MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
So, there's stuff like 24 hour mtb racing, and then there's stuff like Iron Man. Iron man impresses me. People talk about having done an Iron Man.
This guy at work hasn't simply done an Iron Man - he [i]does[/i] Iron Mans, regularly. It's just an enjoyable day out for him.
He's thinking of jacking it in next year and doing ultramarathon, he might try Marathon des Sables.. wow, I'm really impressed now.
However then he proceeds to tell me about his crazy mates (now I'm wondering what it takes to make this man think you're crazy). They do this thing called Deca-Iron Man. That's right, TEN IRON MANS back to back...
But it gets worse. Every other year they aggregate the legs, so you do ten swims, ten bikes and ten runs. So that's a 38km swim, 1,800km bike ride and 422km run!
You'd think it'd not be possible to make this any more insane, but this is the icing on the cake. It's done in a 50m pool and a 1.2km track!
😯
an impressive feat of endurance but sounds dull as.... Which is perfect for the triathletes...You'd think it'd not be possible to make this any more insane, but this is the icing on the cake. It's done in a 50m pool and a 1.2km track!
The mind struggles to think of anything more boring than a 38km swim
Well....there's always a 39km swim.
760 lengths...
Is it sponsored by the CIA?
Lengths.... ****ing ...... Lengths
Indoors, Jesus wept, Im having dark thoughts just thinking about that level of boredom.
I know - it'd staggering but conceivable if it were out in the countryside or something, like say.. swimming the channel, then cycling lejog.. then RUNNING back from JoG to Edinburgh.....
But indoors - that's just.... 😯
I have done a couple of ironman races, they are enjoyable in their own way, you just get into a zone and keep going. I have a mate who I did my first ironman race with, he did the deca ironman (10 in 10 days) a couple of years ago......I can't even begin to imagine how he did it! I couldn't really walk the day after mine, the idea of going out and doing it all again is just a little unreal!
Suffice to say he is taking a bit of a break from triathlons at the moment.
Has anyone attempted to drown themselves, due to the unbearable dullness of swimming that far in a pool?
Almost certainly
It's funny what people go for. My colleague the serial (but not consecutive) Iron Man thought a 24hr Solo MTB would be too boring, and didn't fancy the TDR either.
He seemed keen on the Norseman tri though, as I would be if I thought I could finish it.
Triple Deca Iron Man..........
If you can't go fast, go long...
Then there's the Barkley. A mere 100 miles.
Out of 1000 entrants only 14 have finished it.
http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/
Apparently the aggregate legs are worse.. apparently a 1,100 mile bike ride isn't very good for your arse.
Here's Bob Brown from Cornwalls story of his deca man - note it took 2 years for him to recover. He later went on to win the run across America
http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~clfs12/Tony_ego_site_Dec_2005/Sport/deca_blogs/bob_brown_deca_1997.htm
For mad endurance look up run geordie run, he ran across Australia last year in summer.
I was riding frozen cheeky trails in Goyt very early on Sat am. There an 160 mile ultra marathon. They were running 55 2.9 mile laps from the cat and fiddle to the top of shining tor and back. I can't think of anything more tedious.
Yeh whatever, Bear Grills is on the telly now..........
My sister manages a couple of Iron(wo)man events each year (13h ish) and is currently training for the Marathon des Sables in 2015. She's still keeping up the triathalon though, doing an Ironman as well so I still can't bring myself to go on a bike ride with her.
I've a friend who's just finished this!
55 loops of Shining Tor in the peak district. 160 miles running in a 48hr time limit. The ascent is roughly base camp to Everest summit..... Twice!
I watched them doing it and chatted to a few of them non of them appeared to be enjoying it, mind you they just run through the night and must have been -6C up there as it was -3C in macc when I got up. how many finished I heard only one person finished last year.
Yet theres so much chat here about 24hr mtb events; just as dull. CX which involves lap after lap. Cycling was also home of the 6 day track event remember.
A challenge isn't boring if it means something to you.
Yet theres so much chat here about 24hr mtb events; just as dull.
Yep, they do sound boring
CX which involves lap after lap.
No interest, but also sound boring. I'd like to add fell racing to that. Travelling for 2-6hrs for a 60min run, doesn't compute.
Cycling was also home of the 6 day track event remember.
God that sounds awful
A challenge isn't boring if it means something to you.
Absolutely. I have no objection to folk spending 24hrs going round an athletics track if they so wish. Do what you do if you like it. Just don't expect me to join you, or to be silent about what I think of it. And please feel free to express disinterest in my interests.
Now for a real test of endurance, try reading the Scottish Independence threads. All of them.
Just don't expect me to join you, or to be silent about what I think of it.
Or, you know, you could just ignore it if you don't care 😉
Friend of mine does cross country marathon runs. One of his last ones was trail running in the Italian Alps, sounded fairly epic with about 4000m of vertical gain.
