Long Distance or Ultra?

[Deleted User]

Please can anyone tell me where's the change from long distance to ultra events?

[Deleted User]

in track running i think distance is anything over the mile? (not sure) or it might be 5km

ultra is anything beyond marathon.

i stand to be corrected

[Deleted User]

I'd sit down for that ed, why not be comfortable eh?

[Deleted User]

depends on the method dodge

[Deleted User]

lol

Very true.

AndrewSmith

Eds right (i think) anything over a marathon is classed as an ultra, but the distances can range from 27 to many many many miles. I was annoyed to find that my London to Brighton only counts as one marathon (even though its further than two) to the 100 marathon people. now i still have 94 to do so i can join and not 93.
not fair.

[Deleted User]

yup that is dissappointing isnt it.... although it would make it quite easy to get to 100 quite quickly with a few good 24hrs.

any feedback from your L2B welcomed on that thread since i'm doing it this year.

[Deleted User]

and the definition of long distance is bugging me now.

AndrewSmith

i did it in 2001 when the rain rained and the wind blew. i was nearly blown over the bridge and down onto the a27 after ditchling. ditchling is no problem and i can honestly say that it didn't feel as steep as it looks. there is another little hill after you go up ditchling and along a bit and cross the road at the staggered junction. it wouldn't normally be a problem but with 50+miles in your legs it feels a lot worse. i over did it with the nutrition. i sent two bottles of luko sport and a high five bar to each station
by 25mls i was only taking one of the bottles and throwing the bar after one bite
my biggest problem was that my feet hurt underneath, i had never experianced this before and it was quite de-bilitating. i also started off too slow, that sounds silly but i had no idea of how to pace it so i stayed under 150 heart rate. when i had done marathons before and when i did downland 30ml challenge my heart rate was high 160's. i found by the last 15 miles my legs didn't feel weak and i put that down to the slow start. only trouble was i couldn't go any faster, as the pain in my feet seemed to increase exponentially with any increase of speed. it was a bit frustrating. the second half of the course is surprisingly hilly but they are draggy hills not short sharp ones. i would definately do it again, but would increase my training from the 12mls week i did the first time. maybe that would stop my underfoot pains. i doubt it i spend all day on my feet.

[Deleted User]

"Long Distance or Ultra?"



...is that like "Daddy or chips?"

[Deleted User]

ahaaaa! mr. slug do i detect a hint of interest in running an ultra run at sometime. will be happy to keep you company on one of my 30 or 45 mile training runs,makes a lovely day if the weather is nice.its true to say that any distance over a marathon is classed as an ultra and therefore a 100 miler race can only be classed as 1 marathon in the 100 club but a multi day race is still classed as an ultra even though it may only contain maybe 1 marathon distance or over. if you are lucky enough to enter a multi stage event with 3 or 4 stages over the marathon distance then that has a bonus of all counting towards your marathon count. which brings on another question is a muti stage event harder than a pure 1 off ultra even though the multi stage event could be double the distance of a straight ultra. keep on chugging friends.

[Deleted User]

YRM you cant just drop extra questions in there like that !
well... WELL... what's the answer?

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the replies, i think it's sorted me out.

[Deleted User]

well ed it depends how you approach the different races, a pure ultra, i.e. non stop race 100+ miles can be extremely tiring, most of my worst experiences have been on non stop races,so a well paced race is a must. a multi day event can be made very easy by just making sure you make it to the end of each day in a good state, though if you really want to do well it is probably harder as you have to do each day as an individual race and give to as near 100% on every day as you can. i probably prefer the multi stage races over the straight first accross the line ultras

[Deleted User]

Having done just the one multi stage race and five non stops.....IMHO the non stops are a lot lot harder, albeit from a competitive point of view I do a lot better in these races.

However, in 3 weeks time I hope to be nearing the finish of my second multi stage race and perhaps my opinion might change.

[Deleted User]

Multi stage?






WHAT?

[Deleted User]

like MdS or MOB hippo... over several days with set stages to run on each day.. rather than continuous running.

[Deleted User]

Or the Tour of Tameside-total 52 miles, but no one stage was longer than a half marathon so definately a wimps race, except when I did it 2nd overall was the Comrades marathon champion.