How many miles do you think you could run at 5:46/mi pace or 3:35/km?

Triathlon Forum
1

Charlie Lawrence ran 50mi at this pace. Badass.

“Lawrence, 28, took just under two minutes off UTMB champ Jim Walmsley’s former record, set in 2019 at the Hoka One One Project Carbon X event in Cali. On Friday, Lawrence shared on social media that he was heading for a “50 Mile American Record crack tomorrow morning,” and aimed to run at least 5:47/mile (roughly 3:35 per km); he executed a flawless performance, nailing his target.”

American runner blasts to new 50-mile world record - Canadian Running Magazine

2

Maybe 3k but I’m not even sure about that.

3

If I trained exclusively for 6 to 8 weeks now(almost 68 years old), maybe 1.

At 39 I could have run at least 20 miles with him, and I wasn’t even a runner! getting old sucks…

4

That was my pace for my half marathon PR I set earlier this year and I think I had a couple more in me, so,I’d say 15. Then again I was 49 at the time. Very impressive feat.

5

Wow! Nice work.

6

about 10 when i was much younger as it is close to my 10 mile pb pace, which is also exactly the same as my best 10 mile split in a half marathon.

now - zero

7

Charlie Lawrence ran 50mi at this pace. Badass.

“Lawrence, 28, took just under two minutes off UTMB champ Jim Walmsley’s former record, set in 2019 at the Hoka One One Project Carbon X event in Cali. On Friday, Lawrence shared on social media that he was heading for a “50 Mile American Record crack tomorrow morning,” and aimed to run at least 5:47/mile (roughly 3:35 per km); he executed a flawless performance, nailing his target.”

American runner blasts to new 50-mile world record - Canadian Running Magazine

With a 6 week run focus I could easily do 100 or maybe 200 yards at that pace

8

Fuck that!

These days I struggle to run 2 miles at my own PR pace, let alone WR pace.

Unfortunately, 50 miles is a distance rarely raced on by the world’s best ultra runners, let alone on fast courses in favourable conditions with deep competition. It would be interesting to see how fast Aleksandr Sorokin could run 50 miles.

ETA: Sorokin’s 50 mile PR is 4:53, recorded as a split time en route to a 6:05 100km WR in 2022, which he has since bettered by 6 seconds this year.

For those who haven’t clicked on the link, Lawrence’s 50 mile time was 4:48.

9

one of the things i love about these ultra-records is that they actually feel kind of relatable to mortals. i could actually run for a little bit at that pace. at the height of my short-course, draft-legal powers i ran a 4k road race in 12:08, so 3:02 pace. interestingly i didn’t do a ton of flat-fast racing at longer distances back then, so my 5k PB is a 17:40. i remember when kilian was going to do an attempt on the 100k world record, a few running friends and i had the “how long could you hold that pace” discussion and it was fun. fast, but mortal.

whereas when i look at, say, kipchoge’s world record pace: screw that. i’d be spat out in 60 seconds. i just can’t relate too well to people running that fast. i’m impressed by it, but there’s no universe where i imagine doing it.

10

Or is the 400 metre WR more relatable? We all know what running one lap of an athletic track as hard as you can feels like.

Do you know what trying to close out the last 42 km of a perfectly paced 100 km race feels like?

11

Or is the 400 metre WR more relatable? We all know what running one lap of an athletic track as hard as you can feels like.

Do you know what trying to close out the last 42 km of a perfectly paced 100 km race feels like?

you got me, i’m wrong and you win this discussion

12

Do you know what trying to close out the last 42 km of a perfectly paced 100 km race feels like?

.
Please don’t remind me…

13

Super impressive for 50 miles to take down Walmsley’s record. & that record was set in an event created to run as fast as possible. Dk the logistics here but would guess this event was a little more blue collar.

I could probably make it to between 32 & 35k. Ran 1:13 half last year. Not quite ready for 26.2 at that pace. Lawrence is a 14-mid 5k runner. Close to 30-flat for 10k. Just ran a 2:16 marathon a month before this result.

14

Or is the 400 metre WR more relatable? We all know what running one lap of an athletic track as hard as you can feels like.

Do you know what trying to close out the last 42 km of a perfectly paced 100 km race feels like?

you got me, i’m wrong and you win this discussion

It’s not really about right/wrong nor winning/losing. More about how we relate to things from our own personal experiences.

One year on, outside the stadium built for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, they laid some footprints to replicate Cathy Freeman’s stride pattern over the closing 100 of her run to win the 400 metre gold. How someone 5’4" could maintain that stride length is incomprehensible, let alone with her accompanying grace, balance and speed.

