Robert Young fakes run across America

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Robert Yung wrote:

I picture this very similarly to the George Costanza house in the Hamptons scene.

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Markus wrote:

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1 2 3 green wrote:

The reports from Laz about RY and his team being fairly incompetent really help to complete the picture for me.

It paints the image of an inexperienced ultra runner whose only intention was to increase his celebrity.
The inexperience is highlighted by the safety issues and the horrendous pacing. They just don't know any better and also likely didn't know that strings of 6:00 miles would raise eyebrows.
The whole thing was for publicity. Interviews, blogs, and social media took precedence over logistical details, data collection, and actually completing the task.
They never dreamed people would do anything other than take their word for it. In their minds the RV tracker was more of a cool toy for the fans rather than proof.

For that reason, I don't think all of the GPS data for the first half of the run exists. I'm sure they have some, but there is no way they have a continuous record of his runs, even from the GPS watch sitting on the dash of the RV. It never crossed their mind someone would ask for it.

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Well said.
Robert and his crew forgot that you can fact check stuff now within minutes. If he would done his run in 1981, he would have been in the newspaper with a new Guinness book record.

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ccr wrote:

and probably finished by now

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I know the part about his daughter is from his own book, but let's leave his family out of this.

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dying a slow death wrote:

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ccr wrote:

and probably finished by now

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Rob is probably very close to finished by now. I'd be surprised if he can crank out another 60 mi day.

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We know and Ulisters know that the run was so unlikely that it leaves little doubt he cheated, but the average Rob fan isn't convinced.

GPS data is not coming or doesn't exist. Time to start thinking about how to convince the Rob fans with the evidence we already have. Presentation of evidence easily digested by the general population will be key.

If a clear and well written article by LRC is picked up by other sources it will help. (Well written is asking a lot though.)
I think a map w/ notes of the mojave incident would be good. People skim over blocks of text and don't want to read close enough to truly get a sense of what happened.
I dropped the data from our csv into a scatter plot of pace over time. It tells the story well of how the number of sub 5:30-6:30 miles started out scarce in the initial days, increased steadily through the desert and over the mountains, reaching a peak in Kansas the first week in June, then completely disappeared as soon as he was called out. Hopefully when i get time I will format it and post it.

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1 2 3 green wrote:

We know and Ulisters know that the run was so unlikely that it leaves little doubt he cheated, but the average Rob fan isn't convinced.

GPS data is not coming or doesn't exist. Time to start thinking about how to convince the Rob fans with the evidence we already have. Presentation of evidence easily digested by the general population will be key.

If a clear and well written article by LRC is picked up by other sources it will help. (Well written is asking a lot though.)
I think a map w/ notes of the mojave incident would be good. People skim over blocks of text and don't want to read close enough to truly get a sense of what happened.
I dropped the data from our csv into a scatter plot of pace over time. It tells the story well of how the number of sub 5:30-6:30 miles started out scarce in the initial days, increased steadily through the desert and over the mountains, reaching a peak in Kansas the first week in June, then completely disappeared as soon as he was called out. Hopefully when i get time I will format it and post it.

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I'm sure it has probably been mentioned in the prior 200 pages--but here goes..

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2016/05/11/marathon-man-marks-860-mile-world-record-called-into-question/

Rob is quoted in this article - and other articles questioning Vaz's run because of his impossible pace.

Why, can Rob question Mark's run based on seemingly impossible pacing, but anyone that questions Rob is a hater?

Mark dropped his claim to the Guinness claim, but I can't find where he actually admitted to cheating.

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doubler wrote:

I'm sure it has probably been mentioned in the prior 200 pages--but here goes..

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2016/05/11/marathon-man-marks-860-mile-world-record-called-into-question/

Rob is quoted in this article - and other articles questioning Vaz's run because of his impossible pace.

Why, can Rob question Mark's run based on seemingly impossible pacing, but anyone that questions Rob is a hater?

Mark dropped his claim to the Guinness claim, but I can't find where he actually admitted to cheating.

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1 2 3 green wrote:

We know and Ulisters know that the run was so unlikely that it leaves little doubt he cheated, but the average Rob fan isn't convinced.

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TroLLminator wrote:

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1 2 3 green wrote:

We know and Ulisters know that the run was so unlikely that it leaves little doubt he cheated, but the average Rob fan isn't convinced.

GPS data is not coming or doesn't exist. Time to start thinking about how to convince the Rob fans with the evidence we already have. Presentation of evidence easily digested by the general population will be key.

If a clear and well written article by LRC is picked up by other sources it will help. (Well written is asking a lot though.)
I think a map w/ notes of the mojave incident would be good. People skim over blocks of text and don't want to read close enough to truly get a sense of what happened.
I dropped the data from our csv into a scatter plot of pace over time. It tells the story well of how the number of sub 5:30-6:30 miles started out scarce in the initial days, increased steadily through the desert and over the mountains, reaching a peak in Kansas the first week in June, then completely disappeared as soon as he was called out. Hopefully when i get time I will format it and post it.

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You've obviously never argued with a religious fanatic have you? No matter what gets exposed and how facts are presented, those FB loonies will never be convinced. If Rob drops out they will certainly say it was because of emotional stress. Only if the god Rob himself comes clean will these folks finally get it.

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A coherent simple summary of the situation would be good. You can read the first page of the uber-long Mike Rossi thread and figure out what happened there. Here, some of the key issues come up after dozens of pages. The google docs summary is good for access to key evidence, but it doesn't narrate the big picture.

