A 7:15 Mile, Except He Did It All Day Long
September 19, 2022 10:33 AM Subscribe
I just got back from my daily 3 miles in 30-ish minutes run and, phew. Respect.
posted by HumanComplex at 10:46 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by HumanComplex at 10:46 AM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
That is an incredible test of endurance, one that doesn't even seem humanly possible. He ran a distance equivalent to seven and a half marathons in one day.
If you click through that page to the list of articles about Sorokin, there are interviews with him about his training, nutrition, and race strategy. Fascinating stuff.
posted by fortitude25 at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
If you click through that page to the list of articles about Sorokin, there are interviews with him about his training, nutrition, and race strategy. Fascinating stuff.
posted by fortitude25 at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have never in my life run a 7:15 mile, and he averaged that pace over the entire 24 hours.
posted by tclark at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by tclark at 10:55 AM on September 19, 2022 [12 favorites]
7:15 per mile is 4:30 per km, which is basically me sprinting.
This guy ran almost 7.6 marathons back to back in one day.
That is 3:10 for each marathon.
I don't even.
posted by piyushnz at 11:02 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
This guy ran almost 7.6 marathons back to back in one day.
That is 3:10 for each marathon.
I don't even.
posted by piyushnz at 11:02 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wrapping my mind around this is kind of like trying to understand how much money is in a billion dollars...my mind doesn't want to understand it.
posted by Chuffy at 11:08 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Chuffy at 11:08 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
He's like a D&D character that someone munchkinned into a superrunner by getting some weird feat/class/skill combo that doesn't make logical sense but is technically within the rules.
posted by The otter lady at 11:13 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 11:13 AM on September 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
https://www.irunfar.com/ . . .
Yes. Yes you do. I think we can all agree on that.
posted by The Bellman at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yes. Yes you do. I think we can all agree on that.
posted by The Bellman at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
I average about 20km/h on my bicycle when I'm riding longer distances but even that is for 7-8 hours max. I don't know if I'd be able to average 13km/h over 24 hours on my bicycle. This guy is amazing!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:49 AM on September 19, 2022
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:49 AM on September 19, 2022
Truly mind boggling. Turns out Philippides was a bit of a wuss.
posted by gwint at 11:54 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by gwint at 11:54 AM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Does he go around and around on the same track? Just lap after lap after lap? Jesus I'd lose my frigging mind let alone destroy my body.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:19 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:19 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't know if I'd be able to average 13km/h over 24 hours on my bicycle.
That's over 300km!
I bet you could do it once, if chased by 13km/h lava.
posted by Acari at 12:22 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
That's over 300km!
I bet you could do it once, if chased by 13km/h lava.
posted by Acari at 12:22 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
That's over 300km!
I bet you could do it once, if chased by 13km/h lava.
Lava needs a pretty steep downslope to go that fast. And to have that much downslope over 300km of distance makes this start to feel like an xkcd What If question. But it would be one of the sort whose answer would be, “if you were prepared with a space suit and enough air supply, it would be mostly be a matter of whether your brakes held out the whole way down”.
posted by notoriety public at 12:33 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I bet you could do it once, if chased by 13km/h lava.
Lava needs a pretty steep downslope to go that fast. And to have that much downslope over 300km of distance makes this start to feel like an xkcd What If question. But it would be one of the sort whose answer would be, “if you were prepared with a space suit and enough air supply, it would be mostly be a matter of whether your brakes held out the whole way down”.
posted by notoriety public at 12:33 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I knew an accomplished amateur ultrarunner who explained that an underappreciated factor is the ability to digest enough calories to fuel 8 or 15 or whatever hours of intense activity. It's much harder to do while running than cycling because the constant repeated impact doesn't really encourage smooth digestion, and these guys who are gunning for records don't want to stop very long to eat. Plus your stomach needs energy, so when you eat you divert energy from your heart, lungs, and legs. Sorokin drinks "water, electrolyte drinks and Coke, and consumes about 400 calories per hour from a variety of gels, chips, cookies and candy." Which is yet another reason that running 24 hours straight is way more than 24 times as hard as running for an hour.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:45 PM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:45 PM on September 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
Incredibly, to achieve this record, he ran an average pace of 4:39 minutes per kilometer
AVERAGE?
That pace is me sprinting. Sprinting downhill. Maybe.
posted by GuyZero at 12:55 PM on September 19, 2022
AVERAGE?
That pace is me sprinting. Sprinting downhill. Maybe.
posted by GuyZero at 12:55 PM on September 19, 2022
I am a swimmer that also dabbles in running. I have done a 25 hour swim before. I was tired and sore after that as to be expected.
I can run a marathon, but that is it.
One marathon!
I can't imagine my body holding together to run 7-8 times that long.
