Another run across America underway - is it legit? Boots currently on the ground

I have had a good close look at Balenger's Transcon pacing of WG and what stands out is how little there is of it, and what little there is, is always super world class pace. He never paces WG at, say, 8:30 or 9 minute K pace, when he's struggling and could really use someone to pull him thru a dark period. it's always searing little spells of 7:10k pace, or quite a bit better.

For instance, on day 12, RB pops up late in a brutal day after some 40k of constant climbing and rips them through 27.9k at 6:43. A berserk speed, which included plenty of climbing. The 3:20 is took them is exactly what Pete Kostelnick ran the same stage of his Day 12. Jenny Hoffman ran a 3:22.

I have found just one time RB paces WG and it's not high end pace, and that's a bruising 10k at the end of day 24. And you know what's funny about that? I was there and observed it. Two buddies, walking very slowly down the road.

In the second half of the Transcon RB seems to give up pacing duties, and any pretence of them completely. He's got WG flaying away out there but he's merrily just putting down 17.5k at 5:06 pace [day 36], or 9.6k in 49 mins for a 100k day on Day 40. No help to WG that. When WG observes he "is pretty sure that was an Apalachian mountain", RB leaves his man out there with zero assistance and at 1314hrs merrily embarks on a 16.4k run at 4:44 pace.

For the notorious 22nd May, where we have WG's Whoop which indicates the missing 4 hours of running, RB starts a run at 1327 and WG quits his at 1355. RB runs 14.6k at 5:29s. It is bewildering - what on earth is going on?

Never before is it more clear: this missing Whoop data is the key to the mystery. I have asked up to a dozen people and sponsors in his team, and each have precisely the same response: No response.

I have changed the wording of the petition now to this: "Stop the fake Ultraruns of W. Goodge and R. Balenger, and publish Goodge's Transcon Whoop"

Do please kindly give it a sign if this case has moved you. We're over 100 signatures now, so I am hardly "one guy" as they say. And the comments are incredibly powerful.

change.org

Sign the Petition

@change

Stop the fake Ultraruns of W. Goodge and R. Balenger, and publish Goodge's Transcon Whoop

Link:www.change.org/p/stop-the-fake-ultraru...

Cheers, W

I'm not sure it’s a good idea to retrospectively change the title of a petition. People signed their agreement with the original wording.

Very good point, just a minor tweak, but it also didn't match the title of the webpage any more. Have reverted to original, which was strong anyway as it spoke of false advertising [which got sacrificed]. Releasing the Whoop is critical, but it's in the text at least.

Nothing got signed in the interim.

As you were and thanks for the nudge.

Really, tell me more.

I think DD was being impish! But always lovely to see that mesmerising, haunting footage, and at the very heart of this debate: the gargantuan toil, sacrifice and courage that it takes to run well.

Thanks for demonstrating your integrity again. Minor disagreement resolved with no ego issues. Chapeau et bon chance.

"The gargantuan toil, sacrifice, and courage that it takes to well." Very well put, for this is the common ground that all great athletes meet on, or those who would be great. The pity is that the financial rewards for doing so have seemingly become as great as the glory, and the means for achieving it have increasingly removed the runners of today from those who preceded them. It is no longer will and courage that propels them as that and many other things: fast shoes and faster tracks, various doses and injections to enhance the body's performance or its ability to recover from training, and techniques that take advantage of these innovations and allow performance less and less related to man in his God-given condition. Perhaps I've missed something, and what we see today is no different than boarding an airliner or pressing the keyboard of a computer linked to the internet--just another expression of the speed and ease of communication and the wealth that comes with it--but watching Bannister's run reminds me that there were giants in those days who were drawn to the finish line not by a sponsor's blandishments but something better.

Thanks Will, yeah and I remember RB describing how brutal the Appalachian sections were on his own Transcon (on his RRP appearance), and that's coming from someone who lives and trains in the mountains of CO...unlike WG. On those monster climbs you'd expect to see higher than like, 91 bpm from WG, and in the second half of the day especially that just doesn't happen. And on a big day in the Appalachians on May 20, no run from RB logged at all? Maybe it was just private, idk.

I was also looking at Mike Wardian's Transcon from 2022. This being someone with dozens of podium finishes in ultras across many years. He was also wearing a Coros Vertix 2, so makes a somewhat easy apples to apples comparison. MW's heart rate looks completely normal unsurprisingly, with higher averages and higher relative efforts for each day. Also, big blisters. The WG team defense would probably be "Mike is older" hence higher HR averages but given Mike's many impressive ultra performances I don't think that flies.

