Robert Young fakes run across America

Markus wrote:

Nobody special wrote:

He already has done one transcontinental run. If you believe that one was legit there is no reason to believe he doesn't finish this one with this newfound scrutiny.

His first Trans Continental race was a race over 140 days with just Marathon stages with rest days. That was a lot easier than any of the other Trans Continental races since 1928. They had back to back running and all races since 1992 had a daily cut off of 3.5 mph. Big difference to that 2015 race. Also all races starting from 1992 where held in Summer.

1928

C.C. Pyle organized the International Trans-continental Foot Race in 1928. The vision of the successful sports promoter set a first price award of $25,000. The race started March 4th in Los Angeles with 199 runners . 84 days later, 55 runners finished the race at the Madison Square in New York.

POS. NAME ADDRESS AGE TIME

1 Andrew Payne Foyil, OK 19 573h.04m.34s

2 John Salo Passaic, NJ & Finland 588h.40m.13s

3 Phillip Granville Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 614h.42m.30s

4 Mike Joyce Cleveland, OH & Ireland 34 636h.43m.03s

5 Guisto Umek Trieste, Italy 641h.27m.16s

6 H. William Kerr Minneapolis, MN 641h.37m.47s

7 Louis J. Perrella Los Angeles, CA & Albany, NY 658h.45m.42s

8 Ed Gardner Los Angeles, CA & Seattle, WA 28 659h.56m.47s

9 Frank R. vonFlue (vonHue) Kerman, CA 661h.31m.49s

10 John Cronick Saskatoon, Sas., Canada 24 666h.42m.38s

11 Harry Abramowitz Bronx, NY 21 679h.41m.16s

12 Roy McMurtry Newhall, CA & Indianapolis, IN 705h.42m.52s

13 James A. Pollard Reno, NV 26

14 August Scherrer Uster, Switzerland 699h.08m.07s

15 Seth Gonzalez Denver, CO 712h.01h.27s

16 Allan D. Currier Rogue River, OR 21 703h.20m.28s

17 Tony (Antonio) Constantinoff Toronto, Canada & Russia 21

18 Arthur E. Killingsworth Lomis, CA 34

19 George M. Rehayn Daly City, CA & Germany 40 721h.38m.40s

20 Fred Kamler Miami Beach, FL & Germany 732h.42m.14s

21 Paul A. Smith Gates, OR 43

22 George Liebergall Bellevue, Alberta, Canada

23 Roy T. Sandsberry Los Angeles, CA

24 John Vierra Alameda, CA (Hawaii) 24

25 H.S. (Hoke) Norville Los Angeles, CA 28

26 William Morady (Morely) Newark, NJ 22 803h.47m.s

27 Norman Cadeluffi (Codeloppi, Codeluppi) Pasadena, CA 20

28 Harry R. Gunn Los Angeles, CA

29 Arthur Richman Brooklyn, NY

30 George Jussick (Juskick, Jushick) Poland 35

31 Stanley Stevens (Stevano) Calgary, Alberta, Canada

32 Karl L. Larsen Los Angeles, CA 23

33 John Stone, Jr. Marion, IN

34 Teodocio C. Rivera Minneapolis, MN & Manila, Phillipines

35 Tobie Joseph (T. Josephs) Cotton Los Angeles, CA & New Orelans, LA 16

36 Paul "Hardrock" Simpson Burlington, NC

37 Wynn R. Roberts Wallace, ID 23

38 Herbert Hedeman New York, NY & Australia 46

39 Richard J. Thomas Brooklyn, NY & Cornwall, England 21

40 Guy H. Shields Los Angeles, CA 36

41 C.R. (Claude) Brown Home Gardens, CA

42 Thomas B. Ellis Los Angeles, CA & Hamilton, Canada 924h.06m.23s

43 Alfred Middlestate Baltimore, MD

44 Samuel Richman New York, NY

45 Sammy Robinson Atlantic City, NJ

46 J. Eugene Germaine Montreal, Canada

47 John E. Pederson Norway 43

48 Morris Richman Mount Vernon, NY

49 O.B. "Pat" Harrison Los Angeles, CA & Sullivan, MO 25

50 Wildfire Thompson Berryville, AR 27 1000 plus

51 Sydney S. Morris Los Angeles, CA 43

52 Ernest A. Cooney Los Angeles, CA 23

53 Juri Lossman Tallinna, Estonia

54 Mike Kelly Goshen, IN

55 Anton Isele Austria

199 Starters

1929

Even after a loss of $100,000 in the first years event, C.C. Pyle organized a second edition starting at the Columbus Circle in New York. More than 100 runners started but after 5 days there where only 55 runners left in the race. After 3 weeks only 31 runners were still in the race. The first years second price winner Johnny Salo and Peter Gavuzzi fought a tight battle. Salo won with a 2 minute and 46 second margin. The promised price money was never payed since C.C. Pyle was bankrupted.

