Marathon the toughest for me. Short races can feel hard start to finish, but nothing like the physical pain and mental struggle in the last 10k of the marathon.

For me the hardest was marathon while trying to qualify for Boston. My first marathon I got too much in my head over it and while I finished, I didn't qualify. Second marathon also too much in my head but qualified. I'm running Boston in a couple of weeks and while I'm anxious, there's so much less pressure. All of this fits in with what you all said.

Was in Glasgow last week. They have a Tim Hortons too, in case Rick is visiting north of the border.

Think Andy should train for a fell race in the summer. Relatively short as he likes to run, but polar opposite to the track. I would suggest the Grindleford Fell Race in June. I'll be there.

I am in the USA. My 7 year old son asked "What do people from the UK sound like?" I played him this video. He said "now I get it, but when they said 'oh, that was nice' at the end, they sounded like me"

For me it is 10k. If do a 10k seriously, I have to maintain a hard and unconformtable pace the whole distance (around 40-45min depending on current fitness level). It is just torture and mentally tough especially during ks 5-9. During marathons and even half marathons I can keep a relatively comfortable pace for the most part. I am also better suited to handle the fatigue of a longer race compared to the pain of a hard pace in a shorter race.

Definitely 10k for me. Longest distance you can go pretty much flat out for. Although, all distances are pretty tough 🤣

I think the 400m is the toughest distance - the place where lactic acid meets your sprint speed 😂

~4th episode I’m watching of this podcast within 2 days of discovery - This is Great! 🎉

10k is hardest for me. Anything longer and I just slip into "long slog" mode, content in the knowledge that I'm doing it all morning. Anything shorter is something I "knock out". But you can't "knock out" a 10k - for me it's 40min of hell at a pace faster than my anaerobic threshold which is just bloody uncomfortable. Eurgh.

42 195 m is the hardest. Not to mention 42 196 m. Actually managed 32 195m on the treadmill today for the first time in 6 years. The comeback of the century is close at hand. It is unavoidable now. Won't kneel so close to the end target. (I just like to say it out loud)

Look forward to watching and far be it from me to argue with an Olympian, but my vote after running distances all the way to marathon is 400m, as it is an all-out sprint the entire way.

There are 2 that kill me. 2 miles - full red line sprint, faster than 5k pace, probably similar to 1500m pace, but over 3200m. And the marathon - Essentially threshold for 3 or so hours, such a long build up working towards it and then also having to rely on everything going to plan on the day. Nothing ever prepares you for how you feel going into the last 6-8 miles, it feels different every time 😂

Taking back the park run 5k record for Andy 😂

How is everyone handling dog owners who walk around staring into their phones while the dog runs wild, potentially jumping up to say hello or chasing you.. The amount of abuse I get from the owners when I ask them politely for a bit of control of the dog is less than amusing.

Such a fun podcast as always. Thanks guys. The hardest distances for me are the long training run distances. Like Sarah, I just find those 32 - 34k training runs so hard, and yet I have absolutely loved both my 50k Ultras. I also love going back to shorter, faster distances after my Ultras because it just makes me feel fast 😉

Another banger of an episode. I think 1/2 marathons are the hardest. Everyone knows a full is hard but I think ppl get lax on the 1/2 and going that hard for 13.1 miles is just hard.

I've recently started parkrun and whilst I've never done any long distance running (watch this space), I think a 5K is really rough because if like me, you don't pace and just run from A to B as quick as you can, it's HELL. last weeks parkrun time was 20:40 and it was excruciating the whole time, and I just thought - I'd rather run for hours at a slower pace than this lol. I think it really depends on what you are used to and your goals x

Podcast Ben - you need to try Canicross with Joey 🤩 he’ll have you flying along in no time!! Genuine poop tip - develop a command to get the dog to toilet and you can get them to go before you run. If you get really pro you can get them to do it next to a bin 😆

Needs to run the Houston MARATHON in January

Marathons are hardest for me 😢, I've done lots of ultras they are not so tough especially if you do lots of aerobic mileage,5 & 10ks are manageable for me.

Marathon the hardest for me. Flat out 5 and 10k is painful but only for a few mins at the end. The pain in a marathon can be 30 mins or more 😢

Oh any distance that takes you about 2 to 3 minutes of all-out effort to complete is exquisite torture. For most of us that would be the 800m but for folks like Andy it extends up to the 1k... so sorry to hear about the change to the challenge distance Andy ;)

Usain Bolt once said. “ I train for 4 years to run 9 secs”

20 mile road races that end with a mile of brutal hill. Like this morning. 😅

of course any distance is hard if you give it your all. for me from hardest to least hard is 1) 10k 2) marathon 3) mile 4) 5k 5) half marathon i've never done a time trial/race of anything shorter than a mile.

Andy should try a mud race or an obstacle race, those are always fun and dirty.

