Kilian Jornet 24 Hour Track Attempt Post Event Analysis (2020) by Sage Canaday 

I think the record holder Yanis deserves a video. One thing i liked about this event is to shed light on this forgotten athlete who achieved insane limit.

What you, Kilian, and the other elite runners are able to do just blows my mind. Thanks for your awesome content.

That's exactly the point!Kilian not specialised on anything(surface or distance),still He is there everywhere the best. He mentioned many times He is not considering Himself as a runner. Just an outdoor enthusiast. Good for Him,he is not afraid to "fail" and push himself to the limit. We all should be like Him, just a little bit stronger than our excuses 🙏 Good job Sage as always!

Always nice to hear from am Elite Runner like Sage who knows what he's talking about. Kudos to Killian!!

Even though he's got twice my vo2max, I find Kilian inspiring. Always ready to try new challenges

Insightful analysis. A very nice review and, as Sage said, "Kudos to Kilian for getting out of his comfort zone."

For me, I think it just points out how absurdly good Kouros' record is. The greatest ultra runner of the current era couldnt even get close. Imagine what Kouros would have achieved if he was running with today's tech and knowledge!

Ehi Sage i listened every single word of this analysis and on my esperience i totally agree 101% on what you said especially on the tough transition between the 2 different "sport". You are so clever and very skilled on running and i think as well as you that kilian did a challenge above his actual capabilities

I always appreciate your thinking! Thanks Sage.

I really wonder how much influence Salomon had in Killian's "attempt" at the 24hr WR on the track. It really seemed that this came out of left field all of a sudden for Killian to make this attempt. The cards were highly stacked against Killian this time as 1: Flat Ultras are not his specialty 2: This was done in less than favorable weather conditions. 3: To my knowledge, his window of training for this attempt was small and included a 10k road race for trying to set a WR?? Knowing Killian's past FKT's and his success in obtaining them, he is not one to go into such a feat blindly and without the proper training to gain the confidence to successfully achieve his goal. This is what makes me question his motive for trying this stunt? It is one thing for Killian to say that he wants to try and see how far he can run in a 24hr period on a track but to officially say he was going to go after the 24 hour world record for an event that even he must have known was not within his reach seems like there might have been outside influences really pushing Killian to try this. I guess I would wonder the same thing about Yiannis if he ever decided to go after Killian's Everest FKT. Mad respect to Killian as he never fails to amaze me with his "mountainous" adventures and feats.

Always humble, thoughtful comments. Thanks Sage!

10 hours running his mile pace under 7 mins, still insane pace. Crazy.

Great Analysis Sage, thanks a lot for your useful comments to all of us runners, a Big hug from 🇨🇱

I think his mountaineering accomplishments, especially in extreme altitude, really show what Kilian truly excels at, even more so then his trial races. Seeing him doing road races was for sure interesting, but I hope we will see him focus more on mountaineering in the future.

It was very strange to race in such cold and dark condition.

I was very skeptical before the event, because of Kilian's lack of preparation. However, when I started the 24 h binge-watching, this changed. I was still worried, but because of the cold, not because of Kilian. Clothe layers are heavy and cause chaffing. But Kilian's form was a delight to see. By far the best in the field. Now, OK, he had to DNF. But he still scored a PB at 100K and 12h (despite stopping way before that). So, I'd count these as wins. Sebastian (Conrad is his family name) scored Norwegian PBs at 100K, 12H and 100M. I would also count those as wins for the event. In conclusion, yes, this was a publicity stunt. Yes, the conditions and place were pretty silly. But this was a significant event nonetheless. We did not see a world record on 24h, but I do not think many expected it. However, I am not so sure we will not see it soon. People behind are not that far. When you see what those 6 guys could do at -5 deg C, without light and minimal support, you can only dream. They did not even have a portable toilet near the track for f... sake. They were forced to run to a nearby building, go through doors, etc.

Zach Bitter got his record on an indoor track in Canada. Very controlled conditions. Camille Herron got at least one of her records on an outdoor track in Arizona in December. It got cold at night, but no where near the harsh conditions of Norway.

Good recap Sage. I didn't see it. Do you think Kilian could train and come back to achieve the 24hr track record ? We would like to see Sage Canaday have a go at it too !

Really hope Killian will give another attempt, maybe next spring, with more light, maybe around 10 degrees? I think running in the dark is also a little bit depressing... i've been living in Finland for the past 9 years. I totally got used to cold, so i can understand for Killian running with 0 degrees is normal, but the darkness is something i never got used.

Very nice analysis. The running economy breakdown (12:10) really makes sense. Also watching Kilian run made me notice the similarities between your's (Sage) and his running styles. What are your thoughts on how hard the rubber track may have been due to the sub-freezing temps?

Kouros has done this a dozen times with better results...I mean, I feel like Jornet bit on way more than he could chew.

In Australia many of the major ultras have 100 miles as the top distance.

What do you think about starting (24 hours long run) at the afternoon/evening...? The period of time when you have more energy you run in the dark...

16 hours of darkness. They did salt the track as well.

Great analysis! Thanks for the video!

you can leave him in the dust sage, no doubt about it.

Hey!! Sage got running economy correct. Still a little confused on efficiency/economy but he's getting there!!

What a great video, thanks for this awesome content!

