Kilian Jornet runs around a track for a bit

robinph

Been going for about 40 minutes so far, but Killian Jornet is running around a 400m track for 24 hours at the moment and the only mountains are way off in the distance:

https://www.salomon.com/en-gb/kj-phantasm24?cmpid=os_phantasm24&fbclid=IwAR05U5ctSheLPISAy-It9ABtojLp9w8CpcsGGRbGGx3Jc0_dG1T0SdHO3WI

robinph

Could do with some better stats to watch than just relying on happening to look at the feed when they flash up the numbers for each runner, but looks like he's at 28 miles after 3 hrs. There is another guy who Kilian was following behind for the first couple of hours and looked to be a pacer, but that guy has now pulled away a bit.

Gets dark in about an hour, but that is just official sunset time I think, will be dark earlier with all the mountains. Other than it's his local track though, not sure I'd have picked the mountains in Norway at the end of November for the attempt at a record of any kind. Going to get chuffing cold overnight, and it's going to be a very long night.

EC1000

robinph wrote: »

not sure I'd have picked the mountains in Norway at the end of November for the attempt at a record of any kind. Going to get chuffing cold overnight, and it's going to be a very long night.

Looking at the video, he won't overheat anyway!

robinph

Oooh, about to get exciting in the next couple of minutes.

They are going to start running the other way soon.

TFBubendorfer

I'll stick my neck out and say he started too fast. Not even Killian will be able to keep anywhere near that pace.

Supercell

He looks comfortable considering he's already ran a marathon but that pace is pretty incredible to keep up for another 19 hours plus.

TFBubendorfer

Supercell wrote: »

He looks comfortable considering he's already ran a marathon

The marathon is barely the warm up in a 24 - and that's not even a pun on the temperatures there

Supercell

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

The marathon is barely the warm up in a 24 - and that's not even a pun on the temperatures there

True, i should have added - at 3:40 pace
Fair play to him.

Enduro

robinph wrote: »

Could do with some better stats to watch than just relying on happening to look at the feed when they flash up the numbers for each runner.

Your wish is granted ... https://racetracker.no/events/2020/moon-valley-24h/

Zero chance of Kouros record being broken in this event. Will still be interesting to see how he goes though

robinph

Thanks for that. No wonder I (google) couldn't find it if they are using a different name for the event to what the sponsors are using on their social media.

robinph

From that it looks like the difference in distance between Kilian and Sebastian is mostly down to visits to the loo which Kilian has be doing on the hour every hour. They are running practically the same pace per lap otherwise.

spc78

Enduro wrote: »

Zero chance of Kouros record being broken in this event. Will still be interesting to see how he goes though

Why do you think zero chance (asking from pure ignorance here) - is he gone out too fast or not fast enough or is no one currently just anywhere near what Kouros was? I would have though Jornet would have no issue with the running for 24 hours part, the not sleeping part or the cold part so that leaves that he fades too much at the end is it?

Enduro

spc78 wrote: »

Why do you think zero chance (asking from pure ignorance here) - is he gone out too fast or not fast enough or is no one currently just anywhere near what Kouros was? I would have though Jornet would have no issue with the running for 24 hours part, the not sleeping part or the cold part so that leaves that he fades too much at the end is it?

Not enough event specific knowledge, which can really only be gained through experience. I'd rate his chances much higher on his second go, no matter how well or badly he does on his first go.

No one else has ever been near what Kouros was in the male world (I think Camille Herron is pretty close to his equivalent level now on the female side of things). Even Killian's level of dominance in the trail world looks to me to be a bit behind the complete dominance of Kouros on the flat.

We'll all learn a lot about his potential here. On paper he's a candidate to be able to give it a go. Experience of how to run his optimal 24 hour flat run is the key missing ingredient for now.

TFBubendorfer

spc78 wrote: »

Why do you think zero chance (asking from pure ignorance here) - is he gone out too fast or not fast enough or is no one currently just anywhere near what Kouros was? I would have though Jornet would have no issue with the running for 24 hours part, the not sleeping part or the cold part so that leaves that he fades too much at the end is it?

1) He started too fast
2) He is about to learn a painful lesson how the 24 works

Kouros was notorious for starting fast. Killian started significantly faster still.

Even Camille Heron messed it up her first time. Killian may be able to break the world record one day, but not today.

spc78

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

1) He started too fast
2) He is about to learn a painful lesson how the 24 works

Kouros was notorious for starting fast. Killian started significantly faster still.

Because it's flat? I mean he's run (& skiid!) for 24hours or close on many times

ThebitterLemon

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

1) He started too fast
2) He is about to learn a painful lesson how the 24 works

Kouros was notorious for starting fast. Killian started significantly faster still.

Even Camille Heron messed it up her first time. Killian may be able to break the world record one day, but not today.

But maybe tomorrow...:)

TbL

omicron

He's dropped out.

Enduro

spc78 wrote: »

Because it's flat? I mean he's run (& skiid!) for 24hours or close on many times

fundamentally yes, because its dead flat short loops. Not many people can do both trails and the short flat loops to a high level. But some definitely can.

My opinion is that a 24 hour race on the flat is a much bigger test of pure ultrarunning than an equivalent time race in mountains, and way tougher mentally. Indeed Scott Jurek said his 24 hour American record (at the time) was the toughest thing he had ever done.

I was fully expecting all the Norwegian runners to blow up from going out way way too fast. Surprised to see Killian drop before 12 hours though. That shows how much there is to learn. He's still got too much to learn to break to record on his second go, given he didn't make it to 12 hours. But he'll learn from this and improve.

spc78

Can a mod change the thread title?

robinph

spc78 wrote: »

Can a mod change the thread title?

