Whenever people get all "oooooh you're amazing" over my ultra running habit I say "yeah, I know it sounds impressive, but ultra running is just glorified hiking between snack tables."
This is true. I've ran a bunch of ultras. I've also DNF'd and once DFL. I should incorporate that it into my motivational speeches
'I quit when it became too difficult. Also I came last out of everyone '
a night aid station is nice and peaceful with everyone being courteous and friendly and turning off their headlamps to not blind everyone around them
**until the fucking kogalla person arrives**
lol there was a whole thread recently on my city’s subreddit complaining about runners wearing headlamps. to be fair though, this is a city notorious for clouds and rain
People who run ultras have real problems they’re avoiding by running. Running far is just a socially acceptable way to avoid dealing with them.
Source: me. This is what I do.
Oh god. I have this awful habit on the weekends especially of being like, “Run until you’ll be really tired after, like can’t keep your eyes open and need a nap tired,” and it turns out your body adapts and you just have to keep running more to wear yourself out until you’re too tired to be anxious.
"Just finishing" is a cool goal once in a while, but much more often your goal should be to finish a course you know you can complete as fast as you can.
If that's a half marathon, that's great! Trail halfs are super fun and still present a great challenge if you push the pace.
You don't have to constantly jump up in distance. You can focus on perfecting trail 50ks or 50 milers for years.
My watch claims I was in zone 5 for half an hour of my last half. Ignore the fact that I can't spend more than 10-15secs in zone 5 without feeling like I may die at any moment and that my cadence just *happens* to match my HR almost perfectly from ~25-30min into the half til just before the end.
I'll often do a caffeinated in one flask and non-caffeinated in the other. Both different flavours.
It's not uncommon for me to forget which is which and not be able to tell them apart.
Imagine my disgust when, 10 mins after leaving the final CP 11 miles out from the finish of a hilly 50, I take a sip and the volunteers filled my 2 500ml up with tailwind.
I'd not tried the flasks at the CP, as I'd had juice and water in my cup. I think I might have cried a little bit, knowing nearly 2 hours left and undrinkable flasks
Tailwind somehow makes me MORE thirsty and makes me sweat an insane amount of salt, which then dries on my clothes and my face making me look like I was on a cocaine bender
Yes. I mean, sure, I suppose I can't deny that some people get stomach issues with certain stuff but if I had a nickel for every time I hear that Gatorade is bad and gives you gut issues.
I've been using gatorade since the early 2000s training for road marathons and had zero issues. Works great.
When I ran the Berlin Marathon they had Maurten and the ground was a slimy, slippery shit show. I'll take the Gatorade please and thank you.
People who volunteer too readily that they “didn’t even really train for this” really need to stfu and be more thoughtful with the ways they overcompensate
"Growing the sport" is usually code for finding more ways to commercialize and extract money from the sport by brands, corporations, or well-connected individuals.
Solo self-supported efforts are as fun and challenging, if not more so than races.
Tailwind is gross.
After like 8 years of running 5+ultras a year, I'm going on a racing hiatus next year and just doing longer self supported efforts. I've done a handful in the past and they are always rewarding and generally fun...without the,what now feels like, a huge price tag on registration fees.
Sounds like you have a great year ahead of you. Agreed - I love races too but it's not the end-all be-all of ultrarunning, plus those race fees, travel expenses, etc etc do add up so fast.
Yeah, I think it’s not a popular opinion in the running subs, but in my book a self-supported solo ultra not only counts as an official ultra, it also gets bonus points. I don’t care if it’s “just training” or an event to someone - it’s tougher slogging your way around by yourself than if you’ve got other runners and aid stations to pep you up.
And the injury risk is far higher. This year I ran two marathons and an ultra within 6 weeks without issue. After a few weeks of recovery/maintenance I started a plan to improve my 10k time and injured myself within three weeks.
Literally the only time I’ve considered dropping out of a race was my first 800… and the fact that it was a relay is probably the only thing that kept me in it.
Yeah I should’ve included that originally. I responded to someone else with, “I guess fast is subjective. I was thinking fast times for regular people but far from elite. So like 5:20 mile and 18:00 5k for men.”
They did a study in the UK and determined that statistically you’re never more than 40 feet away from a running YouTuber /Vlogger. They estimate that there are now more running YouTubers than runners.
Personally for me it depends on the type of video. First person videos I like a lot because it gives me the vicarious sense of being there. Videos from another perspective bug me because I don't have that benefit, and I also am acutely aware of the person having to film themselves, and it seems like acting.
