Why Do Lets Run Posters Hate Ultra Runners?

Football (real football) existed like... 2000 years before "American football"

Comrades is in a league of its own it will be great to have Jim run it but he will have a bit of competition! He won’t want to be passed by Gerda Steyn

The arguments are usually against the posters claiming that the ultra runners are faster than real marathoners. It is similar to the arguments made against posters who go overboard with their claims about high school girls. So no, Tuohy is not national class, only national class HS. Walmsley will also not make the US marathon team.

Geoff Capes wrote:

This is an easy one... because most runners live by the fact that fast>far but the average person in your office thinks far>fast.

This makes your average runner sad because they’re grinding out 10 miles or more a day with multiple hard sessions and Debbie from

accounts is more impressed with someone that turned up and walked 80% of a 50 miler.

This is exactly right. Anyone who doesn't run has no concept of what a good race time is. They don't know the difference between a 3 hr and a 4hr marathon. They only know that 26.2 miles seems like a really long ways to run. So, they are impressed with anyone who has run very far. The further the better. Doesn't matter if it was at 12 min pace or 5 min pace. They don't really have an innate feel for what those paces feel like. But they do know that 50 miles is a whole lot further than 5k.

Commy bad wrote:

The arguments are usually against the posters claiming that the ultra runners are faster than real marathoners.

The only place where that might be the case is in the recent Walmsley threads but the ultra hate here has been around much longer than that trend.

It's basically more tribal BS. "The type of running you enjoy or find challenging isn't the type of running I enjoy or find challenging. Therefore your type of running is stupid and not real running."

And to the poster who said ultra runners don't work hard? Just be quiet. What you think of as hard work isn't the only form of hard work.

I was a sprinter in HS, worked more on 3 milers when I was in The Corps, and now in my 50's I'm more of a marathoner who's starting to dabble in ultras. Not because I'm older and slowing down, still run 100m-5000m at my clubs summer track series, but because I can see the value in all forms of running and looking for new ways to challenge myself.

If you can only see value in the things that you like, then you lead a very small life. Step outside your bubble from time to time and you might learn something.

What kind of a crazy person enjoys running (and walking) 100 miles?

?‍♂️

I consider myself a road runner, but I've run a couple of ultras that are in my backyard, a 50K and a 70 miler. I think the hate comes in because #1, a lot of ultra runners translate higher mileage "races" into higher levels of deserved respect. And #2, many ultra runners don't let on that they don't actually run the entire distance. Not all ultra runners are guilty, but many are.

So when I tell people about the 70 miler, it's always with the disclaimer that I didn't run 70 miles (the terrain on this particular ultra is pretty brutal, east coast rocks, roots and hills). I tell them I might have run half of it, shuffled another quarter, and walked a quarter. I also tell them that I stopped many times to go to the bathroom, fill up my water bottle, to talk to the aid station volunteers, to eat, etc. And when I tell non runner people this, they are generally surprised that in a "race" you can stop and eat. So I always say I traveled 70 miles on my own two feet in a single day (it took me 18 hours). I didn't "race" 70 miles. Out of the 150 people who did the race, the top two or three guys and the top girl were "racing". Everyone else was out there to cover the distance.

People on letsrun, who are hard core runners, hate that the ultra runners never clear up the misconceptions about their sport. Letsrunners don't like that the general public might think that someone who shuffles through an ultra, however long, is a better athlete than someone who runs sub 3 marathon or 16 minute 5k. If you're a serious runner, you know the difference. Hence the jealousy over public misconceptions and the hate.

People dislike things they either (1) don't understand or (2) cannot themselves do.

Ergo de facto, amigbro, most skinny runner nerds who only run 5ks take all of the vitriol from being rejected by women and project that onto ultrarunners.

Bearded hipsters, running vests, “finding themselves” types running from reality, tattoos, bro culture, ugly white women, shoe companies that cannot make a decent road shoe, trucker hats , New Age hustlers, balding white guys with ponytails or worse, a man bun, running in flannel shirts.

That’s why I hate them.

The problem with ultrarunning is first of all that it is very difficult to know whether someone did his best or not when race involves chatting and stuff. The other reason is that quite a many respected ultra runners at least here locally have marathon PB around 4 hours. So they can stay awake for days but does it make an athlete or is more like a recretional activity. If I watched tv non stop for 3 days without sleeping, would I be an endurance athlete?

Still I don't think that people hate ultra running.

amigo wrote:

Bearded hipsters, running vests, “finding themselves” types running from reality, tattoos, bro culture, ugly white women, shoe companies that cannot make a decent road shoe, trucker hats , New Age hustlers, balding white guys with ponytails or worse, a man bun, running in flannel shirts.

That’s why I hate them.

Sounds like a list of things you can talk to your therapist about, brotato chip.

So you are balding with a ponytail.

This ^^^^

amigo wrote:

So you are balding with a ponytail.

Nope. Just balding. And not an ultrarunner. Just a keen observer of someone who has obvious issues in their life. Hope you find the help that you need.

Lack of blood flow to the follicles and brain bro.

I skimmed the thread and did not see anyone mention the real reason. It's quite simple, the good folk of letsrun do not respect the times/fitness/pace that the ultra guys run. They believe the standard is low, there is poor strength in depth, and any half decent 10k guy would dominate ultras if they decided to train for them. Therefore it annoys them when a top ultra guy gets so much publicity because they view him as a mediocre athlete. Which is nonsense because you're comparing apples and oranges.

amigo wrote:

Lack of blood flow to the follicles and brain bro.

Hope you get help with that, my man.

As an ultra runner this thread is comical. In many ways peoples attitude here reveals more about themselves than it does anyone else.

First of all, on the 'whats impressive' front, who would you say is the most famous runner among non-runners? Like say you took a world poll, I am willing to bet that it would be Usain Bolt. Who is you guessed it, not an ultra runner, doesnt even run distance. And thats if most people can even name a single runner. So this whole 'people find stupid ultra running more impressive than my super fast 5k' is dumb. Also funny how we have people saying everyone thinks ultra running is more impressive than fast running while at the same time saying nobody cares about ultra running, so they both thinks its impressive and dont care, got it.

Second of all, most ultra runners I know absolutely do respect and are impressed by fast times. In fact all of my friends in the ultra community follow running in general, most have track/XC/road backgrounds and/or still compete in those types of races on a regular basis. The bottom line is that most ultra runners just love running in general, they are obsessive about everything running. They are precise about training, diet, gear etc... just as much if not more so than many that stick to the roads. Maybe this is the quality that makes them insufferable.

Everyone has their 'why' but by and large the reason people run ultra's is for the challenge and the community. When you love running, it seems only logical to sometimes want to run for a very long time and why not in a beautiful location, with a bunch of like minded people who are all extremely supportive and often times end up as life long friends?

I will say that some stereotypes are absolutely true. Ultra running is small, so obnoxious people stand out. Those people exist everywhere, in every 'thing'. If you want to 'hate' something its quite easy to cherry pick examples to support your 'hatred', but that is a pretty sad way to live really.

Last note, I don't believe all that many people are impressed by me running 100 milers, there definitely are people who are. Most think its weird, odd, crazy, strange, an affliction, addiction, somethings wrong with me. I don't even bring up my running in most social situations and in fact other people bring it up more often. Sure I post about it on social media sometimes just like anything else in my life. On that front, social media posting is no different for ultra runners than any other group of people, theres always some really obnoxious people out there no matter where you look.

Anyway, I think a lot you might benefit from a nice long run in the woods. :)

All the ultra haters should sign up for a 100 miler... afterward you can continue with your hatred if you wish...