What are you talking about she’s doing great in her first very competitive 50k. She is in forth place right now with 12 miles to go and barring any blow ups, she’ll get a golden ticket and entry into Western States.
100% this. Currently has just under 7 minute cushion on 6th place with 4 miles to go (5th place Abby Hall already in to WSER as F1). Securing a golden ticket in this field is nothing short of an unqualified home run for her.
Molly gets fourth place. Solid, but not outstanding, result for her. I'm glad to see she didn't blow up in the final stages of the race which would not have been a huge surprise given this is her first attempt at a 100K. I do have to note though that at 28 minutes back, she wasn't exactly nipping at the heels of the leaders. 1. Jen Lichter 7:57 2. Ann Flower 7:58 3. Tara Dower 8:11 4. Molly Seidel 8:25 Since Tara has entry into Western States, the third Golden Ticket will roll down to Molly. It will be exciting to have Molly in the field at Western States, and it will bring more attention as I don't believe there has ever been an Olympic medalist on the start line. I hope she learned some lessons today she can apply at Western States and be competitive there.
Molly gets fourth place. Solid, but not outstanding, result for her. I'm glad to see she didn't blow up in the final stages of the race which would not have been a huge surprise given this is her first attempt at a 100K. I do have to note though that at 28 minutes back, she wasn't exactly nipping at the heels of the leaders. 1. Jen Lichter 7:57 2. Ann Flower 7:58 3. Tara Dower 8:11 4. Molly Seidel 8:25 Since Tara has entry into Western States, the third Golden Ticket will roll down to Molly. It will be exciting to have Molly in the field at Western States, and it will bring more attention as I don't believe there has ever been an Olympic medalist on the start line. I hope she learned some lessons today she can apply at Western States and be competitive there.
Molly gets fourth place. Solid, but not outstanding, result for her. I'm glad to see she didn't blow up in the final stages of the race which would not have been a huge surprise given this is her first attempt at a 100K. I do have to note though that at 28 minutes back, she wasn't exactly nipping at the heels of the leaders. 1. Jen Lichter 7:57 2. Ann Flower 7:58 3. Tara Dower 8:11 4. Molly Seidel 8:25 Since Tara has entry into Western States, the third Golden Ticket will roll down to Molly. It will be exciting to have Molly in the field at Western States, and it will bring more attention as I don't believe there has ever been an Olympic medalist on the start line. I hope she learned some lessons today she can apply at Western States and be competitive there.
Western States is a much more difficult race. She needs to do a easy 100 miler before that in order to have the experience to be "competitive there".
I think it depends on your view of the sport in general. To the uniformed, you say "a 31 year old Olympic medalist marathoner got 4th in a 100k and lost by almost 30 minutes" yeah it might not seem spectacular.
But it's 2026, not 2016. She would have won every other edition of the race except for last year. Licther and Flower ran absolutely bananas, and confirmed they are as good (or better) than advertised. Dower is an complete lunatic (in the best way) and tough as balls, losing to those three women in your first attempt at the distance, while beating the likes of Abby Hall, Shea Aquilano, Riley Brady, etc is not merely "solid". Whether it registers as "outstanding" or "spectacular" or "awesome" depends on your particular linguistic bent, but the point is today's result is a major accomplishment, even for someone with an Olympic medal.
She'll line up at WSER far from the favorite, and I would say a top 10 on the day would be a success for her. Think about that. We're at the point where a still in her prime Olympic marathoner could finish 7th or 8th at Western States and have it be a wildy successful day. The sport has changed.
Also while I think it's absolutely fair to point out theres's no way she's in the same marathon shape she was in 5 years ago, I think its equally fair to say that there's also a zero percent chance that 5 years ago Molly would have been capable of the result she produced today.
Interested to hear her own thoughts, I haven't looked at any of the post race media yet but I'm sure there will be plenty of interviews published with her over the next week.
Black Canyon 100K is tomorrow. Western States qualifying spots on the line. Female entrants include: Riley Brady (1st last year), Tara Dower (1st and course record at Javelina 100, Appalacian trail record holder), Anne Flower (50 mi world record holder), Catriona Jennings (100mi world record holder).
Predictions? Who thinks Molly will win this against these top ultramarathoners? I'll go with no. Top five maybe, but not the winner.
It’s really interesting how ultras work. Tara Dower has never even ran sub 3 in a race I don’t think. The terrain takes a while to figure out. Molly can win Western on a good day. Abby Hall didn’t win Black Canyon last year and won Western. Great showing from Molly.
Molly gets fourth place. Solid, but not outstanding, result for her. I'm glad to see she didn't blow up in the final stages of the race which would not have been a huge surprise given this is her first attempt at a 100K. I do have to note though that at 28 minutes back, she wasn't exactly nipping at the heels of the leaders. 1. Jen Lichter 7:57 2. Ann Flower 7:58 3. Tara Dower 8:11 4. Molly Seidel 8:25 Since Tara has entry into Western States, the third Golden Ticket will roll down to Molly. It will be exciting to have Molly in the field at Western States, and it will bring more attention as I don't believe there has ever been an Olympic medalist on the start line. I hope she learned some lessons today she can apply at Western States and be competitive there.
Western States is a much more difficult race. She needs to do a easy 100 miler before that in order to have the experience to be "competitive there".
Wrong. Why would she fry herself to get 100 mile experience? that doesn’t make sense.
Wrong. Why would she fry herself to get 100 mile experience? that doesn’t make sense.