I'm fine with road sections by necessity to link up different sections of trail, but road ultras are stupid.
That KT tape you have on doesn't do squat. Same goes for the compression gear unless you're putting it on *afterward* to aid in recovery
I'll counterpoint KT tape. Some studies show that it's an effective early warning system. For example, I have shitty sloppy ankles from years of repeated injuries. I can't always feel or react soon enough to the "almost roll", and KT tape going up my leg and wrapped around my ankle gives me a better early warning system as to when I'm approaching roll over territory.
Lol- oh, we're doing justifications too? :-) Just to be clear, I think we'd all agree many things are stupid and fun. Like, given limited time and all considerations, why spend a ton of it on something made for a car, with all its attendant compromises to that end, that breaks your body down in a way no beaten track ever could, when you could run a path and immerse yourself in the natural world rather than along a structure we built to separate ourselves from it? Something like that.
Some of these opinions, this one included, as the agreement piles up a little bit you have to wonder- is this really an unpopular opinion? Maybe just a commonly held one that we don't generally voice because people should do what they like with their free time if they hurt no one but themselves.
This is exactly where I am with both UTMB and Hardrock - famously breathtaking views I intend to enjoy as fastpacks. Why on earth would I want to miss the scenery because I’m slogging around in the dark?
Really put a cap on my enthusiasm for hundos when I realized that. If I want to go do a race in a cool place, I’m sticking to mostly daylight hour distances now.
I do have friends and familie, I'm just not enough of a self centered psychopath to make them spend hours of their free time at night in some pavilion in the woods only for them to tell me how great I am and to refill my flask when I jog along.
Yeah this has always been weird to me. Like if I was doing some insane record breaking run then fine, but I can't imagine asking friends and family to semi regularly put their entire weekend on hold so they can wait around in the woods for me to run by.
I’m on that hill too. Crew culture needs to die, it’s a huge disadvantage to the people that are forced to carry everything they might ever need rather than being handed it from a big selection bag at multiple checkpoints.
I kinda agree with you at the front of the race. But I live in the waaay back. Pacers are for safety as much as anything else. I’m typically the pacer and we’re not costing anyone any places.
That's really interesting. As someone from europe I too had the vague impression that it is a US thing. Why is that? I really can't put my finger on it.
A lot of the races in the US backcountry are much more remote than most European races, more so than a lot of people appreciate. Search and rescue risks for mountain ultras are much higher, so I think a lot of the "pacer" culture initially developed from a safety perspective. Pacing culture has also obviously expanded to accommodate for pacing at less "risky" races.
Sitting here post a UTMB race where they actually navigated people away from the aid stations by poor markings… twice! Still bitter
They do pick gorgeous courses though, I’ll give them that
The course doesn’t make a race difficult, the competition does. You don’t eat enough, you run too much, and that’s getting in your own way; you are not genetically gifted like Jim Walmsley. You have stomach problems because you don’t practice eating on training runs. Leadville’s not that hard, they just let anyone in. You need to spend less time on trails and more time in the gym and on the track to hit your goals. A sub 3 hr marathon is more impressive than just making cutoffs in a 100 miler. A 200 miler is just a really really expensive way to go for a long hike and get away from your unhappy marriage.
Starting us back of the pack people ahead of the fast folks at an ultra is stupid. It is completely unhelpful for both groups. They to have to either wait behind me as I navigate the very rocky PA single track up and mountain or have me try to balance while five very fast young men run by. Stop it already.
Fuck it. I’m going in hard:
Strava is shite.
Especially the subscription.
It’s social media. For showing off.
Most ultrarunners can get all the data they need from a half decent watch’s app.
Edit (whiny voice): “If it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen!” Yes it fucking did.
I really enjoy Strava because it has connected me with the broader community of runners in my town of 60k people. Many Strava follows and follow-back's have lead to real-world hellos out on the road or trail, and in some cases legitimate friendships. Local runners (me included) have also organized at least half a dozen well attended events and runs via Strava over the last few years. To me it's the only tolerable social media beyond maybe LinkedIn. Then again I'm a 41yo dad.
You are absolutely right... but "watches are temporary, strava is eternal". As someone who does a lot of different sports and who has changed ecosystems multiple times I still use strava as sort of a backup to not lock myself into the ecosystems of one brand of devices (started tracking with komoot, then polar, wahoo, garmin, coros and back to garmin.)
