Kilian is the face of this event and the reason why Greg V. changed it to a 4-day stage race... now Walmsley is entered and flying over to race!!! How will this race go down or will someone else win like Jon Albon?? $10,000 prize purse and bragging rights on the line! Is Joe Gray attending? Max King? Sage Canaday? Remi Bonet?
Ah, I found the list... I will pick a darkhorse... Peter Engdahl of Norway!!!
The real dark horse is Frédéric Tranchant!!!
Yes, it seems it could be a good event for the orienteering specialists. Frédéric Tranchand for the men and Tove Alexandersson for the women.
Jim doesn't seem to like the course so far!
Kilian is going for the 24 record back in Norway. Walmsley seems to be making excuses already anyway. Not happy he can't run on american trails (gravel roads).
Such a gas lighting title:
Biggest challengers to Killian will be Remi and David not Wamsley.
This race has a lot of vert and the skimo guys are gonna be the strongest.
I understand what Walmsley is saying... happened to me in Ireland, showed up to the IAU World Champs and we spent 40 miles running through bogs, it was horrendous and I did not perform anywhere near my ability... just a completely different sport. Those trails remind me of that, just cutting through fields and forests... I'm actually more concerned about the fact that he races in HOKAs.. no way a HOKA is stable enough to run through that terrain in those sections. He needs something lower profile and somewhat aggressive like INOV-8 or even Salomon, Scott.
was SJD invited? A Golden series winner.
Standard Setter wrote:
I understand what Walmsley is saying... happened to me in Ireland, showed up to the IAU World Champs and we spent 40 miles running through bogs, it was horrendous and I did not perform anywhere near my ability... just a completely different sport. Those trails remind me of that, just cutting through fields and forests... I'm actually more concerned about the fact that he races in HOKAs.. no way a HOKA is stable enough to run through that terrain in those sections. He needs something lower profile and somewhat aggressive like INOV-8 or even Salomon, Scott.
Hoka Jawz he will be sound, almost as good as X-Talons. If he races Speedgoats, well, that's gonna end in tears . . .
SJD's time was bettered by Joe Gray. Although if he had applied he probably could have gone. Joe Gray is the one avoiding the most competitive trail race of the year. But he really doesn't run longer races so not a surprise. Some people only race if they think they can win. Sage is skipping it. I'll let him reply as to why.
Lol walmsley is so legit. His instagram story right now is torching Salamon. He will always be loved because of his confidence & willingness to speak like a normal joe instead of a robot like the typical boring professional runner.
Gray has broken his hand i see on his ig story earlier this month. He was intending to go from what he mentioned after beating both Max King record at Enchantments FKt and broke Seth's fkt on Boulder traverse by a ton. Sucks, would have loved to see how he fares in a long race like this. Not sure where the some only race where they think they can win. I dont see Kilian or Walmsley showing up for the classic distance mountain races against Ugandans and Eritrean ever. The real comp is in sub ultra, thus the reason those guys stick only to ultra to avoid the unknown big talents
. I dont see Kilian or Walmsley showing up for the classic distance mountain races against Ugandans and Eritrean ever. The real comp is in sub ultra, thus the reason those guys stick only to ultra to avoid the unknown big talents
That's BS. Sierre Zinal is sub ultra, and always has a loaded field with the most depth and competition of any mountain race. Kilian wins it at a canter every year.
Remind me how many world champion Ugandans have come there? Yep thats right, none of them. Kilian knows to avoid the real high level sub ultra. Sierre zinal still suits the ultra runner as it is long ups and downs for multiple hours. When you look at a race under say 90mins on technical terrain at fast speeds, kilian does not show up. Recall Gray beat him easily at Skaala opp which is about 75mins for top atlete. Did some digging and also found that Walmsley and Gray race 12k in course de cross country. There Gray dominated him and it was not close. Also Patrick Smythe of USA dominated Walmsley there. Kilian good on long run with tech terrain but lets not get carried away. He isnt racing the top Ugandan athletes and even with his 10k on a fast course with over 6 month prep he run only 30mins! Gray, King, Walmsley, Smythe and many other sub elite track trail atlete have run much faster. They still lost to Uganda
EJD wrote:
Yes, it seems it could be a good event for the orienteering specialists. Frédéric Tranchand for the men and Tove Alexandersson for the women.
Jim doesn't seem to like the course so far!
Plenty more orienteers in the field: Boström (2:17 marathon), Hadorn and Buchs.
And Judith Wyder and Marc Lauenstein are both retired World class orienteers.
When the going gets tough, the road runners stay home.
Vogue2team wrote:
Remind me how many world champion Ugandans have come there? Yep thats right, none of them. Kilian knows to avoid the real high level sub ultra. Sierre zinal still suits the ultra runner as it is long ups and downs for multiple hours. When you look at a race under say 90mins on technical terrain at fast speeds, kilian does not show up. Recall Gray beat him easily at Skaala opp which is about 75mins for top atlete. Did some digging and also found that Walmsley and Gray race 12k in course de cross country. There Gray dominated him and it was not close. Also Patrick Smythe of USA dominated Walmsley there. Kilian good on long run with tech terrain but lets not get carried away. He isnt racing the top Ugandan athletes and even with his 10k on a fast course with over 6 month prep he run only 30mins! Gray, King, Walmsley, Smythe and many other sub elite track trail atlete have run much faster. They still lost to Uganda
I don’t know, I always read on here how the guys that run fast in shorter distances would also dominate longer distances with more technical terrain. Which is it now?
Ugandans are batting 1000 - Perfection - at the World Mountain Championships every time their federation has the budget and interest to send a team. They are like Kenyans and Cross Country. Literally unbeatable as a team and individual. Even the random Kenyan women that show up dominate and win Gold over the years -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Mountain_Running_Championships
Dude knows his weakness. What’s wrong with pointing it out.
Is Jim planning to jump over top of Killian?
Jakob Ingebrigtsen has a 1989 Ferrari 348 GTB and he's just put in paperwork to upgrade it
Is there a rule against attaching a helium balloon to yourself while running a road race?
Strava thinks the London Marathon times improved 12 minutes last year thanks to supershoes
NAU women have no excuse - they should win it all at 2024 NCAA XC
How rare is it to run a sub 5 minute mile AND bench press 225?
Mark Coogan says that if you could only do 3 workouts as a 1500m runner you should do these
Move over Mark Coogan, Rojo and John Kellogg share their 3 favorite mile workouts
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!