Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: ludwig on 05 March, 2010, 11:55:08 am
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Eddie Izzard Marathon man. I'm not a fan but found this show an inspiration and admire him hugely for what he achieved here.
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I caught the last 10 minutes of this.
God, that guy can dig deep. An amazing feat.
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Amazing, I love his standup too.
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True grit from an unlikely source I thought.
Really enjoyed the program (especially as he was on some of my local roads from Basingstoke to Wiltshire)
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True grit from an unlikely source I thought.
I dunno. Any bloke who wears a dress has got to be pretty tough.
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He almost gained a Forrest Gump-like critical mass of followers. :) An amazing effort.
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I had a lump in my throat watching this, how he completed those 9 straight marathons I do not know. Amazing.
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I loved it too. That was just the first instalment wasn't it? Another 34 marathons to go and his body is already falling apart. I can't imagine how he did it. I love the fact that he could take time off to serve ice creams and drink a couple of pints in Devizes, much to the concern of the support crew. ;D
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Think he might fancy trying LEL next time round? On a unicycle. Piece of cake after that.
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I was very impressed when I heard that he ran all those marathons.
Now that I know how little preperation he had, I'm even more impressed.
In spite of what the experts were telling him on the programme (I think that there was a bit of TV story hyping going on to make it more of a story), I think he did the right thing by doing his own thing. I often found it very funny.
Eddie Izz-ard :thumbsup:
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I was very impressed when I heard that he ran all those marathons.
Now that I know how little preperation he had, I'm even more impressed.
In spite of what the experts were telling him on the programme (I think that there was a bit of TV story hyping going on to make it more of a story), I think he did the right thing by doing his own thing. I often found it very funny.
Eddie Izz-ard :thumbsup:
Teethgrinder, after your Arrivee account of your audax season a couple of years ago, I'd have liked to have seen a fly in the wall documentary of that!
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I was very impressed by him too. Looks like he's stepping up to the 'national comedic treasure' position occupied by Stephen Fry. But the whole thing was very low-key at the time, wasn't it? I don't remember news reports of his progress, just a local paper report when he was round here - the first I'd heard of what he was doing - and a brief report on BBC news when he'd finished. Maybe he wanted it that way in case he failed.
I didn't know he'd been brought up in Skewen - just 3 or 4 miles from here. I gained the impression that a lot of what makes him what he is derives from the death of his mother when he was so young.
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I see the program is on iPlayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r8zr8/Eddie_Izzard_Marathon_Man_Episode_1/), but I haven't watched it yet.
I do quite like him, since he does seem to be a genuine eccentric, and comes across as a nice guy. I've got a couple of his shows somewhere, either on DVD or CD. I forget which, which means I haven't watched them recently, so ought to dig them out.
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Wow. It's just weird that he can keep on running them day after day and even on his rest day doing a fifteen mile walk. :thumbsup:
Through the Wales bit my dad was interrupting with "I rode up that hill / ate in that cafe on <insert Audax ride here>". ;D
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I followed it all on twitter when he was doing it. This kind of thing is what twitter's great for. I remember him twittering about going for runs along the Thames and posting pics, and being a little surprised that he was out running. It was only later that I found out why he'd been doing the training. Truly amazing achievement.
As for being tough to wear a dress, he was beaten up outside the Corn Exchange in Cambridge after a show. Lovely place, Cambridge. ::-)
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I just watched the first programme, and that was interesting, and made me feel a little exhausted just watching it!
It was amusing with the Doctor at the start, when he realised what he was planning on doing, and how much preparation time he had. All the people I've known who have run one marathon have generally spent more time preparing themselves for it.
Given how much practise he seems to have done (or rather not done), it's amazing that he did it. He clearly had a very bloody minded attitude to doing it, and as one of the guys said, doing these sort of events is very much about the psychology of it.
Having said that, there's also no doubt that without people treating his feet and legs, there's no way he would have got around. Most of us do an event like a Marathon, and then collapse for a day (or week!) to recover. He didn't have that option, but having experts on hand to drain your blisters, wrap your feet in bandages, and massage your painful muscles, has to be very useful in such a situation!
It was also amusing when at the end, where the Rickshaw ran out of battery power and omph (I would suspect it was damned heavy with the film crew on board), and they ended up with some runners carrying the camera for them. ;D
A damned impressive, and somewhat nutty achievement. I'll definitely have to watch the remaining episodes.
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Inspirational. What a man. I wanna do something like that, but I don't think I've got the balls :(
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Having said that, there's also no doubt that without people treating his feet and legs, there's no way he would have got around. Most of us do an event like a Marathon, and then collapse for a day (or week!) to recover. He didn't have that option, but having experts on hand to drain your blisters, wrap your feet in bandages, and massage your painful muscles, has to be very useful in such a situation!
That and he was very slow, sometimes spending over 10 hours to do the marathon.
