Apparently, if you do 3.2km/day for 16 days...

jonovision_man · Postby **jonovision_man** » Tue May 08, 2012 4:50 pm

... you've completed a marathon!

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/artic ... -suit?bn=1

C'mon. :roll:

My dog walks from the couch and runs around the yard, it's about 500m a day, if he does it for 84 days or so... marathon dog?

At least the London Marathon had enough integrity to keep this somewhat of a sporting event:

The award came after some controversy that Lomas would not get a finisher medal or a spot on the results list of the Virgin-sponsored marathon. To get a medal, the 35,000 participants needed to finish within eight hours and 15 minutes of the start time, marathon spokeswoman Nicola Okey confirmed.

“After the final cut off time we do not have water stations or medical cover on the course, the timing system has been dismantled, and we have no way of confirming that a runner has in fact completed the full marathon course,” Okey wrote in an email, adding they had discussed the policy with the charity before accepting Lomas’ entry.

Don't get me wrong - it might very well be an accomplishment for her. But it wasn't a marathon.
jono

Jwolf · Postby **Jwolf** » Tue May 08, 2012 4:58 pm

They could have a different category for people that finish something like this, similar to how they used to have the kids Marafun in the Vancouver marathon (they would run 25.2 miles in the weeks leading up to the race and the last mile on marathon day). I don't see it as a big deal if she had gotten a medal (the kids in Vancouver used to get the same marathon finisher's medal that others got).

What she did was definitely commendable- the fundraising and the physical perseverance.

jonovision_man · Postby **jonovision_man** » Tue May 08, 2012 4:59 pm

Commendable, yes. Marathon, no.

jono

dgrant · Postby **dgrant** » Tue May 08, 2012 5:20 pm

jonovision_man wrote:Commendable, yes. Marathon, no.

jono

They should have a separate competition called the holycrapwedesignedandbuiltthisanditworkedproperlyeverydayfortwoweeksathon.

To give it its proper due, they should cancel all marathons for a year so people can instead spend that time reflecting on the fact that we live in a time where that device exists.

Jwolf · Postby **Jwolf** » Tue May 08, 2012 7:59 pm

She used the marathon route so that her feat would gain more attention, and it worked.

Darth Tater · Postby **Darth Tater** » Tue May 08, 2012 11:00 pm

Pace was 3.2 km/day. If she ran 3.2km/day for 16 days, she would have completed 51.2 km, 9 km more than a marathon. :wink:

Postby **turd ferguson** » Wed May 09, 2012 12:49 am

Darth Tater wrote:Pace was 3.2 km/day. If she ran 3.2km/day for 16 days, she would have completed 51.2 km, 9 km more than a marathon.

Maybe KBO was leading her?

jonovision_man · Postby **jonovision_man** » Wed May 09, 2012 6:09 am

Darth Tater wrote:Pace was 3.2 km/day. If she ran 3.2km/day for 16 days, she would have completed 51.2 km, 9 km more than a marathon.

So she did an ULTRA!? Props!

jono

ceileigh · Postby **ceileigh** » Wed May 09, 2012 6:12 am

My friend posted this yesterday on FB. What I can't figure out is whether or not she went 16 days without stopping (other then short pottie breaks etc.) or whether she walked part of the marathon each day and did the whole course over 16 days. All it says is she took each day as it came. If she did it without stopping, going day and night, and it took her 16 days, then she did a marathon, just a very slow one. If she did 3.2 km a day, went to bed each night, got up and started again the next day, then she did a fundraising awareness walk similar to Terry Fox. Both are commendable but each are different. I watched a couple videos of her. Must need a lot of upper body strength to keep going. I don't know that I could have done this and it is pretty remarkable. There is someone who carries a platform of sorts and walks along with her. As soon as the legs shut off (you hear them) he moves in and they take the camera off so she had to be sitting or lying down on/off throughout. Given that I'd say it is more like a Terry Fox or Rick Hansen type of walk then 'doing a marathon' but still pretty amazing no matter how you look at it or what you call it!

Cupcake Girl · Postby **Cupcake Girl** » Wed May 09, 2012 2:11 pm

When I read this earlier in the week, it read as if she walked the whole time, not just a few KMs a day. This is a new version of the story.

IMHO you do a marathon within the cut off time and that's it. Otherwise, it's just a long walk.

Bionic suit is way cool though.

Irongirl · Postby **Irongirl** » Wed May 09, 2012 2:51 pm

Bionic suit is cool.

Bionic suit is NOT cheap.

