Thursday, October 27, 2011

Crazy Ass Marathoners

I have some folks I know of who are really into running marathons as far as I can tell by the chatter on the InterWeb.

I've done some running over the years, but I've never gone as far running a marathon. I got up to working in the 5K range at one time, which is a good cardio workout, but I have an on-again/off-again relationship with running. Lately though it's mostly been off. The ways things have been going lately, I'm lucky to take my dog for a walk and be able to work out on the elliptical on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

A guy I met this summer is an ultra marathoner. The amount of time he had to put into that pursuit seemed comparable to a second job. Or an addiction.

But an article I read recently from Utne makes ultra-marathoning look easy. I kid you not.

In "It's a Mad, Mad Marathon" by Leslie Jamison, you get to read about a race inspired by a prison break, a course designed by a madman, an invitation-only affair that makes readers wonder "Why?"

2 comments:

Babe Runner said...

I'd heard about the Barkley Marathons. I want no part of it, though I must say that bit of craziness makes my running "only" 26.2 seem reasonable and sane. Well, sort of.

Quintilian B. Nasty said...

I thought the connection of ultra-marthoning to addictive personalities interesting. I am impressed by the endurance and mental resilience it would take do a loop or even do the whole thing.