Heaviest person to break 3 hour marathon?

I ran a 2:59 at 195 lbs.

I have no way of validating this, but I knew a guy who claimed to break 3 at jusy ovrr 250. He was really heavy when he started running, like 320 heavy. All I cam verify is that his times at shorter distances nade that claim plausible. I am no longer in contact with that guy.

I would tgink the heaviest might be in that o nd of range.

I personally ran 2.23 at 6ft 0 and 162lb bare butt naked.

A friend of mine ran 2.40, 5ft 8in at 160lb

I bet many people out there could crack 3 at 190-210lb

I'm going for a sub 3 hour finish at Chicago in 2017:

Stats:

33 y/o Man

Current Weight: 221

6'3''

Marathon PR - 3:25:19 (2015)

10m PR - 1:10:15 (2016)

25k PR - 1:53:08 (2016)

I think realistically I'll need to get down to 195-190ish to have a realistic chance at sub 3

Look up Clydesdale marathon championships. I have two friends over 200 who have run low 2:50s. One is 6'0" and the other is 6'2".

I ran NYC in 2:52 in 2008 when I was 27. 6'0" and a lean 190. Ran about 40 miles/week, most easy runs at 6:40-7:00 pace + 2 workouts. Ran an all out half about a month before and a couple of 20s.

PipSqueak wrote:

Under 200 pounds for someone over, hell 5'8" or so, is still relatively skinny.

5'8" and 200 pounds is BMI of 30 and considered obese. Not on the verge of "relatively skinny."

When I was running sub 3 about 10 years ago, I was passed many times in several marathons in the last few miles by runners who were much taller and heavier than I was at 5'10 and 160.

I ran 2:27 when I was around 165 5' 10"

Results from 2016 Marine Corps Marathon Clydesdale (Over 185):

http://results.xacte.com/nongru/1332/49e97cd7-d33d-4d23-8912-1efab7d23888.TXT

There are a couple guys under and around three hours. However, after checking the photos, they appear to be big, athletic guys and far from obese.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM wrote:

I'm going for a sub 3 hour finish at Chicago in 2017:

Stats:

33 y/o Man

Current Weight: 221

6'3''

Marathon PR - 3:25:19 (2015)

10m PR - 1:10:15 (2016)

25k PR - 1:53:08 (2016)

I think realistically I'll need to get down to 195-190ish to have a realistic chance at sub 3

Good luck broseph.

Also, I would think even if someone had good enough talent+fitness to run under 3, that the actual race is the least of your concern.... putting in decent amounts of training miles over many months seems like high injury risk if not relatively lean for whatever your frame is.

change your life change wrote:

I know a guy who ran 225 at over 180 and he was only 5"9

Riiiight

Didn't Tom Fleming break 2:20 at 175 pounds?

It's nothing to be too proud off, however I think for my weight and body composition that I have run some decent times. 5'11", and between 195 and 200 pounds of Pepsi induced fatness and I ran 1:26 half and 2:22 20 miler, negative split. I kick myself to this day that I didn't run a marathon around that time. I'm sure I would have been 3:0X at a BMI pushing 29.

A year later at 215 pounds I ran 1:33:25 half.

Was going through divorce and depression and basically ate junk food and drank soda all day long.

HardLoper wrote:

Huh? It does not take any effort for many people to maintain 150 lbs.

I haven't been 150 since 7th grade. I am 175 now and run 4:14 for the mile. 150 is impossible for me.

possibly amore impressive feat... could you ever bench press your marathon time... for example 2:50 marathon and bench press 250 lbs??

never really tried to figure it out but think in my prime I could have done it.

Gets more difficult actually if you get over 3hrs. 300lb bench.

Are you serious? i honestly cannot tell. I weigh about 180 right now and could probably run around 3:10. When I'm in shape (relatively speaking anyway), I'm in the 165-170 range and consistently run 2:54-2:58, and although most people around me in any given race are smaller than me, there are routinely a couple of guys much much bigger than me who manage to keep up. I once had a Canadian police officer who had to have weighed at least 225 pounds or so finish right behind me, in a race in which I ran 2:57. A Marine who was even bigger finished a couple more minutes back. There is a photo of the 3 of us running together at about mile 22 and i look freaking tiny at 5'10 / 165.

Also, a very good New England area (Rhode Island, I think) masters runner named Keven O'Neill comes to mind. Not tall, not jacked, not fat, but just generally a big guy (built kind of like a bear) ran in the low/mid 2:20s when he was in his early- to mid- thirties. I don't know how much he weighed but would not be surprised if he was around 200 pounds.

I'm 6'4" and 190lbs and ran a 3:02 when I was 39 and running my first marathon, falling apart dramatically in the last 2 miles. Had I trained more than 50 miles per week, and attempted the same thing 10 years earlier, I'm pretty sure sub 2:50 was doable. But if I was 5'4' and 190lbs, there's no way I'd be anywhere close to 3 hours.