When I refer to the 2016 race, what I mean is the result that year wasn't crazy fast (8+min/mi) and his pacing is a lot more normal. This seems like a normal ultra result and it happens before all of his suspicious races start popping up in 2017
Look at his 2017 lap times at the Bethel Boogie 50 miler. The first 40 miles show a typical slow down and between 20 - 40 miles he was well above 8 min/mi. Then he ran miles 40 - 46 at 5:49 pace and miles 46 - 50 at 6:43 pace.
Look at his 2017 lap times at the Bethel Boogie 50 miler. The first 40 miles show a typical slow down and between 20 - 40 miles he was well above 8 min/mi. Then he ran miles 40 - 46 at 5:49 pace and miles 46 - 50 at 6:43 pace.
I am assuming the miles 40-46 are the out and back section in the woods. Makes sense that there would be a dramatic pace change if someone turned around early.
So a 47 yr old with a downhill marathon PR of 2:33 ran 5:20 pace for the last 4 miles of a 50 mile race which included ~300ft elevation gain the last 2 miles… and he didn’t get it on GPS/Strava. Lol, who knows, maybe this guy will win the 100k World Champs by 20+ minutes.
I am assuming the miles 40-46 are the out and back section in the woods. Makes sense that there would be a dramatic pace change if someone turned around early.
Miles 40-46 are the 6 mile lollipop loop and 46-50 are the out and back section. It is possible to cut either of them short though.
Ivo’s running has come up a few times on this message board over the past few years, usually in threads discussing ultra results where a poster will make a joke about Ivo being able to beat Walmsley or Kilian and linking to one of his many 26+ mile, 6:15ish paced “easy” runs. As a result, I followed his Strava—which has since been made private—and looked into his races a few years ago and found a lot of what superawesomness outlined on the first page and in their Google doc:
-Multiple 17+ minute road 5ks with full GPS data, often accompanied with excuses as to why he ran so slowly. No 5ks under 17 minutes.
-Tons of seemingly heroic training runs—things like routinely running 20ish miles under 6:30 pace. Looking closer at these sessions, they would almost always be a little questionable having: A) significant differences between the moving time and overall elapsed time, B) generally funky GPS data, C) Strava segment paces that didn’t line up with the overall pace of the run, or D) some combination of all three issues. A lot of these training runs would be on a 400m outdoor track, around a small loop in a park, or out and back on a bike path—they’d almost never be on a big loop that could be mapped out accurately. In a previous thread that has since been deleted, a poster accused Ivo of using an improperly calibrated foot pod to make it appear that he was running faster than he actually was.
-Strange, incomplete, or no GPS data for almost all marathons that he has run (superawesomness does a great job of outlining this in their Google doc). For the few marathons he has full GPS data for, they are in the 2:40s, which lines up well with the 17+ minute 5ks, particularly considering his age and background.
-No GPS data for any of his Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50-milers, which is the only 50-mile race that he has done. He always had a weird excuse as to why his watch didn’t work, despite uploading runs immediately before on the course. In 2021, he claimed his inconsistent pacing at the race was due to multiple bathroom pitstops, and said that he shouldn’t have carried any wipes with him in order to not give himself the option to stop. Race photos / video show that he definitely was not carrying wipes with him. In 2019, he uploaded this photo of his watch as proof he ran the entire 50 miles: https://imgur.com/a/BpLUlxD. This photo has always looked heavily doctored to me and there are a few other instances of him uploading blurry / badly photoshopped pictures of his watch as proof over the years.
I wasn’t aware of him cheating / getting removed from the virtual Speed Loop mile in Raleigh until this thread, but it tracks with what I observed during 2020 when he posted a lot of suspect time trial results with strange GPS data (usually on one particular bike path). Since relocating from North Carolina to Colorado in recent years, his Strava has continued to be pretty weird. He implies that he’s a sponsored runner and makes vague references to training with a group of professionals who do not seem to have consistent names, online presences, or any verifiable race results. At one point he said that he ran a 10-mile time trial with this group and their coach did not tell them the length of the time trial until there was a mile to go—this all seems incredibly implausible and, predictably, there was never any GPS data to go with any of this. He’s claimed that it would be easy for him to get the win at the JFK 50-miler, but is yet to race it and I would be stunned if he actually shows up to the 100k World Championships in August. Taking all this together, I think Ivo is a good runner—it seems likely he’s a 17-minute / 2:40 marathon master’s runner—but he definitely is not an elite ultrarunner and his Moonlight Boogie times should be removed from any all-time lists.
