Ultramarathon Daily News | Monday, Dec 3
What a great weekend for running! From lotteries to marathons to ultramarathon events, it was hard not to be excited!
AJW wrote a good synopsis of the WS and Hardrock lotteries right here. As I noted in the comments section, another notable entrant for Western will be Kyle Robidoux (interview here), who will be the first blind/VI runner to toe the line at Squaw.
As always, the lotteries are the first steps…getting everyone to the start lines healthy and fit are steps 2-587.
I don’t even know where to begin with thoughts from this weekend.
- Let’s start at Fukuoka Marathon in Japan. First, as reported by Japan Running News, Yemane Tsegay becomes third man ever to break 2:10 fifteen times in his career. Meanwhile, in the same race, Yuki Kawauchi clicks off his FIFTIETH sub 2:14 marathon. Simply astounding.
- Second, ultra regulars YiOu Wang and Paddy O’Leary used their fifty mile trail prep–both were expected to do well at TNF50 two weeks ago–to earn PRs at Cal Int’l Marathon (CIM) yesterday with 2:39 and 2:20 times (that’s a 10min PR for Paddy), respectively. Correction: YiOu is coached by Mario Fraioli and Paddy is coached by Matthew Laye.
- Meanwhile, across the world at UT Cape Town (RSA), American women took three of the top spots with Keely, Kelly, and Steph coming in 4th, 5th, and 8th in the 100k, the last race on the UTWT tour. Sandes and Rob Krar both took DNFs.
- At the UTMB Oman, Jason Schlarb tied for the win with Diego Pazos. I’m having Schlarb on the show soon and will have to give him some well humored sh%t for that. Anna-Marie Watson won it for the ladies. (How many Anna or Anne-Marie’s are there in our sport? Seems like a very high performing name, right?)
- Finally, I was at the WS lottery and watched Walt Handloser‘s head hang lower and lower as the draws went on and on and on. Getting into The Big Dance was integral to his Half Hundred Hundreds project and his name didn’t get drawn for the race or the waitlist.
- More results can be found in Justin’s TWIR ultramarathon/trail wrap up on iRF.
Meanwhile, the oldest trail ultramarathon in the world took place in France this past weekend amidst some miserable conditions. Dylan Kissane was at Le Saintelyon and reported back with this:
In a nutshell: it was raining at the start, it rained all the way through (until about 10am the next morning – the elites had long finished, I was still slogging through) and the trails were mud: deep mud, slippery mud, mud puddles – you name a type of mud and we had it! Still, while the mud slowed people down, at least it wasn’t icy or snowy: I only saw a handful of people fall and no one seriously injured, a very different story to last year’s ice fest.
Results (French unless stated):
Men 1-3: Guillaume Porche 6:26, Romain Maillard 6:32, Thibaut Garrivier 6:33.
Women 1-3: Aigul Mingazova (Russia) 7:55, Claire Mougel 7:56, Sylvaine Cussot 8:12.
Full results here.
Here’s a new ultramarathon with a unique and beautiful twist: A 4200km race that tracks the monarch butterfly migration from Canada to Mexico. It’s a relay, but runners can run up 100k legs.
Awesome: You can steal a magazine without being a total as$hole. Nice work, Remy. (An obvious retort to this RW article.
Did you check out our latest episode? I chatted with Katie and Dom Grossman Friday morning (and released it 90 minutes later…an FKT?) about how we/they deal with expectations and reality, the transition to running parents, and what their plans are for 2019. They’re both insightful, honest, and very real. Check it out here.
That episode was sponsored by Broken Arrow Skyrace…and it just so happens that registration opens TODAY. Check out the video right this way and start making plans for an incredible weekend.
The most encouraging finding was that social comparison — that is, friendly competition — was really effective at improving people’s levels of physical activity. The most surprisingthing we found was that social support networks actually led people to exercise less. Our results showed not just that support was worse than competition, but that it was worse than giving people nothing at all. Social support backfired, actively preventing people from going to the gym.
Is Eliud Kipchoge the best athlete on the planet? This writer makes his argument for something THIS author (me!) feel is impossible to define.
The Spartan Trail series is something I’m paying close attention to. The company has a ton of money, isn’t afraid to use it, and has the potential to change the landscape of our silly sport. Don’t know if it will, but definitely worth paying attention to. Check out this article about Skyrunner and OCR dude Jon Albon who’s about to earn the largest paycheck for any race in Britain. Read the article…he sounds like a really cool guy.
Conversation starter: Spartan generally charges $20 for spectators to watch the OCR events. Would you pony up twenty bucks to watch the best MUT runners in the world compete for a million dollars? (You’ll have to suspend the legal and logistical issues of restricting trail access.)
If you need just a modicum of encouragement to get away for a short thruhike, Skurka’s latest piece highlights accessible routes in the incredible Yosemite valley.
A graphic reminder to not run on the streets with both ears distracted by headphones.
Housekeeping: I’ve had to add a comments policy to URP. Really two basic rules: Use your real name and don’t be a jerk.