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

You are once again bullshltting. Link to where it explains how you download someone else's data without the authentication key. If a person downloads their own GPX it contains HR and cadence, if they download someone else's GPX, these fields are not present. If you as I did go and do it properly accessing the API with Python when you access your own data it works very nicely but if you try to access someone else's data you need an authentication key.

...and like I've said. Just make your Connect data viewable? That's bombproof, without a superslick muling operation.

Johnson Day 10 review

The battle of the Influencers is about to get real...

Nothing could have been more in PJs favour today - it was as kind a day as it gets for elevation with some 80% of it gentle descent, and swamped with pacemakers, including the WR holder.

His cadence is fine - a km or so of oddness early, but 95% full coverage. Phew. Our concern was that his cadence was cutting out some 40% of the time over the last 3 days so we were worried about microriding. His heart fails early in the day, but clearly just a blackspot which happen to us all. Never a concern. The concern is when it happens 90% of the time, predictably [always crashing], to business partners, at certain times, at certain rates, over 20,000k, 5 years and more than 6 events.

Also the tracker behaved nigh on immaculately yesterday, with no lurching as it did pretty much constantly for the 2 days before, ie with the 80 minute negative split, and the next day, often just pinging 1.5 to 2.5 miles for the 10 minute updates. It was really starting to freak me out, but that's all gone too.

But back to yesterday, although Paul has fought hard, the return is pretty grim. If he's only finding 55 miles in 14:30 when the conditions are perfectly in his favour, he has a very long week ahead of him, which is near total climbing. Goodge on this day did the same distance, but in 2 hours less - and his assaults will only get worse. PJ has around a day on WG, but WG turns is a beauty on day 11, requiring just 11 hours for the 52 miles, with a gorgeous lie in till 7am, and then one of the scariest days of the whole trip which he puts in a comment of, "sheeeeeeet, she was a good one."

And that is one of the hidden tricks here of WG. He's sleeping in 3.5 hours more each morning, but they're quitting at the same time.

Rob the chief has noted one of the reasons behind the ankle pain may too much quick running downhill. Maybe experience helps here because the influencers find stunningly quick miles, that PK simply can't - or doesn't care to!

This is days 3-10
Kostelnick Goodge Johnson
Sub 9:30: 16 27 44
Sub 9: 3 10 12
Sub 8:30: 0 0 6
Sub 8: 0 0 2

This will be important data for the community going forward, as these figures will only get more stark. Goodge is about to explode with an amazing sequence of action over the next 40 days, PK is already right at his limit, and we'll see about PJ.

There are two and only two reasons for Goodge and Johnson having so many quicker splits than PK: they're not doing it properly, or they don't know what they're doing. Or a bit of both.

I checked out Dan Lawson's 7th day of 10 at his Jogle WR and he didn't find any sub 9:30s. Not close really - and only a dozen sub 10s. Let there be no doubt: sub 9:30s are brutal.

Let's see how this table looks 10, 20 & 30 days from now. It should be a fascinating evolution.

First 21 miles a minor sensation up that climb, For nearly 2 hours every single mile spot on 10 mins with barely a deviance. Crucial that there are no cut outs in cadence for that.

Sneak it just doesn’t work. On my run today I tried as hard as I could to record a zero cadence. I ran at transcon paces up hills, down hills and on flats. I was holding my arm as still as I could in various positions for quarter mile increments. I looked like an absolute idiot. There was not 1 blip in my cadence values. I was actually surprised, I thought I could get some zero cadence readouts.

And then after I finished, I realized you said he could wear his watches on the same arm while talking on the phone, but you see, if you look at Paul’s pics, he wears his watches on different wrists, so your theory was garbage anyway. Thanks for making me look like an idiot! So now it’s your turn. Let’s see you go on a zero cadence run telling us how you did it so we can repeat the experiment.

I didn't want to pre-judge this and look like an idiot but it dawned on me that the bounce of your feet striking the ground is setting off the accelerometer so arm swing can only ever add to that not take away.

I checked my runs on Strava and my cadence will drop to 0 if I pause my watch or stop to walk. Seeing as PJ's cadence drops to 0 are generally just blips and coincide with a drop in pace and also frequently happen on a climb, can it be explained by him slowing to a walk or stopping to eat or something?

Perhaps it would be useful to develop a list of acceptable recording practices and data for transcon runs.

Right now there's no list of what's acceptable, and a lot of conjecture. Without a continuous livestream or eyes on the ground these runs devolve into he-said, she-said
comedies.

1. Tracker (a proper GPS connected to the cellular network) on the runner at all times - my cat wears one and doesn't complain.

2. Whatever the manufacturer of the GPS watch - the runner makes their profile and activities public on the manufacturer's app/page e.g. Garmin Connect as suggested above.

3. Route for a day is published the night before (accepting that stuff happens).

4. If suspicious data is explained by the runner as "tech fail", then the run can no longer be validated by this same "failed tech" - you simply cannot have it both ways.

All will be a lot clearer at the run's conclusion, which could either be in 40 hours or 45 days [minimum].

