Pam Reed is claiming to be the first person ever to run 300 miles
"non-stop". It is the first line of her press release (see below). I
have no reason to believe that this press release is anything but
completely legit. So assuming it is, she has to know this claim is
untrue. As has been discussed on this board and many others, there are
many cases that can be found in a 2 minute internet search of people
who have run further and faster. Now you could say that just because it
is on the internet it doesn't mean it is true. But did Pam have a
neutral observer? Was the course certified? if so then by whom? What
were the rules? What exactly does non-stop mean? Dean Karnazes defines
it as no sleeping. But he also states that he sleeps while he runs (not
sure if this is possible or if i believe it) but if he does that then
he is not running without sleeping, so he breaks his only rule.
One, I don't undrstand how athletes don't have greater personal ethics.
And two, is the media just plain stupid? Or lazy? Has the media never
heard of google? I blame the media as much as the athletes.
I have set records before, in cycling, and I spent great amounts of
time researching, talking to past record holders, doing everything i
could to make it as legit as possible. We have to accept that we are in
abscure sports and that there aren't going to be olympic officials
judging us. But that doesn't mean it has to be a joke.
Climbers i think do it well. They don't necessarily have rules but when
someone sets a climbing record they are very clear as to how they did
it and how people in the past have done it--and when credit is due to
others they acknowledge them. For Pam and Dean, it seems like no one
else exists in the running world.
I've emailed Dean about this and he is contrite and humbled by the
negative press that is out there right now. He says things have been
spun in ways he never intended. I am sure that is true but at the end
of the day he is responsible for his PR people. When you title a book
"ultramarathon man" and strike "blue steel" poses in every photo you
are going to get grief from your peer group.
But there is nothing wrong with promoting oneself. All of the people
out there who are mad because dean and pam are "shining the spotlight
on the garden of eden" are complete idiots. If you think your sport is
great, why wouldn't you want to share it with others? Selfish [censored].
Besides it is not like 10,000 people are going to line up and run 100
miles. The sport is too hard for mainstream america. But there are
people out there who have never heard of ultra running who could have
their lives changed for the better by it. Shame on you for wanting to
keep it a secret.
Pam's current claims are really pissing me off. She is knowingly using
a false record claim to go on a tv show, and promote an upcoming book.
Am I the only one who thinks this is fraud? Seriously. If anyone has
Pam's email address please send it to me. I'd like to hear from her on
how she can justify her press release.
John Stamstad
[email hidden]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pam Reed Becomes First Person Ever to Run 300 Miles
Non-Stop; London and Boston Marathons are Next
TUCSON, AZ (March 30, 2005) - Pam Reed didn't know whether to feel
amazed, relieved or simply crazed after accomplishing what no other
distance runner had ever done - running 300 miles non-stop.
"Yeah, I think I'm pretty crazy," the 44-year-old mother
and stepmother of five said a day after covering 301 miles in 78 hours
in her hometown of Tucson. "I'm just pretty amazed that I even tried to
do this. I'm very glad it's over."
Reed, who is writing her memoir, Finish! with co-author and
marathoner Bob Yehling, began her odyssey Friday morning, March 26. The
proposal, which was presented to publishers this week, focuses on
Reed's ascendance as a world-class athlete after age 40, her two
victories in the grueling Badwater Ultramarathon, her past struggles
with life-threatening anorexia nervosa, her balancing act as
businesswoman-mother-wife-race director-ultramarathoner, and her place
as an emerging spokeswoman for fitness and proper eating.
She ran right through Easter weekend, missing her own feature segment
on 60 Minutes, and finished early Monday afternoon. By Tuesday morning,
she was on a plane to New York, where she is appearing Wednesday on the
Tony Danza Show.
What was the hardest part of the experience was toughest -
sleep deprivation, the sheer mileage, wear-and-tear on her legs and
feet or the thought of running for more than three consecutive days in
the middle of the Sonoran Desert?
"Definitely staying focused. That was very difficult,
especially the final 12 hours," Reed said. "When I made the turn on the
course at 250 miles, I thought, 'I can't believe I have to go another
50 miles. Then, in the last 25 miles, I made a mistake; I thought I
could get away with not eating, since I wasn't hungry. That wasn't
wise. The last 25 miles were really hard."
Her feat easily eclipses the old unofficial non-stop
mileage record of 262 miles, held by Dean Karnazes.
"Pam's achievement is amazing - one of the loudest
statements on the outer potential of the human being regarding
endurance that has ever been made," Yehling said. "It is so important
to her, in everything she does, to see how far she can take it, and
then translate that into fitness advice for people everywhere so they,
too, will push themselves a little harder - though not for 300 miles.
This is an incredibly inspiring feat."
Reed will spend the third weekend in April trying to
accomplish another running first. On April 17, she will run the London
Marathon. Then she will jump on a plane, fly to Boston, and run the
prestigious Boston Marathon - twice. She will run from Boston to
Hopkinton in the morning, then turn around and join the field of 20,000
for the 109th running of the official race in the afternoon.