When Dylan Bowman interviewed David Callahan and Jay Kelley, the leaders of UltraSignup, on the Freetrail podcast in October 2023, they mentioned the rising recognition of “super-long” path working occasions. This class contains races of 200 miles or extra, the place Callahan and Kelley noticed notable development amongst UltraSignup race entries.
With extra folks taking an curiosity and collaborating in 200-mile-or-longer path races, I made a decision to make use of this month’s column to function a data-driven primer on the occasion. Specifically, we’re specializing in how finishers tempo themselves throughout these longer distances, together with prolonged breaks at assist stations. Should you’re “super-long” curious, this text offers you one thing past anecdotes to know how finishers deal with these occasions.
iRunFar’s Bryon Powell making his means by means of a few of Extremely-Path Gobi Race’s 250 miles in 2015. Picture: Nick Muzik
Methodology
With the 2024 version of the Cocodona 250 Mile beginning on Could 6, we draw on splits from that occasion for a lot of this text. We additionally use knowledge from Vacation spot Path Races’ Bigfoot 200 Mile and Tahoe 200 Mile to look at what quantity of their end time runners spend transferring versus resting.
That stated, it’s vital to notice that the recognition of path races which might be 200 miles or longer is just not restricted to america. Tor des Géants is without doubt one of the most iconic super-long races, and was first held in 2010. It takes place within the Aosta Valley within the Italian Alps every September, with as much as 1,100 individuals. The Backbone Race is one other iconic occasion, overlaying 268 miles alongside the Pennine Method in the UK.
Sabrina Verjee working robust within the early phases of the 2022 Tor des Geants, on her method to victory. Picture: KnowJack Media
Though the Cocodona 250 Mile course has 20 assist stations and 4 water stations, there have been variations within the course thus far. So, when calculating common paces from one assist station to the subsequent, I solely used checkpoints the place at the least two earlier editions of the race had an assist station inside a mile of that time within the race. It’s not an ideal system, nevertheless it’s acceptable to our aim of understanding how Cocodona 250 Mile individuals tempo themselves throughout the race.
The course has sustained or concentrated ascents between miles 11 and 40, miles 163 and 173, and round mile 240. The graph under displays this, as all runners averaged slower paces on these sections of the course.
To calculate pacing knowledge, I collected the splits for all earlier finishers. Since assist station places have different barely through the years, I normalized the information by making a grasp spreadsheet together with splits at widespread places throughout a number of years. I then calculated every runner’s common tempo between assist stations the place I had a break up accessible, factoring in that the distances between assist stations would possibly change just a little from one 12 months to the subsequent. I then grouped the runners as follows:
- Runners who completed in 75 hours or much less had been “Prime Finishers”
- The common ending time was 106 hours, so everybody who completed inside 2 hours over or below that point, or 104 to 108 hours, turned members of the “Mid-Pack”
- Official finishers who completed in 119 to 125 hours had been categorized as “Again of Pack”
I calculated the common tempo for every “leg” of the race for every group — the space between assist stations the place splits had been recorded in my dataset.
Lastly, a notice about terminology: I’m of the understanding that for most individuals who register for races of 200 miles or extra, these occasions symbolize private endurance challenges greater than races by which entrants compete towards each other for his or her ending positions. For that cause, I take advantage of the time period “occasions” at the least as usually because the time period “race” on this article.
Equally, as a result of many finishers cowl most of their miles by climbing, I opted to seek advice from all entrants as “individuals” somewhat than “runners.” I didn’t need to downplay or fail to understand the position of climbing within the efficient execution of those occasions.
Sarah Ostaszewski on her method to profitable the 2023 Cocodona 250 Mile. Picture courtesy of Sarah Ostaszewski.
Shifting Tempo on the Cocodona 250 Mile
It’s price noting there’s a variety of experiences on the Cocodona 250 Mile. As of April 2024, the boys’s course report is held by Joe McConaughy, who coated 250.3 miles in 59 hours, 28 minutes, and 54 seconds in 2023. The ladies’s course report is held at 71:10:22 by Annie Hughes, who set that mark in 2022.
The occasion has a time restrict of 125 hours, so some runners spend extra days on the course than McConaughy and Hughes every did. Within the race’s three-year historical past, 16% of all finishers have spent at the least twice as lengthy on track as McConaughy, for instance.
