As an old "Cowboy" once said after finishing an LD a lot slower than he
talked about doing 25 miles on a regular basis - "I'd never done a
measured 25 miles before." That's the trouble with "war stories." I'm
not saying you are wrong, right or indifferent. Much depends on how
accurate trail distances are recorded and I suspect it's not very
good. For example there have been instances horses that do 8 1/2 hour
100's in AERC rides only manage 12 1/2 hours in FEI rides - AERC
doesn't have stewards (not that I think they need them so stay off that
case) while FEI does.
Human marathons to be sanctions require accurate measurement of the
route - the AERC doesn't. (BTW in the 70's for a 50 year old male to
qualify for the Boston Marathon they are requiered to have posted a
3:30. It may even be faster now. )
I've seen horses do a real 100 miles in 7:40 (with 3 hours hold it is
10:40). I've seen horses do a 25 in 1:40 (with a 30 minute hold 2:10).
The 2:10 mark is about the same time as the Boston Marathon was won
(male - Gawd got to hate Tide IX ;-) ) last year.
Marathoners don't stop to rest - how fast could they manage 25 miles if
they got a time out for rest in the middle - we don't know.
The only way to know is to put Keno and a horse on a 25 mile trail
under the same conditions and same rules and let them have at it. Of
course you would have to pay Keno to do the race since human runners at
his level get paid alot of money to show up these days.
17 years ago, before I "knew"
what endurance was, I leased an arab gelding and rode him out at Point
Reyes every weekend doing 20 - 25 miles in 2 - 2 1/2 hours. If you've
ever been to Point Reyes, it's mountainous until you get to the beach
and
then you go over mountains to get back. The owner ran the distance.
We would only stop for the cattle gates to open & close them
(5 I believe). We rode in a Stubben saddle (no breast collar, HRM,
etc.) and a snaffle bit. I carried a water bottle in my fanny pack
around my waist but we never stopped for food, water, etc., nor at the
end of the ride would the horse drink from the creek.
Before anyone goes ballistic on me
here,
please understand that this horse's owner was a marathon runner (under
4 hour marathons) and ran with the one of two horses every 2 - 3 days
doing
just what I did on the weekends. One was 20 at the time and the one
I rode 10 or 11. When we finished, the horses had generally not even
broke a sweat. We'd haul them back down to Lucas Valley road where
they lived, rinse them off and turn them out to roll in the arena romp
around for another 30 minutes or so together until we put them in their
paddock. To them, these rides were a jog in the park and we did this
for about 5 years. The horse I rode was 15 hands and pure Egyptian
arabian. Knowing what I know now, I can only fantasize about what
kind of endurance distances they might have been able to do. Bo passed
away last year in his late 20's (28 or 29), doing the same thing until
the last 3 or 4 years ago.
To finish my thought, I curious how
fast
we could have gone had it been flat.
-- "It is necessary to be noble, and yet take humility as a basis
"It
is necessary to be noble, and yet
take humility as a basis.
It is necessary
to be exalted, and yet take modesty as a foundation."
