let's be honest, if I did you want to run a 1000 mile Ultra?...don't you get it?
let's be honest, if I did you want to run a 1000 mile Ultra?...don't you get it?
Don't like it?
You're dumb!
Tool!
Help me out here, K-man. So you are not impressed, but you feel threatened by ultrarunners? Is that what this is about? Ultrarunners aren't on an excellent adventure because they are extreme. Thoughts:
All runners are extremists to the sedentary.
All Olympians are extremists.
Injuries are no way to jusge worth. Pulling hammies is a big risk in sprinting. Should we tell sprinters to quit going hard because they MIGHT pull a muscle.
Anyone trying to cover a distance faster than they ever have is pursuing excellence, from the 40 yd dash through the 3100 mile run in NYC each summer.
Anyone trying to do a job, a task, a craft with commitment, care, and passion is pursuing excellence.
Excellence is relative. Depends on using talent well. The talent part, you may have noticed, we don't get a say in.
Thanks for sharing your personal views. They do seem quite narrow-minded, however.
nice story. thanx
A friend on mine's mom claims she is a runner. But when asked what her times/achievements are she replies with this saying: "I don't compete, I complete."
As lame as it is, that's what a large portion of the running community views as more important.
I on the other hand, enjoy testing the limits on how fast I can go, not how far. Trying to see how far you can go takes way too much time, and to be quite honest, I've got more important things to do than to run for 6 hours everyday. There's more to life than running, don't forget that.
Ultra's are for athletes that cant be competitive in shorter races. Would you agree? Anyone can be an ultra athlete as merely finishing the race garners respect. Everyone cant run 13ish for a 5k or even manage to be the best in shorter trail races.
I have seen guys that win these ultras get murdered in competitive trail races and road races, murdered!
Kind of like Tim Parr who won Leadville 100 this year? Isn't he a 2:20 marathoner? Not the best but a helluva lot better than 99% of the guys calling ultrarunners slow.
The guys that win the big ultras are all 2:20 marathoners or better. Don't make them out to be these slouches that go out for a jog every day.
He is the only one that is fast in ultras, but still he wouldnt compete with the best trail runners and honestly Max prob would beat him in an ultra
I'm in an area with a big ultra community and it doesn't really bother me. I do think ultras provide a much less competitive and less threatening situation for runners who don't like that road racing type atmosphere. And you always have an out at an ultra. If I run a 5K and lay an egg, I just suck. If I can't finish or run slow at a 50-miler, hey, it's 50 f'ing miles. So IMHO, there's some security in the longer races and less of the competitive edge that a lot of recreational runners don't like.
Some people just aim to complete a half-marathon, and some people race them.
And some people just aim to complete a 100-miler, and some people race them.
And most couch potatoes would likely be impressed by either accomplishment.
So what's the difference?
It seems it would make more sense to criticize the individuals who finish races without racing, rather than to criticize the race distance itself.
If you don't want to race an ultra, then don't. But why all the negitive ranting on here? Is this an insecurity? Are you scared to try one?
ExPhys wrote:
A friend on mine's mom claims she is a runner. But when asked what her times/achievements are she replies with this saying: "I don't compete, I complete."
As lame as it is, that's what a large portion of the running community views as more important.
I on the other hand, enjoy testing the limits on how fast I can go, not how far. Trying to see how far you can go takes way too much time, and to be quite honest, I've got more important things to do than to run for 6 hours everyday. There's more to life than running, don't forget that.
I think that maybe you are misconstruing her response. Her little "saying" is probably her way of telling you that she sucks, and knows it. You are hearing inferring that she believes "completing" is more important than "competing." I doubt that is the case she is trying to make.
She is probably telling you that she knows she is in a much lower class of "runner" than you.
on another thread he was more like a 2:28 type guy but still, that is solid. He also won the pikes peak ascent.
Look, the top ultra runners are sure as hell-runners.
Mike Wardian- 2:21 guy, probably could be faster if he focuesed exclusivly on the marathon. Also has 14:55 pb for 5k and placed 8th at Marathon Des Sables. A grueling stage race in the desert. Also placed in the top 10 at world 100k. The guy is freak for the amount he races. I don't know how he does it.
Uli Stiedl-2:13 guy and still runs low 14. he's in his late 30s
Anton Krupicka-Dude is a beast and could easily run under 2:30 possibly 2:25. But he is a freak when it comes to long trail races. Broke Uli's infamous course record at White River. When not injured he is the best ultra runner in the US in my opinion. Although had a rough go at Leadville.
Matt Carpenter- One of the most underrated runners the country. 2:19 pb and the best mountain runner in American history. Again could have been faster if he focused on the marathon. The guy is unbeatable when running up mountains in thin air. in his mid 40s and still destroying everyone.