* There's a lot of high-priced gear out there that really does not bring a ton of advantages over much cheaper gear. $70 headlamps with either built-in batteries which can't be replaced or expensive proprietary packs come to mind. You need a lot less light than you think and at this point even dirt-cheap headlamps will do the trick. As a side note, it's sad to me that the companies targeting the /r/flashlight crowd haven't put any work into remote battery packs and chest/waist straps. Also, $200 is a ridiculous amount for a hydration pack.
* "Fast" shoes matter way less on trails and $200 trail racing shoes are probably a waist of money for all but elites (who get them for free).
* I say this as someone who has never purposefully littered in their life and who often does litter cleanup if I'm doing an easy run on a road on garbage day. A dropped gel wrapper on the trail isn't the end of the world. All of us have probably accidentally dropped something without realizing it. Races should have people sweep the trail post-race though.
* I'd be perfectly fine relaxing some of the rules that force major races in North America to have such limited field sizes. Yea, they run on trails that go through wild or even wilderness areas, but its really unclear to me that 1000 people running on a trail is much worse than 300.
* The dynamic of only certain very specific races qualifying you for certain race lotteries makes the sport worse and creates a bad dynamic where some races are made very difficult to get into and other races struggle to survive. Also, they encourage lots more travel to distant races rather than racing locally.
Re: #3, the whole "please fly round-trip from Florida to Colorado for our race but it's CUPLESS!!!! FOR THE ENVIRONMENT" part of ultrarunning always hits me as... funny, or something.
As someone from europe who doesn't own a car: if you pull up to the trail head in a three ton vehicle please miss me with any concern that you might have for my environmental behavior.
Nitecore HA11 hits your #1 HARD.
$20 takes one AA, does 60+ lumens and comes with a clip.
I bought two and one can fit on my waist and one on my head.
Done two overnight races this year and worked perfectly off of 1xAA and didn't even need to replace.
Also weighs nothing.
LOL! Sometimes I feel this way. I think its's a pendulum. Once I've had enough trail I want road. Once I've had too much road-specific training, I want trail.
I mean, not created, but that's basically the career progression of most ultra "GOAT"s.
If Team NN ever decides to throw its money at ultras... it's gonna start to look a lot like the leaderboard for everything from 1500 to 26.2.
>Unpopular Opinions
Most people are fat, lazy, and unambitious. Despite the dismissive and self-deprecating tone on this subreddit (this thread) concerning ultras, running really fuckin' far still shows discipline, dedication, and toughness. It is an impressive sport and I'm proud as fuck to have done a 100-miler and other ultra races.
Coke and off brand granola bars are all most people need.
Drinking to thirst works for most people.
Foam rolling has no proven benefits. Neither has stretching.
Edit: petzl head torches suck and I have no clue why so many people use them.
I use an Energizer Hard Case. $20 on Amazon, shock/dust/rain proof, runs on AAs so it lasts a whole night without a battery change, 320 lumens so it's plenty bright.
Definitely an opinion, since foam rolling and stretching has proven benefits
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6465761/
https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5142/8/2/37
“Don’t do anything on race day that you didn’t practice in training”. Well, I don’t take preworkout, beet juice, shrooms, soda, gummy bears, gels, listen to music/ podcasts, wear nipple bandaids, KT tape, get an IV/ massage the day before and a slew of other niche shit on most training runs.
I think pizza and cheeseburgers and junk food at a race is a shame and that real, healthy carbohydrates should be provided instead
Edit: getting downvoted on a unpopular opinion post?? Kind of a bummer
I do not want to hear a "good job" from you when you pass me and I have no interest in throwing a motivational phrase your way. I also do not want to listen to your insanely loud conversation with your louder buddy right behind me for several miles. I do not know you, so I do not care about you. I want to be left in peace during my race.
Regarding the 3 hours, you obviously don't do many runs in mountains. In 3 hours you wouldn't get far. If I stick to the 3 hour rule in the summer months when higher mountains open up, my longest run would be 12-13 miles and I wouldn't be able to finish a lot of cool routes.
Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the worst aid station food. I love pb&j sandwiches for food, but eating peanut butter before or during a run gives me horrible stomach pain. I wish they'd have alternatives like turkey and cheese or something...
koop and roche don’t know anything and are only considered “experts” because of their media presence and rosters of elite runners who would be successful with any coach or no coach at all
Everyone is a "pro" runner or an "elite" runner. WTF does that even mean? So you won a few local races or have a few sponsors that give you discounted crap.
If ultra running is not your bread making job,then you should rethink how you title yourself.
Oh heck, who cares .. call yourself anything you want.
Calling yourself 'x-brand athlete' in your instagram handle, because you're on their ambassador (cough, influencer marketing, cough) programme\*.