This will spotlight a few of the enchantment of super-long occasions: every runner engages in plenty of problem-solving and technique as a result of there isn’t any assure {that a} race plan that works for one finisher will work for one more.
Distribution of Cocodona 250 Mile Members by Ending Time, in Hours
The bar chart above types earlier ending instances into bins to point out the distribution of ending instances, giving readers a way of how lengthy most individuals take to complete the occasion.
Whereas their ending instances might range considerably, Cocodona 250 Mile finishers have quite a bit in widespread relating to which sections of the race gradual them down. Within the chart under, runners in every of my classifications had slower common paces on every of the race’s hilliest sections, with a fourth tempo spike between miles 211 and 215 that occurs to correspond with the race’s remaining sleep station.
Common Section Tempo amongst Cocodona 250 Mile Members, by Finisher Group
The road graph above exhibits the common tempo between assist stations for every group of runners. These runner teams had been constructed by the writer to establish doable tendencies that may clarify how every cohort of runners paces the Cocodona 250 Mile.
Within the graph above, it’s noteworthy that runners within the three teams usually stay constant relative to one another over the course of the race — at the least till the ultimate miles.
After we beforehand checked out pacing for the IAU 24-Hour World Championships, there was a placing distinction between the frontrunners and the again of the pack. The runners who ran the farthest had been, as a gaggle, extra constant of their pacing, whereas the 24-hour runners who racked up fewer miles had extra fluctuations of their pacing.
The graph above means that, for roughly the primary 230 miles of the race, runners in every group stay constant, relative to one another. The distinction comes within the remaining 20 miles when the highest finishers maintained paces that counsel working or regular climbing, whereas runners within the different teams slowed down considerably.
Relaxation Methods at 200-Plus-Mile Races
In comparison with path races of 100 miles and shorter, probably the most distinctive challenges of 200-plus-mile path races is managing fatigue. Joe McConaughy’s course report of 59:28:54 and Annie Hughes’ course report of 71:10:22 every symbolize greater than two days of laborious effort. Ending nearer to the 125-hour time restrict can imply five-plus days on the course. Out of necessity, runners in these super-long occasions spend extra time stopped to eat, sleep, and handle different wants.
Annie Hughes crossing the road as 2022 Cocodona 250 Mile champion. Picture: Alex Potter
Whereas the graph above suggests Cocodona 250 Mile runners fall into distinctive teams based mostly on their pacing methods, knowledge from the 2023 Bigfoot 200 Mile suggests in any other case. To create the graph above, I calculated every finisher’s tempo in minutes per mile for every leg of the race. Because the race clock is all the time going, I factored any relaxation time into my calculation – if it takes a runner two hours to cowl 4 miles as a result of they relaxation for an hour after which common quarter-hour per mile, I thought of that to be a internet common of half-hour per mile. In distinction, Bigfoot 200 Mile knowledge on Trackleaders.com calculated a median tempo based mostly solely on the time runners had been transferring.
The common tempo for 2023 finishers of the Bigfoot 200 Mile was 4.026 miles per hour (excluding time spent at assist/sleep stations). The graph under exhibits that the majority runners had been inside that vary. There have been runners who completed inside three days and had the identical common transferring tempo as runners who completed a full 24 hours or extra behind them. This highlights how a lot of a distinction a runner’s relaxation technique impacts their total ending time.
Common Miles Per Hour In comparison with Ending Time in Days for 2023 Bigfoot 200 Mile Finishers
Within the above graph, every finisher of the 2023 version of the Bigfoot 200 Mile is one knowledge level on a scatterplot. The graph exhibits that runners who completed Bigfoot in below three days didn’t have considerably sooner common transferring paces than runners who completed the occasion in over 4 days. The common miles per hour is simply based mostly on runners’ transferring time. The time that runners spent in assist stations is just not factored into this tempo.
The graph under corroborates this concept. The stay monitoring system for the 2023 Bigfoot 200 Mile recorded every participant’s “Run/Relaxation Share.” It calculated the proportion of every participant’s ending time spent on the course, in comparison with resting in assist stations and sleep stations. The pattern is simple to identify: The quickest finishers spent virtually all their time on the course, with comparatively little time in assist stations.
