What's the heaviest a person has weighed, recording a sub-3 marathon? Anyone have any idea? Is it recorded anywhere?
We had a guy named Ralph on my running club that was 7'1 and weighed 290 pounds and he ran a marathon in 2:49:53.
You wouldn't happen to be talking about the Running Roosters Track Club and Ralph Goldstein? Because he 7'1 and 290 pounds and also ran a 2:49 marathon. But what are the odds I mean the name Ralph is pretty common.
7’1 290 is actually incredible if that’s true he ran 2:49. I’d guess pretty rare for a sub 3 over 200, but happens in most major marathons. Maybe I contradicted myself there.
I ran 2:32 at 165. Not sure if that’s high on the weight to time ratio but yeahhhhh
Looks like one of the original marathoners mentioned in this post about 16 years ago is still at it: James Cracknell - a former British Olympic gold medalist rower.
He ran the London marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes at age 49 at 6'4" and 216 lbs last year. Pretty impressive age/height/weight combo. He ran it in something like 2 hours 43 minutes back in 2017 when he was 45. He is currently trying to run 100 miles a week without eating to prove he can burn purely fat and not rely on carbs to fuel his runs. He's also done some pretty crazy distance ultramarathons as welll. Pretty amazing.
Looks like I was right in my estimate. Set a new PR for my 5K: 25 min 49 sec today besting my previous PR of 26 min 15 sec. Not bad for someone who just got up off the couch and started running a little over 2 years ago at age 46 and now 49 and couldn't run more than a mile without stopping and gasping for air. It looks like I'll be going from couch to marathon in 2 and a half years. Loving every minute of the journey. Running is a really freeing activity and I've always enjoyed doing it as part of playing different sports: basketball, baseball, racquetball, touch/flag/tackle football and others.
Another update here since my last post in August 2022. I made some more progress. Still have a long way to go before I can think about a sub 3 hour marathon at over 200 lbs, but anyhow, here is an update:
I'm currently 49 and still weight around 220 lbs - that hasn't changed, but here is a comparison of where I was back in January, 2022 to now: December, 2022:
January 2022: 5K PR: 29 min half marathon: 2 hours 36 min (December 2021) longest long distance run: 13.1 miles
August 2022: 5K PR: 26 min 15 sec half marathon: 2 hours 19 mins (back in April 2022) half marathon training run: 1 hour 55 mins (8/6/22). My previous best 13.1 mile training run was 2 hours 15 min I've also improved my baseline pace from 10 min/mile for distance runs to 9 min/mile. longest distance run: 20 miles (started at 9 miles and added a mile a week until I reached 20 and that worked well).
December 2022:
5K PR: 25 min 30 sec (This was back in early October 2022. Haven't attempted PRing since then)
Completed first full marathon: 5 hours 17 min (November 2022). This was definitely a very memorable experience. It was a hilly course, so a tough one for a first marathon. I trained for about 7 months total on this. I experienced some leg cramping around the 21 mile mark as did many competitors I was running alongside with, so had to run/walk the rest of the way. Still managed to sprint to the finish line though the last couple hundred meters. Always like to finish strong.
Half marathon : 2 hours 1 minute (December 4th, 2022) On this one I experimented with running with only shorts and a t-shirt. In all my races up to this point I typically wore 3-4 layers of clothing, along with gloves, hat, water bottle, phone, gels, etc. I probably lightened the load by 7-8 lbs altogether. I never realized that my time would be impacted that much. I suppose it was. Still can't believe it made a 15 minute difference though. Wow!
Still have a ways to go, but as experienced in my last half marathon, shedding weight makes a huge difference. I'll focus on shedding some lbs over the winter by focusing on some low impact cardio such as elliptical training to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone as well as strength training. I'd like to see how I do if I'm closer to 200 lbs. I can easily get down there. They say for every lb you lose, you reduce your time by 2.5 seconds theoretically. We'll see how it goes. The journey continues. Until next time.....
