No Finish Line - 8 days of running

brandon_flowers

Hi all,

I am taking part in an event here in Monaco called No Finish Line which is basically a 1400m track around the port on which you run laps and laps and more laps. For every 1Km run Alberto and his gang will give €1 to charity.

The track is open 24 hours per day from 17th to 25th Nov inclusive and last years top runner covered just over 1000Km :eek:

I would like to know if anyone has any advice on how to approach this to get the maximum distance?

I have been running between 25K-50K most weeks for the last 7 or 8 weeks. I was thinking something like 5K in the morning, 5K at lunch and 10K in the evening. Unfortunately I can't start until the 20th because of a business trip so I want to maximize the distance over the days I have as much as possible.

All advice appreciated.

TFBubendorfer

I initially wrote an answer based on the assumption that you had been running 25-50k per day over the the last few weeks in training.

Reading through your post again, I think you're saying you ran 25-50k per week!

Crikey! :eek:

You're nuts. If you still want to go ahead, my advice is to run as much as you can at a very easy pace without getting hurt. 5k/5k/10k per day won't kill you, but it won't get you a lot of mileage.

brandon_flowers

I'm not really aiming to get a lot of mileage, I am aiming to get as much mileage as I can within my capacity and without ending up crippled for a few weeks. 100K is a nice target I think.

Pisco Sour

Christ, that sounds very very boring indeed. Rather you than me.

Enduro

The Irish 100 mile and 24 hour records were set at No Finish Line in 2009 by Thomas McGuire. He did 248km in 24 hours.

You shouldn't really be at an event like that to be honest. Essentially you have no training done. My advice to you would be to just walk each day for as long as you can. It should be easy for almost anyone to cover 50km per day walking.

TFBubendorfer

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I'm not really aiming to get a lot of mileage, I am aiming to get as much mileage as I can within my capacity and without ending up crippled for a few weeks. 100K is a nice target I think.

There is nothing you can do with regards to training at this point, if that's your question.

It does beg the question though, do you want to do 100k over 5 days or do you want to "get the maximum distance"? You've said both, but that's two completely different goals.

brandon_flowers

I want to get the maximum distance. I guess my question is, am I better to gradually increase the distance per day or just run 15-20K per day.

I know there is no training I can do now but I feel that with the training I have done I would be able to do 100K.

@Enduro Well aren't you smart - It is a charity event and over 6000 people take part. I think I will be most welcome at the event.

Pisco Sour

Can I ask what the charity is?

Enduro

brandon_flowers wrote: »

@Enduro Well aren't you smart - It is a charity event and over 6000 people take part. I think I will be most welcome at the event.

Well then take the straightforward advice. Given that you have no training done your best chance of getting a good distance over 8 days is to walk as much of it for as long as you can. That's if you want to get the maximum distance you're capable of under the circumstances.

brandon_flowers

It is Princess Stephanie's charity for sick children, Children & Future.

There is an English description here http://www.nofinishline.com/Presse_EN_2012.pdf

Clearlier

brandon,

I think that a couple of posters may have got the wrong end of the stick here hence the 'odd' advice.

Have you any other restrictions on what you can do in the event? Work, family etc.

The basic advice that if you go slower you can go further is sound but if you're looking to fit this in around work or something else then that might not be appropriate for you.

3 runs of 5k, 5k and 10k should be doable although I guess if the lap is 1.4k it'll be more like 5.6k, 5.6k and 9.8k? If you can I'd suggest doing the longer run in the morning rather than the evening, the morning is when you'll have the most energy and that might count for a lot towards the end of the event.

TFBubendorfer

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I would like to know if anyone has any advice on how to approach this to get the maximum distance?

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I'm not really aiming to get a lot of mileage,

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I want to get the maximum distance..

There are mixed messages coming from your quotes!

You might not like Enduro's tone, but his advice is sound. If you want to get the maximum distance then walk as much as you can. It will give you significantly higher mileage than trying to run.

brandon_flowers

Enduro said I should not be there! I am not trying to break the 24hr record. I asked what people thought was the optimum way of achieving the most mileage for ME. I much prefer the helpful advice given by Clearlier.

And yes I have to fit it in around work so I could do the longer run (10K or so) in the morning and do 5K at lunch and 5K in the evening. Walking is not really an option except for the weekend days and I'd much prefer to run it even if it is a slow pace.

endswell

fair play to you. a 100 quid to charity is.something.

why not do your 10/5/5 but walk for some of the times you wont be running.

TFBubendorfer

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Enduro said I should not be there!

I meant the other bit of Enduro's advice, obviously!

