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Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

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Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#11

Post by lancefisher »

Yeah, ultra runners like this guy are pretty awesome. There are others doing amazing things too. Scott Jurek broke the 24-hour run record last year by running 165.7 miles in 24-hours. Anton Krupicka averages 200 miles a week in training. These guys race 100 mile races through the mountains. How long does that take? Geoff Roes won the Western States last year in 15:07:04. That's averaging 9:04 miles over rough terrain.

Most people could run a marathon if they trained for it. The human body is made for running.

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#12

Post by solipsist »

diego wrote: post #8
solipsist wrote: post #7

" He said the key was a slow pace over the 26.2-miles. " " He ran every race, he never walked. He ran at a rate of 10 kilometers per hour " The man ran 6:13 miles[1]...in a marathon...each day, for 365 days in a row. And he calls that a slow pace ! [1] Update: It's actually 6.2 miles per hour (the equivalent of a 9:40 mile), - still not too slow. I apologize for confusing miles per hour with mile times].

10 km/h is approximately 9:40 per mile. Not a fast pace. [BTW, what he did is insane and probably very dangerous for most people to attempt. The odds of getting injured/sick/suffering long term health consequences are high.]

Very true, thanks for pointing this out.

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#13

Post by goalieca »

mingdingo wrote: post #9

He was 49 years old. Wouldn't this cause problems for his hips and knees? I'm all for pushing physical limits, but not to the point where it could backfire. Even 20 year-old professional footballers (soccer) are told to take 2 weeks complete rest at the end of a season, and during the season they only train maybe 3-4 days a week. I hope this guy doesn't regret doing this down the line, because right now it is very in…

I'm sure if he had a serious problem he would have been injured months ago.

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#14

Post by albemuth »

solipsist wrote: post #7

" He said the key was a slow pace over the 26.2-miles. " " He ran every race, he never walked. He ran at a rate of 10 kilometers per hour " The man ran 6:13 miles[1]...in a marathon...each day, for 365 days in a row. And he calls that a slow pace ! [1] Update: It's actually 6.2 miles per hour (the equivalent of a 9:40 mile), - still not too slow. I apologize for confusing miles per hour with mile times].

At 9:40/mile my heartrate won't go below 180, I'm 27...

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#16

Post by erikpukinskis »

mingdingo wrote: post #9

He was 49 years old. Wouldn't this cause problems for his hips and knees? I'm all for pushing physical limits, but not to the point where it could backfire. Even 20 year-old professional footballers (soccer) are told to take 2 weeks complete rest at the end of a season, and during the season they only train maybe 3-4 days a week. I hope this guy doesn't regret doing this down the line, because right now it is very in…

After the first 30 marathons, his body has probably settled into a pretty efficient, gentle way to run, out of necessity. There are, in fact, ways to run that put less wear and tear on your body.

It's probably possible to go out in a single day with poor form and do more damage to your body than this guy did in an entire year.

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#17

Post by jamesbritt »

lancefisher wrote: post #11

Yeah, ultra runners like this guy are pretty awesome. There are others doing amazing things too. Scott Jurek broke the 24-hour run record last year by running 165.7 miles in 24-hours. Anton Krupicka averages 200 miles a week in training. These guys race 100 mile races through the mountains. How long does that take? Geoff Roes won the Western States last year in 15:07:04. That's averaging 9:04 miles over rough terrain…

Not too long ago I read Haruki Murakami’s What I Think About When I Think About Running and Christopher McDougall's Born to Run : The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners , and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

Both are quite good, worth reading.

Running these durations and distances is just plain amazing. I liked Murakami for the inner thoughts of a runner, and he talks about marathon runs as well.

McDougall's book almost seems unreal, and the coverage of appropriate running style and footwear is very interesting.

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#18

Post by wallflower »

Unfathomable, I have marathon friends who run a marathon every month. I thought that was crazy.

Before this guy, I thought these monks were the ultimate in mind-and-spirit-and-body physical endurance:

> Only 46 men have completed the 1,000-day challenge since 1885. It takes seven years to complete, as the monks must undergo other Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple.

...The final two years of the 1000-day challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days.

http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.htm

Re: Belgian man completes 365 marathons in 365 consecutive days

#19

Post by alecco »

lancefisher wrote: post #11

Yeah, ultra runners like this guy are pretty awesome. There are others doing amazing things too. Scott Jurek broke the 24-hour run record last year by running 165.7 miles in 24-hours. Anton Krupicka averages 200 miles a week in training. These guys race 100 mile races through the mountains. How long does that take? Geoff Roes won the Western States last year in 15:07:04. That's averaging 9:04 miles over rough terrain…

The europeans are on a complete different level. The Tour du Mont Blanc is insane, a lot of mountain/ultra runners go there and can't finish it. I've done it in 5 days and was exhausted (had a bad fever one day, heel problems, you name it.) But the elite guys do it under 22hs!
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