This implies that stopping to relaxation dramatically slows occasion individuals, however the actuality is probably going extra nuanced. For a lot of runners, taking the time to troubleshoot gear or bodily points, absorb ample vitamin, and cease for sleep is critical for them to complete. Sleeping for a number of hours will delay a runner’s end, however it might additionally enhance their odds of ending. That is the place every runner makes choices based mostly on their health, race objectives, and race-day expertise.
% of Time Spent Working In comparison with Ending Time in Days for 2023 Bigfoot 200 Mile Finishers
Within the above graph, every finisher of the 2023 version of the Bigfoot 200 is one knowledge level on a scatterplot. The graph exhibits that runners who completed Bigfoot in below three days spent a bigger proportion of their time transferring in comparison with individuals who completed nearer to the time cutoff.
The distribution chart under enhances the scatterplot above. It higher illustrates which run/relaxation percentages are probably the most frequent. It reveals that the majority finishers spend at the least one-third of their time resting at assist stations, and 23 of the finishers throughout the Tahoe 200 Mile and Bigfoot 200 Mile spent lower than 50% of their time transferring on track.
The bar graph above exhibits the “Run/Relaxation Share” knowledge from the Trackleaders.com stay monitoring for the 2023 Tahoe 200 Mile and Bigfoot 200 Mile editions. They had been the 2 Vacation spot Path races from 2023 that had been 200 miles or longer and had this knowledge accessible. The graph exhibits that solely two finishers of those occasions spent 81% or extra of their time transferring. Most different individuals spent important time resting, a particular side of pacing and managing fatigue in super-long races.
The Bigfoot 200 Mile stay monitoring system offers fascinating and probably helpful insights by distinguishing time spent on the course in comparison with time spent in assist stations. The monitoring system categorized all time spent on-course as working, so it doesn’t distinguish between working, climbing, or trail-side relaxation. Extra qualitative knowledge or deeper evaluation of particular person runners’ monitoring knowledge could be needed to know higher when and the way individuals alter their tempo on the course.
Courtney Dauwalter racing the 2018 Tahoe 200 Mile. Picture: Max Romney
Closing Ideas
What are the important thing takeaways right here? We’ve acquired a few enjoyable ones for you!
- Cocodona 250 Mile finishers are inclined to run at slower paces from the start, in comparison with different ultramarathon distances.
- Within the remaining 20 miles of the Cocodona 250 Mile, we see the best tempo slow-down of all runners.
- Amongst finishers of the Bigfoot 200 Mile and Tahoe 200 Mile, much less time spent resting is mostly correlated with sooner finishes.
- The Cocodona 250 Mile tempo graph is a poignant reminder of the massive distances between assist stations. Runners getting ready for his or her first super-long race may have to hold extra gear, fluids, and energy than in a typical 100-mile race.
Like so many articles I’ve written for this column, I’m struck by how a lot stays unquantified. This just-for-fun evaluation used a comparatively small dataset that, for feasibility, excluded world occasions, together with famend races like Tor des Géants.
Nonetheless, as a result of 200-plus-mile races are nonetheless comparatively area of interest, this cursory evaluation can nonetheless contribute one thing new to our understanding of how finishers deal with these occasions. These insights could also be notably helpful for folks contemplating such an occasion or coaching for his or her first. Should you fall into that class, better of luck!
iRunFar’s Bryon Powell in a relaxation level after a full night time of sleep throughout the 2015 Extremely-Path Gobi Race 250 Mile. Picture: Nick Muzik
Name for Feedback
- Do you have got any private expertise with races of 200-plus miles? In that case, are you able to share any insights on pacing and relaxation methods?
- The writer, Mallory Richard, is a self-admitted fan of Aravaipa Working’s races, just like the Cocodona 250 Mile, partly as a result of Aravaipa publishes numerous knowledge, together with splits in easy-to-use codecs, on their race web sites. Are you aware of another data-friendly race administrators we should always present some love in future columns?
[Editor’s Note: We kindly remind readers that the Running the Numbers column is a just-for-fun analysis. While we always endeavor to analyze accurately, we limit the scope of each article in order to make the work doable for author Mallory Richard, and the results digestible for readers like you.]
Joe McConaughy on his method to profitable the 2022 Cocodona 250 Mile. Picture courtesy of Joe McConaughy.
