Ultramarathon Daily News, Fri, Sep 23

Ultramarathon News:

The essence of ultramarathon running: What makes the hundred mile distance so tempting?

How Joe Grant climbed all of Colorado’s 14ers in one month. Bonus question: What brand of shoe did he wear? Nope. Wrong. No. No. Nope. Try again. No. Bzzzz. Wrong-o. Try again.

Speaking or peak bagging and trail running in Colorado, here’s a brand new weather app that’ll keep you safe all year.

Tor des Geants: What makes this race so special?

New episode! Next time you consider DNFing, go back to this podcast and check it out. Chuck Radford tells a compelling story about going blind on the trails….and finishing the race.

Not your normal trail film: 48hr record holder Phil McCarthy ran from Disneyland to Coney Island and is featured in this funky, artsy film about his last few hundred miles where he tried to conquer a hot dog.

Science! Fitness trackers impede weight loss. (The reasons make sense.)

Got kids? Dax writes a touching piece about a first “real” trail with his growing son.

Trail running tips for Nepal: Beware of altitude sickness, stray dogs, and leeches.

Kaiha the AT hiker doubles down on her FKT claim. What do you think?

Speaking go thru-hikers, what does it actually cost?

Similarly, this white collar worker escaped her tortuous job to “run free.” That’s your Friday Funny right there.

…and here’s the first podcast interview with Speedgoat Karl after his AT record.

CNN: Ultramarathon runners go above and beyond. (Link Fixed) Not a bad piece, actually. Doesn’t make us a look like a bunch of “extreme” nutcases.

I’m usually interested in races where competitors are racing other people, but The Bear 100 is truly a runner vs nature situation this weekend. A massive forest fire wrecked the area a few weeks ago that forced some course changes, and this weekend it’s supposed to be a crazy winter flash with 4-8″ of snow. This’ll be a fun race to track.

What you eat determines how you smell.

Transgendered fell runner stabs an official for fear of being outed as male. Or something. I’m hearing quite a few stories about Jeska and some of her antics while running stateside and it seems like an interesting situation to say the least.

Ultra Trail Mt Fuji ~~is under way~~ finished after a delay and a ahem, slight course change from 100M to 49k due to flooding. Nick Hollon, Ryan Smith, Silke Koester, and Dylan Bowman all ran it…Anxious to hear more about how they adapted to the situation. More info right this way.

I remember seeing Amy Palimero-Winters a few years ago competing in ultramarathons, but haven’t heard anything about her recently and her website hasn’t been updated in two years. Is she still running? Anyone?

Nine funny ultramarathon twitter folks to follow. Sabrina and Amelia win it for me.

With more and more people traveling international for ultramarathon and other distances, what’s the best way to counter jet lag? Consider.

Why are so many hard scientists into endurance running? What’s the connection? I understand high-achieving jobs correlate with hard work in athletics, but don’t understand the science connection other than the duties often trap people indoors and ultramarathons are a way to escape? Anyone?

Interesting: New study implies memory in endurance athletes (specifically runners) is a myth.

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24 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News, Fri, Sep 23"

Daniel Slater says:

September 23, 2016 at 5:50 am

Awfully convenient her claim came out so soon after Karl’s time had been established.Reference

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Jeff says:

September 23, 2016 at 6:22 am

From a hunderd miler to just under a 50k? I wonder if folks get 2 thirds of their race entry fee back.Reference

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Nicole says:

September 23, 2016 at 6:30 am

CNN article missing a link?

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Brad D says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:01 am

Have you seen this too? There are some CRAZY smart hikers out there 🙂
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/120840-Kaiha-Bertollini-Real-FKT/page20

If you have 6-8 hours…start from page one 🙂

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Ryan says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:02 am

Per the website, 100M runners are allowed to run the 71KM race that starts tomorrow, I believe.Reference

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Henry Bickerstaff says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:06 am

I’ve been looking for a new weather app but this one does not cover Oklahoma, where I live, nor Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas or even Texas in their drop down list.Reference

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 23, 2016 at 9:42 am
  
  Yeah, only for Colorado.
  