Greg Crowther- 2:22 pb and muiltiple world 100k appearances. in his 40s
Scott Jurek- 2:38 pb, but his course record at Badwater will stand a LONG time. His ability to suffer is unmatched.When in his prime knowone on the planet could beat him when it came to 100 mile races.
There are a few other guys that deserved to be mentioned, but the top ultra guys are the very best at what they do- period. And chanches are they could kick your as in road marathon or 50 mile trail race. Give these guys the credit they deserve!!!
But yes there are the fat asses who hike for 100 miles and call themselves runners.
heard not seen wrote:
"You cannot have an ultramarathon that is not excessive."
The shortest standard ultra is the 50k. Excess apparently comes very shortly after the marathon.
Just goofing with you a bit. You were certainly civil in your reply I just found that a little humorous.
I did a pretty piss-poor job of articulating what I meant to say...
I am not trying to say that the marathon holds more water than an Ultra, but that it tests different skill sets.
I have never run an Ultra, so I don't really know what it requires. I would presume it does not require speed. If I am wrong, please let me know.
The point I was trying to make is that you cannot have an Ultra without at least 50k of mileage... So comparing it to a 5k is stupid. I was not trying to say that marathons are not excessive; anyone who has run a fast marathon knows it is quite excessive.
I was attempting to point out that "excessive" and "impressive" are not mutually exclusive.
N/M, why don't I just go drop dead...
Actually his course record at Badwater has already been beaten by the Brazilian Nunes. But he still has the CR at Western States.
Big G wrote:
Scott Jurek- 2:38 pb, but his course record at Badwater will stand a LONG time.
PWND
pennywise de clown wrote:
Actually his course record at Badwater has already been beaten by the Brazilian Nunes. But he still has the CR at Western States.
Big G wrote:Scott Jurek- 2:38 pb, but his course record at Badwater will stand a LONG time.
What will all the ultra runners do when foreign runners come in and start dominating that are too?
Maybe they'll do 1000 mile races, maybe they'll take kilgore's advice and to the 100 mile race while carrying a cement block.
Thats when prize money at events such as Leadville JFK 50, Western States will be worth running for.
ilgore wrote:
We live in the era of the extreme. We have bodybuilders who roid up and lift until they are so huge they can't even wipe their own behinds. Arnold Schwarzenegger stressed size but also proportion and symmetry. Today's bodybuilders would dwarf Arnold in his prime, and they look gross and freakish. Extremism has replaced excellence.
Ultrarunning is definitely in the extreme vein. When you have kidney failure as a regular feature of these races and you have mandatory weigh-ins to keep people from dying, you're not racing anymore. You're not demonstrating excellence. You're demonstrating masochism.
You don't have to know the limits of human endurance because science and Dr. Mengele can tell you how far you can go before you die. Just go three days without water and see what happens. There is an extreme challenge for you.
These extreme events are stupid. Much of this madness began in the seventies as people decided that marathoning wasn't enough. They never gave a sh*t if they could run fast. They ran far, and this just boggled people's minds. So, they kept jacking up the stakes to the point where we have such stuff as the Canadian Death Race and the Badwater Ultramarathon that are just crucibles of agony.
It is easy to be extreme. It is hard to be excellent. I have to wonder if these folks can run 100 miles in a single day, why can't they run 100 miles a week for a couple of years and put up some good times in races?
I am not impressed with the ultrarunning thing anymore. I am impressed when a 70+ runner goes sub-3 for a marathon. That is unreal. I'd like to see Karno do that when he gets old.
My thinking on this is influenced heavily by Aristotle's concept of the mean. Virtue is the midpoint between deficiency and excess. We are nation of Gallowalkers and ultrarunners, but we really suck at being good. We are well represented on the sides of deficiency and excess, but where is the excellence?
The day will come when 100 miles won't be enough. So, you will be required to go 100 miles while lugging a cinderblock . Then, they might require a fur coat for Badwater. Why not drive nails into competitor's feet? Why not have a race where the last person still alive is declared the winner? Where will the stunts end?
To the OP,
Ultrarunning is not a stunt. Pulling cinder blocks? Beating each other upside the head with baseball bats? Stunts, but ultrarunning is just... running. Nothing else is involved. It's not a stunt, it's a test of endurance. Why is anything beyond the marathon extreme? Why not anything beyond the 5k or the 800 or the indoor 55m dash? I guess scientists can just predict races instead of letting them be run. They did a really good job with the mile until Roger Bannister came along.
I read here once that if you have talent you run the 100 meters. Otherwise you move up in distance. ;-)
NOW THAT is funny....