Nick Coury Runs

Ultrarunning, negative splitting, and pacing strategy

June 18, 2022

2021 Desert Solstice Race Report - American 24 Hour Record

Holy ****. I still can’t quite believe I did it. I believed it was possible because I had to, but I didn’t really think I could do it. For my 20 years of running and 16 years of ultras, I knew I was not the worst, but far from the best. I was 3rd on a not very competitive high school cross country team, later on could win local races if there wasn’t competition, and in the last couple years even started to push my way up at more prominent ultra races.

December 25, 2021

Estimating the Green Line

This is part 3 in a series about negative splitting. See Part 1 on the high level idea and Part 2 on the green line. Today we’ll explore my process of estimating my green line for a race, and deciding on the actual paces and splits to aim for during a race. Process First, I’ll outline the process I use. Note that this process is iterative - I start following it in order but will jump back to previous steps as I have more time to digest the paces, and my fitness evolves with training.

December 4, 2021

Below the Green Line

This is part of a series. I recommend starting with Part 1 about why I negative split. This part will go into how I think and reason about the execution itself on a low level. While I’ve wondered about negative splits in ultras for over a decade, I didn’t really take it seriously until my buildup to the 2017 Hardrock 100. I had a realization that led to everything else described here:

September 30, 2021

Negative Splitting Ultras

Over a decade ago, something started bothering me: Why are even or slightly negative splits assumed to be optimal at the Marathon and below, yet it’s unheard of at 100 miles and longer? The wisdom is usually along the lines of “you’ll get tired no matter what you do, so you should make good time early on” or “it’s just the way things are with night running, muscle breakdown, caloric intake, and everything else”.

August 6, 2018

You Should Run Tushars: A Photo Essay

I ran the Tushars 70k this weekend, and can’t stop thinking about it. I keep describing it as the “Hardrock for everyone else”. It has the breathtaking beauty I’ve only ever found in Southwest Colorado, without having to run 100 miles or go through a lottery to experience it. The 70k was a perfect distance for me, seeing a full day of the mountains and finishing before it got too tough.

August 11, 2017

Solving the Hardrock 100

In 2008, I got into the Hardrock 100 by accident. Jamil needed a qualifier and asked if I wanted to run the Angeles Crest 100 with him to get it. Naturally after we finished, I sent in my application for the lottery with his, not really knowing anything about Hardrock itself. I started at 42nd on the wait list, and went to Silverton two weeks before just in case. After doing a week of course markings, hearing horror stories from long time veterans, and getting in off the wait list 18 hours before race start I realized there was only one reasonable goal: don’t die.