Why is there no multi-day running event like the tour de france?

There is (or was) I in England. I think it was called the Tour of Thames or something like that. One of the running mags had an article on it some years ago.

I concur. It is an idea that would peak some interest in the sport. In some ways, a week long stage race in running would be more exciting than cycling. You can't go all out as much as you can day to day in cycling, so there would be plenty of strategy on when to press and when not to. I see it as being most exciting if the distances ranged from 5K to a half-marathon, with lots of hills along the way. Definitely an uphill stage. Maybe even a team time trial type day.

I'd recommend a cross country type scoring system for both teams and individuals. So, daily place matters, not time. So, no real bonus to beat everyone by 30 seconds on a day, which I think would add to the strategy.

I'm surprised this has never been tried.

I think this would be a pretty awesome idea, but it should be for longer. I was thinking 10-14 days. I think the shortest distance should be like 4 miles though, not just a mile. The shortest day would be a TT (individual or team, not sure what would be cooler. I lean toward team.)

For the long days, a marathon would be pretty cool. There should definitely be like 2 days in the mountains, where the course would range from 8-12 miles. Or maybe longer. Not sure about logistics.

Sorry for my awfully unorganized ramblings.

one starting up in Tahoe (note: I am not connected to the race, just sounds like a fun 4 days)

www.thinairdistancefestival.com

The Lake Tahoe Marathon has a three day triple marathon. Like the TdF there is a leader jersey and such.

There's a race called TransRockies that is basically this... although it's pretty much geared toward trail runners. 120 miles over 6 days, teams of 2. Or I think you can do 3 days solo.

http://transrockies.com/transrockiesrun/transrockies/race_main.htm

There's a multi-day/stage race across the Sahara Desert. Wardien had a good run there a year or two back.

Cycling is a team sport. Its very tactical and technical and relies a lot on teamwork. The big events attract the best cyclists in the world.

Ultra running is a lonely sport dominated by anonymous, obsessive introverts (with one exception). Unless you are a participant its very dull, very dull indeed.

Have you ever watched the Ironman coverage on Universal Sports? Think of that, with only the running leg, repeated day after day, after day.

You may as well film me jogging 8 minute miles around Central Park.

That's why they wouldn't be ultras. The stages would be short enough to be run at a fast pace, but long enough so that it would still be tough to recover and run fast when day 3 or 4 rolls around.

Either the distances would have to be fairly close or you would have to weight the scoring somehow. Something like this might work though:

Day 1 - 10mi.

Day 2 - 5k road

Day 3 - 10k

Day 4 - 5mi

Day 5 - 5k XC

Day 6 - 1/2 marathon

This is a good line up. But also put a mile in and like the other guy said make it scored by place rather than time. That way youd have milers having to run a good 1/2 and vice versa.

Do the IAAF tables (the ones they use for Diamond league scoring) go up to 1/2 and full?

Because it wouldn't see newspapers.

Because it wouldn't see newspapers.

That should have been "sell".

I think everyone would agree that Yiannis Kourous is as famous as Lance Armstrong.

As Rafiki said to Simba, "look harder". Multi-day running events are everywhere, in many terrains and formats. They are not exactly like the Tour de France, with 4 different jerseys, teams, time trials, mountain stages, support cars, etc.

Multi-day running events have a longer history than multi-day cycling events, and were ultimately replaced by the cycling events:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiday_races

"The golden era of multiday races stretches back to the 1870s and 1880s, ... By the early 1890s, public enthusiasm for such events had moved into bicycle racing, and the multiday running craze came to an end. Interest grew again in the late 1920s, with the advent of Trans-America races."

Notable Multiday Runners

* Asprihanal Pekka Aalto

* Suprabha Beckjord

* Sandy Barwick

* Don Choi

* Dipali Cunningham

* Serge Girard, trans-USA (1997), trans-South America (2001), trans-Africa (2003/2004) and trans-Eurasia (2005/2006) record holder

* Al Howie

* Rimas Jakelaitis

* Yiannis Kouros

* Achim Heukemes, trans-Australia record holder

* Paula Mairer

* Lorna Michael, first woman to complete trans-USA (1993)

* Stu Mittleman, US record holder for six day race (578 miles)

* Wolfgang Schwerk

* William Sichel, World #1 for 6-day race in 2009, World M55 record holder

* Samuel Thompson, Ran 1,310 miles (2,110 km) in 50 consecutive marathon races (August 19, 2006)

Well Known Multiday races

* 4 Deserts Atacama Crossing, Gobi March,Sahara Race,The Last Desert

* Antibes 6 Day

* Across The Years

* Athens International Ultramarathon Festival

* Cliff Young Australian 6-day race (discontinued)

* George Archer 6 day

* Marathon of Ontario Summer Edition (Moose) -

www.runthemoose.com

* Marathon des Sables

* Self-Transcendence 6 & 10 day

* Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

* Spartathlon

* Surgères 48 Hour Race

* Trans Europe Foot Race 2009

* Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest Supermarathon

* Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon -

www.extrememarathons.com

* UltraCentric

* Biegiem przez Polskę -

www.biegiemprzezpolske.pl

I hope this previous post is a joke

First of all, no, Yiannis is not as famous as Lance. No way. No how. Nowhere on Earth. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Yiannis because he is an amazing runner, but if you were to check their "Q" ratings worldwide it would be no contest.

Second, those are all Ultra related events. Even the majority of running enthusiasts don't care much about the Ultra world. A big part of that is because they under-value what it takes to succeed in Ultras, but that is the way it is. What we are talking about is something more in the main stream. Something that could draw and hold peoples attention for a few days. Honestly, even what I suggested earlier might be too long and drawn out to work. Something like this might be more realistic as part of some larger event (ie a major marathon weekend):

Fri evening: 800 "Prologue" followed by a track 8k

Sat am: Track 5k Sat pm: 1500/mile in heats based on postion

Sun: 12k Cross country

Doped sports are not athletics.

rekrunner wrote:

I think everyone would agree that Yiannis Kourous is as famous as Lance Armstrong.

Who?