Thank you for this very good analysis !

Good video, great analysis.

Jim Wamsley has a very good chance of challenging the record if he does everything right, Im sure he can! I was always impressed with Scott Jurek in the day, his time for the Spartathlon, one of three wins there remains the second or third fastest time for a competitor after Yannis! Not to mention his two wins and a record at Badwater!

Ultra running is about running long distances. If you like mountain running long distances then you are a mountain runner before you are an ultra runner.

The event was quite nonsense anyway: ask the best mountain runner to run 800 laps in such a freezing weather, snow on track and darkness after 4 pm.

There were a number of things that weren't ideal that will have negatively impacted the attempt. If Kilian had a blank page of paper and was setting up the event from scratch, i reckon he would definitely have done things differently. Whether or not he has the capacity to break the record is another question entirely. Probably be more likely to be broken by someone coming from long track or road racing background and really putting a focus in to the 24hr event over a period of time.

Desert Solstice 2020! It's not too late and I'm sure Jamil would love to have you hehe

Kilian needs to focus for 2-3 years on the flat/track if he wants to come close to the record. He certainly has amazing physiology but he needs to develop the specific adaptations that come with running on the flat. Nevertheless, I truly appreciate Kilian for taking risks like this and challenging himself in new ways.

Interesting...his Specific efficiency effort is wasted some on a track....he gave it a go! I do know that there was at least one change of shoes and the track must have been a challenge perhaps in a variety of ways.

I think it is great that Kilian was brave enough to give this record a shot but frankly I think that he did not understand how specialised this event is and how much training will be needed to take the record -- even for someone as extrodinary as Kilian. You can't expect to do well at 10km and then expect to take the 24hr record when the events are so close. I hope he takes this setback in a positive way and maybe tries again. But he'll need to take it a lot more seriously next time.

Kudos for the Teddy quote

Sponsors need to lay out a 24 hour scenic distance path instead of a track.

How would someone like Kipchoge do in such an event?

Kilian is not in his best shape currently and had several injuries that didn't help. It's a crazy challenge and so cold not easy

Can you explain why you think it is easier to transition from racing from flat road to mountain racing? I thought the opposite is true

Kilian simply went out too fast. He did two training runs on the track of 50 miles and 30+ miles. He did both of those at 6:47 pace. No way he is running that pace for 188 miles. I would have suggested 7:20 pace for first 12 hours. That would have been 98 miles for the first half and another 90 the last half. (8:00 pace) As for Kouros, I thought it very poor taste to accuse shoe doping even before the race started. Besides, the phantasm isn't even a carbon plated shoe and is basically just a very light weight RACING shoe. Not ideal to run 24 hours in.

The comment stream during the attempt was filled with alot more trolling than I had expected. I didnt think he would get it first try, just like he didnt get WS100 first try. There, the heat and style of racing was much different than he was used to but he went and buckled down and did some really specific WS training and came back and won. You make some good points about him being geared more towards being a mountain athlete than track and some physiological differences may make actually breaking this record very difficult. However, I think its still really cool, even if attached to the release of a new shoe, thats hes trying it. Im all about getting people to be more fit, and if I knocked him for doing publicity stunts then Id be a hypocrite. I got into running after reading Dean Karnazes book Ultramarathon Man, and Dean is almost the king of doing publicity stunt ultra type runs...to the purists and insiders in the community its annoying because you take attention away from the pure athletic competitive endeavors, but to the lay person who has never and will have never heard of those endeavors, its the publicity stunts that bring in new interest. If he brings one single non-runner couch potato off the couch and gets them into running for his efforts, then to me its all worth it. Not to mention the dedication to go way outside your comfort zone to push yourself in new ways

The distance and time is still outstanding, still very difficult.

Kouros could easily run 10K as fast at his young days. Just have a look at his times... 100 miles Road 11h 46min 37s 13.665 km/h (8.491 mph) 1,000 km Track 5d 16h 17min 00s 7.338 km/h (4.560 mph) 1,000 km Road 5d 20h 13min 40s 7.131 km/h (4.431 mph) 1,000 miles Road 10d 10h 30min 36s 6.424 km/h (3.992 mph) I mean he could run 100 miles at 13.665km/h pace ... I have seen him training at a pace faster than more 10K runners run a race.

Can anyone explain to me why Salomon said he'd retired from dizziness rather than chest pain?

I'd have chest pains at the thoughts of going around in a circle for even more than a 10k. I don't even see the accolade around doing this, its pure boring.

That guy definitely have the endurance. It could be the air is too dry for him. In his younger year he used to run 100 mile a day for 7 straight days if recall correctly. It just Yannis record is just inhuman. Imagine he build his house next to the graveyard, he pour perfume to his mustache & say it gave him endurance..

It looks like the winner was wearing Nike Next Percent. Too bad Solomon

I think Salomon should have continued the live-stream even after Kilian's DNF.

Why do you have to keep bashing the 100 mile distance? USA isn’t on the metric system. Never will be.

Killian's Western States attempt one, Kipo's 2 HR mrara attempt one .... These guys don't always get it first time.

He was in over his head. Hopefully next time he train better. And be in better climate far as weather

Didn't Killian run the US Olympic Trials?

Seems like Kilian isn’t really a runner but more of a power hiker

first