Loving this format

Andy should show us how to build up to and execute a 100-mile training week

The bra chat is super interesting. I'm a long distance runner and I find it impossibly hard to run when wearing a bra, chest monitor and hydration vest. It feels so restrictive, so I'm glad it sounds like it actually hinders performance and isn't just my anecdotal experience!

Here's something I've often wondered about. How would Usain Bolt get on in a Marathon and how would Mo Farah get on in the 100 metres? Do you remember the BBC series 'Superstars' where professional sports people took part in events they hadn't trained for? I'm in my 60s and played football, cricket, squash etc in my younger days. I'm now trying to improve my parkrun times but find the distance very hard. Friends at my running club are always urging me to try 10k, 10 miles, half marathons or marathons but my body/mind just can't deal with those distances. In training I smash the fartleks even at my age, but if we do a steady run I get tailed off. It seems that retraining for different distances is tougher than you think it will be. (male/66/13.5 stone/28 min parkrun)

Another excellent podcast guys. To share regards the dog thing, I have a grassy area near my house. I take my little bundle of annoyance there first and let her run freely until she's done her business. Then we go for the run. On walks she loves to stop and wee on anything and everything, but when running, I know she's already been, so I don't feel mean to pull her back if she shows interest in stopping. I amost gave up on taking her as before doing this, the run would be so stop-start it was just getting annoying. Not exactly "genius" but was a workaround for me.

I was listening to this while running a 15km charity race. I thought listening to you would help me keep my pace down at the start. It did work. But i did have the thought that it is not the distance that is the problem. But the effort in which we either think we have to put in. Or are willing to put in. If the people that thought they had to run a flat out 5k took an extra 5 minutes to run it would probably enjoy it more. I think all distances are easy if you take them easy. But if you are going for a pb or all out effort. It is going to be hard. No matter the distance. What do you think?

The worst I have ever felt after a run was a 400m which I hadn’t trained for. I ran the first 200 much too fast but just kept going as fast as I could even when my legs were turning into molten jelly. Then I threw up, lay down by the side of the track and couldn’t stand up for an hour.

The 100 mile ultra is the toughest distance. Your body shuts down after a certain point, then the mind takes over.

Can we start a gofundme and get Sarah a second watch strap loop, the OCD in me is driven mad by the 'overhang' of strap she always has 🙄

I’ve done 100+ 5km Parkrun’s, 13 marathons, 5 x 24 hour races over 100 miles and numerous 10k to 10 mile races. The 5kms are definitely the hardest. Ultras are mentally tough but 5kms are physically tough for me.

Longer distances are harder, joints get hotter and hotter, muscles cramp and you have to keep going

Andy needs to be signed up for the Marathon du Médoc 2024! With aim for proper competitive goals in both aspects of the race- Rick can be one of the official coaches🍷😂

I’ve been doing 10km or full marathons as a preference. Half marathons are scarier, because you need to be more technical for a half

Boring races are the hardest, whether marathon or 5k. Running a M or HM round a near-empty race track is soul-destroying, the same distance on the trails or with huge crowds is far nicer. Likewise Parkrun is so nice because it is social, but a solo effort on the track is far more intimidating. Want a real challenge? Try a marathon on a race circuit

Rick, hope your knee settles down. 👍

Hi, guys. Regarding finish line etiquette, on a 10k race a couple of years ago my son-in-law passed me on the finish line and beat me by 1 second after I had led him since the 5k mark. Gutted

400 meters is the hardest. Sprinting flat out for a full lap is super hard.

Andy has spent way too much time running on firm, level surfaces. I think a trail half-marathon is in order

In track 400m at highschool level. 800m at college level. But for me the hardest race is trying to walk from the car to the hotel room an hour after completing my first 50 mile ultra.

How about getting Andy to Tackle Race to the Stones ultra in July?

At the parkrun there was a lot of people who gave themselves a 15 minute head start... Must have been very confusing at the finish? 5:30

the race I just finished is always the hardest

I'm with Sarah... anyt distance you're running right at your max threshold i.e. 5k/10k is just painful. Although instead of the marathon, I'd settle for half-marathon distance.

If you discount the extra long ones(marathons and ultramarathons) then I'd say 1500m. Well in the anaerobic zone and lactic acid is crazy

lol the bot comments were so ready

Half marathon is the toughest for me from a mental perspective. The effort involved is neither flat our nor easier slower pace and I just don't like it and avoid it. A flat out 5 or 10km and also a marathon at a more sedate pace are much more my cup of tea.

800 is probably the hadest distance to train for, You need, as Seb Coe said, the endurance of a world class 5000 runner married with the speed of an internatoonal 400 runner. Very dificult comination - which is why very, very few runners today come close to the world record compared to the 1500 where several runners approach WR times.

Would love to see Andy do a steeple chase, he'll have the speed from the 1km and will just need to work on the hurdles.

For me anything 5K or under, really like 9 to 13.1 races. Little nervous new commitment for first 26.2 miles

The gold standard for club cyclists was always to get under an hour for a 25 mile time trial. After seeing Andy's attempt on Zwift, I challenge him to do this with his local cycling club.

