Irish woman runs 106 marathons in year

_Tombstone_

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/health-news/irish-woman-runs-record-books-7104323

106 miles in 24hrs and 5356 miles total in there aswell.

Chivito550

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/health-news/irish-woman-runs-record-books-7104323

106 miles in 24hrs and 5356 miles total in there aswell.

I might have a go at running 500 100m races this year, and nab myself a pointless record too!

Barry Badrinath

Chivito550 wrote: »

I might have a go at running 500 100m races this year, and nab myself a pointless record too!

Pointless to you, I'm sure it wasn't pointless to her.

Other peoples goals, ambitions, plans, achievements and happiness should not be casually dismissed because it differs from your own.

Opinions are opinions but theres no need to make a statment loaded with underlying tones of elitism and nastiness.

Keep sprinting away there Chivito, pointless as it is to some.

Happy New Year.

Chivito550

Wolf Hanssen wrote: »

Pointless to you, I'm sure it wasn't pointless to her.

Other peoples goals, ambitions, plans, achievements and happiness should not be casually dismissed because it differs from your own.

Opinions are opinions but theres no need to make a statment loaded with underlying tones of elitism and nastiness.

Keep sprinting away there Chivito, pointless as it is to some.

Happy New Year.

It's got nothing to do with distance. I have huge respect for marathon running. But completion is no great achievement. 106 marathons in a year is really more a combination of having so much free time or flexibility (self employed maybe?), and a lot of spare cash (there are not 106 marathons in Ireland, so clearly she is travelling great distances to do this) than it is an athletic achievement. Good logistical management is all this is really.

I think celebrating merely accumulating a number of slow completed marathons is all that is wrong with the sport. One fast marathon (fast relative to ones' abilities) will always trump these stupid records.

Dubgal72

Ah, I follow Cian on FB, gorgeous little scrap. He keeps his followers on the edge of their seats keyboards with his all too-frequent hospital visits

Fair play to her for fundraising for him. Sounds like she has 'the running bug' indeed. And second in the Belfast 24 hour? Not too shabby....

TheQuietFella

Can she fry a steak or cook a roast dinner?

Pherekydes

TheQuietFella wrote: »

Can she fry a steak or cook a roast dinner?

I would hope so. Says she's a professional chef.

Chivito550

Pherekydes wrote: »

I would hope so. Says she's a professional chef.

Not sure where she gets the time to work as a chef, a role notorious for long sociable hours, when she is off doing a marathon on average every 3 days, and is walking the majority of them. Then factor in all the travel to get to these marathons around Ireland, UK and Europe. Career break I wonder.

I'd put this in the same bracket as the Tony Mangan world jog. Nice personal journey (then again so is backpacking), but even somebody battling hard to run a sub 4 hour marathon would be more impressive than this IMO.

average_runner

Chivito550 wrote: »

Not sure where she gets the time to work as a chef, a role notorious for long sociable hours, when she is off doing a marathon on average every 3 days, and is walking the majority of them. Then factor in all the travel to get to these marathons around Ireland, UK and Europe. Career break I wonder.

I'd put this in the same bracket as the Tony Mangan world jog. Nice personal journey (then again so is backpacking), but even somebody battling hard to run a sub 4 hour marathon would be more impressive than this IMO.

You still grumpy?

sconhome

Chivito550 wrote: »

I might have a go at running 500 100m races this year, and nab myself a pointless record too!

Go for it.

There'll be plenty of people who'll congratulate you for it. It might be a pointless record and even if you have to walk a few of the last 100's sure who'd pass remark??

Sam Kade

That's a crazy amount of running, she'll wreck her leg joints if she keeps it up.

RacoonQueen

I'm not sure it it's the case with her, but I know that some of the avid marathon runners will just run a marathon each weekend with little, or often, no other running in between. In which case, a few people on boards would have exceeded that distance in their running.
Probably would have loved the idea of this myself a few years ago when I though mileage was the be all and end all...now I couldn't think of anything that I would find more boring. Fair play though, that's a lot of time on your feet!

dublin runner

Fair play and all but it's only just over 54 miles (marathon wise) a week. Nothing special but still an achievement.

