Something to read: The Barkley Marathon

I have never heard of this before.
It sounds wholly chaotic, borderline impossible and completely fascinating ...
http://www.believermag.com/issues/201105/?read=article_jamison

 

That's turrible.

 

Saslow wrote about this a few years ago in the Post.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/why-we-compete/2007/04/curiosity_1.html

 

The real Barkley marathon...

Eat 12 pizzas, run through Auburn and get a degree despite never going to class, eat a dozen donuts, claim to be misquoted in own autobiography, say something stupid about white people, lose in the playoffs, eat 100 chicken wings, throw arrogant fan through the window, say something stupid about black people, shoot 100 on the golf course, eat 12 more pizzas, piss off PETA, piss off NOW, and then... Finishline...

 

You left out: Make tens of millions of dollars.

 

and lost tens of millions of dollars.

 

And remain beloved through it all...

 

One of the guys at a stop was famous for some running and triathlon mishaps that we created a triathlon in his honor...show up 15 minutes late for the swim (he did that actually), ride the bike part on flat tires (did so as well) and run the last part backward (he didn't do that, but we needed something)

I also have run some beer miles (chug a beer from can, run quarter mile, chug, run --you get the idea) One of my friends became fixated on droing a 40 ounce beer mile. Practiced by drinking malt liquor for about three months. He made it to the fourth stop, but couldn't finish. It was a valiant effort.

 

You also forgot say you might run for governor of Alabama 25 times, and play blackjack and craps in Vegas for a week straight.

 

Having grown up on the Cumberland Plateau, that goes beyond stupidity to borderline criminal negligence. There are county lines there still marked as "undefined" on official state maps.

 

I can't believe they named a marathon after a Sesame Street character:

 

Beer miles are so much fun, but a 40-ounce mile? God bless him.