Daily News, Fri, July 18

And 15 questions with Rory. Want to guess what her proudest running achievement is?

Kilian just won Hardrock a week ago, and he’s racing a Skyrace today. How does he prevent injury?

The four hours – yes four hours to complete 12 miles – through the night in the TenShi mountains were incredibly hard, and now that I was vomiting rather than eating…

-Nick Clarke turns in a double race report from Ultra Trail Mount Fuji and Western…neither turned out the way he wanted.

Errol “Rocket” Jones writes about “the old guard and the new guard” of this silly sport. Here’s my interview with Errol…one of my favorites to date.

Running: The state of the sport 2014. Strangely ignored is the ultra category, which I assume has seen more relative growth than any other distance.

Badwater starts on Monday. Here’s our interview with the RD Christ Kostman.

Here’s my review of the Hoka Clifton.

Former TdF champions (most of who were dopers) believe Lance should have his titles reinstated.

If you’ve got a hammer nearby, pick it up and hit yourself in the head with it.

…or you could read this thread with the LetsRun geniuses who try to compare Emma Coburns Steeplechase performance with Kilian’s at Hardrock. Both killer performances no doubt, but the lack of understanding is astounding. Someone does however, refer to him as an “immortal mountain elf.”

17 Responses to "Daily News, Fri, July 18"

Bridget says:

July 18, 2014 at 7:03 am

There is an interesting interview with Stephanie Howe about her training and nutrition leading up to and during her Western States win on Marathon Training Academy Podcast: http://marathontrainingacademy.com/stephanie-howe

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Alex says:

July 18, 2014 at 7:11 am

I figured random patchwork references to various fantasy novels/games made as much sense as most of the “debate” in that Kilian/Emma thread. The bar for intelligent commentary there is unbelievably low.

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Stu says:

July 18, 2014 at 8:07 am

Nice share Bridget. Thank you.

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Jeff says:

July 18, 2014 at 8:28 am

Normally I’m into Badwater – following it like WS or Hardrock. But with the course change this year, I’m just not interested. (Thanks a lot NPS!)

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Ken says:

July 18, 2014 at 8:30 am

I made it through two pages of that nonsense. Now I do in fact need a hammer. Happy Friday.

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Jimmy Mac says:

July 18, 2014 at 8:32 am

Whenever I feel good about my life and the fact that I run ultras and all that, I like to take a walk over to Letsrun.com and remember how awful I truly am.

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Jeff says:

July 18, 2014 at 8:59 am

I’m thinking that interview with Rory had some paraphrasing; there’s no way she said “football pitch”.

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Ryan says:

July 18, 2014 at 9:21 am

I’m disappointed that Anton isn’t racing. I thought he would have done well this year. Regardless, it will be exciting. I’m interested in seeing how Jim Walmsley does in the race. He is a fast road guy(13:56 5K and 29:08 10K), so it will be interesting to see how he fares on the Speedgoat course. Maybe someone should ask letsrun.com?

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1. John Maytum says:
  
  July 18, 2014 at 4:52 pm
  
  Letsrun.com is officially on my blacklist. I will never visit that site again. Way too mean spirited for my taste. Rather than celebrating running accomplishments everybody seems interested in tearing down performances. Eric why do you continue to subject yourself to their vitriol? 🙂
  
  Reply
Petra says:

July 18, 2014 at 10:46 am

I think it’s funny “The ultra copout” uses Rory’s photo while she’s ironically the person who tends to say she’s there to run her own race.

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1. 420 says:
  
  July 21, 2014 at 4:31 pm
  
  I thought the same thing.
  
  Reply
Jamie says:

July 18, 2014 at 12:44 pm

I have to disagree on the Ultra Copout article. I’d say it is one of the dumbest and more offensive things I’ve read about the sport. (Well I did read a page of that letsrun discussion, but every time I go there, I can only conclude that those posts are not by real people, and the whole message board is actually one person’s fictional attempt at creating the most absurd discussion possible.) Anyway, the ultra copout … (1) the anonymous, but admitted newbie author appears to be unaware of some good reasons to run an ultra for the fun of running in the mountains (e.g., self-supporting a long run in the mountains is not easy, but a race fee gets you a buffet every 5-8 miles and some assurance that someone will find you and alert your family if you collapse); (2) the target of the author’s critique, by the time he or she — but probably he given the arrogance of the piece — narrows it down with a 1000 qualifications, is non-existent. Serious runners who show up to compete aren’t hiding that fact. The author doesn’t cite one example of the “many of the so-called ‘elite’ that hide behind a thinly veiled facade of being there for the love of it” or who “hide behind hippie bullshit when they don’t perform.” The serious runners I talk to and the elites I hear interviewed all admit that they are competing or shooting for place or time goals, and when things go badly, they will often openly share their frustrations. (Nick Clark’s blog on this very daily news is just one example); (3) even if people who train hard did sometimes say they are just out for the love of running, the inference that it is “bullshit” is arrogant. Excuse me, but who are you to tell me why I am there on race day or what I care about?; (4) Since he claims that he’s observed this in his conversations with people at races, he might consider that these people might not want to open up to him about their goals. (Maybe it’s you, dude!); and (5) lastly, before accusing people of cowardice and dishonesty, put your freaking name on your article and open it up to comments.

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Javier says:

July 18, 2014 at 2:55 pm

I try to keep gear at a minimum, but this is pretty cool-

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/gear-shed/tech-talk/goTenna.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpost

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Chris says:

July 19, 2014 at 8:13 am

Is writing an article like the copout not a copout? The are a lot of general terms to describe the “Elites” but then gets more specific with “hide behind hippie bullshit when they don’t perform” . To write an article as strongly worded as this it needs to be a little more specific and not a carpet bombing of the Elite field as whole. Who ya talking about tough guy? If you post a picture for an article like this you should make it of the person your aiming the article at, and if your talking about Rory then we got problems. Lastly, if your just spectating how do you know “If you’re an experienced campaigner then your training is geared towards the effort you’re about to partake in, so getting to the end should be expected, not respected.” I have as much respect for the Elites that have the wheels fall off and gut it out to the end as I do for the winner. I think you need to try it before you start bumping your gum’s about what is respected and/or expected. I started listening to the podcast to help me prepare for my first Ultra in October and as a group Ultra runners are great bunch of people. If you don’t like the Hippie Bullshit of ultra I can give you directions to a nice track and afterwards you can get on Lets Run and talk about who would win in a wrestling match Usain or Killian.

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1. Chris says:
  
  July 20, 2014 at 7:46 am
  
  Copout = Joke, right? Sometime it takes me a minute. Good one.
  
  Reply
Meghan Kennihan says:

July 19, 2014 at 1:58 pm

Amazing Podcast! Amazing Posts! Thank YOu!

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Wilson Quipster says:

August 1, 2014 at 3:25 am

Great article Ultra Copout, so true. Too many races 3rd place is 1hr behind the winner, don’t even bother getting up on stage if you’re not within 30min of the winner, top 5, top 10, what a crock! Toe the line, we’re all equal, so many excuse making namby pamby, security blanket carrying pussycats claiming to be hard men of the trails. Apart from disrespecting their opponents the excuses are only hurting themselves.

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