2024 Supported14er Speed Record- Francis

[seannunn]

Top level mountain runners are very fast for 1-5 mountains, but that is a different world than stringing together 58. Kind of like the difference between the world's best 10K runner vs. the world's best 100 mile runner.
Edit add: I saw a top level mountain runner on a 14er about 10 years ago (name is failing me now). He was wearing short running shorts, socks, and shoes. Nothing else. He was holding one water bottle. Nothing else. Moving crazy fast. I remember someone commenting that he could probably smash the 14ers FKT, but to my knowledge he never made an attempt. Wish I could remember his name; it sucks getting old.

Sean Nunn

I have to push back on your statement about top level mountain runners being fast for 1-5 mountains. Yes and no. Andrew and Andrea are proficient through technical terrain and they move deliberately with consistency. Not sure if Andrew would consider himself fast but Andrea holds the Nolans record. Shes fast AF.

But I digress. Mountain fitness for performance over time and distance is a conglomeration of variables. Aerobic threshold (floor), anaerobic threshold (ceiling), economy, durability, stamina, strength, power, top end speed, and there are more.

Maybe by “top level mountain runners” you just mean mountain runners who excel at top end speed and anaerobic threshold but not stamina and durability? Not that the two are mutually exclusive. I consider myself a decent mountain runner but I’m much better at economy, durability and stamina than I am at going remarkably fast over only a small handful of mountains. Erin Ton is fast but she has also demonstrated the ability to do multi-day linkups.

Running down mountain trails instead of hiking down them saves a lot of time. And a decent mountain runner can maintain doing that for days on end.

What I think sets A2 apart is their ability to dig deep and function proficiently with a massive sleep debt. It’s incredible.

I didn't say that someone couldn't NECESSARILY be both. I think it is pretty rare though. In the human gene pool, there are people who are genetically primed and maximally adapted to achieve in virtually any time window, from a second or so (world class weightlifters and shot putters) to many days (A&A, 6 day racers, the guy who did 50 Ironman tri's in 50 days, etc.) My experience is that you can stray a little ways from your area of greatest ultimate potential, but not too far. A world class 200m runner in track might be able to move up to the 400m and become successful, but he will never be world class in the 5000m. The reverse is also true. This pattern may break down beyond several hours, where you are in the aerobic zone virtually 100% of the time. But then again, the world records for 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours are all held by A. Sorokin, but he does not hold the WR for 50 miles, nor for 48 hours nor 6 days. Those are held by Y. Kouros, who was maximally adapted for a different set of events.

Certainly we all agree on the central contention: A & A are truly amazing endurance athletes and amazing people. And your point about living on very little sleep and still being able to make good decisions is well taken.

Sean Nunn