Running Marathon Backwards

[Michael]

I read in Runners World that the worlds record for running a marathon backwards was done in 2004 by a Chinese runner who ran 3:34.39

Amazing, people can run a marathon backwards faster than I could probably run one forward. I doubt I would enjoy running backwards more than a 1/4 mile if I could even run that far without crashing.

Anyway heres a record for you fast running bloggers to shoot for

[Ruth Hilton]

Ouch. That just sounds like it would hurt a lot. Once, I ran up a 1/4 mile hill backwards 'just for fun' and it killed. Never again! I don't think I'd ever go for that record.

[Kerry]

When I run with my youngest daughter (11) I usually run about half the distance backwards. She only has one speed right now and it's full effort. For those sections I have to run forward to keep up with her, but when she starts to lag, I turn around and run backwards to encourage her to keep going. Maybe I can work up to running backwards a mile, then maybe I could claim a record for the fastest backwards miler in my age group (for my neighborhood, at least).

[Kory Wheatley]

This would definitely strengthen your quads and hamstrings, but I wouldn't think that you would want to do it a lot.