Another run across America underway - is it legit? Boots currently on the ground

Oh, no tracker in the second half. That disqualifies him of any "record" attempts. In a run like this the runner needs to prove that he did what he claimed to do.
This guy is done. Another running scammer exposed. Well done people.

Ah, no tracker for the whole thing actually. Interestingly his reasoning is opposite to that of chief crew Balenger who says it's because the tracker is too cumbersome. So they can't even agree on that.

They claimed the British record before the run even started, by painting on the side of their van "Fastest Englishman of all time", then it turned out they messed up on their research and fell short of the correct record by 2 days, but still splashed it all over the press that he's fastest Brit by 10 days.

That's the level of shameless skulduggery we've all been subjected too, but when we raise our concerns he just dismisses us and says he only cares about the overall record, not the British run, that we're all "running losers" and that maybe he can live rent-free in our heads a while longer.

To be fair, Robbie did discover a critical secret few know — vegans don’t get sore.

“I don't really experience soreness anymore which is part of my ability to run across the country.”

thebeet.com

Robbie Balenger Ran Across America on a Vegan Diet | The Beet

hwelch

Robbie Balenger ran across the country on a vegan diet, from CA to NY. He says it allowed him to finish. Learn from his advice and powerful mantra.

Open link

odd behaviour from the same man that said,

“this thing about the record is totally irrelevant, the only record that matters is Pete Koestenick who did it the fastest, no-one gives a sh*t about the British one… not me.”

I'm vegan, and whilst there is some truth to this comment, I'm afraid being plant-based doesn't make you invincible and certainly doesn't make you speed up whilst maintaining a much lower heart rate mid run 🤔

I'm Vegan as well. Can I ask for my money back because I can't run 50 miles while my cardiac drift goes lower and down to 105bpm as the day progresses?

Some people quickly dismiss heart rate as just an oddball metric. In fact, heart rate is widely accepted as the body's indicator of how hard a task is. So when we look at Robbie and Will their heart rates are telling us that Transcons and 50 mile running days are as easy as cake for them. They can easily whip out 60 days in a row of 50 milers with the same effort that you and I would expend strolling down our driveway and taking out the trash or picking up the mail.

Can someone summarize this thread? What happened to this guy, was he officially caught, or do just a couple of people on this forum suspect he cheated?

Did he finish and claim he now has the record?

Nothing happened but things such as not wearing the tracker, the BS about the record and their general unlikeability make most people very suspicious even before considering the HR stuff.

Was he caught: no. Allegedly, data analysis is ongoing.

Did he finish and claim a record: yes. See, e.g.,

telegraph.co.uk

Real-life Forrest Gump becomes fastest Briton to run from Los Angeles to New York

William Goodge, who once said jogging was boring, completed it in 55 days beating the previous record of 65 days set by Bruce Tulloh in 1969

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Outside did a fairly balanced synopsis:

outsideonline.com

Why Did an Unofficial Run Across the Country Turn into Running Internet Drama?

mmirhashem

When fitness influencer William Goodge ran across the country to raise money for charity, his feat received unprecedented scrutiny from hardcore running fans

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Hi all,

although things have been seemingly quiet on this issue, their very quietness says a lot. Since he finished two months ago, Goodge has:

1) Not publicised in any way his precise donations to Macmillan or American Cancer.

2) Barely run a step, 36kms for July so far, despite supposedly training for Berlin.

3) Not released his Whoop data, which he promised he would, but the glimpse we've seen showed him NOT running for 3.5 hours of the day that his Strava said he was, and burning as low as 3,000 calories a day, when he was burning 9,000 when I observed.

4) He has actually given an answer for why his heart rates were physiologically impossible: "must have been a sh*tty watch." I'm sure Coros love him for that. But he switched watches from Garmin to Coros after day 12, and they both behaved the same.

5) On his runs since Transcon his heart rates have been spot on and perfect, up in the 150s for meagre paces.

6) His sidekick, coach and manager Robbie Balenger who also does challenges like these with no human heart rate, did attempt a 24 hour race and horribly blew up at 70 miles, in the end carding just 100 for the race - equivalent to about a 4 hour marathon in quality.

7) WG has lived the life of a multi millionaire playboy since the Transcon, the best hotels, travel, food, drink and sports events that money can buy, as his business as an Instagram influencer allows him to do, and one of his key calling cards is that as one of the most inspiring and pioneering ultra and multiday runners in the world.

8) Robbie Balenger told Outside he'll look at the data, but as yet has not commented.

In summary, no-one in history has ever recorded runs like these off a heart rate of 105-110 - in the case of Balenger and Goodge, for some 15,000kms over four years and up to six events and six watches.

