Sandra Vi going for record across America

After the Tracie Phan debacle and having to regroup at the last minute, and setting out with the knowledge that her rival was "running" big miles, Sandy is looking like a real trooper. A very intriguing scenario has unfolded. Perfect for spectating via a thread like this.

Guys, look at the video they uploaded two hours ago:

https://www.facebook.com/MarvellousMimi/

#1) They obviously have internet access!

#2) They are NOT treating the Strava data with the credible respect it should be having. Before any videos or other communication goes up to the net, the very first thing that should be up there is that Strava data. That is, if they actually want to, with all diligence, prove there credibility, as Mimi has repeatedly stated that is a primary goal. However, if one has a nefarious intent, then they would non-chalantly hang onto the data and review it before uploading, which takes precious time.

My advice to Sandi, the rookie, is to be as conservative as possible, and just try to squeak under the record, and ignore Marvelous Mimi with her Delusions of Grandeur "53 miles in 53 Days", with the subsequent attention fallout expected to go with that (i.e., book deals, motivational speaker circuit, etc.).

Crimea River wrote:

After the Tracie Phan debacle and having to regroup at the last minute, and setting out with the knowledge that her rival was "running" big miles, Sandy is looking like a real trooper. A very intriguing scenario has unfolded. Perfect for spectating via a thread like this.

Yes, I have to give Sandy Vi and her team credit for being honest as far I can see with the preexisting set of expectations and have survived our scrutiny.

Reading the social media of Mimi's team the more I'm convinced Mimi's run is fake and what we are seeing is fraudulent. It looks like from the very start of the transcon they claim to have had cell phone connection and WiFi problems everywhere they went both with the GPS trackers that work on multiple networks and their cell phones and laptops to explain why their trackers went offline and why they can't upload Strava data in time yet are still able to post Facebook updates.

We even have a Rob Young like flat tire RV desert scenario run:

"She posted : “None shall pass! Super tricky route three days back, no signal, maps don’t marry up with the route due to a flash flood some time back. We sent Mimi on loaded with water and food, arranged for the second support vehicle to meet her where they could on the other side. Meanwhile we got a flat tyre and attacked by dogs! All in a day’s crewing!”"

With all this suspicious activity from Mimi's team, I want to see some actual video of Mimi actually running and yet all I can see on her Facebook is very short clips of her walking at slow paces. This reeks.

An interesting aspect of all this is to what extent either Mimi or Sandy is aware of this thread, which ultimately will be a crucial factor in regards to credibility of their respective runs. If I was Sandy, I would take great heart and motivation, whereas Mimi may increasingly be put on the defensive.

I am currently watching the Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary, and the U.S. is winning battle after battle, yet we know things didn't pan out too well for them due to the hubris of their leaders. Ironically, here it seems to be the Brit assuming the latter role, "winning" day after day yet heading to a possible collapse or fail against the scrappy but forthcoming U.S. underdog.

Here is another good one, Mimi's husband Tim claims to have received a message from Jenny on Mimi's team saying they are still running but Mimi's tracker mysteriously stopped working.

Tim Anderson is with Paul George and 2 others.

For reasons we don't understand Mimi Anderson's tracker stopped working last night at 1713 - however I had a message from Jenny after 3am to say they were still running. So don't panic. Hopefully the tracker will be up and running again this morning.

September 12 at 11:46pm · Public

The Mimi team has been well-alerted. Their Tracking Company representative monitors and contributes to the Ultra forum. He contacted their team.

They (including their fan boi plants) have already been on the defensive, per the 'smells fishy' post on page 40 of this thread ( 9/26/2017 12:24PM). And now, we may be witnessing a direct defense being carried out by the Mimi team, with their scrutinizing of the Strava data before upload (to get it to jive with the tracker data, which they had to succumb to recording after pressure was applied.)

I caution all of the inquisitive sleuths to get the drama stories out of their head, to avoid the trap of not looking at all of the forensic evidence with an open mind objectively. What we may be seeing is a well-premeditated crime (fraud, embezzlement, etc.) going on here.

excuze me wrote:

Abbey Normall wrote:

It is now 10:18 PM Colorado time right now and yet there is still no Strava upload. Why is it taking so long to upload after the run is over? Is that normal?

