UKH

Curiously addictive half watching laps of a track whilst pottering about in lockdown.  No commentary, just the sounds of cold feet.

I believe the aim is to break the 24 hour distance record.... currently putting in 6.41 min/mile 2 hours in.

youtube.com/watch?v=pidI0DEBZI4&

The fact that 15,600 people are watching it live is impressive in itself!

In reply to dave_strachan:

40km in 3.5hrs...and the record is 303km...he's pretty far off the pace is he not?

(Or is my maths really bad...!?!)

In reply to peebles boy:

You might be looking at the wrong stats, there's several other people on the track.

In reply to peebles boy:

On-screen stats suggest he's currently on pace to go 334km.

In reply to dave_strachan:

They're going the wrong way!

In reply to Pedro50:

The excitement of changing directions every 4 hours. Slow TV.

In reply to dave_strachan:

It must be a strange mental game for any of the other runners who are on track to beat the current world record but know that they wont get a record as they are slower than Kilian.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

A fascinating mental game all round. No escape from your performance, or the job left to do. Brutal.

Still, 3.17 marathon pace when you are headed for your third marathon distance is pretty impressive!

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

You're assuming he does.. they maybe won't 

In reply to wbo2:

Chat seems to suggest KJ's dropped out.

In reply to Marek:

Yep. Confirmed via solomon's twitter. No reason why given.

Seb is still going strong and on track to beat the record but only 2k up on it...

In reply to dave_strachan:

Bored shitless apparently...

In reply to dave_strachan:

Dizziness from too much running in circles? 

In reply to McHeath:

Posted on Instagram that he started experiencing chest pains. Was taken to hospital.

In reply to greg_may_:

he just says they don't think it's anything too serious.

TBH I'm well impressed he had a go but it was impossible in those conditions. Almost disprespectful to an amazing record to think it could be challenged wearing full on winter running clothes in sub 0 conditions. I love the fact he was willing to go outside of his comfort zone but that was never the place or conditions to do it in. When it's cold like that you use energy keeping warm, you have all that extra weight on, your muscles don't work well, the track does not have the same bounce, I wonder if even the shoes work as well in terms of bounce in those temperatures.

I'm very impressed for his willingness to step up but it came across as a bit of a publicity stunt being held in such improbably conditions.

In reply to Roadrunner6:

I also wonder if the many hours of darkness contribute to the feeling of nausea/dizziness because it cuts down how far he can see into the distance.

His Instagram feed of late has been all about him running experiments, especially with different types of fuel to see how far he can go. I genuinely think he just gets a kick out of being curious about stuff like this and it isn't about any specific ego trip or anything. Salomon might be a different story though.

However completely agree with your point - the first thing I said to my wife was why attempt it during a Norwegian winter?

In reply to yorkshireman:

Is there, perhaps, an element of commercial pressure given that the usual slew of races/ competitions etc have not happened this year?

All credit to the ambition- he does seem to enjoy the curiosity of exploring the ragged edge of the possible...

In reply to dave_strachan:

Yeah I suspect Solomon wanted the publicity. And I love the fact he stayed local. I thought the recent ultra trail trip race out in the Azores was a joke..

Credit to KJ, he attempted that fast 10k this year too. It's great he's getting out there but it's also highlighting what everyone on LetsRun has said for a long time. As a mountain runner/skier he just isn't an efficient runner to compete at the top level of athletics - which isn't surprising, he doesn't run for 4 months of the year and doesn't do much general mileage or workouts. Did he run just over 30? or just under? I know many students who run sub 30.  Not far off 100 runners or so in the UK will go under 30 for 10k each year. He just doesn't have the stride efficiency to compete at the level of the top guys. maybe he'll be OK on the track in 24 hrs. Afterall Kouros was only a 2:24 marathoner or something. 

So it'll be interesting to see how he does, under good conditions. I have seen people say he would run 2:05 for a marathon, but that's just not going to happen, tbh I'd be surprised if he got much below 2:15.

24 hrs take a while to crack though, and even then don't go well that often. I'm friends with many of the GB 24 hour runners and its hit and miss if their races go well. Even guys like Dan Lawson have bad days. 

In reply to Roadrunner6: 29:59, which isn't bad at all - I don't know many students running sub 30... And for an ultra runner that's very fast.  I'd be curious to see what he could knock off if he trained specifically, but he's so developed aerobically there might not be much more to gain.