He has been on a superb world class pace all day, and there is simply barely a deviance in his 10 minute splits, climbing this rocky. The pace has really increased in the last two hours and so many updates are within 50 yards of a mile for 10 mins. Of course he may just be on a right bender, but it's vastly superior to yesterday when he he was on 17mile at this time, but it's 26 here. It was downhill then with PK and several others, but uphill here, not sure who with.

Just as a quick example of how accurately and fast he's running:

0634 13.39m
0644 14.34
0654 15.35
0714 17.23
0734 19.17
0754 21.09

then a small rest before

0849 23.22
0859 24.21
0919 26.20

If this was Pete or someone we'd all be saying, "damn that's so strong."

If we check out a Pete a very similar 10 mile climb for day 11, he ran a 1:45. Paul has run 1:43 to 11 to 21m. It's amazing to see, and if true, something pretty special.

Later in the day Pete had another 10 mile climb in Mount Pleasant Utah, where he needed to tackle some 800feet, not too terrible, but tricky enough. He ran:

10.37
12.57
15.52
16:48
17:44
17:06
13:18
14:57
11:35
10:46

[last two downhill]. That's what climbing by the best looks like. I have been keeping an eye out all day, and he's yet to have a slow mile, like so many of the above.

The absolute feature of this run so far is that way it has veered between unspeakable one moment to unbeatable the next. It's either chaos and drama and melodratic notices of giving up on day 4; or hours and hours and hours of 10 minute miling of which a vast amount have not had a proper cadence.

PJ is a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, dressed as an enigma - I'll give him that!

A Garmin Enduro 100% does not drop to zero cadence when walking and if yours does, I'd get yourself a Garmin Enduro.

yep walking spm is 120-130. He is at 0-32 loads.

*for stuff like 7.40 Ks.

I just looked at an activity of mine walking to a marshalling spot (late)

1.18 mi Distance
15:52 Moving Time
13:24 /mi Pace

Cadence 124 to 128

Fenix 6 Pro

What is this thread even about? Someone is running something, but it isn’t Goodge from what I can tell.

It is about conflicting schools of philosophy.

We tried starting a fresh one, but taken down for some reason. It's another Transcon, by another influencer, with another camera crew, and another six part Youtube series.

But this time: the side of the van does not state fastest Englishman incoming, it states the World record [by 5%]

And the fundraising goal is not half a million, but a million.

So Transcon, season 2, bigger, badder and brasher.

The record attempt was abandoned after 3.7 days, and he's added 10 days to his goal. But even that is far beyond him. We think he has a hard stop from the US Govt for that time.

In the last few days he's put in some brilliant, world class sessions, but his cadence has dropped out some 40% of the time, which has some very jumpy. He's going like a train today up the Rockies at 10 minute miling dead on, which is a quality unheard of in a Transcon - especially for a midpacker, which this guy is.

Hope this helps!

Hi again all. This is a great illustration of what's concerning. The sheer accuracy and speed of his running. As we all know, a 10 min mile is the holy grail of multidaying. Always has been, always will be. Hit that and you're seriously suckin' diesel.

Now, on yesterday's perfect day, swamped with help and a lovely gentle descent let's see how close he was to a mile in 10 mins from around 15-40 - this going off the tracker which was working fine:

If the figure is 95, it means .95 of a mile. 101 means 1.01 of a mile. I have taken out the occasional mile where he stops for a break after say .27. So, looking for complete miles:

110
106
106
98
95
99
103
106
90
87
99
101
97
92
97
97
96
105

Now, clearly the goal here is 10 minute miling and they've worked as a group to get it. But notice how the actual mile is usually missed by a bit. If we take a margin of error of .02, or 32 metres on either side of the mile, only 4/18 miles hit that narrow target, missing on either side. Or 22%.

Now let's take a 20+ mile sequence from the last 4 hours:

101
98
96
97
95
99
99
95
99
100
98
102
101
98
100
103
105
96
103
107

This is climbing and not swamped with runners or nearly so much social media. This time 11/20 miles are within 32 yards of the mile, for a 55% accuracy rate.

The deviance from scoring the perfect mile yesterday averaged .044 of a mile, or about 70 metres on either side.

His average deviance today on the perfect 10 minute mile is .026, or just 39 metres. It is stunningly precise and accurate swampage of a mark that just happens to be a mile.

Also note how few slower miles he is having going uphill than down. His slowest 5 uphill are: 95 95 96 96 97. Barely short at all.

Yesterday saw some quicker stuff, but the 5 slowest were: 87 90 92 95 96. Way shorter miles.

The range of those miles from yesterday is .87 to 1.1 a differential of almost a quarter of mile. Just as you'd expect.

The differential today is .95 to 1.02. A range of just 120 metres. It's so little margin for error.

Hopefully the cadence when he posts is a lovely sea of red ink with no gaping holes... at least I can then forget it, and take my hat off to an absolute blinder of a day.

Paul Johnson.

Google Paul Johnson Run to find his site which includes slightly humorous rules for running with Paul. You will see his daily tracker and be prompted to donate. He has an Instagram account with plenty of activity. He had some funny comments about his tough guy posts where he says he will smack the mirror off any car that disrespects him.