Tick Tock Ten by Gerry Duffy

elvis jones

Has anyone else bought it ?

I bought and really enjoyed Gerry's 1st book, who dares runs and if i'm honest its one of the reasons i kept up this running/triathlon lack as like a lot of people i start something but it falls by the side rather quickly.

I've just got the 2nd book about the deca Iron distance he won in 2011 and can't see it taking me too long to read it !

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I read the first book and it was just ok. I am sure i will be slated for this but being honest his achievements are not that impressive and certainly do not warrant a multitude of books to be written about it.
Just my 2cents

elvis jones

Alex Victorious Knot wrote: »

I read the first book and it was just ok. I am sure i will be slated for this but being honest his achievements are not that impressive and certainly do not warrant a multitude of books to be written about it.
Just my 2cents

I won't slate you, just explain why you believe they aren't that impressive ?

Shell to Run

Alex Victorious Knot wrote: »

I read the first book and it was just ok. I am sure i will be slated for this but being honest his achievements are not that impressive and certainly do not warrant a multitude of books to be written about it.
Just my 2cents

Couldn't agree more. Read the first book and got a bit sick of 'I am brilliant' and 'if I can do this so can anyone.' Book 1- Look at how great I am at running and Book 2 - Look how great I am at triathlon......
Needless to say I won't be reading it.

Enduro

elvis jones wrote: »

I won't slate you, just explain why you believe they aren't that impressive ?

I also don't think they are impressive. The most impressive aspect was that (AFAIK) he was coming from a non-athletic backgound to take on moderately interesting challenges. But they certainly weren't impressive achievements in themselves. This forum is full of people who would be well able to better them.

elvis jones

Enduro wrote: »

I also don't think they are impressive. The most impressive aspect was that (AFAIK) he was coming from a non-athletic backgound to take on moderately interesting challenges. But they certainly weren't impressive achievements in themselves. This forum is full of people who would be well able to better them.

That would be the part impresses me as well. I come from a similar background with weight issues etc so perhaps thats why what he has done motivates me.

I agree a lot of people here would be able to better them, but they haven't. If they wrote about them i'd no doubt read them if they wrote as well ( a book or a log here )

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

elvis jones wrote: »

I won't slate you, just explain why you believe they aren't that impressive ?

Firstly running 32 marathons in 32 days sounds hard but its not really. Its something i consider a large portion of people would be able to do with some specific run training. More of a mental challenge as much as physical. Remember most of these were run around 4.5hrs so hardly knocking his nuts out.

His Deca Ironman win needs to also be put into perspective. There was only 20 people in the race, its a bit like winning a family karaoke contest at Xmas. The event has limited appeal and as such competition is not going to be tough or have any depth at it.

As i said its just my 2cents. I am sure he has helped motivate others along the way but i just dont get all the hype. He seems to have carved out a career from it so guess its not all bad!!

elvis jones

Alex Victorious Knot wrote: »

Firstly running 32 marathons in 32 days sounds hard but its not really. Its something i consider a large portion of people would be able to do with some specific run training. More of a mental challenge as much as physical. Remember most of these were run around 4.5hrs so hardly knocking his nuts out.

His Deca Ironman win needs to also be put into perspective. There was only 20 people in the race, its a bit like winning a family karaoke contest at Xmas. The event has limited appeal and as such competition is not going to be tough or have any depth at it.

As i said its just my 2cents. I am sure he has helped motivate others along the way but i just dont get all the hype. He seems to have carved out a career from it so guess its not all bad!!

Thats it isn't it !

miller82

Enduro wrote: »

This forum is full of people who would be well able to better them.

But they don't !!

FWIW, i dont think he is that interesting, and thought his first book was dull enough, but at the same time you can't knock what he's done

mloc123

He was fat, lost weight and got fit. He is nothing special for his AG as is... so big deal IMO.

