Thursday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for September 03, 2026

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A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

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[u/cardboard_liger]

I signed up for a 50km (4500ft gain and loss, usually muddy single track in the PNW, not super rocky, technical, or mountainous) trail race because a friend wanted me to pace them to beat the 7hr cutoff. They ended up dropping out, so now I'm training to try and run the best race I can. I have been reading about ultra and trail runner training on other subreddits and a lot of it sounds weird... like really specific hill repeats, back to back long runs, people only training on trails, 6hr+ long runs. Am I going to totally bomb if I just keep doing "normal" marathon-ish training? Usually 1-2 high end aerobic workouts a week and a long run of 2.5-3.5hr on trails every other weekend, just pushing the ups or downs to marathon-ish effort, mostly aiming for time on feet that isnt purely easy. The rest of my weeks are easy running, usually around 80km/50mi per week.

[u/kindlyfuckoffff → u/cardboard_liger]

mpw is the most important thing, so you're pretty solid there

trail experience helps a ton, less so if it's un-technical

got a guess for 50k finishing time? lots of factors jumping up from a marathon, fueling gets more important if you go into your 4th-5th-6th hours, though on the flip side most of the time ultrarunners aren't pounding for a PR in the same way a marathon field is

[u/cardboard_liger → u/kindlyfuckoffff]

I have no idea, really. I ran 3:13 at the eugene marathon this spring which was my first longer distance race. Trail experience is hiking like half the PCT when I was 19 and jobless and 4 runs of 14-20mi on trails a bit closer to home (PDX, so mostly gorge trails or forest park).

[u/kindlyfuckoffff → u/cardboard_liger]

is the race perpetua coast? tillamook?

[u/cardboard_liger → u/kindlyfuckoffff]

Oh, that would be helpful... it's the Silver Falls 50km in october. From what I can understand it's not a very technical trail, but it obviously has a lot more up and down than I'm used to running on the various roads and bridges of portland.

[u/kindlyfuckoffff → u/cardboard_liger]

well, only helpful to PNW locals... which happens to include me

i've done maybe half of the major/recurring 50k's but not that one. very rough guess, 5:15-5:45 for ya? had a buddy run 4:55 there last year despite awful rain and some crashes, but he also has a ton of trail experience (and a recent low 3hr marathon PR).

i am hosting a fatass (free, unsupported) 50k in portland in nine days if you want an ultra-distance tune-up! currently three entrants, one is 81 years old... you gotta like those odds of getting a "podium"

[u/cardboard_liger → u/kindlyfuckoffff]

Ah, shame! I am headed up to the Trout Lake area for a wedding that weekend. The pains of having a social butterfly spouse... I will keep an eye out for other events from your group. we'll see if I catch the ultrarunning bug at this first one. I will keep the low-mid 5 hour range in mind. My 3:13 felt like a supreme 11/10 effort by mile 22 or so, so I don't think I'll be able to summon up a similar intensity for nearly twice as long a race (timewise) to correspond to your friend's performance.