I am curious why a dozen other runners went with him.
Because he wasn't wrong about the concept of starting at faster than course record pace. He just isn't that dude.
The guys in the top 4 for the last 45ish miles were all within 15 seconds Roche at the Escarpment and Lyon Ridge. The top 3 finishers became the only runners outside of Walmsley to break 14:20 so it's hard to argue that starting fast hindered them at all.
Meanwhile the elites who went out notably behind the front pack never made back to the front and weren't at all relevant in the race for the win. That's fine if they want a top 10 finish to return next year, but they aren't going to win that way anymore.
On the women's side, the winner, Abby Hall, led over the escarpment and was near the lead throughout. The 2nd place finisher, Fuzhao, was the favorite but went out slow. She was 19 minutes back at Forest Hill and managed to close to just under 10 minutes at the finish. We didn't learn whether she was capable of winning because she never put herself in position to find out.
Mmmmm, I see your point but I could argue the other side of that too. The main lead group of 12-14 runners was 10-15 minutes under course record splits 25% into the race. But Olsen (1st) gave up all of that plus 2 more minutes over the course record by the finish. Myers (2nd) gave up all of that and another 8 minutes behind the course record by the finish. Kilian (3rd) gave up all of that and finished 10 minutes over the course record on top of that. 6th was Seth Ruehling who gave up all of that 10-15 minutes plus another almost 45 minutes. 1 guy walked it in. A couple DNFd. Most of that lead group gave up a massive amount of time to Walmsley's splits the rest of the way. Seth's first half/second half split was 6:58/8:01 when the second half of the race is much more runnable than the first. (Walmsley's splits were 6:59/7:10 by comparison.)
The lead group was so large that pretty much all the main people with a chance to win got sucked into it, so we'll never know which one of them could have won had they hung back about 10-15 minutes earlier on.
I'd also argue the opposite on Fuzhao too. She went from 19 minutes back at Forest Hill to 10 minutes back at the River. She knew she was taking huge chunks of time out of Abby with plenty of time left. She just hit the wall at that point and couldn't find any more time the rest of the way.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
The internet wins again. One cannot determine if this is seriousness or sarcasm. Either way, it’s funny. I can see that David would attract enough sycophantic unstable fans that someone might express some violence. It’s no threat but, man, the Roches are nasty people.
Along the same lines, which one is the correct line of thought: 1. It's going to be a hot year, so let's push extra hard at the start of the race while it's cold 2. It's going to be a hot year, so let's make sure we are conservative and not go out faster than Jim's course record that was set in a cold year. Also: anyone running WS is an underdog to Jim
Along the same lines, which one is the correct line of thought: 1. It's going to be a hot year, so let's push extra hard at the start of the race while it's cold 2. It's going to be a hot year, so let's make sure we are conservative and not go out faster than Jim's course record that was set in a cold year. Also: anyone running WS is an underdog to Jim
It varies per individual and no.1 was obviously not a good strategy for David Roche, didn't work out too good for him.
I mean, this isn't on Strava it's not really a threat, and it's buried in the Spotify comments section. I don't think Roche should be speaking to people this way, especially not in response to fairly innocuous comments, but I think you're blowing this a little out of proportion.
This just reaffirms my suspicion that David Roche is, in fact, a huge @$$hole in real life.
Previously on strava. David posts about who you should vote for or a strong stance on transgenders in sport. Strava follower disagrees (in pretty mild terms). David has responded the exact same way in these instances (with all due respect, go fx@$ yourself).
Haven't seen this in a while but it is a pattern and Im certain I didn't see every single one of these types of interactions. Guy definitely has a dark side that he tries to hide with giggles and poop jokes.
I was in SWAP for a few years and always tried to fight back my gut feelings about the guy. I'm not rooting for his downfall but I would like to see him act a bit more like an adult.
Because he wasn't wrong about the concept of starting at faster than course record pace. He just isn't that dude.
The guys in the top 4 for the last 45ish miles were all within 15 seconds Roche at the Escarpment and Lyon Ridge. The top 3 finishers became the only runners outside of Walmsley to break 14:20 so it's hard to argue that starting fast hindered them at all.
Meanwhile the elites who went out notably behind the front pack never made back to the front and weren't at all relevant in the race for the win. That's fine if they want a top 10 finish to return next year, but they aren't going to win that way anymore.
On the women's side, the winner, Abby Hall, led over the escarpment and was near the lead throughout. The 2nd place finisher, Fuzhao, was the favorite but went out slow. She was 19 minutes back at Forest Hill and managed to close to just under 10 minutes at the finish. We didn't learn whether she was capable of winning because she never put herself in position to find out.
