Brit becomes first woman to complete utterly bonkers race

Brit becomes first woman to complete utterly bonkers race

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glazbagun

Original Poster:

14,464 posts

204 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-e...

This simultaneously sounds humorous and terrible at the same time. Like the Monster Raving Loony Party took charge of the London Marathon. Ultrarunners dopamine systems must be studied.

IanH755

1,999 posts

127 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
That's cool, ultra-marathons are the peak at pushing human endurance to the limit so congrats to her!

bloomen

7,446 posts

166 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
There's a documentary about it - https://barkleymovie.com

Major kudos to her. Rather her than me, though I'd croak after the first 200 metres anyway.

Faust66

2,121 posts

172 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Total respect to her... and to all people who run ultra marathons.

Jasmin Paris (in the linked article) ran the Spine Race - all 286 miles of the Pennine Way - in 86 hours back in January of this year not long after giving birth.

I might walk the same route later this year, and expect to take over 3 weeks to do the same distance.

Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.

popeyewhite

21,345 posts

127 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Faust66 said:
Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.
There's mounting evidence ultra running leads to acute health problems in later life.

glazbagun

Original Poster:

14,464 posts

204 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
Faust66 said:
Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.
There's mounting evidence ultra running leads to acute health problems in later life.
I don't think anyone has ever recommended running a marathon for your long-term health. The first guy to run one died, after all.

glazbagun

Original Poster:

14,464 posts

204 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Faust66 said:
Total respect to her... and to all people who run ultra marathons.

Jasmin Paris (in the linked article) ran the Spine Race - all 286 miles of the Pennine Way - in 86 hours back in January of this year not long after giving birth.

I might walk the same route later this year, and expect to take over 3 weeks to do the same distance.

Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.
It's ridiculous! Story here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/46906115

I've read that ultra-marathons may be one of the few sports where the sex advantage of men evaporates.

T6 vanman

3,149 posts

106 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
For those inspired by Jasmin's feat of endurance ... Can I wholeheartedly recommend starting your ultramarathon experience with

https://www.ratrace.com/the-wall


andy_s

19,606 posts

266 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
I've had the pleasure of letting her overtake me on a few occasions... [ biggrin ]

The performance of women vs men in ultra racing does get evened out in a certain way, the initial set sizes and compositions perhaps distorts things a bit, and after all, it isn't necessarily 'the strongest x can beat the strongest y' but whether either can cross the line at all [in terms of Barkley].

My wife and I both do this sort of thing, in a more modest way; I lean towards the multi-day and my wife the one-hit ultras and amongst her cohort are plenty of innocuous looking middle aged women who would absolutely trounce me over most distances past the 100 yard dash. In this niche [long distance fell/hill] people like Nicky Spinks, Carol Morgan, Lisa Watson, Sabrina Verjee etc are other-worldly in terms of performance from my mortal perspective - justified big beasts of the field with huge respect from all the other runners - you wouldn't want any of them running you down no matter who you were!

I'm so chuffed for her, she's very normal and always cheerful, holds down a job, kids etc and still churns out world class performances like this, it's brilliant to see.

markh1973

2,161 posts

175 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Faust66 said:
Total respect to her... and to all people who run ultra marathons.

Jasmin Paris (in the linked article) ran the Spine Race - all 286 miles of the Pennine Way - in 86 hours back in January of this year not long after giving birth.

I might walk the same route later this year, and expect to take over 3 weeks to do the same distance.

Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.
Believe me most of us are all too human. But then there are ultra marathons and there are ultra marathons.

The longest I have done was 105km with numerous 50km and several in between distances.

These are nothing compared to the likes of the Barkley Marathon and The Spine Race.

Muzzer79

11,057 posts

194 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Fair play to her, it’s a mammoth achievement.

The race itself is utterly mental in a fantastic way.

To beat the cut off by 99 secs, she was sprinting at the end of 100 miles. Astonishing.

Ezra

629 posts

34 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
Amazing feat - well done to her!

esuuv

1,353 posts

212 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
There's mounting evidence ultra running leads to acute health problems in later life.
I'm fairly sure that ultra running isn't going to become a burden on the NHS anytime soon.........

The documentary is brilliant - there's another called once is enough (it's free on YouTube), a rather more relatable level of ultra running.


Edited by esuuv on Saturday 23 March 18:50

john2443

6,391 posts

218 months

Saturday 23rd March
quotequote all
The entry fee is $1.60* - "Laz", the organiser, says he wants it to be for the people who deserve to be doing it, not people with enough money.

Apparently someone said this year "He could charge $1.75 and it would still sell out" biggrin

It is definitely utterly bonkers...in the best possible way. Documentary and other vids are very worth watching.


  • plus a number plate from your home country and something he's short of, might be socks or a shirt!

markh1973

2,161 posts

175 months

Sunday 24th March
quotequote all
The Garry Robins documentary - Where Dreams Go to Die is worth a watch too. Particularly to see his comments at the end and contrast them with his statement in 2022 when he announced he wasn't going to try again.

ben5575

6,641 posts

228 months

Sunday 24th March
quotequote all
Utterly amazing achievement and an incredible woman. Sometimes there doesn't appear to be much room left for the genuinely inspiring in this cynical work we live in, but occasionally remarkable achievements such as this stand out.

Just adding to the previous post, she broke the record for the Spine Race by 12 hours last year or the documentary said, the equivalent 50 miles ahead of the previous record holder.

jdw100

4,873 posts

171 months

Tuesday 26th March
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
Faust66 said:
Ultra marathon runners are basically super human IMO.
There's mounting evidence ultra running leads to acute health problems in later life.
So does sitting on you arse watching TV for two hours a night.

I know what I’d rather be doing.

My running has been cut short due to big toe joint issue that runs (no pun intended) in the family.

Challo

10,826 posts

162 months

Tuesday 26th March
quotequote all
markh1973 said:
The Garry Robins documentary - Where Dreams Go to Die is worth a watch too. Particularly to see his comments at the end and contrast them with his statement in 2022 when he announced he wasn't going to try again.
I have watched a few documentaries on the Barkley Marathons, and does seem mental that people want to do it. Fair play to the women who completed it, and i love the people just want to try and don't even manage one lap.




biggbn

24,935 posts

227 months

Tuesday 26th March
quotequote all
Absolutely incredible, such a down to earth person as well. Incredible grit and belief. Wow

Hammersia

1,564 posts

22 months

Tuesday 26th March
quotequote all
Hope it's all genuine, women do have a bit of history with cheating at marathons, just saying.

Was driven in a car for several miles:
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/joasia-zakrzew...

Didn't bother running it, "seeing Ruiz burst out of a crowd of spectators on Commonwealth Avenue, half a mile from the finish"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Ruiz

Officially cleared recently, but awfully suspect:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13169667/...