The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

Splits for Jake on strava now, 3:10s turned into 4:00s, then a couple shuffle kilometres followed by a walk. Could be a niggle that developed into a full blown injury by the end.

Bester is so hot right now. So hot in fact, he literally blew up his B&B 😂

BOOM-shakalaka

Jake on Strava:

"Fell victim to the medical tent once again 💀 Things weren’t right from the start, was basically red-lining just to hit pace at 5k and tried to battle through but pretty much lost consciousness after halfway. Think I got pulled off the course eventually after stumbling around for a while 😂

No idea what happened. Did everything I possible could during the block and felt like the taper went as smooth as it could but guess it was just one of those off days. At least this my racing schedule, I won’t have to wait long for a comeback!"

Shout out to Andy from the Running Channel with a 2:50:06.

Big PB but also missed target time by 6 seconds which has gotta sting a bit.

And Cole:

"There it is, the marathon pain I was yet to experience. Absolutely no excuses other than I didn’t put in the work. The lack of mileage and training shone at about 28k. I started to crumble, and at the same moment I saw a friend of mine at the side of the road unconscious being dragged by medics… it made me realise I don’t care enough for a couple minutes on the clock to risk my health. But I have full admiration (& slight worry 😂) for those that can push themselves to the very limit (and past it). So instead of burying myself for a time that in the grand scheme of things wouldn’t change much, I just tried to keep moving forward, whatever pace that meant.

So I 8 minute miled to the finish line, with a fire relit. I don’t want to arrive to another marathon start line underprepared. & only I can change that moving forward. Proud of myself for finishing, but definitely need to get some solid training under my belt."

What carnage! Was Jake the friend being dragged off course?

Almost losing consciousness at just over halfway isn't an "off day", it's a sign that something is seriously wrong.

Very likeable guy, but honestly think he needs to train (and race) smarter not harder. I'm sure everyone would still watch his YouTube channel if he did.

I do think some of the collapsing narrative is performative. A lot of runtubers seem to do this; it's their equivalent of going out swinging in their shield.

I still suspect Yee would have beaten Blummenfeld for Tokyo Olympic gold if he wasn't outmatched on the shoe front in 2021, but I've seen enough NB performances in the last 18 months to believe the gap is much smaller than it was. It's still not a brand chosen by many top runners who aren't bound by sponsorship, don't see them make top 5 in big races very often, but they are at least on the map again these days.

Still possible that Yee might have run 2:05 high in Puma Fast R3 today, we'll never know.

I did have a feeling that this would be the case with RTJ. He has form at somehow putting himself in a hole at not DNFing but also form in ending up in a medical tent. It doesn't surprise me that this is what happened.

I hope he's alright. Don't like to see/hear that happening to anyone

I do actually want Jake to do well, but it does make his 'ready to unleash hell' shakeout title look a bit silly. Surely you've got to be able to tell the difference between I'm ready to go and I'm in no fit state to finish the day prior!

How on earth could he have possibly bounced back from that 48hrs later? I'm glad he told us about it after the race finished to explain the bad result

Hilariously badly executed race from Bester. No clue on the reality of current fitness. The guy is actually an idiot, when it comes to understanding a marathon. It's terrifying people actually take weight of anything he says.

Did you see the weather report mate or are you just another keyboard warrior? Impossible to run a PB today, Nick did his best giving the circumstances. Poc would have run 2:45 today but he was afraid to show up. So show up or shut up mate.

Re: Jake's DNF - I ran Valencia last year on my debut marathon, finished a few minutes over my goal time of 3hrs, it was a warm but fairly normal day for the time of year in Valencia.

Whether it was electrolytes, dehydration or just a hard effort I don't know, but after the race I had bizarre runs of heart palpitations off/on for a few hours and into the evening. Never felt faint or anything, and didn't black out, but it really stressed me out and led me to get referred to a cardiologist for ECG tests and a 5 day heart monitor. Psychologically I still haven't been able to push myself to race since and have just been running for mental health purposes.

Thankfully following the tests everything came back OK for me, but honestly I can't imagine thinking it's normalised (or a laugh) to black out, lose consciousness and end up in a medical tent during a marathon.

Maybe I'm an absolute wuss in comparison, and I definitely have struggled with health anxiety in my life, but given this has happened before I'd be super reluctant if I was him to run so hard he ends up blacking out. It's not only a risk to his own health but other people around him too.

Whether it's simple exhaustion or a heart issue, I hope Jake can get to the bottom of it and remains healthy, it's not worth dying over!

Current fitness was very good, sub 30 at the Brighton 10k on a ridiculously hot day. good vibes only please.

He suffered a life changing event on Friday night, that he even toed the line to start is a testament to the balls this guy has

This is an absurd statement.