Will This Be The Year?
Will this be the year that ultrarunning truly moves into a respected and deeply competitive arena, scooting away from the kids' table and bellying up with the other disciplines of the sport at the adult table?
Yesterday's Rocky Raccoon 100 and 50 miler gives a tantalizing glimpse that we may be in for a storm of eye-popping results this year.
Todd Braje: 1st in the 50 mile race... 5:41 (6:41 per mile pace)
Ian Sharman: 1st in the 100 mile race... 12:44 (7:38 per mile pace)
Both of these performances convincingly blasted the old course records to dust.
Runs like these warp our accepted perception of what's doable. They open minds to accept that the body, at all levels, can be pushed further. Thanks for the motivation and inspiration Ian and Todd. You did more than win your respective races yesterday. You did your part to change the sport and extend the line of what we think we can do.
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| Ian Sharman |
Todd Braje: 1st in the 50 mile race... 5:41 (6:41 per mile pace)
Ian Sharman: 1st in the 100 mile race... 12:44 (7:38 per mile pace)
Both of these performances convincingly blasted the old course records to dust.
Runs like these warp our accepted perception of what's doable. They open minds to accept that the body, at all levels, can be pushed further. Thanks for the motivation and inspiration Ian and Todd. You did more than win your respective races yesterday. You did your part to change the sport and extend the line of what we think we can do.
"...Extend the line of what we think we can do." If I ever run remotely close to those times, for those distances, I'll pull a Pheidippides and die right there on the spot!
ReplyDeleteDitto, that's how I felt. It totally changed the perception of what's possible.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Braje's time is that impressive (in terms of overall greatness)...he ran 5:43 at tussey last year.
ReplyDeleteSharman's time though is phenomenal. Times like that help to reduce the 'psychological barrier' to running fast times. I was just reading a book about this sort of thing a couple weeks ago. They used the example of the 4min/mile - once one person broke it there was quickly many others because it was no longer seen as impossible to do.
Yeah, I read the book about the guys trying to be first to crack 4 mins. Once done, everyone did it within like a month.
ReplyDeleteI think RR50 is harder than Tussey. Tussey's just a road run basically. Definitely, Ian's run is way more impressive.
mindboggling. absolutely mindboggling.
ReplyDeletethese times also make me realize how superhuman some of these elites are.
When I can run 20 at that pace, might be able to grasp how sick it is. Right now, seems almost unreal to run that fast for that long...
ReplyDelete