If you have nothing better to do today (Read 945 times)

Dean Karnazes has been hailed as America's best runner

Yeah, by people who know nothing about running.

The clock on the page and the "live" clock are inconsistent. Pretty cool though, I forgot that this was going on today.

There's a thread on letsrun.com by the Dean-haters about how much he keeps using the front rail while running. It's prohibited by the official rules for recognition of any kind of records. How does he not know that?

He's probably too busy checking himself out in the mirror. Anyone read his book?

I've read his book. I actually enjoyed it (MUCH to my surprise). His WS100 race report takes up a lot of it, as well as his 200 mi solo relay. The book gets pretty dramatic in a few places, but hey, when I have stories of ultras to tell one day, you bet I'll make it dramatic. I don't think he's America's best runner (Matt Carpenter here in CO gets my vote) but he certainly is a great runner.

Wait, he's not even on there. Where'd he go? I guess he's ahead on miles. 38 mins left.

Correction. Looks like he ran about 128 miles, not 1 MILE short of the treadmill record, but 1 MARATHON short. Like a lot of things related to Karno, the spin is a bit misleading, though is not an outright lie. The wesite says he, "completed a distance equivalent to the total of five marathons, just one shy of the record."

Here's my opinion on Karno (not that anybody asked). I'm seriously impressed by what he's able to accomplish. 128 miles in one day? Wow. That's not even his PR...he's done 147.96, and held the world record when he did that. A lot of runners say, "well, if I trained for it, I could run 9:45 pace all day too." No, you probably couldn't. That argument gets nowhere with me. Until you try it, and do it, don't bring that kind of argument. That's where I stand on his actual accomplishments. On the other hand, he's arrogant as hell and has no problem with that. America's Greatest Runner? C'mon. Where did that come from? Whether he appointed himself to that post, or some marketing media did...there's nothing further from the truth. I could finish a marathon and have 1 or 2 beers down before he crossed the line...and I'm not even close to being an elite marathoner. I know the marathon isn't the most relevant comparison...it's too short for Dean. But at the same time, it's about 25 miles too long for me. Whatever. Can I blame the guy for knowing what aspects of running will entertain the average American? No. That's not his doing. If I could earn a living through running in the same means, I'd sure as hell do it. What I can blame him for is accepting and even encouraging the praise he gets without recognizing the pros who could run circles around him in any even that's not a niche event.