I may be the only person on this thread who can prove they actually know David, and know him well. I have only run a few marathons so I can't address his training or race day, but I can address his character as a coach. Allow me to explain.
I was David’s professor at Duke Law School. He took my environment law class in 2010. He had the top exam in the class and was clearly personable so I asked him to be my teaching assistant the following year. I’d heard that he had gotten into trail running and somehow knew that he was going to compete in the nationals so on the Monday morning I asked him how he had done, hoping to hear he had finished. You can imagine my surprise when, sheepishly, he said “Well, I won.” He was more surprised than I. And realize that he won the nationals while a full-time student at a very demanding dual-degree program.
I got on this thread because I wanted to hear more about his running performance at the Western states. I wasn't planning on posting but the insulting remarks about how he is a terrible person or an awful coach by people either who have never met him or, if they claim they do know him, provide no evidence that's the case, deserve an informed reply.
We had 100 students in the Environmental Law class, and it was a very challenging course. Throughout the semester I saw firsthand that David was not only empathetic and patient, but went the extra yard with every student who was struggling with the material. I’m not at all surprised he’s become a successful coach. Over the years, I’ve had close to 40 teaching assistants. He is easily in the top two or three of them all. Quite simply, he is a natural teacher. I have won two university teaching awards and I know instructional talent when I see it.
Some of you have clearly already made up your mind about who David is, and this post won't mean anything to you. But for those who are interested in hearing firsthand from someone who worked very closely with him in Law School and has stayed in touch since, I can assure you he's the same person now as then. I have included my name so you can verify that this is real and not some fictional post.
I'm sure you're excited that one of your best environmental law students is now out hawking nasal strips and heat suits instead of [cough] saving the environment.
Sure she has a md/phd but she decided to waste her fancy Stanford degree and did not do a residency and has never been licensed to practice medicine. It must be nice to be that privileged, to go to med school then say screw it I’ll get just get a PhD, then say meh, meh I’ll use neither and become an influencer. Same with dave, duke JD to sell AG1.
soft times lead to soft people. you can see this because any negative thing that happens to them is suddenly on the same level as being in the south tower on 9/11. Their experiences are the only ones that matter.
sure you can say I’m jealous, but after seeing the issues they both manifest maybe being a middle class schelp is ok
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
That's no excuse in this case. She has both an MD from Stanford medical school and a Phd in epidemiology so she is doctor in both senses of the word and trying to diminish either is just silly and the clearest sign that the poster has some sort of agenda.
Every time a PhD in philosophy asks to be addressed as doctor, it’s received with eye rolls and in quotes as well. Heck, David is a doctor too.
Courtney won the race where she got that blindness. Farvard dropping at 92 is nowhere near the same as roche dropping at 60. If anything that proves that farvard really pushed to his max.
Are you serious with these comparisons? Your cult leader failed big. Just take the L.
Wasn't Courtney's problem at the Moab 240? And yes, Farvards dropping at 92 is not even close to what happened to Roche. What a loser.
So an MD from Stanford is worthless if you choose not to be a practicing physician. That's news to me.
I would say a medical degree without a completed residency is definitely worthless if your goal is to competently give out clinical recommendations or medical advice.
Unfortunately this is the case in the US. No one can ever take away your educational base from you but unless you do a residency in SOMETHING your MD degree is mostly useless in the clinical sense. I'm a physician, and personally, I wouldn't trust someone who had not done a residency to make clinical decisions. If she hasn't done a residency then she hasn't even done an internship year - the most basic of all practical clinical training. Her PhD, of course, is a different story.
Laughing at the armchair psychologists on here. This thread really has gone of the rails. A Roche thread that's off the rails, shocker!
You conveniently left out the joke about the "exorcist", and I'd bet $1000 that he's talking about the vision loss issue. It would be scary to anyone. I've been around ultras enough to know that it's a thing, and Courtney Dauwalter had a famous incident with it. All the tough guys on here will say "just run blindly," but that's a joke if you have 50 miles to go and are cratering anyway.