Why run 32 marathons in 32 days... maybe aim for one decent time instead... same with the deca.

griffin100

Doing these sorts of events is part of how he makes his living - self publicity to promote his business and his books. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing he has done that I can see is unique, however I got slated here for saying that when he was doing his Decca and had people telling me he was an inspiration. Lots of people work hard, he just does it in a very public way.

Enduro

miller82 wrote: »

But they don't !!

FWIW, i dont think he is that interesting, and thought his first book was dull enough, but at the same time you can't knock what he's done

OK then, I've beaten him by enormous margins whenever he runs in any races which I do. And I've done many events which are much more difficult than 32 marathons in 32 days (A trivilially easy training programme for an ultra runner), or 10 IM's in ten days (He gets to eat proper food and sleep between them, AND get's to eat and sleep off the clock.... the luxury). Any of the (real) adventure racers on the forum will have done much harder than that (Real expedition length ARs can take up to 9 days to complete and are true non-stop self-supported events). The reason I wouldn't do what he does is because it's not challenging enough to be interesting to me.

What the better athletes are not so good at is elevated levels of self-publicity.

Like I said, it is impressive that he has gone from a non-athletic background to the level he is at. But in absolute terms the level he is at isn't that impressive. For the amount of publicity he generates for himself that really should be pointed out more often.

tunney

elvis jones wrote: »

That would be the part impresses me as well. I come from a similar background with weight issues etc so perhaps thats why what he has done motivates me.

I agree a lot of people here would be able to better them, but they haven't. If they wrote about them i'd no doubt read them if they wrote as well ( a book or a log here )

In my line of work I get told things like "go learn MongoDB, go learn Scala, this will allow you to command more money". I work in software development.

If I worked as a full time motivational speaker for after dinner and corporate events then no one would tell me of the importance of the latest cloud based fad. Nope. They'd tell me go go do a deca-ironman or something, then write a book about it.

Also if I said "hey I need three weeks off work to fvck about doing a race thats not really a race cause no one really does it, oh and the year I want to do it is the soft style of a deca" I'd be told "we're going camping in France".

However if I said "Hey I need to go away with work for three weeks, sorry but needs must" I'd be told "bring the kids back something nice"

tunney

miller82 wrote: »

But they don't !!

FWIW, i dont think he is that interesting, and thought his first book was dull enough, but at the same time you can't knock what he's done

You'd have been better buying "Precision Heart rate training"

Oryx

What he has done is not impressive to anyone who can do similar. I'm looking at all you lot. ^^^

But to Joe Soap, it is impressive. I'm not saying if that's fair, but that's how it is.

Do you guys resent that his events are soft, or that he is making a living from it?

I did try to read his marathon book but gave up because it was pretty dull.

zico10

tunney wrote: »

In my line of work I get told things like "go learn MongoDB, go learn Scala, this will allow you to command more money". I work in software development.

If I worked as a full time motivational speaker for after dinner and corporate events then no one would tell me of the importance of the latest cloud based fad. Nope. They'd tell me go go do a deca-ironman or something, then write a book about it.

Also if I said "hey I need three weeks off work to fvck about doing a race thats not really a race cause no one really does it, oh and the year I want to do it is the soft style of a deca" I'd be told "we're going camping in France".

However if I said "Hey I need to go away with work for three weeks, sorry but needs must" I'd be told "bring the kids back something nice"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxa7Y1TLjas

miller82

tunney wrote: »

You'd have been better buying "Precision Heart rate training"

touche


i got a loan of it

Oryx

tunney wrote: »

An example of why I cannot stand him comes from the endless self promotion in articles and books but when it comes to detailing the run up to Kona of an athlete in his weekly column in the Indo he couldn't be arsed getting a single fact about the athlete and the event correct. If it ain't about him he aint interested. People who only talk about themselves quickly because uninteresting.

Fair point.

Dont suppose that particular article is online. Id like to read it to see what youre talking about.

tunney

Oryx wrote: »

Fair point.

Dont suppose that particular article is online. Id like to read it to see what youre talking about.