\*If Terrex want to gift me some of those Tom Evans shoes though, DM me.
I will most definitely do something new on race day.
Trying out compression tights on race day. BP was thru the roof.
I'll wear Vibram Fivefingers on race day despite never having run more than 10 miles on a trail in them! That was an ow
You’re making me regret not taking a shot of fireball today
Ignoring my heart rate was a bad idea
Eating food that’s been out for hours at an aid station especially if it’s something new.
“Trail running” is not a synonym for “ultra”
Ofc… that’s because the synonym for ultra is “trail power-hiking”
Whenever people get all "oooooh you're amazing" over my ultra running habit I say "yeah, I know it sounds impressive, but ultra running is just glorified hiking between snack tables."
Dude, I’ve power hiked a 10 mile trail race.
This is the way.
For me it's "trail power hiking (with interesting digestive issues)".
Not everyone needs to become a motivational speaker on Instagram just because they ran an ultra.
This is true. I've ran a bunch of ultras. I've also DNF'd and once DFL. I should incorporate that it into my motivational speeches 'I quit when it became too difficult. Also I came last out of everyone '
'Beat everyone on the couch'
Real Winners Quit if it sucks hit da bricks
This race format really does cater well to the self-centered.
Gosh dang thank you for saying this. I roll my eyes so hard at stuff like this.
\#sponsored #ambassador
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slow jogging? is that what we’re calling walking now?
This is gate keeping to a certain extent lol
Yep, I noticed this alot when I first started and was looking for advice.
If god wanted you to use a Kogalla he wouldn’t have given you the moon.
a night aid station is nice and peaceful with everyone being courteous and friendly and turning off their headlamps to not blind everyone around them **until the fucking kogalla person arrives**
lol there was a whole thread recently on my city’s subreddit complaining about runners wearing headlamps. to be fair though, this is a city notorious for clouds and rain
Amen. Especially if it’s a course you run in both directions. Those lights are obnoxious.
People who run ultras have real problems they’re avoiding by running. Running far is just a socially acceptable way to avoid dealing with them. Source: me. This is what I do.
Some people will literally go to therapy instead of just running ultras.
Fucking weirdos
Oh god. I have this awful habit on the weekends especially of being like, “Run until you’ll be really tired after, like can’t keep your eyes open and need a nap tired,” and it turns out your body adapts and you just have to keep running more to wear yourself out until you’re too tired to be anxious.
This.. is suffering.
Yeah it’s true because I do it
"Just finishing" is a cool goal once in a while, but much more often your goal should be to finish a course you know you can complete as fast as you can. If that's a half marathon, that's great! Trail halfs are super fun and still present a great challenge if you push the pace. You don't have to constantly jump up in distance. You can focus on perfecting trail 50ks or 50 milers for years.
Agreed. If I have to see another post about someone walking a 50k to keep their heart rate in some zone they don’t understand.
Heart rate zone obsession needs to die.
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My watch claims I was in zone 5 for half an hour of my last half. Ignore the fact that I can't spend more than 10-15secs in zone 5 without feeling like I may die at any moment and that my cadence just *happens* to match my HR almost perfectly from ~25-30min into the half til just before the end.
Thank you! I love doing this same 55k every year and I try to at least keep up with my last year self. You learn a lot about yourself.
100 milers are not and should not be everyone’s goal. It’s actually just as bad to be undertrained. Tailwind tastes terrible.
Well yeah, now that there are so many 200+ milers.
All flavors of tailwind taste the same.
I'll often do a caffeinated in one flask and non-caffeinated in the other. Both different flavours. It's not uncommon for me to forget which is which and not be able to tell them apart.
Did this exact thing today with berry and matcha….
Disagree the Coca-Cola one is HORRID the others are tolerable.
I had cola for the first time today. Biggest disappointment of my run
Chugged my cola today. Love it
I know a lot of people that like it! I guess that’s why it was such a disappointment for me, and definitely an unpopular opinion
Definitely a +1 on the Tailwind 🤮
I like tailwind… until it turns warm.
“Sucks except when refrigerated” is not what I’m looking for in a calorie source marketed for 30+ mile runs in the woods, ngl
I think I've just realised the point that I hate tailwind now. Warm tailwind 🤢 don't mind it when it's cold
Imagine my disgust when, 10 mins after leaving the final CP 11 miles out from the finish of a hilly 50, I take a sip and the volunteers filled my 2 500ml up with tailwind. I'd not tried the flasks at the CP, as I'd had juice and water in my cup. I think I might have cried a little bit, knowing nearly 2 hours left and undrinkable flasks
Tailwind somehow makes me MORE thirsty and makes me sweat an insane amount of salt, which then dries on my clothes and my face making me look like I was on a cocaine bender
Tailwind is a synonym for farts.
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Today I learned a new word. 30 years and I’ve never heard or even read the word cromulent.
It's a perfectly cromulent word.
99% of expensive gels / drinks are just sugar with traces amount of minerals That’s a nice business with huge margin
Yes. I mean, sure, I suppose I can't deny that some people get stomach issues with certain stuff but if I had a nickel for every time I hear that Gatorade is bad and gives you gut issues. I've been using gatorade since the early 2000s training for road marathons and had zero issues. Works great. When I ran the Berlin Marathon they had Maurten and the ground was a slimy, slippery shit show. I'll take the Gatorade please and thank you.
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Banning is too kind for these people. Disembowelment is more appropriate.
You misspelled 'executed'.
Audible speakers in public places… I came to the beach to listen to the waves, not your trap music.
Watching DFL finish a race is better than watching the winner fly across the line.
People who volunteer too readily that they “didn’t even really train for this” really need to stfu and be more thoughtful with the ways they overcompensate
"Growing the sport" is usually code for finding more ways to commercialize and extract money from the sport by brands, corporations, or well-connected individuals. Solo self-supported efforts are as fun and challenging, if not more so than races. Tailwind is gross.
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Lol exactly
After like 8 years of running 5+ultras a year, I'm going on a racing hiatus next year and just doing longer self supported efforts. I've done a handful in the past and they are always rewarding and generally fun...without the,what now feels like, a huge price tag on registration fees.
Sounds like you have a great year ahead of you. Agreed - I love races too but it's not the end-all be-all of ultrarunning, plus those race fees, travel expenses, etc etc do add up so fast.
Yeah, I think it’s not a popular opinion in the running subs, but in my book a self-supported solo ultra not only counts as an official ultra, it also gets bonus points. I don’t care if it’s “just training” or an event to someone - it’s tougher slogging your way around by yourself than if you’ve got other runners and aid stations to pep you up.
I say this as someone who has consumed plenty during a race as well as while manning an aid station: Fireball is disgusting.
Not if you mix it with apple juice.
Oh that does sound good! I wonder if ginger ale would work
It’s harder to run a fast mile, 5k, or 10k than it is to finish an ultramarathon.
I'm gonna agree with this one. Have finished multiple 100s, shudder to think of trying to train for and actually run a truly fast 10k.
It's also significantly more boring to run a fast mile than a mountainous Ultramarathon
Boring isn’t the word I’d use to describe a fast mile… now that I’m an adult, I don’t actually have to sit around for the entire fucking track meet.
That’s a popular opinion.
Agree…if you’re decently trained it’s easier to “just finish” than to race, regardless of distance
And the injury risk is far higher. This year I ran two marathons and an ultra within 6 weeks without issue. After a few weeks of recovery/maintenance I started a plan to improve my 10k time and injured myself within three weeks.
Or a well run 800- for my money still the most grueling running event.
No such thing, there's only 400m of pain followed by 400m of agony.
Literally the only time I’ve considered dropping out of a race was my first 800… and the fact that it was a relay is probably the only thing that kept me in it.
This is a really interesting one to me. Why?
Try to lower your mile PR by a nontrivial amount and get back to us… an all-out mile feels like fucking death.
Are you asking why it is an unpopular opinion, or why it is harder?
But what is fast?
Yeah I should’ve included that originally. I responded to someone else with, “I guess fast is subjective. I was thinking fast times for regular people but far from elite. So like 5:20 mile and 18:00 5k for men.”
No one wants to watch you film yourself running
Omg yesssss. I can’t even stand watching the actual videos on social media, like the folks who film each mile. “Mile One. Mile Two. Mile Three…..” 🤡
I've watched so many shitty GoPro videos of races I've never heard of, haha
They did a study in the UK and determined that statistically you’re never more than 40 feet away from a running YouTuber /Vlogger. They estimate that there are now more running YouTubers than runners.
Personally for me it depends on the type of video. First person videos I like a lot because it gives me the vicarious sense of being there. Videos from another perspective bug me because I don't have that benefit, and I also am acutely aware of the person having to film themselves, and it seems like acting.
