Well. That hasn't gone well for us has it?
It's a new Olympic year and everything is going tits up. Australia is burning. The US has totally NOT declared war on Iran and we're 5 days into the new year without me having either a girlfriend or a unicorn.
I can't fix any of that. I can however count up all the metres that the athletes at this year's olympics complete.
So once again we ask "How Far Exactly?"
Sunday, 5 January 2020
Monday, 22 August 2016
Day 16 - The number(s) are up.
August 22nd.
It's all over, everything* has been added up to give us our totals. It's been a pleasure.
Day 16 gave us the astonishing amount of 5,907,300m thanks to the 140 men finishing the Marathon. They were our only numbers today but it means it's quite simple to finally add this all up.
Quick reminder of the rules.
You may wish to be reminded of this too:
_2011_New_Bus_for_London,_Victoria,_route_38,_27_February_2012.jpg)
Most Productive Day
Was actually Day 16, today's 5,907,300 is the single largest contribution we've had in one day. Amazing to think it was all thanks to one event.
First to Last
The very first distance we measured was Christoph Martin Meier's 400m from the Men's Individual Medley Heat 1 where he finished first.
The last we counted was Methkal Abu Drais' 42,195m from his last place finish in the Men's Marathon.
Smallest to Biggest
The smallest distance of all the games was the 1.56m recorded in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump. This is shared between Evelis Aguilar and Sofia Yfantidou.
The largest distance comes from any of the 49 who completed the Men's 50k race walk but we're going to go with Matej Toth as he was the first across the line.
Jumping Up
Athletes jumped upwards a total of 2,453.71m during these games. That's enough to cover 560 Routemaster buses placed on top of each other with a little to spare.
Jumping Along
Altogether our competitors managed to horizontally jump 6,228.45m which would clear 556 Routemasters. (Which like last time out is weirdly close to the number of buses the vertical jumpers managed).
Throwingup
Having a Paddle
In total 1,081,550m was swam at these games, that's equivalent to 21,631 laps of the pool.
Anthony Irvin won the 50m Freestyle Gold in a time of 21.4s for one of those laps. If he could keep that time up all the way necessary it would take him 5 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 3 seconds to cover that distance.
Run it off
Runners covered 20,564,845m in Rio, that's like 51,412.1125 laps of the track. The Jamaican Mens 4 x 100m Relay team covered that in 37.27 secs. If they could maintain that pace all the way it would still take them 3 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 15 minutes and 29 seconds to finish.
Head to Head
Swimming - Rio beats London by 21,650m
Running - Rio beats London by 4,212,855m
Jumping - Rio beats London by 960.54m
Throwing - London gets a consolation goal by beating Rio by 3,626.09m
Final Score: Rio wins by 4,231,839.45m. I think we can call that a thrashing.
How Far Exactly?
So then, the big question. Having trivialised the dedication of hundreds of athletes over years of their lives to reduce them to a mere number we finally come to the final totals:
Swimming: 1,081,550m
Running: 20,564,845m
Jumping: 8,682.16m
Throwing: 59,630.59m
Total: 21,714,707.75m
If that's hard to imagine as metres then it works out to 13,492.89 miles which is comfortably over a quarter of the circumference of the planet we live on!
Right, that's it. We're done. I'll see you all in 4 years for Tokyo 2020 where hopefully my laptop won't break, my girlfriend won't cheat on me and the time-zone should work to my advantage. Until then, be good.
R
@Le_Paien_Roux
*For a given value of everything.
It's all over, everything* has been added up to give us our totals. It's been a pleasure.
Day 16 gave us the astonishing amount of 5,907,300m thanks to the 140 men finishing the Marathon. They were our only numbers today but it means it's quite simple to finally add this all up.
Quick reminder of the rules.
Human power only.
No bikes, horses or boats, no projectiles or ball games. If you run or swim or jump or throw something then we count it and add it all up.If you don't finish you don't count.
If you pull up 20 miles into the marathon then you'll have to live with me knowing you're a far finer specimen of human endurance than I will ever be. I won't be counting you though. This is more to do with my wish for discrete measurements than any disrespect for your achievement.You may wish to be reminded of this too:
Most Productive Day
Was actually Day 16, today's 5,907,300 is the single largest contribution we've had in one day. Amazing to think it was all thanks to one event.
First to Last
The very first distance we measured was Christoph Martin Meier's 400m from the Men's Individual Medley Heat 1 where he finished first.
