Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, Feb 19

I’m dealing with an awful flu and just lost all the commentary to today’s news briefing except for Mario’s for some reason.) Ugh. Not what I needed. The following is a list of the links, minus most of my pithy remarks.
Alright, back to bed.

Koop: How to start your ultramarathon training.

Is Kipchoge the best role model out there? In this article, he writes about his favorite books and the importance of reading.

Did you catch our latest episode with SteelTownRunner Paul? He’s a true scholar of the sport and helps contextualize the current elite runners.

Treeline Journal: Chase owrites about the struggle with his one year no beer plan. How’s he doing? Very honest account of what it takes.

Mario’s Morning Shakeout: Mario opines on the new 5k record, Marathon Investigations, and his desire to interview Kilian Jornet. While he mentions the article about the first transgender athlete in the Olympics, he leaves out the recent lawsuit by the Connecticut HS girls and what he really thinks is the best solution. I’ve made my point clear: You can’t support women’s athletics and allow biological males to compete in the women’s division. Civil discussion welcome. As Mario writes, this is an issue we have to discuss openly without fear of name calling or cancelling.

Big thanks to the Sacramento Running Association for its focus on youth running. This past weekend, Sunny and her running buddy Bryce were chosen to receive awards at a ceremony that also feted three-time Western States champ Tom Johnson and other top athletes. These gestures are easy to incorporate into a ceremony and have a profound impact on the kids.

Atlantic: Learning to run without headphones.

iRunFar/Sabrina: Excellent post about the morality of responsibility. How often do we look at ourselves when faced with something that doesn’t align with our beliefs?

Strava polled 25k runners to find out why they run. Here’s what they found.

Podium Runner: Experts weigh in on the Olympic Marathon Trials. Who’s got the best odds? Seems like a good list.

RW: Couple gets married at finish line of Rocky Raccoon 100k.

8 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, Feb 19"

Paul says:

February 19, 2020 at 7:22 am

Walmsley doesn’t even get an honorable mention on the Podium Runner list. I think he finishes ahead of some of the folks on that list. Maybe I’m just an ultra-fanboy (as they say on LRC). Should be a good race.

Reply
Andrew says:

February 19, 2020 at 9:05 am

Paul,

Yes, you are an ultra fan boy….but so am I. I love Walmsley, but he has no chance at beating the guys who have spent their whole lives training specifically for the marathon. For every workout he has done in his build, they’ve done 10. There are countless guys who can run a 1:02 half. I think he will do okay, maybe something like a 2:11 to 2:12, but there is a zero percent chance he will run a 2:10 on that course or finish top 3. I don’t think people get that if he finishes in the top 10 it will be far more impressive than his back to back WSER course records. I get his Strava fans want to cheer for him, but they also need to be realistic. He is not a road marathoner and is not going to compete against the top flight guys. It’s no different than asking Scott Fauble or Jared Ward to train for 3 months for Western States and then expecting them to podium. They would be running against people who basically only run trail ultras, and have been doing so for years, and they would get crushed.

Reply
Christopher Orr says:

February 19, 2020 at 9:52 am

Paul would be great for an annual running retrospective, taking the events and accomplishments from the past year and putting them into context. I know I would look forward to that episode every year!

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  February 19, 2020 at 10:17 am
  
  I agree. He pulls out facts and finishes that I had no idea existed.
  
  Reply
Chase Parnell says:

February 19, 2020 at 12:09 pm

Another fanboy coming in hot…I respectfully disagree with essentially everything Andrew said:

(1) “For every workout he has done in his build, they’ve done 10.” That’s an exaggeration. Jim started his block 9 weeks out from the trials with multiple marathon specific sessions a week. Maybe those guys have 2 to 1 over Jim in this build-up.

(2) “There are countless guys who can run a 1:02 half.” Jim’s course was short so it wasn’t even a 1:02. But regardless, countless? Countless?! Come on. If looking globally, sure. But in the US, there were 18 at the 2020 Houston half, which was arguably the most competitive half in the last four years. There’s can’t be more than 50 that could do it today.

