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That sounds awesome! Good luck!

What does acronym UTMB represent? I missed it / forget. Western States is a great goal race to try to get into.

I qualified by enough time even with new faster standards for Boston 2019 but passed on entering, because I'm dong London 2019 which is two weeks after Boston. London will be my 5th of 6 World Majors - I'm hoping to somehow get into the 6th (Tokyo) in 2020.

Other than that, mostly targeting some pretty, race-cation destination races, mostly half marathon distance, like Sedona AZ in Feb, Monterey half in November, maybe even Kiawah half which is I guess on an island?? by Charleston SC in December - somewhat close to those of you who may live around Charlotte.

Would also like to do a RAGNAR trail race this year, and also qualify for Boston 2020. I currently don't have a 2020 qualifying race. I am hella out of shape after taking seven weeks completely off to recover from back-to-back Berlin and NYC marathon - seven weeks apart last Sep & Nov. I have a long way to go to get back.

Best wishes for fast times and no injuries to all of you in 2020!

Kiahwah half is indeed on Kiawah island and it has to be the flattest run you could ever find. Stay on Kiahwah or Seabrook if you decide to run it- Charleston is every bit of 45 minutes away.
 
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I don't think I've known anyone whose done all the Majors. That's a pretty neat goal.

Abbott Corporation has sponsored the 6 world majors program for just a few years now - (since 2006?)
I believe there are around 3,500-4,000 people worldwide who have completed all 6 world majors. But there were 19 new world major finishers just in the group I ran Berlin with (Marathon Tours) last September.

The Abbott 6-star medal you receive upon completion of the sixth major is highly coveted among many runners. It takes a lot of work, time, good fortune, (and money for travel, etc) to achieve.

This series is also an annual competition for elite men and women marathoners. They get points for their win or place results in each of the annual major marathons, and whoever has most point after all 6, win prize money and an award / trophy for that year (series). Each athlete generally doesn't run all six in a year, but possibly do quite well in say 3 - 4 of the 6 spaced out over the year.

They have just opened a similar competition for amateurs, but it seems to be too challenging logistically to make sense for people in US. You don't have to run all six in a year, but getting into London and Tokyo are extremely difficult for US runners. About 5% odds of getting drawn in their lottery, and you can't time qualify for either race unless you live in UK or Japan. I am running London via a charity bib entry this year.

Here are a couple of links if you're interested in learning more about the world majors program.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Marathon_Majors

https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/

Something of concern to current pursuers and finishers is "what if they add a seventh world major?" The people who run this series have assured us that it will be several years before another major is added, and even then the integrity of the 6-star finishers would be maintained somehow. I personally would advise just creating an entire new set of "world majors" including ones in Africa, South America, etc.
 
did we talk about karl meltzer doing the app trail in 45 days?

the entire trail...unbelievable

Epic effort. I’m a huge Karl Meltzer. But his record has already been broken. Some guy shaved nearly two days off the record if I remember correctly
 
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seriously!?

Yeah I think it was a few months back. I followed along on Strava. The guy was putting in 60+ miles most days. Completely insane.

There’s a documentary on Netflix about meltzer doing the AT too
 
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I'm
Yeah I think it was a few months back. I followed along on Strava. The guy was putting in 60+ miles most days. Completely insane.

There’s a documentary on Netflix about meltzer doing the AT too

I'm losing track of the AT record setters but it seems like the last couple to break the record went unassisted and still broke the assisted record?
 
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I'm losing track of the AT record setters but it seems like the last couple to break the record went unassisted and still broke the assisted record?

I know Meltzer was assisted but I’m not sure about the last guy.
 
indeed

seeing the people spending “months” hiking that thing left me with “how the ef do you get that much time?”
Agreed. A little off topic from running, but related regarding dedication to it, and time spent on it. I watched this documentary recently called The Dawn Wall about this world-class rock climber (tommy Caldwell) who attempted to climb a wall (first wall lit up at Dawn) of El Capitan in Yosemite. I think it was something like 6 years where he studied and practiced climbing it. He and a friend were working to climb it, and it took them several months. They completed it in 2015. I believe it was graded out as most difficult, challenging rock climb accomplishment ever. He accomplished this after losing about half of one of his index fingers via a table saw accident. Kind of a big deal to overcome for a rock climber.

