Forums >General Running>Superhuman or just a good Endurance Runner?
I'd like to see Dean clear the air on this incident as well. Sounds like something fishy went down.
That said, I doubt he Kip Littoned it. There's just nothing to be gained for him by intentionally cheating.
I agree Dean has a sometimes-annoying knack for promotion (weren't we just criticizing the elites for lacking this in another thread?).
However, although he is clearly not perfect, I do think he's a good ambassador for the sport.
Dean isn't "Elite". And.. sometimes annoying.. that's putting it mildly. Its pretty debatable if hes good for the sport.
And we run because we like itThrough the broad bright land
hahahaha I was about to type "10 years ago called, and want's its Dean bashing thread back" ;-P
Hate to bump this thread but...
Yeah, well.
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But can he run a 14min 5K without training?
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Resident Historian
.... One example, that 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days? He wasn't the first to do that. It wasn't his idea. It was Sam Thompson. He did it to raise money for Katrina victims. As he was completing his 50, Dean decided that would be a nice thing to do, and write a book about. So Dean is Mr. 50-in-50-in-50.
Neither was the first to do 50 in 50. Terry Fox did a little more. 93 more, to be precise. A total of 143 days straight
And he did them all on one leg. Now THAT's a superstar!
Sorry, Dean Karnazes does not measure up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox
Neil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson
Neither was the first to do 50 in 50. Terry Fox did a little more. 93 more, to be precise. A total of 143 days straight And he did them all on one leg. Now THAT's a superstar!
With all due respect to Terry Fox, he did take days off for recovery and treatment along those 143 days. He did run the miles and do the time, and average more than a marathon a day, but, he did take days off in late June (after 60 consecutive days, and before another 60 consecutive days) in order to run through Ottawa on Canada Day.
But, yes, he was (and is) a superstar. Thanks for the reminder.
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Yeah, but that stuff is obsolete anyway I think -- haven't several people run 50mi/day for a while?
Uh oh... now what?
A not-quite-satisfactory explanation (preapology for posting here, I am not a regular):
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/ultramarathon-man-removed-from-race/article_2d803532-1aa0-11e3-b1d9-0019bb2963f4.html
This has caused a heated "debate" around here about being aware of "things"
and inner honesty when stepping onto the awards podium. It is not like the
getting lost while on course (unless you take a shortcut to get back on the
course---an infamous thing in ultramarathons long ago) thing. There does not
seem to be disagreement about Karnazes covering the distance, only in the
idea of no official starting time. That should be enough to prevent a typically
aware runner from walking to the podium--an explanation with holes. This
just gets worse as I run it over in my head... I suppose he was just thinking
of making up ground, not of any need to check in with someone at a starting
line that was probably already in some stage of confusion... bbbyyy
rgot
A not-quite-satisfactory explanation (preapology for posting here, I am not a regular): http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/ultramarathon-man-removed-from-race/article_2d803532-1aa0-11e3-b1d9-0019bb2963f4.html
That's about what I expected. I'd contacted Bill Buley, the author of that article -- he hadn't known Dean had been DQed, and promised to get the scoop and do another story. Personally I buy Dean's explanation.
There does not seem to be disagreement about Karnazes covering the distance, only in the idea of no official starting time. That should be enough to prevent a typically aware runner from walking to the podium--an explanation with holes.
There does not seem to be disagreement about Karnazes covering the distance, only in the
aware runner from walking to the podium--an explanation with holes.
Well, there is still my friend (2AG, now 1AG), who says "Bob he honestly jumped into the race from his condo and honestly did not run the Marathon and honestly thought he should get an award ahead of someone that ran the distance honestly."
But I have not heard details of how he knows this. Sounds to me like Dean actually ran 6-7 minutes faster than his recorded gun time (not to mention the few miles he ran to the start). In his situation, I don't think I would feel too guilty about accepting gun time as my start time, with the mat gone, and still accepting my AG award.
why Hussein Bolt ....hasn't done it yet
He's still Iraq's greatest ever sprinter...
Sorry, I just added a bit to my original post. I have defended Karnazes on several
editorials things over the years. This one leaves me wondering and evolves to a
"What would I do" sort of thing. The "mat" thing--does that mean there was
chip timing? I am left with no problem on looking at it as a completed marathon,
but with no verification of his start, the award part goes away.
Feeling the growl again
That's about what I expected. I'd contacted Bill Buley, the author of that article -- he hadn't known Dean had been DQed, and promised to get the scoop and do another story. Personally I buy Dean's explanation. Well, there is still my friend (2AG, now 1AG), who says "Bob he honestly jumped into the race from his condo and honestly did not run the Marathon and honestly thought he should get an award ahead of someone that ran the distance honestly." But I have not heard details of how he knows this. Sounds to me like Dean actually ran 6-7 minutes faster than his recorded gun time (not to mention the few miles he ran to the start). In his situation, I don't think I would feel too guilty about accepting gun time as my start time, with the mat gone, and still accepting my AG award.
I can see why someone would still accept an award if they got there late and crossed the start but there was no mat there. Some smaller races use a finishing mat only, no starting mat (ie no chip time, only gun time).
I can also see why an RD would rightly DQ someone with no starting time recorded by the chip.
I guess they are gone now but it would be interesting if his split time to the first mat were available; it would not for sure tell you if he started from his condo but it would tell you if his first split was significantly slow (consistent with his story) and if he gained some sort of time advantage.
It is curious that he claims he told a bunch of officials, yet it was not officially brought to the RD's attention until the timer did so a few days later...
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Probably the officials were fine with it until my friend complained.
His story, like a lot of things related do Karno, just kind of smells funny.
I wish he'd just fade away.
Ambassador for the sport? Not the sport I'm playing.
Runners run
In his first story, Bill Buley says that Dean passed him about mile 4, and finished about 13 minutes ahead of him. That seems reasonably consistent to me.