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I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago my friend Edit Berces emailed me these photos. Thanks to Edit for this and also she gave me some great help when I ran through Bratislava on my world run last summer www.theworldjog.com
As you can see she is the female world 24 hour treadmill record-holder.
Well done Edit who was also a great friend of mine during my competitive career.
More important than any record I have always considered respect from fellow athletes to be infinitely more important.
My 48 hour world treadmill record from the Longford marathon expo still stands.
Most ultra runners ‘ in the know ‘ have little or no respect for Guinness World Records due to their many bizarre ratifications and their seemingly poor judgement within our sport. The ultra running community recognizes The Alternative Book of World Records as the official record book for the sport as they have more cop on. The IAU ( International Association of Ultrarunning ) being the governing body ratifies competitive world records..
The Alternative Book of World Records don’t ratify cheats like Suresh Joachim who as you can see managed to acquire the GWR 24 hour. The Alternative Book of World Records is also the book the WRA World Runners Association recognizes due to their higher standard required for ratification which catches out more self-centered cheats.
I know of Joachim very well for I witnessed video footage of him holding the rails while ‘ breaking ‘ my original 48 hour record from 2003 which was set at the Dublin Marathon expo in Dublin’s RDS..
Amazingly GWR said holding the treadmill rails was not against their rules!!!!!
This holding on to the bars effectively pulling oneself marginally off the treadmill belt dramatically reduces the running effort required!
However any honest runner worth their salt would say holding onto the rails like its a zimmer frame is cheating - rules or no rules. That is except for ‘ Joker Joachim, ‘ also a very high-profile American ‘ stunt runner ‘ and GWR,
So it was with great pleasure I hammered ‘ his record ‘ running with an injury but highly motivated to get ‘ my ‘ record back not for me but for sport from a serial cheat! Immediately before that record attempt began and as soon as it ended this dedication was announced.
So at times like this it is so nice to still be included in the GWR book of world records
Making this possible I have to thank my amazing crew man Alan Young who was help by John and Mark Salmon and other members of my family. Also thanks to the Longford marathon race director Liam Fenelon and his dedicated team team for their wonderful hospitality and logistical help!! This record run left Joachim saying how sorry he was to have ‘ lost his record! ‘
Long live sport, honest athletes, crew, volunteers and race officials. My Kind Of People!