Wow, pure bloody gelignite. Sorry, but I didn't really know about Mike's Transcon, but it's yet another bombshell. He's running 61 days, and 8:20ks to WGs 7:20s, and yes, the pulse is rock solid. The odd blemish - no problem. But every day you click on absolutely fine. No bewildering rubbish of 80k at 105, day after day after day.

Yep, lots of no logs by RB on Transcon. Why he didn't, or refused, to help WG more is one of the strangest subplots.

I'll probably do a study comparing WG and MWs Transcons, but the latter is one of the finest, most dedicated ultrarunners of all time, who has run 5:28 for 50 miles.

Here's his DUV. And WG has smashed him over Transcon, with no pulse, barely any training, and now has a huge scoop on Rich Roll who has praised him as the Beast of Ultra.

Definitely could make an interesting comparison! One thing to note is that MW recorded each run as a race, so his average HR is reflective of the elapsed time, not moving time. That makes the average quite low sometimes, but more authentic, arguably. And it just looks more human to me generally, no weird lulls, and reflective of Mike's clearly high level of conditioning.

Hence "really, tell me more" followed by the video. The thing I have learned with people on the internet is a sizeable proportion of the readers don't understand that written things can have subtext.

Goodge has a long list of ultra achievements as well.

Yes, will tread carefully. Study complete and it's sensational. Will publish tomoz. It clearly lays out some of the bonkers stuff that went down.

Thanks for doing all this, Will.

As somebody who has done two transcons, Goodge was easy to spot as a frautster. He never looked like somebody on a multiday run. These things are hard and Balenger and Goodge have no idea because they actually have never done anything like that for real.

Hi all,

I have completed my research into the Transcons of Mike Wardian [MW], Jenny Hoffman [JH], Robbie Balenger [RB] and Will Goodge [WG], the results of which go a long way to showing what this debate has been about.

The former athletes are two of the top US ultrarunners of all time, and the latter two are social media influencers, who have no achievement in Ultrarunning in competition but have generated huge publicity, income and kudos from their off-the-books, fundraising multiday runs, and have both won spots on the Rich Roll podcast for their Transcons.

To give a little insight into the differential in skill level between Balenger and Wardian, here are their top five 50 mile times:

RB: 7:59 8:09 8:28 8:28 8:40

MW: 5:33 5:43 5:46 5:50 5:51

For the 50k, RB has a 5:13 and a 6:41, while MW's two best are 2:54 and 2:55.

MW has two MDS's in 18 and 23 hours, WG's is 35.

Here are some compare and contrast highlights with the four athletes' Transcons:

Day 6: Just 65k for RB. WG and MW tie at 82k, but WG requires just 10:24 to MWs 11:06. It is misleading to take MWs daily HR as it's taken off his elapsed time, but he comes in at 115. WG requires just 108bpm for his run time. JH powers to a 98k day, 33 up on RB.

Day 9: RB averages 9:32ks and seems in serious trouble. Both he and WG require a pulse of 110 for the day, although RB runs several Ks in the 180s and a peak of 189, rendering his average of 110 all the more bizarre.

Day 12: A notable day and signs of real chaos. JHs dominance over WG is coming to a close and WG is now leaving MW behind: MW runs 81k at 8:18 pace, WG 89 at 7:19 and JH 101 at 7:11. WG needs a pulse of just 110 with a peak of only 124. MW runs 120bpm with a peak of 158. RB is in despair with a terrible 50k day.

Day 30: There has been much friction and controversy, and I have spent five days out in Oklahoma, but this is where all hell starts to break loose. After an all but total collapse with 26k on day 20, and no run on day 21, Balenger is now running nearly as well as the others. His pace is down to 7:26 which is better that Wardian's 7:34, and WG's 7:40. He is now pushing Hoffman's 7:06 hard.

Day 32: RB continues to fire off 76k days, but requires an HR of just 105, this is despite hitting a high HR of 162. Wardian averages 130bpm with a high of 167, which is much more credible. Goodge runs 88k to Wardian's 82, but only requires a pulse of 111 to do that.

Day 38: Absolute pandemonium. RB is locked on 76.8 k days, Wardian finds a fine 88k off 7:39, but Goodge rattles off a eye-watering 105k at 7:17 pace. He is climbing 945m to MW's 493m and the pulse he needs is just 107bpm. A bemused JH finds a 107k, with less climbing at a pace of 8:02. She's on for a 47 day Transcon but has required 14hrs21 to find those 107k, whereas WG has needed just 12hrs45 for his 105.

Day 39: Another 100k day for WG off just 107bpm. A massive 17kms back is Wardian off 119bpm. RB cards a very rare day of a normal pulse, but it shows he can do it. 150, with a high of 172.

