Why Walmsley is popular. Get over it.

facts facts wrote:

Walmsley is already in Fauble’s head. Fauble has been hiding/not posting his most recent workouts over that last couple weeks. All these recent articles about him are calculated, Jim is playing mind games on them. You better believe Jim is going from the gun. He’s going to put the guys in situation where they’re going to be forced to go, either honor his move or sit back and hope he blows. Walmsley has nothing to lose, if he blows up he knows he has ultrarunning to lean on, especially with races following in Comrades and UTMB.

If they don’t honor his move they potentially risk their spot. If they go, he puts them in a precarious position which might cost them late. It’s all mind games and Jim is leading the orchestra.

That's what I love about the Walmsley fanboys, they are so entertaining.

Flagstaffian wrote:

, I’d bet on a healthy Fauble over Walmsley.

!

Fauble's wobble but they don't fall down!!

Yeah, and I bet this illustrious group who does little but tear down and criticize has damn near zero comparable accomplishments—maybe Walmsley does well, maybe he doesn’t—but he’s going to be at the starting line which is a hell of a lot more than most of the ones on this thread

Just read this thread and am going ot reply to a bunch of comments at once.

That was the mindset I've used to have. While I'd still like to see a top African do it I think one needs to acknowledge there is a huge 'talent/skill' to running on trails. Someone who is great at Comrades, may not be good at Western States or UTMB. Juli Benson said Jim was incredibly good at running downhill in college for example.

And 13:18 indoors in college.

Great link. My advice, "Watch the whole thing."

ALSal was a 2:08 marathoner and I believe he ran Comrades at 6 minute pace. I don't know the training or whether the course was up or down.

rojo wrote:

That was the mindset I've used to have. While I'd still like to see a top African do it I think one needs to acknowledge there is a huge 'talent/skill' to running on trails. Someone who is great at Comrades, may not be good at Western States or UTMB. Juli Benson said Jim was incredibly good at running downhill in college for example.

Comrades, Western States and UTMB all require quite different skill sets. The biggest problem with Western States is, that there are only 360 some starters and that limits who can run there quite a bit. That's the main reason why you will never see many International athletes running it.

I think that it it no problem

Using "whom" incorrectly is worse than pretentious, it's wannabe pretentious.

Bruh, I'm a millennial. Do you think I know what pretentious means?

Gotta love the non boring guy who was kicked out of the US Air Force. What a role model!

I'm no Walmsley fan boy, but I will admit that the NYT article completely captivated me. And it's not hard to figure out why.

At 61, I came into running in the late 70s, when Shorter and Rogers were dominant and when Salazar, completely untested as a marathoner, would soon do epic things. I hunger for some wildness, some edge, something other than thoroughgoing professionalization, to remain a part of competitive distance running. I'm a nerd; I love data. I love reading about training methods. But I'll always have a soft spot for the self-trained, off-in-the-woods wildman. ONCE A RUNNER perfectly expressed that particular idea--the long solo woodshed followed by the transcendent, highly-public performance.

I drove from Oxford to Birmingham Ala. back in January of 2004 to watch the trials there, and I remember the electricity that went through all of us as Brian Sell blew into town, leading the favorites. Yes, he ended up being caught, but for one moment he gave us that magic. If you've been in the presence of that magic, you don't forget it.

Walmsley's presence in the race, especially as evoked in the NYT article, offers us the possibility of that ONCE A RUNNER sort of moment. Sure, it's a longshot. But I'll be watching.

/End

Yeahdsfsdfdsfs wrote:

Bruh, I'm a millennial. Do you think I know what pretentious means?

Meh. Not sure anyone who runs over a mile is popular.

It's just not exciting.

Never even heard of the guy until I read his name on here. No doubt he's definitely popular on here tho lol

VroomVroom wrote:

Meh. Not sure anyone who runs over a mile is popular.

It's just not exciting.

Never even heard of the guy until I read his name on here. No doubt he's definitely popular on here tho lol

When was the last Miler in the NYT?

Here here KudzuRunner!

No Walmsley fanboy wrote:

VroomVroom wrote:

Meh. Not sure anyone who runs over a mile is popular.

It's just not exciting.

Never even heard of the guy until I read his name on here. No doubt he's definitely popular on here tho lol

When was the last Miler in the NYT?

Ever heard of Mary Cain? She’s barely a runner and got an article.

No Walmsley fanboy wrote:

Walmsley is the opposite of confident.

If he would be confident, he would not run 175 mile weeks.

Basically Hoka is milking him. Walmsley sells shoes and that's why they are paying him the big bucks. They are even paying letsrun to keep the hype going.

https://www.letsrun.com/events/hoka-one-one-takes-on-marathon-trials/

This. 1000 times this.

What's hilarious is that Jim was the outsider fast college runner turned ultra guy who wasn't well received by all the old time ultra veterans.

Now that he has won pretty much every important ultra except UTMB and has been U.S. ultrarunner of the year 3 times, all the track and road guys dismiss him as just being an ultra guy!!

better bring his A game wrote:

Now that he has won pretty much every important ultra except UTMB and has been U.S. ultrarunner of the year 3 times, all the track and road guys dismiss him as just being an ultra guy!!

Well, pretty much. Didn't you get the memo? "CLEARLY, he just squeaked in to the trials, by the hairs on his chinny-chin-chin."