Stop being soft!

[techno]

If ever (when) I need reminding to stop being soft: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... 65?SThisFB

Outstanding effort

[jameso]

Incredible. Can't really imagine being able to do that, personally. I think the races like that where men and women are equally likely to win are the most interesting - proves how it's about stamina and mental strength more than anything else.

I do wish I was a better runner with reliable knees as I love the idea of travelling over the terrain we ride on w/o all the added faff of bikes and the associated kit. I'd miss the downhills too much in the end though

[Scud]

I wonder how she manages 100 miles a week running, being a mother of a small child and working as a vet!? She should be given a cape not a medal..

My mate at work ran the first two-thirds last year before they had to stop race with all the snow, i had to endure numerous viewings of his feet as he walked round office in sandals and sat there picking his toenails off..

[sean_iow]

It is an amazing achievement and she knocked 12 hours off the previous record I think I read that she only had 3 hours sleep for the whole race!

All of this and working full time, being a new mum and her studying, it just shows what can be achieved with the right attitude and determination to succeed. Truly exceptional performance

Meanwhile in Australia.... A full time and no doubt highly paid 'professional' athlete is complaining that her tennis match went on until nearly 3am The bbc website quotes her as saying....

"I don't agree with athletes having to physically exert themselves in the wee hours of the morning," Konta said. "I don't think it is healthy - in fact it is quite dangerous"

Perhaps Stu needs to send some Stop Being Soft stickers to the Lawn Tennis Association for players to put on their rackets

[Bearbonesnorm]

Yes, hard to imagine being able to do that. I find it hard to imagine how people are able to click their fingers - I can't. I bet those lot can click their fingers and run at the same time.

[BigdummySteve]

More non-soft women “The land speed record for a human being on a bicycle has been broken by Denise Mueller-Korenek who rode and hit 184mph while drafting a drag racer at Bonneville.”

Might not be ultra endurance tough but 184mph on a bike is not for the soft.

[darbeze]

Wow!!



Si

[voodoo_simon]

More non-soft women “The land speed record for a human being on a bicycle has been broken by Denise Mueller-Korenek who rode and hit 184mph while drafting a drag racer at Bonneville.”

Might not be ultra endurance tough but 184mph on a bike is not for the soft.

Not to derail the thread but I don’t understand/can’t get my head around those high speed records. Getting a car etc to pull you up to speed and then pedal a bit

Back on topic, incredible achievement by Paris Can’t believe the stories that have come out, one tough cookie!

[Bearbonesnorm]

To take absolutely nothing away from the woman concerned ... can't fail to notice the amount of publicity in the mainstream media. How long's this race being running? How much of this publicity would have appeared had a man won? I'm not making any assumptions, 'tis simply an observation.

[Bearlegged]

I guess there's part amazing achievement, part smashed the record, part it goes against the usual narrative that men are bigger/faster/stronger.

[ScotRoutes]

How many lactating men have won it?

[Bearbonesnorm]

How many lactating men have won it?

How many have entered?

[Blackhound]

Race has been going a few years now Stu, certainly 5 or 6. A guy I finished the Tour Divide with was a dnf two years ago.

Incredible achievement by her though. I have been surprised at the coverage none the less. Must be a slow news week and nothing else to report except people running around in the hills.

[whitestone]

Stu, this year was the seventh edition. Last year's winner was on local TV (Yorkshire) news, he's a doctor at the hospital just down the road from us.

I suspect some of the media attention will have been driven by Inov8 who sponsor Jasmin, they've been known to break silence on record attempts by some of their other sponsored athletes despite those athletes wanting it to remain quiet until after the fact. There's also the novelty angle, I suppose if Jasmin had one eye then the media would have focussed (sic) on that, etc.

Jasmin is one of the best distance runners around: she has the fastest summer times for all three major rounds - the Bob Graham Round, The Ramsay Round and the Paddy Buckley Round. Her time on the Ramsay Round is actually the fastest and is 45mins faster than the best man. Until just before Christmas she also held the women's winter Bob Graham record.

Edit: not all journalists are whisky slugging hacks with a fag hanging from their lips as they tap away at their Remingtons I know of two BBC journalists whose names most would recognise who are long distance runners.