The last we counted was Methkal Abu Drais' 42,195m from his last place finish in the Men's Marathon.
Smallest to Biggest
The smallest distance of all the games was the 1.56m recorded in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump. This is shared between Evelis Aguilar and Sofia Yfantidou.
The largest distance comes from any of the 49 who completed the Men's 50k race walk but we're going to go with Matej Toth as he was the first across the line.
Jumping Up
Athletes jumped upwards a total of 2,453.71m during these games. That's enough to cover 560 Routemaster buses placed on top of each other with a little to spare.
Jumping Along
Altogether our competitors managed to horizontally jump 6,228.45m which would clear 556 Routemasters. (Which like last time out is weirdly close to the number of buses the vertical jumpers managed).
Throwing
Having a Paddle
In total 1,081,550m was swam at these games, that's equivalent to 21,631 laps of the pool.
Anthony Irvin won the 50m Freestyle Gold in a time of 21.4s for one of those laps. If he could keep that time up all the way necessary it would take him 5 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 3 seconds to cover that distance.
Run it off
Runners covered 20,564,845m in Rio, that's like 51,412.1125 laps of the track. The Jamaican Mens 4 x 100m Relay team covered that in 37.27 secs. If they could maintain that pace all the way it would still take them 3 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 15 minutes and 29 seconds to finish.
Head to Head
Swimming - Rio beats London by 21,650m
Running - Rio beats London by 4,212,855m
Jumping - Rio beats London by 960.54m
Throwing - London gets a consolation goal by beating Rio by 3,626.09m
Final Score: Rio wins by 4,231,839.45m. I think we can call that a thrashing.
How Far Exactly?
So then, the big question. Having trivialised the dedication of hundreds of athletes over years of their lives to reduce them to a mere number we finally come to the final totals:
Swimming: 1,081,550m
Running: 20,564,845m
Jumping: 8,682.16m
Throwing: 59,630.59m
Total: 21,714,707.75m
If that's hard to imagine as metres then it works out to 13,492.89 miles which is comfortably over a quarter of the circumference of the planet we live on!
Right, that's it. We're done. I'll see you all in 4 years for Tokyo 2020 where hopefully my laptop won't break, my girlfriend won't cheat on me and the time-zone should work to my advantage. Until then, be good.
R
@Le_Paien_Roux
*For a given value of everything.
Day 15
August 21st.
Day 15 gave us 79,200m of swimming, 714,500m of running, 63m of jumping and 3,347.67m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 1,081,550m
Running: 14,657,545m
Jumping: 8,682.16m
Throwing: 59,630.59m
Total: 15,807,407.75m
R
@howfarexactly
Day 15 gave us 79,200m of swimming, 714,500m of running, 63m of jumping and 3,347.67m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 1,081,550m
Running: 14,657,545m
Jumping: 8,682.16m
Throwing: 59,630.59m
Total: 15,807,407.75m
R
@howfarexactly
Day 14
August 20th.
Day 14 gave us 7,200m of swimming, 3,955,000m of running, 152.2m of jumping and 3593.79m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 1,002,350m
Runnning: 13,943,045m
Jumping: 8,619.16m
Throwing: 56,282.92m
Total: 15,010,297.08m
R
@howfarexactly
Day 14 gave us 7,200m of swimming, 3,955,000m of running, 152.2m of jumping and 3593.79m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 1,002,350m
Runnning: 13,943,045m
Jumping: 8,619.16m
Throwing: 56,282.92m
Total: 15,010,297.08m
R
@howfarexactly
Day 13
August 19th.
Today we got 75,000m of swimming, 1,120,250m of running, 623.04m of jumping and 11,050.84m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 995,150m
Running: 9,988,045m
Jumping: 8,466.96m
Throwing: 52,689.13m
Total: 11,044,351.09
R
@howfarexactly
Today we got 75,000m of swimming, 1,120,250m of running, 623.04m of jumping and 11,050.84m of throwing. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 995,150m
Running: 9,988,045m
Jumping: 8,466.96m
Throwing: 52,689.13m
Total: 11,044,351.09
R
@howfarexactly
Thursday, 18 August 2016
Day 12 - Just the Numbers Again.
August 18th.
