Final 2016 Gunksrunner Ultra Rankings

Men's #1, and UROY, Jim Walmsley
photo: Geoff Baker

I'm still waiting on results from two races in mid-December to officially close out 2016, but I don't really expect either of them to substantively affect the standings, so here are the more-or-less final 2016 GUR.  As noted, I made some tweaks to the formula this year, placing a larger emphasis on level 4 and 5 races, which I think helped.  The question now is whether these races are a little over-valued.  I don't think they are.  Yes, performing well in only one or two level 5 races can really vault someone to a high ranking.  But, it should!  There were only ten level 5 events on the calendar this year; placing highly in one of them really should carry extra weight.  The biggest problem I think I have right now is accurately categorizing overseas races.  Several of them were level 5 this year: Comrades, obviously; UTMB; Laveredo; MDS.  Many others were also level 4, including Transvulcania, Transgrancanaria, Ultravasan, CCC, and several others.  But these races are taking on increased importance, particularly among the North American elites, and I need to be as methodical as possible about making sure these are accurately reflected.  I'm not willing to just accept that any race in Europe is automatically a level 5, as some folks would have you believe--every European field is not Western States, people!--but I need someone with a little more expertise to help out here.  Any volunteers? (Jason Schlarb, I'm looking in your direction.)  I may have to over-rank these races a little bit to account for the fact that the field strength multiplier will not be as robust as it should be (since the multiplier is dependent on the number of top-ranked runners in the race, and these rankings follow North American runners only, European and Asian fields will get some short shrift in this respect).

Otherwise, I'm happy with the balance that the rankings continue to strike between racing a lot and racing just a few big races.  There are certainly multiple runners on both the men's and women's side that obtained top rankings with varied racing schedules.  Some people are higher than I'd like to see them, some are lower.  That's OK, that's what UROY voting is for.

Twenty-seven of last year's top 50 women repeated in the top 50 this year, and twenty-two men did the same.  And allow me a brief moment of bragging to point out that yours truly managed to rank #94 for the year.  I don't know if that accurately reflects anything, really, but I'm kind of psyched about it.

Anyway, here's the final top 50 for 2016.  These runners will factor into the field strength multipliers for every race they run in 2017.  Nearly 4000 men and over 3500 women earned ranking points in 2016.  As always, you can view the entire list here, or anytime using the links on the Ultrarunning magazine site.  Use the CTRL-F function on the rankings sheets to find your own name.