(3) “I think he will do okay, maybe something like a 2:11 to 2:12.” This isn’t a time trial, 2:11:xx could win the race depending on how they run it. 2:11:00 would’ve been 5th in NYC trials and would’ve won the LA trials.

(4) “I don’t think people get that if he finishes in the top 10 it will be far more impressive than his back to back WSER course records.” No. no. no. no. How many 100s have you run? What are you basing this comparison on? Walmsley’s record at Western could stand for a long long time, if he doesn’t break it again himself. Max King was 12th at LA trials. Great performance from a cross-over athlete, but if he was two spots higher, I’m not calling that superior to back to back Western records.

(5) “He is not a road marathoner and is not going to compete against the top flight guys.” He ran 13:52 5k in college. He isn’t exactly slow. There are tons of stories of mediocre college runners who excel later in their career. He spanked Sid Vaughn at RnR Arizona who’s been training with NAZ Elite since January 2019. If by top flight, you mean Rupp and Korir, then sure, but Walmsley can throw punches with just about anyone else on the starting line. He’s already proved this by running roughly 1:03 off of 4 weeks of marathon training. His gains post-half marathon tune-up will likely be greater than others.

(6) “It’s no different than asking Scott Fauble or Jared Ward to train for 3 months for Western States and then expecting them to podium.” Sorry, with 3 months I think both of these guys could probably podium at Western if they wanted to. They run big miles at altitude on dirt roads and they are a few of the best runners in the country. On a course like Western, and a few ultras in their buildup, they could podium. They wouldn’t beat Jim, but if Matt Daniels was 4th in his first 100 at Western, pretty sure Fauble/Ward could do something similar. Hardrock would be a different story.

Sorry, I clearly have too much time on my hands. Back to work.

Reply
micahward says:

February 20, 2020 at 10:13 am

Eric, I agree with your comment that we can’t support women’s sports while allowing biological males to compete against them. I don’t know the answer to this question but there is an undeniable difference in the biology and physiology of the genders. I’m sure I will get hellhacked for saying this but if you have male organs and male levels of testosterone then you compete against the males. Period.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  February 20, 2020 at 12:15 pm
  
  I agree Micah, and it’s crazy we can’t have a conversation about this very important subject without being labelled transphobic, ignorant, or hateful. I get SO many emails from people–mainly women–who are afraid of saying things for fear of being cancelled. It’s very important for people to understand that not wanting biological men in women’s sports has no bearing on how we view or respect them as people.
  
  To note, testosterone levels are not the only advantage biological males enjoy. Bone structure, lung capacity, heart size, aggressiveness…these are all vitally important to athletes.
  
  One solution would be create different divisions (similar to those in the Paralympics) that use an algorithm to place athletes in classes based on myriad physiological markers. On each end would be traditional men and women, and towards the middle would be those who’ve transitioned or have other DSD issues. If it’s fair for Paralympians, I’d think it would be fair for the rest.
  
  Reply
Jon Lien says:

March 20, 2020 at 11:01 pm

Eric, you talk a lot about how you don’t understand the science, but that allowing transwomen to race as women doesn’t pass the smell test. The problem is that the science is incredibly complex and your gut feeling then isn’t all that relevant. It is like saying you refuse to fly because something as heavy as an airplane shouldn’t be able to stay up in the air, without understanding the science of it.

Please try to either understand the science or trust the experts on this. There is a battle being fought primarily by far right ultra conservative groups to exclude trans people from society, and whether you want to be branded transphobic or not, the fact is that you are helping their cause.

It is not a matter of a single person being transphobic. We have a society that is systematically transphobic, and those of us who don’t have to struggle with this can at least try to help.

Btw, if you are ever in doubt that society is genuinely transphobic, take a look at how the topic is treated in film. I recommend Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

Reply

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