100 Mile WR Holder Zach Bitter Runs 61.5% Of Kouros' 24 Hour Record

Since I labelled Kouros record at the GOAT last year, I'm now obsessed with the record.

You do realize that no one in history has come within 30 seconds of a mile of it (he's 34.14 seconds per mile faster than anyone else in history over 24 hours)?

Let's stop with the WR nonsense. I'll be impressed with an American record. I've been told Zach is one of 5 guys with a theoretical chance at breaking the 172mile US record but the WR is 188.68 miles.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/05/goat-yiannis-kouros-24-hour-record-of-303-306-km-188-68-miles-from-1997-is-the-greatest-ultramarathon-world-record/

haven't listened to the pod yet but Zach has been doing loads of flat running at around 7:50/mi pace, which must be his target. 8 minutes per mile is 180 miles in 24hrs but there will be some stopping and a lot of slowdown as part of the plan, so I bet he starts off doing 8min miles for a long time, maybe even 100 miles.

Would be great to see the American record go down. He also has Camille Herron's mark to beat which not many American men have done either.

ZB is actually going for a good result (Kilian was definitely not in that category as OP said) which is admirable. But the record is a stretch, I agree with Rojo.

His 100 miles record equates to about 295 km (Kouros record is 303,5 km) and he has a BUNCH of 100 miles experience. Also, there are a lot of things that can go wrong in 24 hours, so hitting this ceiling is not really realistic. Running a 280+ (the golden standard for non-Kouros runners) in his first actual 24-hour race ( he ran a few but always DNFed before 200 km) would be a great, great achievement but is unlikely.

I think even tho Zach has way more serious approach to the road and track races, his chances for a record are actually slim at best, while Kilian (with his noticeably bigger engine) may actually be able to do it if he had Zach's experience and approach in the bag.

Those 200 mile weeks on his strava are impressive.

https://www.strava.com/pros/5255567

Seems like he managed to get past 200km in 2014:

Should be fun to follow. Zach's 100m WR pace is about 10% faster than Kouros' 24h pace, so I don't think it's crazy to think he could get it.

This will be another lesson for all who don't know how 24 hour running works.

It was mentioned here that in 2014 he managed to run 201K in a 24 hour race. Even myself had more in my first 24 hour race than Zach.

Zach Bitter is not a 24 hour runner. He has run consistently under 12 hours for 100 miles 3 times since 2013. Last year he ran a 6:39 for 100k which is a very good result.

Zach Bitter would be an excellent 100k racer if the US would have good 100k road races. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Wolfgang Schwerk comes to mind. He had a 100k best of 6:44:38 in 1987. In the same year he managed to run 276.209k in 24 hours which was for around 20 years the best 24 hour mark not by Kouros.

http://statistik.d-u-v.org/getresultperson.php?runner=2398

Kouros was dominating the 24 hour scene from the moment he started running ultras in his end 20ies.

http://statistik.d-u-v.org/getresultperson.php?runner=17130

The problem with these discussions is, that most runners, even ultrarunners have no idea who difficult 24 hour races are, since they have never done one. Jamil Coury has done an excellent job to create a top 24 hour race on track. He is the reason why we see so many 24 hour races on track these days. A big part of the problem is that there is not one competitive road ultra in the US currently. Road 24 hour races are cheaper and easier to organize and they can attract a lot more runners.

24 hour running requires quite a diverse skill set where running is only a small part of it. The knowledge who to fuel yourself and keep the food in your stomach is one of the essential ones. Than you have to deal with blisters, chafing, clothing strategies and so on. The devil is in the details and a 24 hour race is well 24 hours long, which is a really long time.

I wish Zach Bitter the best, he is an excellent runner. Will we see the 24 hour world record coming down? No, not this weekend and probably not in the next 25 years.

Markus knows whereof he speaks.

I'll be there too, running my fifth Desert Solstice and my 11th 24-hour, trying to make the team for World Championships and set records in my new 55-59 age-group.

It may take as little as 146 miles to make the men's team (of 6) this year, or as much as 160+. Currently #4 is 159, #5 is 145.8, and #6 is empty.

Olivier Leblond, Jake Jackson, and Harvey Lewis were on the team last year, all running over 160 at Worlds, and are all running at DS. But they are already on the team and don't figure into the competition for team slots (plus Olivier is stopping at 100).

The obvious competitors for the likely two available spots are Zach, Nick Coury (155 miles at DS 2018), and myself (154 at DS 2018). But there are also several guys running with records that indicate 160+ is possible, but with no 24-hour experience, which is a big handicap. It's going to be an amazing show.

Also the course record at Desert Solstice (now in its 11th year) is Pete Kostelnick's 163.68. That seems very likely to go down — Zach aside, Jake ran 165 at 2019 Worlds, and has learned a lot since then.

While I am not an ultrarunner, from what I know of Kouros this record being broken isn't likely, but it is good he is trying!

I was just thinking about the record today, and Zach looks like the best shot at it in a while.