I think 10km is the hardest. I would say it's as hard as running 5k but then you have to do it again. On the topic of Sarah saying how she doesn't like hitting the red line, there is so much time to be gained by being able to push yourself beyond the point of your body screaming at you to stop. Obviously it's not a fun place to be but if you're chasing a PB it's worth getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

5k run properly.Goosed after 2k but you have to hold that pace for 3 more. Its torture . No other distance compares imo

Triathlon for Andy.

Did a 20 miler last week, the local 5k parkrun was harder 🤣

multi-day long -distance races

100% 5k! I absolutely hate it. Give me a marathon any day of the week!

Maybe you could argue any distance can be the hardest apart from 60m-200m because they're over too quickly to really be considered the hardest

I’ve lost my car too many times that I’ve lost count, I now what 3 words screenshot where I leave my car 🤣

On a 50 K a guy lost his keys and him and some friends divided the course so they can go out and try to find his keys. They found them but halfway through the course so he didn’t lose his car per se, but he came close and he also came close to his first hundred K my heartdistance I can handle 100 mile raising just slogging for a real long time 5K to do right is really hard and I competed with some people once and I tried to do 800 on the track with them that wasn’t enjoyable either

Refueling is very complicated nowadays. When I was young we had coke and water at the checkpoints and if you were lucky you had corn syrup sachet. We all finished marathons and ultras and in reasonably good shape.

Speaking of the finish line etiquette. I'm usually finishing around 75th out of 100 typically since I started running in 2022. I gave it everything on the last 100 metres and over took about 8 or 9 people but the last 10 metres or so I backed off a little because of the lady in front. Her kids were really screaming for her and I thought "stuff it over 60th place" 😅 If one day I get lean & mean for a top 10 you'll see a completely different side of me lol

People mostly all ways finish a 5k or park run, marathons not so much. If there was a free marathon every week would it be as popular as park run?

I think any race from 10-15k is the hardest as you can't go easy as it may not be considered a long run but you can't go hard as it is quite long. Also for a marathon or half marathon you can walk for a couple of minutes and unless you are a professional runner it wouldn't affect the race much but stopping or walking in a 10k would feel like a bit of a failure to me personally.

I love ultras and loathe the short speedwork sessions of 400m to 800m

I don't know what the hardest is for me. A couple of years ago I would have said half marathon, still haven't done a marathon though as I got injured in training. I can't decide between 1 mile, 5k or 10k, I've thrown up after each distance other than half marathon.

About two weeks ago i did a race and it was the first one id driven to. I got on the warmup pitch and realised i had my car key to hide 😅 . i had a little covid test bag that i popped my key in and pushed it down my runderwear bra and raced with it lol 😅😅

The Dragon back ultra

Gritstone Grind ulrra marathon or Hydrox if you want him to do the cross training. You can be nice and send him somewhere abroad to escape the horde of kids?

I'd pay good money to watch Sarah get her revenge on Tito by rugby tackling him at the finish line 😆

No an Ultron marathon is easier. I was shocked but I went and did my first 50 K I said this is a lot easier than marathon. It was a lot easier and now I’m looking at a 50 case really a fastest so 50 Kay’s are kind of hard but the real long ones and now people are running 200+ And talk to somebody who did 240 race 240 miles and he said it was easier than 100 he said cause he went so slow. He really only ran downhill and flat so I guess the heat is on I’m not a good road runner and those fast road running times to me are apart, the next couple years I’m gonna do a Boston wildfire. See if I can still do it and I’ll look at that as the hardest thing I’ve ever done a slow hundred mile up in the mountains just beautiful it’s relaxing for the first hundred K.

Get Andy to do a 50k trail run!

In my opinion 400m is physically the most painful. You will be extreme burn on glutes, hamstring and you will for the first time in life, unable to move your body not due to running out of gas, but you physically burned out after the first 300m.

Sign Andy up for a 50 miler!

The trick to running with your dog is to run near a body of water they can jump in to cool off every 30 mins

ALL distances are hard if you give it your best.

What about a trail race for Andy?

I think it has to be an Ultra for Andy

400m Hurdles is the hardest IMO.

As Andy has already done a marathon, surely it should be an ultra next?🤷🏻

400h hurdles, hell !!!!

Tie between 400m and 800m. If 600m was an event it would be the hardest.

I think Andy should do an ironman. 🤣Not to be mean of course...

Someone new doing the colour grading?

@ritapanahi, weekly, huh?

Crusty pants 😂😂 who cares about any of the other content. Brilliant!

Marathon and ultramathons due to the mental fatigue even during training

Set a park run record for running backwards.

100 miler 😁

The marathon

House key.

Training for a marathon is harder than running a marathon due to the hours of commitment you have to give.

Unequivocally; the longer the harder.

800 meters or marathon