Inspirational marathon story

tunguska

Steven Way came 17th in Yesterdays London marathon in a time of 2:19. The amazing thing about this result is that just 3 years ago he was 16stone, smoked, drank and ate lots of Kebabs on a regular basis. His first marathon was London 2006 where he ran 3:07. No result for 2007. 2008 he did 2:35, 2009 he did 2:25 and finally this year, 2:19.
Inspirational stuff, just shows whats possible.........


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1268756/Steve-slimmer-beacon-Brits-Mara-Yamauchi-finishes-ash-cloud-London-Marathon.html

rainbow kirby

Clearly there's hope for us all yet

ultraman1

+1

RayCun

The really amazing thing is that he says when he ran his first marathon he "was 16 stone with a 38-inch waist who smoked, drank and thought eating kebabs was good nutritional advice"...
...
...
and he still finished in 3:07:08

aero2k

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Clearly there's hope for us all yet

But do we need to smoke, drink, eat loads of kebabs, put on loads of weight and then start training??:D

xebec

aero2k wrote: »

But do we need to smoke, drink, eat loads of kebabs, put on loads of weight and then start training??:D

Well that's what I've been doing for the last few years! Although I don't think I'll ever get even close to sub-3 even if I stopped, not to mind 2:19!! Obviously the guy has some great natural talent which was going to waste beforehand but he's putting to good use now...

Pisco Sour

xebec wrote: »

Obviously the guy has some great natural talent which was going to waste beforehand but he's putting to good use now...

Literally the exact words I was going to type!

nerraw1111

This story has a lot of holes and unanswered questions.

At no stage does the story say he wasn't fit while smoking, drinking and having the odd kebab.

I don't buy it

asimonov

There is a good interview with him on the marathontalk podcast. He came accross as very genuine, not like the guy who did the channel4 documentary. He followed p&d's <70 mile 24 week schedule for his 2:35. He does high mileage 130 -140 per week, step back is 100, taper week for a half marathon is 80 miles. It does show what can be done with some talent, a redundancy cheque and a supportive wife!

village runner

asimonov wrote: »

There is a good interview with him on the marathontalk podcast. He came accross as very genuine, not like the guy who did the channel4 documentary. He followed p&d's <70 mile 24 week schedule for his 2:35. He does high mileage 130 -140 per week, step back is 100, taper week for a half marathon is 80 miles. It does show what can be done with some talent, a redundancy cheque and a supportive wife!

Without the wife he might have ran 2.15

misty floyd

nerraw1111 wrote: »

This story has a lot of holes and unanswered questions.

At no stage does the story say he wasn't fit while smoking, drinking and having the odd kebab.

I don't buy it

What!?!

He was 16 stone, smoking, drinking and having the odd Kebab. Lets assume he was fit.

He got a 2:19 marathon. Its feckin amazing!!!

nerraw1111

misty floyd wrote: »

What!?!

He was 16 stone, smoking, drinking and having the odd Kebab. Lets assume he was fit.

He got a 2:19 marathon. Its feckin amazing!!!

Oh I know! It's incredible. I'm referring to daily mail article which suggests f
some obese couch potato suddenly pulled a sub 330 while popping out for kebab

Bloody Nipples

I don't buy it.

Not taking away from his 2:19 which is a fantastic achievement, but they imply that he was a 16 stone smoker who ate kebabs regularly and didn't train (much if at all) and still managed to run 3:07.

And since when has the Daily Mail become a credible source? I'd have to double check if they told me the sky was blue.

ManFromAtlantis

i mentioned this a while back as there was an article in last months runners world about him. the pics dont lie. he seems modest enough as he points out that in one article about him he was first brit home in new york, well he says they conveniently forgot about paula radcliffe !!
i was following him on twitter and the forums in rw also.
oh and by his own admission, he only lost 5 stone and not 6 as some people weer saying.
fair play lad.

Gringo78

village runner wrote: »

Without the wife he might have ran 2.15

overweight, drinks, smokes & the odd kebab and pulls out fantastic marathon times.....I thought it was you first VR until I read the article closer.

Husavik

What makes a really good runner? Is it the size of the heart, or the ventricles, is it perfect biomechanics? Though when you look at Gebresallasie and his ten to two stomp, biomechanics amy not matter at all. Anyone any ideas.

Or is it all down to what Greg Norman says in his Australian drawl - desire.

ManFromAtlantis

"ten to two stomp"

Gringo78

Husavik wrote: »

What makes a really good runner? Is it the size of the heart, or the ventricles, is it perfect biomechanics? Though when you look at Gebresallasie and his ten to two stomp, biomechanics amy not matter at all. Anyone any ideas.

Or is it all down to what Greg Norman says in his Australian drawl - desire.

Well in the case of Steve Way, he says he was doing 130 miles a week training....thats fairly high mileage. So on the one hand you'd say, theres a lot of people on here who might not consider themselves 'genetically' a good runner but could hit marathon times 2:20-2:30 if they upped the mileage to 130 a week and kept that consistent over 3-4 years. Now sub 2:30 in my opinion is a good time for the average runner to achieve.

But can the average runner hit 130 miles a week consistently for 3-4 years without getting injured? I personally don't think so, certainly not in their 30's. So the fact that Steve Way could hit such high mileage consistently for the last 3-4 years already makes him special and not average, regardless of having any running talent. is that biomechanics that means he can tolerate such high mileage?

Desire - yes, if you're not a professional athlete, then takes a lot of sacrifice to put in the high mileage although timewise, I think running is a lot of return for minimal time. 130 miles a week (maximal training) is only 2 hours a day training.....much less than what cycling, swimming, golf etc require. Running....the lazy mans sport?