Ultra Discussion Thread

TRR_the_turd

DogSlySmile wrote: »

the lad who said he did 100 marathons in 100 days this year says he's going to do 60 ultras (39 miles) in 60 days next year

http://steveysepicadventure.com/#contact

Any reason to believe he didn't run the 100? He had some impressive results in the quadrathon (sp) and other back to back events so I assumed he was legit

DogSlySmile

TRR_the_turd wrote: »

Any reason to believe he didn't run the 100? He had some impressive results in the quadrathon (sp) and other back to back events so I assumed he was legit

Early on in the 100 marathons there was a lot of doubt surrounding his runs. No garmin file shared as evidence, arranging to meet people to run with him then running somewhere else etc. I lost interest after a while to be honest, maybe he proved he did run 100 maras. Best of luck to him with his next challenge, hope he raises a lot of money.

Enduro

ultrarunner wrote: »

Next year Don plans to run a 100 miler out and back as well the 50. I have to say in those conditions I don't think I'd be able for it. 28000 ft of climb - up and down Mt Everest. It's tempting!

Out of interest where did you get that figure for total climb. It looks a little bit high, to say the least, given that the UTMB has about 9000m of climb for example.

Enduro

Rick Ford wrote: »

https://sherpajohnhumanpotential.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/ultra-at-a-crossroads/

Mite interest a few heads here

It's a bit of a rambling post, mixing in some pretty damn significant points (PED use and testing in Ultras) with some trivial ones (One iconic runner now needing to qualify for one race).

His overall point is a bit king Kanute though. As ultrarunning becomes more popular it will inevitably change. He's also way too insular and American-centric in his thinking.

ultrarunner

Enduro wrote: »

Out of interest where did you get that figure for total climb. It looks a little bit high, to say the least, given that the UTMB has about 9000m of climb for example.

The elevation for the WW50 M was 14,111 ft according to my Suunto, so I just doubled it for the out and back. The watch is supposed to have a barometric altimeter. Don't know how accurate it is to be honest.

100 miler in the winter will be very tough (at least my my standards) but a piece of cake for you!

ultrarunner

Enduro wrote: »

Out of interest where did you get that figure for total climb. It looks a little bit high, to say the least, given that the UTMB has about 9000m of climb for example.

The elevation for the WW50 M was 14,111 ft according to my Suunto, so I just doubled it for the out and back. The watch is supposed to have a barometric altimeter. Don't know how accurate it is to be honest.

100 miler in the winter will be very tough (at least my my standards) but a piece of cake for you!

I thought they added in more climbing to the UTMB to bring it above 10,000m?

ultrarunner

Enduro wrote: »

Out of interest where did you get that figure for total climb. It looks a little bit high, to say the least, given that the UTMB has about 9000m of climb for example.

The climb for the WW50 M was 5,397m according to my Suunto and the descent 5,568m, giving 10,965m for the out and back. The watch is supposed to have a barometric altimeter. Don't know how accurate it is to be honest.

My original estimate was based on doubling the 14,111ft that Strava estimated for the W50 M.

100 miler in the winter will be very tough (at least my my standards) but a piece of cake for you!

I thought they added in more climbing to the UTMB to bring it above 10,000m?

grahamor

ultrarunner wrote: »

The climb for the WW50 M was 5,397m according to my Suunto and the descent 5,568m, giving 10,965m for the out and back. The watch is supposed to have a barometric altimeter. Don't know how accurate it is to be honest.

I don't think that is correct. I got the first 62k on Strava before my battery died and it says elevation was 2,224m

https://www.strava.com/activities/445182599

Think the total for the 50 miler is about 2,950m

TFBubendorfer

ultrarunner wrote: »

The climb for the WW50 M was 5,397m according to my Suunto and the descent 5,568m, giving 10,965m for the out and back. The watch is supposed to have a barometric altimeter. Don't know how accurate it is to be honest.

I have a Suunto Ambit as well and I can see on my stats in strava that it definitely overestimates the elevation (so yes, I don't deserve to be so high up on the leaderboard - sorry bout that!)

ultrarunner

I can't post the link to my Strava as I have a new user name on boards. I haven't posted for years so I picked a new name.

Enduro

ultrarunner wrote: »

100 miler in the winter will be very tough (at least my my standards) but a piece of cake for you!

The winter bit is the x-factor there! Could be a long time out for a lot of people alright. These things are never a piece of cake!

ultrarunner wrote: »

I thought they added in more climbing to the UTMB to bring it above 10,000m?

