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Comment by EliRivers | Hacker News Reader

For some of these people, the fact that there's natural splendour there isn't the point and isn't relevant. It's like game-grinding. Pick a new achievement - running through mountain trail X - and then grind it. Tick it off, do the next one. Whatever they're seeking is inside their heads and the setting is just a convenience. It could just as easily be a featureless 50 mile tunnel. The setting is relevant only as far as it's a recognised thing to grind and tick off.

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This is not at all how professional trail/ultra runners approach their lives. You can follow a lot of them on social media (including Kilian Jornet) see how they actually spend their days.

And it's not how everyone who plays games plays. But some do. I suspect there are many you don't see on the social media. It would be a strange field of human endeavor if it somehow managed to not have any people like this. I doubt they'd be the professionals. They wouldn't be the social media self-publicitors.

The professional ultra running scene isn't like what you think of when you think professional sports. There are certainly runners on the track and in road races that take the mindset you are describing, but ultra/trail running is very different from other pro sports.

That's been my experience too... I've known many triathletes who will do an extra lap around the parking lot to meet their coach's exact plans, but that seems a lot less common among trail runners.

> For some of these people, the fact that there's natural splendour there isn't the point and isn't relevant

I can't think of a single climber, mountaineer or ultra runner I know that any of that applies to (including myself). Do you have any actual examples of people like that?

> setting is just a convenience

Nothing about ultra running in the mountains is a "convenience"... in my experience the opposite is true, and almost everything done in the mountains is done easier on flat ground.

Do you have any actual examples of people like that?

The grind and checkboxing mentality extends to many walks of life. Game players. Bird watchers (I think such people are explicitly known as "tickers" in that field, but I couldn't tell you where I picked that up). Collectors.

and almost everything done in the mountains is done easier on flat ground

Sure. And how many mountain ultramarathons are on flat ground? None, I bet. The flat ground ones attract the obsessive marathon runners; those who have a target of fifty or some such and grind away at them.

I'm not decrying these people. The event happens inside their heads. They're clearly getting something out of it.

> And how many mountain ultramarathons are on flat ground? None, I bet.

Seems like a safe bet.

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