Realistic stats for a marathon runner

[rpd]

I want to build a character that runs marathons in their spare time. How would you realistically represent that in Gurps terms? I know some people who have done it and they say it's as much about controlling your breathing and discipline in pacing yourself as it is conditioning.

So how would you model that in Gurps terms. Would Health 12, Very Fit and four points each in Running and Breath Control be enough or do I have to scale up? Would it be best to raise Health further or add extra Fatigue? Or do I need to raise Will? Anyone out there any thoughts?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by rpd

I want to build a character that runs marathons in their spare time. How would you realistically represent that in Gurps terms? I know some people who have done it and they say it's as much about controlling your breathing and discipline in pacing yourself as it is conditioning.

So how would you model that in Gurps terms. Would Health 12, Very Fit and four points each in Running and Breath Control be enough or do I have to scale up? Would it be best to raise Health further or add extra Fatigue? Or do I need to raise Will? Anyone out there any thoughts?

I have no experience with Real World long-distance running. So I can only help with the Gurps part.

The biggest problem with using gurps for detaield modelling in this case is that long distance running is where the rules break the worst in my experience.

I have to guess at your Basic Move which might be the msot important stat for thsi sort of modelling but guessing at least a 6 right now you can Sprint In Gurps terms and this may not mean what it does in the Rela world) at 14.4 miles per hour and you roll to avoid FP loss every 30 seconds (2x the times on B.354 but you double thoe numbers because of Very Fit) and you only lose 1 FP 10% of the time.

You can maintain this speed until your FP total (12 by default) drops below 1/3rd. or 4 in your case. So you're losing 1 FP every 5 minutes on average and you won't have to slow down until you lose the 9th one. So that happens at some time between 40 and 50 minutes or some time after you've passed the 9.6 mile mark at c. 40 minutes.

So no, "sprinting" in Gurps doesn't mean what it does in the Real World.

Paced Running is half as fast but can be done for 4x as long. So some thing over 160 minutes for 2x the total distance.

Move 6 and Sprint is probablya litlte too fast for the actual rate of a chmpion marathon runner and 160 minutes is about the right time but not fast enough. I told you gurps doesn't do this very well.

Boost HT to 13 and you'd double those distances.

You're probably better off using other measures. Like HT 12 being not obviously above average though Very Fit probably chnges that. HT 13 _is_ obviouskly exceptional in that stat.

HT 12 and VF also sjut hapen to let you pass Survival Rolls (also know as "Death Checks") 90% of the time and PCs might encounter those more often than marathons. :) A net 14 (12 +2 for VF) is good but more is more.

[Refplace]

HT 14 better,you want a -14 HT roll to avoid FP so high enough Running skill to get that is essential. I dont think Breath Control helps since you would need to stop and rest for two minutes.
Very Fit is key.
Also you need a decent Basic Move.
My MH character has HT 14 (could be lower with higher Running skill) and Very Fit and BM was 7 or 8 at campaign start.
I forget, been a bit but I calculated he would have finished in top 20 of the Boston Marathon but not the top 10 for the year I looked at.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Refplace

HT 14 better,you want a -14 HT roll to avoid FP so high enough Running skill to get that is essential. I dont think Breath Control helps since you would need to stop and rest for two minutes.
Very Fit is key.
t.

Forgot about Running Skill. Probably because it's a lot less useful than basic HT and Very Fit.

Still 4 pts in Running is stat +1 so that gets you double the numbers in my post that I figured for HT 12 +VF alone. More Running isn't really a good bargain though. Especially not compared to more HT.

Note that if you go to HT 14 + VF Running does no good. A 16 or less is the best roll you can get.

[AlexanderHowl]

The world record is around 2 hours for 26 miles, which roughly translates to 13 mph. With paced running, which is half the speed of sprinting, that would indicate a speed of 6.6 yards per second (a Basic Move of 11 would result in a sprinting speed of 13.2 yards per second, which would translate to a paced running speed of 6.6 yards per second). A specialized marathon runner could have a DX 10, HT 14, Basic Speed 8.00, and Basic Move 11, which would cost 95 CP. The character would need to make 120 HT rolls, so Running (A) HT+1 [4]-15 would be needed, allowing them to only lose 6 FP, with a final cost of 99 CP.

For less capable runners, you would probably want to reduce their Basic Speed, which would make them much less capable. A world class competitor, but not record holding runner would be Basic Move 10 [-20 CP] while a world class amateur would be Basic Move 9 [-40 CP]. For normal marathon runners though, they would probably get buy with Basic Move 7 and Running-16, as they would be able to run continuously. Endurance runners will often have HT 14, FP 18, Basic Move 7, and Very Fit, allowing them to run for 1200 minutes before having to rest (around 20 hours or 140 miles). Surprisingly, this is not the endurance record.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The world record is around 2 hours for 26 miles, which roughly translates to 13 mph. With paced running, which is half the speed of sprinting, that would indicate a speed of 6.6 yards per second (a Basic Move of 11 would result in a sprinting speed of 13.2 yards per second, which would translate to a paced running speed of 6.6 yards per second). A specialized marathon runner could have a DX 10, HT 14, Basic Speed 8.00, and Basic Move 11, which would cost 95 CP. The character would need to make 120 HT rolls, so Running (A) HT+1 [4]-15 would be needed, allowing them to only lose 6 FP, with a final cost of 99 CP.
.

You've left out Very Fit! That raises the HT roll from 14 to 16 or less and halves the number of rolls that have to be made.

There's also the issue that Move 11 annihilates the record for the 100 meters and every other race between that and Marathon distance. It is very useful though.

[AlexanderHowl]

With Running-15, you do not need Very Fit, not for the marathon runner anyway.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

With Running-15, you do not need Very Fit, not for the marathon runner anyway.

Running-15 is only useful for running. Very Fit is useful for all HT rolls _and_ doubles your running distance. A marathon runner build with VF instead of Running will always be cheaper for the same effects as well as more gnerally competent.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

With Running-15, you do not need Very Fit, not for the marathon runner anyway.

Very Fit lets you lose at half the rate, so half the number of rolls where you risk losing FP.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by rpd

I want to build a character that runs marathons in their spare time. How would you realistically represent that in Gurps terms? I know some people who have done it and they say it's as much about controlling your breathing and discipline in pacing yourself as it is conditioning.

So how would you model that in Gurps terms. Would Health 12, Very Fit and four points each in Running and Breath Control be enough or do I have to scale up? Would it be best to raise Health further or add extra Fatigue? Or do I need to raise Will? Anyone out there any thoughts?

Most marathon runners don't have any of those, an Olympic-level athlete would have more. HT 11+, Fit or Very Fit, increased FP, and Running seem like appropriate traits, Breath Control might be too. I might allow an Endurance Running technique for runs lasting more than an hour.

My understanding is that its like basic training, a good teacher can train anyone willing in reasonably good health to complete a marathon (most people are never going to win one, but they can learn to complete it). The system for teaching this was invented in the postwar era.