Western States is a JOKE!! - Kilian Jornet

zinggg wrote:

Gotta love these threads... All the ultra crybabies coming out of the dark to defend their activity. Yeah, we understand that there are 2:40 guys running 50-100miles with a couple sub-2:30 guys thrown in, but Letsrun doesnt care. It's like trying to talk up chess on a checkers forum. Board games, but different realities.

The chess/checkers analogy is actually pretty good. No checkers world champion is going to beat the world chess champion in a game of chess.

Of course, the world checkers champion would kick the ever loving crap out of the world chess champion in a game of checkers.

You would think that the brilliance of the chess champion would indicate that he would be great at similar games, where you could apply some of the same skills that made him a great chess player.

Former World Champion Alexander Alekhine was one of the greatest champions chess has ever known. He may have been the greatest blindfold chess player ever, too. I remember stories where Alekhine would play 30 Masters at the same time and win most, if not all of the games. Phenomenal memory.

He was an enthusiastic bridge player, too, and, based on that memory, you'd think he'd be great at that game. He was not. He was horrible.

Would'd have thunk?

Make that, "Who'd have thunk?"

(Wish they had an edit feature.)

What about swedish ultrarunner Jonas Buud who did a 12h30m terrain 100M (Taby extreme challenge).

He tried the Comrades and ended up 4th after a very defensive run without any previos training in the temperatures of that race.

I can´t see any 110 lbs Kenyan beat him at something like the Western states.

He freakin stopped and had 6 pancakes when he made the 12h30m, 100Miles world record with 10 miles left.

zinggg wrote:

Gotta love these threads... All the ultra crybabies coming out of the dark to defend their activity. Yeah, we understand that there are 2:40 guys running 50-100miles with a couple sub-2:30 guys thrown in, but Letsrun doesnt care. It's like trying to talk up chess on a checkers forum. Board games, but different realities.

"Board games, but different realities." This is exactly right. Except that in addition to the ultra crybabies coming out of the dark, the legions of Letsrun crybabies also come out of the dark because they're immediately made even more insecure by the existence of any human that claims to be a runner but isn't scrawny, pale, pimply and doesn't jizz himself every time Alan Webb makes another trip to Taco Bell.

i ran a marathon in 2:21 last year. so i figure i would run about 10 hours at ws. i would feel good at the end and tear it up because i did 5x400's in 32s intervals. yeah and i watched the last oprah show on my dvr...so i am totally amped. im just waiting for ws to send me my invite and pay my expenses to get there because starbucks doesnt pay much.

hosh wrote:

i ran a marathon in 2:21 last year. so i figure i would run about 10 hours at ws. i would feel good at the end and tear it up because i did 5x400's in 32s intervals. yeah and i watched the last oprah show on my dvr...so i am totally amped. im just waiting for ws to send me my invite and pay my expenses to get there because starbucks doesnt pay much.

LOL

For those that continue to believe like Bruce Fordyce did that Africans cannot run hills/mountains "because their legs are too skinny"... they are continuing to dominate Europe's best in mountain races.

Grosglocknerberglauf Mountain Race – Austria

As they have with increasing frequency in recent years, Africans have dominated Europe’s prized money races. Kenya’s Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu covered the 12.7K course and its nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain in 1:10 for the win. His countryman Isaak Toroitich Kosgei was second in 1:11 and Swiss David Schneider third in 1:13. New Zealand mountain running legend Jonathan Wyatt ran 1:16 to finish fifth in his first race back from injury.

Having won the Salomon 4 Trails stage race in Europe last week, defending champion Anna Frost of New Zealand was fatigued and a non-factor in finishing well off the winning pace. Wyatt’s wife, Antonella Confortella Wyatt, won the women’s race in 1:26. She is a champion cross country skier, having won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Austria’s Susanne Mair and Slovakia’s Silvia Olejarova were second and third, respectively. For the U.S., Caitlin Smith (Oakland, Calif.), who is training this summer in London, finished sixth.

Full results: Grosglocknerberglauf Mountain Race

Under Ultra wrote:

For those that continue to believe like Bruce Fordyce did that Africans cannot run hills/mountains "because their legs are too skinny"... they are continuing to dominate Europe's best in mountain races.

Grosglocknerberglauf Mountain Race – Austria

As they have with increasing frequency in recent years, Africans have dominated Europe’s prized money races. Kenya’s Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu covered the 12.7K course and its nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain in 1:10 for the win. His countryman Isaak Toroitich Kosgei was second in 1:11 and Swiss David Schneider third in 1:13. New Zealand mountain running legend Jonathan Wyatt ran 1:16 to finish fifth in his first race back from injury.

good shit

stephen muzhingi wrote:

Under Ultra wrote:

For those that continue to believe like Bruce Fordyce did that Africans cannot run hills/mountains "because their legs are too skinny"... they are continuing to dominate Europe's best in mountain races.

Grosglocknerberglauf Mountain Race – Austria

As they have with increasing frequency in recent years, Africans have dominated Europe’s prized money races. Kenya’s Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu covered the 12.7K course and its nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain in 1:10 for the win. His countryman Isaak Toroitich Kosgei was second in 1:11 and Swiss David Schneider third in 1:13. New Zealand mountain running legend Jonathan Wyatt ran 1:16 to finish fifth in his first race back from injury.

good shit

Unrelated s***. 12.7K, no matter how much elevation gain, is not an Ultra which is what this thread is about.

I am very sure that there are some Kenyans that could be stars in the ultra world. Unlike so many of the know it all letsrunners who have never triad an Ultra, I've done both, so I know how different an event it is. Just like not every elite miler (of any race) can automatically succeed at 5K/10K, not every marathoner (of any race) can automatically succeed at Ultras.