  Reply
Zach says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:12 am

I hate to say it, but I believer her much less after that write up. I actually feel somewhat saddened as it’s typically the person who says, “I’m hardened I don’t care what you think” who is actually most sensitive to outside voices.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 23, 2016 at 9:43 am
  
  I think if I met her I’d just not nicely and turn my head to a different conversation.
  
  Reply
sam bosworth says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:30 am

Amy started AC this year. She ran into some trouble on the rocks but plans to return

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 23, 2016 at 9:43 am
  
  Thanks for the update! Anxious to see her run again.
  
  Reply
Tony Post says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:30 am

Thanks for sharing the Joe Grant Outside link, such a remarkable achievement!

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 23, 2016 at 9:43 am
  
  Did you get the shoe choice right?
  
  Reply
Mike M says:

September 23, 2016 at 7:57 am

The fact that Kaiha is a self described smoker causes me to doubt her claim. Her Youtube videos also come across to me as a little, “off”. There are a few seemingly credible AT thru hikers posting anecdotal accounts of interactions with Kaiha on whiteblaze, which cast doubt on the credibility of her claim.

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Alex Ertaud says:

September 23, 2016 at 8:32 am

On the 5th page of the WhiteBlaze thread, someone made a day by day/mileage table of her accounts. There are periods where she averages 20ish miles a day to a whopping 70ish miles a day, for a few days in a row. That above all else raises a red flag to me. 70 miles is a huge day with or without a pack. The fuel you need for that kind of effort is very heavy.
The last thing that seemed odd is in her write up, she mentioned that she just didn’t eat and gutted through it. As ultrarunners, we can attest to the fact that when your body shuts down/bonks, it’s not just a matter of gritting your teeth and toughening through it. You need calories.

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Aitch says:

September 23, 2016 at 9:29 am

I like how he considers northbound and southbound to be separate records. The same idea as Hardrock or Comrades having different records for different directions.Reference

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Andy says:

September 23, 2016 at 9:36 am

Great episode!Reference

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timsbike says:

September 23, 2016 at 9:39 am

She competed in the Viaduct Trail Ultramarathon (50) this summer in northeastern PA. Kids were pacing her by bike – very cool. She seemed really strong!

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Alex says:

September 23, 2016 at 10:52 am

Grant is sponsored by Scarpa, so it’s not too surprising he used them exclusively. Anyway, I love the aesthetic embodied in his route and means. A record claim I’d rather focus on that one which is obviously made up.

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Rich says:

September 23, 2016 at 11:09 am

Research and ultras are very similar in mindset – both are very much about the process and taking a long-term view. Both require a component of simple day-in-day-out work, both have short-term benchmarks/goals (smaller experiments; test races), both require regular problem solving (experiments gone wrong; injuries), and both have hoped for long-term outcomes. If an big experiment to prove an hypothesis or goal race goes wrong, you try it again after correcting (hopefully) any identified errors. When they go well, you move on to formulate the next logical hypothesis or choose a new race goal. The funding cycle in basic research is typically 3-4 years, so like formulating goals to, for example, try to qualify and enter Western States, Hardrock or UTMB, you have to take the long view on the process and outcomes.
As a researcher, I find they are both very much about the process and what is learned along the way.

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  September 23, 2016 at 12:59 pm
  
  That is the best reply to that question I’ve ever heard. It all makes sense, and the fact I’m married to a scientist should’ve tipped me off to a few of those.
  What field are you in?
  
  Reply
  1. Rich says:
    
    September 23, 2016 at 11:27 pm
    
    Environmental geochemistry
    
    Reply
Starchy says:

September 23, 2016 at 8:22 pm

Just an FYI: no one’s claiming Jeska is male, just that she’s transgender. To say she’s male (as opposed to that she was born male, or biologically male) denies her trans identity, which is a crappy thing to do.

It might not seem worth worrying about after she flipped out and (wtf) stabbed someone, but even after she did something as nuts as that talking about her that way is pretty rude to trans women in general.Reference

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SteelTownRunner says:

September 26, 2016 at 7:34 am

he didn’t actually do it; he was an actor in the film – the story line was a run like that is absurd and should earn you a place in the circus.Reference

Reply

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