	Men	State	Points	Women	State	Points
1	Jim Walmsley	AZ	254.125	Kaci Lickteig	NE	230.9
2	Brian Rusiecki	MA	181.1	Magdalena Boulet	CA	141
3	Ian Sharman	CA	148.5	Kathleen Cusick	FL	121.4
4	Andrew Miller	OR	145	YiOu Wang	CA	119
5	Zach Miller	CO	137.4	Courtney Dauwalter	CO	104.5
6	Dylan Bowman	CA	129.875	Amy Sproston	OR	100.5
7	Paul Terranova	TX	113.5	Caroline Boller	CA	98.3
8	Mark Hammond	UT	106.95	Devon Yanko	CA	93.2
9	David Roche	CA	101	Neela D'Souza	Canada	80
10	Christopher Dennucci	CA	100.725	Bethany Patterson	VA	79.3
11	Jeff Browning	OR	99.4	Cassie Scallon	CO	76.05
12	Alex Nichols	CO	97.375	Julie Koepke	TX	75.875
13	Hayden Hawkes	UT	95	Clare Gallagher	CO	75.8
14	Cody Reed	AZ	87.3	Sarah Keyes	NY	74.5
15	Jesse Haynes	CA	81.7	Alissa St. Laurent	Canada	72
16	Tim Tollefson	CA	73.1	Hillary Allen	CO	71.825
17	Michael Daigeaun	PA	68	Maggie Guterl	PA	71
18	Paddy O'Leary	CA	66.05	Amanda Basham	OR	70
19	Mario Mendoza	OR	65.9	Heather Hoechst	PA	68.75
20	Jason Lantz	PA	64.95	Nicole Kalogeropoulos	TX	68.6
21	Matt Flaherty	IN	64.85	Jodee Adams-Moore	WA	68.25
22	Jason Schlarb	CO	64.8	Kelly Wolf	AZ/CO	66.7
23	Kyle Pietari	MA	64.5	Sarah Schubert	VA	65.8
24	Sage Canaday	CO	63.75	Camille Herron	OK/MI	62.7
25	Michael Owen	OH	62.75	Corinne Malcolm	WA	60.25
26	Tim Freriks	AZ	62.125	Megan Roche	CA	60
27	Jorge Maravilla	CA	61.85	Laura Kline	NY	59.75
28	David Laney	CA	60.8	Keely Henninger	OR	59.725
29	Chris Mocko	CA	60.375	Sarah Bard	WA	59.3
30	Jared Burdick	NY	58.5	Aliza Lapierre	VT	59.25
31	Aaron Saft	NC	58.075	Darcy Piceu	CO	57.375
32	Ed Ettinghausen	CA	57.6	Sabrina Little	TX	54.5
33	Dakota Jones	CO	55.5	Anna Mae Flynn	CA	54.3
34	Tyler Sigl	WI	54.9	Megan Kimmel	CO	54
35	Zach Bitter	CA	54.5	Annie Jean	Canada	52.5
36	Dominick Layfield	UT	52.55	Megan Alvarado	VA	52.25
37	Jorge Pacheco	CA	52.2	Liz Bauer	SC	52
38	Mike Wardian	VA	50.95	Kaytlyn Gerbin	WA	51.875
39	Stephen Wassather	CA	49	Angela Shartel	CA	51.5
40	Brett Hornig	OR	45.4	Amy Rusiecki	MA	50.625
41	Chikara Omine	CA	45.35	Abby Rideout	UT	49.7
42	Masazumi Fujioka	WA	45.3	Pam Smith	OR	49.1
43	Chase Nowak	MN	45	Justyna Wilson	PA	49
44	Patrick Regan	GA	44.5	Beverly Anderson-Abbs	CA	49
45	Anthony Kunkel	CO	44.1	Erika Lindland	CA	48.8
46	Patrick Caron	MA	44	Leah Frost	VT	48
47	Ryan Bak	OR	44	Denise Bourassa	OR	47.425
48	Morgan Elliot	NC	43.2	Katalin Nagy	FL	46.8
49	Olivier Leblond	VA	43	Darla Askew	OR	46.6
50	Clark Messman	CA	42.5	Megan Digregorio	PA	45.4

Race Reports: Viking Run and RFTH

As part of the buildup for Rocky Raccoon, I recently ran two local, low-key races within a seven-day span.  Not that I particularly needed to race, per se, but both are fun events that I've enjoyed running in the past, and would provide two different training stimuli that I wanted heading into the final training push.  The training has actually been going quite well--averaging over 100 mi/wk for the past couple of months, including recovery weeks, with some good hill sessions, some longish marathon-paced running, and a couple of good long runs (particularly a 40-miler with Phil and Laura that despite the arctic conditions went quite well).  I've had a few little aches and pains, but with help from Greg and Scott I've been staying (mostly) on top of things.

Pre-Viking Run selfie, with obligatory hat.

First up in this little racing mini-block was the Viking Run, a very low-key 10K in Rosendale, about 10 miles from my house.  This race has been going on for much longer than I know; when I moved to the area in 2004, it was already a staple of the local scene.  It's generally held on the weekend before Christmas and New Year's; the 2016 edition took place on New Year's Eve.  We're often out of town during this vacation week, but I like to run this race if I'm around; this was my fourth or fifth time running it, but the first since 2014.  Generally, I can run up front if no fast young guys show up, which was the case this year.  I showed up after an overnight shift at the tail end of a 100-mile week, hoping to break 40 minutes, which on this course, which features over 1000 feet of climbing, is actually a pretty good effort.

I started off at the front and immediately opened up a small gap of about 10-15 seconds during the first mostly flat mile.  Tim Kosteczko, a local runner who's been putting in some good training recently, was hanging tough in the early going, but I was pretty sure that once the climbing started I'd be able to pull away.  We hit the first hill just past the mile mark and proceeded to climb for the next 10+ minutes; by the time I reached the top I couldn't see Tim behind me.  The course then drops precipitously for about a mile, turns around, and retraces its way back to the start.  I had a two-minute lead at the turn and knew I was pretty safe in terms of the win, but continued trying to push myself for the sub-40.  The return climb is absolutely brutal, and I struggled near the top, but was able to recover quickly on the way back down and hold on for a 38:55 and a three-minute victory margin.  This year, for the first time, local running nut Chris Regan had awards made for the race, and I wound up taking home a pretty cool viking horn trophy, out of which I imbibed a few that evening.

Cool! Thanks, Chris.