I know the winner of the race, or rather his coach.. but I assume it's a legit course - there'd be a big hoo hah if it wan't.

In reply to wbo2:

In the US collegiate level? Lots. It's quick but many GB mountain runners are low 29.

And yeah he's clearly very very fast, but whether he's fast enough to compete for records which have stood for decades (especially in far from ideal conditions) is another thing. I think many say 'well its KJ, of course he'll get it'.

I wonder if someone like Jim W will go for it. He could possibly.

In reply to Roadrunner6:

It shows you what the depth of talent is that he was like 18th in that road race. 

Lawrence

In reply to Lrunner:

Yeah, and top (well very good) road guys are running ultras. Jim ran a 64 half to make the OT. 

10 years ago any ultra guy who was sub 2:40 marathon was about the best around. Now there's a handful who run well under 2:20.

I ran 5:57 at JFK when in around 2:30 shape - and was in the top 20 fastest times ever. Nowadays guys like hawks are running almost 40s to a minute per mile quicker than I ran it. 

In reply to Roadrunner6:I'm going to push you here.. but many gb hill runners are low 29? How many, currently? 

In reply to dave_strachan:

My point being you make sub 30 sound very easy, with hordes of people springing down from the hills and knocking them out.. my recollection is its quite difficult 

In reply to wbo2:

Sorry I didnt mean to, I said its only about 100 in the UK each year. I couldn't get on power of 10 to see the rankings from the last few years. But I thought it was around 100 runners a year who break it.

In reply to Roadrunner6:

KJs sub 30 10k was possibly the thing that impressed me most.  Possibly because I don’t know what I’m talking about but possibly also because it’s the first time you can see how fast he is in things that aren’t a bit niche.  I accept it’s not that competitive at the top end of road running.  But it makes you realise how fast he must be charging round the hills.

I had in in my mind that very few, if any, top end ultra runners could bang out a sub 30 10k.  But it sounds like I’m wrong!

In reply to gazhbo:

Nowadays a few, walmsley, hayden hawks, sage must have been around that. In the UK some of the 50k and mountain runners would have that speed. Andy Davies, Robbie Simpson and a few others. Obviously it's very very good but I think it shows his efficiency lags behind his enormous aerobic system. That'll hold him back when he tries for the top records, or at least he doesn't have the buffer to attempt them in such sub optimal conditions.

In reply to wbo2: I was just looking many is exageration, I'd say most are capable or have ran sub 30. I think 1-2 have focused enough to go low 29.

Robbie Simpson, Andi Davies, Nick Swinburn are the three I know of who have ran sub 30. Robbie and Andi ran low 29 I thought. 

I thought Rob Samual had ran sub 30 when I trained with him, but it looks like he was just low 30. Tom Cornthwaite ran 30:04 and low 30 a few times. Andrew Douglas ran sub 30.

They are just the 4 I know personally as they were around North Wales or scotland so I suspect there are others who ran such times. 

And I mean mountain runners, not fell runners. 

So while sub 30 is superb, for his aerobic engine it's not incredible. He'd beat Andi Davies and Robbie Simpson fairly comfortably in a big mountain race but they are probably more efficient runners.

In reply to Roadrunner6:

One example of good crossover from the hills to the roads was Kenny Stuart winning the 1986 Glasgow marathon in 2.14.04. (That was also my only marathon - a very humble three hours 52 minutes!)

In reply to Roadrunner6: You'll find there's a lot of people you think have run sub 30,, but then it's only a low 30.  Consistent, repeat sub 30'ers, not so many, ditto <65 1/2m, sub 49 10miles...

But there have obviously always been very strong mountain, fell runners of course.  Back in my day Paul Dugdale, Marting Jones.  Very often 'jack of all trades' like Paul D, bit of track, xcountry, some fell... Martin Jones was an oddity who really did burst onto the scene from the fells, initially making a big impact running road 5K's .. 

The people doing ultras at the time really were not very fast.. 34 minutes 10k'ers getting in the UK team.

One observation i have from that Norwegian race is how deep it was in quality.  When I moved here the standard was not so good apart from Marius Bakken, and there were only a few people 0 per year.  They've made a real push to take what they knew from X.c ski and improve distance running, with obvious sucsess

In reply to wbo2: A 'lost in translation' in the last paragraph.... 'there were only a few people running <  30 per year'..