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Again.....too much....and why is the article under "Fashion and Style" for cryin out loud!
Although the definition of the term "sanity" is highly subjective and open to interpretation when it comes to ultrarunners, this is really testing the limits. A quote in the article says:

You know any sport has gone off the rails when you have to remove body parts to do it

I wouldn't go as far to paint the whole sport with such a broad brush for I am too hopelessly biased towards it...as with every other situation in life....there are a just few who have taken it too far.

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Seriously NYT....WTF! Devoting an entire article to such nonsense. I am no fast runner myself but all these people complaining in the article are not fast runners by any twist of imagination (4 odd hours for a 26.2...give me a break...I can do that too :P). My take on this is that.....unless you are right up there in the sub 3 or 2.5 hr mark...you should be careful before you open your trap to start complaining! How do you even define how fast is fast?

While I perfectly understand the need for cut0ffs and all, one needs to understand that not everyone has a hyper-competitive streak or the physical gifts to go all out during a race to finish in a super-fast time and feeling like a pile of crap at the end of it all. Just because someone takes 6 hours to finish a marathon doesn't mean they aren't giving it their best shot. You still need to respect the distance and the effort that is needed to finish it. If anything I would say, it is probably harder for the back of packers than the gazelles at the front, simply because of the longer time they have to be on their feet.

To all the whiners I say...if you are looking for a challenge, go run an ultra ....then you will surely understand what the so-called "plodders" go through ;)

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You will need a truly geeky sense of humor to appreciate this one :P

(source: xkcd)

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Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, "I'll do nothing until I can be sure". Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean.
-Rumi

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Weird and funny comics for the day