Whatever reference points we adopt, they help us appreciate the extraordinary. And that’s a good thing. :slight_smile:

15

Do you know what trying to close out the last 42 km of a perfectly paced 100 km race feels like?

.
Please don’t remind me…

Nah, mate. Definitely ran it better the previous year. Then I had to wait around for an hour and half to find out it was only good enough for second.

At least you had the good manners and courtesy to not make me wait for long. :wink:

16

Zero
.

17

Unpopular opinion - The 50 mile WR is a soft record.

Marathon WR is 4:37 pace.
The half marathon WR is 4:23, ~ 5% faster.
The 10k WR is 4:14, 3.5% faster.
The 5k WR is 4:03, 4.5% faster.

The 50 mile record is 5:46 pace, 25% slower. All of the WR’s show a pace decline of ~5% with doubling of distance. Yes, it’s complicated because the pace curve isn’t linear, and a 5 hour event has much more fueling complication that a 2h event, but it’s just not even close.

FWIW, a very very imperfect ballpark calculation from Daniels VDOT paces for this run shows a 2:28 marathon. Another number for context is Iden’s Kona winning marathon at 2:36 or 5:57 pace. 10s/mile slower in the intense heat at the end of an even double the length.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer and it’s still awesome he got the record. I just think if there was the same kind of money on the line for 50 milers you’d see the WR closer to 4h flat.

18

Hoping to run about 26.2 near that pace in Feb, but if I’m being very honest with myself I’ll probably pop at 20-21 if I make the bad decision to try to get close to 2:30. Either way, not close to 50 miles!

Honestly, while this is insanely fast, I agree with some that this is one of the more relatable records. I bet there’s a handful of long course pros that have the engine to beat it if they dedicated some real time to that distance… not that I think they should, just that maybe they could.

19

Unpopular opinion - The 50 mile WR is a soft record.//

I dont think unpopular, but throwing shade onto some of these unique and not really tested records can be challenging. I think you are right, but first you have to compare apples to apples. Wasn’t this course rated an off road surface? That can make a big difference to the world record surfaces all the other records you mentioned.

I agree if you put up a million dollar purse for the top 10 on a course comparable to world class marathons, we would see that come down considerably. It is a relatable time for a lot of us, and world records should be shit, how in the world could he do that? And yes there will be a point where your %'s of difference will balloon out, not sure what that distance is, but probably around the 4 to 6 hour running marks…

20

Unpopular opinion - The 50 mile WR is a soft record.

Marathon WR is 4:37 pace.
The half marathon WR is 4:23, ~ 5% faster.
The 10k WR is 4:14, 3.5% faster.
The 5k WR is 4:03, 4.5% faster.

The 50 mile record is 5:46 pace, 25% slower. All of the WR’s show a pace decline of ~5% with doubling of distance. Yes, it’s complicated because the pace curve isn’t linear, and a 5 hour event has much more fueling complication that a 2h event, but it’s just not even close.

FWIW, a very very imperfect ballpark calculation from Daniels VDOT paces for this run shows a 2:28 marathon. Another number for context is Iden’s Kona winning marathon at 2:36 or 5:57 pace. 10s/mile slower in the intense heat at the end of an even double the length.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer and it’s still awesome he got the record. I just think if there was the same kind of money on the line for 50 milers you’d see the WR closer to 4h flat.

100km record is approx 5:52/mile pace, (assuming my late night maths is correct)

100km is possibly a better measure, since it’s at least raced consistently and globally. 50 miles is largely a US oddity, confined to a country where ultra runners primarily prioritise trail over road and track performances.

Having said that, many men’s ultra records were long overdue for some improvements when Sorokin starting breaking them relatively recently. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see further improvements to men’s ultra records over the next decade.

I’m unsure how valid it is to compare ultras to distances from 5km to the marathon, where doubling the distance can measured in hours, as opposed to minutes. Much changes when elite athletes are no longer racing without significant glycogen depletion. I also think the complications of running at maximum intensity over very long durations has its own complexity.

I’m not sure how much context we can draw from a comparison with Iden’s Kona, especially given we’re starting from a “very very imperfect ballpark calculation” and making a comparison with different sports raced in different conditions. Having said that, if pressed, a 10 seconds/mile differential is pretty close to the number I would’ve guestimated for the pointy end, based on my n=1.

Yes, significant money would certainly change the ultra world, but I doubt anywhere near 4 hours for 50 miles or low 5 hours for 100km is happening this century.