The Student Marathon

bourne99

tunney wrote: »

Can someone run 5:00 and and have "maximized potential"?

Yes

ronanmac

MarieC wrote: »

You used the word achievement, that could be seen as controversial on this thread :rolleyes:

I would define achievement as completing or fulfilling something I have set out to do.

Collin's Dictionary defines it as either:
1. something that has been accomplished by hard work, ability, or heroism,
2. the successful completion of something,

If you are going with the first definition and finish a marathon, I guess you get to choose if you are hard working, able or a hero

tunney

bourne99 wrote: »

Yes

I respectfully beg to differ.

Assuming a healthy, two legged male less than 50. No, 5:00 does not indicate anything close to a maximising of potential.

MarieC

tunney wrote: »

I respectfully beg to differ.

Assuming a healthy, two legged male less than 50. No, 5:00 does not indicate anything close to a maximising of potential.

as i try to write this i realise how much of a merry-go-round this entire argument is. I was going to write:"Is it not all relative tho? with respect to the 50yr old male". But then I would have to apply some relativity to that student who did the marathon and then that goes against my ideas of what achievement are......... aye aye aye

tunney

MarieC wrote: »

as i try to write this i realise how much of a merry-go-round this entire argument is. I was going to write:"Is it not all relative tho? with respect to the 50yr old male". But then I would have to apply some relativity to that student who did the marathon and then that goes against my ideas of what achievement are......... aye aye aye

All or nothing, all or nothing.

--amadeus--

It's all subjective and circular, but three thoughts:

1 - 5:00 is only 35mins or so slower than my first marathon. At the time I thought I had given it everything and under the circumstances I don't think I could have done much more.

2 - Faster <> Harder. 4:23 was the hardest marathon I ever ran and I consider Berlin in 3:25 to be a greater achievement than Dublin in 3:11 a year later

3 - The only person who can really judge an individuals performance is that person. If they are happy then who really cares? What this guy did has zero impact on any race I have ever run and frankly I'm not that bothered if people are impressed / bored / underwhelmed or whatever by my running. I only do it for me (and of course to stay looking super sexy, but that's another thread)

Peckham

Wonder if the author of the article has stumbled across this? Am sure he's suitably amused at how seriously some people are taking his little project!

Pisco Sour

Peckham wrote: »

Wonder if the author of the article has stumbled across this? Am sure he's suitably amused at how seriously some people are taking his little project!

Absolutely, this whole thread has made his marathon a great success!

Ath36

This whole thread brings a similar question to mind. The subject of ultramarathons.
Somebody mentioned earlier in the thread that anybody with a few odd exceptions could walk 26.2 miles tomorrow with no training and I probably agree with this.
What about a 100mile ultramarathon. Could anyone walk 100miles tomorrow with little training in a similar fashion ?
Would people consider finishing a 100mile ultramarathon in 24 hours an achievement if the person in question had to walk 50% or even 66% of the time?
Just interested in peoples opinions !

Pisco Sour

The whole thing about whether or not X is an achievement is all relative.

Is it an achievement for Brazil to make the Last 16 of the World Cup? No way
Is it an achievement for Latvia to make the Last 16 of the World Cup? Absolutely!

The same goes for marathons! 5 hours is not an achievement for Paul Tergat, but is for an 50 year old man who lost a lot of weight in the process of preparing for it.

Lex Luther

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

You never read any running magazines than. Runners World and the likes are full of articles claiming that finishing a marathon is a life-changing achievement, and how you will never be the same person again after crossing your first finish line.

Given that Runners World is a running magazine I strongly suspect that they only see it as "a life changing experience" if you actually do a little bit of proper preparation and put in at least some training.

Lex Luther

04072511 wrote: »

The same goes for marathons! 5 hours is not an achievement for Paul Tergat, but is for an 50 year old man who lost a lot of weight in the process of preparing for it.

the key point here of course being "process of preparing for it"

so a freakily genetically gifted man runs 4 hour marathon with zero preparation - in my book thats no achievement.
overweight 50 year old starts running from scratch a year ago, trains as best he can to a programme and finishes in 5 hours - big achievement !

but its just an opinion of course
LL

TFBubendorfer

Ath36 wrote: »

What about a 100mile ultramarathon. Could anyone walk 100miles tomorrow with little training in a similar fashion ?
Would people consider finishing a 100mile ultramarathon in 24 hours an achievement if the person in question had to walk 50% or even 66% of the time?

More than anything, this post shows how little is known about long ultra marathons.

24 hours for 100 miles is a very respectable time. And walking half of such a race is how most of the runners make it through, not just the back-of the-pack ones.