*Official* 2023 UTMB Discussion Thread

In Rise of the Ultrarunners they looked this. African runners chase road marathons for the money and sponsorship dollars. Back when the book was written he tried to get some to do ultras and let’s just say they didn’t have the minerals for it. Marathoners get a sore toe and pull out. These guys go to dark places mid races where they still have 80-100k’s to go with kilometres of climbing and will gut it out. A different breed of person is required for this. It can’t be about the money and improving your quality of life because the prize money is rubbish.

I mean sure it helps to win a race that’s in um… Europe.

Now the world understands why every serious distance talent heads to Eldoret..

cyclists from across the globe base themselves in Europe for training and racing purposes.
track athletes come to America for the same reason.

it’s not an uncommon thing in sports and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t change a persons nationality or heritage.

Camille beat Courtney twice by a lot for 24 hours. The best ultra runners don't specialize on trail running. Gerda Steyn at the shorter ultras and Camille at the longer ultra are the GOATs.

The best ultra runners are good on any surface. Just like the best distance runners are good at XC and on the track. Trason and Greenwood won WS, Comrades and the 100K world championship. Camille is like a tennis player that can only win on clay.

For anyone that thinks Miller is simply a 15 minute guy should watch this. Guy is an animal and one of things people love about ultra running is it takes something than just being a good runner.

Courtney’s WSER-Hardrock double was already an unbelievable achievement, this treble is just… there are no words. One of the greatest athletic achievements of all time in any sport. Courtney, in my opinion, deserves a permanent spot in the pantheon of greats along Jordan, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Bolt, etc. This is ridiculous.

Awesome. Yes, there seems to be a lack of understanding , among the haters, that different runners have different strengths and weaknesses.

my personal running career might be a good example for them:

In HS I was a 2x all-state XC runner with a high win % and regularly beat or was shoulder to shoulder in the finish shoot with guys that went on to have pro careers, some even noteworthy careers. In track I NEVER made state (and we were a D2 school).

Didn’t get a lot of attention from colleges due to my poor track results, but knew I wasn’t a total scrub. I chose to take a chance and walk-on to a mid-level D1 school. Within two weeks the coach recognized my profile. For long runs and hill workouts I went with the top group. For other speed workouts I was with the 2nd or even 3rd group of guys. Ended up scoring points at conference my freshman year and making the west regional team. Never even made a travel team in track.

If you are fixated on Jim and Zach’s 5k times as a case for “depth” in the sport you must have a very narrow scope of what “talent” in running looks like. Zach is very much a top tier talent.

Those who can’t run….ULTRA! Like Zach Miller and Walmsley are better than ALL of what ncaa produces lol.

14 flat vs 15 flat, can see that at a dual meet, I mean I can see that a single teams practice with actually deeper talent 1-7 lol

I've seen some impressively bad takes, but this ranks right up there. Not even a decent troll attempt, but I guess it's an impressive use of the caps lock key.

i hereby declare that the greatest ULTRA athlete is the idiot thats best over 200 miles!!!!!

Well just increase the distance until the last idiot standing lol.

Barishnikov was no better a dancer than the idiots that danced for 48 hours stratight lol

You remind me of the kid that learns to play Happy Birthday on the piano, and that's the only thing you know how to play.

Hi Camille,

I am sorry that Courtney's success is so hard to stomach.

I really wish there was more drug testing in Ultras. I don’t believe Courtney has ever been tested outside of competition and it’s starting to seem to good to be true if I’m honest.

OOOH BUUURN im getting roasted by an ULTRA lmao!!! hope i dont run into you at the hallway at school- oh wait i forgot they dont have ultras and your MYTHICAL verts in highschools!!!!

like crossfit in the athletic world, your no hanging fruit!!!! youd have better luck roasting me as a pickleball player or triathlete- at least they make some bank lmao

Also FYI for anyone that cares, the UK shop sportsshoes did an interview with Jim recently and in the latter half he gets into the protos he’s been racing in. Quite interesting if you care. The idea that they said stuff costs and supply chain and just R&D’ed and built out a truly super trail shoe was pretty cool. A stacked trail shoe with carbon plating, a gaiter and vibram outsole all around 240gm in Jim’s size 🤯

How old is Courtenay, 38, 39 year old? She wins 3 top ultra races in one summer. Her recovery is no issue at her age. What do you think?

Another thing, Salomon lost its #1 star Killian Jornet. They needed another leader right now. So, it happened. There's too much $$$ to lose. Salomon is the Nike of trail running. Doping is widely accepted. Sad, but true.