Still impressive though.
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Watched it last night - inspirational indeed.
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Having said that, there's also no doubt that without people treating his feet and legs, there's no way he would have got around. Most of us do an event like a Marathon, and then collapse for a day (or week!) to recover. He didn't have that option, but having experts on hand to drain your blisters, wrap your feet in bandages, and massage your painful muscles, has to be very useful in such a situation!
That and he was very slow, sometimes spending over 10 hours to do the marathon.
Still impressive though.
Yes, that's what I thought. Of course a 10hr marathon is still non-trivial for a big guy with feck-all training. And then 4 more, not a single mile walked ...
There may have been editorial licence taken in the making of the 1st show, but it did seem like that week was make-or-break. He was getting slowly fitter, as you would expect if you pace yourself, but some bits were (unsurprisingly) breaking down. It could have all been off after 3 days; possibly more luck than determination. Some problems cannot be "pushed through", because eventually your legs drop off.
I noticed how much his toes were pointing out as he slowed down - there was real wear and tear there, not just lack of stamina.
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Mind over matter (not to under estimate the rest of it, I think he's brilliant, what a man
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Chapeau.
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Makes you me think about the false ceilings we set ourselves.
H
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I watched this evening. An utterly awesome demonstration of the power of self motivation.
I texted Sports Relief a fiver (txt Eddie to 70005). You'd need a heart of stone not to.
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Just watched the second episode, and you can see that self motivation only goes so far in overcoming pain. If things hurt too much, there's nothing you can do but stop. I suspect that the amount of pain killers he's been using wouldn't entirely be allowed if you were actually competing in a sports event, but since he's an unfit comedian, doing if for charity, I think it's all right!
It's kind of interesting that they make a bit of an issue of his transvestism, but I can't say that I've ever really thought about him as a transvestite, just a comedian. A bit of a weird comedian admittedly, but plenty of comedians are a bit weird, isn't it part of the job description?
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We watched the first one the other night
Quite extraordinary. I'd assumed he'd been doing stuff like training for this :o
Such determination.
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Having said that, there's also no doubt that without people treating his feet and legs, there's no way he would have got around. Most of us do an event like a Marathon, and then collapse for a day (or week!) to recover. He didn't have that option, but having experts on hand to drain your blisters, wrap your feet in bandages, and massage your painful muscles, has to be very useful in such a situation!
That and he was very slow, sometimes spending over 10 hours to do the marathon.
Still impressive though.
It's especially impressive because of his slow times. He's basically on his feet for 10-12 hours a day.
A top Marathon runner would be able to "jog" a 3.5 hour Marathon with very little impact to their body.
Izzard is basically running flat out when he is running.
Even walking for 10-12 hours a day would be extremely challenging. It gets more impressive by the episode.
It's actually made me think about running for the first time in 15 years.
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Final episode on now. I think I will be emotional.
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Inspirational and SO driven. There's some real hurt there.
Yes. Me too. Watching this in tears.
J
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In some respects, it is kind of surreal, that the reason we are watching it, and what makes it good viewing, is that he is so unprepared, and basically not a very good runner.
If he had spent 6 months regularly running, and eating well, and then went and did all these marathons with some effort, but no real problems, it wouldn't have been much of a programme, and we wouldn't be talking about it.
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To do the last one (in the traffic :o ) in 4 hours 40 mins was pretty amazing.
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In some respects, it is kind of surreal, that the reason we are watching it, and what makes it good viewing, is that he is so unprepared, and basically not a very good runner.
If he had spent 6 months regularly running, and eating well, and then went and did all these marathons with some effort, but no real problems, it wouldn't have been much of a programme, and we wouldn't be talking about it.
Good wasn't it... A tough guy in the best sense. I think he's a great runner, though 'unconventional', and you're right - this made for a good TV account of the travels. He didn't give his body time to recover properly, and his diet wasn't great, but allowing himself to engage with the local people he found on route, be 'diverted', seemed to be a very important aspect of the whole thing (and very personal at times to him re. family history)...though it did nothing for his running rhythm.
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I texted Sports Relief a fiver (txt Eddie to 70005). You'd need a heart of stone not to.
Indeed. I just watched the last episode and donated a fiver. I'm absolutely skint, but I'll just have to be a fiver more skint.
Legend. And all for a great charity.
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Indeed. I just watched the last episode and donated a fiver. I'm absolutely skint, but I'll just have to be a fiver more skint.
Ditto. I'm not a big giver to charity - but this one is worthy - and Eddie Izzard's feats more than worthy. I too did the text thing this morning after watching the final installment.
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I loved it. I was desperate to go to bed last night but couldn't drag myself away from the telly. What an incredibly moving feat of endurance. I too texted a fiver - for him rather than the cyclists who were on earlier in the evening. Wish I'd known when he was doing it as I'd have popped over to Traf Sq for the finish.
