24 HOUR TRACK RACE
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| GEAROID TOWEY | Oct 19 2008, 9:44pm | WENT TO SEE IMRA MEMBERS EOIN KEITH AND BOB BOLES COMPETE IN THE SELF TRANSCENDENCE 24 HOUR RUNNING RACE ON TOOTING BEC 400M RUNNING TRACK IN LONDON THIS WEEKEND. BOB BROKE THE 100 MILE BARRIER AND EOIN BROKE THE IRISH 24 HOUR RECORD GETTING 146 MILES I THINK. RUNNING FOR 24 HOURS IS A FEAT IN ITSELF.....BUT 24 HOURS ON A TRACK IS A WHOLE OTHER WORLD COMPLETELY.......WELL DONE LADS, HORSES FOR COURSES AND ALL THAT..... |
| Paul Mahon | Oct 20 2008, 10:39am | Well done lads. AS Gags says, sounds like a horses for courses event with the mental aspect of running in circles for that length of time tho apparently you do get to change direction every 4 hours :-) |
| Barry Minnock | Oct 20 2008, 11:47am | Over 230k in 24 hours? That's is incredible! Super stuff Eoin - that's even more impressive than WW time - 2 great records in a month ... Also savage stuff from Bob - the unlikely ultra running machine. Fair due guys - a marathon is tough enough, but what you guys are doing requires unbelieveable stamina and just touch of insanity : ) |
| GEAROID TOWEY | Oct 20 2008, 12:04pm | 45 souls participated in the race. It was really well organised with each athlete assigned their own volunteer to count their laps. copious amounts of nice food was available to all athletes throughout the 24 hours....nice stuff too! not a powerbar in sight! Has to be seen to be believed. |
| Mick Hanney | Oct 20 2008, 1:14pm | Terrific achievement, if a bit insane, and not a mountain in sight :-) The mileage covered would have achieved a high finish in the IAU 24H World Challenge Final held in Seoul over the weekend where a couple of other Irish lads took part. Details of those results here: http://www.iau.org.tw/news_detail.php?Id=342 |
| Rene Borg | Oct 20 2008, 1:23pm | Eoin would have been 13th as far as I can see, not bad at all! For those interested he ran 9.9kph on average which is equivalent to a 4:15 marathon time! |
| Rene Borg | Oct 20 2008, 1:24pm | PS. What happened to Dean Karnazes during the World Challenge? Bottom finish? |
| Eoin Keith | Oct 21 2008, 12:02am | Thanks for all that. I'm not sure myself how that ranks against the WW time...they've both been long term ambitions, so it's been some month for me. I also broke the Irish 100 mile record during the race with a time of 16:06 - ish (Don't have the official figure yet). It was great having Gags calling in to the race (and his housemate Elise later in the race). It was a fantastic race. Bob did amazingly well. He ran an excellent race tactically, which is one of the hardest things to get right. Not much point in comparing my time to the Korean times. I was on a running track, and they were on concrete paths. All very differnt. They also had more heat to deal with. The race support in London is exceptionally good too. There is a really marvelous atmosphere. The 10kph-ish speed was pretty much what I was aiming and hoping for. Roughly 6mph. There was a large cluster of us doing in or around that pace, and the race order only really began to sort itself out after about 12 hours as the others started fading a bit. And as for Deano. Well, what you see there is an accurate reflection of his ability. Strip away the media publicity and that's what you're left with. If you count in all the female racers then he was only second from bottom though. |
| Rene Borg | Oct 21 2008, 8:55am | That's probably a bit harsh on "Karno" but speed doesn't seem to be his forte alright. Out of academic interest I perused his records, and they are generally all based on running a set number of miles rather than time. To wander further off topic (we'll create a "Defense of Dean" thread later), most of his 24-hour runs he covered way more ground than at that Championship. He did do a 3h3sec marathon in NYC after doing 49 marathons on the 49 days before. So while he's certainly the object of much hype, there's a bit of substance beneath it all still. Interestingly, last years NYC, you can find him finishing the NYC marathon in 2:55. I know the quality of his character is much debated, but I'm sure that can be said for all of us, and since I don't know the man (Tony feel free to chime in!), I'll reserve judgement. If I could make a living doing what he does, I would, but I'm still awaiting that call! ;-) |
