So the only evidence is one gps point taken every 12 minutes?
Photos from his twitter don't count.
So the only evidence is one gps point taken every 12 minutes?
Photos from his twitter don't count.
Raysism wrote:
SteelTownRunner wrote:There is no way to get true evidence. To make a monumental claim, the burden of proof is upon them. All a GPS shows is that someone (perhaps other than RY) ran (or transported) the GPS for whatever distance at whatever pace. The best way to earn trust of doubters, is, [shocker] to earn their trust, by
a) not making bogus record claims like longest run w/o sleep
b) bringing as much evidence to the table as possible
c) not be combative with those asking innocent and reasonable questions
d) show up to a proper race and put up a decent performance. There are many multi-day races around the world where he can prove his mettle should he choose to do so.
I didn't say a GPS watch would be "true" evidence -- it's just the bare minimum.
But he could come pretty close to proving it if he were fully engaged with Strava -- all we'd have to do is send someone out there to see what's going on, and then compare it to the Strava record. The guy who set the world record for most miles biked in a year last year did it all on Strava, and people came out and rode with him.
unless you are prepared to spend a week+ with him around the clock, as a pretty good runner, he could be running any time you're out there. It would take a team.
Agree with all of the above. I also think it would go a long way to try and get some credible ultra runners with long ties to the community to join you for at least a few consecutive days along the way, to at least verify in person that you were covering ground at the rate you claim to be and that doing so for 3-5 days wasn't leaving you totally wrecked such that you could conceivable be carrying on as you say you are. Or really any independent, skeptical group.
It's hard for me to understand NOT doing all of these things if you were legitimately putting yourself through something like this in an attempt at a WR. That's a lot of time and work. Hard to imagine deciding "Nah, I don't want to buy 2 GPS watches and generate a detailed track of the whole thing - not worth it."
SteelTownRunner wrote:
Zombie wrote:I doubt that any of his wins were achieved with even locally competitive times. He says his marathon PR is 2:41 on his website - how many marathons are won at 2:41+ in the UK these days?
No need to take away from your argument. Yes, let's say his PR is 2:41. He *may* not need a faster marathon PR to be an excellent multi-day runner. A 4hr marathon pace in the course of a mutliday is blazing, but of course, 26-27 miles per day ain't a multi-day; it's a stage race. It's also quite possible that with specificity in training for the marathon, he'd be faster. I happen to agree with you, but don't say that his PR is evidence of faulty claims when it seems reasonable. Not every sub 2:20 marathoner is a good 24hr or multiday runner (eg, Don Ritchie), and some 3hr marathoners are stellar for 48hrs + (eg, Traci Falbo, yet to crack 3 in the marathon, but has run ~150 for 24hr, 244 for 48hrs).
His PRs listed dont match up though.
A talented ultra runner (that he claims to be) with a 30:47 10k and 68 Half should give you a marathon faster than 2:41 regardless of specificity of training.
Another odd thing, his 5k pr is listed as 15:56. Slower than his 10k pace.
1 2 3 green wrote:
SteelTownRunner wrote:No need to take away from your argument. Yes, let's say his PR is 2:41. He *may* not need a faster marathon PR to be an excellent multi-day runner. A 4hr marathon pace in the course of a mutliday is blazing, but of course, 26-27 miles per day ain't a multi-day; it's a stage race. It's also quite possible that with specificity in training for the marathon, he'd be faster. I happen to agree with you, but don't say that his PR is evidence of faulty claims when it seems reasonable. Not every sub 2:20 marathoner is a good 24hr or multiday runner (eg, Don Ritchie), and some 3hr marathoners are stellar for 48hrs + (eg, Traci Falbo, yet to crack 3 in the marathon, but has run ~150 for 24hr, 244 for 48hrs).
His PRs listed dont match up though.
A talented ultra runner (that he claims to be) with a 30:47 10k and 68 Half should give you a marathon faster than 2:41 regardless of specificity of training.
Another odd thing, his 5k pr is listed as 15:56. Slower than his 10k pace.
Yeah, no way his claims are true. The avg Joe doesn't see that there is barely any verification on the ultra running scene. He can get away with twisting and stretching the truth but he's going to get caught in a big lie sooner or later, they all do.
Rob - you are getting way too close to the sun brother. Actually, you probably got too close already since we are talking about you here.
SteelTownRunner wrote:
Zombie wrote:I doubt that any of his wins were achieved with even locally competitive times. He says his marathon PR is 2:41 on his website - how many marathons are won at 2:41+ in the UK these days?
No need to take away from your argument. Yes, let's say his PR is 2:41. He *may* not need a faster marathon PR to be an excellent multi-day runner. A 4hr marathon pace in the course of a mutliday is blazing, but of course, 26-27 miles per day ain't a multi-day; it's a stage race. It's also quite possible that with specificity in training for the marathon, he'd be faster. I happen to agree with you, but don't say that his PR is evidence of faulty claims when it seems reasonable. Not every sub 2:20 marathoner is a good 24hr or multiday runner (eg, Don Ritchie), and some 3hr marathoners are stellar for 48hrs + (eg, Traci Falbo, yet to crack 3 in the marathon, but has run ~150 for 24hr, 244 for 48hrs).
