Forum menu
although I do have one friend that’s done at least 3 road marathons this year already.
A friend's wife did 56 last year inc several back to back....
She also did several ultra runs of 100 miles, most of which weren't even in the UK...
She's not normal......
Very few people run full marathons outside of events for fun,
when I was running regularly, my then G/F and I would often run 20 miles off-road in the Chilterns following MTB routes I knew. I think most folks who don't run those sorts of distances overestimate how difficult it is. Once you've built up the ability to do that sort of mileage, it really isn't that hard. We did a couple of years of both doing 3 or 4 marathons a year, but would often do 15-20 miles on the spur of the moment on a weekend.
I think someone up thread suggested it, but I'm very certain that a "regular Joe" with sufficient time and (I hesitate to use the word training, as it's not really, It's just building the distance in your legs) could run a marathon. Same as I think you could also do 150-200kms on a bike. Once your legs are used to it, humans are really really good at this sort of low energy long distance stuff.
Without dipping into this data I’d say a sub 4 mara would be equivalent to a sub 6 112mile ride.
That seems right within the context of an Ironman, based on my own experience.
Iron-distance 1: bike leg = ~5h26m, marathon = ~3h39
Iron-distance 2: bike leg = ~5h21m, marathon = ~3h50
Standalone marathon time: 2h35m and change
I've never done a 100mile standalone TT to compare as well though.
A friend’s wife did 56 last year inc several back to back….
She also did several ultra runs of 100 miles, most of which weren’t even in the UK…
She’s not normal……
TBH I don't see that as being too hard, the main things stopping me from doing that are time and money (and I'm not sure I particularly want to). Again, this is assuming a relatively low intensity. You can't aim for a marathon PB time if you're doing one a week.
Running a marathon is not racing a marathon. My sister finishes marathons for fun, including off road ones and back-to-back, with little to no training. If you say race pace (sub three hours for a fast club rider), then perhaps a 100 mile TT in sub 4hrs or a 280 mile 12hr TT. When I did the Tough Mudder with her, despite zero running training, I was demonstrably fitter then she was when it came to running up hills.
But i was wondering what’s the equivalent in biking terms.
I've come back to this again after a bit more thought.....and realised I'm not sure what the question is!
What do we (you) mean by equivalent? The 'morning after' impact on the body, the energy consumed by an equivalent intensity of event, the amount of training needed to get to 'club standard' in the events, the amount of training it would take a total noob to get around it for the first time?
"Very few people run full marathons outside of events for fun, yet there will be thousands of cyclists in this country hitting centuries on any sunny summer weekend."
That's because they know that running just sucks, or at least running for ages on tarmac does.
I run a bit, from half marathons upward to ultras and multi-days. Predominantly off-road and with mountains when I can. I also ride a fair bit, again predominantly off-road and I don't avoid hills. Though riding tends to be for fun and fitness where running I'm doing races.
I'd say a ratio of 4 to 1 is in the ballpark and what the watch calorie burn reflects. Of course there are exceptions to the rule like an hour at max heart rate for a CX race or descending an Alp in a mountain ultra, but averaging out over time, for me, 4miles bike is around 1mile run (ish).
I’ve come back to this again after a bit more thought…..and realised I’m not sure what the question is!
The only way it can be read is 'Is there a cycling equivalent to a marathon which achieves the same aspirational effect'. It can't be read as 'how long does it take me - as opposed to you or anyone else - to train for or recover from a marathon', because we are all different.
And, of course, there is no equivalent because a marathon is a randomly set distance based on an ancient story. If cycling had an equivalent legend about a bunch of Greeks who pedalled the 73.5 leagues (pick your distance, any distance!) to the Battle of Plataea on their fixies then that would be our equivalent.
The question could similarly be phrased as 'what's our equivalent of the Americas Cup' or which cycling discipline is our foot golf? Different sports don't necessarily have any similarity or equivalence.