Jehosephat wrote:
Also to those of you who continue to clamor for the team to release "data" as if that would immediately solve everything... I call BS on you.
Days/weeks have passed. If they release data with unbelievable numbers, you will just say they are not believable. If they release data with believable numbers, you will just say they've been doctored. . . .
You should understand that the bar of proof required by Guinness for these long running records is ridiculously low. The team has said several times that they are focused on doing it for Guinness using the Guinness guidelines. Guinness likes to be paid.
Bollocks. Rob brought this on himself. If he hadn't attempted this in such a slapdash manner, he could've prevented most of the criticism. According to his blog, his own crew didn't even realize he had started on the first day!
He planned to meet only Guinness's low standard, but grossly overlooked the more important matter of public opinion. And he should've been well aware of that after he himself criticized Vaz's recent ultra record.
If he had posted clear data from the start, even a simple a spreadsheet showing precise starting point, precise stopping point, time, pace, precise location that would have been huge. More data would've been helpful such as elevation +/-, HR, cadence, temperature, weather.
Most in the ultrarunning community would've supported him and cheered him on as they have done others. Sure, some would've mocked and ridiculed, but they wouldn't have been able to accuse him of cheating.
Instead his blog posts and live tracking were vague and unclear. It wasn't even clear when the live tracking was on him or the RV. The limited data from that indicate questionable distances and ridiculous paces and overlapping data. He even admits on video that sometimes he forgot to start his watch. There have been three incidents when it appeared Rob wasn't actually running (bunny lady, Asher's incident, car wash video).
Now he's painted himself into a corner with an impossible predicament to resolve. If he wants public acceptance, he must release his data. Absolutely must. I doubt he has a chance at public acceptance because of the slapdash way he undertook this endeavor. But he must release the data for any chance.
It's ridiculous that he has accounts on mapmyrun, strava, and garmin. He has 2 TomTom watches, SPOT, and gps live tracking. He has the abillity to blog, facebook, and post occasional video. He and his crew are tech savvy. There are no acceptable excuses for the lack of data. Instead, we now have less data. The gps time stamps on his website map are now gone.
He has refused to clarify simple questions about his honesty and integrity regarding an alleged pro cycling career and Milram and his PR's (10K, half, full). This arises from his own website and book, and rightfully seem dubious.
He has brought the scrutiny on himself. Release the frickin data.