When Dylan Bowman interviewed David Callahan and Jay Kelley, the leaders of UltraSignup, on the Freetrail podcast in October 2023, they mentioned the rising reputation 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. Particularly, we’re specializing in how finishers tempo themselves throughout these longer distances, together with prolonged breaks at help stations. For those who’re “super-long” curious, this text provides you one thing past anecdotes to know how finishers sort out these occasions.
iRunFar’s Bryon Powell making his means via 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 mentioned, it’s essential to notice that the recognition of path races which can be 200 miles or longer just isn’t restricted to the US. 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, masking 268 miles alongside the Pennine Manner in the UK.
Sabrina Verjee working robust within the early phases of the 2022 Tor des Geants, on her solution to victory. Picture: KnowJack Media
Though the Cocodona 250 Mile course has 20 help stations and 4 water stations, there have been variations within the course thus far. So, when calculating common paces from one help station to the following, I solely used checkpoints the place not less than two earlier editions of the race had an help station inside a mile of that time within the race. It’s not an ideal system, nevertheless it’s applicable to our objective of understanding how Cocodona 250 Mile individuals tempo themselves in the course of 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 help station areas have assorted barely over time, I normalized the information by making a grasp spreadsheet together with splits at widespread areas throughout a number of years. I then calculated every runner’s common tempo between help stations the place I had a cut up obtainable, factoring in that the distances between help stations would possibly change a bit of from one yr to the following. I then grouped the runners as follows:
- Runners who completed in 75 hours or much less had been “High Finishers”
- The typical ending time was 106 hours, so everybody who completed inside 2 hours over or underneath that point, or 104 to 108 hours, grew to become members of the “Mid-Pack”
- Official finishers who completed in 119 to 125 hours had been categorised as “Again of Pack”
I calculated the typical tempo for every “leg” of the race for every group — the space between help stations the place splits had been recorded in my dataset.
Lastly, a word 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 in opposition to each other for his or her ending positions. For that cause, I take advantage of the time period “occasions” not less than as usually because the time period “race” on this article.
Equally, as a result of many finishers cowl most of their miles by mountain climbing, I opted to confer with all entrants as “individuals” reasonably than “runners.” I didn’t wish to downplay or fail to understand the position of mountain climbing within the efficient execution of those occasions.
Sarah Ostaszewski on her solution to profitable the 2023 Cocodona 250 Mile. Picture courtesy of Sarah Ostaszewski.
Shifting Tempo on the Cocodona 250 Mile
It’s price noting there may be 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 not less than twice as lengthy on the right 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 a assure {that a} race plan that works for one finisher will work for one more.
Distribution of Cocodona 250 Mile Individuals by Ending Time, in Hours
The bar chart above types earlier ending instances into bins to indicate the distribution of ending instances, giving readers a way of how lengthy most individuals take to complete the occasion.
Whereas their ending instances could differ considerably, Cocodona 250 Mile finishers have quite a bit in widespread on the subject of 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 last sleep station.
Common Section Tempo amongst Cocodona 250 Mile Individuals, by Finisher Group
The road graph above reveals the typical tempo between help stations for every group of runners. These runner teams had been constructed by the writer to establish potential traits which 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 typically stay constant relative to one another over the course of the race — not less than till the ultimate miles.
Once 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 last 20 miles when the highest finishers maintained paces that recommend working or regular mountain 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, some of the 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 arduous 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 primarily based 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-about that to be a web common of half-hour per mile. In distinction, Bigfoot 200 Mile knowledge on Trackleaders.com calculated a mean tempo primarily based solely on the time runners had been transferring.
The typical tempo for 2023 finishers of the Bigfoot 200 Mile was 4.026 miles per hour (excluding time spent at help/sleep stations). The graph under reveals that almost all 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 general 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 reveals that runners who completed Bigfoot in underneath three days didn’t have considerably sooner common transferring paces than runners who completed the occasion in over 4 days. The typical miles per hour is just primarily based on runners’ transferring time. The time that runners spent in help stations just isn’t factored into this tempo.
The graph under corroborates this concept. The reside 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 help 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 help 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, soak up enough 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 could additionally enhance their odds of ending. That is the place every runner makes selections primarily based on their health, race objectives, and race-day expertise.
P.c of Time Spent Operating 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 reveals that runners who completed Bigfoot in underneath 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 essentially the most frequent. It reveals that almost all finishers spend not less than one-third of their time resting at help stations, and 23 of the finishers throughout the Tahoe 200 Mile and Bigfoot 200 Mile spent lower than 50% of their time transferring on the right track.
The bar graph above reveals the “Run/Relaxation Share” knowledge from the Trackleaders.com reside 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 obtainable. The graph reveals that solely two finishers of those occasions spent 81% or extra of their time transferring. Most different individuals spent vital time resting, a particular facet of pacing and managing fatigue in super-long races.
The Bigfoot 200 Mile reside monitoring system gives fascinating and doubtlessly helpful insights by distinguishing time spent on the course in comparison with time spent in help stations. The monitoring system categorised all time spent on-course as working, so it doesn’t distinguish between working, mountain climbing, or trail-side relaxation. Extra qualitative knowledge or deeper evaluation of particular person runners’ monitoring knowledge can be obligatory to know higher when and the way individuals regulate 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 received a few enjoyable ones for you!
- Cocodona 250 Mile finishers are likely to run at slower paces from the start, in comparison with different ultramarathon distances.
- Within the last 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 help 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 sort out these occasions. These insights could also be notably helpful for folks contemplating such an occasion or coaching for his or her first. For those who fall into that class, better of luck!
iRunFar’s Bryon Powell in a relaxation level after a full evening of sleep in the course of 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? If that’s the case, are you able to share any insights on pacing and relaxation methods?
- The writer, Mallory Richard, is a self-admitted fan of Aravaipa Operating’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. Have you learnt 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 solution to profitable the 2022 Cocodona 250 Mile. Picture courtesy of Joe McConaughy.