POS. Name Age TIME

1 John Salo 36 525:57:20

2 Peter Gavuzzi 23 526:00:07

3 Guisto Umek 538:46:52

4 Samuel Richman 571.29:29

5 Paul Simpson 24 586:30:53

6 Phillip Granville 33 618:54:23

7 Mike B. McNamara 38 627:45:28

8 Herbert Hedeman 47 631:23:48

9 Harry Abramowitz 22 634:46:20

10 Mike Joyce 35 689:02:52

11 Guy H. Shields 37 698:17:29

12 Elwin Harbine 727:56:16

13 Elmer Cowley 23 742:0027

14 O.B. Harrison 26 748:20:51

15 Joseph Spangler 21 755:59:14

16 George M. Rehayn 41 765:00:52

17 Charles Eskins 42 783:56:46

18 Morris Richman 854:11:11

19 George Jussick 36 882:07:34

Over 100 Starters

1985

(not a official race with 3 starters)

Malcolm Campell (GB) and Marvin Skargerberg (USA) ran the Lou Gehrig Race for Life.

Anaheim, CA New York City, NY

3559 miles/5728km 41 miles/day - 66km/day/ 6 rest days

Marvin Skagerberg won with 16 Minutes ahead of Malcolm Campell

1992 Trans Am

Inspired from the Tom Mc Nab Novel „Flanagans run“ Michael Kenney placed an ad in Ultrarunning zu bring the Trans America Footrace back to life. Jesse Reiley answered and together they planned a race from Hunington Beach LA to Central Park in New York. With a race fee of $200 they organized water, Gatorade and Powerbars every 3 miles. The runners slept in gym halls or camped.

Huntington Beach, CA-New York, NY 6.20- 8.22.92

2935 miles/ 4722 km 45.9miles/day - 73,8 km/day

POS. Name Age TIME

1 David Warady 35 USA 521:35:57 9,0 km/h

2 Milan Milanovich 32 SWI +5:40:24

3 Tom Rogozinski 24 USA +7:12:57

4 Richard Westbrook 45 USA +15:57:07

5 Emile Laharrague 45 FRA +21:02:06

6 Edward Kelley 34 USA +23:33:48

7 Helmut Schieke 53 GER +41:29:43 8,4 km/h

8 Peter Hodson 37 GBR +74:44:04

9 Stefan Schlett 30 GER +97:52:25

10 Marty Sprengelmeyer 46 USA +119:20:33

11 John Wallis 55 USA +131:38:40

12 John Surdyk 36 USA +173:54:44

13 Serge Debladis 44 FRA +182:33:13 6,7km/h

28 Starters

1993 Trans Am

Laura Michael was the first female who finished a Trans America race.

Huntington Beach, CA-New York, NY 6.19-8.21.93

2,912.35 miles/ 4686km in 64 stages 45.9miles/day - 73,8 km/day

POS. Name Age TIME

1 Ray Bell 46 USA 486:41:08

2 Pat Farmer 31 AUS +15:49:15

3 Lorna Michael 34 F USA +99:33:59

4 Edward Kelley 35 USA +121:22:02

5 Tomoya Takaishi 51 JP +149:29:38

6 Rüdiger Dittmann 32 GER +203:49:55

13 Starters

1994 Trans Am

Huntington Beach, CA-New York, NY 6.18 – 8.20.94

2925.7 miles/ 4707,5 km in 64 stages 45.7 miles/day - 73,6 km/day

POS. Name Age TIME

1 Istvan Sipos 35 HUN 517:43:02

2 Dante Ciolfi 39 USA +45:28:02

3 Michiyoshi Kaiho 50 JP +69:19:00

4 Motohiko Sato 29 JP +78:55:20

5 Kawika Spaulding 40 USA +81:05:22

14 Starters

1995 Trans Am

The last edition of the Trans Am races was very well sponsored bythe japanese corporation Moonbat. Mravlje, Bell, Horton and Farmer fought a hard battle. This race was the most competitive of all four Trans Am races. Dusan Mravlje had a overall pace of 6.8 miles/hour or 10,9 km/h. Even 6. Place Manfred Leistmann was faster than the winners of the previous years.

