Canadian running has a great interview with him.
On this week's podcast, we debated whether the shoes helped him or not. Women's 24 hr WR holder Camille Herron tweeted they did not. My response was "That's interesting but if they didn't help him, why did he wear them?"
https://twitter.com/runcamille/status/1433058345854853128
The discussion comes at the 38:33 mark.
This kind of just speaks to how unimpressive the rcord is.
The 10th best marathoner today could probably break that record on their off day while smoking and drinking, AND stopping occasionally to check in on their farms.
I personally dont get the hype for records in these niche running events for this reason. I find track and traditional road racing a lot more exciting.
Here is a great interview with Sorokin
What about Kilian Jornet trying to break the record in Salomon Phantasm? Incredibly stupid choosing a shoe that is a modern day flat
OozmaKappa wrote:
This kind of just speaks to how unimpressive the rcord is.
The 10th best marathoner today could probably break that record on their off day while smoking and drinking, AND stopping occasionally to check in on their farms.
I personally dont get the hype for records in these niche running events for this reason. I find track and traditional road racing a lot more exciting.
The wonderful thing about keeping records is that you know who has and hasn’t done what. That way there is no need for speculation for what could be, you just know what is. I’m sure if given the correct and optimal circumstances there are thousands of potential record holders for each event. But do all these people fulfill that potential or do what we as fans expect them to do? No.
He broke the 12hr and 100 mile records in non-AlphaFlys. So, shoes were all about comfort for him in 24hr.
Not on their best day without specifically training for it. What makes you think 2 hour runners can suddenly excel at 24?
joecrunner wrote:
Not on their best day without specifically training for it. What makes you think 2 hour runners can suddenly excel at 24?
If they did, the record would be 200+ miles.
Perhaps, I'd even say likely if they nail nutrition. But that wasn't what the person I was replying to was saying. 24 hours is a long time.
A Kenyan or some other east African would have the top 10 times in this within a year if they wanted it.
He got his other records without those shoes, but i guess they help. There are pros for starting running late at distances were speed and oxygen is not as important as running economy. Scientists now believe slow twitch fibers get better as we age. Because of age he hasnt destroyed his body from injuries and lots of lactat work.
OozmaKappa wrote:
The 10th best marathoner today could probably break that record on their off day while smoking and drinking, AND stopping occasionally to check in on their farms.
If this were the kind of event that depended 'only' or 'mostly' on aerobic fitness that would be right. Just jog and sip on sugary drinks every now and then to refill your tank and that's it. But aerobic fitness hardly even matters. I guess most people on Letsrun would relate to the average pace of this WR as "easy" or even "jog". I'm slower than many around here yet I would feel like 'I could run like this forever!" when running at 8 minute miles which is only slightly slower than Sorokin's 24h pace. Yet the most I have run would be 5-6 hour 'jog hikes' which would end like 'I could go on if I had more food and water, maybe I could buy some at the next town...nah, I'm not enjoying this anymore, better catch a ride home'
You might know this from the difference between half marathon and marathon: if you're competitive, you likely don't bother with water/nutrition at the half; you have to take care about this to perform your best at the full. When the distance is several times longer, all this stuff like nutrition, blisters, mental toughness and such become way more important than top level fitness.
To put this to the extreme, imagine 'backyard chess ultra': two players play chess and have to run a lap of the track after each turn. Running is untimed (save for some very generous threshold to determine if a player couldn't finish his lap) and the winner is determined solely on the chess board. Now, we have two players: an elite marathoner who barely has any chess experience, just knows the rules, and a word class chess player who jogs 45 minutes 6 days a week to keep himself fit. Who'd you'd bet on?
While it looks quite impressive the number of people doing these events is minuscule so it’s impossible to define what is good. There is a 6 day event in Hungary at the moment and no one running it you would guess is a runner. Ultras are interesting at times especially UTMB where there is atmosphere and competition.
jog until you drop wrote:
While it looks quite impressive the number of people doing these events is minuscule so it’s impossible to define what is good. There is a 6 day event in Hungary at the moment and no one running it you would guess is a runner. Ultras are interesting at times especially UTMB where there is atmosphere and competition.
I have done multiday races but I agree with you. 6 day races are painful to watch.
spinozza wrote:
A Kenyan or some other east African would have the top 10 times in this within a year if they wanted it.
No they wouldn't.
A couple of years ago some African runners tried to run 100 miles on track. They failed miserably.
24 hours is a long time and much more can happen in that time then in a marathon which last just a good 2 hours for the best these days.
He is a strong runner over 24 hours and that is because the top hundred kilometer (100km) runners don’t take part in this. To put things in perspective he has a best time 7hrs30mins for 100 km (Doha 2019) and that would be around one hour behind the best 100km runners! Very far.
I checked out his world athletics page and there are no other events listed for him including the marathon and the marathon is a very good indicator of the quality of ultra distance runners. I doubt this guy could run faster than 240 to 245 for the marathon but if I’m wrong I stand corrected. He’s a slogger and he’s gutsy, so kudos to him anyways.
Ghost1 wrote:
He is a strong runner over 24 hours and that is because the top hundred kilometer (100km) runners don’t take part in this. To put things in perspective he has a best time 7hrs30mins for 100 km (Doha 2019) and that would be around one hour behind the best 100km runners! Very far.
I checked out his world athletics page and there are no other events listed for him including the marathon and the marathon is a very good indicator of the quality of ultra distance runners. I doubt this guy could run faster than 240 to 245 for the marathon but if I’m wrong I stand corrected. He’s a slogger and he’s gutsy, so kudos to him anyways.
What?
Aleksandre Sorokin did run 6:43 over 100k last year.
https://statistik.d-u-v.org/getresultevent.php?event=60885And a marathon time is not a good indicator at all for ultrarunning.
No idea what Sorokin's Marathon PR is, but others with that kind of 100k times where in the sub 2:30 range.
this guy used to drink and smoke a lot and started running at 32....
if any top professional runner decided to take this up they would kill it
joecrunner wrote:
Not on their best day without specifically training for it. What makes you think 2 hour runners can suddenly excel at 24?
It is the same difference as saying a great 400m runner should also be a great 5000m runner. Extrapolating might work x2, ie marathoners could excel at the 50k or 100k, but going x12 is a bit fishy.
Just goes to show how much of a joke ultra records are. Good for him, though, for turning his addictive tendencies into something positive.