Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Sep 3

iRunFar: All the trail and ultramarathon results from this past weekend.
I’m putting together a podcast with runners and coaches that’ll dive into why US women perform better than US men at UTMB. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and there’s got to be an answer, right?

Teenage boy goes blind due to compulsive….pringles and fries? Wait, what?

She makes the sport feel accessible to newcomers, while putting on performances that are completely inaccessible to all of us.
All hail Dauwalter, the queen of the trails.

—SCMP: Based on her diversity and dominance, Courtney Dauwalter is the greatest ultrarunner on earth. Period.

Speaking of the greats, here’s a fascinating look into the details and mindset of Kilian’s summer training schedule.

Doping: The Christian Coleman case is a mess that’s been stepped in and smeared around by USATF.

Looking for a new podcast to check out? Nicola Gildersleeve hosts Journey to Ultra and has some interesting guests, from elite women to scientists.

Koop/CTS: Coach Koop has three hot takes from UTMB.

StuffNZ: Classy Claire is your every day, run of the mill heavyweight boxer slash opera singer slash ultrarunner.

Use URP at checkout for 20% off your order.

Did you hear our latest episode? Wookie has an incredible story about survival and recovery after a HAPE/HACE episode in the Maroon Bells that you need to hear.

Yep. While these ATVs and Razors look like a blast to drive, they’re obnoxious as hell when I’m trying to enjoy some peaceful time on the trails.

There’s a rowing machine near the summit of Mont Blanc. Sorry, but what a lame stunt.

Outside: What do you think of Huber’s article about prize money in ultramarathons? A few points:
-He misses the fact that athletes still earn money from big races even if there’s not a prize purse. It may not be a lot, but it shouldn’t be overlooked.
-$2k for the winner? Come. On. The Poletti organization would be nothing without the top runners and this purse is similar to leaving a 2 dollar tip on a hundred dollar meal.
-Comrades offers big money and attracts top African runners. That’s got to be factored into this discussion.

7 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Sep 3"

SteelTownRunner says:

September 3, 2019 at 9:33 am

The Courtney Dauwalter claims her to be the great ultra trail runner on earth. The article *totally* misses her marvelous running for 24 hours and Big’s Backyard. As much as I find ‘greatest’ anything to always be a tricky argument to make that lends itself to more of a hot take unless it’s discussed at great length and detail, I don’t find it an outlandish claim.

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Melissa says:

September 3, 2019 at 9:45 am

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy for someone else’s success as I am for Courtney’s. She is really a role model for me, and such an amazing athlete.

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Dave Dehart says:

September 3, 2019 at 9:50 am

Looks like an adventure many of us would like to be a part of. Awesome venue, cool location, tons of athletes, and good competition. Based on this alone I do not see why they would need to offer additional prize money. Perhaps I am short sighted.

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Will says:

September 3, 2019 at 10:19 am

I was touched by how surprised Courtney was by her own victory (in the post run Irunfar interview). That made one of us.

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Nick says:

September 3, 2019 at 11:43 am

The author’s main beef with Kilian is that he hasn’t run one of Candice’s 200’s. I think this is a good illustration of the inevitable tribalism and gatekeeping of “X is the best” claims.

Kilian has an amazingly deep mountain running and racing resume that include his “Summits of My Life” project, which are not races but challenges of his own design and included some FKTs up and down some of earth’s most famed mountains. He even holds a world record for uphill skiing.

They are quite different athletes, despite occasionally running similar races. Kilian conquers mountains on foot, with or without skis. Courtney conquers trails on foot, both technical mountainous trails and trails that require raw sustained speed. To judge whether Courtney or Kilian is the best is to miss their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures.

“This new breed of ultra, which can extend for days, taps into a mental capacity, not to mention pacing and nutrition plan, that is completely different from the 171km races Jornet has dominated with times between 20 and 24 hours.” No mention of Yannis Kouros? He holds or has held world records from 100 miles to 1000 miles, well beyond the distance and time that either Jornet or Dauwaulter have weathered. Does that make him better?

One might say that the uniting factor among all three is their ability to consistently dominate and rarely falter. They can seal the deal, no matter what it is. Business leaders, top scientists, headlining politicians – these people all seem to exhibit that X-factor. What is it? I don’t thing you’re going to find out if you’re bogged down in the weeds of which among them is the best.

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Andrew says:

September 3, 2019 at 2:49 pm

Yeah the SCMP article says Killian isn’t the best because he hasn’t raced a superlong ultra, but doesn’t mention that Courtney’s wins at shorter ultras are all against local or regional competition. I would love to see her lineup for an internationally competitive race under 100k.

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DesF says:

September 3, 2019 at 7:46 pm

It’s the South China Morning Post, who cares? Same goes doubly for Joe Rogan, who spent 2 hours going on about Courtney’s overall win at Moab, saying f##k every 5 seconds, because he doesn’t know anything about the sport or the type of field a 240 mile race in the desert attracts.

Greatest and GOAT arguments are pointless…but if Courtney is still dominating like this in 5 years then start comparing her to Kilian.

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