Done.

TFBubendorfer

spc78 wrote: »

Because it's flat? I mean he's run (& skiid!) for 24hours or close on many times

Enduro is spot on. Running for 24 hours in small flat loops is a totally different game to running for 24 hours in the mountains.

It's amazing how much difference the mental stuff makes in the timed race format. And because Killian dropped out so early, he hasn't even gotten far enough to start that particular lesson yet.

SnappyDresser

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Enduro is spot on. Running for 24 hours in small flat loops is a totally different game to running for 24 hours in the mountains.

It's amazing how much difference the mental stuff makes in the timed race format. And because Killian dropped out so early, he hasn't even gotten far enough to start that particular lesson yet.

I think Kilian has the ability for sure to break the record at some point(but I do not think he will bother with a 2nd attempt) but whether the boredom factor is something he could overcome I am not sure. I would much prefer to see Kilian do Barkley Marathon as I am sure he would absolutely nail that due to absolutely monstrous ability on trails and mountains and his speed on flat is very good i.e. 10k of 29mins most recently.
Running around a track endlessly is not for him me thinks

average_runner

Its great he gave it a shot. We need more of this

TFBubendorfer

average_runner wrote: »

Its great he gave it a shot. We need more of this

Totally!

Enduro

i008787 wrote: »

I think Kilian has the ability for sure to break the record at some point(but I do not think he will bother with a 2nd attempt) but whether the boredom factor is something he could overcome I am not sure. I would much prefer to see Kilian do Barkley Marathon as I am sure he would absolutely nail that due to absolutely monstrous ability on trails and mountains and his speed on flat is very good i.e. 10k of 29mins most recently.
Running around a track endlessly is not for him me thinks

I'm not sure there is anyone around currently with the ability to break the 24 hour record. Killian is in good company there! The record is literally outstanding (here is the best all time list of 24 hour performances). No one has got remotely close to it ever. Kouros was far more dominant in his day than Killian is/was, and his achievements were much bigger breakthrough performances (his first breakthrough win being an obvious example). Sure there is a possibility that Killian could get there, but I honestly can't see enough there YET to move beyond that.

It's not boredom. Killian is a an elite professional athlete. Boredom won't be any kind of factor. His focus will take care of that. More generally it would be fantastic for someone to have boredom as an issue in a 24 hour race. That would mean none of the much bigger usual issues would be manifesting themselves! It certainly wasn't boredom that took Killian out of this attempt.

I really hope he goes for a 2nd attempt in what are bound to be better conditions and circumstances. I'd hope his competitiveness and drive to challenge himself will bring him back. (And I totally agree, its fantastic for 24 hour running as an event that he has (and hopefully will again) given it a go).

Yeah, it would be very interesting to see him at Barkley. I'm surprised he hasn't already given it a go. Again, on paper he has what it takes. But... Barkley is never ever easy for anyone. The fastest runner there the year I was there didn't complete a single lap (again). Speed is important at Barkley, but its not at all definitive. Another reason why I'm surprised he hasn't already been there to challenge himself.

average_runner

Enduro wrote: »

I'm not sure there is anyone around currently with the ability to break the 24 hour record. Killian is in good company there! The record is literally outstanding (here is the best all time list of 24 hour performances). No one has got remotely close to it ever. Kouros was far more dominant in his day than Killian is/was, and his achievements were much bigger breakthrough performances (his first breakthrough win being an obvious example). Sure there is a possibility that Killian could get there, but I honestly can't see enough there YET to move beyond that.

It's not boredom. Killian is a an elite professional athlete. Boredom won't be any kind of factor. His focus will take care of that. More generally it would be fantastic for someone to have boredom as an issue in a 24 hour race. That would mean none of the much bigger usual issues would be manifesting themselves! It certainly wasn't boredom that took Killian out of this attempt.

I really hope he goes for a 2nd attempt in what are bound to be better conditions and circumstances. I'd hope his competitiveness and drive to challenge himself will bring him back. (And I totally agree, its fantastic for 24 hour running as an event that he has (and hopefully will again) given it a go).

Yeah, it would be very interesting to see him at Barkley. I'm surprised he hasn't already given it a go. Again, on paper he has what it takes. But... Barkley is never ever easy for anyone. The fastest runner there the year I was there didn't complete a single lap (again). Speed is important at Barkley, but its not at all definitive. Another reason why I'm surprised he hasn't already been there to challenge himself.

Have you ever did one of the backyard ultras?

Enduro

average_runner wrote: »

Have you ever did one of the backyard ultras?

Did 2 Last man standing races this year up in NI. Very very interesting format, and tons to be learned. First loser on both occasions. Ed, who is thanking posts in here had a brilliant performance to win the Irish edition of the Big's Backyard world championships. He was in flying form. I have an entry to the motherlode in Tennessee for 2021, so hopefully that's do-able by then!

Ed......

I think it was brilliant to see Kilian attempt the 24hr. I couldnt care less for the reasons behind the race. Dissapointed he didn't get further though. He would have learned alot more going into a second attempt if there is one. Runners all over are doing things outside their comfort zone due to the pandemic. He's no different, weather it was his idea or Solomon's, the seed was planted.
Any attention 24hr looped races can get the better it is for the sport.
I believe Solomon created all the hype around the record attempt. I don't think Kilian himself was talking too much about trying to actually break the record but I could be wrong. All part of being a sponsored full time athlete I suppose.
I was a little dissapointed in Yiannis Kouros response to kilians attempt brandishing him a cheat etc on the morning of the race. Maybe he felt his record was being disrespected, I'd agree with him there but he has since deleted that post.