Run Run Away

Question:

That’s what happens when you go anonymous.  Anyone else can fake being you.

You obviously credited me with that quote, it was Goodmans quote. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

Learn how to read.  Your skirt^H^H^H^H^Hkilt is on too tight. He’s Mexican (or claims to be) so he’s not wearing a kilt.

That’s what happens when you go anonymous.  Anyone else can fake being you.

Response:

Why in the world [sic] do you think that only one or 2 people have run it?

Why in the world does WHO think this? Learn how to read.  Your skirt^H^H^H^H^Hkilt is on too tight.

Response:

Learn how to read.  Your skirt^H^H^H^H^Hkilt is on too tight.

He’s Mexican (or claims to be) so he’s not wearing a kilt. tell you it’s him. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

Now HOW fast are you going to run down the mountain??

With all that extra equipment weight your terminal velocity will be higher! That should help your speed! — Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

(Just try, if you don’t believe me!)

WELL I’LL JUST DO THAT! I’ll report back on how long it took me. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

We’re assuming he’s not *running* straight down. If there’s a sheer cliff face alongside him he could be helping himself gain speed.

Umm, don’t be stupid. He’d use lead weights to make him heavier, then he’d fall faster. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

Masters track records are a screwed-up mess, but the "official" mile record for a masters male outdoors is 4:02.53 by David Moorcroft in 1993. You mean, you’re not supposed to be able to run 4 minute miles anymore past 40?  That’s silly.  40’s not even old anymore.  I mean, it’s not like it’s the Dark Ages or 20th century or something.

Who in the hell said you’re not supposed to run 4 min miles after 40, MR.Smart-Alec??? 40 is old for running sub 4 minute miles. Why in the world do you think that only one or 2 people have run it? Can you do it? I bet not. Get down from your pedestal, dude.. Bill R.

Response:

Who in the hell said you’re not supposed to run 4 min miles after 40, MR.Smart-Alec??? 40 is old for running sub 4 minute miles. Why in the world do you think that only one or 2 people have run it? Can you do it? I bet not. Get down from your pedestal, dude.. Bill R.

Will the real Bill R please stand up. I am having a hard time telling you two apart. Goodman Brown "She was a talker, wasn’t she?" Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel. "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

Response:

Will the real Bill R please stand up. I am having a hard time telling you two apart. Goodman Brown

RU retarded or something? One ends in "aol.com" (the real me) and Itchys ends in "hotmail.com". See? Not so hard. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile.

We’re assuming he’s not *running* straight down. If there’s a sheer cliff face alongside him he could be helping himself gain speed. — Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile. We’re assuming he’s not *running* straight down. If there’s a sheer cliff face alongside him he could be helping himself gain speed. — Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

It IS possible to take the "big air" approach (jump off): The summit is 29035′ and Gorak Shep (base camp) is 17000′.  This same fellow skied down Everest a lot faster in places than a 4 minute mile. But if you’re "running," a little perspective about what it’s like over there…. At 18,000 feet, the partial pressue of O2 is HALF what it is at sea level. Above 7000 meters, your body doesn’t want to move–up or down–as Oxygen molecules are few and far between.  Also, you don’t just drop off at the summit from a helicopter; You’d be dead in a day from altitude sickness if you tried that (ignoring that a helicopter can’t get to that altitude anyway) without acclimatizing. Before you get to the summit, you have spent several days climbing at high altitude, in incredibly dry conditions, and you may be suffering from serious dehydration.  You might not have been able to keep solid food down for days, because you lose your appetite at altitude.   Now, that "track" that you’re going to run your sub-4 on is a mixture of snow and glacier.  You have on climbing boots, that are actually a double boot (inner and outer) so that your feet don’t freeze when its -50F–or colder–outside.  There are two types of boots can be used: a plastic technical version which is totally inflexible, or a leather version that is just slightly flexible.  Either of these would make Army Boots seem like track spikes.  But remember, you are running on ICE, so you have to attach crampons (steel devices with a dozen or so–there are several varieties–points on them) so you can climb or walk or glaciers.  These aren’t exactly track spikes. Remember how cold it is outside–just a "little" colder than your last marathon.  So you need a "few" extra clothes.  My old expedition parka (a double coat so the air doesn’t leak through the seams) and expedition pants probably weight about 8 pounds combined, and that’s not enough: You also need underwear like Capilene under them.  You also need expedition gloves, so you can grip your ice axe (another couple of pounds) without your hands suffering from frostbite in 5 minutes.  All told, the equipment you need just to keep you alive up there probably adds 15-20 pounds to your body weight…not good for your relative VO2 max. Now HOW fast are you going to run down the mountain?? Lyndon "Speed Kills…It kills those that don’t have it!"  –US Olympic Track Coach Brooks Johnson

Response:

Thought I’d post this follow up. Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that? And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile? Andy

Response:

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile. Sorry, it takes 16.9 seconds.

To fall 1400 meters. But to fall one mile (which is 1605 meters) you need 18.1 seconds (Just try, if you don’t believe me!) — Jos

Response:

Maybe he’ll run a sub-4 on the way back down.

