What's tougher - Marathon or Tour De France?

[wessa]

They just talked about this on cold pizza (by the way, i think there should be a daily thread about something that woody paige and skip bayless argue about). Well, they asked what was tougher to do, run a marathon or ride the tour de france. Of course skip bayless was the idiot and said marathon because of the stress of hitting the pavement and that riding a bike is easy. But in my opinion, tour de france is much harder. You have to do it day after day. And they travel like 90 miles a day. They probably bike faster up hills than i could on a straightaway. Those guys are amazing.

[tambo41187]

Well i would say Tour De France. I dont think an average person who is in shape could just jump on a bike and do what those guys do, while i know alot of people (with some training) who can run a marathon...it just takes them a long time.

[fire on my lips]

No question, the Tour de France is probably the toughest event in the world outside of the dog race in Alaska.

I find Woody Paige and Skip Bayless to be the two of the stupidest sports writers I have come across. Woody occasionally comes across with a good point, and skip bayless is just below Stephen A Smith for stupidest logic ever.

[Jesse2]

a marathon is a pillion times easier than the tour de france.

i've been training for a half-ironman and the running is the easiest of the three. after you start traing to run long distances your max distance increasing exponentially.

you can't compare running 26.2 miles to biking well over 2000 (through the fucking alps for a good part of it)

once again it's just a case of skip bayless being retarded.

[fire on my lips]

a marathon is a pillion times easier than the tour de france.

i've been training for a half-ironman and the running is the easiest of the three. after you start traing to run long distances your max distance increasing exponentially.

you can't compare running 26.2 miles to biking well over 2000 (through the fucking alps for a good part of it)

once again it's just a case of skip bayless being retarded.
half-ironman thats intense. good luck

[Jesse2]

half-ironman thats intense. good luck

i'm not even close haha.

i'm doing the training more to get in shape than to actually compete. i'm too old and slow to ever win one of those. :)

[wessa]

i actually think woody paige is really good and makes a lot of good points, i used to like skip bayless but i just hate how he takes a weird viewpoint and then constantly yells about how he is right (exactly like steven a. haha)

[Emopunkthrice]

Tour De France is much harder, but I could run a half-marathon easy, even though I'm in track shape not cross country shape. A Marathon is too intense to run for me, I'd be dead by the 15th mile.

[fire on my lips]

i'm not even close haha.

i'm doing the training more to get in shape than to actually compete. i'm too old and slow to ever win one of those. :)
lol. Always good to try hard at something. My dad used to do a lot of triathalons, then he did a pentathalon and flipped his kayak. I think he lost his taste for them after that. lol

[dontgrabtindy]

tour de france for sure

[Jesse2]

lol. Always good to try hard at something. My dad used to do a lot of triathalons, then he did a pentathalon and flipped his kayak. I think he lost his taste for them after that. lol

i spend so much time at work and at school on a computer that i just started to feel like an sack of shit. i decided to train for the half-ironman and hopefully do one with a year or so. i'm just worried i'm going to come in dead last haha.

[fire on my lips]

i spend so much time at work and at school on a computer that i just started to feel like an sack of shit. i decided to train for the half-ironman and hopefully do one with a year or so. i'm just worried i'm going to come in dead last haha.
dude even if you finished dead last you'd still be more in shape then like 90% of America. Probably more.
It would take me years and years and years of training to do a half-ironman. I'd probably still drown in the swimming though.

[Jesse2]

dude even if you finished dead last you'd still be more in shape then like 90% of America. Probably more.
It would take me years and years and years of training to do a half-ironman. I'd probably still drown in the swimming though.

yeah but it would still feel lame to come in dead last. especially if i was like waaaaaay behind all these other people.

i think swimming is the hardest of the 3. if i fail in my attempt to complete one it's going to be because i drown.

[fire on my lips]

yeah but it would still feel lame to come in dead last. especially if i was like waaaaaay behind all these other people.

i think swimming is the hardest of the 3. if i fail in my attempt to complete one it's going to be because i drown.
I understand but you could just walk down the street and yell at people "I finish a half-ironman. What the fuck have you done with your life?"
lol

Swimming is definately the hardest. It's so long and unless you are already a swimmer, it takes a long time to get in shape to go that far.

Just to let you know, the Ironman in Lake Placid (i think) fills up in like 30 minutes every year, so they are a bitch to get into. It's like that all over the east coast, from what i've heard.

[Jesse2]

I understand but you could just walk down the street and yell at people "I finish a half-ironman. What the fuck have you done with your life?"
lol

Swimming is definately the hardest. It's so long and unless you are already a swimmer, it takes a long time to get in shape to go that far.

Just to let you know, the Ironman in Lake Placid (i think) fills up in like 30 minutes every year, so they are a bitch to get into. It's like that all over the east coast, from what i've heard.

yeah there was one out in LA that i was looking at getting into.