Speaking of which, where's the hate for Farvard dropping out at 92 miles. What a fraud he is! What a soft loser! Just walk it in! I'm sure that was pre-planned! See how this works and how ridiculous you guys sound?
Yeah, yeah, his coaching sucks and every athlete who he has coached has gotten worse and injured. Except that it's not true. But keep saying it and maybe your dreams will become reality.
Regarding his "insecurity" about this talent, I'm learning that he really is damned by "the haters" either way. He is either a talentless ego-driven blowhard, or is he is uber-talented with deep-seated psychological issues. I appreciated his humility about the guys who are way better than him, like Kilian. I never thought he was going to win, and predicted beforehand that he's be 6th or 7th if he had a good day. But when you're so focused on tearing him down, his humility is also dismissed as fraudulent. Whatever.
I'm not Megan. I thought her interview was cringey. She should have said, "He's having a tough patch, some vision issues, but he's going to keep going and hopefully he'll start to feel better." Nothing more. But unlike the rest of you, I'll give her some grace for being caught up in the moment and being disappointed. If I can play take a turn as armchair psychologist, she seems like the one who kept saying "you're going to win" to him. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, it could go either way since I'm not there and don't know them.
Vision issues happen much later in very long races, usually way past the 24 hour mark.
Roche got all the Schadenfreude he deserved for his nonsense cringe videos. All of them. The David Poach comedian captured it best:
People trained for heat decades ago and Scott Jurek also pointed that out in his interview just before the race. All that speed training was a lot of showboating for the camera. He should have hit the Colorado hills instead. He had the best training options right behind his house.
And yet a guy who lives in Norway finished just 8-9 minutes behind the winner with not much fuss.
I may be the only person on this thread who can prove they actually know David, and know him well. I have only run a few marathons so I can't address his training or race day, but I can address his character as a coach. Allow me to explain.
I was David’s professor at Duke Law School. He took my environment law class in 2010. He had the top exam in the class and was clearly personable so I asked him to be my teaching assistant the following year. I’d heard that he had gotten into trail running and somehow knew that he was going to compete in the nationals so on the Monday morning I asked him how he had done, hoping to hear he had finished. You can imagine my surprise when, sheepishly, he said “Well, I won.” He was more surprised than I. And realize that he won the nationals while a full-time student at a very demanding dual-degree program.
I got on this thread because I wanted to hear more about his running performance at the Western states. I wasn't planning on posting but the insulting remarks about how he is a terrible person or an awful coach by people either who have never met him or, if they claim they do know him, provide no evidence that's the case, deserve an informed reply.
We had 100 students in the Environmental Law class, and it was a very challenging course. Throughout the semester I saw firsthand that David was not only empathetic and patient, but went the extra yard with every student who was struggling with the material. I’m not at all surprised he’s become a successful coach. Over the years, I’ve had close to 40 teaching assistants. He is easily in the top two or three of them all. Quite simply, he is a natural teacher. I have won two university teaching awards and I know instructional talent when I see it.
Some of you have clearly already made up your mind about who David is, and this post won't mean anything to you. But for those who are interested in hearing firsthand from someone who worked very closely with him in Law School and has stayed in touch since, I can assure you he's the same person now as then. I have included my name so you can verify that this is real and not some fictional post.
James you worked with him in 2010. That was 15 years ago. It sounds like you have not watched any of his videos.
As an expert in ultrarunning I can assure you, that his level of narcissism is only matched by Camille Herron and that is not a good thing.
So an MD from Stanford is worthless if you choose not to be a practicing physician. That's news to me.
I teach medical students and work with residents every day at work. Yes, a medical student is worthless. I wouldn’t trust them to take care of stubbed toe. Happy I was able to educate you.
Real men finish their races. David had plenty left in the tank. He DNF’d simply bc he didn’t want to finish outside of contention
THIS. Exactly this. He could have sat down in Forest Hill, he could have had a whole 2h nap and still finished..if he wanted to.. if his ego allowed him to finish outside podium or even Top 10. But that's not him. He's an all or nothing guy. He doesn't gut it out when he has a tough day, when he makes mistakes that cost him time. "Ohhh I feel dizzy".. you think someone being out in 100 degree heat for 30h never feels dizzy? You think those finishing dead last feel great all day??? He chose a suicide pace and running with the lead over running his own race...soo..basically what everyone said would happen. Fwiw I think he could have finished Top10 if he'd paced the first 50 miles *very* differently.