In a nutshell, the easier you move, the more miles (sorry, km) you will be able to do. If you're dead against walking then run, but run slowly, as slow as you can while still feeling comfortable.

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Walking is not really an option except for the weekend days and I'd much prefer to run it even if it is a slow pace.

Why not? If you want to maximise your distance, walking will definitely boost that. Are you that pressed for time? You will see certainly plenty of other people walking a lot during that event, and that includes the top athletes.

Kurt Godel

Enduro wrote: »

The Irish 100 mile and 24 hour records were set at No Finish Line in 2009 by Thomas McGuire. He did 248km in 24 hours.

You shouldn't really be at an event like that to be honest. Essentially you have no training done. My advice to you would be to just walk each day for as long as you can. It should be easy for almost anyone to cover 50km per day walking.

Your walking advice is sound, but its Thomas McGuire who is the anomaly at this event. Data below, garnered from the above link.

Year|1999|2000|2001|2002|2003|2004|2005|2006|2007|2008|2009|2010|2011|2012
No. Of Participants|750| 1004 |1243 |1079 |* |1476 |1969| 3169 |3682 |4484 |5906 |6033 |6840 |7000
Total distance covered (km)|9,000 |15,000 |16,300| 18,825 |* |30,664|51,150| 84,098 |91,129,|115,298| 162,452 |168,992| 223,644 |230,000
Average distance per participant|12| 14.94|13.11|17.45|*|20.78|25.98|26.54|24.75|25.71|27.51|28.01|32.70|32.86


*No data

A line of best fit would suggest the OP needs to cover more than about 33km this year, to be considered above average. And that standards are increasing year on year.

TRR

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Your walking advice is sound, but its Thomas McGuire who is the anomaly at this event. Data below, garnered from the above link.

Year|1999|2000|2001|2002|2003|2004|2005|2006|2007|2008|2009|2010|2011|2012
No. Of Participants|750| 1004 |1243 |1079 |* |1476 |1969| 3169 |3682 |4484 |5906 |6033 |6840 |7000
Total distance covered (km)|9,000 |15,000 |16,300| 18,825 |* |30,664|51,150| 84,098 |91,129,|115,298| 162,452 |168,992| 223,644 |230,000
Average distance per participant|12| 14.94|13.11|17.45|*|20.78|25.98|26.54|24.75|25.71|27.51|28.01|32.70|32.86


*No data

A line of best fit would suggest the OP needs to cover more than about 33km this year, to be considered above average. And that standards are increasing year on year.

Cheers KG, good to see you're no a bollox all of the time

I think the OP was misunderstood judging by some of the replies he got. I got the impression he wanted to maximise his daily run distance to raise a few quid. The walking suggestion is a good one if you want to cover maximum distance, time constraints are no barrier and you actually want to walk!

10k in the morning and 10k evening would be the way to go for me OP. More recovery time and less time consuming. Half the battle for you will be traveling to the event and getting changed/showered etc.

TFBubendorfer

Kurt Godel wrote: »

A line of best fit would suggest the OP needs to cover more than about 33km this year, to be considered above average. And that standards are increasing year on year.

7000 participants. Beats the 18 we had in Bangor for the championship.

No wonder William Sichel was complaining last year about the course being ridiculously congested. I'm surprised he's coming back this year.

brandon_flowers

Well I finished today on 119K.

Monday night - 15K
Tuesday morn - 11K
Tuesday night - 14K
Wednesday I couldn't do anything, very bad chaffing and some blisters. Plenty of Sudocrem was all I was able for.
Thursday lunchtime - 12K
Thursday night - 14K
Friday I rested again, blisters were extremely bad so I changed shoes for Saturday.
Saturday - ran 16K, walked 10K.
Today - ran 22K, walked 5K.

Funnily enough today was my best day. I started on 92K knowing I only had to do 8K of running to make 100K but I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't ran all of it. About 3K in today I thought I wouldn't even make the 100 as I was seizing up. Ended up just ploughing on and ran a half marathon in 2 hours 10 which I was delighted about. Ditched the runners and walked the last 5K in flip flops so I ended up with 104K total running, 15K walking.

Walking obviously helps a lot but as I was organizing my runs around work and other things I didn't do too bad. It was a pity about the blisters, never had any trouble with them runners before this week. I'd expect some blisters but not as severe as I had. The chaffing is normal, unfortunately I just didn't look after myself.

The level of commitment of the leaders is something frightening. For those interested 1041K won the overall event (Didier Sessegolo), 218K won the 24 hour race (Jens Hilpert).

hot to trot

Hadnt seen this thread. We were following you on the events forunm. Well done.

brandon_flowers

Likewise, hadn't seen the other thread.