Ultramarathon Daily News, Wed, Nov 18

So important: Top ten tips to avoid a running burnout.

But the determined runner had only one goal – to finish the race. Debbie said: “My shoulder, hips and ribs took the brunt of the hit and fall but it wasn’t too painful at the time. Although I was winded and had some discomfort across my chest, I made the decision to keep going.”

—Lady halfway through a 60 mile ultramarathon in UK is hit by car. Gets up, dusts off, and finishes first. Ta-da!

Do women peak for endurance later than men?

New Beer Mile set at 4:51, but I’m guessing it won’t be ratified. Cup/bottle wasn’t turned over to show contents were consumed. Come on, Canada. I expect more from you.

New beer app is considered the “Pandora for Beer Recommendations.”

Speaking of tech, stay tuned for a giveaway where you’ll have a chance to win a graphical/artistic representation of your workout data that you can hang on your wall.

Jacob Puzey’s brother sounds like an awesome guy. Here’s a great bio about mountain runner Tommy Rivers.

I wrote an analysis of how the team scoring aspect of North Face Championships might go down. What do you think? More importantly, do you care?

And Sarah writes about how to stay warm and avoid hypothermia while out on the trails.

Speaking of staying warm, here’s my comprehensive comparison of wool running tops from last year.

And here’s another new way to win some swag and get into Western States, sponsored by Ultrarunning Magazine. Trying to figure out how the math differs from Jason Friedman’s National Rankings list. I’m awful with this stuff…any math/stat people want to weigh in?

Geoff Roes’ new normal is appreciating the outdoors and the positivity of movement. Good read.

Science I like: Coffee is good for us!

NBC picks up rights from Universal Sports Network. Whew.

A Russian runner won a marathon in Japan and apparently didn’t get the memo that he’s not allowed to compete.

24 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News, Wed, Nov 18"

Chris says:

November 18, 2015 at 6:18 am

beermile.com/rules only says that inverting the vessel over your cranium is “strongly recommended”

As the speed of chugging has increased, so too has the amount of foam left in the bottles, which wouldn’t come out. True record attempts now get a second person involved who pour any remaining foam / settled liquid into glasses, to see how much was left. I think a de facto rule has come into effect that basically says that the total amount of foam left in the bottles or cans cannot exceed 3 oz.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  November 18, 2015 at 6:49 am
  
  I disagree. Foam is part of the game, and the athletes need to find a way to drink more efficiently where less foam is created. And the rules that I’ve seen tossed around include mandating that the athlete finish all the collected foam before the clock stops. I don’t have that problem. 🙁
  If your de facto rule stands, it’d be imperative for us to see that process to ensure an even playing field.
  
  Reply
nedbarrett says:

November 18, 2015 at 8:26 am

And a pretty weak video at that. An on-screen clock, Canadian dudes!Reference

Reply
rfoushee says:

November 18, 2015 at 8:54 am

I bought the PEP shirt based on your recommendation to use during the Bigfoot 100k. Worked like a champ! I’m 5’6″ 140lbs and the small fit great.Thanks!!Reference

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  November 18, 2015 at 11:27 am
  
  Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. I like that brand a lot.
  
  Reply
Don Kiely says:

November 18, 2015 at 9:44 am

Looks like it’s been ratified: http://www.beermile.com/. The rules just say, “It is strongly recommended, when attempting official records, to tip the empty beer can or bottle over your head at the end of a chug to verify an empty vessel.” So not required, which seems strange.Reference

Reply
Sage Canaday says:

November 18, 2015 at 11:07 am

The new Ultra Running Mag website/”ranking system” seems to have some pretty horrible flaws. For example, type in someone like “Josh Arthur” (did very well in several races this season, including US SkyRunning series). He’s ranked like 6,000th in the country! And Rob Krar is still only ranked 16th even after winning WS100?! From what I’ve seen ITRA has the best comprehensive ranking system (worldwide too!), other than that UltraSign-up ranking data could easily be converted to something pretty decent by taking # of races/attempts into account and adding weight to those that won races with a concentrated spread in the top 10 and total number of finishers.

Reply
1. Jamie says:
  
  November 18, 2015 at 12:00 pm
  
  One issue — and this seems to be Josh’s issue — is that you get penalized for focusing on one distance. On this system, you get credit for one 50k, one 50m, one 100k, and one 100m. So, if you ran 5 outstanding 50 milers, you get credit for only one, and your overall score is low. But if you had midling results at each of the four distances, you could be ranked much higher. (Another example, last year, Krar won 3 big 100 milers, but would get credit for only one.) So, this is not an overall ranking, but a peculiar game: who can run the best race at each of the four distances? And of course, then one could argue how “best” is determined, since on this system it depends on somewhat arbitrary multiplying factors for strength of field and position.
  
  Reply
  1. Amy says:
    
    November 18, 2015 at 12:42 pm
    
    As Jamie points out, it’s not really a ranking system, it’s a race series. But also, it’s not really about who can run the best at each of the 4 distances, because the 100 mile distance still gets more points. It’s a fun idea, but I think it would be more interesting if the 4 distances were rated equally–that way it still rewards for participation across distances, so you’ve got to have depth, but doesn’t mean that it’s really just a contest between who places most highly at WS or another highly competitive 100 miler, has done well in a 100K, and has also run the other distances.
    