I've been told to try ultra-running, but I know I my feet would never get through it without injury. That alone is the most impressive part of it. To go back and start over learning good technique! I try not to even look at my feet so I don't get injured!
With swimming you can go forever. No impact makes such a huge difference.
Despite my injury concerns, there is something exciting about contemplating an ultra run. It would be something new to try. I get the appeal, it just happens to be the open aspect of my fitness where I actually have restraint. Hoping I never get a swimming injury or I might just try.
Hopefully he can get to 200 miles next time!
posted by Dalton Luceria at 1:07 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I can run a marathon, but that is it.
One marathon!
I can't imagine my body holding together to run 7-8 times that long.
I've been told to try ultra-running, but I know I my feet would never get through it without injury. That alone is the most impressive part of it. To go back and start over learning good technique! I try not to even look at my feet so I don't get injured!
With swimming you can go forever. No impact makes such a huge difference.
Despite my injury concerns, there is something exciting about contemplating an ultra run. It would be something new to try. I get the appeal, it just happens to be the open aspect of my fitness where I actually have restraint. Hoping I never get a swimming injury or I might just try.
Hopefully he can get to 200 miles next time!
posted by Dalton Luceria at 1:07 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Previously: a 3,100 mile race, around a single city block, run over 52 days:
A test for the mind as much as the body
posted by meowzilla at 1:46 PM on September 19, 2022
A test for the mind as much as the body
posted by meowzilla at 1:46 PM on September 19, 2022
Sorokin, 41, didn’t start running until 2013, when he was 32. “I began running to get in shape when I weighed 100 kg (220 lb.). At the time I wasn’t playing any sports, just drinking and smoking a lot.”
posted by LURK at 2:14 PM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by LURK at 2:14 PM on September 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
If hell existed, this would be my punishment. I’m honestly taken aback by how strongly negative my reaction to this is. I’m otherwise fine letting people enjoy ultrarunning, but I saw this and immediately recognized sprinting for 24 hours straight on a track as the most unpleasant thing I could possibly imagine.
posted by Jon_Evil at 2:23 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 2:23 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's easy to start thinking about the math when you run. I try to go for a 10k run three times a week. So double that (plus a bit more) and it's a half marathon. And of course double that and it's a full. I can do a half marathon but a full...I just don't see how. When I finish a half I am spent, and for that to be just the halfway point?
And this guy does that with ease. A 3 hour 10 minute marathon? That's only slightly longer than me trying my darndest doing a half, at about 2 hours 20 minutes. And he does it seven times? It's mind boggling.
posted by zardoz at 2:23 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
And this guy does that with ease. A 3 hour 10 minute marathon? That's only slightly longer than me trying my darndest doing a half, at about 2 hours 20 minutes. And he does it seven times? It's mind boggling.
posted by zardoz at 2:23 PM on September 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't know if I'd be able to average 13km/h over 24 hours on my bicycle.
That's my brain's closest connection to this feat, too. He went twice as far as I've ever biked in a day, and that wasn't an easy day.
posted by gurple at 3:29 PM on September 19, 2022
That's my brain's closest connection to this feat, too. He went twice as far as I've ever biked in a day, and that wasn't an easy day.
posted by gurple at 3:29 PM on September 19, 2022
I did a 35 mile trail ultra once. I think my proudest moment might actually not have been the finish, but the point at which one of the women I was running with looked at her Garmin and said: "Only 14 miles to go? That's only a half marathon, that's nothing, I'd hardly put a bra on for a half marathon!" and I genuinely thought "Oh, brilliant, only a half marathon to go, we're nearly there!"
That said, I did it so slowly that plenty of people could probably have walked it quicker - we did, indeed, walk significant chunks of it. I'd got to the start line with hip problems, we set off into horizontal rain, my hips held out for the first 14 miles and then started to hurt. Thank God, I was caught up at the 18 mile checkpoint by 3 older women who were in the race and just having a lovely day out in the wilds at whatever pace they could (the race was around the perimeter of a stunning Scottish island). I joined them, we ran, we walked, we stopped for photos at the iron age broch and we sang a song by the cairn on top of a hill they made us run up at mile 26, and generally (despite the atrocious weather throughout) had a lovely time.
Every time I read about these people who just run round a track for 24 hours (which is surprisngly often as my line of work brings me into contact with them) my mind boggles at the tedium. To do it at that speed is just insane.