2906.1miles/ 4676km 45.4 miles/day- 73.1 km/day

POS. Name Age TIME

1 Dusan Mravlje 42 SLO 427:59:00

2 Ray Bell, 47 USA +16:50:31

3 David Horton 45 USA +21:27:51

4 Patrick Farmer 32 AUS +33:14:50

5 Nobuaki Koyago, 38 JP +34:25:58

6 Manfred Leismann 48 GER +53:32:18

7 Jun Onoki 40 JP +89:01:04

8 Eiko Endo, 45F JP +123:46:01

9 Michiyoshi Kaiho, 51 JP +141:54:26

10 Don Winkley 57 USA 307:37:43

14 Starters

2002 Run Across USA

Alan Firth organized two Trans America races in 2002 and 2004 based on his knowledge crewing in some of Jesse Reiley's races.

3084.4 miles/ 4961.2 km in 71 days 68.9 km/day

POS. Name Age TIME

1 Martin Wagen 32 SWI 514:45:05

2 Shoji Nishi 54 JP 574:45:12 + 60:00:07

3 Yuji Takeishi 56 JP 613:33:33 + 98:48:28

4 Nobuyuki Shimojima 56 JP 631:28:11 +116:43:06

5 Kazuko Kaihata 48F JP 643:37:09 +128:52:04

6 Makoto Koshita 51 JP 679:31:04 +164:45:59

7 Yasuo Kanai 63 JP 709:06:35 +194:21:30

8 Mariko Sakamoto 54F JP 773:47:10 +259:02:05

11 Starters

2004 Run Across USA

3080 miles/4960km in 71 days

POS. Name Age TIME

1. Bobby Brown 35 GB 510:47:24

2. Luc Dumont Saint Priest 39 FRA 573:08:53 +62:21:29

3. Russell Allison 40 USA 598:21:20 +87:33:56

4. Kazuhiko Horiguchi 36 JP 688:43:34 +177:56:10

5. Olivier Forti 32 FRA 708:46:42 +197:59:18

6. Takasumi Senoo 21 JP 813:43:39 +302:56:15

2011 LA-NY Footrace

Laure Magnan and Serge Girard organized the 9th race across America. The race was designed to follow the 1928 race as close as possible. The route was much more southern than the 1992-2004 races and the runners had to deal with a lot of heat in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Huntington Beach - New York 6/19 - 8/27/2011

3193.35 miles / 5139.2 km

1.Rainer Koch, Germany 522:55:56

2.Patrick Malandain, France 629:58:22

3.Italo Orru, Italy 630:31:16

4.Serge Girard, France 694:12:53

5.Alexandro Bellini, Italy 746:28:49

6.James Adams, Great Britain 781:16:32

7.Makoto Koshita, Japan 830:33:43

8.Yoshiaki Bando, Japan 848:30:27

Markus Mueller, Ger/ Eagle USA 3074.4 miles 747:25:00

Yoshiaki Ishihara, Japan 2692.2 miles 699:08:42

Jenni De Groot, Netherlands 2560.1 miles 584:39:11

Philipe Grizard, France 2293.1 miles 596:33:18

Gérard Bavato, France 1771.3 miles 394:25:18

Yoshimi Tanaka, Japan 1025.6 miles 270:05:17

14 Starters

2012 Run America on Trails

This race was organized by Mike Samuelson to follow trails as much as possible.

Twin Harbors State Park, WA - Cape Henlopen State Park, DE 5/30 -8/17/12

3303 miles in 80 Stages

Mike Samuelson, USA 719:47:13

Jennifer Bradley, GB 720:26:40

4 Starters

Note: These informations where collected from a lot of different sources and are as accurate as possible.

The total times of these runs might not show non competitive stages without time keeping. Sometimes the first and last or

part of the last stage in a continental stage race are run non competitive.

arealpersson wrote:

I've been stuck behind this parapet a bit too long, so probably time I stuck my head above it again. A few thoughts on your fascinating thread.

First of all, it is probably important to point out that we are not dealing with someone who is claiming to have beaten the record. He said he is attempting to beat it, so until he claims to have beaten it, I'm not sure why there has been quite such a fuss. If he finishes it in a record time, I will expect him to produce all the evidence to back that up. I know not everyone is that enamoured with Guinness but their standards are the ones Rob is using to verify his run. Some people have suggested that the data could be doctored. I believe that is impossible to do without it being detected under proper scrutiny, which I have no doubt it will get.