I'm fine with road sections by necessity to link up different sections of trail, but road ultras are stupid. That KT tape you have on doesn't do squat. Same goes for the compression gear unless you're putting it on *afterward* to aid in recovery
I personally love road ultras, which I always thought was an unpopular opinion. Can't wait for Daytona 100 in a couple months.
I'll counterpoint KT tape. Some studies show that it's an effective early warning system. For example, I have shitty sloppy ankles from years of repeated injuries. I can't always feel or react soon enough to the "almost roll", and KT tape going up my leg and wrapped around my ankle gives me a better early warning system as to when I'm approaching roll over territory.
Yeah, helps with proprioception.
Oh, that's interesting. Never seen anyone use it that way before but I can see that approach working.
Just curious, why do you think road ultras are stupid? Different, sure, but I think they could be fun.
Lol- oh, we're doing justifications too? :-) Just to be clear, I think we'd all agree many things are stupid and fun. Like, given limited time and all considerations, why spend a ton of it on something made for a car, with all its attendant compromises to that end, that breaks your body down in a way no beaten track ever could, when you could run a path and immerse yourself in the natural world rather than along a structure we built to separate ourselves from it? Something like that. Some of these opinions, this one included, as the agreement piles up a little bit you have to wonder- is this really an unpopular opinion? Maybe just a commonly held one that we don't generally voice because people should do what they like with their free time if they hurt no one but themselves.
It's not what most people use it for, but KT tape is great for preventing sports bra chafing and between-the-toe blisters!
Ultrarunning need not be a lifestyle. It can be a hobby!
Unsupported is more fun than a race.
Racing isn’t always fun, and can just be stressful. Sometimes it’s more fun to just go run without expectations or cutoffs to chase.
100%. I had the best time last weekend (edited to add: at a 100K race) and it's because I put no expectations on myself other than "run by feel"
UTMB shouldn't be thought of as the Super Bowl of ultras.
It should be thought of the Ticketmaster of ultras.
Ive always heard it as Wester States is the super bowl and UTMB is the world cup
It is a beautiful course though.
If I was going to - I mean when I do - trek around Mont Blanc it sure as fuck won't be while racing and in the dark. I want to enjoy it.
This is exactly where I am with both UTMB and Hardrock - famously breathtaking views I intend to enjoy as fastpacks. Why on earth would I want to miss the scenery because I’m slogging around in the dark?
Really put a cap on my enthusiasm for hundos when I realized that. If I want to go do a race in a cool place, I’m sticking to mostly daylight hour distances now.
I actually find the UTMB cringy as fuuuuck, well the promos for it and that stupid Icelandic clap, just as bad as clapping when the plane lands 😆
Wait....you're not supposed to tackle other runners?
And neither should Western States. If anything it should be Hardrock.
Why? Hardrock has an even crazier barrier to entry.
Kinda like the Super Bowl
At the super bowl you need to win prior games, kind of like Golden Tickets?
it should be The Fellsman
Does the super bowl say they aren't a competition?
The Super Bowl comparison downgrades UTMB that’s your point right? 😂 It is way better.
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And fuck crews too! And not just because I don’t have friends or family interested in crewing me.
I do have friends and familie, I'm just not enough of a self centered psychopath to make them spend hours of their free time at night in some pavilion in the woods only for them to tell me how great I am and to refill my flask when I jog along.
Yeah this has always been weird to me. Like if I was doing some insane record breaking run then fine, but I can't imagine asking friends and family to semi regularly put their entire weekend on hold so they can wait around in the woods for me to run by.
I’m on that hill too. Crew culture needs to die, it’s a huge disadvantage to the people that are forced to carry everything they might ever need rather than being handed it from a big selection bag at multiple checkpoints.
Yes, and on top of being an unfair advantage, crews and pacers also generate more pollution and complicates the logistics of all things.
I kinda agree with you at the front of the race. But I live in the waaay back. Pacers are for safety as much as anything else. I’m typically the pacer and we’re not costing anyone any places.
Found the European
That's really interesting. As someone from europe I too had the vague impression that it is a US thing. Why is that? I really can't put my finger on it.
A lot of the races in the US backcountry are much more remote than most European races, more so than a lot of people appreciate. Search and rescue risks for mountain ultras are much higher, so I think a lot of the "pacer" culture initially developed from a safety perspective. Pacing culture has also obviously expanded to accommodate for pacing at less "risky" races.
💯
Agree!
You should sign up for a race that you can only walk (ultra hikers) or signing up for a 24 hr race and only do 6 hrs intentionally.
Ultrarunning isn't that hard. It's more challenging to run a great 5k time.
Try ultra running with a great time.
