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6 Races That Make Marathons Look Wimpy
mentalfloss.com — I’m currently training for a marathon. When I start to think, “This is stupid...” I don’t stop and remind myself why I’m trying to run a 26.2-mile race. I prefer to comfort myself with “Yeah, but it’s nowhere near as crazy as...” and then fill in a truly absurd feat of human endurance that makes 26.2 miles look positively meager.
msaleem- 658 diggs
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- Dr00pieS, on 04/04/2008, -4/+14My step dad does 100 mile races all over the country. ***** crazy ass.
- macjaeh, on 04/04/2008, -1/+5My step dad can outrun YOUR step dad.
- Nidy1, on 04/04/2008, -0/+6Yea, well, my dad does 200 mile races all over the country.
- Smono, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Is your step-dad's name Dean Karnazes?
- jakash, on 04/04/2008, -0/+18Everybody hates it when lists start at 1... why do it?!
- plenTpak, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1My guess is because it's not a Top 6, just 6 that he happened across.
- NightcrawlerX, on 04/04/2008, -2/+11Amazing races...
but don't underestimate this year's Olympics marathon? not that wimpy if you know that there are 250mg/m³ of carbon monoxide in the air of Beijing area (when the norm is 20mg/m³!!!!!!!!!!)- BruceDude, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1They're going to have to use respirators to finish the race.
- tmbrwolf19, on 04/04/2008, -0/+5Apparently several teams are going to stay outside of China, and only fly in to compete to minimize the amount of time they have to breathe that air. What a sad state that is.
- dinobot, on 04/04/2008, -1/+3Nice list but they failed to mention the inspiration of the Colac Six Day Race, specially since it got renamed a couple of years back to "The Cliff Young Australian Six Day Race"
- tester80, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2http://elitefeet.com/2007/12/30/the-legend-of-clif ...
Simply inspirational.
- tester80, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2http://elitefeet.com/2007/12/30/the-legend-of-clif ...
- VeniceCA, on 04/04/2008, -2/+3Comrades Run - South Africa - 50 miles (90k) - since 1921
- surKaz, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Man.. the Badwater elevations and dips must screw with people. The pressure changes are probably slow as you ascend/descend.. but still..
and even on a bike, 500 miles in 48 hours wth 56,000 feet of elevation gain..
all the distances/time limits are gruesome for any regular human to get into that. It takes years of training to be able to successfully compete in anything like this.. - dagnabbit, on 04/04/2008, -0/+5Here in Minnesota we have the Arrowhead Ultramarathon - essentially a sister event to the Badwater. Instead of heat, they run (or bike or ski) 135 miles in the frigid cold and snow. Crazy.
http://www.arrowheadultra.com/- CaptMonkey, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1I was disappointed to not see Arrowhead on the list. Just reading about it and seeing the pictures makes me think it's much worse than Badwater. I think with enough practice I could probably do Badwater, I don't think I can say the same about Arrowhead. Running in -22 degrees F is crazy.
- jimmy17, on 04/04/2008, -0/+4Don't forget this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_des_Sables
Two competitors died last year.- surKaz, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2holy crap!..
"Competitors must carry all personal belongings and food for the entire event in their backpack. Water and tents are supplied by the organizers. "
Ok.. that's alotta stuff..
Wandering in the desert.. thinking you're going nowhere... man, that'd be a strain, both mentally and physically..
- surKaz, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2holy crap!..
- BobMysterioso, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1The Barkley made this list. My family has a reunion in Wartburg TN - very very close to this race. I've been to Frozen Head state park and the terrain is really rough. I can't imagine a super marathon - or any marathon - over that terrain.
Any digg users from Wartburg? Any internet users even IN Wartburg? - Lasereth, on 04/04/2008, -1/+16How about the Auschwitz death march that Elie Wiesel participated in as a holocaust survivor (35 miles, if you stop marching you get shot in the head, no water, no food, in the snow at night)?
- H0tKarl, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakar_Rally
One of the only races that gets targeted by terrorists. - JohnnyHotballs, on 04/04/2008, -19/+4………………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………….’’~-~’…….killjews…….- LogitechG15, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2Fail
- akatherder, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3Awww it's a ted... HEY!
- Zihuatanejo, on 04/04/2008, -1/+13I like my marathons to be of the "Bunch of episodes of a certain TV show in a row" variety.
- pnmoore, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1I bet I could kick anybody's ass that could finish these races....immediately after they were done running the race
- Dush, on 04/04/2008, -0/+0If they have a cycling race on there I'm surprised they didn't include the Iditarod.
- opmike, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1The Iditarod is more of a marathon for the dogs than the person.
- H0tKarl, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man_TT#Descri ...
"Between 1907 and 2007 there have been 224 deaths during official practices or races on the Snaefell Mountain Course " - madcaps1980, on 04/04/2008, -1/+4They ain't got nothing on Forrest Gump!
- H0tKarl, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1RUN FORREST, RUN!!!!!
- Commodore84, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Think those are badass? How about the guy who ran 188 miles in 24 hours? Or two guys who ran who ran 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 different continents? Or 4000 miles across the Sahara?
