Fantasy Race Results

Everybody we interview gets asked the same question: "If you could race against, and beat, any athlete from any era in any race. Who, when, where and what would it be?"

On runbundle we make those dreams a reality. Well, a fantasy, but a slightly more tangible fantasy.

Race 1 - Paul Sinton Hewitt - parkrun

Paul fancied a race against, and a bit of friendly banter with, his hero Nelson Mandela. In true hero style, Mandela took the spoils with PSH happy runner-up.

PSH/Mandela Smackdown
1 South Africa Nelson Mandela Hero
2 United Kingdom Paul Sinton-Hewitt Still a hero

Race 2 - Ivo Gormley - GoodGym

Ivo had a crazy - or brilliant - idea of a team race with him, Mo Farah and a bunch of GoodGymmers going against others to build a mountain refuge hut.

Mountain Refuge Hut Challenge
1 United Kingdom Team GoodGym Champions
2 United Kingdom Traditional gyms No spirit

Race 3 - Guy Learmonth

There was only one man to beat and one place to do it for 800m specialist Guy Learmonth. Letting Rudisha do what he does best and front run, Guy hung on for dear life to the suicidal pace and pipped him on the line for a new World Record and the Olympic title.

London Olympics 2012 - Men's 800m Final
1 United Kingdom Guy Learmonth 1:40.90
2 Kenya David Rudisha 1:40.91
3 Botswana Nijel Amos 1:41.73
4 Kenya Timothy Kitum 1:42.53
5 USA Duane Solomon 1:42.82

Race 4 - Robbie Britton

Robbie raced Yiannis Kouros at the age of 60, and just managed to beat him, but his dream would be to go against the Greek ultramarathoner when he was managing 300 km in 24 hours, and to gain a five-metre lead in a sprint finish.

24-hour Track Race Smackdown
1 United Kingdom Robbie Britton 300.005 km
2 Greece Yiannis Kouros 300 km

Race 5 - John White

Forget the elites. John wanted to seek revenge on that tall 13-year-old that beat him in the hurdles at Clairville Stadium back in 1993.

100m Hurdles - Clairville Stadium 1999
1 United Kingdom John White Fast
2 United Kingdom Tall Kid Not as fast

Race 6 - Wife of a Runner

The wife of a runner was interested in one thing only. Wiping that smug look off her husband's face.

Local 10k
1 United Kingdom Wife Superior
2 United Kingdom Husband Inferior

Race 7 - Ben Pochee

Ben's dream was to go up against the amazing Zátopek and put a stop to his treble at the 1956 Helsinki Olympics.

Helsinki Olympics 1952 - Men's 10,000m Final
1 United Kingdom Ben Pochee 29:16.8
2 Czechoslovakia Emil Zátopek 29:17.0
3 France Alain Mimoun 29:32.8
4 Soviet Union Aleksandr Anufriyev 29:48.2
5 Finland Hannu Posti 29:51.4

Race 8 - Matt Kiernan

Matt was keen on stepping up and showing participants of "the dirtiest race in history" how it should be done. In a photo finish he managed to dip over the line just 0.01 seconds ahead of Carl Lewis.

Seoul Olympics 1988 - Men's 100m Final
1 United Kingdom Matt Kiernan 9.91
2 USA Carl Lewis 9.92
3 United Kingdom Linford Christie 9.97
4 USA Calvin Smith 9.99
5 USA Dennis Mitchell 10.04

Race 9 - Kelly Houston - 5x50

Kelly just wanted a chat with Paula Radcliffe about how one deals with gossip when you're in the limelight. Since it's not a race we'll give them both gold.

A Lovely Chat
1 United Kingdom Paula Radcliffe Chatty
1 United Kingdom Kelly Houston Talkative

Race 10 - Ray Wallace - 5x50

Ray's a big fan of the golden era of British middle distance running and fancied a race with the big three, Coe, Cram and Ovett, so we slipped him into the 1984 LA Olympics 1500 metre final.

Middle Distance Maestro
1 United Kingdom Seb Coe Still victorious
2 United Kingdom Ray Wallace Upsetting Crammy
3 United Kingdom Steve Cram Bronze will have to do
DNS United Kingdom Steve Ovett Bronchial

Race 11 - David White - Active Train

David wanted to test Farah like Bekele never got the chance to. And why can't they both break the world record in the process?

London Olympics 2012 - Men's 5,000m Final
1 United Kingdom David White 26:17.51
2 United Kingdom Mo Farah 26:17.51
3 Ethiopia Dejen Gebremeskel 13:41.98