The Don Padfield Project

For some Virginia trail runners, and those associated with the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club, you might know who Don Padfield is. Don had run well at some of my earliest ultras, and was actually considered one of the fast guys in the VHTRC. He often ran and trained with Keith Knipling and other local trail studs. A few years later, I noticed I was beginning to run very similar times to what he had been doing just a few years earlier. In fact, we have actually run the same ultras within 5-10 minutes of eachother's times. Honestly, I hardly knew the guy, yet a single race report he did for the 2007 Hellgate 100k really solidified that he and I were cut of similar molds.

In his 2007 Hellgate report he makes the following statement.

"I have been running ultras for a little over four years and in that time have placed either in the top 10 or top 10% in nearly every race. I have been very happy with this “success” but have always looked at the race results and thought, how is it that the top runner beat me by 45 minutes or 2 hours or some other incredible amount of time? What did it take to run that much faster? "

I would say that I am basically at a similar point in my running career where I am wondering the same things. For reference sake, Don's intention was to WIN the 2007 Hellgate 100k, but he ultimately dropped late in the race after being in 2nd and 3rd place all day. His intense training leading up to Hellgate, however, carried over and 2008 ended up being one of his most successful years of running, which he capped off with an impressive 3rd place 12:22 at Hellgate.

2010 was actually the year I trained the hardest I ever have, and it was by all means a very successful year of running. I finished with a few top 3's at some larger ultras, in addition to some other top 10's. Yet, even with all the extra work, I found myself rethinking the same Don Padfield quote. Even in the 50k's where I finished 3rd, I was still anywhere from 25-40 minutes behind the overall winner. In the 50 mile races the gap grew to nearly 2 hours, and in 100's sometimes 5-10 hours.

In the last year, or so, I have figured out that I run about 2 minutes per mile slower than the elites. This figure balloons in 100 mile races since the slowing of my pace in the later miles is tied to endurance, as opposed to speed. But, if you do the math it's pretty accurate at most distance between a marathon and 50 miles.

Marathon: I am probably capable of something around 3:05-3:10 if I soley focused on road running. So, having the winners come in 2 minutes per mile faster looks like a 2:15. Spot on.

50k: If I can run a "flatter" 50k in 4:30, it probably means the winners will be finishing in 3:30.

50 miles: The last 50 miler I ran was in 7:35, and the winner was 5:52. I was 103 minutes behind, so once again almost exactly two minutes per mile slower.

So, just like Don, I am wondering just how much faster can I get? I very much believe I am still getting faster, stronger, and smarter as an athlete. As a late bloomer in the world of running, it is kind of nice knowing that you still have ample room for improvement. Looking at the ages of some of the more dominant runners, it is safe to say that late 20's to mid 30's is the peek time for distance runners. This means the next few years could hold the most potential. My goal is to try and cut into that massive gap between myself and the fast folks and see how close I can get. Or, at least, as close as an average Joe like me can get.

I've always approached running from an underdog's perspective. I am not a fast runner. I have never broken 21 minutes for a 5k, my half marathon PR is a 1:42, and I have never run faster than 3:30 for a marathon. Lastly, my VO2 max is 52. Maybe this is a surprise to you? Yet, somehow, I am finishing ultras with folks with sub 18 minute 5k's and countless sub 3 hour marathon finishes. So, what is it that has made me disproportionately "faster" at long distance events? Perhaps that's a topic for another day :-)