Today (well yesterday really, damn time zones), the athletes at Rio 2016 ran 356,500m, they jumped 962.68m and threw differently shaped objects 12,119.13m. If we add these numbers to what they've already achieved then we get:
Totals:
Swimming: 920,150m
Running: 8,867,795m
Jumping: 7,843.92m
Throwing: 41,638.29m
Total: 9,837,427.21m
R
@howfarexactly
Today (well yesterday really, damn time zones), the athletes at Rio 2016 ran 356,500m, they jumped 962.68m and threw differently shaped objects 12,119.13m. If we add these numbers to what they've already achieved then we get:
Totals:
Swimming: 920,150m
Running: 8,867,795m
Jumping: 7,843.92m
Throwing: 41,638.29m
Total: 9,837,427.21m
R
@howfarexactly
Wednesday, 17 August 2016
Day 11 - Just the Facts.
August 17th.
Due to continuing technical issues we just have the numbers again today. This should definitely be sorted out tomorrow.
On Day 11 people swam 230,000m, they ran 284,700m, they jumped 1,542.27m and threw various objects 6,185.94m.
Totals:
Swimming: 920,150m
Running: 8,511,295m
Jumping: 6,881.24m
Throwing: 29,519.16m
Total: 9,467,845.40m
Back tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Due to continuing technical issues we just have the numbers again today. This should definitely be sorted out tomorrow.
On Day 11 people swam 230,000m, they ran 284,700m, they jumped 1,542.27m and threw various objects 6,185.94m.
Totals:
Swimming: 920,150m
Running: 8,511,295m
Jumping: 6,881.24m
Throwing: 29,519.16m
Total: 9,467,845.40m
Back tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Day 10 - Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By.
August 16th.
In what is turning into a tradition we have had laptop problems today so apologies for the truncated post. Today we got 250,000m of swimming, 245,560m of running, 1,428.58m of jumping and 5,592.36m of throwing shit around. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 690,150m
Running: 8,226,595m
Jumping: 5,338.97m
Throwing: 23,333.22m
Total: 8,945,417.19m
Normal service resumed tomorrow, promise.
R
@howfarexactly
In what is turning into a tradition we have had laptop problems today so apologies for the truncated post. Today we got 250,000m of swimming, 245,560m of running, 1,428.58m of jumping and 5,592.36m of throwing shit around. That gives us:
Totals:
Swimming: 690,150m
Running: 8,226,595m
Jumping: 5,338.97m
Throwing: 23,333.22m
Total: 8,945,417.19m
Normal service resumed tomorrow, promise.
R
@howfarexactly
Monday, 15 August 2016
Day 9 - Really?
August 15th.
So swimming has left us for the time being but we still end the day on massive numbers thanks to the Women's marathon and the 133 ladies who finished the 42,195m course. Thank god god for them however as otherwise we'd have very little for day 9. Two bits of jumping and 5 other running events does not a great day make, even if 100 of those metres was the greatest show on earth.
Totals:
Swimming: 440,150m
Running: 7,981,035m
Jumping: 3,910.39m
Throwing: 17,740.86m
Total: 8,442,836.25m
That gives Rio a lead over London of 915,887.24m which I now am going to have to find some reason for. #ThanksObama.
R
@howfarxactly
So swimming has left us for the time being but we still end the day on massive numbers thanks to the Women's marathon and the 133 ladies who finished the 42,195m course. Thank god god for them however as otherwise we'd have very little for day 9. Two bits of jumping and 5 other running events does not a great day make, even if 100 of those metres was the greatest show on earth.
Totals:
Swimming: 440,150m
Running: 7,981,035m
Jumping: 3,910.39m
Throwing: 17,740.86m
Total: 8,442,836.25m
That gives Rio a lead over London of 915,887.24m which I now am going to have to find some reason for. #ThanksObama.
R
@howfarxactly
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Day 8 - Farewell Michael
August 14th.
And just like that the pool swimming is over. They gave us a final 18,400m to remember them by but our summer of fun is over. We'll still see some swimming from the Triathlon and the open-water stuff but our days of indoor fun are over. Let's just remember one last time how ridiculous Michael Phelps is.
Day 8 also gave us 532,600m of running, 5,806.83m of throwing and 2,253.12m of jumping as the Track and Field programme keeps going. This gives us the following:
Totals:
Swimming: 440,150m
Running: 2,284,900m
Jumping: 2,999.27m
Throwing: 17,740.86m
Total: 2,745,790.13m
This has more than halved Rio's lead at this stage over London to 559,059.95m. That is still a big deficit though, I'd kind of been hoping that the lack of Russian athletes would have led to London coming up trumps but it's not looking great.