I'm not saying that he needs to have a faster marathon PR to be a good ultra/multi-day/stage-race runner. I'm saying that I'm incredulous about him having a marathon PR of 2:41 and winning 96 of 420 marathons/ultras run in a consecutive 420 day period. His website says he covered a total distance equal to 476 marathons in those 420 races, over a span of 420 days, so he averaged about 29.7 miles per day and equally 29.7 miles per race, since he claims to have run 1 race per day on average.
First off, how do you find 420 marathons/ultras in 420 consecutive days?
Secondly, how do you find 96 marathons/ultras averaging
averaging less than 50k in length in 420 consecutive days that are won at 2:41 marathon fitness or slower?
The average of 1 race / day precludes long stage races, unless you count each stage / day as it's own race. This appears to be what he's done - taking each stage of the 140-day transamerica race as its own "marathon/ultra", as most stages are just over 26.2 miles. Would it be accurate to say that I won 8 5k's in 1 day if I win a marathon leading off the front the whole time? To me this is evidence that he's willing to stretch the truth in order to inflate his ego / image / celebrity - when you tell someone you won 96 races, people tend to imagine something different than what he has done.
(post got cut off)
Zombie wrote:
I doubt that any of his wins were achieved with even locally competitive times. He says his marathon PR is 2:41 on his website - how many marathons are won at 2:41+ in the UK these days?
Quite a lot of them:
http://arrs.net/MaraList/ML_2015.htmThey say they have a go pro on the hood of the RV constantly recording. So maybe this is legit?
Odds that five different LRC vigilantes are studying all out and back marathon splits and photos looking for "scandal" today?
Wow, no joke. Quite a lot. Nevermind then. Although the name "Robert Young" is not well represented in those lists.
Thanks for the nice link.
Zombie wrote:
Wow, no joke. Quite a lot. Nevermind then. Although the name "Robert Young" is not well represented in those lists.
Thanks for the nice link.
No problem. If you go to the top page they have lists like that for every year. Lots of interesting stuff. And yes, not much in the way of Robert Young.
George Miller wrote:
When you watch the first video the campervan isnt even moving. This suggests that they arent cheating. Both videos are pretty poor and very unfair on Rob and the crew. Crawl back into your hole and stay there.
getting their stories straight wrote:Any indication the team is aware of this thread?
According to the tracker data, they are moving and moving fast for that whole stretch. The van may have temporarily stopped to wait for him to pass, but overall they hauled ass from 6/5 1:14am until 6/5 2:50am, covering 15.3 miles in 1:36 (~2:45 marathon pace, yet another near PR pace stretch for Mr Young).
These tracks are made more hilarious by their uniformity... the tracker records a new mark every 12 minutes, and for over an hour and a half during that period around the videos that van is moving between 1.95, 1.93, 1.94, 1.78, 1.81, 1.89, 2.11, 1.89 each 12 minute section. Here's where it gets interesting.... that 1.78 lines up perfectly with the video where you say the van had supposedly stopped momentarily, his slowest 12 minute section at only 8.9mph. Quite impressive that Rob not only has the speed on him this far into a transcon to run at marathon PR pace for 15 miles at a time, but can also do it while periodically jumping into the van to hide from passing traffic!
TroLLminator wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/12166515/Marathon-man-Robert-Young-eyes-the-long-road-ahead.html
Fourth paragraph:
"Flagging at around 300 miles, he was staggering slowly across the road. He asked for six double espressos with 15 sugars. Just like that, he was running five-minute miles again."
300 miles into a run, and a little sugar and caffeine gets you running five-minute miles?
One of his supporters posted this on FB:
"I'm sad to see people doubting your achievements and calling you out on social media, but I think you are doing a great job. At the end of the day you set this challenge for yourself and you know the effort you put in. There will always be jealous people, and people who don't believe even when all the facts are there to see. These people do not matter. You are the one setting records and inspiring people all over the world to overcome their own battles and achieve things they thought impossible. I salute you and hope the rest of your trip is free from ass(holes) and people who want you to fail. I know you won't."
From his FB page: 50 miles done today and we've ended up by a field of horses :). Mileage total: 1743.
Please if u want to run with Rob find us on live tracker or message through Fb. Apart from 3-7pm most days Rob is running/walking towards NYC. All welcome.
Charge your phone, dude!
Leave Diana Nyad alone!!!
Asher, you should pass this information to your local newspaper or TV news station. This Brit is in OUR country, took money from sponsors and is on his way to setting a fraudulent record. He needs to be confronted with news cameras and reporters.
There's always that one local yokel reporter that dreams of a story that gets picked up by the networks.