Sage Canaday Wins Mt. Washington!

It's an 11 to 12 percent grade

It's also generally thought of as the toughest mountain to ride up in the US.

So a road runner wins an uphill road race and people start slamming trail runners? Nice. The people that comment on this site keep getting dumber and dumber.

yummy tuna wrote:

This is why people have no respect for trail runners. Any semi-elite runner can jump in crush the competition. I think it was a good move for Canaday to go this route after the trials. He can legitimately dominate the field with his speed.

Lol. Yumma Tuna you need to get out more! The trails to Mt. Washington are great but the Mt. Washington Road Race is run completely on a road. Go figure!

yummy tuna wrote:

This is why people have no respect for trail runners. Any semi-elite runner can jump in crush the competition. I think it was a good move for Canaday to go this route after the trials. He can legitimately dominate the field with his speed.

I run them all wrote:

How is this any different than a 400 guy having no chance in a 10k?

The 400 guy can't hang in a track 10K because he doesn't have the endurance, NOT because he can't navigate "technical downhills" as well as the 10K guy during the race (since they don't exist on the track as it is a set "type of course" as you say). A skill/set of skills can't make up for the 400m guy's lack of endurance.

Likewise, the 10K guy has no chance in a 400m on the track versus the sprinter. There is nowhere for the 10K guy to hide on the track....unless you add some technical challenges along the way! Maybe juggling torches every 50m and chugging milk 100m. Only then might the 10K guy have a shot IF he is superb at these particular skills...cuz he sure as hell ain't gonna be fast enough.

This is just how I view mountain runners, ultrarunners, etc. "If you can't beat 'em, make the races so ridiculously technical and/or long so that the fast guys say "F' that" and they won't bother to race you!" But they are still incredible athletes, so props to them for what they do.

An aside: MAYBE Kenny B could take down Merrit, James, etc. if they raced a 400m straight up the face of a mountain. Bekele can probably afford the best climbing gear, plus he looks to have decent upper body strength and a strong grip;)

just read the thread - I believe the USA mountain running team has their expenses paid to World Championship events - by USATF, LOC of event, WMRA - anyone verify?

Wow, what with Levins, Coolstaedt, those 1:47 HS kids and now this, those Canadayians are having a great year!

I do believe I see what it is that you did there.

mix arm & hammer with his coke wrote:

This is just how I view mountain runners, ultrarunners, etc. "If you can't beat 'em, make the races so ridiculously technical and/or long so that the fast guys say "F' that" and they won't bother to race you!" But they are still incredible athletes, so props to them for what they do.

Couldn't of said it better myself. Respect for hanging out there for so long and going up and down technical trails but its still got the artificial feeling of lets just keeping going until we can win or your quads give out. Even top ultrarunners and mountain runners don't go to barkley marathons for the same reason themselves.

Most of the top NE guys that finish top ten in the mountain series run the grand prix series as well as many road races and finish pretty competitively.

The mountain races are just so much more interesting and fun. You could say the same for road courses, why bother, just run your 10K on the track, "it's pure" (or some bullshit like that).

Tallest mountain in New England and one of the windiest spots on earth.

mix arm & hammer with his coke wrote:

This is just how I view mountain runners, ultrarunners, etc. "If you can't beat 'em, make the races so ridiculously technical and/or long so that the fast guys say "F' that" and they won't bother to race you!" But they are still incredible athletes, so props to them for what they do.

Like the decathlon, steeplechase, or hurdles?

You would be making a fair point if runners were having to do some silly obstacle course like those Japanese obstacle course shows. But trail running is just running in natural areas that aren't artificially level and smooth like a street or a track.

Trail running is really the same kind of running that people have been doing for the whole history of mankind hunting and chasing game, etc., as opposed to running in circles around a level track or down a paved street.

As for distance, people used to think the marathon was an inhuman and impossible distance, but with adequate training it's a perfectly doable and reasonable distance.

Anyhow, I think it's perfectly possible that 100k might be the optimal competitive distance for some people just like the marathon or 10k or 800m might be for other people.

To get back on topic, congrats to Sage C, and good luck with his new direction.

It's a road race with lots of elevation. Call like it is. http://vimeo.com/45178833, this is mountain running. Or look up Bruno Brunod, or Kilian Jornet or Hardrock 100. That is mountain running (while mount washington is technically a mountain run because you're running up a mountain). But, I wouldn't put it in the same category as Zegama, or Speedgoat 50k.

No, that is not mountain running. That is rock climbing/crawling. I will give Anton credit for actually wearing New Balance shoes for that climb though. If you check out his blog pics and videos of Longs Peak he wears La Sportiva shoes. Not sure what New Balance thinks about that. Tough as those races may be, Hardrock et al. is a powerhike if it took Hal 23 hours or so to win.

impossible goals wrote:

It's a road race with lots of elevation. Call like it is.

http://vimeo.com/45178833

, this is mountain running. Or look up Bruno Brunod, or Kilian Jornet or Hardrock 100. That is mountain running (while mount washington is technically a mountain run because you're running up a mountain). But, I wouldn't put it in the same category as Zegama, or Speedgoat 50k.

Second this guy. A race shouldn't classify itself as mountain running when it involves more hiking/bouldering/climbing than actual running. Darcy Africa said Hardrock was 99% hiking. Mount Washington IS mountain running, and even at that, you still have to specialize and prepare for it if you want to do well.