Team silver medal led by 10th place homeboy Joe Gray (Lakes, Tacoma WA)
http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_09_07_11_33_44
Great job! You can really see the pain etched across their faces (all the runners)...love this sport.
12 km with 1,295 meters of ascent. That's an average of 10% for the slope right? Beastly indeed!
I don't know, maybe it's just me but, watching a bunch of Europeans and their descendants (apparently the Eritreans were long gone) trudge up a hill at what looks like 8 minute pace (I know, I know it was up a really steep hill) just doesn't hold the same level of awe as a homestretch battle on the track.
wow... only a 12k and they were taking an hour to get through it. and Max King is a legit cross-country runner, these guys aren't slow.
Wimps. Typical 'jog' to school for me when I was young.
one word
Chuck Smead
that's steep, but certainly not really steep. (the first 5 miles of the western states 100 climbs about as much)
comes out at about 550'/mile, although some parts were steeper. still, certainly a runnable course.
but given that it's the world championship they are presumably the best people in the world (of those who wanted to do it)
id rather be the world champ at soggy biscuit than at mountain running
Hate it when people compare ultras to Mountain Running.
Western States climbs 757m in the first 5 miles in fact, so not nearly as steep. And the pace is of course waaaaaay different .... 7 min/mile pace vs. 11-12 min/mile pace.
Joe Gray, Max King, Eric Blake, Ricky Gates and Chris Lundstrom are all accomplished runners on various terrain.
Joe and King are also very fast over short distances obviously and great at XC. Even Blake has gone 29/64 for 10k/HM. Lundstrom has run 2:18 or better for the marathon. Ricky is more of an uphill specialist, but still went 31 at Bolder Boulder one year.
Here's what's on the Mt. Washington Run website as a profile of their own run.
"The Mt. Washington Auto Road is 7.6 miles in length, has an average grade of 11.5% with extended sections of 18%, and the last 50 yards is a 22% "wall" to the finish."
A sub 1 hour finish is a pretty big deal there too even for 2:20 marathoners.
Come on Fell Runners of the North of England, trash these wimps. For those that don't know the elite fell running scene make this look literally like a walk in the park! Used to do a bit back in the day but forget the stats.
Really? I'm pretty sure Great Britain had a team there and I'm pretty sure the US guys kicked their butts. Look at the course profile and you can clearly see the last 1km was not nearly the steepest portion of the trail.
The US boys rocked. Great job fellas!
props to these guys, they're monsters & great athletes, but damn is that really not exciting to watch.
Joe did WORK, good job bro. Time to celebrate when you get back!!!!!!! For team USA to take home the Silver is pretty epic.
To add to the talk about the team. These guys are definitely talented, if you know anything about mountain running you had to figure this team would do well. The whole team has stellar backgrounds in multiple disciplines. From what I've been told the last climb was a BEAST for sure!
I can't believe the criticism on these boards, you guys sound like a bunch of idiots. Once again, great run by Team USA and the other teams as well, clearly a grueling event.
traildude wrote:
that's steep, but certainly not really steep. (the first 5 miles of the western states 100 climbs about as much)
comes out at about 550'/mile, although some parts were steeper. still, certainly a runnable course.
but given that it's the world championship they are presumably the best people in the world (of those who wanted to do it)
These guys are running FAST! No comparison to ultras!
Also, isn't your last statement true of any sport? I guess Lance Armstrong is only the best cyclist of Tour de France, of those who wanted to do it, ho hum.
Yes, but Lance doped his way to victory.
They all dope, so equal playing field. The point is: he's only the best cyclist of those who want to cycle. What about American football? Basketball? Swimming? Winter sports? They're only the best of the very small pool of people who want to snowboard, ski, luge, etc.. Lets scoff at all sports cause they're really not the best the world has to offer. :-/