Oh it wasn't just one. It was a weekly thing for a number of weeks. If anyone who knew the sport read it they would have been able to correct them. Even things like sponsors wrong, things that could impact the athlete. But hey Gerry, some man, he ran XXX in YYY.

zico10

tunney wrote: »

When something is your job its something you just do.

For advancement in some fields you do training.
For advancement as a motivational speaker you do 32 marathons and decas and what not,

He's a motivational speaker then, I take it?

Sorry, I wasn't aware of that.

sconhome

Enduro wrote: »

Like I said, it is impressive that he has gone from a non-athletic background to the level he is at. But in absolute terms the level he is at isn't that impressive. For the amount of publicity he generates for himself that really should be pointed out more often.

Similar could be said of so many people.

Dean Kanazares, Scott Jurek to name two current people with no impressive sporting backgrounds yet were able to carve out a niche for themselves doing something different. Scott seems to be later to the money making game and self promotion but he's catching on with 'Eat & Run'.

What's impressive, and I'm not batting for Gerry or any of the guys, you have to put food on the table and sometimes self promotion is the only way to do it. Nobody will blow your trumpet for you.

What he / they have done is impressive to 90% (? wild stat) of the sedentary population and if it inspires someone to better themselves, well kudos to them.

I know Gerry is doing the rounds of motivational speaking, but you have to collect the cream when the opportunity arises. He'll only have a couple of years of that to make money from.

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

When something is your job its something you just do.

For advancement in some fields you do training.
For advancement as a motivational speaker you do 32 marathons and decas and what not,

He became a motivation speaker on the back of the 'success' of the accomplishments.

Sometimes we need to reinvent ourselves to feed our families.

tunney

on an unrelated note : that fat bloke who was doing Marathon d'Sables. He do it?

Oryx

tunney wrote: »

on an unrelated note : that fat bloke who was doing Marathon d'Sables. He do it?

No

catweazle

tunney wrote: »

on an unrelated note : that fat bloke who was doing Marathon d'Sables. He do it?

Heres the book for you tunney

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Problem with this type of thing is quality gets lost over quantity. Conversation goes a bit like,
I done a 2:2x marathon
Oh well done that's good
I done 32 marathons in 32 days
Wow that's impossible you must be great

I done a sub 9IM...you get the idea.

So this Gary lad is jumping on the bandwagon, oh Jesus. Ok I am off to write a book about battling being overweight and dealing with being vertically challenged.

catweazle

I am a little different in my thinking, I would have no problem reading Garys or Gerrys books. I would be more looking at the quality and enjoyment I got from the book rather than the 10 Ironmans or the weight loss.

Reading about the Marathon d'Sables from a guy like Garys perspective rather than someone at the top of the field wouldn't bother me. I remember coming across a log of someone doing the decaIronman along with Gerry, he was only just making the cut off times getting an hours sleep and away again - he didnt finish but it was a great read while it lasted

Having read my share of sports books and being driven demented by their inability to open up or criticize anyone there are very few books from top athletes that I would recommend. Many of them are still too involved in the business and don't want to upset authorities, fellow athletes, sponsors etc. Most of them are ghost written anyways and I would say some of the athletes in question have hardly even read it but just got their agent to approve it - in fairness I doubt Gerrys were ghost written

Having said all that I didn't really enjoy Gerrys first book - i thought it was a bit bland so I wont be getting his new one.

griffin100

catweazle wrote: »

Heres the book for you tunney

Jesus I thought this was a joke until I googled it. This guy really bugs me. He contacted a radio station to start a process of self publicity about his weight and then whined and moaned every time he was on the radio and then writes a book - you could have predicted this from the start of this process. I'm sure he'll end up as a personal trainer / motivational speaker.

I've lost 3.5 stone since I started doing triathlon, Can I write a motivational book? FFS

Chartsengrafs

Obviously it's not about quality. The business he's in is all about who shouts the loudest. And he's clearly very good at that.

RacoonQueen

I know a couple of people who hero worship Duffy, Kirwan and Karnazes. Have met Duffy a few times, he's a nice guy. Had a vague interest in his 32 marathons thing but stopped having an interest in the longer stuff around that time.