One week later, finishing a 120-mile training week, I returned for the fourth time to the Recover From the Holidays 50K, another low-key local event that I love to use as a workout/tuneup if I'm running a big race in the middle of the winter (which I usually am).  RFTH is a fat-ass race comprised of ten laps of a paved 5K out-and-back circuit.  This was actually the 21st running of this event, which is mostly used as a training run for local distance runners; RDs Pete Colaizzo and Charlie Sprauer will let anyone show up and run as many or as few laps as they like.  Most folks will run their 10-15 mile long run for the day and sit around the bonfire eating pizza with Pete and Charlie afterwards, but each year about 10-20 folks will battle the cold (and wind, and usually snow flurries) for the full ultra.  There are no awards, but it's free, as is the pizza, so you can't beat that price.

I'm on an odd-year-only streak with RFTH.  It's a race I've tried to do every year, but in the even years, something seems to get in the way.  (Last year it was Bandera.)  Still, I had secured wins in 2011, 2013, and 2015, and while it's certainly a casual event, 2017 marked my chance to become the first four-time winner of the race.  Among a champions' lineup that includes US national team members (Byron Lane) and American record holders (Sabrina Little), that would be a pretty cool deal.

Despite the recent heavy training volume, my legs have been feeling pretty good, and my goal was to run a relaxed but steady tempo of about 22:30/lap--right around 7:30 pace--shooting for a 3:45.  I figured my current fitness level would allow me to run that pace without too much difficulty and without sacrificing the last few weeks of my Rocky Raccoon training.  My friend and training partner Brian Hickey, who has won this race twice himself, was joining me there, but was aiming for 8:00/mile pace, so unfortunately it looked as though I'd be on my own.

Rolling along at RFTH
photo: Charlotte Kopp

We started off on a frigid 19 degree morning and I immediately opened up a small lead on Brian and the rest of the pack.  I struggled through the first lap just trying to warm up; my toes were completely numb and my teeth were chattering through the early stages.  I ran the first lap in exactly 22:30 and was already over a minute in front.  About halfway through lap two I finally felt as though I had warmed up and was able to settle into a comfortable rhythm of right around 22:00/lap.  As I clicked off the miles, everything felt rather comfortable.  I didn't quite have my climbing legs, but I was able to power through the hills, as they are relatively short, and was really able to hold a nice, quick tempo on the flats.  I passed 15K in 66:30, halfway in 1:50:15, and 30K in 2:12:35.  Starting at about lap three, I checked the port-a-potty each time past the start/finish, but couldn't catch a window when it was open; finally, after reaching 35K in 2:34:50, I stopped and waiting until it opened up.  Finishing my business, I started lap eight at 2:36:55, cruised through 40K in 2:57 and the marathon in right around 3:06.  Finishing up lap nine in 3:18:30, and still feeling very relaxed, I decided to push the final lap slightly to see if I could break 3:40.  It did take a little more effort over the final circuit, but I was able to run my fastest lap at the end and finish up in 3:39:20, my second-fastest time on the course (after a 3:32 in 2013) and ninth-fastest all time.  My final 15K was my fastest three laps of the day, covering that stretch in 63:30 (6:50 pace).  All in all, a great confidence boost heading into the final buildup to Rocky.

I'll have a couple of brief posts coming in the next couple of weeks prior to RR100, and hopefully a good writeup following it.  After that the blog may have to go quiet for a few weeks.  I'm finishing up classwork this spring while simultaneously starting a new work project and writing a scientific paper that needs to be finishes by mid-March, so things are going to get pretty hairy in there for a little while.

Why Economy Matters

I'm currently working towards a post-graduate certification in exercise science from California University (go Vulcans!) and so I've been doing a fair bit of reading in recent weeks.  Not all of my studies have been terribly applicable to distance running, but I've been able to glean some pearls.  I've experienced a renewed appreciation of the importance of strength and core training, for example.  And while I'm becoming more comfortable with the concepts of VO2max and lactate threshold, which are the mainstays of scientific inquiry into endurance athletes and their training, I'm beginning to think that the less-discussed parameter of running economy may actually be the most important physiologic variable, particularly in the ultra world.