| Eoin Keith | Oct 21 2008, 8:56pm | Rene, look more closely at his "achievements". For someone who likes to publicise himself as possibly the fittest man in the world they don't really add up. Even a quick look at his Bio shows he has lots of "participated in", but very few "has won", and no "is the world record holder in". Indeed his recent attempt to take (former IMRA runner) Tony Mangan's 48 hour threadmill world record was a spectacular public failure. It also allowed us all to see him live on the internet holding onto the bars whilst running on the threadmill for a huge proportion of his "running" time. I'll let you figure out for yourself the significance of that. A lot of us (ultrarunners) were quite surprised to see him enter the world challenge, as it was always likely that by competing against the actual fittest runners his true level would be exposed (He doesn't seem to compete against the top runners much at all). 50 marathons in 50 days would be regarded by most good ultra runners as an interesting training programme, rather than something to generate self publicity about. There is no substance there in ultra terms. A contrast I would give would be Tony Mangan again, who ran 10 marathons in 48 hours whilst setting the world record for 48 hours indoors. His marathon times are, for a man who likes publicise himself as Americas best runner, pretty unspectacular. There are plenty of runners in IMRA with better times. As a self-publicist though, he is absolutely brilliant. There is no doubt about that. And Rene, you're far too nice and honest a guy to make a living doing what he does. You won't get the call. And as for the character of the man... Jesus! The stories I've heard from other international ultra-runners speak volumes. |
| Rene Borg | Oct 22 2008, 8:50am | Hi Eoin, I did some research, and the general information circulating the internet seems to support your point (so does a story Geoff Ludemann told me 2 years ago about his infamous rivalry with Richard Donovan). Before I continue, I should mention that concern was flagged to me about this constituting a potential personal attack that should not be discussed on the forum. For the moment, however, nothing Eoin has mentioned is inflammatory (and most is factually correct and widely reported on the internet). So as long as we keep the discussion on Dean factual and civil, I see no issue in continuing it. It seems to boil down to Dean being a pretty decent ultra-runner with a fantastic knack for marketing and a very successful fund raiser for charities. Also, undoubtedly, his often quoted "movie star looks", have given him an unprecedented degree of media coverage. On one side, this seems to cause resentment in the ultra-running commmunity as finer athletes get overlooked. On the flipside it has inspired many people to take up running and helped put ultra-running on the map. From what I've read, Dean basically runs like a corporation and none of his tactics would raise any eyebrows if he was a company. The examples I've seen quoted are these: 1. He would use the word "winner" of the Silver Buckle for the Western States Trail 100Miles. This is given to everyone who completes in 24hours, so the use of the term "winner" is seen as strategic marketing. 2. He refers to himself as a "champion" in some writing. Some take issue with this as the only race he won was a 1 mile in high school, the Badwater Ultramarathon, and recently the Vermont 100 Mile. 3. Another example of clever marketing: Dean generally refers to the Badwater race as "the toughest foot-race on Earth". It's hard to prove the veracity of this, but a lot of ultrarunners disagree. 4. The infamous incident during the South Pole Marathon which can be read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Karnazes . Richard Donovan one the court case that followed against Dean. 5. Dean lists himself as multiple winner of the Providian Saturn Relay. This is an impressive solo-run of 199miles, but Dean is the only runner who runs it solo, so again this is a bit of a clever spin. The story that raises the most questions is, of course, Dean's claim in his book to hold the record for most miles ran in a single stretch (350miles). Yiannis Kouros ran 473miles in 48hours on the track before this record was set. (It took Dean more than 80 hours to run 350miles). So, I'll concede to Eoin, that if you go to and take a quick over on Yiannis Kouros: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiannis_Kouros http://www.yianniskouros.com/ There certainly is little comparison between the records and achievements of the two. One is the more entertaining writer though ;-) |