For those several months they lived in tiny tents hanging on the vertical side of the wall. Crazy how much time and dedication it took, and I wonder how they got funding. Sponsors / rock climbing enthusiasts?
 
Agreed. A little off topic from running, but related regarding dedication to it, and time spent on it. I watched this documentary recently called The Dawn Wall about this world-class rock climber (tommy Caldwell) who attempted to climb a wall (first wall lit up at Dawn) of El Capitan in Yosemite. I think it was something like 6 years where he studied and practiced climbing it. He and a friend were working to climb it, and it took them several months. They completed it in 2015. I believe it was graded out as most difficult, challenging rock climb accomplishment ever. He accomplished this after losing about half of one of his index fingers via a table saw accident. Kind of a big deal to overcome for a rock climber.

For those several months they lived in tiny tents hanging on the vertical side of the wall. Crazy how much time and dedication it took, and I wonder how they got funding. Sponsors / rock climbing enthusiasts?

Alex Honnel just released a documentary about his free soloing El Cap. No ropes. Its insane. He took a similar approach of practicing the exact line for months until he had it perfected.
 
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Alex Honnel just released a documentary about his free soloing El Cap. No ropes. Its insane. He took a similar approach of practicing the exact line for months until he had it perfected.
This is something I can just never understand / comprehend. You make one mistake, and it's game over, you're dead. No question about it. Maybe that is part of the rush, but to me, it seems pretty reckless and not well thought out regarding the value of your life.
 
This is something I can just never understand / comprehend. You make one mistake, and it's game over, you're dead. No question about it. Maybe that is part of the rush, but to me, it seems pretty reckless and not well thought out regarding the value of your life.

Yeah, a lot of these climbs they do have a perfectly good hiking trail up the other side!
 
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I am excitied to get to run in the London Marathon a week from today! It starts at 10 AM Sunday 4/28 which is 5 AM North Carolina time, 4 AM where I live in Minneapolis. We have twelve people who I know and / or train with running it this year from Minneapolis area, so it will be great fun, very exciting. It will be my 5th of 6 world major marathons, but we have 5 runners from our Minneapolis group - all women - who are completing their 6th world major and they get this fancy 6 star medal. Now the number of runners who have completed all 6 world majors is approaching 5,000.

Eliud Kipchoge is running this race also. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of big name US runners doing London - many competed in Boston just last Monday. Will be interesting to see how Kipchoge does in London. He set the world record in Berlin last fall (I finished about an hour and a half behind him)... but London is pretty flat and fast too, and the temperatures will be cooler, it seems.

If I were to bet I'd put my money on him beating me again.

Cimb0JmXIAE3zQN.jpg
 
I am excitied to get to run in the London Marathon a week from today! It starts at 10 AM Sunday 4/28 which is 5 AM North Carolina time, 4 AM where I live in Minneapolis. We have twelve people who I know and / or train with running it this year from Minneapolis area, so it will be great fun, very exciting. It will be my 5th of 6 world major marathons, but we have 5 runners from our Minneapolis group - all women - who are completing their 6th world major and they get this fancy 6 star medal. Now the number of runners who have completed all 6 world majors is approaching 5,000.

Eliud Kipchoge is running this race also. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of big name US runners doing London - many competed in Boston just last Monday. Will be interesting to see how Kipchoge does in London. He set the world record in Berlin last fall (I finished about an hour and a half behind him)... but London is pretty flat and fast too, and the temperatures will be cooler, it seems.

If I were to bet I'd put my money on him beating me again.

Cimb0JmXIAE3zQN.jpg

Good luck! You're representing the entire OOTB Nation! Make us proud!
 
I am excitied to get to run in the London Marathon a week from today! It starts at 10 AM Sunday 4/28 which is 5 AM North Carolina time, 4 AM where I live in Minneapolis. We have twelve people who I know and / or train with running it this year from Minneapolis area, so it will be great fun, very exciting. It will be my 5th of 6 world major marathons, but we have 5 runners from our Minneapolis group - all women - who are completing their 6th world major and they get this fancy 6 star medal. Now the number of runners who have completed all 6 world majors is approaching 5,000.

Eliud Kipchoge is running this race also. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of big name US runners doing London - many competed in Boston just last Monday. Will be interesting to see how Kipchoge does in London. He set the world record in Berlin last fall (I finished about an hour and a half behind him)... but London is pretty flat and fast too, and the temperatures will be cooler, it seems.

