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Sports Performance of the Year? (Read 1283 times)

Purdey


Self anointed title

    Jamie Donaldson, 33, of Littleton, Colorado, set a women’s record today when she crossed the finish line of the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in 26:51:33, according to the race’s website. Donaldson bested the previous 27:56:47 women’s record. Personally I find her performance to be one of the greatest athletic feats of all time. She broke the women's record by over an hour (!) and came third to two men who were killing themselves trying to beat the men's record. Thoughts? I think I love her.

     

     

    JDF


    Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

      Jamie Donaldson, 33, of Littleton, Colorado, set a women’s record today when she crossed the finish line of the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in 26:51:33, according to the race’s website. Donaldson bested the previous 27:56:47 women’s record. Personally I find her performance to be one of the greatest athletic feats of all time. She broke the women's record by over an hour (!) and came third to two men who were killing themselves trying to beat the men's record. Thoughts? I think I love her.
      Yea that was an “OK” effort on her part. Wink I mean she did run from mile 90 to mile 122 in 5:18 at an average speed of 6.08 mph! However, I still think her most amazing feat this year was when she hit a 6:30 per mile pace after 84 miles of running on the hilliest part of the Umstead 100 just because she could! I was the only one who saw her do it so not many people realize how incredible that really is. She nearly took the lead(Male or Female) in the race after that surge! Here is the speed profile for that lap. Look at the speed just before mile 9 of that lap which was mile 84 of the race! She hit 6:30 for a brief part and then just held 8-8.5 mph for about 1 mile. http://tinyurl.com/6b7e7j I think “David”(Her husband) might have something to say about your lust for her. But yes she is definitely a one of a kind person! Just wait till next year when Jamie breaks 24 hours for the Badwater! That will be the sports all time greatest moment!
      JDF


      Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

        If you want to show your appreciation of what Jamie did then write to ESPN and nominate her for one of the ESPY athlete of the year awards!
          Kyle Skaggs' 23:23 at the Hardrock was pretty impressive too. He beat the 2nd place runner by 6 HOURS and lowered the course record by nearly 3 hours!
          JDF


          Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

            Kyle Skaggs' 23:23 at the Hardrock was pretty impressive too. He beat the 2nd place runner by 6 HOURS and lowered the course record by nearly 3 hours!
            Yea, honestly there have been some really impressive performances this year. How bout Bolt’s 100 meter world record, The marathon world record, The American mile record(Webb)……etc. However, I would be willing to bet that even the best marathon/mile/100 meter runners in the world could not finish the BadWater. I guarantee that Jamie can finish all of those events and she probably would only be about 30% slower than any of those people at their own event!
            Mishka-old log


              Sports performance of the year? Tough call. Depends on your perspective. I think some tennis fans would disagree. Apparently the greatest match of all time just happened a week or 2 ago. I don't know enough about tennis to say. Or about ultra running. I've only run a little over 26 miles at one time, so I can't even truly appreciate Jamie's performance, let alone evaluate it as a possible performance of the year. One other thought: Beijing '08
              Purdey


              Self anointed title

                Yea, honestly there have been some really impressive performances this year. How bout Bolt’s 100 meter world record, The marathon world record, The American mile record(Webb)……etc. However, I would be willing to bet that even the best marathon/mile/100 meter runners in the world could not finish the BadWater. I guarantee that Jamie can finish all of those events and she probably would only be about 30% slower than any of those people at their own event!
                I'll take that bet x 100. Are you seriously saying that you don't think the Kenyans and Ethiopians could finish Badwater? I disagree. What's more, I think that if the prize money in ultra events were to increase (or actually materialise - there is no prize money for Badwater) the Africans could decimate some of the standing records. Just sayin'

                 

                 


                Old, Slow, Happy

                  I think that if the prize money in ultra events were to increase (or actually materialise - there is no prize money for Badwater) the Africans could decimate some of the standing records. Just sayin'
                  Yep....Me too!
                  JakeKnight


                    I'll take that bet x 100. Are you seriously saying that you don't think the Kenyans and Ethiopians could finish Badwater?
                    Can I get in on that action, too?

                    E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
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                    Non ducor, duco.