Hero of the day:
I've gone on before about how good the BBC coverage of the Olympics is and it is again exemplary. The absolute star of it has been Clare Balding, every time I turn on the TV she's there discussing another niche sport with aplomb and insight. It's almost like she's done some research beforehand to be able to ask relevant questions of the guest athlete who is there as the "expert."
The look of pleasant surprise on the faces of these people as they recognise that they can actually discuss the sport they love rather than give soundbites to an idiot is a joy, for that, Clare is today's hero.
R
Saturday, 13 August 2016
Day 7 - Let's Get This Party Started
August 13th.
And just like that, the start of the Track and Field events cause the numbers to explode. As this is the first time we've got some non-swimming numbers to count it's probably worth a recap of the rules:
Well that was simple.
.....
So Friday at the games gave us a bit of everything including an amazing set of numbers thanks to the Men's 20k race walk; over a million metres from that event alone.
We also have our first jumping and throwing figures so we can finally stop posting 0m now. For the record, EVERY jump and throw that is legal counts. If you take your 3 leaps during qualifying for the Long Jump they all count, every successful clearance of the bar in the High Jump counts. Every metre a Hammer flies if you stayed behind the line counts. As we say at the top, if they swim it run it jump it or throw it, we count it.
All told Day 7 gave us 93,900m of swimming, 1,752,300m of running (although technically a lot of that was walking), 746.15m of jumping and 11,934.03m of throwing. This leaves us with our totals.
Totals:
Swimming: 421,750m
Running: 1,752,300m
Jumping: 746.15m
Throwing: 11,934.03m
Total: 2,186,730.18m
At the equivalent stage of London 2012 we were at 844,284.92m so Rio is sitting on a lead of 1,342,445.26m which you have to say is significant. A big part of that (1,260,000m to be exact), is due to the 20k race walk appearing earlier this year but even accounting for that there's a deficit of 82,445.26m to be explained. I think we have to concede that Rio has a commanding lead at this point.
Hero of the day:
On the first day of really big numbers the 2 heroes today are coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. Today we honour Evelis Aguilar and Sofia Yfantidou who both jumped 1.56m in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump.
To be clear, they both jumped higher than that in subsequent rounds and will contribute a lot more to our final total by the end of their competition. If 2012 is any guide though, these will be the smallest measures we have at these games. Even then, go grab a tape-measure and mark that distance out. Then imagine jumping over it. They've done that and more but by giving us this towards the total they remind us that every metre counts.
Back tomorrow with the numbers from Super Saturday, see you then.
R
@howfarexactly
And just like that, the start of the Track and Field events cause the numbers to explode. As this is the first time we've got some non-swimming numbers to count it's probably worth a recap of the rules:
Human power only.
No bikes, horses or boats, no projectiles or ball games. If you run or swim or jump or throw something then we count it and add it all up.If you don't finish you don't count.
If you pull up 20 miles into the marathon then you'll have to live with me knowing you're a far finer specimen of human endurance than I will ever be. I won't be counting you though. This is more to do with my wish for discrete measurements than any disrespect for your achievement.Well that was simple.
.....
So Friday at the games gave us a bit of everything including an amazing set of numbers thanks to the Men's 20k race walk; over a million metres from that event alone.
We also have our first jumping and throwing figures so we can finally stop posting 0m now. For the record, EVERY jump and throw that is legal counts. If you take your 3 leaps during qualifying for the Long Jump they all count, every successful clearance of the bar in the High Jump counts. Every metre a Hammer flies if you stayed behind the line counts. As we say at the top, if they swim it run it jump it or throw it, we count it.
All told Day 7 gave us 93,900m of swimming, 1,752,300m of running (although technically a lot of that was walking), 746.15m of jumping and 11,934.03m of throwing. This leaves us with our totals.
Totals:
Swimming: 421,750m
Running: 1,752,300m
Jumping: 746.15m
Throwing: 11,934.03m
Total: 2,186,730.18m
At the equivalent stage of London 2012 we were at 844,284.92m so Rio is sitting on a lead of 1,342,445.26m which you have to say is significant. A big part of that (1,260,000m to be exact), is due to the 20k race walk appearing earlier this year but even accounting for that there's a deficit of 82,445.26m to be explained. I think we have to concede that Rio has a commanding lead at this point.
