Is 100,000 lifetime miles a big deal?

I'm one of those listed on Amby's site. I don't have any of my medals and none of my trophies. I have all my old logs although for the past 15 years or so I just keep notations on my dsk calendar. I find this a very strange thread. There are a number of individuals who claim they would never claim they ran over 100,000 miles and then go into detail to tell us how they did it. There are others that have obviously never used a calculator. How do you run for 46 years averaging 30 miles a week and "easily get over 100,000"?? I'm proud of it. I don't really care whether you find it admirable or not. I don't brag about it, although I find it useful as an on-line coach, clinician and a Physical Educator. It's a good topic of conversation at those times.

runn wrote:

I started running when I was 12, I'm 58 even at 30 mpw that's 146,000+

I usually ran more than that (45-60) but had injury time.

It's posts like this I come to see. Your math skills add a little humor to my life.

Keeping a running odometer makes you old before your time. The way you judge a car the same way will limit your abilities as an older athlete.

I don't have a clue how far I've gone and could not care less.

start every day at 0 wrote:

Keeping a running odometer makes you old before your time. The way you judge a car the same way will limit your abilities as an older athlete.

I don't have a clue how far I've gone and could not care less.

Thank you. Reading through this thread, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I love running as much as the next fanatic. Precisely for that reason--a desire to lace up, get out there, warm into it, and feel the flow--I just don't feel the need to tally it all up. I do that week by week, these days. When I'm injured, I don't. Those highs and lows are all dutifully logged, or not, in three or four notebooks.

Ray wrote:

I'm one of those listed on Amby's site. I don't have any of my medals and none of my trophies. I have all my old logs although for the past 15 years or so I just keep notations on my dsk calendar. I find this a very strange thread. There are a number of individuals who claim they would never claim they ran over 100,000 miles and then go into detail to tell us how they did it. There are others that have obviously never used a calculator. How do you run for 46 years averaging 30 miles a week and "easily get over 100,000"?? I'm proud of it. I don't really care whether you find it admirable or not. I don't brag about it, although I find it useful as an on-line coach, clinician and a Physical Educator. It's a good topic of conversation at those times.

I am also listed on Amby's site. I only kept my training logs for me, nobody and I mean nobody else cares. I rarely if ever talk about it except to another runner if they find it interesting. I gave away all my trophies and medals to the special olympics as they reuse them in their events.

I still think that 100k miles is very hard to attain, most working people with a family can perhaps maintain 2500 miles per year.....that is if they don't have a long commute. That takes you 40 years to reach the goal which many will not attain because of injury.

Do people keep a sex tally too?

Wilt Chamberlain did. Even though his math indicated he had sex about 10 times a day. Each time with a different woman. He kept track of his sexual exploits like some here do with their mileage.

Ohio is my real home wrote:

It doesn't seem that impressive to me. My HS coach had 100,000 miles before he was 40. My wife is 52 and has 100,000 miles.

I'll bet that nearly every runner over 65 years old has 100,000.

Seriously? Very, very, very, very few people have run that much in a lifetime.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Sounds to me that a lot of the 100,000ers here think they’ve run it but don’t have the records to prove it . That’s a lot of documentation to keep

That's the crux right there. I would wager that at least half the people who think they've hit 100,000 miles HAVE NOT. Even successful runners tend to think they've run a lot more miles added up than they really have.

People - you have to take into account all the rest periods, injury layoffs, and low mileage recovery weeks. I would never believe anyone without documentation.

I spotted the same arithmetical flaw in the 30 mpw claim but thought the moment had passed and now suspect the person was trolling as I suspect a lot of the "its easy" crowd are doing

I might be there in 2 years if I stay healthy. I am at 92.000, and that's counting it conservatively. I started to run competitively at 16, but ran for two years prior to that without counting mileage (my estimate is 45-50 miles/w for the most of the time in that 2 year period; I don't count those miles toward my lifetime total). I'll be 40 in a few months.