Some already mention Adam Petermen but he did not have a good day (not sure the reason) but he finished even though he was about 3 hours behind his 2022(?) winning time.
I may be the only person on this thread who can prove they actually know David, and know him well. I have only run a few marathons so I can't address his training or race day, but I can address his character as a coach. Allow me to explain.
I was David’s professor at Duke Law School. He took my environment law class in 2010. He had the top exam in the class and was clearly personable so I asked him to be my teaching assistant the following year. I’d heard that he had gotten into trail running and somehow knew that he was going to compete in the nationals so on the Monday morning I asked him how he had done, hoping to hear he had finished. You can imagine my surprise when, sheepishly, he said “Well, I won.” He was more surprised than I. And realize that he won the nationals while a full-time student at a very demanding dual-degree program.
I got on this thread because I wanted to hear more about his running performance at the Western states. I wasn't planning on posting but the insulting remarks about how he is a terrible person or an awful coach by people either who have never met him or, if they claim they do know him, provide no evidence that's the case, deserve an informed reply.
We had 100 students in the Environmental Law class, and it was a very challenging course. Throughout the semester I saw firsthand that David was not only empathetic and patient, but went the extra yard with every student who was struggling with the material. I’m not at all surprised he’s become a successful coach. Over the years, I’ve had close to 40 teaching assistants. He is easily in the top two or three of them all. Quite simply, he is a natural teacher. I have won two university teaching awards and I know instructional talent when I see it.
Some of you have clearly already made up your mind about who David is, and this post won't mean anything to you. But for those who are interested in hearing firsthand from someone who worked very closely with him in Law School and has stayed in touch since, I can assure you he's the same person now as then. I have included my name so you can verify that this is real and not some fictional post.
Oh honey, you were his teacher going on 20 years ago. How cute
I'm not a doctor or have any involvement with doctoring but I do know this; The first week of August is when medical graduates start their professional medical career (in the UK). That week is known as "Death Week" .
So an MD from Stanford is worthless if you choose not to be a practicing physician. That's news to me.
I would say a medical degree without a completed residency is definitely worthless if your goal is to competently give out clinical recommendations or medical advice.
I think the best way to describe this if asked, is if you are not a licensed practicing doctor, then you are not one. You are a coach and consultant, or fill in the blank. But you have a medical degree.
Similar to say an attorney who got their degree, but never took the bar exam, not currently licensed, and is doing something else in life. You aren't an attorney, but you do have a law degree.
Or someone who got a nursing degree, but are not licensed and not employed as a nurse. You're not a nurse, you're doing something else. But you have a nursing degree.
This post was edited 46 seconds after it was posted.
he dropped out because according to chatgpt's projective analytics, a second season of his western states YouTube series should garner twice as much attention and triple the revenue.
So Jurek and David live in the same town, and have never hung out with each other? You'd think they'd be buds, at least for/during WS. Jurek and Timmy O were dude bros. We all know how famously friendly Jurek is.
Just strange, man. Strange. Kinda one of those litmus tests. Who do people you trust align with?
So Jurek and David live in the same town, and have never hung out with each other? You'd think they'd be buds, at least for/during WS. Jurek and Timmy O were dude bros. We all know how famously friendly Jurek is.
Just strange, man. Strange. Kinda one of those litmus tests. Who do people you trust align with?
Anyways,
he (Scott) famously wasn't cool with Dean Karnazes either
I just happened to be googling the names of fellow faculty, and I see that a colleague's name was being dragged through the mud. Presumably based on his association with a runner whom I have no knowledge or relation. I would like to state that Mr Salzman is one of the finest professors that I've had the pleasure of working with and that if he vouches for this 'David Roche', I believe that he must be one of the finest and fastest ultramarathoners in the world.
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