A quick primer, for those who may not be familiar with some of these terms.  Most athletes who have been tested in a lab will have a general sense of their VO2max and lactate threshold.  VO2max refers to the maximum uptake of oxygen by muscles that are exercising at peak intensity.  Running performance is dependent upon a wide variety of factors--the ability of the system to remove lactate, buffer excess acid, and dissipate heat, as well as various neuromuscular and biomechanical considerations--but at its most basic level, endurance performance is governed by the ability of the cardiopulmonary system to distribute oxygen to the skeletal muscles, and on the ability of the muscles to most effectively and efficiently utilize that oxygen.  These crucial components--oxygen delivery and oxygen utilization--are encompassed by the VO2max.  

The lactate threshold (LT) is the exercise intensity beyond which lactate production begins to outstrip lactate clearance.  This is an important determinant of running performance, as it represents the highest intensity that can be maintained over a long period of time.  The higher the LT, the faster an athlete can run without accumulating significant amounts of lactate, which will lead to fatigue.  (This is a fairly simplified explanation, but it will serve the purposes of this rather unscientific blog post.)

OK, then, what's running economy?  Running economy (RE) refers to the muscular uptake of oxygen while running at a sustained, non-maximal pace. It is a measure of how efficient an athlete is when running at "steady-state"; one could think of RE as the VO2sub-max.  Or, compare it to a car: if VO2max is the size of the car's engine, RE is the gas mileage. 

When you think of RE in this way, it becomes clear why it is such a crucial aspect of endurance performance.  While VO2max holds an important key to an athlete's potential, the runner who demonstrates better running economy will be able to perform at a higher relative percentage of her VO2max without fatiguing.  In a marathon or ultra, which takes place at intensities far below maximum effort (unless you're Zach Miller, apparently),


the ability to maintain a higher relative intensity with less effort and less fatigue is going to carry the day.  This is especially true at the upper echelons of the sport, where a relatively high VO2max is basically a requirement for entry.  Yes, there are outliers, and if you're lucky enough to be Killian (reportedly, a VO2max of 89.5 mg/kg/min, one of the highest ever recorded) or Pre (supposedly a VO2max of 85 mg/kg/min), maybe RE becomes less important.  But for the most part, an elite marathoner or ultrarunner will have a VO2max in the high 70s.  So if everyone starts in this relatively rarefied air, economy may become the determining factor in performance.

Put it this way: taken together, VO2max, LT, and RE account for 70% of inter-runner variance in performance.  If whatever contribution VO2max makes to that 70% is basically negated because all of your competitors have that same contribution, the other factors take on outsized importance.

You millennials out there on the interwebs may not know the guy in the picture to start this post.  That's Frank Shorter, winning the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic marathon in Munich.  (He was robbed of a repeat gold in 1976 by Waldemar Cierpinski, a product of the East German doping machine.)  Shorter is notable in this discussion for having a relatively pedestrian VO2max of about 70 mg/kg/min, but he compensated for this by being incredibly efficient--in fact, his RE values compared favorably with most elite East African runners, which helps explain his fantastic success despite having a "normal" VO2max.

So how do you improve your running economy?  Well...we're not 100% sure, although it certainly appears to be modifiable in some ways.  Part of the problem is that RE is determined not just by cardiovascular factors (VO2max) or metabolic factors (LT) or neuromuscular factors, but encompasses all of these and others.  So it can be hard to tease out the effects of various types of training on RE, independent of their effects on the various physiologic systems in play.  Another problem is that RE is, at least in part, dependent on anthropometric/body composition characteristics.  (Not just being lighter, but having long legs relative to torso length, with thinner ankles and calves relative to the quadriceps, which imparts a biomechanical advantage, and which you can't really do anything about.)

The good news is that there is some evidence that almost any kind of training has a positive effect on RE.  Indeed, there is some suggestion that simply cumulative mileage over many years leads to enhanced economy.  (Although on the flip side, RE decreases with age, likely due to a reduction in the ability to store and use elastic energy...it gets complicated pretty quickly.) And interval (VO2max) training, LT training, and resistance training have all been shown in various studies to improve RE, though the relative benefits of training at various intensities remain unclear.  Resistance training has demonstrated positive effects on RE, although again, we have yet to define the optimal method by which this takes place.

So, your take-home points:

1. when you go to your friendly exercise physiologist for an assessment, ask about your RE, not just your VO2max and lactate threshold
2. include various intensities in your training to improve RE via multiple pathways
3. don't neglect strength training; not only has it been shown most definitively to improve RE, but it will help keep you injury-free
4. Zach Miller is a fucking animal

If you're interested in this stuff, and want to read a much more coherent explanation of these variables than I can provide, try this post from the inimitable Ross Tucker.

And just a reminder to cast a vote for your friendly neighborhood Blogger of the Year.