If I were to bet I'd put my money on him beating me again.

Cimb0JmXIAE3zQN.jpg

That will be awesome. Good luck out there. Maybe you can catch kipchoge if you go out really fast ;)

I’m interested to see how Mo Farah does. He’s probably got the most raw speed of anyone in the field.
 
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Thanks for the kind wishes, everyone. It's hard not to get amped up the week before the race. The closer it gets, the slower the time seems to go.

@uncboy and @whattheheel are right - Mo Farah is surely the local (London) favorite. I think Mo finished second or third last year at London on a record hot day for the race - and I believe possibly this was his best finish ever, at least at London. He was covered as if he had won. I know he is a headliner this year, as is Kipchoge of course. Some of the major challengers to these two ran Boston last week so I'd bet Farah and EK finish in top 3.
 
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Holy f***. I haven't run in over 15 years, and I just started speed walking about three weeks ago. Of course, today I decided to incorporate intravenous training into the curriculum. Let's just say that I pushed myself so hard that my f'ing biceps hurt. :cool:
 
LOL. I think music ruins the experience, though if you have to run in a city I guess I can see wanting to drown out the noise.

true...i’m weird about running in different locales...where i go that’s flat, i need music and her telling me my pace, etc...in my hood it’s pretty hilly, so no music/trainer, just nature and foot strikes...in races, i need music.
 
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Just got back today....sorry in advance for length of this....

Thanks for the nice notes, guys - but no I am not Eliud Kipchoge. Never in my best day am I worthy of being on the same course as any elites, or even fast amateurs. Wow is he Eliud crazy great runner. I think he was only like a minute off his world record time. I think Mo Farah finished fifth, but still with a good time.

The weather for the race was ideal, given the time of year. In the 50s Farenheit most of the race, which still made it a bit warm for me by the end. Overcast all day, and breezy in parts, but the breeze was very welcome. They had a few sprinklers on the course (3) and I did my ritual of "one water bottle in, one on (my head and body)" at each water stop after first few miles. I liked that they had actual bottles - first time I saw this at a full marathon, so you could carry the water with you and intake it all..

The volunteers were just outstanding - as they always are. I think they just get taken for granted often. It takes a lot to care for over 42,000 runners.

I was amazed at how loud the crowds were, and how crowded the course was. Some of the places we ran were narrow streets which made for a bit crowded running, and so loud it almost made my head hurt. Just tens of thousands of people, usually 5-10 deep, screaming and yelling, non-stop. Always "well done!" (vs. congrats or good job!) I like the English accents and word choices. The course is pretty flat but has some rolling hills and inclines heading on to the bridges. Lots of turns, too, so I ended up running 26.47 miles start to finish (on my Garmin)

My wife camped out early at Tower Bridge, and she got a good pic of me passing by, but a better one of the thousands of fans and runners converging on a very narrow path after the Tower (of London) Bridge. I was very surprised we were able to connect. I've run in majors before where she is supporting me on the course but we never see each other due to the masses of fans and runners who look mostly the same going by.

Good news is I ran a 3:22 + a few seconds. My "A" goal for the race was 3:25 (my Boston Qualifier time), so I was ecstatic! Some unfortunate in-game details:

1) a "ghost" climbed into my Garmin, so from the start I didn't know my fully elapsed time, only my per-mile pace and my total distance covered. Luckily I was able to notice it fairly early, and estimated that my fully elapsed course time was maybe 3 minutes under the on-course elapsed-time clocks showed at about each mile. Turns out I crossed the start line at exactly 4 minutes after start gun. But I never knew that during the race, so was sort of "flying blind", and hoping for the best. My goal was just to see how many 7:30 consecutive miles I could string together. I worked hard to stay at that pace even though early it felt like I could go faster. Especailly at mile 2-3 is the one spot on the whole course with significant downhill. I probably ran about a 7:10 on that mile.

2) How to put it tactfully.... my stomach emptied of fluids and fuel (significant vomiting) - between miles 13-14.....then once again at 18-19.... then once more just to complete the trifecta after I got my medal (26.5) .

