Zach Miller' Amazing North Face 50 Miler Finish

Road running is poison

Bump. Trail running is so much better

BUMP wrote:

Kjnlkjnkjblko wrote:

Road running is poison

Bump. Trail running is so much better

I’m suprised people even road run anymore. Trail running outside is so much more fun than running on some boring street like a hamster

Greggrunss wrote:

BUMP wrote:

Bump. Trail running is so much better

I’m suprised people even road run anymore. Trail running outside is so much more fun than running on some boring street like a hamster

Agreed. Run roading is dead and a thing of the past....

Why are you all arguing over some two year old video? The OP got his years mixed up badly.

Dude is an absolute monster. How the F does someone run like this and not end up cramping up especially after 49 miles. Seems insane.

donotgetit wrote:

Why are you all arguing over some two year old video? The OP got his years mixed up badly.

Becuase trail ultras are the standard for racing

S. Canaday wrote:

For this old finishing section at TNF there is Strava data on this segment (Tennessee Valley to the Finish). A lot of it is downhill..esp from miles 48-49. There's not way he was splitting under an average 5:30-5:20/mile pace though. iRunFar was doing some "race update tweets" that day and someone had mistakenly mentioned a "15-min 5km" or something crazy wrong. The year or two before I believe they said Rob was coming in at "well under 5-min mile pace." Both were wrong and just people guessing at what looked like something fast. Even a close around 5:40-6:00 pace for the last few miles on this course is very good at that point in the race. When I ran 6:07 there on a muddy year i had maybe a 5:30-5:40 mile split on the big downhill...but for sure no faster.

The third mile out from the finish can be really fast if a runner still has some downhill legs. I think it's more likely than not that Krar was really well under 5-min pace on that downhill, if not the entire last several miles. I looked at strava, and you hit 5:38 for that mile while claiming to be bonked. I have dropped a 4:46 mile on that same downhill during the race, and strava says it was only a 6:50 GAP effort. Admittedly it was the first time around down that hill at mile 5 instead of the end of the race, but I was a masters guy (46 at the time), and it was the easiest sub-5 I've run in my life.

Sage, I hope you realize that despite the trolls, your posts here are very good and much appreciated!

Its ultra running on trails or didnt happen. Road racing is for kids

Nopeeee wrote:

Its ultra running on trails or didnt happen. Road racing is for kids

Tell that to Zach and Jim who got their @sses kicked at the road 100K World Champs. Trails are where the mentally weak go to make them think they’re tough when they aren’t.

To be fair that hill was quite muddy that day I raced and won. I'm also pretty sure Rob has that run on Strava...he did not close that fast when he won there...I was filming at the finish and he came in with a noticeable limp from a calf cramp...said he "barely made it". iRunFar had reported he came into Tennessee Valley "flying" which was 5-miles out from the finish....on a dry day. They merely guessed "5-min mile pace." Nobody close to the lead pack runs sub 5-min mile splits on that course during the 50-mile race... The first loop we ran that downhill (in less mud) at around mile 5 into the race we ran a 5:20 or so....which was recklessly fast and the fastest split of the race day. If you really ran a 4:46 you must have been in the lead by quite a margin! You have it on Strava?

Yeah, there's a little ultra race called "Comrades"....55 miles of paved road....most competitive ultra in the world by far. 20,000+ runners.

That being said a race like TNF50 San Fran, or UTMB or even Zegama/Sierre-Zinal draws higher relative competitive depth on the trails.

Other trail ultras...for sure less competitive depth. It's all hard though if you push yourself in any distance, any surface running races!

Lol at the one guy posting under a hundred different handles about how awesome trail running is.

Appreciate the comments Sage. There are some jealous hatin' assed people on here. No doubt that with their "scary track or road speed" that they could clean up on the "weak trail scene." I guess an easy $10,000 just isn't worth it for 6 hours of "easy running."

Probably all from one guy. LRC needs to implement something that shows publicly posts from the same IP address.

adfsfasdfa wrote:

The longer version is basically one of my favorite running videos of all time. Incredibly gorgeous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCR03UDggA

was the cameraman following them on a bike?

those trails are narrow and have steps and creeks etc. would like to know how that was done.

He filmed that with an DJI Osmo I believe (handheld stabilizer gimbal with a 4K camera...light weight and portable). Same thing he used to film Lake Sonoma 2017 and a lot of stuff. Another option of course is a GoPro on a stabilizer (Karma grip etc).

This is probably one of the "easiest" sections of single track that old course...and not a mud year.....although they are about 28 miles in at this point (shown in the thunbnail). The descent gets really steep and techy going down into the woods to pop out by Stinson beach though (around miles 30)....he didn't get that far though as he stayed high on the ridge line (I know because I was in 3rd at that point in that race).

reality check. wrote:

Nopeeee wrote:

Its ultra running on trails or didnt happen. Road racing is for kids

Tell that to Zach and Jim who got their @sses kicked at the road 100K World Champs. Trails are where the mentally weak go to make them think they’re tough when they aren’t.

Running on trail is harder than paved roads period, Not walking but actual running is harder.

Oh Please wrote:

Appreciate the comments Sage. There are some jealous hatin' assed people on here. No doubt that with their "scary track or road speed" that they could clean up on the "weak trail scene." I guess an easy $10,000 just isn't worth it for 6 hours of "easy running."

Probably all from one guy. LRC needs to implement something that shows publicly posts from the same IP address.

The trails are more relaxing

If small is beautiful, you are on to a loser with a city marathon, as small scale simply doesn’t exist. Big city marathons now routinely attract 20,000 runners and more than 100,000 spectators. Yes, that lends them a certain grandeur, but it also makes them overwhelming. The trails, by contrast, are remote, relaxing and far less congested. I know where I’d rather be.

The trails are better looking

Without wanting to name names, there are many major British conurbations that are not renowned for their scenery. Yet running a road marathon seems to provide everyone with rose-tinted spectacles, through which grey asphalt and 1970s architecture become things of rare beauty. I know a regular marathon runner who described the Amsterdam Marathon as “like running round a supermarket car park”, yet she’s run the race three times. Deny yourself no longer: head to the hills for some proper scenery.

Road running is brutal on the body

If you compare the recovery time for a road marathon with that of an off-road marathon, the difference is startling. While you may be a bit sore for a few days after a trail marathon, the chances are you’d be ready for another within a month. Road marathoners, by contrast, are lucky if they can fit in two a year.

The reason for this is well documented: the impact and stress on the joints is considerably greater on road than it is on trail.

The trails offer freedom

I am not belittling people who run road marathons; Paula Ratcliffe and Charlie Spedding are among my all-time athletic heroes. For me, though, it’s not the most nourishing form of running.

Part of the problem is that data monitoring – beloved of road marathoners the world over – has allowed us all to become amateur analysts obsessed with statistics.

Running should be an art, as well as a science. Practising dumb, repetitive movements on hard surfaces may be a form of training. But it is not a skill. You need to engage your body to complete a trail marathon, which means your core, agility and even upper-body strength get worked.