This part is cool:

But a dozen other marathoners donated their medals to Lomas, according to the Guardian, to celebrate her achievement.

QuickChick · Postby **QuickChick** » Wed May 09, 2012 3:23 pm

CLEARLY this is different from the average person completing a marathon! I really don't think that was the point... I think it's cool that she did it, that she probably raised some awareness, and that the suit is freakin' awesome. Good for her.

bnn · Postby **bnn** » Wed May 09, 2012 7:46 pm

QuickChick wrote:CLEARLY this is different from the average person completing a marathon! I really don't think that was the point... I think it's cool that she did it, that she probably raised some awareness, and that the suit is freakin' awesome. Good for her.

this

shannybear13 · Postby **shannybear13** » Wed May 09, 2012 9:03 pm

Good for her for getting out there and raising money for what she believes in. Similar to but not quite Terry Fox...he actually averaged close to a marathon distance a day..so in my opinion slightly different. Either way I think this is great. Clearly she was not letting anything hold her back...

La · Postby La » Thu May 10, 2012 11:18 am

bnn wrote:
QuickChick wrote:CLEARLY this is different from the average person completing a marathon! I really don't think that was the point... I think it's cool that she did it, that she probably raised some awareness, and that the suit is freakin' awesome. Good for her.

this

+1

Postby **turd ferguson** » Thu May 10, 2012 11:25 am

bnn wrote:
QuickChick wrote:CLEARLY this is different from the average person completing a marathon! I really don't think that was the point... I think it's cool that she did it, that she probably raised some awareness, and that the suit is freakin' awesome. Good for her.

this

Agreed!

If only the internet had been around in 1981, we could have filled endless pages with complaints about how Terry Fox was taking walk breaks, getting unauthorized on-course support and getting an unfair advantage from his biomechanical leg.

Jwolf · Postby **Jwolf** » Thu May 10, 2012 11:28 am

QuickChick wrote:CLEARLY this is different from the average person completing a marathon! I really don't think that was the point... I think it's cool that she did it, that she probably raised some awareness, and that the suit is freakin' awesome. Good for her.

yes exactly.

jonovision_man · Postby **jonovision_man** » Thu May 10, 2012 2:06 pm

turd ferguson wrote:If only the internet had been around in 1981, we could have filled endless pages with complaints about how Terry Fox was taking walk breaks, getting unauthorized on-course support and getting an unfair advantage from his biomechanical leg.

Well since you brought up Terry Fox, he did finish a marathon (in one day, not 16)...
http://web.archive.org/web/200807041214 ... terry.html

In August, his friend Doug Alward, also a runner, took him to a marathon in Prince George. Fox finished last, 10 minutes behind the last two-legged runner. The other runners watched him, crying and clapping as he crossed the finish line.

He was also doing more than a marathon distance every day at the start of his cross-country trek, before his health gave out on him:

Around June 7, Fox would hit his all-time high of 30 miles (48 km) a day.

In any case, nobody is saying what she did wasn't impressive, only that it's not a marathon. I feel the same way of "Trading Places" marathons on TLC. :wink:

jono

dgrant · Postby **dgrant** » Thu May 10, 2012 5:30 pm

turd ferguson wrote:
If only the internet had been around in 1981, we could have filled endless pages with complaints about how Terry Fox was taking walk breaks, getting unauthorized on-course support and getting an unfair advantage from his biomechanical leg.

PWNED!

Plus those goddamn short shorts! Has enough time passed that we can talk about this as a nation? Has any other country's national hero flirted so brazenly with hanging a rat? How close did we come to having to form nuts out of bronze for all those statues?

Postby **turd ferguson** » Thu May 10, 2012 5:53 pm

dgrant wrote: Has any other country's national hero flirted so brazenly with hanging a rat?

dgrant · Postby **dgrant** » Thu May 10, 2012 6:10 pm

turd ferguson wrote:
dgrant wrote: Has any other country's national hero flirted so brazenly with hanging a rat?

These guys say "LOL! Mike FTW!"

Double Bellybuster · Postby **Double Bellybuster** » Thu May 17, 2012 4:58 am

This is terrific.

As a downtown marathon route was chosen, it is fortunate that motorists were on their best behaviour for 16 days. I've seen the courtesy the elderly can get at street crossings.

jgore · Postby **jgore** » Thu May 17, 2012 8:08 am

dgrant wrote:
turd ferguson wrote:
dgrant wrote: Has any other country's national hero flirted so brazenly with hanging a rat?

These guys say "LOL! Mike FTW!"

As soon as I saw Mike's post, I was pretty sure I knew what was coming.