Standing on the start line of a 6 day race is an intimidating thing. 6 days, or 144 hours, is a long time, and to think about running non stop for that length of time is something that a very small segment of runners will ever do.
To put things in perspective, in 6 days, most people will have worked 40 hours, eaten 18 meals, slept for 48 hours, still leaving them with another 47 hours for relaxing, going for a run, or hanging out with their family.
Alternatively if you wanted to compare a 6 day race to another type of marathon, you could watch Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings in their entirety, and still have time left over to watch the first 112 episodes of Friends, and you would just get to see Ross find out about Chandler and Monica as 6 days in the North was finishing.
144 hours is a lot of time for things to go right, but also a lot of time for things to go wrong. In the case of 6 days in the North, there was definitely some of both.
For a more details account from each of the 3 racers, you can check out their race reports here:
As the coach of all 3 races, there were a couple of interesting takeaways.
1) Experience vs Physical Capacity
The problem with long races is that you can only do a handful of them in a lifetime, so if something goes wrong, the experience you gain comes at a higher per race cost. Meaning, you can’t know what is going to go wrong until it goes wrong. You can only prepare the best you can, and Shep was prepared, and capable. The problem comes down to experience. After being forced to slow down due to a couple of body issues, Shep learned the importance of tacking issues when they first arise, and not letting them spiral out of control, this was the cost – he didn’t reach his goal. However, this is something he will be able to use in the preparations for his next big race. He will be able to extrapolate from this experience, and hopefully have a large enough range of experience and preparation to prepare for the full range of experiences that threaten to derail any 6-day effort.
As you grow the size of your experience you are able to handle larger and larger demands. And there is no doubt that this race had a larger set of demands than most 6-day races (namely days of torrential rain, and a bare bones crew due to COVID). But now that all three of the racers are armed with a larger breadth of experience they will be far more prepared to deal with the demands of future races.
2) The importance of Structural Tolerance
Because of the relatively low average pace required – performing well in a 6 day race is less about fitness, and more about resilience
As always, when analyzing a race performance I like to break it down into 4 main components: aerobic fitness, mental strength, structural tolerance, and nutrition. In a 6 day, as long as you can keep eating, and putting one foot in front of the other, you are moving forward and getting distance. 144 hours is a long time to do this, so if you manage to keep it up with minimal downtime you will do well in the race. In fact, the world record of 1036km currently held by Yiannis Kouros is only an average pace of 8:20/km. The other thing to keep in mind is that if you stop, the clock keeps running, so you need to factor in some time for sleeping, and dealing with any issues that pop up along the way, so the actual pace you run out on the track will have to be faster than your total race pace.
Although Keeley and Derek had not been training specifically for a 6 day race, both have a history of ultra distance running under their belts, and have both been focusing on strength and prehab for the last season. This has helped them keep their bodies strong, and this is what allowed them to go in to this race and complete all 6 days of competition with no major injuries (minor niggles here and there are unavoidable in a 6 day race). Derek’s longest run since the UTMB last year was 3 hours, yet he still managed an amazing 200 miles at 6 Days in the North!
With a strong foundation, you can do amazing things.
3) The different ways to look at success/failure
Going in to 6 Days in the North, Shep had a very defined goal (breaking the Canadian Record of 870km), and as it was both of their first 6 day races, Keeley and Derek, had less defined goals, and simply wanted to maximize the distance they covered, and be consistent for the whole race. Ultimately, all 3 runners wished they could have run farther, however not meeting a goal, or performing the way you had hoped for doesn’t have to be seen as a failure. As long as you learn and grow through the experience, it is a huge success, because this experience can fine tune your preparation for future races, and life in general.
I’m so impressed with how all 3 performed, and am excited to watch them build their experience before their next big races!