[rando nomad]

When Killian Jornet beat the Bob Graham round record this past summer, a record that I think had been in place since 1982, it made the top of The Guardian's sports page at least for a day or two. So I think when records are broken like, the media does pay attention. Plus I'm sure Killian's sponsor Salomon was feeding the media as well after the event.

[belugabob]

Excellent effort!

Maybe I should buy a breast pump - I've got the moobs for it...

[Wotsits]

Amazing achievement!

So glad to see this in the news, really inspiring.
Beats whatever Rooney has been up to when Coleen's away!

Seems to be the longer the event, the more of a level playing field it is between genders..
The Christopher McDougall book- Born to Run, touches on the theories about this & is interesting stuff!

[ericrobo]

“Competitors spend two-thirds of the race in the dark and carry all their own kit and supplies. They also have no personal support team or runner with them on the course.”

Anybody thought about this ?

So how much food do you need to carry for 268 miles... and are you allowed to buy it ? Which introduces the logistics of WHEN and WHERE.

If you have to carry quite a bit of it, that’s added weight, then there’s the question of water.... (not carrying it, but filtering it, so many sheep so it definitely needs to be filtered, so that’s another 140g or 5 ozs)

Then you’ve got your light, which means batteries etc.

Then there’s the navigation. It may be on a path, but you still need to navigate especially in the dark.

Then for the almost 3 hours sleep, did she find a barn or a shed or what ?

I doubt she would be carrying a bivvy bag and a sleeping bag.

Anybody know any of this ?

Or is that statement a bit of journalistic licence ?

Plus if she was “expressing” (new one on me, but if she collected milk from her... you know, isn’t that another nightmare of logistics and planning ?)

Interested to know the details...

[whitestone]

There's a number of checkpoints, I assume there's some facilities at those plus they are likely to be either a building or at least a tent. Looking at the event site it seems that there are volunteers at these cooking food. Some info here https://thespinerace.com/kit-list/ Mandatory kit list here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16_NKX7 ... pXWng/viewI think the "no support" refers to family members or friends at road crossings.

[ericrobo]

“Competitors spend two-thirds of the race in the dark and carry all their own kit and supplies. They also have no personal support team or runner with them on the course.”

Yes thanks Bob....
“all their own kit and supplies” is not correct then... poetic journalism...

But she would have to navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint.

A magnificent effort nonetheless.

I used to have a compendium of all the Bob Graham attempts (and been part of a two man support team in the past), and the most impressive one was of an RAF pilot who did it unsupported*** (except I think for his girlfriend at one or two road crossings...

*** he wasn’t in a plane

His first attempt failed in the mist, but he managed it about two years later.

So what about a Spine Race totally utterly under your own steam...

Or HT550 with no outside support at all... carry all your food, and no money or cards to be carried

But you can have phone (for maps) BUT you cannot make any calls...

Any takers ?

Nothing like a challenge, why not ?
Everest without oxygen and all that

[fatbikephil]

Bleedin ell that's good going - "Training = 100 miles a week" errr.... There is something about ultra running that appeals to an unfilled aspect of my character but its far too late for me now.....

What does interest me is that they seem to have made these long distance ultra running events fully organised (and can even officially call them r***s ) despite (presumably) not getting permission from every roads authority or landowner.... Something that organisers of bikepacking events seem to have consistently failed at

[whitestone]

Eric - that would be Fred Rogerson's "notable walks in the Lake District" I presume? I've only ever seen one hard copy of that, There were only a hundred copies printed.

Phil - it's illegal to race bikes on bridleways in Enland and Wales, there's an explicit rule in one of the highways acts, 1986 I think.

[jameso]

Or HT550 with no outside support at all...

HAB or tech would be hard with all those supplies! A chap did ride across a totally empty part of Tibet in the 90s though, 19 days I think with night-time temps below -30, self-supported as would be expected/needed. The kind of ride where if you had a major mechanical or illness you could be in serious trouble.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Something that organisers of bikepacking events seem to have consistently failed at

As Bob says, riders have being failed by an outdated law not by the organisers.

[Ray Young]

it's illegal to race bikes on bridleways in Enland and Wales, there's an explicit rule in one of the highways acts, 1986 I think.

It's crazy. They can shut down city centres and close roads to hold road events but you can't close a bridleway in the middle of nowhere.