[fire on my lips]

yeah there was one out in LA that i was looking at getting into.
Quite a ride out from NYC.

[preppyak]

No question, the Tour de France is probably the toughest event in the world outside of the dog race in Alaska.

Yeah, the Iditarod is probably the only thing I can think of that is tougher...if the Eco-Challenge was included in a sports category (I don't really, it's more of an outdoor event than a "sport") I would say that is the toughest, it's several days of multi-event grueling tasks in crazy environments.

I remember the one year their was a plant like a stinging nettle that the sting would last for a lifetime if you got hit by it

[fire on my lips]

Yeah, the Iditarod is probably the only thing I can think of that is tougher...if the Eco-Challenge was included in a sports category (I don't really, it's more of an outdoor event than a "sport") I would say that is the toughest, it's several days of multi-event grueling tasks in crazy environments.

I remember the one year their was a plant like a stinging nettle that the sting would last for a lifetime if you got hit by it
Is Eco-Challenge that thing in England (or the UK), where its like a crazy obstacle course and you have to run through fields of tall grass, crawl through miles of mud, and climb over things?

EDIT: The only things I can think of that are on the same level as the Tour de France are: the Idiatrod, the thing i just talked about, the Ironman Triathalons and Eco-Challenge (I trust your opinion that it is tough). Maybe the Nathan's hot dog eating contest? lol
I know that the Tour de France is the most well known cycling event, but is it considered the toughest?

[preppyak]

Is Eco-Challenge that thing in England (or the UK), where its like a crazy obstacle course and you have to run through fields of tall grass, crawl through miles of mud climb over things?
no, I forget what that is, that thing is crazy.

the eco challenge changes locations each year, and it basically includes every outdoor activity their is (rock climbing, biking, rafting, etc) into a 7-10 day event. They make them go through huge elevation changes and basically push the extremes in every facet...I think aout 1/3 of the teams even finish at best

Here's the Wikipedia breakdown:
"Each team of four, comprised of men and women, raced non-stop, 24-hours a day, over a rugged 300-mile (500km) course, participating in such disciplines as trekking, whitewater canoeing, horseback riding, sea kayaking, scuba diving, mountaineering and mountain biking."

Edit: The Ironman triathalon has to be there too, oh man, that's rough

[fire on my lips]

no, I forget what that is, that thing is crazy.

the eco challenge changes locations each year, and it basically includes every outdoor activity their is (rock climbing, biking, rafting, etc) into a 7-10 day event. They make them go through huge elevation changes and basically push the extremes in every facet...I think aout 1/3 of the teams even finish at best

Edit: The Ironman triathalon has to be there too, oh man, that's rough
Oh shit i do know what that thing is. It's intense. I'd consider that a sport. I thing the Tour de France is the toughest. Another tough thing would be swimming across the English Channel, but if you can do an Ironman you can probably do that.

Something harder than the Tour de France: climbing Everest or K2, without oxygen, without guide ropes, without sherpas carrying your gear.

I recently read an article about how climbing mountians with oxygen is like taking steriods or blood doping. It was very interesting. Made me wish i was more fit and could climb a Everest without oxygen (something I'll never be able to do). All you have to be able to do now to climb everest is be reasonable fit and be rich as hell.

[ActorInThisPlay]

Tour de France is definitely harder

[preppyak]

Oh shit i do know what that thing is. It's intense. I'd consider that a sport. I thing the Tour de France is the toughest. Another tough thing would be swimming across the English Channel, but if you can do an Ironman you can probably do that.

Something harder than the Tour de France: climbing Everest or K2, without oxygen, without guide ropes, without sherpas carrying your gear.

I recently read an article about how climbing mountians with oxygen is like taking steriods or blood doping. It was very interesting. Made me wish i was more fit and could climb a Everest without oxygen (something I'll never be able to do). All you have to be able to do now to climb everest is be reasonable fit and be rich as hell.
Yeah, their is still the risk of avalanches,etc, but the actual physical part is greatly diminshed.

My list would go like this:
Tour de France
Iditarod
Eco Challenge
Ironman Triathalon
Marathon (since it's a part of the Ironman)

[fire on my lips]

Yeah, their is still the risk of avalanches,etc, but the actual physical part is greatly diminshed.

My list would go like this:
Tour de France
Iditarod
Eco Challenge
Ironman Triathalon
Marathon (since it's a part of the Ironman)
I agree with that list, but there's definately some intense things we haven't thought of. I think that a marathon would be much further down if we named more stuff. A person could walk a marathon in a day. There is no rule you have to finish in 5 hours or anything, so imo that diminishes it a bit.

[El_Jeffe]

of those two; tour de france
i'm a track sprinter but i have to keep my general fitness levels high
so i can run a distance of just under a half marathon

[Jesse2]

of those two; tour de france
i'm a track sprinter but i have to keep my general fitness levels high
so i can run a distance of just under a half marathon

i can't imagine it would take you long to be able to run a marathon.