Chivito550

Sam Kade wrote: »

That's a crazy amount of running, she'll wreck her leg joints if she keeps it up.

She'll be fine. Much of it is walking.

TFBubendorfer

dublin runner wrote: »

Fair play and all but it's only just over 54 miles (marathon wise) a week. Nothing special but still an achievement.

If she ran 5356 miles in 2015 that's over 100 miles a week

dublin runner

TFBubendorfer wrote:

If she ran 5356 miles in 2015 that's over 100 miles a week

I get that but I said marathon-wise, 106 marathons in 52 weeks. As I said it's an achievement, although not a difficult one. A testament to her dedication and commitment over any real success in running (or walking).

Luighne

What was her best time in these 106 marathons?

Ron Gomall

Luighne wrote: »

What was her best time in these 106 marathons?

I read somewhere that it was 4.02, some of the recent ones were closer to 7 hours but I think that's because Brenda did a 120km run to Cavan from Croke Park arriving on Christmas Eve, doing 3-4 back to back marathons a few days later had to hurt.

Hope she gets some well needed rest for a while

dublin runner

Ron Gomall wrote:

I read somewhere that it was 4.02, some of the recent ones were closer to 7 hours but I think that's because Brenda did a 120km run to Cavan from Croke Park arriving on Christmas Eve, doing 3-4 back to back marathons a few days later had to hurt.

Hope she gets some well needed rest for a while

How would you rate her achievement Ron?

Odelay

Jebus, talk about snobbery, she only started running at 30 odd years old and now has run 106 in 52 weeks, well done to her.

_Tombstone_

Chivito550 wrote: »

I might have a go at running 500 100m races this year, and nab myself a pointless record too!

Begrudgery, jealousy, sh1ttalk...I don't know

Chivito550 wrote: »

It's got nothing to do with distance. I have huge respect for marathon running. But completion is no great achievement. 106 marathons in a year is really more a combination of having so much free time or flexibility (self employed maybe?), and a lot of spare cash (there are not 106 marathons in Ireland, so clearly she is travelling great distances to do this) than it is an athletic achievement. Good logistical management is all this is really.

I think celebrating merely accumulating a number of slow completed marathons is all that is wrong with the sport. One fast marathon (fast relative to ones' abilities) will always trump these stupid records.

So much sh1t talk and you still couldn't be bothered to read the linked story.

Chivito550 wrote: »

Not sure where she gets the time to work as a chef, a role notorious for long sociable hours, when she is off doing a marathon on average every 3 days, and is walking the majority of them. Then factor in all the travel to get to these marathons around Ireland, UK and Europe. Career break I wonder.

I'd put this in the same bracket as the Tony Mangan world jog. Nice personal journey (then again so is backpacking), but even somebody battling hard to run a sub 4 hour marathon would be more impressive than this IMO.

You were probably hoping she was on the Dole so you could rant about that but thats a no go so you're ranting that she's travelling to do a marathon, free time, spare cash, logistical rabble rabble WTF has your posts got to do with anything and another post where you still couldn't be arsed to read the story.

Where did you get that she is walking the majority of them?

Chivito550 wrote: »

She'll be fine. Much of it is walking.

Sh1ttalk

Luighne wrote: »

What was her best time in these 106 marathons?

I had to google as it didn't say in the story but it does in this interview.

Time 4.08, and she was hoping for sub 4 by the end of the year (last year).

