Friday 12 October 2012

Running in a world of frauds....

Recently my good friend Simon Freeman wrote a great blog post about Paul Ryan's rather large extension of the truth (or should I shrinking of the truth) in relation to his own marathon prowess - http://simonfreeman.co.uk/2012/09/the-truth-is-out-there-always/

A great read and one that made me smile. Paul Ryan, however, suddenly seemed a model of honesty and fair play in sport when I recently read about Kip Litton, a US runner, in the New Yorker (via Athletics Weekly). As the article itself runs to 10 pages - presumably the journalist had run in one of the races Kip allegedly completed so felt some vendetta here is a brief summary...

Kip Litton, a Dentist based in Michigan, took on the challenge of running a sub 3 hour marathon (a marker in the athletics world of pretty quick amateur runner) in all 50 American States. This goal was made more impressive when you find out that Litton was 48 when attempting this feat. Litton took on the challenge and made wide publicity from his successful completion of many marathons breaking the 3 hour barrier. Incredible….The sudden rise from overweight obscurity to one of the best ‘masters’ distance runners in the US. As you read further and further though you see a trail of incomplete races, short cuts and

Take the time to read the article – it is a pretty amazing story of eccentricity mixed with blind vanity and the lengths people will go to to avoid putting in a bit of hard work….either that or he is truly an inspirational runner – I’ll leave it to you to decide;

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As an althetics coach, personal trainer and sports conditioning expert my job is to help everyone achieve their goals. This is a collection of my thoughts on training and the world of sport and health and fitness.