Day 42: It's officially out of control. RBs heart is totally weird. He has a peak of 180 and yet an average of 118 for a fine day's running at 8:00 at 75.8k. MW is outstanding with 85k at 7:09, but WG smashes out 13.2 more at 7:36 but off a pulse of just 100. The highest his heart goes all day is 115. Hoffman does all she can to stem the WG tsunami. She finds 3.9 more k, but at a dear price of 13:39 run time to WG's 12:25. Her pace is 8:01.

Day 45: MW scores 82k at 8:24 pace, while WG sails to 97.5 at 7:37. RB is immaculate at 7:59 for his 76k, but at a pulse of just 107, albeit with a high of 158.

Day 48: RB the metronome runs 75.7 at 7:54 off a pulse of just 102 with a peak of 130bpm. [He was hittiing 180 five days earlier]. MWs peak is 160 by comparison. WG writes: "pretty sure that was an Apalachian mountain." He nails nine climbs with 1,276m of elevation, off a pulse of 108 and a high of just 140. He takes 3.8k out of MW, who has to climb for just 518m.

Day 51: The notorious day of the missing Whoop 4 hours. We only have WGs Whoop for this day, in which he hammers 96.9k on Strava at a pace of 7:58 and 1811m of climbing. However Whoops says he didn't run between 0925-1032hrs and 1355-1639hrs. His Strava says he only took off 1hr14 in the day. He takes 14.9k out of MW, who has to climb for just 495m.

Day 52. Balenger is now running quicker than Wardian with an 8:11 pace for 77.5 K, to MWs 85.9k at 8:20. Meanwhile, up ahead on another planet, WG climbs for 1,787m [to MWs 603], and fires in 112.7k off a pulse of just 111, albeit with a high of 158. There are only two other Ks in the 140s for HR in the day, and his highest HR in a brutal last 50 miles [including one with a 149m climb] is 121.

This gives some more insight into the remarkable paces and low pulses of WG and RB during their Transcons, and some comparison with two of the USAs finest ever Ultrarunners.

you’re preaching to the converted. nobody here believes these 2 are legit.

you need to find a way to reach the masses who have very little understanding (or interest) of running, let alone multi-day running.

otherwise they’re an inspiration and you’re just some bitter old man.

The uninformed fanboys will not change their minds.

But Ballenger and Goodge will be way more careful in the future, which is a win in my book.

🤣🤣🤣

Yes, thanks both. It's now very clearly the two camps, but the media are terrified of anything litigious, and their lawyers will always say the same thing: "not worth it". Outside mag took a stab, but it was completely neutral, and offensive to me in many ways, basically dismissing me as a nerd.

Otherwise a major podcast couldn't even name them, and took down another episode. It's very tough. There are few thousand of us versus 200k of them.

But what I really wanted was for them to stop with the world class adventure runs to make a pot load of money out of, and I don't think they can do another. Goodge can dismiss the proper runners in the community as "maggots" and "losers" but he'll be very surprised what happens if he sets up another stunt run.

For now, he has declared he's "going to race properly in real competition and stop making sh*t up all the time." He'll still gets loads of branding and sponsorship income from this, and although it stings, it's a free market. If companies want to back this guy, that's their bed. The 34 minute video of the Kodiak 100 is out, and only 5-10 mins deal with the race, which was like watching a quasi snuff movie.

Before it, he spoke about possibly winning. That's the sort of people we're dealing with here: Total delusion, arrogance, ignorance and total, "say whatever the hell you like, because the brands will love it, and there'll be no blow back."

I for one will never stop calling out this sort of thing. The fake Jogle record from 2002 is tragic stuff and done by exactly the same type of couple as here. WG and RB call themselves "bros", the Jogle two actually were bros, but hide that from the world [they share a sister].

The word "nobody" on your statement is enough for me. This ain't over, but I fully admit, it's the end of the beginning. It'll be an interesting next 5-10 years, and this thread will perform a crucial commentary and antidote to the poison, and my petition will be up there as well, and continues to nibble away, and has some incredibly powerful comments.

change.org

Sign the Petition

@change

Stop the Fake Ultraruns and False Advertising of William Goodge and Robbie Balenger

Link:www.change.org/p/stop-the-fake-ultraru...

And who knows, maybe one day a big media org will take a look at it. But it took 10 years to get Armstrong and they never got Savile in 50 while he was alive. And like here, the heart of their defence was, "we're for charity, how dare you." As for the charity angle in this case, almost 6 months and no announcement of who got what. Sickening.

We'll know an awful lot more in November 2033.

Farewell my dears, but not goodbye.