For the record, I do think 32 x 32 and 10 Ironman in a row is pretty impressive. I know it's not overly hard, especially at those times but to do the same thing over and over and over like that is pretty good.

Plenty of people who do similar stuff all the time. Started one of Karnaze's books about his 50 marathons in 50 days years ago and got really bored. Haven't read anything like that since, don't know how people read that tripe.

BennyMul

I found the book brutal and as many above could not finish it.

but to be honest I find the comments "anyone" could do these challenges as slightly insulting to anyone who has done them,
While I agree it should be within the realms of our physical capability there is a difference between this and the mental aspect of actually doing an ultra event of this magnitude and greater.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

griffin100 wrote: »

Jesus I thought this was a joke until I googled it. This guy really bugs me. He contacted a radio station to start a process of self publicity about his weight and then whined and moaned every time he was on the radio and then writes a book - you could have predicted this from the start of this process. I'm sure he'll end up as a personal trainer / motivational speaker.

I've lost 3.5 stone since I started doing triathlon, Can I write a motivational book? FFS

Thank god i thought i was the only one. He really gets on my tits, well i used to have tits but lost them when i lost the weight...its all in my upcoming book. "The Hobbit goes long and lean"

Solobally8

Wow I thought I was the only one who didnt like Duffy's first book. Actually I enjoyed the first half but got bored when it got to the bits about the marathons and didnt finish it. Which is rare as I nearly always struggle to the end of a book no matter how bad it is. I do think 32 marathons in 32 days is a great achievement though. Wont be buying that second book.

As for that gary guy, dont get me started! :mad:

Oryx

I bet elvis is sorry he started this thread now....

I saw Gary doing the oly in athy. Based on that, and his brief time posting on boards, I got the impression that he wasn't particularly mentally tough, not to stick it out through the hard bits. His attitude just seemed.... wrong.

RacoonQueen

Solobally8 wrote: »

As for that gary guy, dont get me started! :mad:

Sure he was depressed "woe is me"

mloc123

Oryx wrote: »

I bet elvis is sorry he started this thread now....

I saw Gary doing the oly in athy. Based on that, and his brief time posting on boards, I got the impression that he wasn't particularly mentally tough, not to stick it out through the hard bits. His attitude just seemed.... wrong.

Did he post in A/R/T?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

mloc123 wrote: »

Did he post in A/R/T?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76023952
yep

griffin100

mloc123 wrote: »

Did he post in A/R/T?

He posted in a thread asking about the MDS. I think his name was weeman or something equally as funny.

RacoonQueen

Yeah then threw a strop because everyone didn't think he was a God.

tunney

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Yeah then threw a strop because everyone didn't think he was a God.

Well he objected to the comparisons to Buddha.

mloc123

griffin100 wrote: »

He posted in a thread asking about the MDS. I think his name was weeman or something equally as funny.

Interesting. What does he weigh now? Pic on twitter I would guess mid 20s still.

sconhome

Alex Victorious Knot wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76023952
yep

That's a good read. Did he do it this year?

I remember him at DCM in 2011, a big man then.

RacoonQueen

amphkingwest wrote: »

That's a good read. Did he do it this year?

I remember him at DCM in 2011, a big man then.

Nope, his wife had a baby recently.

I hate myself for knowing this.

catweazle

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Nope, his wife had a baby recently.

I hate myself for knowing this.

How is Jordan getting on with the new hubby RQ, is Pete taking it well?

shotgunmcos

Possibly worse narcissism than Hartman's drivel but at least Hartman was a half decent athlete.

I guess we are in awe of different things. I'd watch that 4 mins and 55 secs of Darragh McDonald and feel more inspired than someone who had a few bacon sambos and naps during a week long training triathlon. Not dissing the deca, its impressive on some levels, I'm just not particularly inspired by his achievement for some of the reasons already outlined.

