for 100k pace along with Patrick Reagan of the US (3rd at 100k World Champs). Now to your questions.

when? wrote:

Did they say May 4th as is this weekend?

Yes, it's this Saturday.

youtube boy wrote:

will it be livecast on youtube like the breaking 2 was for nike?

Yes, the race is on their facebook page for free.

Injurypronefrenchrunner wrote:

who are the other athletes involved in the project?

Read the article.

the trail isn't just closed for 2 events...it's 1 per month. but yeah, it won't be closed for this. keep in mind there will only be like 10 people running.

They're starting at 6am on a Saturday and will be down to the trail between Watt Ave and Guy West at around 7:40am. Hardly going to be much traffic from bikes before 7:30ish. I've done 1000s of miles on this trail and there is never a time of day that I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a tempo run on the paved trail. occasionally you step off to the side when groups of cyclists come. big deal. When the race will be onto the 4.7mi loop from Watt to Guy West, you will be on the south side for half the time, and will experience significantly less traffic on that side.

holy bleep that is a lot of foam

okay this is going to be interesting to watch

now my question is rather how they made it *only* 8.5 ounces with that much

https://imgur.com/a/C3hKz3D

Injurypronefrenchrunner wrote:

who are the other athletes involved in the project?

The 'studs' of this project are Jim at the front, with Tyler Andrews, Patrick Reagan (two well paced 6:35 100Ks to his credit), and Hideaki Yamauchi (6:18, possible wind aided 100km at Lake Saroma). A handful of other recognizable athletes will be participating to various degrees, whether for pacing or otherwise (Sage Canaday, Tim Freriks, Jared Hazen, Hoka Aggies, and a few others).

A lot of foam, but most of that foam in the rear view is wrapped around the sides the heel. Notice that the top of the heel collar is about the same height in the two shoes. RTR article says 32mm heel stack, compared to 31mm in the cheaterflys.

Hoka 4% wrote:

Walmsley claims he's going for a 5:47 mile average. Pretty wild

Editor's note: We have some details on the race here:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/05/hoka-project-carbon-x-is-here-a-50-mile-100k-world-record-attempt-by-jim-walmsley-and-others-in-brand-new-carbon-x-shoe/

The 5:47 sounds ambitious (and based off of past performances, it is), but looking at Don Ritchie's 1978 100km on the track where he ran 6:10:20, he split 50 miles in ~4:53. His competitor in that race Cavin Woodward had previously split 4:57 for 50 miles in a 100 mile race (he faded to 11:38). People forget that the WR for 50 miles was set in a 50 mile race where runners were not time trialing (Bruce Fordyce at the 1984 AMJA 50 in Chicago). For many high octane runners, running much slower than 3 hours for 50K can feel inefficient and unnatural if not practicing that pace. Jim's planned pace is similar to Ritchie's, has a specific time goal to beat (with presumably financial incentives propelling him forward), and better leg speed than Ritchie ever had (though worth noting Ritchie's 2:19 marathon PB was past his prime).

That women's 100k record is incredible. You'd think men would be at about 6 hours flat by now

SteelTownRunner wrote:

For many high octane runners, running much slower than 3 hours for 50K can feel inefficient and unnatural if not practicing that pace.

Could you explain this more? 3 hours for 50k (5:47 pace) and even 3.5 hours for 50k (6:46 pace) are well within the range of paces that any elite runner runs frequently.