I am still running 70 - 90 miles/w, even though I haven't raced in the last 3 years more than 10 times in total. Just not into it anymore. But I love running, have a successful career and family with more than 2 kids. I was always labeled as high mileage runner, fanatic and most dedicated non-Olympic caliber runner around. However, I do think that it is quite uncommon to log that many miles in a lifetime. Most of my peers, even those that were pro runners, have less than 50.000 miles.

It takes stubbornness and a lot of time that could have been dedicated to other things. I don't regret the time I spent running, however, I regret the time spent talking, writing and thinking about running, That's a waste of time and a huge ego trip.

Note to huge garmin etc. believers - even before gps watches became the norm, we could measure distances quite accurately. So the overestimation falls quite often on gps watches, than on those that use them seldomly. I run sometimes with, sometimes without gps. The numbers don't differ much.

That is a lot of miles

Of course most people are exaggerating here. I don't believe for a second anyone that claims 100k miles by 40. Do you have no family and no career? Assuming you started at age 15, you would have us believe you've averaged just about 11 miles every single day for 25 years, no days off. Every day off, every day shorter than 11 leaves you that much further from 100k.

Do not believe it.

Sorry hit the go button to early. I have been running over thirty years, and am no where near 100,000.

50 miles a week for 38+ years to get there. I’ve run plenty of 70+ weeks but not for number of years to average out to 50 over the last 33 since I started. That being said I probably have a pretty big number well over 50,000. Not impossible. But to hit it before forty is pretty crazy.

If you started at age 14 that’s an average of 80+ for 24 years. I’m sure someone has done it, but as much as I love running...I don’t love it that much

I find it difficult to believe the human body can accumulate and withstand that type of mileage. Not easily. I would bet the majority of good to elite collegiate runners rarely run after reaching the age of 30. If you put in high mileage from 18-50, it is highly doubtful that you are maintaining a style that allows you to put in 50mpw now. So kudos to those that have done it. I also think it is a goal that attracts both obsessive and passionate people. More obsessive than passionate. I also believe it attracts a number of those who would have us believe that they are capable of doing that without actually doing it. Reading some of the bios on that site have me somewhat skeptical of the authenticity. There is one woman in there who in her 70's still claims to get in 20 miles per day???

VeryTRU wrote:

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Sounds to me that a lot of the 100,000ers here think they’ve run it but don’t have the records to prove it . That’s a lot of documentation to keep

That's the crux right there. I would wager that at least half the people who think they've hit 100,000 miles HAVE NOT. Even successful runners tend to think they've run a lot more miles added up than they really have.

People - you have to take into account all the rest periods, injury layoffs, and low mileage recovery weeks. I would never believe anyone without documentation.

Someone who thinks he just passed 100,000 miles may still be a bit short. But they'll likely not stop running at that point so maybe they get to 110,000 by their counts they've hit 100,000. And probably none of us who got to that mileage were thinking when we were 25 that we should meticulously record our miles so some anonymous guy on a message board on a medium that didn't yet exist would believe us. And even if we did, you'd wonder if the 10 mile runs weren't just 9.2.

You mention that 100,000 miles is a goal. Maybe by the time someone gets to 80,000-90,000 it becomes one. But I don't think any serious runner in his 20s or 30s is knocking out 120 mile weeks thinking that he wants to run 100,000 miles or more in his lifetime. It just happens for people who learn that they like running a fair amount even after they're best competitive years have passed.

I've had 200 000 strips of bacon wrote:

Do people keep a sex tally too?

maybe goons like you do.

I started running in the 7th grade - so 1974. I have just over 105,000 miles (105,479). My best years were in the early 1980's when I averaged more than 5,000 a year while in college. I also duplicated some of those years in the late 80's and early 90's while in the USAF. Too many 100 mile weeks to count with my best at 140 miles done multiple times. Terrible PRs - 2:36 marathon, 49 min 15k, 30:30 6 mile race and 31:30 10k on the track. But it was fun getting here. I have ran in 5 different countries and in 42 states. I once ran 810 days in a row (stupid thing to do). The last five years I have averaged just over 1500 a year. I have not raced since a half-marathon in MN in 2014 - 1:50 min - it was horrible. Peace.