There is a myth that exists in this country: The only real manly sport is football. That, my friends, is a total misconception; there are tons of manly sports out there that are equal to, or exceeding, the manliness of American football!
Today I plan on focusing on one sport in particular, that sport being long distance running.
Long distance running consists of a variety of different events, including:
- the 5 kilometer
- the 10 k
- the 42 k
- Ultramarathons
I bet you're thinking, 'Sure, I've gone on a jog before! Anyone can run!'
But let's take a look at ultramarathons, the manliest of all long distance running. Have you ever heard of the Badwater Ultramarathon? It's taken place every July for 32 years now, in Death Valley California. . . that's right: DEATH. VALLEY. CALIFORNIA. Can you think of a more manly place to hold an ultramarathon? Don't even try, you'll hurt yourself.
It covers 135 miles of running, through one of the hottest place on the earth! Temperatures during the race have been recorded up to 55°! You have to run on the white line, or your shoe soles will literally melt off.
But it's not only the races that make long distance running one of the manliest sports on the planet; it's the people, too.
Right now, I am only going to focus on a few special people. The first man is known as 'the face of long distance running'; at one point in time he held all 7 official long distance running records in the US. And he had a badass moustache. The only man I could be talking about is the one and only Steve Prefontaine.
Look at that 'stache!
Prefontaine had a certain badassery about him. He pretty much sums up long distance running. Period. He has one extremely famous quote that I'd like to share:
"The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die."
Holy crap. Does that not get the testosterone flowing‽ Sadly, this superstar died in a car accident at the young age of 24, but like they say: only the good die young.
This next, and last, manly man I'd like to show you goes by the name of Dave Wottle. Wottle raced in the 1972 Olympic games in the shortest of all distance races, the 800 meter. I don't have to say anything more, the video says it all:
If those three examples of how obviously badass long distance running can be don't convince you of it's sheer testosterone-pumping insanity, then I don't know if you'll ever appreciate true manliness.
- The Situation
No comments:
Post a Comment