It comes down to time on the feet. You can be out on an Ironman course for the same length of time as a 50 miler but on an Ironman you swim and ride for most of the time so you aren’t getting beaten up nearly as hard. The 50 miler I did was far more painful than my IMs. I can see Ultraman being less painful than a 100 for the reasons already mentioned in particular recovery between events. You have 12 hours each day at Ultraman to finish the event for that day, then you get recovery. You don’t get to do that with a 100. The sleep deprivation on the 100 alone makes it hard.
I agree totally with jenhs here. After 7 IM races, probably 12 or 13 HIMs, several marathons/half marys and countless 5k and 10k races, there is nothing that compared to the pain of a 50 mile offroad trail race. You know the intense pain in the quads the day after an IM race? Where you drop something on the ground and stare at it, wondering if there’s a way to pick it up without crouching down? Stand at the top of a set of stairs just looking at them, trying to think of some other way around this obstacle? This is how bad my quads hurt DURING the race. After about mile 35-40 it is just brutal…and that’s only for a 50 miler. Of course I am signed up again for my third Croom Fool’s Run again this spring… I was about to sign up for a 100 miler in Ohio a couple of weeks before my emergency appendectomy, lucked out on the race fee on that one!
One interesting thing is that unless you know the course really well, a trail run can be tougher on the body than a road course. On the road you take more of a beating on a regular basis, and it’s definitely softer on the trails. However, on the trail you have to worry about rocks, roots, slippery leaves and things like that. It only takes a few missteps to overstrain a muscle, and the frequent steep downhills are really hard on the quads…not to mention the constant elevation changes. Or you could do like I did last year and take a dive at full speed at mile 8 and strain your back and right quad. Not a good way to start 50 miles.
Curious what personal experience you base this on, Frank, do you have a 100-miler in your background?
… and while can not comment on “Ultraman” vs “100” (have not done Ultraman), I did run Western States and Ironman (Florida) one year, and there is no comparison, a 100 is infinitely harder than IM.
From my point of view, an IM “raced” is similar to a 100K.
FWIW: WS100 - 27 hours and change … IMF - 9:35
ORN: Graham Cooper (Winner WS100) was in Canada and Kona this year becasue of WS100’s cancellation.
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What makes one harder than the other depends upon how fast one is trying to do each one and how well trained one is. He is obviously well trained for all these events so I suspect, since he is probably always “racing”, he is seeing the difference as to how hard he is “racing”.
Tri Guy, I’m tring to decide between Croom Fool’s Run 50 and the Keys100 50. I know the Keys will be hot, humid, flat, no shade, pavement, in traffic, and self-supported. Can you tell us a bit about the Croom course/race? The webiste is not very descriptive. Thanks.
That dude, Jorge Pacheco, is incredible. He is a machine operator, not a full time or professional runner like Goggins, Karnazes, Jurk or Reed.
Goggins is a full time Navy SEAL.
Tri Guy, I’m tring to decide between Croom Fool’s Run 50 and the Keys100 50. I know the Keys will be hot, humid, flat, no shade, pavement, in traffic, and self-supported. Can you tell us a bit about the Croom course/race? The webiste is not very descriptive. Thanks.
Yeah their website is kinda lacking. The course for the 50 miler is a starter 5 mile loop and then 3 loops through the forest. The loop is roughly evenly split by the forest road, and there’s a water stop at the road crossing, and then 1 stop at about the middle of each “half” of the loop. The course is entirely forest trail with probably a 50/50 mix of hardpacked dirt and areas that are dirt with a thin layer of sand. Only a few sections are soft sand. There’s a decent amount of elevation change, only a few hundred yards in the course could be considered totally “flat” but only two or three significant hills. Then of course there is the “Pit of Despair” which is a giant 75 foot deep sinkhole you have to run down into and back up the other side. You’ll curse the RD for that one on the third lap!!! Conditions are likely to be cool to warm, you might need a jacket for the first 5 mile loop. It’s been mid 70s the last 2 years and pretty nice. The course is mostly wooded with only a few truly open areas, so the sun isn’t a major factor. Of course it’s more open on the toughest part of the course…
I personally would choose the Croom course over a flat pavement course on the side of a major highway. To me there’s no comparison.
That dude, Jorge Pacheco, is incredible. He is a machine operator, not a full time or professional runner like Goggins, Karnazes, Jurk or Reed.
Well Goggins is a professional and full-time Navy SEAL. In some of this interviews he talks about getting up at 3AM to get his runs in before work. And basically none of the guys are truly “professional” since you can’t make a living at ultra running. Except for Karnazes, which good for him.
he is a full time athlete for the SEALs, does not deploy right now, he and others like him race for the Navy in order to help with recruiting efforts.
Goggins still has quals to maintain, standards and quotas to meet. Just staying on jump/dive/demo/etc. status is a full time job in and of itself. Dude still wears the trident.