How would Keninisa Bekele do in ultra marathons?

Not much of a typo, less is more after all.

Here is some video from last weeks race at Zegama.

It would take a lot of specific training and it is possible he might never be competitive in a race like this real mountain marathon:

https://www.facebook.com/salomonrunning/videos/10158771602370346/

Zegama wrote:

Here is some video from last weeks race at Zegama.

It would take a lot of specific training and it is possible he might never be competitive in a race like this real mountain marathon:

https://www.facebook.com/salomonrunning/videos/10158771602370346/

Yeah, he would destroy those mf'ers.

Bekele would be amazing at any difference.

Expect great things.

wait for it wrote:

Bekele would be amazing at any difference.

Expect great things.

???

You are exactly correct.

Kenenisa would be amazing at any difference.

You should expect really pathetic spelling and use of language at LetsRun.com.

The Ivy League Boys MAGA

It depends, can Bekele grow a full thick beard?

Bekele would bonk very badly around 35-40 miles because he doesn't have the muscle fibers and metabolism to burn fat. The same reason why Africans and elite marathoners already underperform in ultras, including Comrades. It takes someone who's relatively fast but has the muscle fibers and economy to burn fat and be efficient.

Sage Canaday would BURN Kenny to the ground!

Bekele wouldn't even run an ultra because his "mind is not ready for running with weak athletes."

Bekele would lose handily to Anton Krupricka

semi_pro wrote:

P.S. A different handful of 2:15ish roadies men show up to NF 50 mile in San Fran every year thinking they can easily win. They get wrecked every year.

Like who?

Rapo wrote:

Evdawg wrote:

If he did some mountain training, how well could he do at the 50 mile or other ultra mountain racing distances. I assume if he were to do something like North Face 50 he'd win by a large margin, but how much? Would he even be that good at climbing with the training? Obviously there's pretty low incentive as he tries to break the marathon record but just as a hypothetical.

He would get smoked by someone like Killian.

The Africans end up at a disadvantage in the ultra long races because most of them are so small, they have less glycogen storage etc..

George213 wrote:

Agreed. Mountains take far more strength and a bigger aerobic engine (i.e:vo2max)than roads. KB certainly has the running economy to run a great ultra on a flat road/trial, but I doubt he can replicate it on the hill.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on mountain/trails requiring a bigger aerobic engine. In my experience, I don't run anywhere near the same sustained aerobic intensity on a trail as I do in a road race. I can get my heart rate up really high on the climb, but on the flat or downhill, I'm distracted from the pace and just trying to navigate, and not trip. The technical nature of the trail forces me to slow down to avoid tripping. This unavoidable slow down, lets my heart rate drop to lower than it would in a road race.

Trail running requires alternating higher and lower aerobic work rates. Overall, this is not as aerobically demanding as a track or road race where there is nothing to stop you from being "dialed in" to race pace.

Ultrabeard wrote:

It depends, can Bekele grow a full thick beard?

This is by far, the most pertinent consideration. I would add that he would need to get himself a retro trucker hat, mirrored 1980s-pilot style sunglasses, and a button down short sleeve plaid shirt. Only then would I expect great things.