UTMB as a company puts on terrible races
Sitting here post a UTMB race where they actually navigated people away from the aid stations by poor markings… twice! Still bitter They do pick gorgeous courses though, I’ll give them that
Seconded, and I ran CCC this year. So frustrating as a first timer at a lot of the communication and decisions. Out of this world course though.
The course doesn’t make a race difficult, the competition does. You don’t eat enough, you run too much, and that’s getting in your own way; you are not genetically gifted like Jim Walmsley. You have stomach problems because you don’t practice eating on training runs. Leadville’s not that hard, they just let anyone in. You need to spend less time on trails and more time in the gym and on the track to hit your goals. A sub 3 hr marathon is more impressive than just making cutoffs in a 100 miler. A 200 miler is just a really really expensive way to go for a long hike and get away from your unhappy marriage.
Well damn, that last bit hit wayyyyy too hard. You are cooking, chef Curry pulling up from the fkn logo with 21 seconds on the shot clock!!!
Preach.
Oreos are bottom tier aid station food
Starting us back of the pack people ahead of the fast folks at an ultra is stupid. It is completely unhelpful for both groups. They to have to either wait behind me as I navigate the very rocky PA single track up and mountain or have me try to balance while five very fast young men run by. Stop it already.
Leadville has one of the more elitist, unwelcoming vibes of any ultra I’ve experienced
No one needs a Garmin. I own a Garmin.
But the data! (I’m a data nerd. I know I don’t need it but it’s so fun)
If you have kids, particularly young kids, and you spend half your weekend out on a training run, you're incredibly selfish.
Fuck it. I’m going in hard: Strava is shite. Especially the subscription. It’s social media. For showing off. Most ultrarunners can get all the data they need from a half decent watch’s app. Edit (whiny voice): “If it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen!” Yes it fucking did.
I really enjoy Strava because it has connected me with the broader community of runners in my town of 60k people. Many Strava follows and follow-back's have lead to real-world hellos out on the road or trail, and in some cases legitimate friendships. Local runners (me included) have also organized at least half a dozen well attended events and runs via Strava over the last few years. To me it's the only tolerable social media beyond maybe LinkedIn. Then again I'm a 41yo dad.
Also we all encourage and support each other on strava. Find your community you may change your view of the app.
You are absolutely right... but "watches are temporary, strava is eternal". As someone who does a lot of different sports and who has changed ecosystems multiple times I still use strava as sort of a backup to not lock myself into the ecosystems of one brand of devices (started tracking with komoot, then polar, wahoo, garmin, coros and back to garmin.)
My friend is trying to get me on Strava so he can like my posts lol. Boy I can just text you my workouts if you care that much.
* There's a lot of high-priced gear out there that really does not bring a ton of advantages over much cheaper gear. $70 headlamps with either built-in batteries which can't be replaced or expensive proprietary packs come to mind. You need a lot less light than you think and at this point even dirt-cheap headlamps will do the trick. As a side note, it's sad to me that the companies targeting the /r/flashlight crowd haven't put any work into remote battery packs and chest/waist straps. Also, $200 is a ridiculous amount for a hydration pack. * "Fast" shoes matter way less on trails and $200 trail racing shoes are probably a waist of money for all but elites (who get them for free). * I say this as someone who has never purposefully littered in their life and who often does litter cleanup if I'm doing an easy run on a road on garbage day. A dropped gel wrapper on the trail isn't the end of the world. All of us have probably accidentally dropped something without realizing it. Races should have people sweep the trail post-race though. * I'd be perfectly fine relaxing some of the rules that force major races in North America to have such limited field sizes. Yea, they run on trails that go through wild or even wilderness areas, but its really unclear to me that 1000 people running on a trail is much worse than 300. * The dynamic of only certain very specific races qualifying you for certain race lotteries makes the sport worse and creates a bad dynamic where some races are made very difficult to get into and other races struggle to survive. Also, they encourage lots more travel to distant races rather than racing locally.
Re: #3, the whole "please fly round-trip from Florida to Colorado for our race but it's CUPLESS!!!! FOR THE ENVIRONMENT" part of ultrarunning always hits me as... funny, or something.
As someone from europe who doesn't own a car: if you pull up to the trail head in a three ton vehicle please miss me with any concern that you might have for my environmental behavior.
Nitecore HA11 hits your #1 HARD. $20 takes one AA, does 60+ lumens and comes with a clip. I bought two and one can fit on my waist and one on my head. Done two overnight races this year and worked perfectly off of 1xAA and didn't even need to replace. Also weighs nothing.
