She is riding a mountain bike! Lol is this like a massive troll???

I'm taking a new track on this whole thing..... I'm going 100% positive from now on.

100% Positive #1

I think the happenstance of the mountain bike is EXCELLENT. Remember, she's going to do this first one in Haiti at night (since it's cooler). I can't imagine that the roads in Haiti are flawless, and I bet the light pollution is low (read: it gonna be dark). It'll be nice to have those two+ inch tires underneath her for the.....well, 14.5 mph average is about a 7:45 bike split.

This was posted on a bookface page (not Crossfit, not Ms. Horner's) that I follow:

Hey! I just wanted to share this from ESPN 👊🏼♠️. My girl Ashley is doing 50 full distance IronMans in 50 days hitting 48 states plus Hinche Haiti where the orphanage she’s donating too is located. (The reason for this)
I’m so proud of her for using her abilities to work on changing the world.#goals. Real talk, Ashley was my 1st coach whenever I started training. 🤙🏼. I’ll be running a part of her N.C. Ironman with her and her coach.
She begins her 1st Ironman tomorrow. Delta would not allow her to fly with her bike, so after 6 hours of searching, found a huffy in a toy store on the southern end of Haiti. Luckily, she has her pedals. She’ll be completing the swim in a concrete recreational pool with a giant staircase down the middle. There are cabanas lining each side. This 1st Ironman will be done throughout the night as the heat in Haiti is brutal.
From Haiti she’s back to the US where she’ll be nonstop for the next 49 days. She would love anyone to join her for any part of her trip, whether it be for the bike, run or swim. You can find all the details on her IG @ashley.horner

In one of the follow-up posts, he mentions there is supposed to be a Strava log, but he hasn't posted the link yet.

Huffy, eh? Presumably not a Mark Allen custom Huffy.

Who cares about what others think of it, or if it "devalues the achievements of others". What is she robbing people of or taking away from your their accomplishments? You know what it took to complete that Ironman, how challenging it was, no one can take that away from you.

The same could be said when NBC broadcasts every year all the miracle stories of people completing the Ironman World Championships. Yeah its not 50/50 but they broadcast people doing this overweight, without limbs, etc. Hell isn't Ironman's entire motto "Achieve the Impossible"?. Personally I do not seeing Ashley aiming to fo 50 Ironmans in 50 days as devaluing me completing 5 in my life or anyones success of doing an Ironman.

But that all goes back to what I have said a few times, and that is they it seems a bit that many are insecure with this. Feeling that Ashley is devaluing your accomplishment is exactly what insecurity is. Your feeling being open to a threat. This is not speaking specifically to you just those that are obviously insecure based on their comments but deny it.

To lend that some credit, how often do half baked cycling things end up on road.cc, velonews, GCN, or in L Equipe?

Not unless to get a laugh out of it.

I think what gets people is that a nobody gets more attention than actual somebodies in the sport get.

Just remember, it might be places you wouldn’t want notoriety from anyway.

I think this is a frustration for many as well, maybe I could be way off.

"X" wins Kona, Gwen wins olympic gold and yet no one really cares about triathlon, the numbers grow a bit, stay stagnant or decline some. But it doesn't get the "recognition it deserves".

Then random person comes in claiming to do "x" and gets all the media attention never put on the real players.

I can see how that is irritating and frustrating, but that also says A LOT about the current state of the sport and how it is marketed, broadcasted, etc and how little people are interested in the sport.

Triathlon and Ironman will never be big, ever. However, it will have its time in the spotlight when athletes cross over and venture into the sport. It is the already established names that will bring attention, not a race, gold medal, or amazing race finish.

She is riding a mountain bike! Lol is this like a massive troll???


I understand that she's riding a mountain bike in Haiti because she didn't plan properly in how to get her bike there. That's a perfect example for why I said this is all a scam. She's never done a triathlon, hasn't planned this out at all and just makes nonsense posts about lifting weights in the morning before her Ironman efforts. She comes out with this idea of doing 50 IM's in 50 days simply to get more likes on Instagram or social media and to sell herself.