7 ultimate achievements in endurance running: http://elitefeet.com/?p=21
Simply unreal. - G_money, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1Technically its a marathon, but the Pikes Peak Marathon makes regular marathons look wimpy.
- Commodore84, on 04/04/2008, -0/+13Also, there's the story of the 61-year-old farmer who won a 543-mile race in Australia...in work boots. How'd he win? He didn't know he was supposed to sleep. He ultimately inspired a new running technique and now no one (who wants to win) sleeps.
http://elitefeet.com/?p=38 (Read for the full story--incredible.) - Spinney, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3when I read the title I thought it meant race as in kenyans
- BigConna, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1***** step dads
- opmike, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1...is not as fun as ***** step sisters amirite?
- GiJoeBob, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fell_running
- skeeterbug84, on 04/04/2008, -0/+4I remember in gym when the mile run test was terrible. The end of the year mile and a half was even worse. 26 miles just makes me feel really bad about myself. :(
- dolface, on 04/04/2008, -0/+0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Quest
- danrdanny, on 04/04/2008, -1/+4Dugg because I just ran my first ultramarathon two weekends ago...50 miles in 9 hours and 49 minutes! Got another one Sunday.
- sprocketjockey, on 04/04/2008, -1/+2I've done 3 24hr SOLO mt. bike races and various other endurance races and plan on doing quite a few more. 24hr's straight is brutal, if you can get through the 3am hallucinations and make it to the morning all is good....
- sonofabeast, on 04/04/2008, -0/+17. Eskimos
- jonesyb, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Ranulph Fiennes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulph_Fiennes
Sheer craziness. - vertigoblue, on 04/04/2008, -2/+1Eco-Challenge, and Primal Quest, are killing those races...
- returnofthemac, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1This proves Digg is race-ist.
- AtomicTheory, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2The last line made it for me:
What these events lack in mainstream appeal, they make up for in sportsmanship and ownership of frozen vests. - PanicAK, on 04/04/2008, -0/+0The Kenyans race make marathons look wimpy...
- aclements, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1/me adds a few bike races to the list of things to do
- dawdygod, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3This list sucks. No mention of the Leadville 100. 100 miles atop the Colorado Rockies!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadville_Trail_100
- dawdygod, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardrock_100
- diginux, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1This races all fail in comparison to what marathon monks do.
http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.ht ...
The first 300 days are basic training, during which the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the fourth and fifth years they run 40km each day for 200 consecutive days. That's more or less a full marathon every day for more than six months. The final two years of the 1000-day challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days. - diginux, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1This fails in comparison to what marathon monks do.
http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.ht ...
The first 300 days are basic training, during which the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the fourth and fifth years they run 40km each day for 200 consecutive days. That's more or less a full marathon every day for more than six months. The final two years of the 1000-day challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days. - cyberdependent, on 04/04/2008, -0/+3My dad finished the Race Across AMerica twice, in '90-'91. 10 days, 9 hours, 35 minutes the first year. 10 days, 9 hours, 30 minutes the second year. I have a hard time imagining a more difficult experience for a human, after the second or third day (which is when you're usually riding through the featureless plains of Texas for hundreds of miles) your body does everything it can to make you stop. Hallucinations, Pain, Sores, Blindness, the works. However, some people just have this stubborn nature that would cause them to will their beaten carcass into motion, despite all reason and desire for self-preservation telling them to stop.
I was just a teen at the time, so it pretty much put me off sports and hard work forever. I do admire my dad to no end for it, though. - SanTe, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Pussies.
Buddhist marathon monk completes seven-year run
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/19/10636252 ...
More on the Mount Hiei runs:
The Spiritual Athlete's Path to Enlightenment
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/holly.html
Those who acknowledge they are unable to finish are expected to commit suicide "by hanging or disembowelment." Now that's a race that separates the men from the boys.
And by those standards, no, I don't qualify as a real man either. :) - f10bit, on 04/04/2008, -4/+0A marathon is 42.195 kilometres long, not 26.2 miles, it originated in Greece so i really can't see any reason why you would pin the mile tag on it...........
- DCGUY12, on 04/05/2008, -0/+1moran
- seeyounorth, on 04/04/2008, -2/+1Marathons are such pissing matches, what's next we share golf scores? lame...
- DCGUY12, on 04/05/2008, -1/+1Well, no. Marathons are very demanding and spiritually personal, and golf which isn't even a sport, it's a hobby, like chess and shuffleboard.
- FMVorenkamp, on 04/05/2008, -1/+0I was expecting an article about Kenyans.
- partrow, on 04/05/2008, -1/+1Race? Let's all "race" eachother! I remember when this was something to do in grade school. But don't most of us grow up after that? Why is it necessary to race "against" someone? If you want to run fast, run fast, but no one cares if you can run faster than someone else except maybe some folks who lack something worthwhile to do in their lives.
- gymskinz, on 04/09/2008, -0/+0Fun stuff... and I thought doing Ironman the last couple years was hard enough...
http://www.gymskinz.com/store/index.cgi/trashtalk
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