Kilian Jornet might be running something flat in the fall!!

Why is everyone assuming he's going to be running a road 'thon?

I heard he's going for nick symmond's 400m WR wearing crocs

I can't imagine he would run JFK. Now there was a chance in the past that maybe he would jump in something like TNF50 champs (SF) (Francois D'hane did)...but that's over now anyway. I did just see his tweet about Pikes Peak. Granted we had a pretty "hot year" this past summer at Pikes....still, I don't see that influencing the times by more than 5-6-minutes tops. So what, then he's down to low 3:20s? I certainly couldn't run that (sub 3:30 is my goal) but I just don't see anyone touching a 2:01 Ascent split (let alone a 3:16 RT) on the course we run nowadays....it is the "impossible record" The weird thing is Carpenter only ran 2:38 at Sierre-Zinal that year he did 3:16 at Pikes. It simply doesn't add up IMO. Killian's time at Sierre-Zinal was ridiculous this past summer. Former CR holder Jono Wyatt was a 27:40ish 10km runner and an Olympian in the Marathon who focused in short distance mountain running and hill climbing. Kilian smashed that record. He could go sub 2:20 in a marathon easy probably if he had a few months to train for it. I'm not sure if he could go sub 2:16-2:15 though. It's really hard to predict actually. One year at the SkyRunning world champs in 2013 (UROC 100km) in Colorado Kilian got beat by Rob Krar and Dakota Jones and he complained about the 10km we had to run on the Vail Bike Path (over Vail Pass) because it was pavement and he said it was "too hard". So there's that too. A lot of those "pure mountain guys" are only 2:25-2:28 marathoner types. Still Kilian is the GOAT of mountain-trail running. And FTW to enter Comrades you usually need at least a half marathon (if not a road marathon time). Way more likely he runs NYC Marathon as a "celebrity" than something like Comrades. Comrades is 55 miles of pavement!

KawauchiFTW wrote:

You guys are hilarious... LOL

Kilian is NOT running any road marathon any time soon!!! I repeat it on more time: KILIAN IS NOT RUNNING ANY ROAD MARATHON!!! Stop kidding yourself while you are ahead... He might be just interested in some "flat-ish", whatever that means for him, shorter ultras... Something like JFK 50M or Comrades, most likely, just speculating here;)

won't risk exposure wrote:

Never Going To Happen wrote:

This will simply never happen.

His sponsors wouldn't allow it. The guy is built up as a god in the Ultra community and, whilst I do have a lot of respect for his achievements, they're never going to allow his status to be tarnished by a 2:15 marathon say. Much better to just keep hidden on the trails...

2:15 would be a miracle, I'd be impressed if he ran sub 2:30.

reed wrote:

Spreading rumors wrote:

I've heard somewhere that Killian ran a 5k recently in like 15:15.

I heard about that, but it was on a gravel road.

and GAP isn't perfect, but I've never had unrealistic GAPs when my GPS was tracking correctly and the topo that strava uses was accurate. for something like a gradual 13mi climb, I'd guess it would be very accurate.

I'm not a trail ultra enthusiast but people here saying he'd run a 2:30...morons. He ran 3 by 5k in training low 15 with the last one under 15. He's fast. Maybe not world class on the track fast but still.

The Valencia Marathon official twitter account has recently tried to tempt Killian to enter.

He's set to race Pierra Menta (skiing), Piles Peak, and return to the Himalayas for another ascent. He says he liked focusing on fewer races in 2019 and will repeat the strategy this year.

bro dude wrote:

You are focused on him tossing out the idea of doing something flat, on pavement. But I think what it is even bigger her is him mentioning doing Pikes Peak again. Sounds like he for sure wants to take down the CR.

The biggest goal for Seth in 2020 is to win the Pikes Peak Marathon. So now this news is devastating for the Youtube running community.

Maybe he'll have a crack at a 24 hour run/world record?

Glad there some here who pay attention, was just going to bring this up. The comment that he's a 17 5k guy is laughable. I am a hardcore Kilian fan but I think I far less deluded about how fast he is than his detractors who think doing what he does doesn't require a huge engine.

Jornet beat Max King (2:14 PR) by 5 minutes in a marathon.

So we have at least one data point.

See my post from two years ago.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8296856

ShilohDoesntCare wrote:

I'm not a trail ultra enthusiast but people here saying he'd run a 2:30...morons. He ran 3 by 5k in training low 15 with the last one under 15. He's fast. Maybe not world class on the track fast but still.

Yeah, this is stupid. He is really really good. Of course he is amazing on the trails but he probably still could do a flat sub 30 minute 10k if he trained for it a couple of weeks.