Hero of the day:
On the first day of really big numbers the 2 heroes today are coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. Today we honour Evelis Aguilar and Sofia Yfantidou who both jumped 1.56m in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump.
To be clear, they both jumped higher than that in subsequent rounds and will contribute a lot more to our final total by the end of their competition. If 2012 is any guide though, these will be the smallest measures we have at these games. Even then, go grab a tape-measure and mark that distance out. Then imagine jumping over it. They've done that and more but by giving us this towards the total they remind us that every metre counts.
Back tomorrow with the numbers from Super Saturday, see you then.
R
@howfarexactly
Friday, 12 August 2016
Day 6 - Repeating History and Making History
August 12th.
I have complained so far this year about only having swimming to measure. Listening to todays events that finally include the other categories and realising how much more work I'll have to do tomorrow gave me deja-vu. It's almost like I could have been forewarned.
My quadrennial idiocy aside, day 6 gave us 46,950m from the pool to give us 327,850m in total. That leaves Rio 8,850m ahead of London at this stage.
Totals:
Swimming: 327,850m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 327,850m
Hero of the day:
That would be Simone Manuel, I'll let someone far more qualified than me explain why.
See you all tomorrow for the start of the non-pool related action. It's going to be awesome!
R
@howfarexactly
I have complained so far this year about only having swimming to measure. Listening to todays events that finally include the other categories and realising how much more work I'll have to do tomorrow gave me deja-vu. It's almost like I could have been forewarned.
My quadrennial idiocy aside, day 6 gave us 46,950m from the pool to give us 327,850m in total. That leaves Rio 8,850m ahead of London at this stage.
Totals:
Swimming: 327,850m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 327,850m
Hero of the day:
That would be Simone Manuel, I'll let someone far more qualified than me explain why.
See you all tomorrow for the start of the non-pool related action. It's going to be awesome!
R
@howfarexactly
Thursday, 11 August 2016
Day 5 - A Silent Guardian...a Watchful Protector...a Dark Knight.
August 11th
At the pool once again where the problem of strange coloured water doesn't seem to be going away but more superhuman effort has seen 59,600m added to our total.
Only one more day of a swimming only programme for us and then we finally get some throwing and jumping and running to go with all this swimming, It's so close I can smell it.
Totals:
Swimming: 280,900m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 280,900m
Hero of the day:
Play for effect.
Whoever the wonderful person working for the Guardian Sports department was that made the decision to change the formatting of their results page. You're both the hero I deserve and the one I needed right now and I will very happily buy you a pint for the time you've saved me.
See you tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
At the pool once again where the problem of strange coloured water doesn't seem to be going away but more superhuman effort has seen 59,600m added to our total.
Only one more day of a swimming only programme for us and then we finally get some throwing and jumping and running to go with all this swimming, It's so close I can smell it.
Totals:
Swimming: 280,900m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 280,900m
Hero of the day:
Play for effect.
Whoever the wonderful person working for the Guardian Sports department was that made the decision to change the formatting of their results page. You're both the hero I deserve and the one I needed right now and I will very happily buy you a pint for the time you've saved me.
See you tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Wednesday, 10 August 2016
Day 4 - He is the Champion My Friend
August 10th.
Play this for full effect.
I'm re-naming him, it has to be done. "Michael Phelps" no longer works, it's now "Michael FUCKING Phelps". He has competed at 5 different Olympiads, he has medalled (ugh) at all but his first. He knows exactly how awesome Katie Ledecky is.
He works so hard that this is his daily diet, he probably has a bigger carbon footprint than you just through what he eats compared to what you drive. Having already owned the record for most medals at the modern games he has apparently tied a 2,168 year old record with a chance of breaking it. He is what we should all aspire to be. Thank you Michael.
Anyway, totals for today are 50,300m worth of swimming. This gives us a total of 221,300m which gives Rio a lead over London of 16,100. I have to admit that I'm starting to get nervous over this. Hopefully the Russian ban effect will kick in soon.
Totals:
Swimming: 221,300m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 221,300m
Hero of the day:
MICHAEL FUCKING PHELPS
I can't add to that.
See you tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Play this for full effect.
I'm re-naming him, it has to be done. "Michael Phelps" no longer works, it's now "Michael FUCKING Phelps". He has competed at 5 different Olympiads, he has medalled (ugh) at all but his first. He knows exactly how awesome Katie Ledecky is.
