Chumming

 In 2008, Tom Bunk at 66.5+ years old ran the Ice Age 50 mile in 8:35 and change.  That’s a 10:20 pace and the age group record.  Now that I’m 64, it really is an exemplary time that’s hard to get your head around.  My last 6 trail 50 milers on 3 different WI courses were between 11:02 and 11:57.  And that’s been a few years ago.

Most locals knew Tom.  I certainly learned a lot from him.  What secret sauce did he have?  Tom’s training seemed simple.  Almost everything was run on the trails and he ran long every Saturday.  Not to mis lead anyone, Tom routinely put the coals to it the last half.

Just thinking about it, I think Tom and a few others (Clem certainly is at the top of this list) seemed to have shortened the conversion pace per mile from roads to trails.  I’m thinking as much as 50% better than good runners, not the Girl Scouts.  

My only clue to this is Tom’s theory was your Ice Age time should be 2 x your current marathon time plus one hour.  This was never close for me, but it worked for him.  I was more of an add 1:35.

Look at Clem. 2:32 times 2 is 5:04 plus 1:00 is 6:04.  He ran just under 6:00.  That’s insane.

4.0 today @ 11:44 pace.