David Roche GOES HOME DEVASTATED from Western States

At least Sage will chime in and defend himself. I don’t think I’ve beat him yet, but someday I can hopefully add him to the list with Dave.

The dedication people on here put into hating on David is bordering on psychotic. Anyone who actually cares about these threads beyond fun banter about a sport we all love should go breathe some fresh air… maybe go for a run.

This… doesn’t actually mean anything. Worse than some of the papers I had to grade when I TA’d for my interdisciplinary studies professor.

: (

When you think about it, David Roche and his Western States is a bit like a Greek tragedy. Oedipus was full of hubris, killed his father and slept with his mother and then he paid the price for that hubris by blinding himself when he found out the truth. Greek tragedies often proceed on the basis that people who are full of pride have that pride come back to bite them in the bottom.

here, Roche won a race without a large amount of competition, proceeded to talk about it on podcasts ad infinitum, declared an open ambition to win a much more competitive race, made a YouTube series about his ambition and strange training ideas, then failed because he couldn’t hack the mental side of the race.

his hubris and the pressure he put on himself all contributed to his failure. His pride ironically led to his mental failure too. E able to keep going.

That’s somewhat like a Greek tragedy. No idea about this leotard tragedy business.

I could add Euripides references also but I can’t really remember much else of the Greek tragedy paper I studied around 28 years ago.

Dang

Deep down he knew he was going to crash and burn. But he didn’t care because he would get all the attention and sympathy, so it was a win either way. Now he’s the people’s champ of running with health anxiety. So special.

Was David Roach drug tested after his latest Leadville win?

I have not seen/heard anything to suggest he was (or was not), but almost certainly not.

So potentially Roach could be blasting Test, HGH, EPO, Amphetamines, etc?

That can be said of almost everyone running (mostly) in the ultra world. hell, applies to me as well.

"Runforthehillz’s thesis depends on Roche adopting what we might call a 'performative indifference' stance—that the failure itself was part of a larger strategy to curry favour.

But the archive (podcasts, YouTube, post-race interviews) tells another story. The Western States narrative is not of a man hedging his bets, but of one collapsing precisely because he refused to imagine collapse. He believed, to his detriment, in victory. To frame that as a calculated win-win is pure projection.

There are shades here of Nick Guest in The Line of Beauty—so certain of belonging, so sure the ascent would last. And then that faith curdling into vulnerability once the edifice crumbles."

Wait I thought us haters were supposed to say that Roche doesn't actually perform at the level he says he does? Now we think he is fast, but he is doping? Or do we just get to pick which argument we want from moment to moment? I personally think he'd be way faster if he were doping lol

Who is “us haters”? There’s not a party line or a community, dude. Just because there’s one rando in here who wants to keep raving about EPO, doesn’t mean “we” are arguing Roche is a doper.

Heck, I personally will consistently maintain that he’s a top runner capable of great things, and I have no idea whether he’s doping or not. He’s also just a narcissistic liar, who uses puffery to self promote to an unhealthy degree, and promotes a toxic mess of positivity while actually practicing quite unpleasant personal and professional behaviors. And also posting on this thread under an AI persona, which honestly might be the most weirdly dislikable thing that he does.

Didn't you hear he'd be around 2:09 in the marathon, and sub 4:00 in the mile?

The difference is for sure Leadville probably didn't have any dope testing. Western States sometimes does have that threat.

Who knows what David might have had to take after his bike accident -- or for high altitude races and his special 'secret' training-recovery. It's probably not all just crazy sweat suit and saunas and carbs.

It's not like he was doing mile repeats outside in 4:30 on a track in Boulder however -- that is saved for his 'fully calibrated and new and accurate' wahoo Kickr treadmill at 0% incline in his home gym when the camera is rolling for the U-tube..

Yes. I think David’s a good runner. My problem with him is his annoying personality, inauthenticity, and general bloviating. There are many similar athletes in other sports that people complain about, but for some reason in ultra running it’s not allowed to dislike anyone.

nah you’re definitely allowed to dislike people in ultra running. I like David as a person and athlete, but I honestly fully respect everyone’s opinions and also think banter about top athletes is a fun part of sport

The posting under an AI persona part is a stretch without evidence. I also post on this thread sometimes and didn’t post during the time that the Leadville race occurred, but I wasn’t even running Leadville. I just have a life outside of this thread. Now that all being said, I totally respect your other opinions and that you don’t feel solidarity with all of the people who hate David for other reasons! I appreciate you