Pam Reed completes 300 mile run

you know what that goddamn tool is going to be on NPR tommorw.

not the chick theguy, that came up with this retarded idea

I think that the people bashing this accomplishment are basically guys with small dicks.

female opinion wrote:

I think that the people bashing this accomplishment are basically guys with small dicks.

Or women with fat asses.

Stop attacking everyone wrote:

It all comes down to the fact that each of us enjoy running in different ways. Some of us like to run hard on the track, other enjoy challenging themselves in a marathon while others are into trail running or ultra marathoning.

Pam Reed set out to challenge herself at a distance she felt was something she wanted to accomplish. I am sure Pam Reed has run everything from a 5K to a marathon in her time.

There is really no need to belittle her because she set out to accomplish a very personal goal. We all have personal goals and THATS ALL IT IS since none of us on here are talented enough to chase american or world records for that matter. So the rest is about self accomplishment.

Why cant people accept that???

Very well-said. I really don't know why others can't accept it.

You can debate about how much or little media attention she has gotten (I also think it was hyped a bit too much), but these kinds of shows tend more towards the human-interest element anyway, and not the actual athletic feat. And that will get more ratings any day, than, like previous posters mentioned, a person who whips out a fast 10k or mile.

This is turning into that old school Coke commercial now:

"I'd like to teach the world to sing

In perfect harmony...."

I would suggest holding hands and going for a run, but "each of us enjoy[s] running in different ways." That would be a hell of a mess... everyone trying to run in her/his own way but holding hands.

Interesting how "Stop attacking everyone" associated "run hard" with track and "challenge" with the longer distances.

Geez, I'm all over the place here. What the hell was my point? Oh well, whatever. It's past my bed time.

please do me the favor and don't compare boston with st. george

I won't but Ken Young has. His race time bias for women gives St. George a -4.6 and Boston a -14.4.

Pam might have picked up more than $3,000.

You really don't have a clue.

Pam is a great ultra gal and has run one sub-3hour marathon a few years ago. The crack that she would have placed in the money at last years warm Boston is laughable. I'm sure Lee Depietro would still have beaten Pam...no problem.

Pam has reached her goal of 300 miles. Good for her. What's next? I hear she will be running this year in Boston. Let's see what she can do.

I've run a 2:40 marathoner and experienced significant pain, suffering, etc., etc. As far as I'm concerned, I don't need to bow to Pam Reed's toughness for running 300 miles when she has no understanding of the toll a 2:40 marathon will take on the body. She's a mediocre standard distance runner who wants some attention, period. And she's not even that good. Ann Trason would wipe her ass anytime at any distance and I haven't seen Ann Trason on TV or writing books at anytime recently. Why doesn't Pam Reed train and try to break Trason's Western States course record? Because she couldn't come within 2 hours of it.

It seems the only thing harder than running 300 miles is someone of you Pam Reed supporters finding her exact time for her marathon P.R. and date. Again she is just a can't go fast just go far in a self invented freak show.

Yea, I'm sure the weather at Boston '04 would have been real tough for Pam Reed. Badwater '03 130 degrees high.

I'm sure Lee Depietro would still have beaten Pam...no problem.

Why? If you have a reason for that statement, let's hear it. Otherwise it's just another dumb crack from a dumbarse.

As for Pam running Boston, perhaps you can show us the training plan which calls for a non-stop 300 mile run 3 weeks before your goal marathon? Or do you think that maybe she might just be running Boston for fun?

Perhaps because Lee is the faster MARATHONER. It's clearly evident that Pam Reed is not faster than Lee. By the way, you're a dumbas$.

Okay. Let me start by saying I am NOT a Pam Reed fan, but the comment about Ann? When Ann was at the top of her game, she got plenty of Press. She had a documentary made about her, she was in RW several times with articles, etc.

There has never been a female athlete in the sport of Ultrarunning who will accomplish what Ann has here in the US. Anyone who knows her and Carl will agree with this. She has a unique understanding. I think any press she has gotten, will get is well deserved.

