Robert Young marathonman uk

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/22/robert-young-marathon-record-attempt-cheating-rumors

For some reason the thread questioning the validity of Robert Young 'marathon man uk' attempt to break the record for running across the US has been deleted but here's an interesting article about it. 

 

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Comments

  • plazzyplazzy ✭✭✭
    Me and Mark Vaz do.
  • XX1XX1 ✭✭✭
    Dave The Iron Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

    Who really cares 

    For sure this isn't the most important thing in the world -- We all have the Euros to occupy us for a start -- But I always look forward to the annual "London Marathon Cheat" thread so, for me, I don't see a problem with discussing this.

  • I wasn't saying "don't waste your time discussing this" but really does it matter 

     

    ( football never matters ) 

  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    I was about to post that the old thread had gone. Can anyone (maybe a spam womble) comment on why?



    It's in the UK press now, so removing threads from here seems a bit strange and it's been mentioned on at least one other thread anyway.



    I think it's a really interesting topic and those guys over on LetsRun are brutal!
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭

    Cheers for that velloo. I find it strange that they've taken down the old thread. It wasn't abusive or nasty like the LetsRun thread. 

  • Been following it on Ultralist since the beginning. His distances and times just seem too good to be true.

    Also considering the mileage he was meant to be clocking, he doesn't look particularly lean in any of the photos.

  • plazzyplazzy ✭✭✭
    "He does not need credibility with the ultrarunning community. They are not the target market.???

    Sums it up.

    Actually, I'm with Dave on this. Don't care. Do your own thing.
  • Interesting - so he started out with high mileage days and then was struggling after a few weeks to do just over half that. It might be plausible. Looks like he's not going to get the record anyway - so its a failure whatever ?
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭

    Cougie, officially he pulled out due to injury.  But the LetsRun lot are saying that his mileage only dropped from the point when he was being observed on the ground, which is technically true but still rouses suspicion.  Before this, he was banging out large-mileage days through the desert, and then posting pictures on Facebook of himself doing handstands, playing football etc, although a couple of days after he was being observed he was broken and also sunburnt.

    There's quite a long list of things that he may have elaborated on in his book (potentially being a pro-cyclist, his first three marathons in a couple of days as a non-runner, his 10K PB may have actually only been a 7K, etc etc), plus they're digging into how all this was funded.

    He is sponsored by SKINS and their boss posted something about some golfing incident, talking about integrity in sport, and then the LetsRunners got hold of it image  See here if you're interested.  In fairness, the boss did release another statement after that, and he's organising an independent review of it.  

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    I didn't care at first, but now I am transfixed by that Letsrun thread.

  • I disagree. Ok, it's not the EU referendum or Syria, but in the world of running the question of credibility is paramount. And there are questions to be answered here. Not sure anyone would say use of drugs is unimportant.

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    The letsrun thread was fascinating. You don't want to get on the wrong side of those guys.



    Just as fascinating as the lengths the letsrunners will go to to investigate is the blind faith that some of Marathon mans supporters have displayed just because he seems like a nice guy. I'm not that interested in the USA run but am interested in the claims of a 30min 10k. I'm surprised that has never been questioned before.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭

    Wasn't his 10k PB the run leg in a triathlon that was actually 7km? I can't remember seeing anything that said where it was though. It's probably somewhere in that LetsRun thread.

    Bugger it, I'm going to start claiming a sub 30 I did in a triathlon run leg that was supposed to be 10k. If it's good enough for Rob.........

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭

    I need to start digging out my old triathlon results. There must be a fast run-leg that I can use.

  • Yes HA77 That is true, he also claimed to be a GB elite duathlete and cycle for a pro team / finishing 3rd in the world in that duathlon (long distance) when I think they said he finished 3rd in a weak duathlon that had a run leg of 7km which they crunched the numbers and he was "average" at best and exaggerates everything



    He then ran at his "PB" marathon pace for for like 10 days straight for 40 miles at least every day over mountains "breaking" some ultra marathon records and some manual GPS data that was uploaded had stretches of 40 miles at exactly 9mph consistently. This happened on multiple occasions. There was thoughts the camper travelled at this pace. No matter how good anyone is you just get up run 30 miles at exactly the same pace day in day out without some fluctuations especially at 7000 feet altitude or whatever



    The stats are overwhelming that he cheated



    I think the only reason this should be discussed is he is using the "fame" to get people donate to various charities and stuff, which some people have traced back to being a personal account apparently
    Pain is weakness leaving the body
  • VDOT52VDOT52 ✭✭✭
    Charidee begins at home image
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭

    He's released the data on his Strava, which the LetsRun lot are picking over.