100 miles is much longer than 62. Nutrition is super important in a 100 miler. In a 100k it's not. And of course there are a 155 other things which can go wrong in a longer race.
It will be interesting to watch Molly's progress in ultrarunning.
I think it depends on your view of the sport in general. To the uniformed, you say "a 31 year old Olympic medalist marathoner got 4th in a 100k and lost by almost 30 minutes" yeah it might not seem spectacular.
But it's 2026, not 2016. She would have won every other edition of the race except for last year. Licther and Flower ran absolutely bananas, and confirmed they are as good (or better) than advertised. Dower is an complete lunatic (in the best way) and tough as balls, losing to those three women in your first attempt at the distance, while beating the likes of Abby Hall, Shea Aquilano, Riley Brady, etc is not merely "solid". Whether it registers as "outstanding" or "spectacular" or "awesome" depends on your particular linguistic bent, but the point is today's result is a major accomplishment, even for someone with an Olympic medal.
She'll line up at WSER far from the favorite, and I would say a top 10 on the day would be a success for her. Think about that. We're at the point where a still in her prime Olympic marathoner could finish 7th or 8th at Western States and have it be a wildy successful day. The sport has changed.
Also while I think it's absolutely fair to point out theres's no way she's in the same marathon shape she was in 5 years ago, I think its equally fair to say that there's also a zero percent chance that 5 years ago Molly would have been capable of the result she produced today.
Interested to hear her own thoughts, I haven't looked at any of the post race media yet but I'm sure there will be plenty of interviews published with her over the next week.
Agree with all of this, except the part that she's an "in her prime Olympic marathoner." I don't say that as a hater because I'm a huge fan. But as I said earlier and you acknowledged, Molly is not now the marathon runner she was 4-5 years ago. She is in her "prime" age-wise, but she is probably a 2:30-2:32 marathoner now. For a lot of reasons that we don't need to rehash here. That's still the best in the field, but not by THAT much.
No, it's not equally fair to say that she could have produced this result 5 years ago. If she had been willing to fuel 5 years ago (EDs are tough to crack), she would have been better. Maybe I'm being pedantic, but I'm just quibbling with the idea that this is Molly at her peak powers.
Still, let's take it for what it is. Which was an outstanding performance for someone who is new to trails and ultras. I'm excited to see what she can do at Western States as she continues to learn to deal with fueling, heat and technical trails.
I think it depends on your view of the sport in general. To the uniformed, you say "a 31 year old Olympic medalist marathoner got 4th in a 100k and lost by almost 30 minutes" yeah it might not seem spectacular.
But it's 2026, not 2016. She would have won every other edition of the race except for last year. Licther and Flower ran absolutely bananas, and confirmed they are as good (or better) than advertised. Dower is an complete lunatic (in the best way) and tough as balls, losing to those three women in your first attempt at the distance, while beating the likes of Abby Hall, Shea Aquilano, Riley Brady, etc is not merely "solid". Whether it registers as "outstanding" or "spectacular" or "awesome" depends on your particular linguistic bent, but the point is today's result is a major accomplishment, even for someone with an Olympic medal.
She'll line up at WSER far from the favorite, and I would say a top 10 on the day would be a success for her. Think about that. We're at the point where a still in her prime Olympic marathoner could finish 7th or 8th at Western States and have it be a wildy successful day. The sport has changed.
Also while I think it's absolutely fair to point out theres's no way she's in the same marathon shape she was in 5 years ago, I think its equally fair to say that there's also a zero percent chance that 5 years ago Molly would have been capable of the result she produced today.
Interested to hear her own thoughts, I haven't looked at any of the post race media yet but I'm sure there will be plenty of interviews published with her over the next week.
Agree with all of this, except the part that she's an "in her prime Olympic marathoner." I don't say that as a hater because I'm a huge fan. But as I said earlier and you acknowledged, Molly is not now the marathon runner she was 4-5 years ago. She is in her "prime" age-wise, but she is probably a 2:30-2:32 marathoner now. For a lot of reasons that we don't need to rehash here. That's still the best in the field, but not by THAT much.
No, it's not equally fair to say that she could have produced this result 5 years ago. If she had been willing to fuel 5 years ago (EDs are tough to crack), she would have been better. Maybe I'm being pedantic, but I'm just quibbling with the idea that this is Molly at her peak powers.
Still, let's take it for what it is. Which was an outstanding performance for someone who is new to trails and ultras. I'm excited to see what she can do at Western States as she continues to learn to deal with fueling, heat and technical trails.
Agree with all of this, except the part that she's an "in her prime Olympic marathoner." I don't say that as a hater because I'm a huge fan. But as I said earlier and you acknowledged, Molly is not now the marathon runner she was 4-5 years ago..
It wasn't her peak, but she ran her marathon PR 2 years and 4 months ago.
Wrong. Why would she fry herself to get 100 mile experience? that doesn’t make sense.
100 miles is much longer than 62. Nutrition is super important in a 100 miler. In a 100k it's not. And of course there are a 155 other things which can go wrong in a longer race.
It will be interesting to watch Molly's progress in ultrarunning.
Of course nutrition is important. But she doesn't need to run one 100-miler and then spend weeks recovering to learn about how to handle nutrition. She can experiment with that in training or with shorter races.
Of course nutrition is important. But she doesn't need to run one 100-miler and then spend weeks recovering to learn about how to handle nutrition. She can experiment with that in training or with shorter races.
You can't simulate a 100 miler in training. Nutrition in these trail 100s is way harder, since the aid stations are few and far apart.