Unlike Pam, Ann shy's away from the Press and does not ask for any recognition for her accomplishments.

2001 St. George Marathon, Overall Results

REED, PAM (F40) 2:59:19 120 11 / 1 F40-44 2:59:11

Nobby Nomates wrote: Or do you think that maybe she might just be running Boston for fun?

Sounds about right. Athletes who can't do particularly well in something usually enter that event "just for fun." That way when they don't do well, they can say: I wasn't really trying.

All this tri-geek bashing, Dean Karnazes/Pam Reed ultrarunning discussion has made me give some thought to that area of sports that I call the "lunatic fringe."

Our story begins in that wonderful decade known as the 1970's. The running boom had taken off. Many attribute this to Frank Shorter's gold medal performance at the Olympics. Since that singular event, the marathon has held a certain fascination for many people. This fascination is where the lunatic fringe was born.

For most of us, 26.2 miles isn't a big deal. Covering it in less than 2 hours and 15 minutes is a big deal--man or woman. But some people can't get over the fact that people will run that kind of distance. They think it is amazing. This is why it is the dream of every Gallowalker to complete a marathon.

What we see here is a shift from the qualitative to the quantitative. It's not how well you cover the distance. It's how far the distance is. Thus, these fringe sports were born.

Ultrarunning was born in 1974 when Gordy Ainsleigh decided to run a horse race on foot--the Western States 100-Mile One Day Ride. Granted, this was not the first ultradistance event ever created. Back in the 1800's, six day races were common for both pedestrians and cyclists. Even today's Tour de France was conceived as a bike race that was thought unfinishable. But Ainsleigh's feat caught the imagination of a small but crazy cult of runners who loved covering long distances on mountain trails. This is how the Western States 100 came to be.

The other lunatic event that was born during the 70's was the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. It was basically a combination of three races to determine who was the fittest--cyclists, runners, or swimmers. It caught the public's imagination in a much bigger way.

These two events set into motion the two driving forces behind all lunatic fringe sports--distance and variety of events. Throw in bad weather and terrain as a plus, and here are some of the events you get:

Marathon des Sables

A 6-day race covering 152 miles across the blistering Sahara Desert.

Badwater Ultramarathon

A 135-mile race in the blinding heat of Death Valley with runners crewed by volunteers following them in vans and SUV's.

Iditasport

A race based on the Alaskan iditarod with four divisions- bike, snowshoe, ski, or foot. You can choose between the 130-mile "fun run", the 350-mile extreme race, or go for the impossible 1100 mile race. Very cold and brutal.

Eco-Challenge/Raid Gauloises

These are the two premier adventure races and combine a variety of terrains, disciplines, and distances changing each year. Probably the most extreme events ever devised. Some courses cover over 500 miles and range in events from whitewater kayaking to mountain biking to mountain climbing.

As you can see, you can dream up just about anything. No matter how nutty it is, there are people who are going to line up to do it. These events are simply a sampling of the craziness. You have people swimming the English Channel, the Amazon River, and the oceans of Antarctica without a wetsuit. One guy even paddled from California to Hawaii. Here's the link for the nonbelievers:

http://www.oceanplanet.com.au/gilletarticle.htm

At some point, you have to ask it. Where does this craziness stop?

I'll go ahead and make a prediction. The California to Hawaii kayak adventure will become a full blown event one day with at least 100 people signing up to make the journey. When you consider that there are about 100 people hitting the top of Everest each year, it is not beyond the imagination.

Yes, it is stupid. But then again, people want to test themselves. This is why people decide to become Navy SEALS or get into Special Forces. They want to see what they have.

But the limits of human endurance are easy to find. There are variables for each human being, but you need a certain amount of calories, water, and sleep to survive each day. In addition, one's core temperature must remain at a certain level or death is certain. You can reduce it all to numbers. And when you do that, these events are not that big of a deal. For instance, if you live in Phoenix, AZ, you can recreate your own Marathon des Sables. Just run 30 miles a day around the neighborhoods in the middle of July without going back inside. Voila!