Just an update from my last post from 3 months or so ago. My quest for a sub 3 hour marathon at 200+ lbs continues!
I PRed in my last half marathon back on 3/25/23, a little over a week ago with a time of 1 hour 54 min 35 sec. It was definitely exciting to break that 2 hour mark finally. I shed about 10 lbs or so, so now I'm at somewhere between 210-215 lbs (at 6'3") instead of 220-225 lbs in previous races.
One thing I did differently is up my weekly mileage from between 25-30 miles per week to 40-45 with a high of 60 one week including the 20 miler in preparation for an upcoming full marathon. That made a big difference, as I was able to finish the half marathon doing an all out sprint to the finish line from maybe 300 meters out, and picked up the pace quite a bit from my average race pace from about half a mile out. I've also increased the frequency of the training runs doing 6 a week instead of 3-4 with alternating strength training and running days. This trained the body do handle cumulative fatigue (running on tried legs) which will become helpful come running in the full marathon.
Excited to see what I can do in the full marathon coming up in a little less than 2 weeks. I've made some good progress in the past 16 months overall dropping my half marathon time by 42 minutes (2 hours 36 mins (first half marathon) to 1 hour 54 mins (5th half marathon overall)). I should be able to beat my last marathon time (5 hours 17 mins) by a good margin since my legs locked up and I had to walk a portion of it. It was my first full marathon as well. Hoping that doesn't happen again especially with all the extra mileage I've been putting in the past 2 months or so. Shooting for something between 4 - 4:30 hours.
I think I'll have a shot at the sub 3 hour marathon in a year or two by ramping up the mileage and doing some other things training wise (strength training, stretching, yoga, plyometrics, running drills - intervals, strides, etc.). The only thing is I'll probably dip below the 200 lbs mark by that time :)
Well. My second marathon didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but I still improved my time from 5 hours 21 min to 4 hours 56 minutes. The temps were around 70 degrees the whole race and got dehydrated around the 19 mile mark and had to start walking it a bit. I would say I weighed in about 212 lbs at the start. Took a GU gel about every 4.5 miles or so and electrolyte tablets up till mile 18 or so, when I ran out. They dissolved in my pocket due to the heat. Any ways, taking it as a learning experience and looking forward to my next one in November.
Fared quite a bit better in a recent 10K, my first one with a time of 51 min 13 seconds on a relatively flat course. It was nice and cool out there as well. Was definitely happy with that result. Got one half marathon left this weekend and then starting up my next training cycle. Hoping to ramp up my average training mileage from 35-45 or so to the 50s and do more speed work.
I ran track in hs, pretty much gained weight in college as expected bc its college. I'm 6'1 192 lbs and I ran 1:21 not too long a for a half and 5:02 for the mile. Im planning on losing like 10 lbs before my first marathon
It also helps that i’m a few months out of college w a job so i have the income to cook/eat healthier as well as race more often and a running club to train with.
Good luck bro. At around 180 lbs and change you should breeze through cracking 3 hours, and probably be in the 2 hr 45 min to 2 hr 50's or so.
Since it's your first marathon, you definitely want to pay attention to your nutrition/hydration - fueling strategies - throughout the race (and the days leading up to and just prior to the race). It's got me both times, especially around the 19 mile mark or so. Most racers finishing out in front are in the 140-150 lb range or less - at least that's been the case in the predominantly local races I've been in, so they can most times get by with the small dixie cups of water/nuun served at the aid stations.
Big bodied folks will definitely need to supplement with extra electrolytes, especially in hot weather conditions. In my 10k, I probably gulped down 2 packets of liquid iv and a nuun tablet with a 32 oz water bottle the day before, and then the same the morning of the race along with some salt stick electrolyte tablets. That made a big difference as I was able to achieve my fastest pace to date in a race by a long shot (8 min 15 sec mile over 10K which is fast for me!).