Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, July 19

You don’t have to wear a bib every weekend to be a stud ultramarathon runner. Here’s a great interview with FKT addict Ben Nephew.

Whoa, check out these ridiculously vascular legs from a Tour de France rider. Extra points for the epic compression gear tan.

Post-Hardrock interview with one of the coolest guys in the sport: Mike Foote.

Folks who like an 8mm drop trail running shoe that can do it all will be hard-pressed to find a better trail running shoe on the market these days when combining the comfort, ride, protection, and grip at a solid value.

—Ben’s latest review of the Salomon Sense Ride.

I’m going to take his advice and add this 50k in Iceland to my bucket list. Looks outstanding! (And yeah, I could see how the 23 hours of sunlight could wreak havoc on your sleep before the race…)

I’m also adding this Swimrun event in Norway to my list. How rad doest that look?!? The last sentence in the first graf makes me particularly excited.

Thirty five minutes of Hardrock footage from Jamil Coury. Gives a great perspective of the race and trail.

And here’s mid packer Garret’s report from the San Juan’s with a grading sheet at the end. I wonder how many other people passed on the Hardrock buckle. Anyone know?

I’m not sure where this author lives, but the local running clubs are doing a lousy job of representing themselves.

One easy trick to train more effectively: Stop comparing yourself to others.

ultramarathon — My rest day on Saturday was spent watching Sunny fish. (Skunked!)

What went on during the Golden Hour at Hardrock.

Interesting read: An Eastern/Western Medicine look at the athlete’s heart and what we can do both emotionally and physically to keep it healthy.

Michael’s report from his Badwater DNF. Training and prep were on point, but with an injured groin, it all ended pretty quickly not too far from the finish line.

I don’t like pool running and am not too fond of Spinning. Maybe I’d like them both combined? Anyone tried this?

Big congrats to Chris and Alicia Vargo. Skylar Mae was born yesterday at a “tiny and healthy” 4lbs 4oz. Welcome to the club and welcome to the world Skylar!

Stay tuned for Kyle Robidoux’s post-Vermont 100 episode being released today.

20 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Wed, July 19"

Ben Zuehlsdorf says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:14 am

Haysoos – those legs though! A little dehydrated? The kneecaps / quad muscles around his knees are the craziest part to me.

Reply
Nick says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:20 am

Sometimes I wonder, who has money and time to…?

– qualify for HR100 (including traveling and registering for qualifying races)
– travel and spend two weeks in the San Juans
– convince family and/or crew to join
– pay the registration fees
– buy gear

Seriously, you can’t pretend to be the pinnacle of ultrarunning if only a few lucky lottery picks who, in addition, meet all the above conditions, can participate. You can’t. The same is true of some other major 100 milers (including UTMB).

Reply
1. Stan says:
  
  July 19, 2017 at 9:31 am
  
  I often wonder the same. You either need considerable income and vacation/holiday time. Or go the part time job live out of your car route.
  
  I think someone with average income and an understanding job/boss could do it with significant determination. Add in a family and your wife/husband better be onboard.
  
  All that too say, agreed. Due to the structured and non-structured access restrictions it certainly limits competition quality. However it does make for one peaceful and beautiful race if you make it there. Best in visuals and difficulty perhaps, just not competition.
  
  Reply
2. scott says:
  
  July 19, 2017 at 9:54 am
  
  Qualifying isn’t that hard if you’re in the US.
  One-two weeks vacation a year isn’t unheard of.
  Solo racing is harder but not the end of the world.
  Get a jerb.
  Will have most if not all of it before Hardrock anyway.
  
  The lottery is one thing but all those other points are just diluting your position since they’re pretty basic things.
  
  Reply
  1. Nick says:
    
    July 19, 2017 at 9:59 am
    
    Qualifying is not trivial: few races on the East Coast, for instance; several races have qualifying standards themselves; most are in remote places and quite expensive. It takes time and money to simply be eligible to enter the HR lottery.
    
    Dedicating your vacation time to a race is quite different than negotiating everyone’s desires and schedule in the family. Again, throw in partners and kids and it really gets hard to do this. Simply finding a 100 miler I can run is difficult, let alone one that would count for WSER, HR and UTMB!
    
    Every single point can seem minor on its own but combined this makes it really hard.
    
    Reply
    1. Ryan says:
      
      July 19, 2017 at 11:22 am
      
      I agree that all those things combined make it very difficult to get in, but does that really negate its being the pinnacle of ultrarunning? I mean, the Olympics are pretty difficult to get into too, but…
      
      Reply
      1. Nick says:
        
        July 20, 2017 at 7:09 am
        
        There’s a few disanalogies with the olympics, just a few — to start with, as far as I know, qualifying is based on performance, not luck; then many athletes get support from their respective national athletic association. Surely variable across countries. There’s a lot to criticize about the olympics but the selection process is by far more democratic than HR
    2. Ben Zuehlsdorf says:
      
      July 19, 2017 at 10:14 pm
      
      We all have to make choices, not sacrifices, choices…
      
      Reply
      1. Nick says:
        
        July 20, 2017 at 7:11 am
        
        that’s… very profound. So if I chose to dump my daughter to go run a 100 miler that would merely be a choice. Aren’t sacrifices choices anyway?
3. Guy Love says:
  
  July 20, 2017 at 6:10 pm
  
  You’re assuming Hardrock built themselves up as “the pinnacle of ultrarunning.” It’s just a race in some mountains that the masses chose to sanctify.
  
  Reply
  1. Nick says:
    
    July 21, 2017 at 6:56 am
    
    Fair enough, but regardless of the origins of that legend, it’s one we should qualify.
    
    Reply
Rick says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:21 am

Great interview and attitude – “you gotta show up.” Mike Foote for Prez in 2020!

Reply
Todd says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:47 am

Congrats to the Vargo’s.
I thought my Skylar was tiny at 6lb4oz!

Reply
1. Vargo says:
  
  July 28, 2017 at 9:12 am
  
  Todd,
  
  Thanks, man! 6lb 4 oz is tiny, as well! Maybe Skylar will meet Skylar one day!
  
  Reply
scott says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:48 am

I had no idea you had to pay extra for the buckle at Hardrock. Why is that?

Reply
Craig says:

July 19, 2017 at 10:46 am

Rich Roll is racing in Oslo this year. It will exciting to see his finish time.

Reply
pogo69 [Pat Janes] says:

July 19, 2017 at 10:24 pm

Simple? Perhaps.

Easy? For most people, not so much.

Reply
Guy Love says:

July 20, 2017 at 6:08 pm

I don’t know numbers for previous years, but it should be noted that 53 finishers of Hardrock (42%) were first timers this year. I’d love to see a comparison of finisher demographic like this of Hardrock to other mountain hundreds to see if there is any real discrepancy. And I will say, as someone 0-5 on the lottery so far, I am bummed about it, but I know I’ll appreciate the current system when I’ve run it once and want to do it again without waiting a decade.

Reply
Roel van der Made says:

July 21, 2017 at 4:16 am

Hey Eric, thanks for the pingback on my Laugavegur blogpost.

Regarding the overdose on sunlight; make sure to check for the presence of blinds if you’re going to stay in a hotel 🙂 The hotel I stayed (Saga) was kinda uninterested regarding my hint of need to some real sunlight blocking curtains.. though you’d say they (for all ppl) should understand?

For the rest, interesting site you have here! I’ll stick around.

Roel.

Reply
Vargo says:

July 28, 2017 at 9:13 am

Thanks, Eric!

Reply

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