But hey he is writing books and making bucks. Fair play for paving a way!

RacoonQueen

catweazle wrote: »

How is Jordan getting on with the new hubby RQ, is Pete taking it well?

They got married a second time...or will be.

FM104 news, the report all the important stuff.

elvis jones

Oryx wrote: »

I bet elvis is sorry he started this thread now....

I saw Gary doing the oly in athy. Based on that, and his brief time posting on boards, I got the impression that he wasn't particularly mentally tough, not to stick it out through the hard bits. His attitude just seemed.... wrong.

Not at all, everyone has their own tastes and thoughts on life.

On Gary, i have no time for him at all. I met him a few times and he's a nice guy but he was on today fm after christmas and had put back on weight and when any sort of negative comment came in by text he was quite simpley abusive to the people sending them in. In fact he was just an @rsehole.

sconhome

shotgunmcos wrote: »

But hey he is writing books and making bucks. Fair play for paving a way!

Sure God was at it long before any of them :rolleyes:

tunney

elvis jones wrote: »

Not at all, everyone has their own tastes and thoughts on life.

On Gary, i have no time for him at all. I met him a few times and he's a nice guy but he was on today fm after christmas and had put back on weight and when any sort of negative comment came in by text he was quite simpley abusive to the people sending them in. In fact he was just an @rsehole.

They say its better to try and fail than to not try at all. True but when you know you failed spectacularly you know you are a spectacular failure and may be touchy about it

Enduro

amphkingwest wrote: »

Similar could be said of so many people.

Dean Kanazares, Scott Jurek to name two current people with no impressive sporting backgrounds yet were able to carve out a niche for themselves doing something different. Scott seems to be later to the money making game and self promotion but he's catching on with 'Eat & Run'..

Ah now.... there is a big big difference between Karnazes and Jurek. Basically Karnazes is indeed a good analogy to Gerry Duffy (More likely Gerry got his ideas from reading Karnazes). i.e., he has moderate athletic ability, but has managed to convince a lot of people that he is awesome. Seems to be a huge ego / arse as well. Hugely disliked (or just treated as a joke) by the people he would like to convince you are his peers. Turned up at the world 24 hour championships once... came second last if you count the women's results in.

Scott Jurek is the real deal though. He is an awesome runner, and has conistantly been one of the best in the world at ultra-trail . If anything he underplays his ability. Seems like a really good guy and is popular and respected by his peers. Turned up at the world 24 hour championships once... came 2nd, shattered the American record.

sconhome

Enduro wrote: »

Ah now.... there is a big big difference between Karnazes and Jurek. Basically Karnazes is indeed a good analogy to Gerry Duffy (More likely Gerry got his ideas from reading Karnazes). i.e., he has moderate athletic ability, but has managed to convince a lot of people that he is awesome. Seems to be a huge ego / arse as well. Hugely disliked (or just treated as a joke) by the people he would like to convince you are his peers. Turned up at the world 24 hour championships once... came second last if you count the women's results in.

Scott Jurek is the real deal though. He is an awesome runner, and has conistantly been one of the best in the world at ultra-trail . If anything he underplays his ability. Seems like a really good guy and is popular and respected by his peers. Turned up at the world 24 hour championships once... came 2nd, shattered the American record.

I agree with you re Jurek. He comes across as a very humble man who through infamy is being pushed into the spotlight of doing the circuits, public talks, TED, books etc.

His hanging around the finish line for hours to celebrate other runners does not come across condescending and is a mark of the real man that is there.

The point I was making should have been to highlight that both of them (Jurek & Kanazares) at 'normal' sports were not any great shakes but when they found their calling at ultra distances they really shine through.

I'm sorry to have Jurek in the same sentances as Kanazares as, 100% Kanazares & Gerry are along the same vein. Jurek through necessity is following in the self promotion stakes.

Sporting careers are only so long, you can't be a winner all the time and at some point you have to cash in your chips while you are still a hot topic.

10 years from now. Jurek will be still humble and in demand, the others will be onto something else.