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The Craziest Races in the World
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You all know about the comfort zone-- that's where most ultras take place. running ultras is all about staying in the comfort zone. All of our strategies revolve around staying in the comfort zone. All our advice is about staying in the comfort zone: "start slow, walk every uphill, don't take chances." For all the talk about exploring human potential, and seeking our limits, ultrarunners tend to play it safe. they lineup "challenges" they know they can finish and run them carefully, well within their "limits".
We believe success is never failing. At the Barkley, success is about over-reaching our abilities and living to tell about it. Sometimes success is getting your ass out alive.
- Lazarus Lake, Founder of the Barkley Marathons
This issue is dedicated to the wildest races on earth. Some are life-threatening, some define a culture, and others are simply ego trips to capture the unattainable nirvana that exists at the nexus of fear <> adrenaline. Nevertheless, they are fascinating events that occur on our very earth. Enjoy.
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Space'd out remix to this classic track. Perfect way to launch into this week's newsletter.
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"There are 17 American men in history who have run under 2:10 in the marathon," Epstein says. "There were 32 Kalenjin who did it in October of 2011." Is this the greatest concentration of sport's talent in any sport in the world? Why are the Kenyans the best endurance runners in the world?
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In order to feel alive, sometimes you have to break away from your comfort zone and dance along the edge of sanity, taunting the Grim Reaper. Pain wakes you up to a more profound mindset where your mundane, everyday worries have the volume turned down. Extreme activities, such as ultramarathons, are a form of therapy that puts life into perspective. A standard full marathon is 26.2 miles of hard work and dedication, but this list is going extreme with races that go beyond the norm, heading into the territory of suffering and self-discovery. In compiling this list of the toughest races in the world, we chose insane ultramarathons that are flat out brutal, making us cringe.
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Each of the 10 horses that compete in the Palio has to go to church on the day of the race. The horse that wins has to go twice. Before the race, every horse is led into the chapel of the contrada or district that he represents to be blessed by a priest. Afterwards, the winner must also attend a mass of thanksgiving at the city's cathedral. These solemn rites are witnessed by more or less the entire able-bodied population of Siena - men, women and children, festooned with the flags of their contrade and beside themselves with emotion - in an atmosphere of voluble but barely articulate hysteria.
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This year, I answered the call of La Carrera Panamerica. For the uninitiated, the Pan-Am is a seven day race where vintage race cars tear through 2,000 miles of Mexican city streets and backcountry. The race began in 1950, as an initiative of the Mexican government to showcase a then-new system of roads, called the Pan-American Highway. In 1955, the PR effort was deemed a success and the race was shuttered, only to be revived in 1988 by a group of auto enthusiasts. Running such an historical event was a bucket list item, and I bought the perfect car to see my dream to fruition: a 1968 Porsche 911.
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In the summer of 1977, a fire swept across the wilderness of interior Alaska, west of Mount McKinley. Tundra burned to rock; 345,000 acres of forest — more than 530 square miles — disappeared in flames. When the smoke cleared, it left behind a weird scar on the map, a vast, charred crater littered with deadfall. In the winter, when temperatures in the interior dive to 40 below, the skeletons of burned trees snapped in the cold or were ripped out by powerful winds. The tussocks of tundra grass froze as hard as bowling balls. Every year in early March, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race sets out from Anchorage, in the south-central part of the state, and runs northwest toward the finish line in Nome, on the coast of the Bering Sea.
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This race is wild. The mythical Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon trail race held in the middle of nowhere Tennessee and consists of 5 multi-terrain "laps" which are 20 miles in length each. If runners complete 60 miles this is known as a "fun run". The full course is 100 miles. The race is limited to a 60-hour period and takes place in early spring. Only a handful of contestants have finished the race throughout its two decades of existence. Conditions can include snow, sleet, and inmates. I highly recommend this documentary.
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An epic adventure that begins with one simple question, "why does my foot hurt?" Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets.
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If you are are motivated by today's content and looking to up your game, check these out. It took me a while to come around on them, but these ON trainers are truly the best running shoes on the market. Furthermore, they have patented "speedlaces" which you never have to tie and they hold their flex for running. Obviously made by the Swiss.
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