The key to these events isn't to find physical limits but to find mental limits. For instance, many ultrarunners are not very fit. They are overweight and rarely go beyond 50 miles per week in training. Most of the people here can easily win these events but don't care to. This isn't to diminish the fitness or accomplishments of people like Scott Jurek or Ann Trason. They take it seriously. There is a qualitative aspect to their victories.

These ultra events are a one shot deal. Runner A may log 100 mile weeks for close to a year in order to run a sub-2:30 marathon. Runner B may run 50 mpw for about 10 weeks, enter a 100-mile ultra, and finish it. Which is more impressive?

I hate to say it, but these quantitative feats don't impress me anymore. I see blue collar guys going into factories and working overtime doing some mindnumbing shit for 60 to 70 hours a week. They do this week after week. Or how about a medical student who labors through med school up all night studying week after week? Where is their finisher's medal or belt buckle?

I think it was Chris Rock who said it best when he was blasting magician David Blaine's sitting in a plexiglas box for a month. "Where's the magic in that?" There is no magic. It's just a spectacle requiring no talent other than to stay in one place. Prisoners on death row do it year in and year out.

When it comes to running, there is no magic in completing an ultra. I'm not impressed with either Pam Reed or Dean Karnazes. I know people a lot tougher than them. One of them was Hope Machedon who continued to put in 80 to 100 mile weeks while dying from cancer. I also think people with running streaks are extremely tough. To run every single day for years in spite of bad weather and injury is a remarkable feat of toughness. Then, there was that guy in Touching the Void who decided that since there was no God and this was the only life he'd ever have, he'd go on living. You have to see the movie.

But all this ultra madness has made me appreciate something as beautiful as a sub-13 5K. It's like comparing a finely made meal to a heaping buffet table of lipid dense animal parts. Or, it's like hearing a beautiful Clapton solo to the shredding of an Eddie Van Halen. Quality counts.

A lot of quantity goes into producing the quality. Quality's tip of the iceberg merely hints at the quantity submerged beneath it. Vijay Singh is a great golfer because he works very hard at it. But that work is nothing if he doesn't win. I can hit golf balls all day just like him. I'd probably even get good at it. But I am no Vijay Singh.

My point is that I think there should be some beauty to the act. It's like when mountain climbing shifted from ascending to the highest peaks to pulling off the most difficult routes. Some of the greatest climbers in the world have never reached the summit of Everest and don't ever intend to.

Out.

Only an ultramarathonrunner can do something as tough as this (see link). I mean, he is running on water. Does that make him tougher than Jesus?

GIVE ME A BREAK.

THIS IS NOT RUNNING.

HE IS BEING USED BY THE MEDIA, AND ULTRA RUNNING IS GETTING SHAFTED. HE IS SELLING-OUT YOUR SPORT, AND YOU LOOK LIKE IDIOTS. I WOULD BE MAD IF I WERE AN ULTRA GUY!!

Lee Dipietro ran 12 seconds quicker on a course rated 9.8 seconds quicker. I'm not sure that Lee's supposed beating of Pam would be the slam dunk you suggest, IF Pam were to concentrate on the marathon. After all in 2001 when Pam ran her PB she also ran 5 other marathons, the American 100K Championship, the Old Pueblo 50-Miler, the Phoenix National Trail 50 Miler and the Zane Grey Highline (50), whereas in 2004 Ms. DiPietro appears to have run only Boston and Baltimore. Suggesting that she has a stronger focus on high performance at the marathon level than Pam Reed?

Making a good case depends on more than looking at one number for each competitor. Of course, you weren't interested in making a case, just a throwaway comment which you expected me to swallow without thinking. Your logic doesn't hold up, but keep trying.

Is that the excuse you use? Only you seemed to have it to hand quite quickly.