Part of what makes it incredible is what an achievement it is for him. FTA:
Before each race, his feet are bandaged. He has lost toenails, and one ankle ligament is seriously sore.
"My feet blistered up terribly, then started healing when I shoved them in surgical spirit," says Izzard. "Then they reblistered because you've got new skin coming through.
"Blisters upon blisters are not very nice. It's the pain. Like the pain from mouth ulcers, it's not a massive area but sharp and quite agonising."
To be able to get up and run again day after day and put yourself through that is quite an accomplishment.
Also, by the end he was completing the marathons in around 5 hours, so it's not "a 10-hour marathon, repeated however often."
Lastly, I'm sure that soldiers go through a lot more training and conditioning than Izzard did, besides being younger. That said, if this story were about a soldier who ran 43 10-hour marathons in 51 days, getting up day after day and doing it despite experiencing the pain Izzard did, I would still be impressed.
Yeah, most soldiers go through daily training and usually before they even get to the daily training they have to go through 3-6 months in an actual training facility.
I doubt after only 5 weeks of training that a soldier would manage 1110 miles in 51 days. The OP comments are asinine, he's criticising Izzard for a truely amazing feat. Terry Fox managed 3339 miles in 143 days meaning he only managed about 23 miles a day. I suppose to the OP this would be unimpressive too. The OP has a pathetic attitude, and criticism for a feat he (nor anyone on HN) would likely never be able to accomplish, it's simply pathetic.
Before each race, his feet are bandaged. He has lost toenails, and one ankle ligament is seriously sore. "My feet blistered up terribly, then started healing when I shoved them in surgical spirit," says Izzard. "Then they reblistered because you've got new skin coming through. "Blisters upon blisters are not very nice. It's the pain. Like the pain from mouth ulcers, it's not a massive area but sharp and quite agonising."
To be able to get up and run again day after day and put yourself through that is quite an accomplishment.
Also, by the end he was completing the marathons in around 5 hours, so it's not "a 10-hour marathon, repeated however often."
Lastly, I'm sure that soldiers go through a lot more training and conditioning than Izzard did, besides being younger. That said, if this story were about a soldier who ran 43 10-hour marathons in 51 days, getting up day after day and doing it despite experiencing the pain Izzard did, I would still be impressed.