I don't mind people testing themselves against standards in these very boring ways, as long as they don't go on about them in the typical middle-aged bloke who has just taken up marathons/tris style.
There do seem to be sports which are about skill, some which are about risk and thrills, and some which are just about looking in the mirror of your own pain and boredom. I'll stick to the first two.
And please feel free to express disinterest in my interests.
Thats the point isn't it ....
There is nothing more boring than someones elses pastimes.
And
There's always someone better at your pastime than you.
To prove my point please read the below
Here was me, just getting into Ultra's have signed up for a 40 miler (for my 40th year) and there are others out there doing double ascents of Everest.
See .... boring for you and inspiring/envious for me
I've a friend who's just finished this!55 loops of Shining Tor in the peak district. 160 miles running in a 48hr time limit. The ascent is roughly base camp to Everest summit..... Twice!
This came up in conversation with a mate a couple of weeks ago. He knows the organiser and said he could get me a late entry. Had to explain I'd already earmarked that weekend for rearranging the sock drawer.
Mate organises this -
http://www.centurionrunning.com/piece-of-string-2014/
Thing is, I am interested. It's an impressive feat and the mental determination required that I find interesting. I wouldn't even open the thread if there was no interest.
Actually doing it, that's the boring bit.
@Rosey
I find it beneficial to only run with people slower than myself. In my head I'm a legend. 😀
A guy in our village has been 2nd and 3rd in the deca ironman thing. I fell off my chair when I heard the run was laps of a bleeding car park.
Mind you I was thinking the other day about doing 10,000' of climbing on my local hill (without ever getting more than a mile from home). Which I guess just goes to prove Ro5ey's point.
I get fed up of 'endurance mate top trumps'. Everybody knows someone who's doing some stupid endurance event.
No idea why they think you would be interested in hearing about how big a nob some bloke has got that you dont know and never will.
And usually their 'mate' is someone that is a regular on a forum that they also go on. Who is probably not even doing the events.
Infact, I'm not convinced that these events even happen. Sure they're just invented for internet boasting...
@mrjmt Well I'm a Bot so have no feelings either way. I'm pretty sure you are too - what Service Pack are you on?
riding your bike. For twenty four hours. A full day riding trails! how can that be a bad thing?Yep, they do sound boring
pervet!try reading the Scottish Independence threads.
I'd like to do the Marathon des Sables, but it's stupidly expensive and would require serious negotiations with the wife - can't see it happening without a lottery win 🙁 So I'll be sticking to more local ultras, fortunately there are quite a few round here.
But sod doing 760 lengths of a 50m pool, that's completely insane!
The longest race I've done is 5 days continuous - have done numerous races 3 days or longer. That's continuous in the sense that the clock doesn't stop when you sleep. Though I'm not sure if they qualify for this thread given they were a single loop through the mountains and wilderness (actually we did do some loops more than once on the 5 day race, but those were 6-12 hour loops), hence generally quite interesting. Is the reason behind my forum name.
www.sleepmonsters.com
My old man was an ultra runner in the early 80's culminating in 24 hour races two of which took place in a park in Chorley Lancashire the loop was was about 3 miles long. The reason why they do ultra's like this is such a confined space is it's easier for marshalling & controls/timing.
Joss Naylor prob greatest endurance racer ever IMHO http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Naylor
Another vote here for adventure racing, particularly of the expedition, multi-day kind. Although the distances are fairly big (total of ~600km for a typical exped race), they're great as they tend to be a linear journey, and you feel like you are making progress through it.
Can't imagine why anyone would want to swim endless laps of a pool or run laps of a car park!
aracer - we probably know each other, as the AR scene in the UK is pretty small!
I have been dreaming for years of having the time to get into adventure racing.....one day
Adventure racing appeals
I like the idea of a journey
although tbh id drop the racing bit and just go for an adventure
How about the [url= http://www.transcontinentalrace.com ]TransContinental[/url] Race - cycling admittedly
London to istanbul unsupported - quicked was just under 8 days (average of 400k per day)
If you like the idea of making your Ultra marathon into a journey, try the West Highland Way race.
Entries are now closed for June 2015; it is however close to home, reasonably priced and you need to prove that you have a history of completing shorter ultras first. There's plenty of time to get organised for 2016.
Being part of this race 'family' has been a real privilege for the last dozen years. You can find loads about it on the race website and on FB.
Associated races like the Great Glen Way, Devil of the Highlands, Highland Fling, Cateran Ultra and several others are all journeys through the lands. Most folk take part to challenge themself to finish; very few are racing for places. Well worth considering.
[quote=djtom ]aracer - we probably know each other, as the AR scene in the UK is pretty small!
Depends how long you've been doing it - the last race of any kind I did was in 2011, and I think my last year of serious racing was 2008. The last expedition race I finished was the 2004 World Champs! Though I still know most of the current top guys.
pie - plenty of people I know who adventure race also do non-racing adventures, though it still tends to be a lot of work sorting out logistics for anything comparable as a journey.
One of my mates is walking solo to the south pole right now. Or was it across Antarctica. Something like that.
Anyway, the big thing here is that he is a) mental and b) hard as nails.
Sod your marshalled ultras. The man is in Antarctica!
Willard, please put the willy away. That's not what this discussion is about. It's about helping people find their own adventures.
Arrrr FFS I don't need people on here trying to get me to enter races. It's bad enough in 'real' life, I've a few friends that seem to have been low level campaigning for years now.
I was out on the Cateran a few weeks back looking for a winter project, trainers proved a bad choice. Waders would have been better.
To be honest, it's the prescribed nature of 'events' that disagrees with me. Although I think perhaps what bothers me is never been out for a [i]really[/i] long one. Plenty of 30-50 milers, but nothing more.
I think I'm more in tune with Mr Fleetwoods days out.
http://longdistancechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/p/scotland.html
Associated races like the Great Glen Way, Devil of the Highlands, Highland Fling, Cateran Ultra and several others are all journeys through the lands. Most folk take part to challenge themself to finish; very few are racing for places. Well worth considering.
That's true for most people for most LD events, though - at most they might be trying to beat last year's time, but not racing for places.
one thing i dont understand (might be the tight arsed yorkshireman in me).
why pay loads of cash to do one of these endurance events? why not just do it yourself.
you want to do a 24hr mtb ride, go to dalby/gt/dales/lakes and ride for 24hrs
run for 24hrs round you local town/trails/nature reserve.
far more of a challenge than a marshalled safe option.
toblerone ton?
I think it's something along the lines of why pay a fortune to see a band rather than listen to a recording in your living room?
Not too sure what the exact reason is, but it's something to do with having a collective experience.
I've done a few endurance / events, the trick with them (for me anyway) is what has been mentioned already - variety and not being dull. I have done one running event which averaged about 30miles a day for 6 days, could not have done that just running around a track but this was across different terrain, different locations each day. Similarly have done the leadville 100 a couple of times which is amazing.
I think it's something along the lines of why pay a fortune to see a band rather than listen to a recording in your living room?
Not too sure what the exact reason is, but it's something to do with having a collective experience.
Thing is, we are all different.
I fricking hate races, masses of people all crowding up the hills. The last Ultra i did was a shorty in Jedburgh(36 miles i think)and I'll be quite honest. The worst bit about it was the 'other people
I've done a bit of expedition racing, 2 world champs and 8 I think races in nz,oz, tas and usa. Loved it and still do but child takes spare time now. Will start again sometime in the future but no team over here which to me was having an adventure with your mates. Have seen lots of epic places, at night.
A lad I ride with does long events, he's just mental.. he's done the MDS,the Tour du Mont Blanc (200 mile road event) and this year did the Fred Whitton and then the following weekend rode from the Severn Bridge to the Menai Bridge and back non-stop.
Sodding mental, but very matter of fact about the whole thing though
I'm not sure why some people are so keen to rubbish multilap MTB races. As much as the physical challenge there's the mental challenge of getting to know the course and being as quick as you can through the technical sections and making the right line choices to minimise energy expenditure.
Depends what you want from the experience.
If it works for you, go for it. If not, do something else.
Could'nt be dealing with laps myself, so I wont. It's not meant to rubbish the experience. Folk just enjoy different stuff.
A one lap, 1300km endurance event through glorious scenery with no corporate branding or lifestyle marketing.
Entry fee: £10.00 ( £11.50 when paying via PayPal. )
kcr.......that's more like it.
a proper test of yourself, rather than loads of marshalled laps and feed stations.
far more of a challange.
See Bob Brown's description of the deca-ironman there... Does anyone else feel like maybe what he needed most was some sort of mental health professional? Considering the drug overdose, and that. He talks about self-discipline but it sounds more like loss of control and selfharm. It's a massive physical achievement but... There's a line there I think.
Northwind - The same could be said of lots of these. I dabbled in Adventure racing and was around for the Wilderness ARC in Scotland in 2007 (but not competing). Some people were risking long term damage in their drive to finish. I remember a lady with a twisted / wrenched ankle & knee literally hobbling for mile after mile. Part of me was impressed with the ability to just keep going; part of me was thinking "you idiot"
Northwind - The same could be said of lots of these.
I used to work for a company which sold a lot of equipment to adventure racing teams and also had its own adventure racing teams and I'd definitely echo the sentiment that there are some cracked individuals involved. Plenty of normal folk, plenty of very driven or very competitive people but a definite few who were in it for the sackcloth and ashes.