                      Sports performance of the year? Tough call. Depends on your perspective. I think some tennis fans would disagree. One other thought: Beijing '08
                      Wimbledon wins for me hands down. Absolutely incredible match. You also can not forget Tiger's US Open win. Both were simply awesome. I hope Beijing has half the excitement of either of those events.
                        I don't think the current ultra stars would have a chance against any marathoners who finish in top 10 of majors such as London, New York, Chicgao, Berlin, Boston, etc. Actually I doubt if most of them could run with winners of 2nd tier events that are in won in under 2:20. Ann Trason, mutli world record holder at several ultra distances has a marathon PR of 2:39:15. The US women's qualifying standard is 2:39:15, which means there are lots of women in the US who can run that time. If you throw in the international stars such as the Africans, Japanese, and Paula Radcliffe it is really no contest. The Japanese women run 140-160 miles a week for months at a time and sometimes more. Al Salazar won the prestigious Comrades Ultra near the end of his career after he could no longer compete at the major marathon level. No doubt that ultra running takes a tremendous amount of grit and determination but I believe that "Sports Performance of the Year" would be a stretch even if you included only running.
                        Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33


                        Menace to Sobriety

                          Personally I find her performance to be one of the greatest athletic feats of all time. Thoughts? I think I love her.
                          Time will tell.....if ultra running continues to grow and she dominates for years, or no one ever comes close to her record, that position could change, but its a fairly young sport. I predict records, male and female, will fall like panties on prom night if and when the sport becomes more widespread. But 26 hours and 51 minutes???? Wow...I like to run, but I don't wanna do anything that feels GOOD for that long.

                          Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

                          JDF


                          Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

                            I don't think the current ultra stars would have a chance against any marathoners who finish in top 10 of majors such as London, New York, Chicgao, Berlin, Boston, etc. Actually I doubt if most of them could run with winners of 2nd tier events that are in won in under 2:20. Ann Trason, mutli world record holder at several ultra distances has a marathon PR of 2:39:15. The US women's qualifying standard is 2:39:15, which means there are lots of women in the US who can run that time. If you throw in the international stars such as the Africans, Japanese, and Paula Radcliffe it is really no contest. The Japanese women run 140-160 miles a week for months at a time and sometimes more. Al Salazar won the prestigious Comrades Ultra near the end of his career after he could no longer compete at the major marathon level. No doubt that ultra running takes a tremendous amount of grit and determination but I believe that "Sports Performance of the Year" would be a stretch even if you included only running.
                            No I definitely don’t think Jamie could hang with any Elite athlete at any distance under 100 miles. However, I do think that she could come within 30% of their time in any distance from 100 meters and up. She was a decent track athlete in college from what I hear and I have personally seen her speed. She is down right ferocious when she wants to be. As far as a marathon world record holder doing BadWater without specifically training for that race? I still say no way! Now I have never run anything over 26.2 so I am probably not a good judge of it. However, I have run with many ultra marathon runners including Jamie and I know what H$LL it puts their body through! The problem with a marathoner running BadWater would be that the marathoner would want to run it. They are used to running a whole race. They would probably take their pace way down to something like 7-8 minute miles and just cruise at that speed for 90 miles. Then they would absolutely blow up! Everybody who starts out FAST at BadWater ends up blowing up. Don’t trust me on that, go listen to Jamie’s and Dean’s finishing interviews. They say the same thing. Marathon runners wouldn’t have the “walking” training that BadWater participants have. Nobody runs the whole way. They stop and walk at the right times and hammer it at the right times. Remember, they climb up most of Mount Whitney at the end! You can’t hammer that! Several of the runners said that in their interviews. Also Jamie mentioned that she did six 200+ mpw and I am sure all of the rest were 150-200 mpw. Marathoners may do 150-180 but I can’t recall any that did six 200+ mpw! I can’t imagine a 200+ mpw week, can you? Most the great performances mentioned here so far have all been in sports that were too different to compare to what Jamie did. They were all great in their own context. However, as far as ultra marathon running goes, what Jamie did was unprecedented. Now if she breaks 24 hours next year then I will definitely say that she has done the impossible. Until I met her I did not believe a female could be capable of running BadWater in less than 24 hours. I would not be surprised to see her go for it in the coming years.
                              Travis, There is nothing that you said that in your response to my post that I would argue with. My iniitial reaction was to the "Sports Performance of the Year?" question but that would be an impossible choice anyway. One thing for sure is that what Jamie did was truly remarkable. I was surprised that she put in 200-mile training weeks too. And, no, I cannot begin to imagine it. That would be more than a marathon everyday!
                              Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33
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