There are numerous dirt roads to “cut” during the 6 mile loop and a couple of trails to “hide” on the 4 mile out and back (which no one monitors at the end). You must run the loop and out and back 5 times each. Considering the start time of the race, he was able to run most of the race in the dark. Mind you this course is also out in the middle of no where (very few cars and almost no street lights) A few of the local runners were very skeptical and checked numerous of the dirt roads to see how clear the paths were the following weekend. On one of the dirt roads, the runners found a few small water bottles and empty maurtin gels. Of course there’s no way of officially knowing if any of this evidence was his but it definitely makes sense after looking at some of his 6 mile and 4 mile splits. The dirt road also makes the 6 mile loop into a 1.5 mile loop if it is followed. The end of the dirt road comes out about half a mile from the start/finish line (which is monitored but can’t be seen from the end of the dirt road). I grew up in the area and have sense moved with family who stills runs in almost every local event around. The local runners are very proud of the local races. No one has even came close to this pace with any local marathon or ultra in the area which drew a lot of skepticism (especially considering he’s from colorado and doesn’t know anyone around the area). I really do hope this time is honest. If not, it is just utterly disgusting that he thinks he can come out and take advantage of a local community like this for his little bit of fame. It’s sad because even if he did cut some miles short, he could have still ran a 50 mile race and won without any competition (I’ve seen his training runs on Strava and he is a great runner). I’m sure he won’t show up next year and try to pull the same stunt. If so, he will definitely have plenty of eyes on him throughout EVERY mile.
There are numerous dirt roads to “cut” during the 6 mile loop and a couple of trails to “hide” on the 4 mile out and back (which no one monitors at the end). You must run the loop and out and back 5 times each. Considering the start time of the race, he was able to run most of the race in the dark. Mind you this course is also out in the middle of no where (very few cars and almost no street lights) A few of the local runners were very skeptical and checked numerous of the dirt roads to see how clear the paths were the following weekend. On one of the dirt roads, the runners found a few small water bottles and empty maurtin gels. Of course there’s no way of officially knowing if any of this evidence was his but it definitely makes sense after looking at some of his 6 mile and 4 mile splits. The dirt road also makes the 6 mile loop into a 1.5 mile loop if it is followed. The end of the dirt road comes out about half a mile from the start/finish line (which is monitored but can’t be seen from the end of the dirt road). I grew up in the area and have sense moved with family who stills runs in almost every local event around. The local runners are very proud of the local races. No one has even came close to this pace with any local marathon or ultra in the area which drew a lot of skepticism (especially considering he’s from colorado and doesn’t know anyone around the area). I really do hope this time is honest. If not, it is just utterly disgusting that he thinks he can come out and take advantage of a local community like this for his little bit of fame. It’s sad because even if he did cut some miles short, he could have still ran a 50 mile race and won without any competition (I’ve seen his training runs on Strava and he is a great runner). I’m sure he won’t show up next year and try to pull the same stunt. If so, he will definitely have plenty of eyes on him throughout EVERY mile.
Does Doug know about all of this? Are the local runners calling for him to be DQed from the Boogie results? Most people agree that he is a very good runner. However as noted up-thread his training runs on Strava raise many more unanswered questions.
Anyone know if our guy Ivo is officially entered in the 100k World Championships in Berlin next weekend? He was talking up his ability to medal on his Facebook account in 2021, so it would be weird if he skipped it
Anyone know if our guy Ivo is officially entered in the 100k World Championships in Berlin next weekend? He was talking up his ability to medal on his Facebook account in 2021, so it would be weird if he skipped it
He is on the participant list and they list his Boogie 50 times in their results database
I'm not saying he cut or not but cutting courses, going the wrong way, etc. I have no evidence of that.
I will say that in my limited experience with ultras it is extremely common for people to cut courses and basically nobody cares including other runners and most race directors.
The last one I did I was in the lead with another guy on and out and back part of the course and all of the sudden we were in 3rd and 4th place as we watched two guys go the opposite way "after" the turnaround which was not at all possible without them hiding out somewhere. I was ticked off and expressed my anger to the guy next to me and he actually did not care at all. I bagged out and drove home because I didn't see the point.
Ultra-runners are an odd group and I respect them for enjoying themselves out there but it's just not my thing. If I want to go on a long trail run without competing, I will do that without entering a race. For them it's a community, a lifestyle...
I don't think this guy has ever run more than 26.2 before, so I'm going to project a DNF.
Same. Although I project he will go with the leaders for 15 or 20 miles then DNF with an excuse about some freak occurrence, but was otherwise destined for the podium if not for x, y, or z.
