At what point is an “Ultramarathon” just a glorified hike?

Gate keeping for Ultra. 😂😂😂

That’s the running equivalent of fat ugly chicks no one wants to F always going on about abortion.

It's weird to bring up 32 min 10k here as it's literally something any average person with no running talent at all can achieve, and not really proof of superiority over the ultra crowd, which of course, is rightfully the laughing stock of the sport.

I still cannot forget a short pudgy fellow with a gut 'running' the Sri Chimnoy race. This is the one that goes on for like a month. I happen to run in the area so I went a couple of loops around the course. He waddled a bit and then sat himself on the sofa after getting snacks from the fridge. I guess he tells his friends and neighbors he is an ultramarathoner. Even the leaders were barely running. I think easily slower than 10 min/mile. And they looked to be in pain. I know they got much faster guys who were former div I guys now but there are really slow folks out there. I think these people never accepted they're painfully slow. I think some of them would have hard time breaking 25 min 5K.

Anything slower than 15 minutes per mile...

Do you really think an average person can run a 32 min 10K? You are delusional or maybe just need to get out more.

LOL
Even doing 5k in one hour is a lot when you are 4 weeks into a 3100 mile race. You obviously have no idea. I have done Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team races, not this one which is a monster of a race. Most of you 32 minute 10k runners here (average, right?) would not even survive day one.

When you accept that the Internet is about as real as professional wrestling, you can laugh at ridiculous sh!t like that post.

A 32 min 10K would’ve placed you sixth among 8000 runners at the NYRR Grete’s 10K this past weekend:

He probably is a shut in.

Thank you for spreading this knowledge. Very helpful won’t forget this tech.

that's what I'm on about. Hiking in difficult terrain proves only the hiker is an idiot.

If you want to get from point A to point B on foot, pick the good terrain, not the craggy cliffs.

I bet 5 shtcoins I could finish mine in under 48 hours

the shtcoins were only worth 48 cents per coin though

Never

I take it that you are just an ignorant noob, but I will explain it to you simple so that you can understand. Running a Marathon in 3 hours is actually very hard. Its 4.15km/hour speed for 42 ks, that is not walking, or jogging. Even running a 3.45 marathon is still hard for average people. so no, clown, it is ACTUALLY VERY DIFFERENT.

Even running a 36

A person with no running talent would not run a sub 50 10K even if they trained for it. You bringing a 32 up just shows how ignorant you are about the sport.

5 plus hours

OP, why are you mad? Did an ultra-runner steal your girl while you were training to break 3:00 in the marathon?

I literally don't care if someone it running a trail ultra, even if they are hiking parts of it.

As a slow masters sprinter, I run the 100 at around 18 miles per hour.

When I ran a 2:57 marathon, I was moving at less than 9 miles per hour. Nobody around me in the race said that was "not running."

So why crap on someone who slows to a still-brisk 5 miles per hour while going up steep technical hills in an ultra RUN??

Yeah, ultra influencers and overly proud hobby joggers are annoying. But that's a social media problem, not an ultra-running problem.

A long run on a mountain trail is like the quintessential distance running experience. The ultimate recreational aerobic activity. I will never understand the contempt self-proclaimed "distance runners" have for ultras in general. I've never competed in an ultra, but I've done more than enough mountain running to appreciate/respect it. I guarantee that many of the critical posters in this thread would find themselves red lining almost immediately if they were to try tackle some Real Man hills. It ain't like running down a sidewalk!

As others have mentioned... have you done it? why do you care? is it the terminology? (and yes, many threads here have already bashed ultra). As someone who has run both track/xc/roads and trail/ultra, I hope I have some learned some perspective for both sides of the proverbial tracks. High school track/xc has performances as varied as most ultras. I pray we aren't bashing those kids whose potential life lessons include exploring an active lifestyle, teamwork, community, camaraderie, and maybe even lifelong friends. Such is the heartbeat of most successful teams, and of healthy ultra 'communities'.

Competitive track implies that walking and running are separate activities. Ultra reminds us that one is largely an expansion or contraction of the other. As I age I am beginning to appreciate the judicious application of the walk/run method. Apparently even elite runners do too: intervals, anyone? Navigating ultras, particularly under adverse conditions, is often an exercise in applying the same principles.
In track races, I never gave thought to taking in fluid or calories. When I moved to marathons and later ultras, I (too slowly) learned that neglecting nutrition usually has trainwreck results.

For contrast, there's definitely the opportunity to lose the forest for the trees, in any discipline. I certainly have.

And..... in a world that seemingly moves at the speed of sound, there's something almost spiritual about the wacky freedom to run/hike/walk in diverse settings- whether it be deserted streets at 4am, vertical kilometers on a rugged trail, forest, mountain, prairie, tundra, or 250km per week in a foreign country.

I am grateful for the people I have met on both sides of that imaginary track, especially when I seemed hellbent on derailing.