The Far Side

The term Marathon originates from the legend of an Athenian messenger named Pheidippides, who ran 25 miles home to deliver news of a great victory in the battle of Marathon, then dropped dead from exhaustion. What a wuss. For today's extreme-endurance athletes, Pheidippides' fatal exertion would be a gentle warm-up. The real challenge is found in ultramarathonsraces of up to 100 km (62 miles) or even farther, often over the kind of rough terrain that would make the average jogger hang up his sneakers in horror. Ultrarunners endure cramps, blisters, dehydration and the occasional exhaustion-induced hallucination. Why? All for the pleasure...