It's a joke.

Hilarious start to her adventure. Bought a huffy in a toy store??? 112 isn’t enough for her. She had to up the challenge. On day 1.

You'd find one of those in a flea market, not a toy store

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I think it says more about the current state of society and the warped mindset of CrossFit.

Society and Instagram pushes the image of immediate gratification without the work. CrossFit is a cult for some where they believe their training will train them for anything.

She’s the combo and also about to be a victim of both.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Has anyone else seen Ross Edgley's current attempt to swim 3200km around the mainland of the UK in 100 days? I don't know much about him but he seems to be another muscle bound instagram attention whore (no, I'm not claiming he is a male prostitute) with big ideas. The main differences being his attempt is being sponsored by redbull and appears to have been very well planned and he is being transparent with live tracking and vlogs.

What's interesting to me is that it says more about the people who undertake these "adventures" and do it with pretty much no rules/verifications. I can't think of many modern endurance events that simply let you do whatever you want. I think even swim crossings around the ocean has observers or the attempt gets clowned. But that's what they have to do in order to brag about "finishing it". There are some concessions that I think reasonable people allow for in an undertaking of this magnitude, but the issue becomes where does it stop? Treadmill ok? Elipitical, no? Trainer yes, Trainer with no resistance, no? So when you start blurring the lines of what you accept and what you don't but yet you apply it in an "standardized" event such as an IM (that has defined distances), you blur your reality. And then YOU are the one that becomes the person that says you did it or not. IC was the one telling us if he did it or not, even though he uploaded almost every file (i dont know what the power files looked like on the trainer set, but he never did any "fake" trainer riders of 112 miles in 4:30, etc). But he was doing things that the "hardcore" people thought auto DQ'd the attempt, but did that stop IC from claiming he did it? Nope.

So it says a lot about the person undertaking these challenges when they then provide very little direction of what they are going to do. Which is fine, but it then completely devalues the actual event you are trying to do, but they have one thing going for them. It fools the general public because they have no clue.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I wonder who is funding this.

I just read she has 3 children who will be flying in on weekends to spend time with her.

USA Today said it starts on the 8th.

That was 3 days ago

Did it start yet?

Starts in a couple of hours. I really hope she doesn't get hit by a car tonight - seriously. The roads around Hinche are unsafe during the day, can't imagine at night without street lights. I'm sure she doesn't have any safety lights on the bike since she just got it. Even with a vehicle with her, everyone drives fast and passes whenever, so I assume the other drivers will not be expecting a bike out there once they pass.

I will be truly shocked if any Strava data comes out from this ride.The more of this that comes out I'm not sure she is trolling, I wonder if she got away with a less than honest run last year of 270 miles in 3 days and figured she would never be called to account on this effort. And now it is too late so something will have to give - either she bails from a logistical issues or injury or she will try to outsmart everyone and claim distances not covered.

That being said - I'll donate for every one completed with Strava data - even if the distances are slightly off. Looking at the non profit, they appear to be very legit and put all the financials on their website for the world to see.

No matter how badly she fails, at least the kids won't be any worse off

****

I just dropped a very simple tweet, linked to the ESPNw article


Surely, they can find a fucking dollar? Skip a coffee, or a smoothie, or a Diet Coke

In fact, I'm gonna guilt the shit out of those fucks and post that in EVERY Instagram post she drops for the next 50 days

Fuck it, call me an #ashlete ... it's all for the children

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Despite the stories, Cliffy didn't race or seriously train wearing gumboots. However, he did wear them when he used to round up the cattle on foot in the boggy fields of his Beech Forest farm.

There has long been and still is a lot of folklore surrounding Cliffy.

