S. Canaday wrote:
I created the "film" MUT Runner to talk about how I saw "Road and Track guys" in the US moving into the sport of Mountain-Ultra Trail Running...this was way back in 2014. Interviewed runners include runners like Max King, Rob Krar, Dakota Jones, Timmy Olsen, Anna Frost, Stephanie Howe etc. :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORnzmNciOe4For some context, it really has been nothing new in seeing track and road runners move into to mountain-trail racing. I mean look at Jono Wyatt (27-min 10km runner and 2:13 marathoner) and his shorter distance mountain records. Mt. WA one is super tough!
56min....
Even Matt Carpenter had a 2:19 marathon to his name at least. Joe Gray has been also doing shorter distance mountain races (usually under 50km) for the past 7 + years.
One reason I got into the sport because I saw how well Max King was doing. Max was doing ultras and mountain racing back in 2010. 8:30 in the steeple and 2:14 marathon and sub 14:00 for 5km also to his name....as well as a US National XC team.
There is a very big difference in events within "MUT" though. 100-miles on a track or flat trail is a totally different event compared to UTMB (100-mile in the mountains). They are both 100 miles, but the former might be a 11-12 hour race for a top runner, while the latter may take 20 hours. Different mechanics and a "Variable Running Economy" are involved.
Now I've failed epically at all sorts of distances. 100km and 100-milers (I usually only do mountain ones so far) have been "less predictable" compared to something like a runnable/faster 50km-50-miler or shorter mountain races. But I've also been totally humbled at shorter mountain races as well (Sierre-Zinal....only 20 miles) as well as the first time I did Peaks Peak Ascent. I have also struggled to crack 60-min again at MT. WA and 2:19 again in the marathon since starting ultras in 2012.
For the record I believe guys like Anton and Timmy Olsen and even Dakota Jones all did run cross country in high school. I think Anton actually ran at Colorado College where he was teammates with Alex Nichols. Now those guys might all not be able to crack 2:25 in the marathon (well I think Alex can!), but again for some mountain races and 100-milers it doesn't matter as much.
Not to knock Timmy Olsen too much, but it was an abnormally cool day when he set that CR at Western. Rob Krar's time there (a few minutes slower) in the heat should probably be considered a much better performance. I've raced Timmy 7 times over the past 5 years or so...he has come very close to beating me (Tarawera 100km).
Hayden Hawks and Tim F. are super great guys and speedy track/cross country runners (heck we can even throw Cole Watson in that mix as well), but depending on the course a much "slower" guy like Zach Miller can still mix it up with them at a hilly 50-mile+ race. At the shorter distances like the US Mountain Running Champs 10-12km probably not though. I've raced Zach at Mt. WA and he still has about a 63-62min ascent in him though!
First time I ran Speedgoat in 2013 I had Anton breathing down my neck on the final decent. He finished only 90 seconds behind me (5+ hour race) and had passed Max King and Jason Schlarb I believe. Now Anton may have not been able to crack 16:00 for 5km or even 2:30-2:25 for the marathon, but he had some big miles in the mountains (And the dude can really scramble and powerhike!). I think he probably gained 3-5min alone on me in a 1/3 mile stretch up the 30% uphill grade "off trail" section around mile 20 of Speedgoat.
Even Dylan Bowman had jumped in some 10km cross country races in CA and run around 32-min I think. A lot of European guys who do very well at 100km-100-miles in the mountains come from other sport backgrounds like skiing and even adventure racing and cycling.
That being said, with incentives to do well in the sport of MUT we've now seen more doping cases. A Top 10 guy at UTMB popped for EPO. Heck, when I ran Comrades with Max King in 2015 I finished a dismal 15th place but 2 guys in the top 10 tested positive for PEDS on a race day test! From the world mountain running champs to "small town" little trail ultras you will be getting more people cutting corners.
The way I see it (and I again I've failed epically at races like UTMB and WS100), there are these basic limiting factors that will slow you down:
1. Glycogen depletion (much like a marathon). Now you can take in carbs and be okay here if you pace yourself accordingly and have done some "fat burning" long runs. Problem is if you have:
2. GI distress. Could be from taking in too many calories at once or the sheer stress of running for so long (or running too hard with lack of blood flow to GI tract), but could also be caused by:
3. Dehydration/imbalance of electrolytes. Can cause major stomach distress (me at Western States 100...coupled with the factor that I was simply trying to run too hard in the heat). Puking. Stuff coming out of the other end...you get the picture.
4. Overheating OR Hypothermia. Running to hard in the heat (Western) leading to heat stroke. OR Running in cold wet conditions with bad gear and staying out on a windy mountain all night...(me racing Boston marathon this year etc.).
5. Sheer muscle fatigue. Downhills too fast and blow your quads out. Calf/hamstring cramps from climbing too hard and not being used to the motions. People think they cramp from dehydration and lack of salts...that can be the case...but more likely its just sheer muscle fatigue.
So that's pretty much it! Now which one (or usually a combination of these) will slow you down in a MUT Race?
Now if we could just minimize the risk for these we can optimize our "Variable Running Economy" (Running Efficiency for Any Surface Any Distance).
Train the legs to somehow deal with all the sheer muscle fatigue and we can eliminate that. If we naturally have a high Vo2max and well trained Lactate Threshold then aerobic power and lactate is not a problem. We can charge up hills/mountains without breathing too hard. Then we have to look at the fueling issue though. Well, to handle the very high workout of charging up mountains for tens of thousands of feet and hours on ends we need to then be able to take in a lot of sugar. Then the only limiting factor is whether or not we are going to have GI issues and puke because we are trying to ingest 400-500 calories/hour...which is a lot! I can only handle 300-400cal/hr.
But that is a simplification. It is a fickle sport. Racing longer distances isn't harder...there are just more variables that can go exponentially wrong! Sometimes the 2:30 marathoner beats the 2:15 marathoner.
What up Sage?! wrote:
Sage, In all seriousness, thank you for chiming in on these boards, as you have for a long time, but your voice to the ultra community is important. Talking to some of your road and track peers that have ventured into ultra (tollefson, hawks, king, walmsley, mocko, laney, wardian) what's been the biggest adjustment into the trail scene and what skills do they find transfer well and others that have taken some time to develop? I don't believe Dylan Bowman, Tim Olson, and some other bigger names had a road running background, yet they've found big success in the sport without the road, track speed. In these cases, is it simply they're more strength runners and that's the differentiating factor? I don't believe you've spoke on this, maybe you have, what kind of cadence are elites running at during races like Western, UTMB, or a 50k @ altitude like Speedgoat?