It has been touched on before. But I invite everyone to take scroll through the pictures on Facebook. It is striking to see the difference in appearance in all of the photos dating after the Ultra boys hooked up with him. The before pics look like somebody on a fun loving road trip. The after pics look like somebody in an endurance event. For those that claim that this was the first part of the race and that is why he looks fresh, you are nutz. He should have looked spent after about 500 miles (desert, mountains).

For those that have a problems with the incredibly fast miles mixed in with the slower 12+ minute miles. Just remember, it can be a challenge to make an RV not run fast and slow without decent cruise control.

Based on running 17.5 miles in 10.4 hours (6/15 midnight to 6/15 10:26am ET).


17.5 miles in 10.4 hours are 1.666 miles per hour. Truly the speed of an up and coming ultrarunning superstar.



I think Robert is really hurting right now.

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QualityPost wrote:

Tracker and GPS data are cans of worms. Here's another. Although the
letsrun conversation is 98% noise, the remaining 2% is worth noting.

There is a day that Rob's RV got stuck in the desert. The location is
known. There is a photo circulating of him next to the stuck RV. The exif
data from that photo gives a timestamp of A.

Later, as part of the blog, there are photos of a freshly showered (and
rested? well, rested looking) Rob enjoying the life of the destination
they've reached. The exif data from that gives a timestamp of B.

The distance between the stuck RV's location and that town is 40+ miles by
road or 23ish miles over a small set of mountains w/o roads nor marked
trails.

Whether he legged out the 40+ road miles or somehow orienteered his way
through the brush for 23ish miles without navigational aids, the time
between A and B is incredible. And I mean that in a literal sense.

While exif data can be manipulated too, it would make no sense to adjust
timestamps in a way that would make the distance traveled pretty much
impossible by foot.

Andy, I know you are standing up for your friend. And letsrun is a lot of
noise. But the person who put the above info together actually did some
important legwork. Without 'hating'. I commend you for leaving that
conversation alone and standing up for Rob, but it is discrepancies such as
this which are puzzling.

When I look at photos of Rob since Laz joined, I see a guy who is really
working hard. Thumbs up. At the same time, I wonder why he did not look
quite like this in photos posted during the earlier parts all the way to
Missouri. I'm not making an accusation, and I'm not a hater. I'm making an
honest observation.

Last thing. I've been around US running message boards for 16 years now.
Dynamics and sociology are interesting. letsrun ESPECIALLY so. Andy,
you've announced (maybe twice?) in the letsrun conversation that you are
leaving and dramatically told them why. This is your right, but or better
or worse, this is known as "flouncing". When you return, as you have, it
just marks you for more of that special "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"
banter that they are so well known for. I'm not saying you should/shouldn't
post there... that is your decision... but if you decide to leave, my
advice is to do it quietly. Flouncing does not serve the purpose you think
it does beyond the possible catharsis of writing tell-off words.

Good luck.

I really wanted to believe in Rob. I do not currently.

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Laz is in the perfect spot. If Rob cracks , Laz made it real and brought the farce to an end. If Rob holds up and makes it , Laz rescued his run. Aren't other people are paying him to do this?

People should quit calling Laz dumb just because he is a late adapter to tech.
I know it's hard for someone who are still wet behind the ears to imagine a quality existence without gadgets, but It can happen.

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LRC to the Rescue. wrote:

Laz is in the perfect spot. If Rob cracks , Laz made it real and brought the farce to an end. If Rob holds up and makes it , Laz rescued his run. Aren't other people are paying him to do this?

People should quit calling Laz dumb just because he is a late adapter to tech.
I know it's hard for someone who are still wet behind the ears to imagine a quality existence without gadgets, but It can happen.

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I have reached out to Sarah Lyall with the New York Times. For those unfamiliar, she is the reporter who wrote this story: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/sports/julie-miller-ironman-triathlon-cheat.html?_r=0 about Julie Miller cheating in triathlons. Here is another article about Sarah and how she dug into the cheating accusations about Julie Miller: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/insider/a-simple-triathlon-story-until-a-reporter-went-the-distance.html

So I am hoping that she will look into the possibility of a similar piece on Rob Young. However, as others have pointed out, there is a certain amount of noise in the letsrun.com forums! The Julie Miler investigation/story mostly took place on Slowtwitch.com which has a much better forum: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/ where anonymous posting is not allowed, first you must create/register a username. The moderation of posts is much stricter/better there... So I definitely worry that the noise created by trolls here on letsrun will end up causing harm(like I believe is ultimately what saved Rossi from a dq).

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1 2 3 green wrote:

We know and Ulisters know that the run was so unlikely that it leaves little doubt he cheated, but the average Rob fan isn't convinced.

GPS data is not coming or doesn't exist. Time to start thinking about how to convince the Rob fans with the evidence we already have. Presentation of evidence easily digested by the general population will be key.

If a clear and well written article by LRC is picked up by other sources it will help. (Well written is asking a lot though.)
I think a map w/ notes of the mojave incident would be good. People skim over blocks of text and don't want to read close enough to truly get a sense of what happened.
I dropped the data from our csv into a scatter plot of pace over time. It tells the story well of how the number of sub 5:30-6:30 miles started out scarce in the initial days, increased steadily through the desert and over the mountains, reaching a peak in Kansas the first week in June, then completely disappeared as soon as he was called out. Hopefully when i get time I will format it and post it.

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When does an ultra runner stop? I know some ultras have weight stations and if you're too light, they force you to stop. I can't picture him making it to NYC. But I can't picture him making the choice to stop himself. I keep wondering how it will end. Does he collapse on the highway? Does Laz, who knows what ultrarunners on the brink look like, force him to stop?