No it is abnormal. Mimi has been posting regularly post-run.

^Does this bother anybody else? Guys, it can't be emphasized enough that THIS IS A HUGE RED FLAG!

Duh! Just because Scam_watheroo demonstrated that it actually is possible for someone to massage and clean up a Strava file before uploading, there is absolutely no reason for either of the parties in this World Record attempt to even be opening the files and looking at the raw data (let alone changing it) before uploading. If the participants truly want full accountability and credibility, then they should be making sure Strava data is uploaded as soon as the runners stop for the data. The data should be there within minutes of them stopping. As someone has repeatedly stated, there is plenty of cell coverage out there. So what gives?[/quote]

Just FYI Mimis team has at acouoke points gone a DAY or TWO without uploading to Strava

They blame no internet and make a big fuss about it on FB

Another thing I want to add, Mimi and her team have two Volkswagen support cars they are using plus the RV yet only one of the Volkswagen cars is tracked by the GPS trackers. What has the other Volkswagen been doing all this time? Also, they claim there is a film crew with them in a second RV that I believe they hired to follow them. Where is the footage from this film crew and what exactly are they filming?

Still waiting on the upload to Strava from 26th yet her FB page has video on it already

Shady

One other thing - an Ultra dude I know said to look at some point f hercpast results - particularly the back to back Spartathalon

Snapped a couple photos, but provided zero evidence otherwise she actually did it

St Marker wrote:

Still waiting on the upload to Strava from 26th yet her FB page has video on it already

Shady

If they have a data expert that first needs to review the data, and he is over in Great Britain, consider it is just past 7am over there.

Crimea River wrote:

I am currently watching the Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary, and the U.S. is winning battle after battle, yet we know things didn't pan out too well for them due to the hubris of their leaders. Ironically, here it seems to be the Brit assuming the latter role, "winning" day after day yet heading to a possible collapse or fail against the scrappy but forthcoming U.S. underdog.

Well Sandi Vi's Strava data is, of course, uploaded. As someone else said earlier in the thread, she is using a Garmin InReach device for real time tracking, (i.e., the Gold Standard.)

But tell me if this is getting too weird: her Strava distance was 60.3 miles today, and her Strava distance yesterday was exactly 60.3 miles. I dunno, maybe they specifically planned to do 60 miles the last couple of days, a target to shoot for.

But someone commented on the Strava data she had 5000 ft elevation gain today, with 60 miles/day the past couple of days to boot.

All I can say is, this is amazing, no?

Hi All. I am about to defend Mimi here, just to warn you in case you want to stop reading.

I've known her for about 10 years. She was at the first ever ultra I ran (47 miles in about 7.15 - she finished just ahead of me). Over the years I have seen her at various events either running or crewing. She is very much part of the furniture in UK ultra running. She is not some unknown from nowhere.

She has a number of great race results to her name which you can check. Spartathlon in 32 hours, Grand Union canal run (145 miles) in under 30 hours, Badwater, the 6633 (I think) 350 mile race in the Yukon where I think she won outright in 6 days. The Viking way ultra (147 miles through muddy fields, I think she is still the only female to finish this race - I was there crewing and can vouch for her) I think she has a 24 hour score of about 130 miles in some Scottish event but 24 hours and 6 days are not really her thing.

She Has done lots of "doubles", Badwater, Spartathlon and GUCR. I actually was doing the Double GUCR with her (145 miles x 2) but I snowflaked out after about 45 miles with an injury I picked up a week before. She pushed the pace though, we did that in about 8 hours. She went on to run to the start of the race (we were hoping to run the race in reverse before the race), sleep overnight and then do the 145 mile race back to London in a not bad time (37 hours or so I think).

You should be able to find her results on the web easy enough. She will have a lot of good ultra results to look at.

