enjoying the video...thanks for posting
enjoying the video...thanks for posting
In a sit and kick, she'll be so far ahead that the closing speed won't matter.
Trailer for "3022 feet: Mt Marathon" trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe4r2-Y8k1U
Looks like a good film.
It is a pretty fascinating event, but not sure if I would like it. It seems like a power hiking event for most of the way up, and a kamikaze downhill going down. Definitely could see wanting to do it if I lived in Seward since it is a tradition, but as a flatlander it isn't for me.
I agree with your strategy for her - basically to run the race hard from the outset. However, sometimes all that hill training helps create good kick speed. So maybe her closing 200-400 speed is better than I imagine.
Maybe she will experiment indoors a little bit in some early races that don't matter - just to see how she would fare in a sit-and-kick 3K that includes some 1500 and even 800m specialists.
I've watched Allie run this for years and have a few comments on the subject. 1) She's grown up doing this, just as so many of the competitors there, and the injuries are actually quite rare among those folks. The people that end up getting injured are usually the ones who've not climbed mountains much in their lives and make bad decisions in their line. There's a subconscious skill that prevents experienced mountain runners in the race from taking too risky of moves. 2) Her strength, from these kinds of endeavors, are her edge on the NCAA competition. How many very fit and very smooth female runners also have the strength to power hike up stuff like that? A "big" climb in a xc course has zero affect on her, nor is holding her composure in the final kilometer in question. It's worth noting that maybe her best performance of the Fall came 2 weeks (IMO, optimal training response time) after her world jr mt running race. 3) If Allie O or any other world class runner took the advice from folks on this site, they wouldn't be world class for long!