“Do you run solo, with a teammate or in a pack?” was written by Ultramaratonistas Mel Gosse & Jon Sinclair. Mel & Jon are sponsored by ATRA corporate member Xero Shoes.
When it comes to any race 5km or longer, there will often be a “lead pack”, couples doing it together as a relationship builder, usually a few work groups participating in a corporate challenge, and yes plenty of lone rangers trying to set a new PR, or just finish their first race. Frankly, everyone wins in the end; we all moved our bodies, got some fresh air and feel the electrifying energy that races possess. But is one way better than the other?
We are Ultra Mel and Jon, a pair of ultra runners who took up the sport three years ago and have used it as a medium to expand our horizons and inspire others whenever we can. The two of us start every race together, weather the storm together, and cross the finish line together. Now we’re not going to try and push our style on anyone, but we had an interesting conversation on the topic of why we run together and how that affects each of us as individual runners. So we thought we could share it with you here. We’d love to have you weigh in and share your thoughts or experiences!
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Mel
How would other people in our races describe us?
Jon
I don’t know how they do it? They look about 14, wear thin little sandals (we run in Xero Shoes), carry about half as much gear/food as the rest of us, stop for pictures all the time, and both have huge smiles on their faces whenever I see them.
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Jon
How many races have we ran together now??
Mel
Yokes! Lots. From the first one you made me run (a marathon up a mountain… sounds like a great place to start!) to our latest ultra in Ontario, I think we are at lucky number 11. Doesn’t seem like to many, but when we bounce from Costa Rica, to Madagascar, to British Columbia….each race seems that much “bigger”.
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Jon
What do you think are the biggest benefits of running in a group or with a partner?
Mel
Running in my mind is meant to be a social sport. There are definitely times that I use running as a de-stressor or meditative practice and I love going out by myself. But running with someone has big benefits too.
Ultras can get lonely. When you are out on a trail for 12 + hours, it get’s lonely and quiet pretty fast. Having someone there to keep you company is such a good treat. Which leads me into the next one.
1) Sense of safety: This is a big one for me. Running through some places as a smaller female has scared me to be honest. I like to think I am wonder woman and could take anyone or anything, but really, I know that’s not true. Also, if you get injured, another person knows right away and can help or run to get help.
2) No crew required: Having each other means we don’t need people waiting at every check point for us. Sure, sometimes it would be nice when we are both in pain, however, we have a ‘crew’ 24/7 in the race which is leaps and bounds of more value than one time hits. We keep each other accountable on calories and keep each other in check mentally. You have numerous times save my butt by getting electrolytes and calories into me!
3) You push each other: We both know we are competitive with each other. Sometimes this leads into hiccups but other times it helps us push our limits. Seeing your partner take off up a hill makes your legs automatically start pumping harder.
4) Double the eyes to watch out for flags: Seem small but when you get lost in an ultra, it totally stinks!
5) You have some one to witness your embarrassing moments! Whether that’s face planting while trying to run and take a picture or slipping butt first down a muddy riverbank… there’s someone to witness it and you know it wasn’t all for nothing, at least someone got a laugh out of it!
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Mel
Good cop, bad cop. What are the cons to running with a group or partner?
Jon
Twice as many things to slow you down! Twice as many pee breaks, twice as many untied sandals or shoelaces, and twice the chance of hitting a wall and having to drop the pace.
The small things never really matter, it’s rare we miss the podium by 30 second, and if I didn’t have to stop for you to run into the bush I would have won! Haha. But there have been times when you’ve fallen behind on calories when I told you to eat, or told you to bring more water to deal with the afternoon heat and you thought you’d be fine. Those times can be tough mentally sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things I always remember why I’m out there, to have a good time, get out into nature, meet new people, and spend time with you!
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Jon
Have you ever been distracted or gotten caught up in the pack mentality, when everyone takes off, so do you?
Mel
Yes absolutely. It’s almost instinct. When everyone starts running away from something, you’re instincts say “well don’t just wait there, GO!” Your body doesn’t always register whether you’re all running away from a start line or a tiger, you just want to go with the pack! And of course, it is a race, a competition, and we are athletes, therefore competitive. However, those mentalities have bit us in the butt before. Our first ultra, Born to Run, when we went hot out of the gates and were able to keep this pace up for awhile until we realized 100km was a lot further than we thought and we were depleting our gas tanks way too fast. The rest of that race wasn’t beautiful, but we did it. Big learning experience for us; which helped us in every other racing following. We’ve learned to not jump the gun and be okay with holding back in the pack. This has had HUGE pay-offs for us. For example, when we were in Madagascar we started every day falling to the back half of the pack but day-after-day we kept “picking off” more and more runners. Mentally, that is a big booster, and anyone that has ran a race knows how valuable a mental uplift is. Towards the last few days of that race, we had a pack behind us, following us because they said, “we just love your guys pacing!”. In the end, we finished in great placing’s and attribute a large part of that to being able to hold the exact same pace for the first 10km as we did for the last 10km of the 250km race.
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Mel
We all know that there is often a split between men and women’s results. What are your thoughts on that and does that ever affect you?
Jon
It’s true, there is often a significant split between top male and female finishers, and I know full well that for me to ever win an ultra would mean that you have to be ready to beat every male on the course that day. It won’t be easy, but it can be done, so when that day comes, I just have to be ready to keep up! But in all honesty, the idea of winning or finishing on the podium has never been all that glamorous to me. Records were meant to be broken and champions were meant to fall. I value the experience I get by running races with you, taking the time to meet our fellow racers and soaking in the scenery with a few photos.
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Jon
While on the male vs. female racing topic, what kind of race do you think you’d be able to burry me in?
Mel
Seems like I do best in the longer ones like Madagascar (minus the memory you brought up above haha). That race I felt killer all the way to the finish line! Whether it’s the longer distances, the diverse and intriguing settings or just Melissa’s perfect weather (hot…no rain/no cold)…those would be the factors. So how about Brazil 135…you up for the challenge?
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Mel
What is your most memorable racing moment?
Jon
Good memory: Finishing La Ruta in Costa Rica, with the race director following behind us in order to light up the trail with the headlights and honking his horn to wake up the whole town that we were coming into, it was a rush!!
Funny memory: You in Madagascar on day 6 realizing you didn’t really bring enough food for this rest day, and scurrying through the lost and found seeing if there was any food in there!
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Mel
One of our most popular questions, WHY run as a team?
Jon
As much as we are adventure travelers, outgoing people, “give it a shot” kind of people, we run as a team because we like it and feel safe in it. Like we’ve been talking about, we get to chat, keep an eye on each other’s intake, be there to help the other one if they get hurt, and most importantly push through the hard times. We started into ultra running as a team and we love it, to say we need to change or try a different method just wouldn’t make sense. “Why fix what isn’t broken?” As long as we smile on every starting line, and hug after every finish line, I’ll gladly run by your side (and pour water down your throat when you hit heat exhaustion haha) any day, in any country, and for any distance!
We all use running for different reasons and have a unique role to play in the sport, so if you like popping in the ipod and striding it out by yourself, give’er, if you’re a chatterbox out on the trail, keep it up, because in the grand scheme of things, we’re all part of a massive pack of athletes called runners aren’t we?
Run Free
Mel and Jon
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