ShilohDoesntCare wrote:

I'm not a trail ultra enthusiast but people here saying he'd run a 2:30...morons. He ran 3 by 5k in training low 15 with the last one under 15. He's fast. Maybe not world class on the track fast but still.

doubt it wholeheartedly. video on a measured course or it didn't happen.

lcl2006 wrote:

ShilohDoesntCare wrote:

I'm not a trail ultra enthusiast but people here saying he'd run a 2:30...morons. He ran 3 by 5k in training low 15 with the last one under 15. He's fast. Maybe not world class on the track fast but still.

Yeah, this is stupid. He is really really good. Of course he is amazing on the trails but he probably still could do a flat sub 30 minute 10k if he trained for it a couple of weeks.

If he ever does run sub 30, then fine. But it will never ever happen. If he could do it, he would do it.

ShilohDoesntCare wrote:

I'm not a trail ultra enthusiast but people here saying he'd run a 2:30...morons. He ran 3 by 5k in training low 15 with the last one under 15. He's fast. Maybe not world class on the track fast but still.

Yeah, these responses are ridiculous. I think the competitive ultra scene is kind of a joke, but the people saying he couldn’t break 2:20 are ridiculous.

He frequently demolishes 2:15 guys; and he’s obviously way fitter than Walmsley, who just ran 63:30.

With a proper buildup I wouldn’t be shocked if Kilian is threatening 2:10. Fit enough to dominate the ultra scene, but pretty mediocre in the marathon world.

won't risk exposure wrote:

lcl2006 wrote:

Yeah, this is stupid. He is really really good. Of course he is amazing on the trails but he probably still could do a flat sub 30 minute 10k if he trained for it a couple of weeks.

If he ever does run sub 30, then fine. But it will never ever happen. If he could do it, he would do it.

Why would he? He was brought up in the Pyrenees, loves the mountains and mountain sports, is a world class elite athlete in his chosen sports. What would a 29':xx" 10k get him?

People in the US just don't get that in Europe mountain running isn't a smaller barrel for those who can't hack it on the roads.

Wildhorse wrote:

won't risk exposure wrote:

If he ever does run sub 30, then fine. But it will never ever happen. If he could do it, he would do it.

Why would he? He was brought up in the Pyrenees, loves the mountains and mountain sports, is a world class elite athlete in his chosen sports. What would a 29':xx" 10k get him?

You might as well say that a darts champion is a world class athlete in his chosen sport. But, just like KJ, the darts champion will never be faster than me in the 5K, 10K or marathon. There is less than zero credibility in speculating that KJ is a fast runner, because he has never run a fast time in a normal race. He must have had thousands of opportunities over many years to run a legitimate race and has always shied away. What would be the harm for him to enter a little 5K road race once in his life? According to his fanboys, he could run sub 13 in his warmup. There's no doubt that he is a strong runner in his little niche, but just like Matt Carpenter, there is no proof that he could run a fast time in a normal race. At least Matt participated in real races, and became a sub-elite local runner who could beat all the hobby joggers and place top 5 or 10% at community races.

What part can't you understand of "mountain runner"? What don't you get? Go race Zegama or Sierre Zinal and see how you compare.

Faster than you over 5k, 10k or the marathon... Yeah, right. Go write about it in your blog, see how many people care.

Naw just come out to the Pikes Peak Marathon. Americans like Max King (2:14) and Andy Wacker (2:17) and David Sinclair (2:16) and Tim Freriks (and myself) were all there last year...along with Kilian! Kilian split 2:09 on the Ascent...only a minute off of what Joe Gray ran to win the Ascent the day before....thats the halfway point in the marathon. He beat us all by quite a bit that day. His Sierre-Zinal time was really crazy though (2 weeks prior). He’s vulnerable and beatable (even in the mountains) though...I’ve seen him get beat by guys like Franocis Dhane, Dakota Jones, Rob Krar, Xavier Thevenard, Luis Alberto etc. Again, its hard to say what he could do in a flat marathon. I think for sure sub 2:25 and probably sub 2:20 with some specific training. Maybe 2:15...i dont know! What he really excels at is mountain stuff...his technical downhill is incredible and his climbing (even on smooth trails) is very very good. The start of the Mont Blanc Marathon has an opening 10-miles with some fairy flattish parts and he can for sure roll smoothly at low 5-min mile pace on those sections. 2:10-2:12 for a road marathon I highly doubt though.

Wildhorse wrote:

What part can't you understand of "mountain runner"? What don't you get? Go race Zegama or Sierre Zinal and see how you compare.

Faster than you over 5k, 10k or the marathon... Yeah, right. Go write about it in your blog, see how many people care.

I believe Killian has a V02 max in the low 90's. With specific training he has the goods to run sub 2:10!

It's funny reading comments like "KJ can run close to elite lvl on the roads!" and "If elite runners couldn't dream of beating KJ on the trails." Like what? KJ is a amazing athlete but get real, he isn't amazing at every area of running.