I was also there when she was attempting double Spartathlon for the first time. She got in quite a state near the end of the race (she was doing race and then running back) and ended up getting timed out about 5k from the end, DNFing and not starting the next day.

She has run on a treadmill for a week (I think she has evidence and got the GWR). She has also run the GWR for John O'Groats to Lands End (12 days, about 75 miles a day) and that was all checked out with the tracking. A similar run across Ireland too. I wasn't there so could not personally tell you that it happened.

I know her husband and her crew and these guys have been part of the scene with her too. I would be absolutely stunned (and genuinely heartbroken) if anything untoward was going on here. I am so sure that she is running the miles, in fact I though the 55-60 mile days were pretty conservative for her. I know personally that she has motivation and resolve beyond what I have seen in almost all ultra runners I have met (and I've met quite a few).

I realise that none of the words here are proof of anything and are not what you need in terms of tracking cogency. I had a quick look at some of her strava. Cadence and pace look high on the downhills, low on the uphills, general variability across the run. I know this can be doctored, I'm not sure it's easy to doctor 3000 miles of running without something looking odd. Is there an equivalent of Benfords Law for running data?

Anyhoo, I can't defend any tracking lapses (and the chap supplying them to her seems a bit nonplussed about it too). I understand the instinct to lump this with the Rob Youngs. I don't think that is fair. I have to admit I got sucked in by that whole thing. I just had this idea in my head that he was a great runner after all those marathons and then thought he could run LANY in record time. It was the letsrun digging that lead to that sixth Sense moment where I stopped and asked myself "has anyone actually ever seen any of these runs?" Thanks for that (and of course other more recent ones which were more obviously jokes to me).

I can't add anything to the tracking conversation and obviously I'm not there seeing her run. So i know my post is invalid to many here. just thought I'd say something.

Your post is greatly appreciated here.

I would agree with everything James has said and like him have known Mimi for a while.

I was there at a few of those events he mentions and I too would be very surprised if there was anything untoward going on. The strava data looks correct. Yes any data can be edited but it's hard to do everyday without a really tech savvy person on hand who really knows what they are doing. If they had someone that good they would not have made the silly mistakes they have done with the trackers.

I do think they have made errors with the trackers, a phone based system has some advantages but in areas like this type of run with mixed cell phone coverage and network availability a pure GPS system as Pete and Sandra have used/is using is really the way to go as it's going to be more consistent and reliable.

I am sure they would welcome boots on the ground with them and company to run with.

I was quite scathing of Rob Young and others so am in no way a brit supporting other brits for the sake of it.

Hopefully the team start using the trackers properly and keeping them charged and turned on and the tracking becomes more reliable to help put those concerns to bed.

Both ladies have good track records and are both capable of a real crack atbthe record and it's great to see two runners of that standard almost racing.

I would agree with everything James has said and like him have known Mimi for a while.

I was there at a few of those events he mentions and I too would be very surprised if there was anything untoward going on. The strava data looks correct. Yes any data can be edited but it's hard to do everyday without a really tech savvy person on hand who really knows what they are doing. If they had someone that good they would not have made the silly mistakes they have done with the trackers.

I do think they have made errors with the trackers, a phone based system has some advantages but in areas like this type of run with mixed cell phone coverage and network availability a pure GPS system as Pete and Sandra have used/is using is really the way to go as it's going to be more consistent and reliable.

I am sure they would welcome boots on the ground with them and company to run with.

I was quite scathing of Rob Young and others so am in no way a brit supporting other brits for the sake of it.

Hopefully the team start using the trackers properly and keeping them charged and turned on and the tracking becomes more reliable to help put those concerns to bed.

Both ladies have good track records and are both capable of a real crack atbthe record and it's great to see two runners of that standard almost racing.

I didn't read your long post, just did what I was taught to do years ago in a classroom scenario, go straight to the last summary para, this I did and judging by that you:

"can't add anything to the tracking conversation and obviously I'm not there seeing her run. So i know my post is invalid to many here. just thought I'd say something".

So Mimi's a great person making lots of mistakes with her tracking.

Now where and how many times have we heard all this sort of stuff before.