Walmsley Making UTMB and Interval Session

Myke Hermsmeyer on fb:

When one person attempts to push their own limits and the idea of what's possible they alone face a high likelihood of failing, but when a group pushes each other to do the same they increase the odds of doing something amazing and setting a new standard.

Like many one of the main reasons I looked forward to UTMB this year was due to the unparrelell competition lining up in Chamonix. As a friend of Jim Walmsley I wanted him to win, but as a fan of a sport where there are over a dozen guys I'd be rooting for I was excited to see them all push each other and put on a show of a race. And the race did not disappoint, with 4/5 of the top finishers setting off fireworks from close to the start of the race with Tim Tollefson patiently waiting to make his move to 3rd.

For Jim it was definitely the toughest challenge he's ever faced. Earlier this year Jim chased an ambitious personal goal at Western States without anyone to push alongside of him. But he knew UTMB poised a new challenge, not only in terrain but competition, and knew finishing ahead of big names on his first trip around Mont Blanc was more important than a record. Jim is a competitive person wanted to try and win the most competitive ultra ever, just as his fellow competitors did. He never said he was gunning for a course record but prepared to try and run one, not out of hubris but because he thought that's what it would take to win. And he was right - while there were course variations due to weather (I've been told the route was a similar to 2014 when the course record was set) the top-5 runners including Jim all finished below the previous course record, with François D'haene setting a new standard in the race in 19:01:54, over an hour ahead of his previous course record.

Even though Jim raced strategically and smart early and through the night with Francois and Kilian as the sun came up things unraveled with stomach and feet issues. He wisely took his time to try and recover and get his head and stomach straight even though it meant losing the lead and a lot of positions. But after a long down stretch he rallied and found his stride again, coming back from 7th to 4th and finishing 5th. He gave the race everything he had - while normally competitors relish the spectacle of the UTMB finish line he collapsed in exhaustion until he was rallied to his feet by his fellow competitors and friends.

Not every race will have the competition of UTMB to help athletes push themselves and the limits of the sport, and like most runners who show up to a race Jim will continue to chase his own personal goals and PR's on his own. But today Jim raced against and pushed the best of the best and and was part of historical race, which was a lot of fun to watch.

sdfasdfasdfasfsadfdf wrote:

kritter wrote:

Umm... what other 100 did Sage run this year?

Western States.

No he didn't.

Bozos

He wanted the perfect race

It will be very interesting to see Sage's report of what happened. He seemingly started out conservatively and just sort of bonked. Looking at his training over the last few weeks he did taper pretty conservatively, though I suppose it is possible he was nevertheless over-trained. The 100 mile distance is such a an outlier in the sport, it's hard to know what the best practices are in terms of training for it.

the bashing on Walmsley is kind of ridiculous. Meanwhile the other golden boy Zach Miller finishes 9th, Laney in 14th, and most seem to love them?

I believe Zach is recovering from a back injury so he did well! Zach has won the CCC & won The North Face 50 last December so he's the real deal!

Don't want to hear it. The arrogance is astounding. Myke yesterday:

"Jim Walmsley taking his time and waiting on the pack at Les Contamines during UTMB. Jim has been cruising into aid stations and using the time waiting for competitors to fuel, rest and gear up. You can tell he doesn't like waiting and wants to break away but he says he won't (yet...)"

Sage goes home DEVASTATED

No Walmsley fan wrote:

But he didn't run it. He just pouted and walked along.

You're the one whining, pouting and crying.

go away myke wrote:

Don't want to hear it. The arrogance is astounding. Myke yesterday:

"Jim Walmsley taking his time and waiting on the pack at Les Contamines during UTMB. Jim has been cruising into aid stations and using the time waiting for competitors to fuel, rest and gear up. You can tell he doesn't like waiting and wants to break away but he says he won't (yet...)"

okay, so if his goal was to win it, if you were his coach or if you were him, what strategy would you have employed? even in hindsight, francois was clearly just better today, but it might be a fun exercise anyways

Which, if true, is more damning about the weakness of his psychology than if he was truly out of it. Not to mention an arrogant disrespect of the race and rest of the field.

sdfasdfasdfasfsadfdf wrote:

Wtf most Americans wrote:

but that was an easy win for him without getting lost.

Note: he still could have won the race. If he had run back to the course and finished, he likely would have won. That's how big the gap was. But he was more interested in the CR. And so once that was done, he was done.

Get_married wrote:

Bozos

He wanted the perfect race

You never get a perfect race. After all it's 100 miles long. A lot can and will happen.

darthyoda wrote:

okay, so if his goal was to win it, if you were his coach or if you were him, what strategy would you have employed? even in hindsight, francois was clearly just better today, but it might be a fun exercise anyways

Run his own race, focus on his own needs, and not worry about the other guys. He got psyched out racing other good runners and ran their race instead of his own. Nerves got to him and his stomach. No nerves when you're on a solo run through the Grand Canyon or the Don't Fence Me trail race.

Did Francois or Kilian run their own races? No. They just straight up raced, like Jim did. They were just better

Who was the idiot that said walmsley and Canada's need to drop down and run 2:10 lol

Both of these guys can't hack the thon so moved to ultras.

2:10 my ass, that would make an Olympic team now hahahahaha these guys are scrubs on roads and Moreso now in ultras

I thought the UMTB was a race?

How can you not race a race, if you are in the front?

4 runners where better than Jim Walmsley, the man who wanted to bring speed into the sport.

https://gearjunkie.com/r2r2r-speed-record-ultrarunning-fast-pace

D'haene is a Mack Daddy. Walms is a little, sniveling girl. The real mountains always separate the two.

Back to R2R2R FKTs for Alice in Walmseyland

It's pretty comical reading all the ignorant posts on here. Keep them coming!!

No Walmsley fan wrote:

I thought the UMTB was a race?

How can you not race a race, if you are in the front?

The real question is, how can you be so stupid and not STFU.