I originally came on here because somebody posted up some legitimate questions about whether this was happening at all. I still do not understand how that footage was taken without being able to keep up wth the van and ask the occupants where Rob is. Responses to this question have been flimsy to say the least. When I said I was confused about this I was accused of calling someone a liar. The irony of that question, I hope doesn't escape everyone. The thread started off with reasonable questions asking for more evidence. I thought it would be helpful to offer some first hand experience of Rob because I do not imagine for an instant that he is sitting in the van, rolling along at running speed to try and fool the running world. I first met Rob when we finished together in the Sca Fell trail marathon - check the results - I got chatting with him about his challenge as I was doing my own later that year. Since then I have followed him and when he posted that he was looking for crew to have a go at beating Dean Karnazes's record of longest distance on foot without sleep, I grabbed the chance and headed up to London. This I think explains a bit of the issue here. Rob is not a meticulous planner - he'll admit that himself. He does things very much off the cuff. That run was announced a couple of weeks before it happened I think, but enough people had been following his year of marathons that he soon cobbled together a relay team of support. I don't think you will find any hard evidence of what he achieved other than the word of people like myself and my strava feed which I have posted here. One of the reasons I don't doubt he is doing what he is doing is because of the guy I met that night. I started running at 290 miles and took him through Friday night, as he struggled with excruciating pain and tiredness (he had been running since Tuesday morning). He is an incredibly strong character, physically and mentally and was determined not to gie up. The coffee incident which people are loving to mock was a little aside I mentioned that he did find a burst of energy and I literally couldn't keep up with him, so again erratic pace variation doesn't bother me because I have seen it. To be hitting 7 min miles after 300 miles was quite impressive. On top of that I found him to be a very genuine guy and you will find few people who have met him to be big doubters. He has a big heart and you won't meet a much more generous guy. Of course this has been turned into lots of snide sarcastic comments on here about doing things 'for the kids'. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm guessing the people who make those comments have never done anything 'for the kids' in their lives. I ran 60 miles with Rob to see him break the record then handed over to a guy called Kev, yes that Kev, who saw him through to 373 miles and then hospital.

We have a similar forum in the UK where there is a discussion about his attempt but you will find a very differrent tone there, maiinly because a lot of the people know Rob. And they are not a soft lot. When Mark Vaz claimed to have done the LEJOG record, he was torn apart. But these are two very fifferent people. Mark Vaz asked for support runners in my home town and I offered twice but he never got back to me. I wonder if that run ever did really happen. There has been one new poster on the forum who has signed up under a false name trying to post up 'evidence' that he is cheating. She says she is an LRC member and that figures as I see very few people here reveal their identity.

I understand that a character reference is not what was wanted. I just thought it might shed another angle on the story. I have no intention of trying to prove Rob is doing what he says he is doing, that is up to him and his team. I am just saying that I, for one, believe him. I also have no trouble believing he is capable of this record having run with him that time and another time when he and another runner covered over 2000 miles in relay, one on a bike and one running. Like somebody said after investigating me (!) I have done a few challenges myself. Most recently I ran 52 miles a day for 17 days. A fair amount of that was spent on facebook, vlogging and sightseeing, stopping off at vineyards and distilleries and having a pint with my mates in the pub, (to maintain the sterotype). So again I don't understand people's issue with Rob enjoying the trip early on. I class myself as a very average runner and not in Rob's league at all, and also know how much he likes to have a bif of fun on his runs.

There are a few points which seem to come up time and again (as well as a few jokes which people don't seem to tire of - I trust I'll get a Hi Rob after this)

- Rob's PR times. I'm sure he will talk about them afterwards. My guess is he has quoted what he thinks the fastest time he's done that distance are, probably segments in longer runs, not the standard way to report your PRs but Rob doesn't always do things the regular way.

- The cycling photo - as far as I'm aware that is on a wiki page which anyone can post to. Correct me if I'm wrong and there is evidence that Rob posted that up claiming to be him. If not, it could have been anyone - a fan or an enemy (could sound far fetched but already on here I have had someone pose as me and say something untrue about being in contact with Rob's fiance - you have a few weird people on here you have to admit!)

- His bronze triathlon place - somebody posted links to that from a forum in 2004 which put him in third place.

- Rob not running beside the van. There could be all sorts of reasons for this. I never ran by my support vehicle on my recent challenge. Rob says he is usually within ten minutes of it - not sure if anyone has found ten more minutes from the cctv yet. He could have been hidden on the other side of the van. Somebody reckons they could see him in the video. I don't know but I wish the poster had gone up to the van and knocked on the door to ask where he was then we might not have had to go through all this.

Finally where are all the people who have said they would go and run with Rob? People seem to be happy to donate to the cause. I really hope we are going to see that money put to good use. The only people I have seen who have encountered Rob or run with him have been the police who have been wishing him luck and a few runners who have posted up videos and been impressed at what he is doing.

Right, ducking down behind my parapet now.