If a super rich oil billionaire offered a million dollar prize for a ultra

ultra thought experiment wrote:

First question: yes or no would a East African win? Assuming two main different scenarios, a flat 100 mile road race and a 100 mile mountain race how do you think it would play out?

If they have less than one year to prepare for it, there is almost zero chance they will finish any of them.

100 miles on roads in record pace is 11:30 hours that is 6 times longer than a Marathon.

A mountain 100 miler is even a lot more challenging for a road Marathoner.

If the price money is there, an East African will be there to win it.

ultra thought experiment wrote:

First question: yes or no would a East African win? Assuming two main different scenarios, a flat 100 mile road race and a 100 mile mountain race how do you think it would play out?

If it's "a" prize that means that all but one athlete would be running for free. To get world class marathoners to compete, it would require an appearance fee of $100K or more. None of them would actually want to run 100 miles so many will fake an injury after 20 miles or so.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

ultra thought experiment wrote:

First question: yes or no would a East African win? Assuming two main different scenarios, a flat 100 mile road race and a 100 mile mountain race how do you think it would play out?

If it's "a" prize that means that all but one athlete would be running for free. To get world class marathoners to compete, it would require an appearance fee of $100K or more. None of them would actually want to run 100 miles so many will fake an injury after 20 miles or so.

I think there would have to be a series of races with "real" money as well. Only a single race probably isn't going to convince a bunch of top tier Kenyans and Ethiopians to switch to training for ultras, since it means you pretty much take yourself out of marathons and down, and there is a fair amount of money out there in those standard distances.

So even a 100k appearance fee likely won't get them to change up their training, they would just add a few really long runs leading up to the event and do their best.

A few years of a handful of well paying events each year would get some talent to commit to ultras.

cooper ac wrote:

If the price money is there, an East African will be there to win it.

They might show up but they will not win it.

ultra thought experiment wrote:

First question: yes or no would a East African win? Assuming two main different scenarios, a flat 100 mile road race and a 100 mile mountain race how do you think it would play out?

Rojo, Wejo, ask daddy to call up his old friends in the Bish family and make this Dream a Reality!

Considering the Kenyans always DNF at Comrades, money won’t help them when their legs cramp.