His training is the heaviest I've ever seen, and he seems like he's been smart about it and has his nutrition dialed in. Plus, we know he has the wheels for it from his prior runs (which, importantly, involved a track).

Last 12 weeks, prior to this:

127

123

83

160

172

142

203

54

190

200

181

75

I'm cheering for Zach and hope he knocks it out of the park. As a bonus, the field is quite strong. (

https://ultrasignup.com/entrants_event.aspx?did=75068

) But, damn, these long races are so fickle when something dumb goes wrong, so who knows?

Note that there will be a live webcast:

https://www.youtube.com/user/aravaiparunning

and live results:

https://my.raceresult.com/163027/results?lang=en

I just listened to the pod btw. Zach confirms my understanding that he is a reasonable guy. Its the first time he actually prepares for a 24 hour race and not running it after a 100 miles prep, so I believe he can go 270 + if things are ok. His A goal is 180 miles + which I don't see happening, then B is the American record which is actually possible.

And regarding the experience with 24 hours, I only comment on those topics, after running a few of them myself with a PR around Bob's PR.

Good luck, Bob! Your performances have been awesome (and made even more notable by your age group); always fun to watch.

Makes Paper wrote:

Plus, we know he has the wheels for it from his prior runs (which, importantly, involved a track).

Just to confirm, even tho he is a nice guy, there is not a single ultra result he has that confirms "he has the wheels for it". His 100 miles are still a bit weaker converted to 24 hours than the record Kouros set. Wish him the best, really like that he is giving it a solid shot, just trying to stay realistic.

As impressive as his 100 mile record is, it should be remembered that it is an INDOOR record only. It was achieved in an artificial environment specifically designed to be optimal for the fastest times. I'm glad this 24hr attempt will be on an outdoor track.

He may not make it, but I'm not willing to be skeptical (realistic?) based on calculators. I haven't seen one that I would consider robust in this situation (though I'd be happy to).

Getyourfactsright wrote:

As impressive as his 100 mile record is, it should be remembered that it is an INDOOR record only. It was achieved in an artificial environment specifically designed to be optimal for the fastest times. I'm glad this 24hr attempt will be on an outdoor track.

It's true that it was run indoors. However it is actually the overall, not indoor, World Record — first, IAU abolished surface distinctions for records 5 years ago, and second, it would count as the overall WR anyway.

Conditions look good tomorrow (high of 66 will be a bit warm for a little while, but not too bad), and the track is actually a nicer surface than the track at the "Dome" (Pettit National Ice Center). So I don't think this will affect him much. It's the going well into new distance and time territory that's the issue.

Markus makes good points.

24 hours is twice as long as a 100-miler.. it would be unusual for anyone not named Camille or Ann, to be good at both these events.

Also in that 24 hours are the small hours of the morning, when mental and physical endurance are at their lowest..

I haven't done a true 24 hour but have run on 10-man relay teams for 24, 36 and 48 hours. On a relay it's possible to fake your way through the dark hours but I spent the 50min in between my miles, lying down in a state of nausea..

I admire Zach but think this one will be a learning experience..

dougk65 wrote:

Markus makes good points.

24 hours is twice as long as a 100-miler.. it would be unusual for anyone not named Camille or Ann, to be good at both these events.

Also in that 24 hours are the small hours of the morning, when mental and physical endurance are at their lowest..

I haven't done a true 24 hour but have run on 10-man relay teams for 24, 36 and 48 hours. On a relay it's possible to fake your way through the dark hours but I spent the 50min in between my miles, lying down in a state of nausea..

I admire Zach but think this one will be a learning experience..

For most runners 24 hours is actually not much further than 100 miles.

The main difference to a fixed distance race is, that the faster you are, the further you have to run. Running through a full night without sleep ads to the problems.

From my experience not many good 100k runners make a good transition into 24 hour races. So you can't just take the 100k time from a successful 24 hour racer and say that a similar 100k time is a guarantee for somebody else to run a similar distance in a 24 hour race. It doesn't work that way.

Bob Hearn wrote:

[quote]Getyourfactsright wrote:

It's true that it was run indoors. However it is actually the overall, not indoor, World Record — first, IAU abolished surface distinctions for records 5 years ago, and second, it would count as the overall WR anyway.

Conditions look good tomorrow (high of 66 will be a bit warm for a little while, but not too bad), and the track is actually a nicer surface than the track at the "Dome" (Pettit National Ice Center). So I don't think this will affect him much. It's the going well into new distance and time territory that's the issue.

I wonder why they did that. Anyway I mentioned it because factors like wind, direct sunlight, temperature and humidity have a significant bearing on distance running performance let alone distances of this magnitude.

I know Yiannis split the first 100 miles in a 6 day race back in the 1980s in something like 11.46ish this was on a hot and humid day in the middle of summer in New York! I can only imagine what he might have done on that day if he was 'under the dome' and aiming solely for a 100 mile time. Just some food for thought.

Anyway, good luck to everyone at the event. It takes a lotta guts to have a serious crack at 24hr running!

Imagine running 200 miles a week, and almost every mile was race pace or faster... Good luck to the Z-Man!