Not sure what caused this, wish I knew and could fix it, but I only stopped maybe 15-30 seconds each of the first two times, then got back going. What could I do? The time and money, travel, etc to get over to London - it wasn't going to happen again, so I had to finish. Was worried about being out of fuel by the end (especially mile 22 on where every single thing in your head and body is telling you to stop / walk) but I guess some of my Gu gels stayed with me, and maybe I switched to fat burn late.

I was happy in that all my per-mile averages from first 5K to last 5K were between 7:29 and 7:44; climbing a second or two between each 5K from beginning (5K) to end (42K)

Overall London was such an awesome experience! There were 12 of us from Minneapolis there. Wesaw a Fulham (England -home team) vs. Cartiff (Wales) football (soccer) game on Saturday. Lower grade teams in English Premier League. First pro soccer game ever for me. Hard to describe how great and fun the atmosphere was. The crowds were crazy in their chants and drunkenness and rowdiness and how seriously they take it.

We also got to visit Oxford for a day, and saw Wicked (a famous award winning musical) at Apollo Victoria in London Monday night.

Overall - just a 5 star experience all-around. Very worthy of being a world major marathon.
 
Just got back today....sorry in advance for length of this....

Thanks for the nice notes, guys - but no I am not Eliud Kipchoge. Never in my best day am I worthy of being on the same course as any elites, or even fast amateurs. Wow is he Eliud crazy great runner. I think he was only like a minute off his world record time. I think Mo Farah finished fifth, but still with a good time.

The weather for the race was ideal, given the time of year. In the 50s Farenheit most of the race, which still made it a bit warm for me by the end. Overcast all day, and breezy in parts, but the breeze was very welcome. They had a few sprinklers on the course (3) and I did my ritual of "one water bottle in, one on (my head and body)" at each water stop after first few miles. I liked that they had actual bottles - first time I saw this at a full marathon, so you could carry the water with you and intake it all..

The volunteers were just outstanding - as they always are. I think they just get taken for granted often. It takes a lot to care for over 42,000 runners.

I was amazed at how loud the crowds were, and how crowded the course was. Some of the places we ran were narrow streets which made for a bit crowded running, and so loud it almost made my head hurt. Just tens of thousands of people, usually 5-10 deep, screaming and yelling, non-stop. Always "well done!" (vs. congrats or good job!) I like the English accents and word choices. The course is pretty flat but has some rolling hills and inclines heading on to the bridges. Lots of turns, too, so I ended up running 26.47 miles start to finish (on my Garmin)

My wife camped out early at Tower Bridge, and she got a good pic of me passing by, but a better one of the thousands of fans and runners converging on a very narrow path after the Tower (of London) Bridge. I was very surprised we were able to connect. I've run in majors before where she is supporting me on the course but we never see each other due to the masses of fans and runners who look mostly the same going by.

Good news is I ran a 3:22 + a few seconds. My "A" goal for the race was 3:25 (my Boston Qualifier time), so I was ecstatic! Some unfortunate in-game details:

1) a "ghost" climbed into my Garmin, so from the start I didn't know my fully elapsed time, only my per-mile pace and my total distance covered. Luckily I was able to notice it fairly early, and estimated that my fully elapsed course time was maybe 3 minutes under the on-course elapsed-time clocks showed at about each mile. Turns out I crossed the start line at exactly 4 minutes after start gun. But I never knew that during the race, so was sort of "flying blind", and hoping for the best. My goal was just to see how many 7:30 consecutive miles I could string together. I worked hard to stay at that pace even though early it felt like I could go faster. Especailly at mile 2-3 is the one spot on the whole course with significant downhill. I probably ran about a 7:10 on that mile.

2) How to put it tactfully.... my stomach emptied of fluids and fuel (significant vomiting) - between miles 13-14.....then once again at 18-19.... then once more just to complete the trifecta after I got my medal (26.5) .

Not sure what caused this, wish I knew and could fix it, but I only stopped maybe 15-30 seconds each of the first two times, then got back going. What could I do? The time and money, travel, etc to get over to London - it wasn't going to happen again, so I had to finish. Was worried about being out of fuel by the end (especially mile 22 on where every single thing in your head and body is telling you to stop / walk) but I guess some of my Gu gels stayed with me, and maybe I switched to fat burn late.

