New 24 hr WR holder Aleksandr Sorokin didn't start running until age 32, used to drink and smoke "a lot" & loves the Alphaflys

Nobody thinks that Kipchoge wouldn't run a 50k world record.

I get it that you don't care about ultrarunning.

But at this point in time Track and Field is at least as much of a niche sport than ultrarunning.

24 hour runner wrote:

Nobody thinks that Kipchoge wouldn't run a 50k world record.

I get it that you don't care about ultrarunning.

But at this point in time Track and Field is at least as much of a niche sport than ultrarunning.

Except for the fact that most high schools and colleges in America compete in Track and Field and Cross Country, have the most participation other than football and continue to grow. If that is your definition of niche, you and I have very different definitions of the word.

Boys participation in track and field is less than 14% of all of the boys participation.

Sounds pretty niche to me.

Now i have even less respect for ultra running bc ultra runners are trying to tear down track in an attempt to prop themselves up as more relevant. 🤣

24 hour runner wrote:

Boys participation in track and field is less than 14% of all of the boys participation.

Sounds pretty niche to me.

And it's less than 0.0014% of participation in ultra, now that's niche.

OozmaKappa wrote:

Now i have even less respect for ultra running bc ultra runners are trying to tear down track in an attempt to prop themselves up as more relevant. 🤣

It's the other way around. The very niche sport of ultrarunning gets crap from a bunch of retired track runners here all the time.

Sometimes i get the feeling that everyone on letsrun is 5 years old.

Doesnt matter if you think the record is soft because ultras are so niche. The record is the record. The guy who broke it ran the farthest distance in 24 hours ever. Anyone can try to best it at any time. I am sure top marathon runners could do so if they had the desire. Not all of them could but im sure some could given they trained for it. It isnt like utmb or hardrock which i think top marathoners would struggle greatly with.

The interesting part of the record is the runners story. No one needs to try to say ultrarunning is dumb or that track doesnt matter. I think it is interesting that the sport of running encompasses a wide breadth of events personally.

The physical demands of ultra running is a bit different from marathons(and much more different when you look at mountain ultras). Muscle fatigue/damage (yes even if you're going at a pace you determine to be a jog) is a huge factor. GI, the ability to drink and eat(and keep it down) is a make or break in ultras. And the mental side.

This record was unbroken for almost 24 years. And the top of the ultra world isn't untalented. So to say that ultra records are unimpressive because you are ignorant just makes you look very foolish. Matter of a fact, everyone on here that says this is too easy. Please just sign up for a 12 hour race and do it at his 24 hour world record pace and come back here to tell us how it went.

Great accomplishment! I'm noticing a trend where many ultra endurance athletes trade one addiction for another. Here we trade smoking and maybe a food addiction for running like crazy.

Alphafly did not make him slower, it's science b**ch

Kudos.

I have done a 100km+ ultra trail race to see for myself.

That put things in perspective.

You re great? Good!

Now is the time to learn what is the first thing to break in you when we push the envelope.

And the second and third one. And how you cope with that.

Most often, you ll slow down way more than you thought.

Chafing, blisters, sleeplessness, food, willpower, knees...Let s see how even the fastest in the world go when the pain comes from everywhere and will not quit for hours.

So many groundless takes from people who I doubt have done both marathons and true ultras. It’s not just simple math. There are many things that could go wrong for an elite marathoner attempting a 24 hour record; muscle/skeletal breakdown, just plain bonking, GI issues…

Charlatan wrote:

He broke the 12hr and 100 mile records in non-AlphaFlys. So, shoes were all about comfort for him in 24hr.

I've read a couple of people saying he didn't wear AlphaFlys in his 100-mile record. But in the Canadian Running article at the start of the thread, it says he did wear them:

Sorokin took a chance that paid off at his 100-mile record run earlier this year. “A friend of mine gave me pair of Nike Alphafly’s to try before the race. I liked the softness of the shoe. I took the risk of wearing the Nike Alphafly during the race,” he says. “I find that cushioning is important when running long distances.”

Am I missing something?

Gnarshralper wrote:

Finally people are starting to realize. Tobacco improves performance. Caffeine is all the rage but nicotine still has a stigma. Runners should start smoking.

I think a fair few runners use nicotine gum/patches.

quality poster here wrote:

Sometimes i get the feeling that everyone on letsrun is 5 years old.

Doesnt matter if you think the record is soft because ultras are so niche. The record is the record. The guy who broke it ran the farthest distance in 24 hours ever. Anyone can try to best it at any time. I am sure top marathon runners could do so if they had the desire. Not all of them could but im sure some could given they trained for it. It isnt like utmb or hardrock which i think top marathoners would struggle greatly with.

The interesting part of the record is the runners story. No one needs to try to say ultrarunning is dumb or that track doesnt matter. I think it is interesting that the sport of running encompasses a wide breadth of events personally.

Spot on. Plus people forget that Kilian tried for this record and had to drop around 7hrs in IIRC. It's all a matter of opinion ultimately. Kipchoge is the GOAT of the marathon, this guy is the GOAT of 24 hrs. Both are awesome.

Hazel wrote:

Spot on. Plus people forget that Kilian tried for this record and had to drop around 7hrs in IIRC. It's all a matter of opinion ultimately. Kipchoge is the GOAT of the marathon, this guy is the GOAT of 24 hrs. Both are awesome.

Kilians "attempt" was weird. It was way to cold for running 24 hours and I also would think he is not the kind of guy to run 24 hours on a track.

Yes, the photos from the race itself showing him in Hokas. Maybe he "tried" AlphaFlys, but that doesn't mean he spent the whole race in them.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

So many groundless takes from people who I doubt have done both marathons and true ultras. It’s not just simple math. There are many things that could go wrong for an elite marathoner attempting a 24 hour record; muscle/skeletal breakdown, just plain bonking, GI issues…

That's true its usually something like an upset stomach cant eat and bonk. Also if you dont have the endurance muscles you simply cant do it past a certain amount of time given your genetics. All that aside you dont see many top or even elite ultra runners take part in balls to the wall marathon races or track races. That's good evidence for the difference between quality and quantity of pain. So there is that to consider. Ultra runners can test themselves but very few do. They remember that pain from youth and choose the easier way out :).

Thanks for the useful information.