Brenda, a head chef at Failte Ireland, has now set her sights on another personal best - a 200 mile race in Wales next year.
She admits: "I haven't got a clue how far I will get, but I plan to find out.
"2016 is going to be very exciting as I plan at least one 48 hours race, two 24 hour ones and in 2016 the 56 mile Comrades Ultra marathon in South Africa - meant to be one of the toughest in the world."
Just four days after her fundraising run she will complete four marathons in four days to achieve the record. She says: "My body will be tired and bruised, but I am so determined to complete this run and raise much needed funds.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/professional-chef-set-to-smash-ireland-marathon-running-record-and-counts-taytos-and-chips-as-her-super-foods-34225688.html

Chivito550 wrote: »

but even somebody battling hard to run a sub 4 hour marathon would be more impressive than this IMO.

:rolleyes:

_Tombstone_

Odelay wrote: »

Jebus, talk about snobbery, she only started running at 30 odd years old and now has run 106 in 52 weeks, well done to her.

And 74 of them in 2014!

shure it was only 74, pffffft, ain't that right chivito.:rolleyes:


Jaysus this thread would open your eyes to the types in this Forum.

dublin runner

Haha. Anyway.......

What exactly is her achievement? See, I admire her tenacity but that's it. It's achievement for sure, just not an athletic one in my opinion. Be it a running or walking achievement.

Chivito550

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

And 74 of them in 2014!

shure it was only 74, pffffft, ain't that right chivito.:rolleyes:


Jaysus this thread would open your eyes to the types in this Forum.

No need to be so aggressive. I stand by my comment that this is no great achievement in athletic terms. Literally any able bodied person could do this if they had the time, money and interest to do so. She hasn't broken 4 hours yet so she's just another example of somebody who goes for quantity over quality. Fair play to her for doing something she loves, but I don't believe it is newspaper worthy.

ger664

Chivito550 wrote: »

No need to be so aggressive. I stand by my comment that this is no great achievement in athletic terms. Literally any able bodied person could do this if they had the time, money and interest to do so. She hasn't broken 4 hours yet so she's just another example of somebody who goes for quantity over quality. Fair play to her for doing something she loves, but I don't believe it is newspaper worthy.

I comparison to the Female Irish team getting 3rd at the Euro XC you are correct in athletic terms it is not at that level, but there is no way any able bodied Joe could physically walk 106 marathons in a calendar year. I have racked up a few and I know how hard it would be to complete that task.
You also have to consider some of her marathon's where longer/ultras and the 120K run to Cavan was not counted.

What she has done may not be on the sonia/coughlan scale but it still deserves some acknowledgment and respect.

Chivito550

ger664 wrote: »

I comparison to the Female Irish team getting 3rd at the Euro XC you are correct in athletic terms it is not at that level, but there is no way any able bodied Joe could physically walk 106 marathons in a calendar year. I have racked up a few and I know how hard it would be to complete that task.
You also have to consider some of her marathon's where longer/ultras and the 120K run to Cavan was not counted.

What she has done may not be on the sonia/coughlan scale but it still deserves some acknowledgment and respect.

I am certain if you adapted your training, and had the resources available to you in terms of time and money, then you would be able to achieve this. Once the clock is taken out of the equation, and there's no incentive to do any of these marathons fast, then recovery becomes less of an issue, particularly if doing them over 2 hours slower than your potential. The hardest part of this challenge is actually finding 106 marathons to do, and managing the logistics of it all.

Sandwell

I agree with Chivito. It's an unusual achievement, and thus it has been picked up by the media, but it's not impressive as an athletic achievment. I'd imagine it would be reported in the lifestyle pages rather than the sports pages for that very reason. Good luck to her and all that but for me what she has done is more of a curiousity than anything one might want to aspire to.

davedanon

I see she's a head chef with Bord Failte. That would explain the time issue. She would be far less busy than a head chef or just any chef in a busy restaurant.

I agree with Chivito, btw. These "ooh, that's never been done before" records remind of Ray D'Arcy's attempts to get into the GBOWR every year. To coin a phrase, you might say: "the wonder is not how someone would do this, but why anyone would bother".

ultrapercy

davedanon wrote: »

I see she's a head chef with Bord Failte. That would explain the time issue. She would be far less busy than a head chef or just any chef in a busy restaurant.

