how can I beat this runner?

Maybe make a decisive break on a hilly section, then dig in and hang on?

But the downside is that it fries your running shirt pretty quickly. You get this 1" honeycomb spot from the friction where you have the tape.

Do a kick in the middle of the race and try and make him go at your ridiculous pace then slow down and he might carry on at a ridiculous pace and burn out

I can help...DM me

This is very funny...after I finally remembered who jg was.

My goal in life is to trigger someone into making a post like this about me.

make your parents proud!

You're better at him over longer distances and a trail race favors strength over speed, which is also to your advantage. Just hang with him for the first half and wait for him to get tired. Somewhere around 13-15 miles you should know if he's fading. Then start trying to break him by increasing the pace.

Ha, this post could be about me. There are runners that have a 15-20 faster PR than me in the marathon and I absolutely rinse them in the shorter distances. But I don't think they really care while my marathon PR is burning a hole in my brain.

This is the much simpler problem to solve, of course.

Correct, if Nick Bare could do it while over the ideal weight, I can do it as well.

the Russian beat me by 2 minutes. I feel like I have let the forum down and also Ukraine down 🙁

he started very fast, built up a lead and I caught up after about 15k, when he saw me behind him he shot off again and even though I pressed really hard in the last 5k to try and at least get within sight of him, I didn't see him again until the finish line

You should get JS to coach him. That's guaranteed to make him slower.

Match him stride-for-stride and make a break at a point where you feel your endurance gives you the edge. Don't forget to shake his hand after, no matter the outcome. And please don't dress in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. He likely won't care, but if he does, it's disrespectful. No need to inject politics into competition. Good luck!