Did anyone see the bit with the ultra endurance runner who joined him for a while? She was crackers, absolutely barmy, in the best sense of it. She ran thousands of miles after her husband died, just because. Nuts.
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I 've recorded the last episode and really looking forward to it. Already texted me fiver in , so my conscious is clear when I watch it :)
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I'm feeling very wussy about my knee-DNF right about now.
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Just caught up with the final episode on IPlayer. What a man. Nail biting right down to the last couple of miles. Great entertainment, fantastically inspiring and a brilliant fund raising achievement to top it all. Well done that man.
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I'm feeling very wussy about my knee-DNF right about now.
s/wussy/sensible/g
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What an amazing achievement ! But nul points for the complete muppet who did the route planning ! What did they use, the route map in their pocket diary ?
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Amazing finale, ankle problems causing a nail-biting last few days.
What amazing determination, 42 days of mind over pain. I can just about contemplate dealing with blisters and ankle problems to get to the end of a Marathon but not 43 of them, one after the other. That's just too much.
I reckon he's gone from a non-runner to a 4 hour Marathon runner in 2 months.
(He basically did a 4:40 marathon on his last day with traffic congestion, detours, blisters, ankle problems and cramped legs. I'm sure that, with clear roads, clear directions and without 42 previous marathons in his legs, he'd be capable of <4 hours now).
Perhaps he's someone who, if they'd started training at 20, could have been ideally suited to competetive ultra-distance running. He seemed to "feel" it's was something he could just do. He obviously has the mentality to get through the bad patches that come with ultra-distance.
Note. I sort of pity anyone entering the London Marathon this year. Eddie has given it a sort of "just one? so what?" factor.
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I reckon he's gone from a non-runner to a 4 hour Marathon runner in 2 months.
(He basically did a 4:40 marathon on his last day with traffic congestion, detours, blisters, ankle problems and cramped legs. I'm sure that, with clear roads, clear directions and without 42 previous marathons in his legs, he'd be capable of <4 hours now).
He also waited for his team when they had trouble. He'd easily do a sub 4 hour marathon now.
Perhaps he's someone who, if they'd started training at 20, could have been ideally suited to competetive ultra-distance running. He seemed to "feel" it's was something he could just do. He obviously has the mentality to get through the bad patches that come with ultra-distance.
I think that the experts on his team don't know much about the psychological side of things. I think that Eddie was spot on. His logic was wonky, but the way he broke the runs down and made them more fun was a very good tactic. Not that I'm entirely sure that he knew it was the best thing to do.
Perhaps he's someone who, if they'd started training at 20, could have been ideally suited to competetive ultra-distance running. He seemed to "feel" it's was something he could just do. He obviously has the mentality to get through the bad patches that come with ultra-distance.
Note. I sort of pity anyone entering the London Marathon this year. Eddie has given it a sort of "just one? so what?" factor.
But to be fair, Eddie's marathons were really slow. I doubt that many will be spending more than 7 hours doing the London Marathon, let alone 10. That's not taking anything away from Eddie.
It's noteworthy that Fiona Campbell was walking about 40 miles per day on her walk around the world.
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I don't think Eddie's thing will devalue the achievement of a marathon at all. It's exactly as hard as it was before. Too hard for me, I reckon.
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Still catching up with this
Just seen the hand-cyclist. I'm speechless with admiration for that guy.
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I don't think Eddie's thing will devalue the achievement of a marathon at all.
I don't either. His fastest time was 5:40. He did a 30 Mi run in 10 hours too; walking pace and without carrying any pack. Running a marathon, fast, fitting training with full time work, with no support etc. will always be an achievement. What was stricking in Izzard was his will.
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His fastest time was 5:40.
His fastest time was his final run at 5:00:30. He stopped for 20 minutes to wait for the camera crew. And he got lost! I think if he hadn't already run 40 marathons in the previous 6 weeks he could get a very respectable time....
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Quote from a (pretty dedicated) local cyclist:
I don't understand how someone can be that fat after running 40 marathons.
I had to smile!
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Quote from a (pretty dedicated) local cyclist:
I don't understand how someone can be that fat after running 40 marathons.
I had to smile!
I thought too, tbh, that he was quite round in the show I caught up last night, for someone who was running these distances daily. I am round right now but it is because I eat too much in comparison to what I ride/run.
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I reckon he's gone from a non-runner to a 4 hour Marathon runner in 2 months.
(He basically did a 4:40 marathon on his last day with traffic congestion, detours, blisters, ankle problems and cramped legs. I'm sure that, with clear roads, clear directions and without 42 previous marathons in his legs, he'd be capable of <4 hours now).
He also waited for his team when they had trouble. He'd easily do a sub 4 hour marathon now.
LEE had already factored that in. Eddie's final day took 5:00:30 but he waited for the camera crew for 20 mins, which took him down to 4:40.