| Tony Kiernan | Oct 22 2008, 9:19am | I only know of Deano from the 7 days and nights myself and 3 other IMRA paddies spent with him in a tent during the Gobi March this summer. I genuinely found him a nice bloke, yes he is a ‘professionally’ athlete, yes he carry’s round a media circus where ever he goes, he had a Japanese TV crew following him around all week from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep, I can recall Liam O’Riain telling the TV to f*ck off many a time when they stuck their camera in our tent every morning while were trying to get dressed. ( A TV crew in your face as you burst your blisters is not a pretty sight) Very often at Denos own admission he competes because of his obligations to his sponsors and never really trains properly for his races. Dean shared with us details of some very traumatic upheaval in his personal life which I have no doubt has and will continue to affect his performance this year and in the near future. As for respect from other Ultra Runners, we were all ultra runners in the Desert and Dean had no airs or graces about him and mixed with all competitors regardless of whether they were first or last on each stage, he clapped and cheered home his fellow runners as they crossed the line each day, he drank the same shitty warm water as us, ate the same freeze dried crap as us and caught the same ‘bum flu’ as all of us, cut away all the media hype he’s just a normal every day bloke. Dean was very honest about his mediocre marathon time, his best is about 2.45, he will tell you he’s not the best runner, but for me he shares the same passion for running which is well enough for me…. |
| Tony Kiernan | Oct 22 2008, 9:25am | I only know of Deano from the 7 days and nights myself and 3 other IMRA paddies spent with him in a tent during the Gobi March this summer. I genuinely found him a nice bloke, yes he is a ‘professionally’ athlete, yes he carry’s round a media circus where ever he goes, he had a Japanese TV crew following him around all week from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep, I can recall Liam O’Riain telling the TV to f*ck off many a time when they stuck their camera in our tent every morning while were trying to get dressed. ( A TV crew in your face as you burst your blisters is not a pretty sight) Very often at Denos own admission he competes because of his obligations to his sponsors and never really trains properly for his races. Dean shared with us details of some very traumatic upheaval in his personal life which I have no doubt has and will continue to affect his performance this year and in the near future. As for respect from other Ultra Runners, we were all ultra runners in the Desert and Dean had no airs or graces about him and mixed with all competitors regardless of whether they were first or last on each stage, he clapped and cheered home his fellow runners as they crossed the line each day, he drank the same shitty warm water as us, ate the same freeze dried crap as us and caught the same ‘bum flu’ as all of us, cut away all the media hype he’s just a normal every day bloke. Dean was very honest about his mediocre marathon time, his best is about 2.45, he will tell you he’s not the best runner, but for me he shares the same passion for running which is well enough for me…. |
| Rene Borg | Oct 22 2008, 9:34am | Interesting insights Tony, that's how he comes across in his writing alright. The whole South Pole debacle allegedly had a lot to do with pressure from sponsors as well. Now we shouldnt' feel sorry for someone being successful and making enough of a living to have pressure from sponsors, but it does beckon the question: "How would we act and what would we do and say if we found ourselves caught up in the same maelstroem of attention." |
| gerry brady | Oct 23 2008, 11:35pm | Eoin nice picture of you on AAI website http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=5066#more-5066 well done on the Irish record |
| Tony Mangan | Oct 26 2008, 10:52pm | Well done Eoin a fantastic run and congrats on taking the 100 mile and the 24 hour track records including the overall Irish records for 24 hours and 100 mile (all surfaces). Most of us try to maintain that 10km per hour objective but fall short around half way! You managed to keep it going for 18 incredible hours which lifts you into the coveted ' Category A ' 24 hour ranking (230km.) Looking forward to you cracking 150 miles! Records are meant to be broken and I know you can. I just thought I would add some ' fuel to the fire ' re: Deano! Please take time to read this incredible link which has irked the wrath of Yiannis Kourros and Deanos USA 24 hour team mate in Seoul (I wonder what that was like!) a wonderful champ, Scott Jurek who won about 7 Western States 100 milers and 3 Sparthalons and more races than he can remember! Long live Beckham and Karnakova! http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2008/09/how-did-dean-do.html Tony Mangan www.tonymangan.com |
| P.J. Carroll | Nov 6 2008, 8:25pm | I would like to congratulate Eoin Keith for producing those 2 ultra distance records in the space of a few short weeks. Best of luck in your future challenges, Eoin, heres hoping you go on to better those records in time. |
| Eoin Keith | Nov 9 2008, 11:24pm | Thanks for that P.J. Much appreciated. There's plenty of challenges out there for next year. I doubt I'll ever manage such successful back to back ultras again though! |