I agree with Chivito, btw. These "ooh, that's never been done before" records remind of Ray D'Arcy's attempts to get into the GBOWR every year. To coin a phrase, you might say: "the wonder is not how someone would do this, but why anyone would bother".

That's all true but then again why do anyone of us bother ? For that matter why does anyone bother to do anything ? The answer, I suppose is we are all self motivated to achieve a goal that is important to us personally. There was a charity element to this hence the publicity, which wasn't much anyway. To be fair in any newspaper there is reams and reams of stuff about Bressie and his ilk so I wouldn't worry too much about this lady getting a few lines.

Ron Gomall

dublin runner wrote: »

How would you rate her achievement Ron?

I've met Brenda at a few events where I was running or marshalling and I admire her attitude and tenacity, at one 100miler she was obviously in distress but wouldn't give up. The last marathon of the 10 in 5, (4 lap loop) she set off on her own for the last lap when everyone else had finished- incredible motivation. Crazy stuff in my opinion to do 120km on 23/24th December and then do 4 marathons between that and 31st December.

She set out to get the record, she traveled around Europe to get 106 official timed events and she got the record. I admire that , is she the fastest- no, does she have commitment for what she wants and a never give up attitude- yes "in spades". So Kudos to her on her achievement.

ThebitterLemon

dublin runner wrote: »

Haha. Anyway.......

What exactly is her achievement? See, I admire her tenacity but that's it. It's achievement for sure, just not an athletic one in my opinion. Be it a running or walking achievement.

Gotta disagree with you here A.

If she set herself the target, and bettered her previous times, of course it's an athletics achievement. Is it an athletics achievement that merits mention in the national press, of course it's not, but that's a different matter.

You could run a sub 3 hour marathon as a training run, I've been trying to break 3 hours for two years. If I do it, is that an athletics achievement, for me it is absolutely. Will I be on page three of the Sun in my mankini telling the world about it, definitely not, but I will treasure it as an athletic achievement that I've made many sacrifices to try and achieve!

I think people are looking at this too subjectively, there are plenty of people on here that would objectively look at a 4.08 marathon as an athletics achievement (never mind doing it in the middle of all the other stuff she did).

I too would prefer if there was more mainstream media attention devoted to elite athletes rather that "celebrating" the relatively ordinary but as I've said earlier these are two distinct issues.

TbL

Disclaimer: I don't know the woman but I've come from a multi marathon background.

Pawwed Rig

Jaysus lads. Hate you see what you all think of the 1000 mile thread. I did it last year and was happy to hit the target. This lady lady exceeded my total x 5. Congrats to her.

BeepBeep67

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Gotta disagree with you here A.

If she set herself the target, and bettered her previous times, of course it's an athletics achievement. Is it an athletics achievement that merits mention in the national press, of course it's not, but that's a different matter.

You could run a sub 3 hour marathon as a training run, I've been trying to break 3 hours for two years. If I do it, is that an athletics achievement, for me it is absolutely. Will I be on page three of the Sun in my mankini telling the world about it, definitely not, but I will treasure it as an athletic achievement that I've made many sacrifices to try and achieve!

I think people are looking at this too subjectively, there are plenty of people on here that would objectively look at a 4.08 marathon as an athletics achievement (never mind doing it in the middle of all the other stuff she did).

I too would prefer if there was more mainstream media attention devoted to elite athletes rather that "celebrating" the relatively ordinary but as I've said earlier these are two distinct issues.

TbL

Disclaimer: I don't know the woman but I've come from a multi marathon background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja47-Ctd04c

Luighne

Chivito550 has a point in fairness. Personally I don't like running a race just for the sake of saying I did it, I want to race at my best and beat myself every time. It is a great achievement to complete so many marathons in one year in its self. But from an athletics point of view I don't think it's a massive achievement. But fair play to her she must a some drive.