    Reply
    1. eric schranz says:
      
      November 18, 2015 at 1:10 pm
      
      Great point Amy. That’d be a positive change to the series.
      
      Reply
    2. Jamie says:
      
      November 19, 2015 at 7:09 am
      
      I know they are calling it a “race series,” but I don’t understand that. I’ve never heard that term used except where you have a limited set of races — 4, 5, 6, 12, something like that — and everyone competes in as many of those as they can. Typically those races are on board with being part of the series. Here, the “series” is just every race known to UltraRunning Magazine, virtually every race out there. Calling the set of all races a “race series” sort of makes the term meaningless. I think the only term for this is a contest. Yes, 100s are weighted more, but that doesn’t mean that the other distances don’t matter. There are a lot of good 100 mile runners out there, and a lot of opportunities to earn a strong 100 mile score. So it will likely come down to the people who put in the “best” performances at each of the distances.
      
      Reply
      1. Amy says:
        
        November 19, 2015 at 9:45 am
        
        Which was exactly my point. It becomes a contest about who’s the best 100 mile runner who’s done 4 races of the correct distance. The fact they’ve included 4 race distances indicates they’d like to show breadth, as well. Why not weight the 4 race distances equally such that the winner would have to do really well across distances?
2. Tropical John says:
  
  November 19, 2015 at 2:31 am
  
  The UR formula rewards versatility; it’s pretty obvious that you’ll need to race all four distances to score high. The current rankings are looking backward at races run before the point scoring system was announced. There’s gonna be a lot of mis-ranked folks who are missing one or more of the distances. The best part of the UR formula is an analytical attempt at rewarding runners who race in larger and highly competitive races.
  
  There’s no right or wrong here, determining who’s the “best” ultrarunner is always going to be somewhat subjective, given the variety of distances. But this formula is a solid approach for ranking across all the commonly run distances.
  
  Reply
Tim says:

November 18, 2015 at 1:13 pm

Bought the PEP on your review as well. Have ordered more of LS and SS. They are awesome both stand alone or under a running jacket. I wore them all winter in Mass and NH.Reference

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  November 18, 2015 at 2:29 pm
  
  That’s a heck of a testimonial Tim! I’m guessing it gets mighty chilly up there in the winter!
  
  Reply
Garret says:

November 18, 2015 at 9:27 pm

Country, city, or school teams I can understand cheering for. Corporate teams? Sorry, no.Reference

Reply
1. Amy says:
  
  November 18, 2015 at 11:33 pm
  
  100% in agreement. Deepest pocket is 0% interesting.
  
  Reply
  1. eric schranz says:
    
    November 19, 2015 at 4:51 am
    
    But is that fair? Nike didn’t poach any athletes by using their financial clout. They signed up-and-comers to the MUT scene and formed a tight group. I gotta give them credit when it’s due.
    
    Reply
    1. Mic Med says:
      
      November 19, 2015 at 5:40 am
      
      I was kind of excited by team scoring, right from when it was announced. That lasted until I read your sentence: “More importantly, do you care?” And I wanted to chime in on why I cared… And I can’t think of a single reason. I don’t care. So Nike has a cool team, TNF has some of the best runners around, Salomon has some of the people I like most… but who cares? If Max comes in first, and Varner and Z Miller came in 2 and 3, I’m not going to really care if “a Salomon runner” or a “TNF runner” comes in 4th. Also, let’s continue using Max as an example, I wouldn’t care if he ran for Salomon or TNF, I would just be cheering for Max. If Salomon finishes 1, 4, and 6 and takes the “Team title”, it’s not going to sway me into buying more Salomon products.
      
      Reply
      1. Arvid McFly says:
        
        November 19, 2015 at 6:31 am
        
        Wanna bet? That’s the whole point. There are very few of us who know the athletes very well and who have true favorites in this sport. Most folks will just see the headlines like “Nike wins team title at TNF50” and will figure that if Nike won, they must have really good gear, and will think about that when they go shoe shopping.
      2. Mic Med says:
        
        November 20, 2015 at 6:17 am
        
        Wanna bet, what? That if Salomon finishes 1, 4 and 6 and takes the title that it’s not going to sway me into buying more Salomon products? SURE, I’ll 100% take that bet. Did I speak for someone else?
    2. Amy says:
      
      November 19, 2015 at 9:15 am
      
      Not making any reference to Nike, or any one team, in particular.
      
      Reply
    3. Garret says:
      
      November 19, 2015 at 9:02 pm
      
      Sure, I respect a good farm team/scout organization, but it’s all about who’s doing the team-making. if anything, I have *negative*, not just zero, emotional attachment to corporate teams. (“Corporations are people, my friend.”)
      
      Runners from a corporate team aren’t more likely to live near me. I won’t see them compete “at home” any more often than any other company’s runners. The only reason I see to root for them based on a company is because I also wear the shoes, but running is the most gear-free sport, and that’s what I like about it. Hooray for the Nike & Salomon team, their runners (I assume) have narrow feet!
      
      Reply
Joseph says:

November 20, 2015 at 7:33 am

Didn’t though go a full step further and pour each beer into those shot glasses to show that they had less than 4 oz remaining? (The rules from the world championship I believe?)Reference

Reply

Please use real name. Anonymous comments will be deleted. Thanks.Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.