I heard they changed the course a little this year, but haven't looked at the details. I've run it 3 times, and its been a different course each time (only my last one wasn't affected by weather diversions). There was already plenty of climb in it

Enduro

grahamor wrote: »

I don't think that is correct. I got the first 62k on Strava before my battery died and it says elevation was 2,224m

https://www.strava.com/activities/445182599

Think the total for the 50 miler is about 2,950m

That looks a lot more likely.

Measuring climb (or distance) over an irregular trail route (i.e. any trail route in reality) is entirely dependant on the accuracy (both the height accuracy and the sampling interval) of the measuring device, so there's a very high level of probability that you'll get a different result every time it is measured by GPS, even with the same device. It's the fractal nature of natural landscapes. Higher sampling frequencies and more fine grained accuracy of the measurement will increase the height/gain loss measured to an almost unlimited degree (you could measure the up and down of each molecule!!).

A more consistant and real-world accurate way to measure height gain/loss would be to simply take the high and low point of each significant valley as indicated on OS maps (in the Irish case) and use the difference, ignoring all the intervening ups and downs.

The climb figure for Everest is an example of that. It's just the difference between the sea level and the peak, without taking any account of all the ups and downs along the way.

davedanon

Enduro wrote: »

It's the fractal nature of natural landscapes.

Not fractal, really, as there isn't the duplication of shapes at different scales, but I know what you mean.

Enduro

davedanon wrote: »

Not fractal, really, as there isn't the duplication of shapes at different scales, but I know what you mean.

Indeed, not a strictly defined fractal with the same patern repeated, but definitely has a fractal nature (and a fractional dimension, which tends to vary depending on the nature of the landscape and the magnification it is being viewed from), which means that measurement of parameters such as height gain over a distance is entirely variable depending on the accuracy of the measuring tool. It's a classic real world case, and results in the extremely realistic results that fractal methods produce for computer-generated artificial landscape imaging.

davedanon

Scientific background, or just a bit of a dweeb, like me?

Enduro

davedanon wrote: »

Scientific background, or just a bit of a dweeb, like me?

Have been a science nerd since a very young age. Did MSc thesis in the area of fractal graphics

davedanon

Enduro wrote: »

Have been a science nerd since a very young age. Did MSc thesis in the area of fractal graphics

Ah. I just read a book about chaos theory.

grahamor

UTMB registration today

Have the points so registered for the main race.

I'm still baffled why the TDS only requires 3 points. It's the lowest in demand by far but still incredibly difficult. Spoke to a number of French runners on the route who believe it's harder than the main race.

Enduro

grahamor wrote: »

I'm still baffled why the TDS only requires 3 points.

Supply and demand. No more than that.

DogSlySmile

grahamor wrote: »

UTMB registration today

Have the points so registered for the main race.

I'm still baffled why the TDS only requires 3 points. It's the lowest in demand by far but still incredibly difficult. Spoke to a number of French runners on the route who believe it's harder than the main race.

Me too. Fingers crossed for the lottery. I didnt get in to WS100 so pinning all my hopes on UTMB!

ultrarunner

I'm in for the CCC.

Will do the TDS or UTMR if the draw doesn't work out.

Best of luck.

Djoucer

In for the CCC myself, fingers crossed.

A fair Irish already registered.

UM1

Eddie g leading the pack at 12hr race in barca,
.....s mcarty in 3rd place in 24hr

UM1

UM1 wrote: »

Eddie g leading the pack at 12hr race in barca,
.....s mcarty in 3rd place in 24hr

Sttill in lead with 90 mins left....

UM1

UM1 wrote: »

Sttill in lead with 90 mins left....

1st with 134km..

Djoucer

100 seven-minute miles, back to back.

Zach Bitter sets new American record for 100 miles. 11 hours 28.

http://www.irunfar.com/2015/12/this-week-in-running-december-21-2015.html

TFBubendorfer

I got this message the other day. A guy called Ian McNairn is doing a PhD study. Anyone connected to ultra running can take part if they want.

I am unrolling news of my PhD project today. It is an exploration of community in ultrarunning. I am hoping to recruit AS MANY participants as possible. This includes runners, volunteers, directors, coaches, documentarians, fans. Elites and DFL. Veterans to the sport and those training for their first ultra. It is my hope to create the most extensive, comprehensive, and representative study of ultrarunning to-date and so I need your help!
If you're interested please contact me directly at my (new) project-specific email address: ianmacnairn.ultrastudy@gmail.com. Please feel free to share news of the project with others that may be interested.

locteau

Interesting, should have done my thesis on ultra instead of swimming :-)

RIP Maurice Mullins.

UM1

Rip to one of the good guys and a pioneer of ultra running in Ireland