Looked like awesome fan energy at the top of the Escarpment. Pretty wild how many men are there in that lead group, even at this early stage.
Yeah such depth - 15 men within 1 min 10s over the enscaprment. Will be interesting to see if it's thinned out at all by Lyon ridge. Seven women within ~90s as well
For folks in the know, can you explain pacing strategies for this race? I'm surprised Roche is in the lead so early (although I probably shouldn't be based on everything he's posted).
Yeah such depth - 15 men within 1 min 10s over the enscaprment. Will be interesting to see if it's thinned out at all by Lyon ridge. Seven women within ~90s as well
Top 12 within 15s and still 15 men within 2 mins at Lyon Ridge. 8 mins ahead of Jim Walmsley, Rod Farvard etc time from last year. Conditions look fantastic.
I volunteer at aid stations at a local ultra series - usually we have 1-2 leaders coming through, maybe 3. I'd be so stressed getting that pack of 15 through! Don't want to mess things up for them, lol.
For folks in the know, can you explain pacing strategies for this race? I'm surprised Roche is in the lead so early (although I probably shouldn't be based on everything he's posted).
He's not really in the lead per se, there's a big group that he's running in...he did look super strong up the enscarpment but you can't really read too much into that. You'd expect him to be top 15 no doubt, as much as LRC hates him he is very good so no surprise he's in the lead pack. Great conditions and course record definitely in play so they've all started hard.
For folks in the know, can you explain pacing strategies for this race? I'm surprised Roche is in the lead so early (although I probably shouldn't be based on everything he's posted).
I am certainly not in the know, but based on a few podcasts I've listened to - Roche believes that it is better to start harder in these ultras. I guess with the super high carb fueling, he thinks you can use more carbs early if you are running at a higher effort. So he runs at the high end of whatever he thinks Zone 2 heart rate is.
And then the fatigue of an ultra (central fatigue? something else?) sets in and they slow down in the second half, actually unable to keep HR up as high.
So it is kind of the opposite of road running at distances up to the marathon. And it seems to be a change in the racing paradigm in ultras, but I could be wrong.
For folks in the know, can you explain pacing strategies for this race? I'm surprised Roche is in the lead so early (although I probably shouldn't be based on everything he's posted).
He's not really in the lead per se, there's a big group that he's running in...he did look super strong up the enscarpment but you can't really read too much into that. You'd expect him to be top 15 no doubt, as much as LRC hates him he is very good so no surprise he's in the lead pack. Great conditions and course record definitely in play so they've all started hard.
David mentioned he thought the most time could be made up on the first climbs and high country (relative to course record splits). That part of the course is the rockiest, so not sure if that plan mixes well with his ankle issues. Hard to tell if it's solely him pushing the pace and the whole group just going with him, or several people charging hard. David came into Lyon Ridge in first but left in 4th or 5th after the quick water stop.