He works so hard that this is his daily diet, he probably has a bigger carbon footprint than you just through what he eats compared to what you drive. Having already owned the record for most medals at the modern games he has apparently tied a 2,168 year old record with a chance of breaking it. He is what we should all aspire to be. Thank you Michael.
Anyway, totals for today are 50,300m worth of swimming. This gives us a total of 221,300m which gives Rio a lead over London of 16,100. I have to admit that I'm starting to get nervous over this. Hopefully the Russian ban effect will kick in soon.
Totals:
Swimming: 221,300m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 221,300m
Hero of the day:
MICHAEL FUCKING PHELPS
I can't add to that.
See you tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Tuesday, 9 August 2016
Day 3 - Just Keep Swimming
August 9th.
One thing that you gain a real appreciation for by doing this is just how much sport goes on at a games. Sadly you also realise how little of it we measure here.
We've had amazing athletes from all over the world cycling and rowing and shooting and fighting and dancing and doing incredible things in the gymnastics arena and I'm stuck with nothing but swimming still.
Thankfully we're now almost halfway towards day 7 when we get something else to measure so stick with me, it gets more interesting from there on out.
Today's swimming schedule brought us an additional 35,600m to bring us to 171,000m so far, leaving Rio 8,400m ahead of London at this stage.
Totals:
Swimming: 171,000m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 171,000m
Hero of the day:
Each and every one of the competitors in the Archery, a sport simultaneously relaxing and gripping to watch. I'm just sorry we don't count it.
We'll be back tomorrow with more damn swimming.
R
@howfarexactly
One thing that you gain a real appreciation for by doing this is just how much sport goes on at a games. Sadly you also realise how little of it we measure here.
We've had amazing athletes from all over the world cycling and rowing and shooting and fighting and dancing and doing incredible things in the gymnastics arena and I'm stuck with nothing but swimming still.
Thankfully we're now almost halfway towards day 7 when we get something else to measure so stick with me, it gets more interesting from there on out.
Today's swimming schedule brought us an additional 35,600m to bring us to 171,000m so far, leaving Rio 8,400m ahead of London at this stage.
Totals:
Swimming: 171,000m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 171,000m
Hero of the day:
Each and every one of the competitors in the Archery, a sport simultaneously relaxing and gripping to watch. I'm just sorry we don't count it.
We'll be back tomorrow with more damn swimming.
R
@howfarexactly
Monday, 8 August 2016
Day 2 - Gold Medal Grandma
August 8th.
Still stuck with our only action coming from the pool but we did get the pleasure of Michael Phelps winning his 89th Olympic medal And Katie Ledecky showing she's probably the single most dominant athlete in the world right now.
All told, 55,900 metres was added to our total bringing us to 135,400m for this games giving Rio a lead over London of 7,600m so far.
Totals:
Swimming: 135,400m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 135,400m
Hero of the day:
Britain's Adam Peaty broke his own world record to record the country's first Mens Swimming Gold since Seoul 1988, proper hero stuff. The real hero though is not Adam but his number 1 fan, his Grandma Mrs. Mavis Williams. Congratulations Mrs. Williams, we could all do with someone like you in our corner.
See you all tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Still stuck with our only action coming from the pool but we did get the pleasure of Michael Phelps winning his 89th Olympic medal And Katie Ledecky showing she's probably the single most dominant athlete in the world right now.
All told, 55,900 metres was added to our total bringing us to 135,400m for this games giving Rio a lead over London of 7,600m so far.
Totals:
Swimming: 135,400m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 135,400m
Hero of the day:
Britain's Adam Peaty broke his own world record to record the country's first Mens Swimming Gold since Seoul 1988, proper hero stuff. The real hero though is not Adam but his number 1 fan, his Grandma Mrs. Mavis Williams. Congratulations Mrs. Williams, we could all do with someone like you in our corner.
See you all tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
Sunday, 7 August 2016
Day 1 - Time differences and date lines.
August 7th
Though to be clear, we're dealing with the numbers from yesterday, the 6th, the first day of real competition at this Olympiad, (sorry Soccer, there's nothing I can measure from you).
Going forward, if you're reading this from the same time zone as me then we'll update every morning with the previous days numbers. That was the plan for today but then it was sunny and cider happened.
Like last time out we start with swimming and the first day of competition has given us an incredible 79,500m. Then I was astonished at how much was covered on the first day; this time I was prepared. 79.5km is slightly more than this guy swam to protest against pollution. I'm guessing he had a worse time of it though.
This gives Brazil a lead over London of 9,300m for the first day of competition. What this means I have no idea, but I guess we'll find out when I'm more sober.
Totals:
Swimming: 79,500m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 79,500m
Hero of the day:
Of course it's Christoph Martin Meier, he has given us our first measurements though sadly appears to have almost no online presence that I can link to. (Hopefully he'll accept my friend request though).
See you all tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
EDIT: Update, he acccpeted my friend request. You are a gent and a scholar Christoph.
Though to be clear, we're dealing with the numbers from yesterday, the 6th, the first day of real competition at this Olympiad, (sorry Soccer, there's nothing I can measure from you).
Going forward, if you're reading this from the same time zone as me then we'll update every morning with the previous days numbers. That was the plan for today but then it was sunny and cider happened.
Like last time out we start with swimming and the first day of competition has given us an incredible 79,500m. Then I was astonished at how much was covered on the first day; this time I was prepared. 79.5km is slightly more than this guy swam to protest against pollution. I'm guessing he had a worse time of it though.
This gives Brazil a lead over London of 9,300m for the first day of competition. What this means I have no idea, but I guess we'll find out when I'm more sober.
Totals:
Swimming: 79,500m
Running: 0m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Total: 79,500m
Hero of the day:
Of course it's Christoph Martin Meier, he has given us our first measurements though sadly appears to have almost no online presence that I can link to. (Hopefully he'll accept my friend request though).
See you all tomorrow.
R
@howfarexactly
EDIT: Update, he acccpeted my friend request. You are a gent and a scholar Christoph.
Saturday, 6 August 2016
Day Zero-ish: Directors cut.
August 6th
Well it turns out that I can't really comprehend time-zone differences. I had been hoping to bring you the numbers from today but it turns out the swimming isn't finishing until about 3 in the morning. I care about this but not that much.
I can confirm that we have some metres thanks to the swimmers but they haven't finished yet. Nonetheless, tomorrow's hero of the day is likely to be Christoph Martin Meier, a 23 year old swimmer from Liechtenstein of all places. Not only has he given us the first metres to count this year but thanks to him I've learned how to spell Liechtenstein.
I'll be back tomorrow morning (GMT) with the whole lowdown on day one.
Well it turns out that I can't really comprehend time-zone differences. I had been hoping to bring you the numbers from today but it turns out the swimming isn't finishing until about 3 in the morning. I care about this but not that much.
I can confirm that we have some metres thanks to the swimmers but they haven't finished yet. Nonetheless, tomorrow's hero of the day is likely to be Christoph Martin Meier, a 23 year old swimmer from Liechtenstein of all places. Not only has he given us the first metres to count this year but thanks to him I've learned how to spell Liechtenstein.
I'll be back tomorrow morning (GMT) with the whole lowdown on day one.
Friday, 5 August 2016
Day Zero.
August 5th
Hello again fans of arbitrarily chosen numbers; let's do this.
At some point this evening (from my British Summer Time perspective), the Olympics opening ceremony will be staged. I'm guessing Samba dancing will feature at some point though hopefully, I'll be asleep at that point as we are only here to add everything up and the time difference could be a pain.
Anyway, let's get onto...
The Rules:
Hello again fans of arbitrarily chosen numbers; let's do this.
At some point this evening (from my British Summer Time perspective), the Olympics opening ceremony will be staged. I'm guessing Samba dancing will feature at some point though hopefully, I'll be asleep at that point as we are only here to add everything up and the time difference could be a pain.
Anyway, let's get onto...
The Rules:
Human power only.
No bikes, horses or boats, no projectiles or ball games. If you run or swim or jump or throw something then we count it and add it all up.
If you don't finish you don't count.
If you pull up 20 miles into the marathon then you'll have to live with me knowing you're a far finer specimen of human endurance than I will ever be. I won't be counting you though. This is more to do with my wish for discrete measurements than any disrespect for your achievement.
So there we go, let's (starting with some swimming tomorrow) find out how far exactly.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Day 17 - The Number's (are) up.
And just like that we're done. All the figures are in and we can answer the question.
How far exactly?
Before we get there though I'd like to take a moment to make...
An Apology.
In the original posting of Day 15 I mixed up Rachael Hodges of the BBC and Rachel Burden of the BBC. I could offer a reason for this (I'm guessing an auto-complete issue) but not an excuse. It was my responsibility to check my work before clicking publish and I didn't do this thoroughly enough.
