Ultra-trail races in the Olympics?

Trail-er wrote:

Listened to a podcast with Hayden Hawks on thenegativesplits.com after his Chuckanut 50k performance and they asked him if he supported the push to get Ultras into the Olympics, to which he said yes.

I've never even considered the idea before... However, the more I think of it the more it would be a great addition. The talent pool in ultras would rise significantly and just the drama could be quite exciting with all the fueling issues that come up in these things. Perhaps even a national team relay (Ekiden?) as a separate event within the Ultra sport would be insane given the popularity and excitement that exists in nordic skiing's relays.

The event would be do-able whether in a mountain town or not.

I disagree that the talent pool in ultras would rise. I think that instead, you would see a large talent pool enter this single met meet,if the sponsored honored their performance bonuses for this event.

The rest of the four years, it would be the normal crowd of rejects from the shorter distances seeking easier competition.

The only way it would drive in fast runners would be if it triggered increased popularity, and that drove more money to the existing ultras as prize money. But I can't see this happening, since I don't think there is room in the market for both marathons and ultras to be competitive.

Not an ultra—not yet—but dump the dying track 10k and go with a 12-20k cross-country race with several loops of a course.

Once XC gets in adding a 50k ultra using the same course would be easier to do.

RIP track 10k wrote:

Not an ultra—not yet—but dump the dying track 10k and go with a 12-20k cross-country race with several loops of a course.

Once XC gets in adding a 50k ultra using the same course would be easier to do.

Uhgggg...seriously? A 50 on a 2k loop course. What you just proposed is EXACTLY like the track 10k. No thanks.

Yeah the draw of the Ultras is being in wilderness, battling elements. Those 100-mile attempts on a 2 mile loop are painful at best. There has to be some "nature" brought into the event to attract the right crowd.

SORRY to disappoint but any 2:04-2:07 guy would crush any current ultra guy. Ultra's do have good competition but 99% of all of the people who do ultras are guys who have concluded they cannot compete in the marathon field. Even Max is like a 2:14 guy, that's nothing compared to faster kenyans. I really believe if the olympics opened up to having a 50 miler or 50k that Kenyans would easily win that too. They just don't train for it presently.

Sorrytodissapoint wrote:

SORRY to disappoint but any 2:04-2:07 guy would crush any current ultra guy. Ultra's do have good competition but 99% of all of the people who do ultras are guys who have concluded they cannot compete in the marathon field. Even Max is like a 2:14 guy, that's nothing compared to faster kenyans. I really believe if the olympics opened up to having a 50 miler or 50k that Kenyans would easily win that too. They just don't train for it presently.

Even if that's true, wouldn't that be fun to see? The nutritional component of these events make for some serious back-and-forth drama. Could be exciting whether the winner is East African or not.

Keep the track 10k. I'd much rather see a 15-20k XC race included in the Olympics. That distance would be a good infill between the 10k and 42k gulf we currently have.

I vote that they take the marathon course and double it and make it a 50 miler, let's see what pans out. I bet some Kenyan still drops 4:40's in the end.

Keep the 10k, add cross-country, and an ultra.

Why not?

It'd be interesting to have the ultra trials like a month after the marathon trials. I wonder if the guys who finished top 10 in the marathon but didn't make the team would try again in the ultra. Or if a guy who knows he'd be like 7th at the marathon trials would skip that and try the ultra.

Or would the ultra remain a weird specialty like the modern pentathlon or something?

RIP track 10k wrote:

Not an ultra—not yet—but dump the dying track 10k and go with a 12-20k cross-country race with several loops of a course.

XC is more dead than the track 10k

No one would ever watch this.

macdaddy wrote:

No one would ever watch this.

Large underground community, besides they're always throwing in new stuff, like men being allowed to participate in women's' events.

Trail-er wrote:

Sorrytodissapoint wrote:

SORRY to disappoint but any 2:04-2:07 guy would crush any current ultra guy. Ultra's do have good competition but 99% of all of the people who do ultras are guys who have concluded they cannot compete in the marathon field. Even Max is like a 2:14 guy, that's nothing compared to faster kenyans. I really believe if the olympics opened up to having a 50 miler or 50k that Kenyans would easily win that too. They just don't train for it presently.

Even if that's true, wouldn't that be fun to see? The nutritional component of these events make for some serious back-and-forth drama. Could be exciting whether the winner is East African or not.

The nutritional component? Nobody cares about why people can't keep up.

macdaddy wrote:

No one would ever watch this.

What are you talking about?

Ultra-runners love to watch videos and make videos of themselves doing "ultramarathon running".

This event should be limited to ONLY very, very, very slow WHITE runners... who are way too slow for 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, and Marathon events with 'real runners' at the Olympics.

UltraMarathon Running will remain PURE and VERY SLOW and WHITE…just like it is now.

MAGA

No please god no... Olympics are about actual running and racing.

Sorrytodissapoint wrote:I really believe if the olympics opened up to having a 50 miler or 50k that Kenyans would easily win that too. They just don't train for it presently.

They probably already do better ultra training than ultras do. They just don't race them because there is no money there. They need to put food on their tables and marathons do that, ultras don't. Throw a gold medal in the equation and you would have all the east africans would lay shame to the current ultra "elites".

Makhdaddy. White and Very Slow wrote:

macdaddy wrote:

No one would ever watch this.

What are you talking about?

Ultra-runners love to watch videos and make videos of themselves doing "ultramarathon running".

This event should be limited to ONLY very, very, very slow WHITE runners... who are way too slow for 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, and Marathon events with 'real runners' at the Olympics.

UltraMarathon Running will remain PURE and VERY SLOW and WHITE…just like it is now.

MAGA

LOlL true.. the one event where there are time limits, but you are left off if you are too fast.

1. Have you ever run a marathon faster than 3 hrs?

2. Do you carry more gear than someone summiting Everest on your typical run?

3. How many blogs do you have about your activities?

4. Please submit your best humble brag.

5. Beard, long socks, and trucker hats are the BARE minimum requirements.

6. How many GoPro cameras do you take on your typical outting?

I don't think ultra-running will ever become an Olympic sport because there isn't a large enough fan base and it is not a spectator sport. I would like to see ultra-running as an Olympic sport but I don't think it will happen.

ToiletSnake wrote:

No please god no... Olympics are about actual running and racing.

Giving a gold medal might be the only way to ensure they actually run the whole thing. Pretty sure lots of Kenyans can run non-stop for several hours at a time. Most ultrarunners can't.