Running a Marathon with Zero Training

Ya..not sure if I want to give props to the guy or not. Because I know when I did my 1st full marathon, I trained... but not as good as I wanted to. Only got a 15 mile run max under my belt before hand. I certainly hit the wall at mile 19 and the remainig 7.2 miles were brutal. And I had been in the best shape of my life, even better than when I played football. So I can't imagine taking it on w/o an ounce of training at all, athletic or not.

Absolutely NOT! I agree it was irresponsible... stupid publicity stunts -- and unfortunately some other fool will probably try it as well and perhaps with more dire consequences.

Did he follow up with the details regarding medical attention? Has he reported on the after-effects -- I am sure he has to have shin splints at a minimum.

Maybe he just wanted to run a marathon and didn't want to do all the training for it which is almost like a part-time job. Was it smart? No. Did he want to run a marathon anyway? Yes. He probably thought as you suggested, that he is athletic and been a soccer player so why not give it a go. I bet he would not do it again without training. And I hope HE is not seriously injured. Sad if he stunt will effect his soccer playing. He did a dumb thing, don't hate him for it. Anyone who attempts to do something just because someone else did it, without looking at the risks is stupid so, yes, I am sure some stupid person will follow him over the cliff. It is amazing what some people are willing to do just because they heart someone else do it.

Omg. I laughed so hard at this video! Makes me not want to try a marathon (not that i ever really wanted to anyway)

I'm getting ready for my 25th marathon. You want to know a secret? Marathons are tough even when you DO train properly.

Undertrained is bad. Untrained it is just plain ugly.

I can't even imagine. Ouch. My body would just .....die...

I played soccer in high school ran 4:58 miles and all that, but never would have made a marathon even then. Frankly, looks like a typical media stunt. Running to the point where you need medical attention makes as much sense as not eating to lose weight to the point you are taken to a hospital.

I stumbled across this website/thread while looking for an ultra marathon training plan starting from scratch, and it cracked me up. I felt compelled to reply despite it being inactive for a couple of years because it seems I'm the lone voice of dissension in my thinking that this guy was not completely crazy. In fact, for many years (and perhaps still) climbers in Alaska have run the Fairbanks, Alaska Equinox Marathon without any training runs whatsoever. I personally have run it twice straight off the couch, but others make it an annual event and no one is collapsing or needing medical attention. Being in good or great general fitness is the norm for avid alpine climbers where days in the mountains are long (sometimes 24 hours long) and approaches are long (sometimes a more than a dozen miles over incredibly rugged trailless terrain just to find the start of the climbing) and anyone with any time in the mountains learns to listen to their bodies and slack when needed or face dire consequences in the event of a "bonk" on some cold desolate glacier days from paramedics or any sort of rescue that modern "athletes" come to expect when pushing themselves to their limits. Still, no one in this crew is an elite athlete, or has a "training plan". Furthermore, hiring a coach would make you the laughing stock of the community. Instead, this group just gets out and pushes themselves and over time builds the confidence and mental stamina to put in huge efforts and depending on their schedules and climbing ambitions their general fitness varies tremendously from one part of the year to the next. I share this because I feel that runners, above most athletes, seemingly set up mental barriers for themselves and worse yet for others. And after years of hiring coaches, and careful dieting, and wearing the latest miracle product might achieve their goals and then proclaim to be an elite athlete. Meanwhile, no names are crushing off the couch without even realizing something that is supposed to be difficult. Granted, pushing yourself beyond your physical limit is in fact incredibly dangerous, but getting close and backing off just enough to have a proper adventure makes running 26.2 within reach of many more people than our culture believes. Thousands of regular Americans with active lifestyles are fully capable of running marathons without training, not that it doesn't hurt like hell or cause soreness for days, but it's not as irresponsible as you folks are suggesting if you just listen to your body and mentally prepare yourself for the punishment.

I'm reminded of the ancient Chinese proverb that goes something like: "Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it."

Or more recently form The Kid President, "Don't be boring, everyone can be boring."