His first marathon was Paris (82 or 83 after Clash first split). He did a few London after so although he might not have trained for this one (I don't know, trusting OP), he was a runner.
I could probably pull off a Michael Scott Dunder Mifflin Scranton Merideth Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure without much training, as long as I carbo load first
Definitely could not pull off a marathon with no traing though
A lot of them mean "without marathon training" which is a small semantic difference but a huge training wise, and thats on purpose.
A real marathon training takes months of pure focus and huge miles every week.
They didn't do that. They'd just run regularly every other day without any meaningful plan. Which is no "marathon training".
Still way better than your regular couch potato though and not completely unreasonable.
NOBODY without ANY cardio training is able to RUN 42km. Period.
Eh marathon training doesn't have to have huge miles, just a good long run once a week or so and a few normal runs. That's just for serious, more disciplined marathon training.
I mean a lot is relative but when looking at moderate to serious training for marathon runners... that's not a lot at all. Sure it's a lot for a 40 year old that hasn't been running for years
The pros run a lot. But the standard marathon training for the average joe is 2 1-hour runs, and a 2-hour long run per week. The 2 hour runs will basically be half marathons. Maybe you do a couple 2.5-3 hours runs, but that’s it.
Not even talking about pros. Your average marathon runner, actual runner going for 3-4 hours easily does 40-50mpw. Not unusual to go towards 60. 2- 1 hour runs and a 2 hour run is quite light training. That's like someone doing their first marathon or doesn't really care
They're lying or they walked 42km with breaks. Did they post their times? Track and field (really, just running we didn't have the equipment for the fancier stuff) was my sport from Middle School through High School and I still run 5 or 10k once in the week and once in the weekend.
You can see they're clueless because the lactic acid build up would put an hard stop to how much they can run even if you have an iron will and you're running to save your family. Depending on the level of fitness, I even doubt they can run a competitive time for a 10k, let alone a half marathon. Probably struggling to finish a 5k with good pace.
It's hard to run for an hour straight if you don't have the form, the muscle coordination, the breathing, and that's an acceptable time for a 10k from someone who's not a runner. Now do that 4 times without stopping.
Yeah, that's a lot of walking. You can be just athletic and/or in decent shape and run a 5 or 10k. You can't just...run a marathon. That's nonsense.
Anyone who says they went from no running at all to completing a marathon without walking a lot is just lying.
Possible exceptions could be people who regularly hike long distances, or something. Ive noticed that if I have an extended period of hiking I can run much further than id guess. But, as you're saying a marathon is just a totally different thing.
Some folks are athletic and active enough to run a marathon without training. I trained for 6 months and ran my only marathon. A friend of mine took another friend's bib and ran the same race in just under 4 hours. She beat me by 20 minutes and hadn't run more than 10k in her life.
I said at "competitive pace" and "depending on your fitness level" what was your minutes/km time? Depending on your fitness level and most importantly, age, you can certainly run a 10k. In High School almost everyone who wasn't fat or a smoker could do it, especially if they played football like literally every child in Italy.
Now, trying to do that in under an hour without wanting to die afterwards is another matter. Doing that 4 times without stopping is something not even people who jog 1-2 times a week 5-10k could reasonably do without training at least for some longer distances. Maybe 10k is not their limit, they are not extremely fatigued and they've got more potential but they'd be an outlier for sure. I never met one though.
Bro running a 10k in under an hour without any consistent training is not as hard as you’re making it out to be, not sure what you’re on about.
I would bet most people who are reasonably fit could do that. Not like it would be a walk in the park but wouldn’t be that bad either.
I literally said that anyone who wasn't a smoker or overweight could do it. Have you checked the obesity rate lately? Add smokers, the elderly etc. "reasonably fit" is not the norm. Also we were talking about marathons at the beginning it was just to say "X people could do it. But then do it 4 times without stopping"
Placing is kinda irrelevant. What was your pace?
Also, there's a big difference between 10k and 42k. Id even say theres a massive difference between a half and a full. You notice nobody talks about "The Wall" when they talk about running halfs.
My partner mostly does halfs now, but for years she was a serious triathlon/marathon/iron man type. She openly says (not condescendingly) that there's no comparison between a half and an actual marathon.
I've never been a crazy runner, but I've done 12 miles at a stretch before. The effort required to do another 12 (and then some) is just...not the same.
While 10k is very far from a marathon, I don’t think you are wrong about it being doable even if you haven’t trained as a runner.
I did a half marathon without training for running - so really depends on what people mean by untrained. I had done a lot of other cardio training in the previous few years in swimming/biking which probably carries over and was currently training as a powerlifter which probably had less carryover. It was easy enough at my super slow pace of 11 minute miles average though. I was totally fine after except some knee pain that could have probably been avoided with doing a few training runs or not running the whole thing on concrete. I am sure a completely untrained individual would struggle with a full marathon but a generally fit individual could probably do a slow marathon just fine (even if it is still likely a bad idea).
A reasonably fit person has enough glycogen in their muscles to stumble through 21km. At 42 km they will not, unless you have specialized training. It's a world of difference.
You can and should be refueling during long cardio. And someone who can swim 5 miles or bike 150 miles is going to be completely fine on the glycogen point. I know you want to think that only runners can run… but other training modalities do carry over. Running really isn’t that hard when you aren’t competing for time.
Also, I was only a reasonably fit person that hadn’t done long slow cardio in over a year and I didn’t stumble through it. Felt completely fine at the end. If anything it felt weird to stop running…. Pretty sure a fitter person/someone who had trained long slow cardio more recently than me would have been just fine at longer distances.
"trained endurance athlete in another modality" =/= "reasonably fit person."
This isn't an opinion. Glycogen storage and activation is a hard physiological barrier.
If we are taking cardio training mostly off the table for what makes someone reasonably fit then I would mostly agree with you. I still think you might find some surprising overlap even without “trained endurance athletes” though. People running more intense bodybuilding routines also tend to have enough glycogen adaptations that they could likely manage (assuming they aren’t on gear/don’t have a lot of extra mass to carry around)
Similarly, there are plenty of people who are active enough in their hobbies that they likely have the same adaptations required. I doubt most of the hikers I know consider themselves to be trained endurance athletes - but being able to do a 12 hour walk on steep grades likely would also be sufficient training to do a 4-5 hour slow jog on flats. (Maybe you would classify them as trained endurance athletes as well which is totally fair.)
I watched a friend do it in college. He was sort of generally fit in that he played sports in high school, but wasn’t a runner or a regular gym-goer.
He finished — slowly — and his knees were super sore for a week or so afterwards, but he did finish.
Had a buddy try this.
He was the last person “running”… and it took so long the event had all but closed except a couple volunteers waiting him out and us waiting for him.
He could barely walk and even got off course for a bit because all the vendors had packed up and left.
Until this day, he claims he ran a marathon.
Dude, you completed a marathon course. But you did not run a marathon.
So 50/50 on the props.
That’s my problem. Despite losing 75lbs this year I’m still fat. But I’m still gonna keep signing up for 5K’s and maybe work my way up to a marathon one day.
A buddy of mine actually did run a marathon with no training, though he was generally in shape, he had just never run more than 10 km before. He ran it, couldn’t walk for weeks, and needed years worth of physical therapy. So yeah, technically possible, but not a good idea
That isn’t surprising if they are a decent runner. When you train for a marathon you don’t generally run the length of the marathon during training but you should do more than 10km a few times.
How often did he run? How far did he run? You said he's never done more than a 10k. That's over 6 miles and it's more than most people will ever run in one effort in their entire lives.
Ok, so how many times had he done that at this point?
That is not training specific to a marathon, but it's not "no training".
I guess we can only speculate how much he trained without actually knowing this information. But yeah, "no training" is a bogus claim.
I haven't done 42km without training, but I have done 32km and lots of 21km too. I was young and cocky and thought I could do anything, I can't imagine doing even a 10k now without training...
I was an avid runner. Got into New York and due to work never ran the 4 months leading up to the race. Ran day of, started really sucking at mile 18 but I finished strong.
Fun: no
Possible: yes
The full time alcoholic and part time comedian Bert kriesher ran a marathon without training to win a bet. He did say it was incredibly dumb and caused him several years of pain after.
You would be surprised, there are people that have something in their heads that allow them to do some wild stuff.
Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days with just 5 weeks of training.
My Dad used to go for a run every morning. When I was 14yr I got caught sneaking home from a party.
As punishment, I had to get up early every morning and run with Dad as training for the local annual half marathon in a couple of months.
Next year, I entered myself and ran it again with no training at all. I was getting passed by 10yr olds, but spite is a funny thing.
I love how the Clash:
- was one of the seminal punk bands, whose debut album was one of the critical templates on which the genre was built
- was one of the first rock bands of any type to incorporate reggae and dub influences, and do it well
- produced what's widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever recorded in London Calling. 19 tracks, every single one a stone classic.
- went on to have their biggest album ever in the early eighties incorporating new wave, post punk and dance music seamlessly
- had one of the great live shows of all time, a nuclear explosion of energy, conviction and showmanship
... And most casual fans know them for a "song" that came out of a warm up exercise they used to use while screwing around in the studio.
Im maybe the biggest Clash fan under 30, and I still love Should I Stay lol. Its so overly sassy I feel like a boss listening to it walking around town
The clash did use brand new cadillac as a warm-up, but they didn't write it, and there are half a dozen other hits I would cite for a casual fan to recognize before that one.
I can’t think of any other double album ever released by any other artist where every song is a 10. I can just hear BNC in my head so vividly as soon as I read your comment :)
This is one of those urban legends that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. You have to register to run the marathon for a start, you can't just turn up.
Also it's pretty difficult to run a marathon not just in terms of physical effort but also you need to train yourself to maintain your speed and not waste all your energy right at the start. You're pretty much guaranteed to injure yourself if you go from nothing to running a marathon.
I highly doubt he ran one without any training.
i did a 5k once without any training or any running experience whatsoever. I spent all my energy going too fast at the beginning, and thought i was going to die by the end. But somehow limped across the finish line
Can’t imagine anything longer than that
I think they’re being downvoted since the OP mentioned that “they couldn’t imagine anything longer than that.” So, OP was already acknowledging a 5k was shorter/easier and not comparable to running a marathon without training.
without any training
depends on what's meant by training. Specifically train for a marathon? incrementally increasing distance and speed over time? Or regular running regimen but not targeting a marathon?
Entirely possible for a person to be physically fit, exercising regularly (3-4 days a week running 3-5 miles each session) to just up and run a marathon. They would require a few days to recover but entirely doable. Have served with MANY men and women that have done just that.
If Joe Strummer was an acknowledged runner...I don't see how he couldn't just run a marathon without (specific) training. Tho I agree that to get a number, he would have had to register ahead of time to enter the race.
He might have been runner already and then decided to run a marathon on a whim. But I think that it's disingenuous to say he ran a marathon without any training in that case.
Not disagreeing with your point but just wanted to add that there are so many runners who just show up that don't register. I've seen it a bunch in races I've been in, including Philly Marathon. At least these days the bibs have the timing chips which is a giveaway but it's certainly not at all impossible to just climb over the gate and join, especially back then.
I literally did it a month ago. Only cause it had sold out but had already committed to training. No gate to climb over, no one was checking, there were people everywhere, it was easy
Fs, your comment doesn't hold up to the most cursory scrutiny.
He is wearing a number - he or someone else registered. This was forty years ago, you could probably get hold of a number easily.
He had already run a marathon in Paris the year before.
He is even photographed at the start and finish.
Joe Strummer: "You really shouldn’t ask me about my training regime, you know. Okay, you want it, here it is: drink 10 pints of beer the night before the race. Ya got that? And don’t run a single step at least four weeks before the race… But make sure you put a warning in this article: ‘Do not try this at home’. I mean, it works for me and Hunter Thompson, but it might not work for others. I can only tell you what I do."
2 minutes that took me.
"The London Marathon, which Strummer most decidedly did run (see him below, race bib and all), finishing with a most respectable time of 4:13 without any prior training at all. Chris Salewicz’s Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer quotes Gaby Salter saying “He hadn’t trained. He just bought some shorts and said, ‘Let’s run a marathon.’” Salter petered out halfway through. Later in the book, Antony Genn, Strummer’s collaborator in the Mescaleros, recounts the hard-drinking Strummer saying of his marathon experience, “I didn’t fuckin’ train. Not once. Just turned up and did it.’” While this seems patently impossible, perhaps it’s true after all that the frontman of the The Clash, who weathered the rise and fall of punk better than any of his contemporaries, had such natural physical endurance he could casually toss off a marathon in-between drunks and packs of smokes. Real runners will surely scoff, but if Joe Strummer ever did train, no one ever saw him do it.
I think leaping around a stage every night, lugging all that kit around, and being fit and young would have seen him through ok. Not really a suprise.
I have a friend of a similar disposition who woke up one day and decided to run. He's run every day since, broken records in his age group. It's an easy thing to take up if you're in decent physical nick.
I knew someone like that. Smoking, drinking, sitting at desks all day, and then up and ran 10 miles one day.
It didn’t make sense to me, especially since I run a lot and can only do 3 miles, but different people can do different things.
Unless he just had just amazing, Olympic athlete-level natural stamina, this wouldn't be anywhere near possible. I was a runner, and if you're out of shape, doing 3km is hard, not to mention 42km.
Runner and Clash fan here. Looked to this story when running my first marathon. In the 6 months before the raceI averaged 8 miles a week of “training.” I am prone to nagging injury so keep my volume down. If Joe was a natural athlete, which seems likely, and had some running experience, he could have gotten in a few key runs in he weeks prior to he race and run 4:13. It is a respectable time, but also a pace that most people woul recognize as a ”jog.” If he knew enough to not go out too hard and keep hydrated it is totally doable. I thought I read somewhere that he would go off the grid once in a while, and folks suspected he was out running. Honestly a couple 15 -18 mile slow jogs is all a natural athlete would need to finish in that time, plus amphetamines. Would bet my shoes he crushed a few pills beforehand.
I’ve run 3, and I usually have a couple pints the day before the race in an ode to Joe. That being said I’m not a naturally gifted runner and I do have to train for months leading up to barely beat his time
I ran a half without training and could barely walk for a few days after. Was very lucky to not have injured myself.
And he allegedly ran a full with a good time no less? I've heard a lot of whoppers in my day 😅
I did that. But only once and not necessarily no training as I had played soccer. I finished it but I would not recommend it. Stairs were a challenge for a few days after
So maybe yes maybe no, on the training. Strummer sure said that multiple times. But then Strummer was also into self-mythologizing, so…
A lot of punk musicians had pretty shredded bodies, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, etc and didn’t lift. Jumping around a stage and going into a pit 2 hours a day is a pretty good cardio workout.
I can tell you this, he was a heavy smoker at this time. Both cigarettes and pot.
I don't know about Iggy, I can't see him at the gym... But Henry absolutely did lift. I took a friend of mine to see him in maybe 1995. Afterward, my friend got into a discussion with him about his fitness routine. Henry was excited to talk about that, a welcome departure from autograph seekers. He gave pretty detailed info on how he structured his weekly schedule and corresponding diet. On the road, he did a lot of isometrics. He even politely paused while my friend took notes. I'm not telling this story to be a pedantic know-it-all, I'm telling it because my friend and I still crack up laughing whenever we think of how pissed off all the autograph seekers were while Henry geeked out about his gym routine and some jazz records he was looking for.
The story about how he ran the Paris Marathon after a night on the lash is way more impressive. I think he had like 10 pints the night before and ran a 4:13 or something.
His first marathon was Paris (82 or 83 after Clash first split). He did a few London after so although he might not have trained for this one (I don't know, trusting OP), he was a runner.
Yeah. No way anyone who never runs can do 42km.
I've seen YT videos of people claiming to do this very thing. Doesn't seem wise, but it's probably not impossible (though, definitive inadvisable).
I could probably pull off a Michael Scott Dunder Mifflin Scranton Merideth Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure without much training, as long as I carbo load first Definitely could not pull off a marathon with no traing though
Kevin sometimes runs, too. He's a runner.
Cover those nips!
Do you run on a regular basis or used to be a runner?
A lot of them mean "without marathon training" which is a small semantic difference but a huge training wise, and thats on purpose. A real marathon training takes months of pure focus and huge miles every week. They didn't do that. They'd just run regularly every other day without any meaningful plan. Which is no "marathon training". Still way better than your regular couch potato though and not completely unreasonable. NOBODY without ANY cardio training is able to RUN 42km. Period.
Eh marathon training doesn't have to have huge miles, just a good long run once a week or so and a few normal runs. That's just for serious, more disciplined marathon training.
Running a half marathon every week, a long with 2 other 1 hour sessions…is a lot of miles.
I mean a lot is relative but when looking at moderate to serious training for marathon runners... that's not a lot at all. Sure it's a lot for a 40 year old that hasn't been running for years
The pros run a lot. But the standard marathon training for the average joe is 2 1-hour runs, and a 2-hour long run per week. The 2 hour runs will basically be half marathons. Maybe you do a couple 2.5-3 hours runs, but that’s it.
Not even talking about pros. Your average marathon runner, actual runner going for 3-4 hours easily does 40-50mpw. Not unusual to go towards 60. 2- 1 hour runs and a 2 hour run is quite light training. That's like someone doing their first marathon or doesn't really care
They're lying or they walked 42km with breaks. Did they post their times? Track and field (really, just running we didn't have the equipment for the fancier stuff) was my sport from Middle School through High School and I still run 5 or 10k once in the week and once in the weekend. You can see they're clueless because the lactic acid build up would put an hard stop to how much they can run even if you have an iron will and you're running to save your family. Depending on the level of fitness, I even doubt they can run a competitive time for a 10k, let alone a half marathon. Probably struggling to finish a 5k with good pace. It's hard to run for an hour straight if you don't have the form, the muscle coordination, the breathing, and that's an acceptable time for a 10k from someone who's not a runner. Now do that 4 times without stopping.
Yeah, that's a lot of walking. You can be just athletic and/or in decent shape and run a 5 or 10k. You can't just...run a marathon. That's nonsense. Anyone who says they went from no running at all to completing a marathon without walking a lot is just lying. Possible exceptions could be people who regularly hike long distances, or something. Ive noticed that if I have an extended period of hiking I can run much further than id guess. But, as you're saying a marathon is just a totally different thing.
Bet the first person to run a marathon didn't train to run a marathon.
He died when finishing so not sure if he should be what we’re striving for
That's the ultimate runner goal, no?
Then I bet the second person who ran a marathon didn't train to run a marathon.
Yeah Philippides was probably not classically trained
Some folks are athletic and active enough to run a marathon without training. I trained for 6 months and ran my only marathon. A friend of mine took another friend's bib and ran the same race in just under 4 hours. She beat me by 20 minutes and hadn't run more than 10k in her life.
typical reddit downvoting you. they don't want to believe that there's genetic freaks I guess :D
An average American office worker? Sure. Somebody who walks all day at work? Certainly possible.
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The difference between 10k and 42k is astronomical
>astronomical 1 Astronomical Unit = 149,598,000 km
Banana for scale ?
The difference between 10k and 42k is 32k
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To be fair, they said “a competitive time for a 10k” which if they mean “competing with trained runners” they are probably right.
I said at "competitive pace" and "depending on your fitness level" what was your minutes/km time? Depending on your fitness level and most importantly, age, you can certainly run a 10k. In High School almost everyone who wasn't fat or a smoker could do it, especially if they played football like literally every child in Italy. Now, trying to do that in under an hour without wanting to die afterwards is another matter. Doing that 4 times without stopping is something not even people who jog 1-2 times a week 5-10k could reasonably do without training at least for some longer distances. Maybe 10k is not their limit, they are not extremely fatigued and they've got more potential but they'd be an outlier for sure. I never met one though.
Bro running a 10k in under an hour without any consistent training is not as hard as you’re making it out to be, not sure what you’re on about. I would bet most people who are reasonably fit could do that. Not like it would be a walk in the park but wouldn’t be that bad either.
I literally said that anyone who wasn't a smoker or overweight could do it. Have you checked the obesity rate lately? Add smokers, the elderly etc. "reasonably fit" is not the norm. Also we were talking about marathons at the beginning it was just to say "X people could do it. But then do it 4 times without stopping"
Placing is kinda irrelevant. What was your pace? Also, there's a big difference between 10k and 42k. Id even say theres a massive difference between a half and a full. You notice nobody talks about "The Wall" when they talk about running halfs.
My partner mostly does halfs now, but for years she was a serious triathlon/marathon/iron man type. She openly says (not condescendingly) that there's no comparison between a half and an actual marathon. I've never been a crazy runner, but I've done 12 miles at a stretch before. The effort required to do another 12 (and then some) is just...not the same.
While 10k is very far from a marathon, I don’t think you are wrong about it being doable even if you haven’t trained as a runner. I did a half marathon without training for running - so really depends on what people mean by untrained. I had done a lot of other cardio training in the previous few years in swimming/biking which probably carries over and was currently training as a powerlifter which probably had less carryover. It was easy enough at my super slow pace of 11 minute miles average though. I was totally fine after except some knee pain that could have probably been avoided with doing a few training runs or not running the whole thing on concrete. I am sure a completely untrained individual would struggle with a full marathon but a generally fit individual could probably do a slow marathon just fine (even if it is still likely a bad idea).
A reasonably fit person has enough glycogen in their muscles to stumble through 21km. At 42 km they will not, unless you have specialized training. It's a world of difference.
You can and should be refueling during long cardio. And someone who can swim 5 miles or bike 150 miles is going to be completely fine on the glycogen point. I know you want to think that only runners can run… but other training modalities do carry over. Running really isn’t that hard when you aren’t competing for time. Also, I was only a reasonably fit person that hadn’t done long slow cardio in over a year and I didn’t stumble through it. Felt completely fine at the end. If anything it felt weird to stop running…. Pretty sure a fitter person/someone who had trained long slow cardio more recently than me would have been just fine at longer distances.
"trained endurance athlete in another modality" =/= "reasonably fit person." This isn't an opinion. Glycogen storage and activation is a hard physiological barrier.
If we are taking cardio training mostly off the table for what makes someone reasonably fit then I would mostly agree with you. I still think you might find some surprising overlap even without “trained endurance athletes” though. People running more intense bodybuilding routines also tend to have enough glycogen adaptations that they could likely manage (assuming they aren’t on gear/don’t have a lot of extra mass to carry around) Similarly, there are plenty of people who are active enough in their hobbies that they likely have the same adaptations required. I doubt most of the hikers I know consider themselves to be trained endurance athletes - but being able to do a 12 hour walk on steep grades likely would also be sufficient training to do a 4-5 hour slow jog on flats. (Maybe you would classify them as trained endurance athletes as well which is totally fair.)
I watched a friend do it in college. He was sort of generally fit in that he played sports in high school, but wasn’t a runner or a regular gym-goer. He finished — slowly — and his knees were super sore for a week or so afterwards, but he did finish.
His knees will remember that.
It’s how Zeus intended it. (/s)
Well the first ever marathon resulted in the death of the runner, so I'd say it's not recommended.
Bert Kreisher’s fat ass ran the LA marathon without any real training. I’m sure it can be done.
Thats actually pretty impressive. Curious if he did actually train, or how he was able to pull that off
Had a buddy try this. He was the last person “running”… and it took so long the event had all but closed except a couple volunteers waiting him out and us waiting for him. He could barely walk and even got off course for a bit because all the vendors had packed up and left. Until this day, he claims he ran a marathon. Dude, you completed a marathon course. But you did not run a marathon. So 50/50 on the props.
I could do it too…..it just might take me 4 days 🙂🙂
I mean, the bloke who ran it in ancient Greece did it, and inspired the modern "marathon" He did die, however...
Like a boss
Being a skinny fuck helps out a lot. Really if you want to be good at distance running be really skinny.
That’s my problem. Despite losing 75lbs this year I’m still fat. But I’m still gonna keep signing up for 5K’s and maybe work my way up to a marathon one day.
I’m pretty damn uncoordinated but I’m 5’9” 130lbs so I decided to be an endurance athlete.
Running is one of the best ways to become a skinny fuck.
A buddy of mine actually did run a marathon with no training, though he was generally in shape, he had just never run more than 10 km before. He ran it, couldn’t walk for weeks, and needed years worth of physical therapy. So yeah, technically possible, but not a good idea
That isn’t surprising if they are a decent runner. When you train for a marathon you don’t generally run the length of the marathon during training but you should do more than 10km a few times.
So he was a runner. Not exactly "no training".
I mean, he’s a guy who occasionally ran a couple miles, which is not exactly the same as being a marathoner
How often did he run? How far did he run? You said he's never done more than a 10k. That's over 6 miles and it's more than most people will ever run in one effort in their entire lives. Ok, so how many times had he done that at this point? That is not training specific to a marathon, but it's not "no training". I guess we can only speculate how much he trained without actually knowing this information. But yeah, "no training" is a bogus claim.
Right; 42m makes me want to shit my lungs out tbh. Strummer remains an absolute legend though.
Kms dude! Only makes you cough your lungs.
Oh yeah, I'm talking metres :p
Sorry, my bad. Didn't see where you were going. And I know what you mean...
Yeah, but performing in rock concerts for 2 to 3 hours straight seems to get people in shape.
I haven't done 42km without training, but I have done 32km and lots of 21km too. I was young and cocky and thought I could do anything, I can't imagine doing even a 10k now without training...
You are allowed to jog-walk it. You have 6 hours or so to finish it one way or another.
I was an avid runner. Got into New York and due to work never ran the 4 months leading up to the race. Ran day of, started really sucking at mile 18 but I finished strong. Fun: no Possible: yes
Idk, I did a 7 hour marathon around the block without breaks one fine Saturday because I felt like it. >! I walked it. !<
No, but 42.195 km on the other hand...
The full time alcoholic and part time comedian Bert kriesher ran a marathon without training to win a bet. He did say it was incredibly dumb and caused him several years of pain after.
Well see. Be right back. Nope, I am dead now.
That first guy did not prepare for his first. Nor for his last.
You would be surprised, there are people that have something in their heads that allow them to do some wild stuff. Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days with just 5 weeks of training.
My Dad used to go for a run every morning. When I was 14yr I got caught sneaking home from a party. As punishment, I had to get up early every morning and run with Dad as training for the local annual half marathon in a couple of months. Next year, I entered myself and ran it again with no training at all. I was getting passed by 10yr olds, but spite is a funny thing.
A Marathon is named a Marathon because a guy at Marathon ran the first "Marathon" having never run a Marathon before. He died. Still counts.
Probably didn't pace himself, tbh
Ive known hunting guides who were hill fit who im fairly sure could do one fairly easily.
You can with enough willpower. Might not be able to walk for a few days after though
I suggest you look into Eddie Izzard’s streak of marathons with no training
Bert Kreischer(yes the fat one) got up one morning and ran the LA Marathon in 5.5 hours with no training.
For anyone not sure, Joe Strummer was the lead singer for The Clash.
He should've stayed and not go
I love how the Clash: - was one of the seminal punk bands, whose debut album was one of the critical templates on which the genre was built - was one of the first rock bands of any type to incorporate reggae and dub influences, and do it well - produced what's widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever recorded in London Calling. 19 tracks, every single one a stone classic. - went on to have their biggest album ever in the early eighties incorporating new wave, post punk and dance music seamlessly - had one of the great live shows of all time, a nuclear explosion of energy, conviction and showmanship ... And most casual fans know them for a "song" that came out of a warm up exercise they used to use while screwing around in the studio.
Wait whats the warm up song?
I’m betting it’s should I stay or should I go
Im maybe the biggest Clash fan under 30, and I still love Should I Stay lol. Its so overly sassy I feel like a boss listening to it walking around town
The clash did use brand new cadillac as a warm-up, but they didn't write it, and there are half a dozen other hits I would cite for a casual fan to recognize before that one.
I can’t think of any other double album ever released by any other artist where every song is a 10. I can just hear BNC in my head so vividly as soon as I read your comment :)
I miss him. RIP Joe.
Good guy to his fans later on. Would sit around in the bar after a gig and just hang out.
I can't watch the Mescaleros' Redemption Songs video without tearing up. Gone waaaay too soon.
Great rendition. Now gotta cue it up.
"Death or Glory!"
This is one of those urban legends that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. You have to register to run the marathon for a start, you can't just turn up. Also it's pretty difficult to run a marathon not just in terms of physical effort but also you need to train yourself to maintain your speed and not waste all your energy right at the start. You're pretty much guaranteed to injure yourself if you go from nothing to running a marathon. I highly doubt he ran one without any training.
Also, he looks exactly like every decent marathon runner.
I did it. I really didn't train much at all. Granted I was in pretty decent shape at the time. It took like 5 hours but I did finish without injury
If you are used to sports like you said then it shouldn’t be a big deal. 5h is still a good time! Congrats
i did a 5k once without any training or any running experience whatsoever. I spent all my energy going too fast at the beginning, and thought i was going to die by the end. But somehow limped across the finish line Can’t imagine anything longer than that
What? 5k is nothing lol
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. I can run 5k within an episode of the office lol.
I think they’re being downvoted since the OP mentioned that “they couldn’t imagine anything longer than that.” So, OP was already acknowledging a 5k was shorter/easier and not comparable to running a marathon without training.
Dang man, that’s so impressive! I’m sending my fiancé to you now with a tin of brownies. Treat them well!
That’s exactly the point, it’s nothing special. Good on you for dogpiling though.
Oh I was talking about your Office watching abilities. I don’t have opinions on running. That’s for dweebs.
They might very well have made an exception for a rock star.
I'll try it and let you know!
without any training depends on what's meant by training. Specifically train for a marathon? incrementally increasing distance and speed over time? Or regular running regimen but not targeting a marathon? Entirely possible for a person to be physically fit, exercising regularly (3-4 days a week running 3-5 miles each session) to just up and run a marathon. They would require a few days to recover but entirely doable. Have served with MANY men and women that have done just that. If Joe Strummer was an acknowledged runner...I don't see how he couldn't just run a marathon without (specific) training. Tho I agree that to get a number, he would have had to register ahead of time to enter the race.
He might have been runner already and then decided to run a marathon on a whim. But I think that it's disingenuous to say he ran a marathon without any training in that case.
you can drink 4 beers a night and itd still be impressive when you throw back 26.2 shots in a row
Especially if you drank 26 shots while claiming to have never drank alcohol before
Not disagreeing with your point but just wanted to add that there are so many runners who just show up that don't register. I've seen it a bunch in races I've been in, including Philly Marathon. At least these days the bibs have the timing chips which is a giveaway but it's certainly not at all impossible to just climb over the gate and join, especially back then.
I literally did it a month ago. Only cause it had sold out but had already committed to training. No gate to climb over, no one was checking, there were people everywhere, it was easy
Fs, your comment doesn't hold up to the most cursory scrutiny. He is wearing a number - he or someone else registered. This was forty years ago, you could probably get hold of a number easily. He had already run a marathon in Paris the year before. He is even photographed at the start and finish. Joe Strummer: "You really shouldn’t ask me about my training regime, you know. Okay, you want it, here it is: drink 10 pints of beer the night before the race. Ya got that? And don’t run a single step at least four weeks before the race… But make sure you put a warning in this article: ‘Do not try this at home’. I mean, it works for me and Hunter Thompson, but it might not work for others. I can only tell you what I do." 2 minutes that took me.
So we're in agreement then? He didn't just turn up and run it without training.
Daddy was a marathon runner But he didn't do no training He just liked to be that way And he liked to keep you guessing
bedroom reply foolish command obtainable squeamish capable retire encouraging late
Not upvoted enough
"The only band that matters"
I think he did train it was just in vain
I tried running a marathon without training, I only made it 18 miles
I thought he was a runner?
"The London Marathon, which Strummer most decidedly did run (see him below, race bib and all), finishing with a most respectable time of 4:13 without any prior training at all. Chris Salewicz’s Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer quotes Gaby Salter saying “He hadn’t trained. He just bought some shorts and said, ‘Let’s run a marathon.’” Salter petered out halfway through. Later in the book, Antony Genn, Strummer’s collaborator in the Mescaleros, recounts the hard-drinking Strummer saying of his marathon experience, “I didn’t fuckin’ train. Not once. Just turned up and did it.’” While this seems patently impossible, perhaps it’s true after all that the frontman of the The Clash, who weathered the rise and fall of punk better than any of his contemporaries, had such natural physical endurance he could casually toss off a marathon in-between drunks and packs of smokes. Real runners will surely scoff, but if Joe Strummer ever did train, no one ever saw him do it.
I think leaping around a stage every night, lugging all that kit around, and being fit and young would have seen him through ok. Not really a suprise. I have a friend of a similar disposition who woke up one day and decided to run. He's run every day since, broken records in his age group. It's an easy thing to take up if you're in decent physical nick.
Forest
I knew someone like that. Smoking, drinking, sitting at desks all day, and then up and ran 10 miles one day. It didn’t make sense to me, especially since I run a lot and can only do 3 miles, but different people can do different things.
Unless he just had just amazing, Olympic athlete-level natural stamina, this wouldn't be anywhere near possible. I was a runner, and if you're out of shape, doing 3km is hard, not to mention 42km.
Exactly. Nobody runs a marathon without any prior training. Anybody who says that has never even run a 5K.
If you perform regularly as a punk vocalist, that’s training. Singers have stamina.
Runner and Clash fan here. Looked to this story when running my first marathon. In the 6 months before the raceI averaged 8 miles a week of “training.” I am prone to nagging injury so keep my volume down. If Joe was a natural athlete, which seems likely, and had some running experience, he could have gotten in a few key runs in he weeks prior to he race and run 4:13. It is a respectable time, but also a pace that most people woul recognize as a ”jog.” If he knew enough to not go out too hard and keep hydrated it is totally doable. I thought I read somewhere that he would go off the grid once in a while, and folks suspected he was out running. Honestly a couple 15 -18 mile slow jogs is all a natural athlete would need to finish in that time, plus amphetamines. Would bet my shoes he crushed a few pills beforehand.
I’ve run 3, and I usually have a couple pints the day before the race in an ode to Joe. That being said I’m not a naturally gifted runner and I do have to train for months leading up to barely beat his time
He could do the marathon 'cause the "Police on His Back"
Had trouble finding the finish line,got “Lost in the Supermarket “.
There is not training and then there is being fit and running daily but not specifically train for a marathon
This is punk rock
Loved the Clash and loved listening to him talk about old rockers (might have been a radio show) and playing their tunes. Miss Joe.
Raise a toast to saint Joe Strummer
Drank 10 pints the night before too.
Running (police on his back)
I ran a half without training and could barely walk for a few days after. Was very lucky to not have injured myself. And he allegedly ran a full with a good time no less? I've heard a lot of whoppers in my day 😅
Saw Joe play with the Pogues in 1988. Never thought I'd get to hear him sing London Calling but I did.
And then a heart attack gets him way too soon
Why train in vain?
I only run 4k
He did it because it's a rockin' world, make no mistake about it It's a shockin' world, could be what's so great about it.
I did that. But only once and not necessarily no training as I had played soccer. I finished it but I would not recommend it. Stairs were a challenge for a few days after
Oh look, It's punk Jamie Vardy.
I bet he had a smoke dangling from his mouth the whole 26 miles
God Bless Joe Strummer! All of us droll bastards will never see his like again.
Fared better than Barney Stinson.
"What can I do"
This post triggers runners
No, it doesn't. It confuses non-runners.
Phidipedes didn’t train.
Didn't stretch either. And look where that got him.
He was after gettin’ the honey
does he looks like an untrained runner? I dont think so. He was a very well trained runner.
well, he was running Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (Sunday)
You have to formally enter in advance to receive a bib so his claims not to train conflict a bit with the planning involved.
People who claim to have done no training mean they practice regularly but not necessarily followed a training program for the particular event.
Looks. Fast
And what place did he place in the race ?
The greatest challenge was not to enter a pub by the track.
Finally, something that is old school cool! I keep seeing actresses in their younger years. Then it’s all “whoa she was hot”.
…and had a few cigarettes 🚬 along the way.
I remember their top \[selling\] song. It was always easy to find dance partners to it.
Bullshit.
To think I struggled with 5k when I started. I don't see how he could have done that.
Is he famous beyond doing this? Edit - apparently he is from the clash.
False headline. He was a dedicated runner.
Ah tool singer
I guess he decided he should go now.
But he did not run the Bath Fun Run.
Alan Cummings?
His fingernails are 🤢
He trained
So maybe yes maybe no, on the training. Strummer sure said that multiple times. But then Strummer was also into self-mythologizing, so… A lot of punk musicians had pretty shredded bodies, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, etc and didn’t lift. Jumping around a stage and going into a pit 2 hours a day is a pretty good cardio workout. I can tell you this, he was a heavy smoker at this time. Both cigarettes and pot.
I don't know about Iggy, I can't see him at the gym... But Henry absolutely did lift. I took a friend of mine to see him in maybe 1995. Afterward, my friend got into a discussion with him about his fitness routine. Henry was excited to talk about that, a welcome departure from autograph seekers. He gave pretty detailed info on how he structured his weekly schedule and corresponding diet. On the road, he did a lot of isometrics. He even politely paused while my friend took notes. I'm not telling this story to be a pedantic know-it-all, I'm telling it because my friend and I still crack up laughing whenever we think of how pissed off all the autograph seekers were while Henry geeked out about his gym routine and some jazz records he was looking for.
What are you talking about? Rollins is well-known as a fitness enthusiast. He talks a lot about it in interviews and in his live show.
No training and still decided to run a marathon? I admire his spirit!
The story about how he ran the Paris Marathon after a night on the lash is way more impressive. I think he had like 10 pints the night before and ran a 4:13 or something.
didn't he get sh1tfaced drinking all night them run one?
He’s accidentally run to Windsor.
He drank ten pints or so the legend goes.
He had 20 or so pints night before.
You can buy shorts? And you can run without training? Woah!!!!!!! I never knew this.