With the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Ultra in 1983 originally conceived as another match-race between Perdon and Rafferty, the media was surprised and scrambling for information when an old potato farmer was leading the race down the Hume Highway. Much was written and reported (some fabricated) and by the time he finished in Melbourne, Australia had a new and most unlikely national hero.

Some folklore has been perpetuated over time and further "stories" were added by the dramatised movie Cliffy, which was aired with a high profile on the ABC (Australia's national broadcaster).

What is not frequently recognised is how great an athlete Cliff was. His winning time of 5 days and 15 hours for the 875km (544 miles) was a classy and gritty performance. Even more so for a man of 61.

Nearly 100 miles a day! Cliffy was certainly the real deal.

Really really scary to think about riding on the roads in Haiti at night. Heck, even during the day its extremely questionable from a basic security perspective. Road surfaces are bad so the Huffy may serve to her advantage. I’ve not spent any time near Hinche but maybe she’s found an area she can safely do some loops.

Nearly 4 hours ago (just after 6pm their time) she posted in a bathing suit walking to a pool, since then nothing? Being day 1 I assumed this would be the one with the most attention.

Totally agree. I've been to many cities in Haiti larger than (but never to) Hinchie, and one smaller. I can't imagine riding 112 miles a) on those surfaces and b) with the free for all driving that I've witnessed on the roads there.

This posts nails it on so many points.

It's interesting with all that's been written on this thread that so little is questioned about the integrity of what is claimed for the Haiti run.

Her supporters simply don't grasp the difficulty of the task of completing a single IM, let alone the enormity of backing up 50 and don't question the gross improbability of her achieving it. I suppose it's much the same that many here as triathletes simply don't appear to question the Haiti run.

I'm interested in how the first week or so on US soil plays out her. If it is unequivocally demonstrated that she can nail 7 or more IM in reasonable time, it will give some level of retrospective credibility to her Haiti run. Conversely, if she simply fails to cover the distances in the first week, the performances are unsubstantiated or worse still, proven to be a sham, the Haiti run will appear even more suspect than it does currently.

And what’s more, lying about athletic achievements is a massive deal, lying about any achievement really is.

Let’s be real, she is almost certainly exaggerating (lyng) about 230 miles in 3 days. This ruins it all for me. She just flips it out there.

If we believe she lied about that, and we HAVE to until she proves it given it’s so unlikely, then all the rest of this is a sham.

You can’t make an extraordinary (seemingly ignorant) claim about future athletic performance and have tossed out a nearly unbelievable claim about a previous athletic performance and expect to be believed.

Not to mention casual references to bike ride times immediately pooh poohed by your riding companion.

if she had said “gonna try to do 50 IMs, in 50 days for charity but might not make it - however give some cash to the oprhange for the try if you think I did a good job” that would be cool - she’s not doing anything remotely like that though.

I don't think it's a sham at all, or trolling. I think people around her have actually led her to believe she can do this. And when she gets killed, hurt, or sick and emotionally damaged beyond repair, these "yes men" are suddenly going to be nowhere to be found or held accountable for it. Besides not training correctly, nobody informed her about how the world will want the correct distances for them to be ironmans. Nobody with extra bike gear showed up in Haiti ahead of time. I've ended up in the hospital with Rhabdo running only 50 miles on a warm day, and that's after years of running a 100 miler, 4 or so 50 milers, and maybe 15 Ironmans. I had tons of experience and still trying to go "low carb" nearly killed me on a warm day. Don't forget, there's a guy that died from Rhabdo recently at IM Boulder, 3 days after the event. Lots of willpower + low carb + heat + not being trained for your event or going really long = Rhabdo. It's not going to be a good scene and it's not going to be funny when it gets ugly out there for her. Hopefully she can come out of this without any long term damage.

And those that helped put her up to this can be called out for it.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

That pool is hysterical.

After reading the ESPNW article, I will donate only if she finishes all 50.

She is on Strava. But nothing since the 8 August.

---