APersson wrote:
I saw someone refer to a newspaper article earlier in this thread which is all accurate apart from the 5 min mile bit (presumably a bit of journalist"s license).
Stop cherry picking and address some of his many outlandish claims, manipulations and lies:
Rob wrote in his book (summarized), not some journalist:
"So in summary, Rob claims to have become an instant marathoner. Not only does he claim to run his first three marathons ever all within a 30-hour period of time which included less than 4 hours sleep, but he got progressively FASTER as he did so: 4:07, 3:28, 3:19."
quote]curiously interested wrote:
Rob Young's book is on amazon.co.uk and you can read quite a few of the opening parts for free at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marathon-Man-One-Year-Marathons/dp/1471152871?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=simonsacouk-21Rob's first day of marathon running was quite a doozy. Below are his claims in his book.
Sunday, April 13, 2014 - Watched London Marathon. Enamored by the 40,000 runners behind the elites. Observed that £53 million was raised for charity. Made crazy 20p bet he could run 50 marathons. "I was just a 31-year-old office worker who hadn't run his first marathon yet." Briefly mentions that he had been a pro cyclist (no team or details mentioned), and later mentions he "was a triathlete for Great Britain." He claims he was decent at swimming and fast at biking and had to build a big lead "because my running was awful. I was slow: Mr Plod, Dr Dawdle." That day he researched online about marathon frequency records (Larry Macon's 157 and 239; Richard Abad 366).
Monday, April 14, 2014:
3:30 AM - Alarm goes off and wakes up. Bikes 20 minutes over to Richmond Park.
4:15 AM - Starts running 26.2 miles in Richmond Park. Claims to have finished in 4:07.
8:30ish AM - Changed into his work clothes in the park before biking off to Richmond to catch the train to work. "I was tired and hungry, but still felt fresh. . . . I thought I might have to run quicker or get up earlier in [the] future as I was going to be late. . . ." ". . . In fact, I felt so happy about what I'd done that morning that I began to develop a new plan: maybe I should run another one after work? . . ."
5:30ish PM - Left work and took the train back to Richmond. Biked to the park. Guzzled Lucozade and a can of Red Bull. Starts running a second marathon.
9:00ish PM - Finished his second marathon of the day. Claims to have "finished in 3 hours 28 minutes - a personal best and still there was no 'wall' to climb over."
11:00 PM - Arrives home.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014:
3:30 AM - Alarm goes off and wakes up. Has a couple of small blisters on right foot. Legs felt tired, but that was the new normal.
Ran another marathon in another personal best, 3:19.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014:
Another marathon.
Thursday, April 17, 2014:
Ran two marathons, before and after work.
Friday, April 18, 2014:
Another marathon.
Saturday, April 19, 2014:
Another marathon.
Sunday, April 20, 2014:
Two more marathons.
So in summary, Rob claims to have become an instant marathoner. Not only does he claim to run his first three marathons ever all within a 30-hour period of time which included less than 4 hours sleep, but he got progressively FASTER as he did so: 4:07, 3:28, 3:19.
Now for non-runners, this might not seem implausible. But for anyone remotely associated with running, this is not possible. Remember, this claim is more than running his first marathon on no training (something that is not really impossible), but repeating it TWICE and FASTER each time within 24 hours after completing his first.
Rob claims he was not a distance runner, and yet he ran 78 miles within 30 hours and got progressively faster, all on a whim without any training or any previous long-distance running experience.[/quote]