Mmmmm, I see your point but I could argue the other side of that too. The main lead group of 12-14 runners was 10-15 minutes under course record splits 25% into the race. But Olsen (1st) gave up all of that plus 2 more minutes over the course record by the finish. Myers (2nd) gave up all of that and another 8 minutes behind the course record by the finish. Kilian (3rd) gave up all of that and finished 10 minutes over the course record on top of that. 6th was Seth Ruehling who gave up all of that 10-15 minutes plus another almost 45 minutes. 1 guy walked it in. A couple DNFd. Most of that lead group gave up a massive amount of time to Walmsley's splits the rest of the way. Seth's first half/second half split was 6:58/8:01 when the second half of the race is much more runnable than the first. (Walmsley's splits were 6:59/7:10 by comparison.)
The lead group was so large that pretty much all the main people with a chance to win got sucked into it, so we'll never know which one of them could have won had they hung back about 10-15 minutes earlier on.
I'd also argue the opposite on Fuzhao too. She went from 19 minutes back at Forest Hill to 10 minutes back at the River. She knew she was taking huge chunks of time out of Abby with plenty of time left. She just hit the wall at that point and couldn't find any more time the rest of the way.
The top 10 all-time times at WSER are now filled almost exclusively with guys who went out aggressively and didn't fully bonk. That isn't going to change anytime soon. There just isn't a low risk way to get on that list or compete for a win anymore, they have to gamble.
I think the part of the 2025 fast times that you're missing is the idea that making up time during the cooler part of the day in the first 30 miles is what made the difference for the fast times. Everyone cooks in the heat during the final 50 miles and the guys chasing from behind don't have a large enough advantage unless the front runners start to fully bonk.
As far as Abby goes, she said after the race that she intentionally blasted it up the hill putting 2+ minutes into both Fuzhao and Hogan from the river to Green Gate(1.8 miles) and was managing the gap the rest of the way including dropping the fastest split from Robie Point to the finish by almost a minute. She didn't bonk and the closers needed her to bonk in order to beat her.
Her time is remarkable, it's just Courtney and Katie ahead of her and they are in another world. Abby on the other hand is coming off a multi-year injury, struggled with Golden Ticket races to get in this year and has never shown signs of that kind of performance before Saturday.
Along the same lines, which one is the correct line of thought: 1. It's going to be a hot year, so let's push extra hard at the start of the race while it's cold 2. It's going to be a hot year, so let's make sure we are conservative and not go out faster than Jim's course record that was set in a cold year. Also: anyone running WS is an underdog to Jim
It varies per individual and no.1 was obviously not a good strategy for David Roche, didn't work out too good for him.
#1 is risky, but it was the only way he could have won.
#2 could have drug him into the back half of the top 10 if that's what he wanted.
Highlights from his latest podcast aka therapy session include but are not limited to…
- David DNF’d because he thought he was “going to die”. He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving his kids without a father.
- David is “too smart” to deal with suffering.
- David has so many “haterz” because he is too vulnerable and sincere.
- Lots of crocodile tears and virtue signaling
We love you all, Huzzah!
This is so insulting to the other runners and the sport in general. Many runners have actual jobs, spouses with actual jobs, kids, and even smarts. In fact, there's many examples, but Kyle Pietari comes to mind, with many top 10 finishes at WS, has 2 or 3 kids, went to Harvard Law school, and still practicing law at one of the top law firms in the country (and likely working 50-60 hour weeks). Great story where he rolled his ankle one year at mile 7 and finished. no fuss, just got it done. makes david look like a whiney b*tch boy for sure.
Highlights from his latest podcast aka therapy session include but are not limited to…
- David DNF’d because he thought he was “going to die”. He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving his kids without a father.
- David is “too smart” to deal with suffering.
- David has so many “haterz” because he is too vulnerable and sincere.
- Lots of crocodile tears and virtue signaling
We love you all, Huzzah!
This is so insulting to the other runners and the sport in general. Many runners have actual jobs, spouses with actual jobs, kids, and even smarts. In fact, there's many examples, but Kyle Pietari comes to mind, with many top 10 finishes at WS, has 2 or 3 kids, went to Harvard Law school, and still practicing law at one of the top law firms in the country (and likely working 50-60 hour weeks). Great story where he rolled his ankle one year at mile 7 and finished. no fuss, just got it done. makes david look like a whiney b*tch boy for sure.
Literally so insulting. Imagine saying you’re “white knuckling life” when you have a full time nanny to take care of your kids, have someone to clean your house, have every fitness and wellness item in your house at your fingertips, have no health issues, live in a multimillion house in Boulder, have the freedom to workout whenever you please, have so much money to never have to cook and order DoorDash every night, and “work” as a “coach” while sitting on your couch for only a couple hours a day replying “huzzah!” to all of your athletes.
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