Oh, and in terms of calorie ingestion - I believe squirty cream is popular in the ultra running world for good reason.
posted by penguin pie at 3:49 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
That said, I did it so slowly that plenty of people could probably have walked it quicker - we did, indeed, walk significant chunks of it. I'd got to the start line with hip problems, we set off into horizontal rain, my hips held out for the first 14 miles and then started to hurt. Thank God, I was caught up at the 18 mile checkpoint by 3 older women who were in the race and just having a lovely day out in the wilds at whatever pace they could (the race was around the perimeter of a stunning Scottish island). I joined them, we ran, we walked, we stopped for photos at the iron age broch and we sang a song by the cairn on top of a hill they made us run up at mile 26, and generally (despite the atrocious weather throughout) had a lovely time.
Every time I read about these people who just run round a track for 24 hours (which is surprisngly often as my line of work brings me into contact with them) my mind boggles at the tedium. To do it at that speed is just insane.
Oh, and in terms of calorie ingestion - I believe squirty cream is popular in the ultra running world for good reason.
posted by penguin pie at 3:49 PM on September 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Over 20 years ago I rode more than 200 miles on my bicycle in a day and that just about killed me. Running 200 miles is quite simply unfathomable.
posted by drstrangelove at 4:02 AM on September 20, 2022
posted by drstrangelove at 4:02 AM on September 20, 2022
sprinting for 24 hours straight on a track as the most unpleasant thing I could possibly imagine
But I really think that's the point: It's what's sometimes referred to as Type 2 fun: "Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect."
I (along with about 99.99 percent of the world) totally agree with you, which is perhaps another attraction of ultras: Doing what us normal people can't do, or aren't willing to do.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:31 AM on September 20, 2022
But I really think that's the point: It's what's sometimes referred to as Type 2 fun: "Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect."
I (along with about 99.99 percent of the world) totally agree with you, which is perhaps another attraction of ultras: Doing what us normal people can't do, or aren't willing to do.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:31 AM on September 20, 2022
That's...basically the distance between NYC and DC. That he ran. In one day.
posted by greenland at 5:05 PM on September 20, 2022
posted by greenland at 5:05 PM on September 20, 2022
With most races you get near the end and think "If I speed up now it will be over sooner". That's not true for the 24 hour run. No matter how slow or fast you run the last bit, it will be over in the same amount of time.
That's mentally very hard.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 6:00 PM on September 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
That's mentally very hard.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 6:00 PM on September 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Does he go around and around on the same track? Just lap after lap after lap? Jesus I'd lose my frigging mind let alone destroy my body.
Usually on this sort of thing they're running repeats on a fairly short track - but not like a 400m track in a stadium. I believe this one was around 1500m, so close to a mile.
When I finish a half I am spent, and for that to be just the halfway point?
You might be surprised; if you're reasonably fit, and you pace appropriately, there shouldn't be that much difference in difficulty. (Though I will say my first marathon was tough because it was the first time I'd hit the wall properly).
Likewise for people talking about the really long trail runs; they can actually be easier on the body in some ways, because you're going slower, the terrain is softer, so your impact is lower. And you're using different muscles (running up or downhill) so there's less stress on just one muscle.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:26 AM on September 22, 2022
Usually on this sort of thing they're running repeats on a fairly short track - but not like a 400m track in a stadium. I believe this one was around 1500m, so close to a mile.
When I finish a half I am spent, and for that to be just the halfway point?
You might be surprised; if you're reasonably fit, and you pace appropriately, there shouldn't be that much difference in difficulty. (Though I will say my first marathon was tough because it was the first time I'd hit the wall properly).
Likewise for people talking about the really long trail runs; they can actually be easier on the body in some ways, because you're going slower, the terrain is softer, so your impact is lower. And you're using different muscles (running up or downhill) so there's less stress on just one muscle.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:26 AM on September 22, 2022
What's incredibly impressive about this is that Sorokin has now twice beaten Yiannis Kouros’ record from 1997.
Only a few years back, Let's Run said that Yiannis' record was the greatest ultramarathon world record. Yiannis was a legend at the long distances, he had 4 of the longest 6-day runs, 6 of the longest 48-hour runs, and the 11 longest 24-hour runs. His 24-hour record was 21km further than anyone else.
And then last year Sorokin broke the "unbreakable" record. And now he's done it again. Just incredible.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:37 AM on September 22, 2022
Only a few years back, Let's Run said that Yiannis' record was the greatest ultramarathon world record. Yiannis was a legend at the long distances, he had 4 of the longest 6-day runs, 6 of the longest 48-hour runs, and the 11 longest 24-hour runs. His 24-hour record was 21km further than anyone else.
And then last year Sorokin broke the "unbreakable" record. And now he's done it again. Just incredible.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:37 AM on September 22, 2022
In other mindboggling feats of endurance and athleticism, this just in:
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge clocks 2:01:09 for world record in Berlin Marathon
posted by piyushnz at 9:15 AM on September 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge clocks 2:01:09 for world record in Berlin Marathon
posted by piyushnz at 9:15 AM on September 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
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