2. Chris Myers 14:17:39 (8:47.99, 14:44.63, 32:22.24
3. Killian Jornet 14:19:22 (29:59 road, 2020)
Conundrum: There is another Chris Myers on W.A. with the following personal bests:
4:12.94, 8:40.79, 15:29.40,
Not sure which Myers is the ultra runner. Confused.
Speed wins no matter what. The days of “track guys” can’t win ultras has been dead for years. The whole board at WS and Irunfar need to retire. They keep preaching the crap like AJW Meghan and Byron etc
I will add that I never thought the term hobby joggers fit competitive athletes, but these runners are like elite women on the track, and that is not an insult, but merely a fact. However what they can do in ultra events is quite impressive.
Wrong Caleb Olson, those times are from a Liberty runner in 2022/23. He did a 5k TT back and November and ran a 15:56.
Are you sure it’s not the same guy? World Athletics says the Caleb Olson that ran a couple of 29-low 10,000s is now 29 years old. The ultra runner Caleb Olson also is 29.
I hope that Letsrun has moved beyond "uLtRa RUnNeRs aRe hOBbYJoGGerS," crap.
Lol how many college kids run 29 minutes or faster these days? 150? He wouldn't even make D1 regionals.
This is comparing apples to oranges. Yeah on a track, they wouldn't be that impressive compared to D1 or Olympic standards. But for example Matt Carpenter was a different animal when it came to running uphill, especially at altitude. Matt Carpenter only had a low 2:20 marathon personal best if i recall correctly. But his vo2 max measured in the 90s. Of the 5k personal best yesterday of the top ten at western states, Caleb Olson was on the slower end of the spectrum out of the top ten. These mountain 100s care more about strength, resiliency, durability and grit. 5k personal best not so much, I do think Caleb Olson should be capable of a sub 15 min 5k, but he's getting paid by Nike to run in the mountains. So what's the point, improving flat speed will only help so much in ultras.
I will add that I never thought the term hobby joggers fit competitive athletes, but these runners are like elite women on the track, and that is not an insult, but merely a fact. However what they can do in ultra events is quite impressive.
True on both counts. But the sample size of ultra runners is miniscule to that of track runners. If the best track runners in history switched to ultras, then you wouldn't even know this guy existed.