Sandra Vi going for record across America

Shocking! Why is Guinness World Records allowing this nonsense? They didn't learn from the Rob Young fiasco?

Can GARMIN real-time uploads, cross-referenced against Strava be hacked by your average joe?

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8446572#ixzz4tcfPiwTG

Guinness World Records doesn't care. That is a marketing tool not a real record keeping association but most people don't get that.

excuze me wrote:

Fake Strava wrote:

Mimi started out noting that she, the RV, and the support vehicle would each have data posted, well, at least in terms of seeing where each was during the run.

But the Mimi support crew is using bicycles, too, correct?

I do not know.

Fake Strava wrote:

excuze me wrote:

But the Mimi support crew is using bicycles, too, correct?

I do not know.

the team effort?

hmmm...wait, what? wrote:

Okay,

So here is a possibility going on, touching all these cases: a 'psychosis clouded vision'. It goes hand in hand with the extreme exercise, and positive thinking. The folks involved, are convinced in their minds that they are capable of extreme feats, that the eventual bit of 'cheating' is not even recognized as such, and/or justifiably (in their minds) overlooked. What do you think?

What say you, lrc BroJo's? Will you now sponsor some 'boots on the ground' to get the Mimi effort grounded in reality?

No worries, Asher Delmott is already waiting in Kansas for his mission.

They are front-loading the miles while they can.

hmmm...wait, what? wrote:

They are front-loading the miles while they can.

Just go there and check it out, if you think anything suspicious is going on.

hmmm...wait, what? wrote:

They are front-loading the miles while they can.

I did not notice this before but the Google street view image of the support vehicle position I posted is interestingly exactly in front of a road mile marker (mile 263). Not a good spot for a car but a good spot to stash something; maybe water?

This is a job for pros, like Laz.

Fake Strava wrote:

hmmm...wait, what? wrote:

They are front-loading the miles while they can.

I did not notice this before but the Google street view image of the support vehicle position I posted is interestingly exactly in front of a road mile marker (mile 263). Not a good spot for a car but a good spot to stash something; maybe water?

A secret water stash? How does that make sense if you have 2 support cars around you?

RY repeat wrote:

hmmm...wait, what? wrote:

(1) sponsor the group of folks to go track down Mimi to shadow her until she is exposed and drops (that is, if she actually is cheating);

Someone figure out when she gets to Illinois so Laz and the Geezers can get boots on the ground.

Haven't really been following this cos it all seems pretty boring, but just one question, has anyone been suspected of cheating yet?

Mimi's morning Strava data was just posted. 50.4 km in 7:49:15 with 843 meters of elevation gain. The 7:49:15 time is from her webpage. The detailed Strava (on Strava) is indentical except the time is 7:12:46. ?????

Mimi, her support vehicle, and her RV have not moved on her webpage map for several hours. Mimi and the support vehicle are still in the wide open eastern foothills of the Colorado Rockies.

Calling the sleuths. wrote:

RY repeat wrote:

Someone figure out when she gets to Illinois so Laz and the Geezers can get boots on the ground.

Haven't really been following this cos it all seems pretty boring, but just one question, has anyone been suspected of cheating yet?

The discussion has been about data quality. That is why I have been following along closely. My personal interest is primarily the data quality. So, when something unusual happens I will take a closer look as part of that. I am also interested in the routes chosen. I use Google satellite and street view to see the route.

Calling the sleuths. wrote:

Haven't really been following this cos it all seems pretty boring, but just one question, has anyone been suspected of cheating yet?

Basically you have a Brit and a Yank both running across America.

The Brit has a long list of accomplishments whereas the Yank is more of a novice.

Currently the Brit is leading the Yank.

That is getting a lot of people bent out of shape and they can only think of one possible explanation.

Copenhagen wrote:

Calling the sleuths. wrote:

Haven't really been following this cos it all seems pretty boring, but just one question, has anyone been suspected of cheating yet?

Basically you have a Brit and a Yank both running across America.

The Brit has a long list of accomplishments whereas the Yank is more of a novice.

Currently the Brit is leading the Yank.

That is getting a lot of people bent out of shape and they can only think of one possible explanation.

Actually, the Yank has excellent data. The Brit has fuzzy data.

Why did a Brit come to American to go for the record? She could have run across Europe from Lisbon to St Petersburg which is about the same distance and closer to home.

Basically you have a Brit and a Yank both running across America.

The Brit has a long list of accomplishments whereas the Yank is more of a novice.

Currently the Brit is leading the Yank.

That is getting a lot of people bent out of shape and they can only think of one possible explanation.

Exactly, there is a British lady with tons of accomplishments over the last 15 years and then there is a American lady with lots of fancy friends and 2 years of experience. Oh I almost forgot her Badwater, win which makes her a US running royalty for people with no clue.

Now one disgruntled fan of the American lady is trying to start a campaign against the Brit. Fair play was never part of American sports.

Closer to the UK wrote:

Actually, the Yank has excellent data. The Brit has fuzzy data.

I agree that Sandra's data is much more convincing than Mimi's, especially seeing how Sandra has live detailed Garmin tracking in addition to Strava. There are some inconsistencies with Mimi's data, such as the heart rate data, delay in the uploads, and as other posters pointed out the odd locations on the live tracker.

I will post more of my thoughts after I try setting up a Strava account with fake runs for demonstration. I think there is real need for independent, unannounced checks on these type of runs because GPS/Strava can easily be faked without too much effort.

Scam_Watcheroo wrote:

Closer to the UK wrote:

Actually, the Yank has excellent data. The Brit has fuzzy data.

I agree that Sandra's data is much more convincing than Mimi's, especially seeing how Sandra has live detailed Garmin tracking in addition to Strava. There are some inconsistencies with Mimi's data, such as the heart rate data, delay in the uploads, and as other posters pointed out the odd locations on the live tracker.

I will post more of my thoughts after I try setting up a Strava account with fake runs for demonstration. I think there is real need for independent, unannounced checks on these type of runs because GPS/Strava can easily be faked without too much effort.

How would one fake real-time GPS? Especially if you can watch it uploaded in real-time. Consistent data points would out someone. It seems the best of bike riders could not match a runners data points because of uphillls and downhills.

Boots on the ground are coming, some have stated.

GPS fakery wrote:

How would one fake real-time GPS? Especially if you can watch it uploaded in real-time. Consistent data points would out someone. It seems the best of bike riders could not match a runners data points because of uphillls and downhills.

Boots on the ground are coming, some have stated.

It would be quite easy to generate a GPX or TCX file for a run either before or after for a set route created by plotting on Google Maps and having any number of websites/programs that would fill in the missing details. The Garmin InReach has an web API that allows the live GPS coordinates to be uploaded from the computer generated run. The same run could then be uploaded to Strava for consistency. I don't think Sandra is doing this, I think her run is honest. But this is why it is important to have unannounced boots on the ground. With Mimi's data, there are more inconsistencies than Sandra's and I would feel more comfortable if there were some unannounced checks. I really do wonder if those extraordinary heart rate data from Mimi's runs on Strava is the result of somebody on her team preprocessing her files before uploading. It is trivial to open up a GPX or Tcx file and edit away since it is just plain XML.