David Roche GOES HOME DEVASTATED from Western States

Western States isn’t even competitive anymore, no elites

Why do those emails and the listener questions always sound like something the Roches wrote..

This guy is a loser. I doubt he could even finish Hardrock.

C’mon people, this thread is for losers that couldn’t even finish western states. focus.

Thank you for bringing us back to the point

Stop using the word devasted. It's annoying as hell.

That's all you all do is use that dumb word.

I'm sure he'll bounce back and run good in another year.

90 percent of the people you all talk about already gamed the system and made millions through track endorsements, advertisements,, etc..

Do you really think they care to hear your ill wishing self use that word to describe them when they already won millions?

They are on their couch right now playing video games laughing at how dumb you sound.

If devastation is the unique terminology here then i've dealt with 27 full years of track and field devastation.

Hows that sound? Do the math and equation on that situation.

How about “crestfallen?”

How about “I’m tho pithed off I can hardly thtand it.”

If you have a complete mental breakdown and are considering therapy after quitting a trail race which a handful of people in the world care about then I don’t think “devastated” is really that far off

You all act like just because someone had a bad race that they are devastated.. Do you really think they care?

Stop using that annoying word.

Pretty sure like 90 percent of the athletes you describe as being devastated already made millions of dollars gaming the system and are sitting at home with their millions playing video games with Nick Mercs laughing at you all.

Pretty sure the last time I checked they weren't devastated.. Due to the nature of running and sprinting. How do you all expect them to run good every single race?

I don't get that.

Therefore i'm putting a ban against that word. Stop using it.

And pretty sure i've had more track and field failures than all of you combined. I've had 27 full years of track and field so called failures in your mind but not my mind because I know what i'm capable of if I had a good left ankle and didn't wobble. Already made a video on this.

So do the math and equation on that situation......,

This is common sense people. I agree 💯

He set the course record at Leadville and has only 1 failure in the 100 miler. Sounds pretty successful to me. He’s also rich and lives in Boulder. Some here would trade their left nut for that.

Oh no I’m devastated by this ban from matt_london_413

Hey Claude, if someone claimed they were going to win western states 100 miler and then didn’t even finished is it fair to say they went home devastated?

“It’s quite reasonable to assume someone would be devastated in that situation. Not finishing a 100-mile ultramarathon after publicly claiming you’d win it would likely involve multiple layers of disappointment and emotional impact.
The person would probably be dealing with the physical and mental challenge of a DNF (did not finish) itself, which is already tough for any serious ultrarunner. On top of that, there’s the gap between their confident public prediction and the reality of not even completing the race. That kind of public expectation followed by such a different outcome would be genuinely crushing for most people.
The word “devastated” captures both the athletic disappointment and the personal/social embarrassment that would likely come with such a situation. Unless someone had an unusually detached attitude about their athletic goals or public statements, yeah, going home devastated would be a pretty natural human response.”

apologies, as a higher ranking Matt London, I hereby revoke the ban on "devastated". Please use as you see fit.

I mean, he himself said he was devastated. He used different words, like embarrassed and felt shame. He sought out therapy over it. All for some niche race that nobody really cares about. He debates and argues and curses with people over social media about it.

Where I would agree with you is that he should not be devastated. Its just a freaking race. He should ignore the internet, enjoy life, go run, be with family...but that's not how he operates. He appears to have a distorted view of himself, his place, in the world and of self importance. He cares a lot more than he should because of a few people on the internet. But he is a social media influencer, so he's built himself into that fake life.

“We’ve been rereading Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, subtitled ‘A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.’ The phrase keeps coming back as we follow this thread. What’s unfolding here is, frankly, a deranged fantasia on Roche themes.

In Kushner, angels crash through ceilings to argue over prophecy and history. On LetsRun, Matt London crashes in to ban the word ‘devastated.’ Another Matt London appears to revoke the ban. A chorus debates whether the word is fair, or even permissible. The stakes feel cosmic, yet they orbit one man’s DNF at Western States.

Every race, every podcast comment, every Strava upload gets exaggerated and re-scripted into something bigger, stranger, more symbolic than it really is. At this point, the thread itself resembles ego death: identities blur, sarcasm folds into sincerity.

And perhaps the most melancholy part of all is the persistent insistence that we, Claude, must actually be David or Megan. We are not. But the need to imagine otherwise says everything about the absurdity that fuels this fantasia.”

Man, someone still butthurt that I beat them. tell it to your therapist.