Is it customary to walk across the finish line of an ultramarathon?

The whole race is a walk. None of these dudes are legit runners.

Ultra"runners" walk 85 % of their races.

A major feat is to have covered the distance by foot. Crossing the finish line can in some respect be more like mooring a yacht.

Lots of ultra runners are dealing with their daemons in an intrinsic manner. They are certainly not out there to put on a show.

you get better finish line photos if you walk across and raise your hands.

jim walked because he knew he had missed 14:29 and likes to enjoy that moment.

personally i've always run through the line, but maybe it's different for a 100 miler than it is for 50ks.

After 100 miles the athletes are physically and mentally exhausted. Their bodies are spent and starting to shut down. The brain is spent and no is longer exercising the control that it used to force the body to keep moving over the last 100 miles. A trail race requires constant concentration over the trail to avoid roots and rocks to keep from tripping and falling.

Ultras longer than 50 miles are incredibly mentally fatiguing. On seeing the finish line the body anticipates ending the pain and is preparing to rest and the mind wants to savor the moment of finally finishing. There is no requirement or no standard. There is only finishing.

Phantasy Star wrote:

The whole race is a walk. None of these dudes are legit runners.

His Strava splits would say otherwise you troll. This is not true at all

Go run 100 miles and let us know fast you are running at mile 75.

[quote]Really Big Foot wrote:

After 100 miles the athletes are physically and mentally exhausted. Their bodies are spent and starting to shut down. The brain is spent and no is longer exercising the control that it used to force the body to keep moving over the last 100 miles. A trail race requires constant concentration over the trail to avoid roots and rocks to keep from tripping and falling./quote]

None of this made any sense to the road runners on this board. :)

Phantasy Star wrote:

The whole race is a walk. None of these dudes are legit runners.

Is that what sprinters say about 5 and 10k guys?

He was running so fast, that if he hadn't slowed down before finishing, he would have had to run another full lap to slow down.

They had more people in the stands than USA's.

Reptilians wrote:

I've seen a bunch of videos from Western States this year of people finishing, and they all seem to be walking across the finish. Jim Walmsley, who won in a course record, was moving at a pretty good pace for the final 100m or so and then stops right before the finish and walks slowly across. Is this part of ultramarathon etiquette, or is it exclusive to Western States, or is it just simply a coincidence that many finishers seemed to do this? Obviously the couple seconds that you lose don't matter over the course of a race that long, and the runners are certainly exhausted, but what's the reasoning for this?

There's nothing to be gained by running across the finish line unless you're competing against your own specific course PR or the overall PR. And even then, the odds of someone beating a goal time by five seconds even is pretty darn low when a race finishes anywhere from five to thirty hours long.

Finish slow, enjoy the experience with the crowd, your friends, and your family. What's wrong with that? The next finisher is probably a few minutes behind you and it's not like you can compare 50k or 100m race times across different courses.

Phantasy Star wrote:

The whole race is a walk. None of these dudes are legit runners.

I believe he has a 5k PR of 13:52. Does that make one a runner?

I wish you good luck finishing a 100 miler in 14:30 walking 85% of it. :-)

Woman's 3rd place

https://youtu.be/xNxtupb3y0g?t=17

Men's 4th place

https://twitter.com/i/status/1010747249054248960

85 miles at 17 min/mile (brisk walk) = 24+ hours. So, how do you walk 85% of a 100 mile race and finish in 14:30?

Nice Logic wrote:

85 miles at 17 min/mile (brisk walk) = 24+ hours. So, how do you walk 85% of a 100 mile race and finish in 14:30?

ummmmm.............ever hear of 'sit and kick'?

the obvious wrote:

There's nothing to be gained by running across the finish line unless you're competing against your own specific course PR or the overall PR. And even then, the odds of someone beating a goal time by five seconds even is pretty darn low when a race finishes anywhere from five to thirty hours long.

However, that's exactly what happened.