This then is a heartfelt and genuine apology to Rachael and Rachel, both of whom I think are great at their jobs.
I'm sorry for any distress or upset and I regret my error.
I'd also like to thank Nicky Campbell and George Riley both also of the BBC for pointing out my mistake to me so that I could correct it.
 |
| He's right you know, it WAS Rachel Burden. |
 |
| He's right too, Rachael Hodges is someone else entirely. |
During my comments on his coverage of these games I failed to mention that he had basically the exact same gig at Euro 2012 as well.
He performed just as "admirably" there and I did not reflect this. I hope this concludes the issue.
Numbers
These are the last ones mind; this is all the counting done. I'm not looking at another spreadsheet for at least a week.
Quick rule recap: swimming, running, jumping and throwing only. If you don't finish you don't count (sorry).
First up are today's figures:
Swimming: 7,200m
Running: 3,691,575m
Jumping: 0m
Throwing: 0m
Today's Total: 3,698,775m
Which added to what we had gives us...
What we did this Summer
Most productive day
The busiest single day of the games was August 5th when thanks mainly to the 107 Women finishing the Marathon 4,628,099.92m was covered.
First to last, smallest to biggest.
The very first metres we counted were given us by Bradley Ally, winner of the first heat in the Men's 400m Swimming Individual Medley.
The very last came from Narumi Kurosu in the Women's Modern Pentathlon Combined Event.
The Smallest measure counted was 1.56m jointly recorded by Chantae McMillan, Sofia Ifadidou and Louise Hazel in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump.
The greatest distance comes from any of the finishers in the Men's 50km Race Walk but I'm going to pick out Jared Tallent as it was his finish that got our cumulative total through 10 million metres.
Jumping up and jumping along.
In the vertical jumping events 2,290.06m was cleared in total which is enough to clear 464 new London Route-master buses placed on top of each other.
Or
We could take The Burj Khalifa
 |
| 828m |
Bolt Taipei 101 to the top of it
 |
| 509m |
Plonk the Eiffel Tower on there
 |
| 324m |
Glue The Shard to all of this
 |
| 310m |
Add The Gherkin to keep it company
 |
| 180m |
 |
| 85m |
 |
| 51.6m |
And our total would still be enough to comfortably clear the top of Nelson's head.
The horizontal distance jumped by the athletes comes in at 5,431.56m.
That is over 483 of our faithful friend the Route-master buses bumper to bumper. (And also spookily near to the number cleared vertically).
|
| Oh Hai! |
Throwing it about.
Combining all of the successful throws throughout the games gives us 63,256.68m.
Now I know it's a bit of a cop out but I'm just going to go back to my very first comaprison.
 |
| Bonjour! |
The distance covered is just about enough to throw something over the English Channel and leave enough for our oldest friends to return the gift
Going for a quick dip.
The total distance swam by the Women and Men at the 2012 games is 1,059,900m
That works out to 21,198 lengths of an Olympic pool.
 |
| You may have seen one recently. |
In the Men's 50m Freestyle final Florent Manaudou took gold in a time of 21.34 seconds.
If he was able to maintain that pace for the full distance it would still take him 5 days, 10 hours, 23 minutes and 57.32 seconds.
He'd probably need a bit of a rest afterwards too.
Just run it off.
The total distance ran at these games is 16,351,990m
That works out to 40,880 Laps of a 400m track. (Technically 40,879.975 but come on, I'll be lax this once).
 |
| This may also seem familiar |
 |
| This deja vu is driving me crazy |
So finally then. How far exactly?
17,482,868.30m
Which is:
10,863.35 miles -ish
Which is:
1,556,800.383 of
 |
| Hello again! |
bumper to bumper.
Goodbye
Well there we go. Question asked and question answered. Before I go I'd like to thank everyone who has read and enjoyed this; especially those of you have shared this through Facebook and Twitter. I genuinely appreciate it, really, thanks. Please continue to do so (I make no money from this, would just like as many as possible to see it).
If you read it and didn't like it well thanks anyway for trying it out I guess.
If anyone wants to use any of the numbers on here then feel free but I would appreciate a link back for it.
If anyone is especially interested in the spreadsheet then e mail me on howfarexactly@gmail.com and I'll happily send you a copy.
And that's it. We now know something we didn't 2 weeks ago. Be good. I need a pint.
Richard
You can follow me on Twitter at @Le_Paien_Roux
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