  • http://imgur.com/a/SL37M

     

    Lots of activities now removed. This is one of them

    Pain is weakness leaving the body
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    best one was the near marathon distance done in the night, as a solo effort, at altitude, at 5.40 average pace!! Amongst days and days of huge mileage.

    He's really stuffed himself with that level of cheating. Go 6.40 and it might just about be believable but still a heck of an effort in the circumstances,  but 5.40?!

    It couldn't be more obvious that he was In his van for a chunk of that time, only question is how much of it

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    Scott Edgington wrote (see)

    http://imgur.com/a/SL37M

     

    Lots of activities now removed. This is one of them

    Ha! That's literally incredible. I think my favourite bit is miles 17 and 18, running uphill, at altitude, at 5:44 and 5:34/mile.  That's ~half a minute per mile quicker than his parkrun PB pace.  Go on Rob!

    image

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    PhilPub wrote (see)
    Scott Edgington wrote (see)

    http://imgur.com/a/SL37M

     

    Lots of activities now removed. This is one of them

    Ha! That's literally incredible. I think my favourite bit is miles 17 and 18, running uphill, at altitude, at 5:44 and 5:34/mile.  That's ~half a minute per mile quicker than his parkrun PB pace.  Go on Rob!

    image

    he has a website somewhere which claims just slightly faster pbs than his PO10.

    Like a 30.30ish 10k...

    Just a bit tastier than 20min type 5ks

    Maybe he's from the same school of running as that Ellan Brighton woman. ie record years of mediocrity, to be able to do 1 super human in comparison one...

     

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    I think the 20 min 5ks are a bit of a red herring which the Letsrun people don't really understand as they don't have parkrun and don't realise that some people just plod them out every week as part of their long run just to say they've turned up. He can run a lot faster than that at 5k and 10k (albeit not quite as fast as the advertised PBs): just look at his suicidal VLM splits last year if you want a laugh...

  • I looked at his VLM splits and they are crazy, it's hard to believe someone would really do that.  Someone on lets run said he was running with Paula's train at the start but he clearly ran out of steam.

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    He was dying on his backside at the 20 mile point when I went past him. Had a brief chat with him as I went by. Seemed like a nice, genuine bloke. After seeing the claimed PBs and some of those Strava sections I'm having to rethink.
  • velloo wrote (see)

    I looked at his VLM splits and they are crazy, it's hard to believe someone would really do that.  Someone on lets run said he was running with Paula's train at the start but he clearly ran out of steam.

    He couldn't have done - he was on the red start, she was on blue.  They don't merge until after the 5k mark, by which time he was behind her and already slowing.  I suspect he'd been in bits a long time before Millsy saw him. 

  • Cheerful Dave wrote (see)
    velloo wrote (see)

    I looked at his VLM splits and they are crazy, it's hard to believe someone would really do that.  Someone on lets run said he was running with Paula's train at the start but he clearly ran out of steam.

    He couldn't have done - he was on the red start, she was on blue.  They don't merge until after the 5k mark, by which time he was behind her and already slowing.  I suspect he'd been in bits a long time before Millsy saw him. 

    For an ultra runner he got his pacing very, very wrong at VLM. A 5k PB in the first 5k of a marathon is mental. Surely if he genuinely was doing regular daily marathons, he would have known just how bad that last 10k of a marathon can be. To set off at that pace is insane.

  • If you have read his book, he alludes to that being a strategy in itself. Bang out the first half and then run the second half slow – his thinking was that he would be starting to recover for the following day whilst running the slow second half. 

    Shame, I enjoyed the book, but had a nagging feeling that some (a lot) of it was too good to be true.

  • Anyone got a linky to his VLM splits please ? I could do with a laugh.
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