One slip and he’ll be running a sub 10 second downhill. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

Maybe he’ll run a sub-4 on the way back down. One slip and he’ll be running a sub 10 second downhill.

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile. And even thought the air is pretty thin up there, it will still slow him down, so I doubt whether he’ll even come close to a sub-20 second mile (provided he’ll slip, to begin with!) — Jos

Response:

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile.

Sorry, it takes 16.9 seconds. Bill R. OO                                    

Response:

Masters track records are a screwed-up mess, but the "official" mile record for a masters male outdoors is 4:02.53 by David Moorcroft in 1993.

You mean, you’re not supposed to be able to run 4 minute miles anymore past 40?  That’s silly.  40’s not even old anymore.  I mean, it’s not like it’s the Dark Ages or 20th century or something.

Response:

No Bill, even in vacuum it takes more than 18 seconds to fall one mile. Sorry, it takes 16.9 seconds.

Not with a block start; probably 14 or 15 with a good push off. I mean, that’s why they do block training in track.

Response:

Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that? And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile?

I’d think a 70-year-old could run a pretty fast mile if it were all downhill, on a steep enough hill. And that guy up on Everest is in the perfect position right now. Maybe he’ll run a sub-4 on the way back down. — Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

      Mike Boit ran sub-four at age 41 in an official race—–he was the first to do it at an age over 40.  I personally timed him doing a sub-four in training at that age when he was a graduate student in my town.  But, he couldn’t prove his age, as he was lacking the kind of birth certificate that’s issued in Western European cultures, so they officially snubbed his accomplishment.  Eamon Coughlin’s over-40 sub-four was done indoors.      The only reason that many more runners haven’t done this is simply because they have used up their hunger for world-class running, before they reach that age.  I’ve seen Mary Decker training recently and she looks tougher and faster than ever.  She’s over 40 now and if the IAAF ever gets tired of falsely persecuting her on bogus premises, she may be the next to do it. Steve McDonald

Response:

Thought I’d post this follow up. Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that? And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile? Andy

Since this post connects running and climbing, I thought I’d share this: A few years ago my wife and I went to lecture by Ed Viesturs. For those that don’t know, he is a world class climber having ascended many of the worlds 8000+ meter peaks. Some of these have been with no oxygen including Everest. He was there on Everest as a consultant to the IMax filming team dunring the 1996 disaster.  Anyway, Ed told of one Everest ascent (It might have been the IMax climb, I can’t remember), where he was going to the top from camp four (the highest camp). The plan was for Ed to start first a few hours before the group, going solo, and break a snow trail for the others to follow in and eventually catch up since Ed was presumably going slower having to break the trail. He said would climb for a while and then wait. Not seeing the rest of the party, he would go a little further up. This went on for several hours until eventuall he was at the summit where the other climbers eventually caught up, having climbed in his snow break. Everyone had oxygen but Ed.  I couldn’t help but think of what he could have done in a 10k. Doesn’t mean he would be would class like the climber he is but it would be interesting to see a result if he had a little bit of running training. Doug Burke

Response:

Thought I’d post this follow up. Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that?

  Coghlin did it on an indoor track, and is still (iirc) the only guy to have done so.  There is still nobody who has managed it on the outdoor.  Steve Scott took a shot at it but couldn’t make it.  I don’t recall hearing about Shorter trying. And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile?

  Hm.  A bit of estimating involved …   The age adjustment for a 70 year old at 10k is about 25% of his time (iirc, ymmv, etc.)  So that a 70 year old who runs a 50 minute 10k is performing comparably to an open class runner who does 37.5.   Let’s assume, for ball-parking purposes, that the same proportion holds for the mile.  A 70 year old running a 4 minute mile is then equivalent to open class running a 3 minute mile (4×45 second quarters).   I think I’ll vote for ‘never’.   — Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links. Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Response:

Thought I’d post this follow up. Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that?

it was eamonn coghlan in 1994 – 3:58:15. i couldn’t find anyone else after that, on the web. found a link which said steve scott was going to attempt that at age 42. don’t know what happened. And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile? Andy

hmmm… i think it’s going to be a little while. maybe well into the next century. for everest, the youngest is 18 years, IIRC. jobs

Response:

Thought I’d post this follow up. Yesterday a 70 year old Japanese man became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. Obviously he isn’t going to run a 4 minute mile. What is the oldest someone has run a 4 minute mile. I know Frank Shorter and Eamon Coghlin were making attempts when they turned 40. And that one of them did it. Has the age advanced much beyond that? And how long before a 70 year old runs a 4 minute mile?

Eamonn Coughlin is the only person to run sub-4 after 40.  But this was on the tuned track at Harvard, which is not the same thing as doing it outdoors. Nobody has run sub-4 outdoors after 40, Coughlin included. And of course, no female of any age has come close to a sub-4 mile. Masters track records are a screwed-up mess, but the "official" mile record for a masters male outdoors is 4:02.53 by David Moorcroft in 1993. Lyndon "Speed Kills…It kills those that don’t have it!"  –US Olympic Track Coach Brooks Johnson

Response: