Greatest endurance athlete?

crom7
crom7 Posts: 83
edited April 2014 in The cake stop
Who is the greatest male and female endurance athlete:
1. Of our time?
2. Of all time?

I've recently been reading about the British athlete Lizzy Hawker...amazing...but is she as great as Christine wellington? What about male athletes? IMO it's got to be KIlian Jornet who smashed almost every ultrarunning record by the age of 26.

What a your thoughts?

Comments

  • nathancom
    nathancom Posts: 1,567
    Lance Armstrong, for surviving over 500 tests.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    Eddy Merckx. What type of endurance are you after?

    One hour? One day? One week? Three weeks? He's your man for all of them.
  • crispybug2
    crispybug2 Posts: 2,915
    Steve Redgrave


    Next question!
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    I'd go with the above.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    crispybug2 wrote:
    Steve Redgrave


    Next question!

    He does a bit of rowing! Hardly Merckx levels of endurance.

    Voss must be at the top too.
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    crispybug2 wrote:
    Steve Redgrave


    Next question!
    hardly an endurance athlete, sitting on your backside rowing a mile or two (with the help of others!)
    gotta be eddie izzard :)
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • marcusjb
    marcusjb Posts: 2,412
    Tommy Godwin - over 200 miles a day for a whole year (and even then he didn't stop as he had the 100000 mile record in his sights).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Godw ... _born_1912)

    I am sure many on here can't fathom riding 200 miles once - I've done over 200 miles for 4 days in a row, that's more than enough for me! Just beyond comprehension - especially in the winter months.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    edited April 2014
    Joss Naylor or Billy Bland??
  • jordan_217
    jordan_217 Posts: 2,580
    Beryl Burton or Chrissie Wellington for the ladies.

    For the fellas, Arthur Puckrin.

    http://www.clevelandtriathlon.co.uk/arthur.html
    “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,545
    marcusjb wrote:
    Tommy Godwin - over 200 miles a day for a whole year (and even then he didn't stop as he had the 100000 mile record in his sights).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Godw ... _born_1912)

    I am sure many on here can't fathom riding 200 miles once - I've done over 200 miles for 4 days in a row, that's more than enough for me! Just beyond comprehension - especially in the winter months.

    This is the correct answer and despite having been into cycling for 25 years I only heard of him for the first time on The One Show about a year ago. I think there was also some issue that he got sponsored for the year record so was classed as a pro and could no longer race as an amateur. I did 215 miles in a day, can't imagine sitting on the saddle the next day!
  • southdownswolf
    southdownswolf Posts: 1,525
    Another vote for Yiannis Kouros, Tommy Godwin is close, as are a few other cyclists around that time.

    Yiannis Kouros is another level above though for me, Sydney to Melbourne in 5 days and 5 hours isn't bad. Then you consider that he did it on foot, without sleep.
    1000 miles running? Easy, can do that in just over 10 days.

    Godwin was sat on his backside, freewheeling down hills ;-)
  • Daz555
    Daz555 Posts: 3,976
    Long distance runner Kenenisa Bekele.

    005_bekele_kenenisa1_wc091-250x375.jpg

    3 time Olympic champion, 6 time world champion, 11 times world x-country champion, world record holder in 5,000 and 10,000m.

    Legend.

    Surpassed now of course by the great Mo Farah but Kenenisa is the GOAT imo.
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  • southdownswolf
    southdownswolf Posts: 1,525
    Kenenisa might be quick and hold World records, but his events are not really endurance events compared to others mentioned.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Jure Robič? 5-time RAAM winner, holder of the 24-hour distance record.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • crom7
    crom7 Posts: 83
    Wow...just reading about some of these people makes me realise how impossible it would be to say one person is the greatest endurance athlete. Such a shame that so many brilliant athletes receive such little recognition. Also sad to read about the death of Jure Robic.

    Also feel that Dean Karnazes and Scott jurek should feature in this list.
  • gavbarron
    gavbarron Posts: 824
    Dean Karnazes isn't the best ultra runner, just the best one at publicity.

    For me it is Haile Gebrselassie, pipping Bekele as he set world records at just about every distance from two miles up to marathon and did so for over a decade. Even at 40 he is going to be pacing a world record attempt at London this month.


    There won't be one universal agreement though will there. People will dispute endurance and the distance, then there will be disagreement over which sport needs more endurance, and then there will be a race created to encompass all the sports into one race to find the true endurance king (or queen). Hmm maybe we should call this sport Triathlon. With that in mind I'll pick Chrissie Wellington as my female. No one beat her at Ironman distance and a few times she came close to winning events outright and beating the worlds best men too.
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,712
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,448
    Jens Voigt ?
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • junglist_matty
    junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
    "Greatest", sure there's fast & continuously high performing athletes, but this guy in my books is the endurance legend......

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SezKjj3hehQ
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Jens Voigt ?
    Jens who???

    Is he like that Rob Warner fella :P
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • gavbarron
    gavbarron Posts: 824
    arran77 wrote:
    Jens Voigt ?
    Jens who???

    Is he like that Rob Warner fella :P

    He's chuck Norris on wheels
  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    "Greatest", sure there's fast & continuously high performing athletes, but this guy in my books is the endurance legend......

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SezKjj3hehQ

    How many times have we got to ask for a "like" button on this fucking website?!

    That's a truly inspirational piece of film Matty, well done for putting it up here.
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  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Pem Dorjee

    Go on,google it.
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,996
    Pina in the caption competition?
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Ballysmate wrote:
    Pina in the caption competition?
    True, if there was an award for persistence he'd win every time :lol:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • gabriel959
    gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    marcusjb wrote:
    Tommy Godwin - over 200 miles a day for a whole year (and even then he didn't stop as he had the 100000 mile record in his sights).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Godw ... _born_1912)

    I am sure many on here can't fathom riding 200 miles once - I've done over 200 miles for 4 days in a row, that's more than enough for me! Just beyond comprehension - especially in the winter months.

    That would be my choice too.
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  • Frank the tank
    Frank the tank Posts: 6,553
    Can't argue with that with regard the male.

    Ellen Macarthur as top female.
    Tail end Charlie

    The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    gavbarron wrote:
    Dean Karnazes isn't the best ultra runner, just the best one at publicity.

    For me it is Haile Gebrselassie, pipping Bekele as he set world records at just about every distance from two miles up to marathon and did so for over a decade. Even at 40 he is going to be pacing a world record attempt at London this month.


    There won't be one universal agreement though will there. People will dispute endurance and the distance, then there will be disagreement over which sport needs more endurance, and then there will be a race created to encompass all the sports into one race to find the true endurance king (or queen). Hmm maybe we should call this sport Triathlon. With that in mind I'll pick Chrissie Wellington as my female. No one beat her at Ironman distance and a few times she came close to winning events outright and beating the worlds best men too.


    I was looking to see if someone else thought about Haile. Immense athlete.