Also, no-one has ever come from such weak returns in sanctionned racing to such a high level in unsanctionned running. If so, name them.

An age-group duathlon world champion wrote to me the other day to say:

"Those influencers are shocking. I absolutely despise these long distance last man standing runs. [Like Balenger racing a Tesla]. Absolutely pointless and take away from genuine athletics."

So in short, don't worry, this issue hasn't gone away. The reason there's silence is that as ever they're banking on their influencer fans drowning out the cries of the running community.

Even the above comment is a dismissive: "just a couple of people..." There are thousands of us who see this thing for precisely what it was, but up against 200,000 followers, and a lazy, bashful media who simply are not prepared to dig a little deeper due to the litigious threat, it is slow progress.

But the shade has been well and truly cast on these two, and it'll be a very long time before they try something like this again - possibly ever.

Executive summary: They got caught and that is a good thing.

Will, the more of Goodge I saw, the more it became apparent that he’s a male influencer up against the reality that male influencers can’t get by off being pretty alone. The rugby didn’t work out. The modelling didn’t work out.

He’s used ultra running as a marketing stunt that fell into his lap. It had a tragic story surrounding it which appealed to sponsors, and he’s taken his shot. But it’s never been about anything but marketing - hence turning up to a transcon carrying 20lbs+ more lean muscle mass than convenient (for the optics) - and feeding an insatiable ego.

If it’s any consolation, I highly doubt he’s making substantial money from these endeavours. The sums donated to various charities and YouTube views are indicative of this - the engagement isn’t there.

He was an obvious fraud, but Pete Kostelnick came out defending him for some reason.

Apparently if the guy wasn’t trying to cheat too much so as to not threaten Pete’s record, he didn’t care. Sad.

I still think he was riding a bike slowly for those low heart rate sections.

Well, they defo had a bike on the course as it's pictured, but there are 50 ways you can do this once you deal with the problem of having a human heart rate is dealt with. All bets are off - anything goes.

Hi all,

loads of amazing action occurring at Jogle and of course in Africa. Herewith an update on the Jogle page:

The 2023-25 UK End to End Championships have kicked off in the most brutal possible fashion with Gareth Jones momentous effort. It has been an almighty grind from day 1, but he hangs in there and refuses to yield - some 40 miles north of Pitlochry.
This is what multiday running is all about - the complete mayhem and despair of the long grind for 15-18 hours a day, with the dangerous traffic, hellish noise, tough climbs and sheer monomania.

This is why I blew my savings to go out to America to see the disgusting fraud there for myself, with WG taking off 3.5 hours a day [according to his Whoop data] and burning 9,000 calories when I was there, but only 3-5,000 calories when I wasn't. And all with no tracker or heart rate.

And then we have the Hardest Geezer out in Africa, getting robbed at gun point and then just this week, kidnapped and held hostage by machete wielding barons out in the bush. He escaped, but was recaptured, and had to go through it all again.

And yet we're supposed to applaud Goodge faking a Transcon, still refusing to hand over the money to the charities and carrying out his playboy lifestyle all over the world. He has done a tiny bit of running since, and you guessed it, all at a perfect heartrate of 130-150.

So well done to Gareth. This is what multidaying is all about. You're a great ambassador for the sport and an inspiration to us all. You're a much better runner than Goodge as evidenced by your marathon time, and it's the struggle that impresses us, NOT running nearly an hour of 4 and 5 minute 5ks after the 50 mile mark in a day, 1,500 miles into a challenge, off a heart rate of 110! Some say, "ooooohhh, you never know!" Shame on them. It just ruins this wonderful sport for everyone else - whilst lining his own pockets.

If he hasn't donated the money to charity, go after him for that.

Nothing is being proven or disproven with the heart rate analysis etc.

At the moment he has absolutely got away with it, benefited as if he had done it legitimately in terms of media and sponsorship, and only people on here doubt him.

Total trash talk. If you think that attracting one of the largest threads in Letsrun history accusing one of sharp practice is "absolutely getting away" with something you are deluded.

The chances of WG or RB trying something like this again are minimal. Not everything has to be black and white. These influencers are encroaching on the sport from every angle, commercialising it however they can. It's a Cold War between the genuine runners and the phoneys who spy a way to make money.

But yes, for sure let's see the 100 grand get passed to Macmillan and ACS; the delay is inexplicable. It's not as if he's been too busy, all he's done is party. I've asked him directly, he's seen the message, but of course no reply.

I think the lower HRs at the end looking at strava data is because he is walking and strava autopauses for anything slower than 30m/mile. The pace looks fast because of the autopaused walking.

Not defending either of these guys - "running influencers" is a trend that needs to die asap.