Running

"
Commiserations, your application to run in the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon has been unsuccessful. A record number of 457,861 hopefuls applied to take part in next year’s event and unfortunately you were unsuccessful in the general ballot, which was drawn at random.
"

Close to half a million applications for ~20,000 ballot places. Oof.

(Happy I didn't get it as I won't be able to start running until November at the earliest, will aim for getting in decent shape to give it a proper go in 2021.)

same here - I'm relieved more than anything!

This Saturday I'll be cycling to a pub at 5am to watch some rugby, then down to Hackney Marshes to do a pissed parkrun. It'll be interesting to see what sort of effect it has on my usual sort of finished time....

I bet it'll be more fun than normal if nothing else

Even if the rugby is cancelled?

Cross country starts this weekend. A new course for the Surrey League in Guildford. It is always fun to dust off the spikes and discover how much slower you have got.

^ xc here too, local park one which is very flat and mostly flooded at the moment apparently. Xtalon should be ok though.

Not as slow as me I reckon. See you there!

Kipchoge is trying to do 26.2 in two hours today. Anyone know when it's happening and where you can get updates on it?

Sorry it's tomorrow.

Good luck with it! My pb for 5k is 21:47 and was training to get under 20 but fell off the wagon and never got back on. I just barely manage 24 these days. Would like to get back into it but am really demotivated at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-XgKRJUEgQ

it'll also be on the bbc red button and i assume updates will be here https://twitter.com/INEOS159

But, fuck Ineos

Eliud Kipchoge on target for sub 2hrs.

2:50/km. Fuck that.

Laser accurate pacing

Are the pacers goign to pull off at some point?

"Look at those splits, they're so even."

THEY'RE LASER-FUCKING-GUIDED!

Woah.

All those Pacers could have achieved it too.

Blimey.

They started at 38km! They were doing shifts.

...Bloody hell!

What?
I just turned on at the end, #dadlyfe, was it a rotating squad of Pacers?
Clever.

8 separate groups of pacers I think...

That was nuts.

Ineos and Nike are despicable but Kipchoge is unbelievable.

Now for the Kipchoge v Bekele in Berlin, when sub 2 could go in a championship race.

multiple different teams with people rotating in and out of different teams.

There were so many amazing athletes, olympic medallists etc.. on those teams.

Now for the Kipchoge v Bekele in Berlin, when sub 2 could go in a championship race.

He said sub 2hrs will happen a lot now but that's not what happened when Bannister broke the 4min/mi even though everyone seems to think it.

Haha sure highlights guy :P

You're just bitter about the Australian guy at the 1954 commonwealth games.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression

He's a good ol' Melbourne boy.

You're just bitter about us winning the Tour first.

I think it's Alex Hutchinson's book Endure that goes into the history of 4min/mi a bit. Quite interesting.