posted Nov 5, 2008

Well put and it's difficult to think of any others outside athletics really.

I suppose some of the shorter cycling events (I'm not suggesting we can all go out and do the Tour de France ) are similar in that respect. I was going to say swimming but it's simply not as visually good in that the tv angles don'y make it as exciting as athletics or cycling to the (well certainly my) untrained eye. Still exciting though.

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posted Nov 5, 2008

There's a hysterically funny book by Tim Moore about cycling the Tour de France route. I think with a bit of dedication - ok, an enormous amount of dedication - many of us could do it. Running a sub 10 seconds 100m though is something very few humans will ever do.
I agree about the cycling events being visually stunning, which the British viewing public are waking up to. The team sprint in particular puts me in mind of geese or swans - just beautiful. Not averse to the sight of Sir Chris's thighs pumping away either. Ahem, do excuse me.

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posted Nov 5, 2008

Ok couple of intelligent responses....
Grete Waitz was a great woman athlete and all round distance runner of the last century when women had to really fight for the right to compete. Very hard to compare athletes running in different eras, but Grete's marathon time would not today put you at the head of the elite field.

On the Other hand, "Queen" Catherine Ndereba has gone head to head with Paula eight times:-

Paula vs
Ndereba

Marathon, Chicago '02
1st, 2:17:18
2nd, 2:19:26

Marathon, London '03
1st, 2:15:25
2nd, 2:19:55

6 Miles, London '03
1st, 14:51
5th, 15:36

Marathon, OG '04
DNF
2nd, 2:26:32

Marathon, WCh '05
1st, 2:20:57
2nd, 2:22:01

Marathon, New York '07
1st, 2:23:09
5th, 2:29:08

Marathon, OG '08
23rd, 2:32:38
2nd, 2:27:06

NY 2008 makes it 6:2 to Radcliffe.
QED


xx
Edith

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posted Nov 5, 2008

SpurredOn75 you are very ignorant.

Paula has had the best part of 11 weeks of training in preparation of the NY Marathon which was uninterrupted unlike her build up to the Olympics where she only arrived 60% fit due to injury.

2004 she suffered because she was on anti-inflammatory tablets because of another injury.

Paula is only motivated for one thing and that is WINNING and her morals should not even be questioned.

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posted Nov 5, 2008

Yeah, good point about the achievement aspect, though I think most people who watch athletics on tv have about as much chance of winning 100 meters gold as running a marathon.
The Tour de France is amazingly tough, a friend of mine who is super fit did the last stage the other year, when everyone can follow the peleton into Paris, he said it nearly killed him. Cant imagine what its like doing that for a couple of week every day...ouch.

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posted Nov 5, 2008

Oh yes, I know no doubt it's incredibly tough and elite road cyclists are physical gods (apart from the ones pumped full of EPO and the like of course). I'm talking just managing to get round the stages like Tim Moore did - granted he failed on the Mont Ventoux stage. He collapsed very near the Tom Simpson memorial.

Anyway, back to the thread!

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posted Nov 5, 2008

"I think with a bit of dedication - ok, an enormous amount of dedication - many of us could do it. Running a sub 10 seconds 100m though is something very few humans will ever do."

You can't compare running 100m in under 10 secs with completing the Tour. A fairer comparison is completing the Tour at an average overall speed of 41kph. That is something that few humans will ever do.

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posted Nov 5, 2008

I suppose the point being made is that if you've ridden the tour course in any time at all or ran a marathon you can say "I did that" and would imagine then you'd know how tough it is just to finish never mind doing the average 41 k speed or 5min splits for a mile.

I doubt when any of us were watching Ussain Bolt we turned round and said "Oh I ran 100 metres once".

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posted Nov 5, 2008

I was just discussing which sporting feats lots of people could achieve - like running a marathon or cycling the route of the Tour - so therefore lots of people could identify with the pain of completing such an achievment at the same time as marvelling and being in awe of anyone who can do it in such a fashion. If you're with me.

Nope, I don't think I put it any clearer that time.

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posted Nov 6, 2008

Well, just two names have been offered by the board v Radcliffe for best woman marathoner & all round distance runner: Grete Waitz & Catherine Ndereba.

Grete retired from competition before PR's career began; Catherine is a marathon specialist (does not do track or XC)and, head to head (see above)small match for PR who has a WR more than 3mins faster than Catherine's best. So that suggests that PR IS the world best martathoner and all round distance runner out there.

xx

Edith

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