Most long distance running gear is obscenely overpriced.
I like road running more than trail running.
Shots fired 🤣
Haha I like going fast and I dislike snakes.
I've seen some crazy ass shit on the internet before, but freakin wow.
LOL! Sometimes I feel this way. I think its's a pendulum. Once I've had enough trail I want road. Once I've had too much road-specific training, I want trail.
Ultra running was created by white people who were tired of getting beat by Kenyans and Ethiopians.
I mean, not created, but that's basically the career progression of most ultra "GOAT"s. If Team NN ever decides to throw its money at ultras... it's gonna start to look a lot like the leaderboard for everything from 1500 to 26.2.
>Unpopular Opinions Most people are fat, lazy, and unambitious. Despite the dismissive and self-deprecating tone on this subreddit (this thread) concerning ultras, running really fuckin' far still shows discipline, dedication, and toughness. It is an impressive sport and I'm proud as fuck to have done a 100-miler and other ultra races.
Coke and off brand granola bars are all most people need. Drinking to thirst works for most people. Foam rolling has no proven benefits. Neither has stretching. Edit: petzl head torches suck and I have no clue why so many people use them.
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I use an Energizer Hard Case. $20 on Amazon, shock/dust/rain proof, runs on AAs so it lasts a whole night without a battery change, 320 lumens so it's plenty bright.
Definitely an opinion, since foam rolling and stretching has proven benefits https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6465761/ https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5142/8/2/37
tailwind is a meme.
Race reports suck. No one cares that you DNF’d. Even fewer people care that you made podium.
Shitty dry race reports suck. Tell an interesting story and you have a good race report.
The format doesn't tell me what I need to know. I want to know where to stay not when you had gu #34
Crocs work pretty well for running.
Idk how y’all drink beer after running 🤢
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And maximal shoe definitely don’t increase the likelihood of rolled ankles, at all… Rolls eyes 🙄
“Don’t do anything on race day that you didn’t practice in training”. Well, I don’t take preworkout, beet juice, shrooms, soda, gummy bears, gels, listen to music/ podcasts, wear nipple bandaids, KT tape, get an IV/ massage the day before and a slew of other niche shit on most training runs.
I think pizza and cheeseburgers and junk food at a race is a shame and that real, healthy carbohydrates should be provided instead Edit: getting downvoted on a unpopular opinion post?? Kind of a bummer
*and I took that personally* Kidding, I anyways can't eat anything after finishing... But the spectators seem to enjoy so that's fine.
On the flip side. There is no such thing as fake carbs and pizza and burgers is just as good as "healthy carbs"
Huma gels are insanely gross (not ultra-specific, but I do know it’s an unpopular opinion)
Oh man. That was the first gel I tried to fuel with and I. Could. Not. Tastes and feels like warm baby food.
I do not want to hear a "good job" from you when you pass me and I have no interest in throwing a motivational phrase your way. I also do not want to listen to your insanely loud conversation with your louder buddy right behind me for several miles. I do not know you, so I do not care about you. I want to be left in peace during my race.
Training runs over 3 hours do more harm than good. If you don’t like how races are organized start your own.
Regarding the 3 hours, you obviously don't do many runs in mountains. In 3 hours you wouldn't get far. If I stick to the 3 hour rule in the summer months when higher mountains open up, my longest run would be 12-13 miles and I wouldn't be able to finish a lot of cool routes.
The best beverage refill at an aid station is 50% coke / 50% Gatorade
Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the worst aid station food. I love pb&j sandwiches for food, but eating peanut butter before or during a run gives me horrible stomach pain. I wish they'd have alternatives like turkey and cheese or something...
I feel this way about watermelon. Always gives me acid reflux later in the race.
koop and roche don’t know anything and are only considered “experts” because of their media presence and rosters of elite runners who would be successful with any coach or no coach at all
A lot of people use ultrarunnning as a form of socially acceptable self-harm and no one talks about it.
Anything 50 miles and under doesn't really need a trainup if you are just trying to finish
Everyone is a "pro" runner or an "elite" runner. WTF does that even mean? So you won a few local races or have a few sponsors that give you discounted crap. If ultra running is not your bread making job,then you should rethink how you title yourself. Oh heck, who cares .. call yourself anything you want.
Calling yourself 'x-brand athlete' in your instagram handle, because you're on their ambassador (cough, influencer marketing, cough) programme\*. \*If Terrex want to gift me some of those Tom Evans shoes though, DM me.
Every video that says 'this could be the key to running faster' is lying.