It might have escaped your attention that data journalism is huge, since about 5 years and more.
It might have escaped your attention that data journalism is huge, since about 5 years and more.
team1.kml wrote:
This is the frequency of paces based on the tracker data from 5/13 to 6/9*.
http://i.imgur.com/CSb0dHK.png
This just means the RV drove at these speeds, means nothing about RY pace. We need Tomtom GPS data !
Bicycle
disagreer wrote:
ThunderThighs wrote:http://i.imgur.com/CSb0dHK.pngYou math nerds with your fancy numbers and calculations will convince no one. Most people are math illiterate and when you speak math and they don't understand, they will think you are insulting them...
See Rob.
See Rob run.
See Rob run 420 marathons.
See Rob never run a single verifiable marathon under 7:00/mile pace.
See Rob run out west.
See Rob run 600 miles under 7:00/mile pace.
See Rob ride in the R.V.
I agree with disagreer, I think it's a very damning graphic, and easy to understand. Besides just all the miles under 7:00, there is the simple fact that Rob's and Joe's graphs look *very different*. Joe's is how it is supposed to look, and Rob's is nothing like that. Even if you don't understand what you are seeing any deeper than that, it is still informative.
Are there any other multi-day runners from whom we could get pacing data, and build histograms? Having a couple of legitimate multi-day runners all with very similar histograms, being compared to Rob's which is very different, would be even more convincing.
7 wrote:
RY would've had to cover most of the first 30 miles on foot. Most all of that is on the Santa Ana River Bike Trail, except for the first few miles to get to that trail. There is no road that goes parallel to that bike trail for extended stretches.
He probably wore himself out the first day.
mmm, I wonder what other mode of transportation he could have used on those bike trails putting down miles at PR pace? oh well, nothing comes to mind, so he must have been running, case closed.
Max Rob wrote:
Either that or they're just hand-editing every GPS point to match their story, which given the time frame, I certainly wouldn't put it past them!
passed them.
4 5 6 yellow wrote:
This just means the RV drove at these speeds, means nothing about RY pace. We need Tomtom GPS data !
Except that Rob has claimed that the tracker was almost always with him, and only in the RV when he was separated from it "maybe up to five times" if I remember right. (Can somebody track down where Rob said this?) So at the very least Rob has to choose between admitting he was lying about that, or admitting that his run followed this highly implausible pace distribution.
Of course, you're right that the GPS data would be more informative and less ambiguous. That's precisely why we don't have it...
Lance wannabe. wrote:
Bicycle
I also had wondered if he covered the bike trail on bike, but I didn't remember them mentioning one. But they did have one. Blog for Day 1. Dustin scouted out an offroad path for Rob on bike, and you can see the mountain bike in the bottom picture.
http://www.marathonmanuk.co.uk/2016/05/15/day-1-may-14-and-were-off/Friendly LRC grammar nazi wrote:
Max Rob wrote:Either that or they're just hand-editing every GPS point to match their story, which given the time frame, I certainly wouldn't put it past them!
passed them.
Pretty sure this is why the nazis lost.
The first marathon distance isn't close to PR pace and he fades badly at the end of it. Pretty sure he legitimately ran that one just fine.
It's all the marathons starting on day 4 and beyond where he magically is faster than he was the very first day... that's what's questionable.
I was directed to this forum by a friend as I have been saying for a while that Rob and his exploits are a fantasy, not trying to take backdated credit but thought i'd add a couple of background facts.
I know of two long distance triathlons Rob raced in 2004, the first was the ITU World Long Distance Champs in Sater, Sweden, and there was plenty of speculation about whether he completed the course that day even though he was given an official time. That raised the first red flag.
The second, later the same year, was in Ibiza and this time Rob crossed the line with his arms in the air having clearly cut the course. There were several out and backs on the run and he popped up at the finish out of nowhere. He was later listed as a DQ in the results once his chip times were studied and found to be incompatible with completing the course.
He then seemed to disappear from triathlon, and my consciousness, until he popped up at a Summer Fair in London as a 'come and challenge Rob Young the pro cyclist on a watt bike' event - supposedly he was racing for Omega Pharma Lotto at the time but I researched and could find no sign of him ever having raced bikes in the UK or anywhere else for that matter.
At this point, I raised my opinion of him from cheater to deluded fantasist and have shared that opinion with several friends over the years, especially in light of his ever more 'unbelievable' exploits.
As everyone else puts out, he's a decent guy but he needs help.
Good graph team1.kml. Very telling. I will admit that being a "math nerd" and also an experienced runner makes it hard to know what the average jogger taking a 5 second look will think. Our analysis early in the thread started out long and convoluted where only we could understand it. We are starting to morph that into something much more concise. I think we are on the right track even if we aren't there yet.
DMulvee wrote:
If we want to protect our sport from cheaters then we need to take action. It isn't enough that we have enough circumstantial evidence to say he is a cheat, we need to go out there and make the masses don't fall for this any more.
Please take the time, write an Amazon review! He will sell less books, and won't be seen in the same light.
We need to focus on the dopers, not these 3 hour marathoners or stunt runners in order to protect our sport.
No one cares about these slow blokes.
LondonCalling. Thank you for this additional information. Was Rob competing as a triathlete for Great Britain when these DQ issues arose? If so, did they punish him or remove him?
I would encourage you to go to the essay that Jaimie Fuller (CEO of Skins which is Rob's sponsor and endorser) wrote. You might want to contact his assistant and privately let them know about some of these issues with Rob's past. Her contact info is on the bottom of the pdf statement from Skins.
http://watercooler.skins.net/2016/06/22/response-to-comments/
CONTACT:
Missy Farren & Associates
Max DeFilippis
(212) 528-1691
Markus wrote:
Basement Dweller wrote:B Nobody would be stupid enough to watch him for 5 days
Then he met the Geezers.
Yep, that is exactly what happened. Never underestimate the stubbornness of real ultrarunners.
Real ultra runners? From that pix of 'Laz' I doubt he could run half a mile.
Thanks for dropping in londoncalling. Very interesting, looks like he's been at this a long time.
Americareceiving: In the Sweden race he was racing for GB as a 'junior elite' but the team manager seemed to be bemused when he turned up at the event. There was further bemusement about his (below par for someone racing at that level) performance and then suspicion from other racers about whether he had completed the course but to my knowledge it was as far as it went. No punishment etc.
In Ibiza he was racing as an individual and 100% definitely cheated.
Silly boy wrote:
DMulvee wrote:If we want to protect our sport from cheaters then we need to take action. It isn't enough that we have enough circumstantial evidence to say he is a cheat, we need to go out there and make the masses don't fall for this any more.
Please take the time, write an Amazon review! He will sell less books, and won't be seen in the same light.
We need to focus on the dopers, not these 3 hour marathoners or stunt runners in order to protect our sport.
No one cares about these slow blokes.
No sense in doing anything about the dopers. If all dopers got banned then athletics on planet earth would come to a grinding halt. We still have to through a few non-essential dopers under the bus every once in a while to justify the ineffective drug testing.