I was happy in that all my per-mile averages from first 5K to last 5K were between 7:29 and 7:44; climbing a second or two between each 5K from beginning (5K) to end (42K)

Overall London was such an awesome experience! There were 12 of us from Minneapolis there. Wesaw a Fulham (England -home team) vs. Cartiff (Wales) football (soccer) game on Saturday. Lower grade teams in English Premier League. First pro soccer game ever for me. Hard to describe how great and fun the atmosphere was. The crowds were crazy in their chants and drunkenness and rowdiness and how seriously they take it.

We also got to visit Oxford for a day, and saw Wicked (a famous award winning musical) at Apollo Victoria in London Monday night.

Overall - just a 5 star experience all-around. Very worthy of being a world major marathon.

This is one of the few sports I can think of where an amateur like any of us, can compete at the same time on the same "field" as the elites, in their "Masters" or "Wimbledon." I know that technically, the world class runners get to start up front and get a head start, and that (I think) if you pulled off the run of your life and ran a two hour marathon, you wouldn't be considered the winner. But, you couldn't pay an entrance fee and play the Masters. Trail running is cool that you technically could win, no matter where you started. If I'd run 8.5 hours faster (LOL,) I'd totally have won Western States against some of the best runners in the world.

I know the feeling of GI issues. Mine are usually the other end. I've started using Tailwind, no gels, and carry a little food because the Tailwind sometimes makes me hungry. It's served me very well so far.

I imagine your time was slowed also by just the size of the field. It takes energy and time to weave in and out of all those bodies--probably some of the reason your Garmin registered 26.5 miles. That and not being on the inside of every curve.

Funny that different countries have different "cheers." At UTMB, it was either "Bravo" or "Allez! Allez! Allez!"

Congratulations on a great run!
 
Holy is putting on an event to promote their new racing shoe this Saturday. Walmsley is going to go for sub 6 in the 100K which would be a new world record. That’s 5:47 pace for 62.1 miles.

Several big time ultra runners will also be going for the record at 100K and 50 miles, plus pacers like Sage Canada and Tim Freriks. Should be a super cool event. They’re streaming it on their Facebook page Saturday morning at 9
 
Holy is putting on an event to promote their new racing shoe this Saturday. Walmsley is going to go for sub 6 in the 100K which would be a new world record. That’s 5:47 pace for 62.1 miles.

Several big time ultra runners will also be going for the record at 100K and 50 miles, plus pacers like Sage Canada and Tim Freriks. Should be a super cool event. They’re streaming it on their Facebook page Saturday morning at 9

Wow. My fastest 50K is 3:51. He's going to try to do two of them back to back, each almost an hour faster...
 
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Wow. My fastest 50K is 3:51. He's going to try to do two of them back to back, each almost an hour faster...

Dayum. 3:51 is fast as hell. Kudos to you, that's really impressive.

Walmsley is a beast. And he's probably still got most of the speed from his olympic qualifier in the half marathon. If he stays healthy then he might just hit his goal of breaking 14 hours at Western States this year. I really want to see him take a crack at winning UTMB though. Its a shame that no American men have ever won in Chamonix.
 
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Holy is putting on an event to promote their new racing shoe this Saturday. Walmsley is going to go for sub 6 in the 100K which would be a new world record. That’s 5:47 pace for 62.1 miles.

Several big time ultra runners will also be going for the record at 100K and 50 miles, plus pacers like Sage Canada and Tim Freriks. Should be a super cool event. They’re streaming it on their Facebook page Saturday morning at 9

wait, wut!?

how can i find info on this?
 
Hah sorry. Damn autocorrect strikes again
I alternate (wear during the same training / racing cycle) Hoka Arahi 2 and Asics Kayano (model 25).

It seems Hoka is growing faster than any shoe company out there. Their shoes are super light, given the amount of cushion they provide.
 
Wow. My fastest 50K is 3:51. He's going to try to do two of them back to back, each almost an hour faster...
Yes this (3:51) is super fast for a 50K. If this is on a trail (not paved road) - this is god status. Congrats! I am very impressed.
 
Yes this (3:51) is super fast for a 50K. If this is on a trail (not paved road) - this is god status. Congrats! I am very impressed.

I was younger then. Probably 40. And, it was the New River Trail in Virginia. So, flat and no roots/rocks. Kind of like the Creeper Trail, if you are familiar with that.

I see they are streaming this run. I will try to check in tomorrow.
 
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