From: Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Date: Mon Aug 28 2000 - 23:26:23 MDT
> >spike66@ibm.net (Spike Jones) writes:
> >In the spirit of survivor, I propose a new sport, the optimal
> >strategy of which is unclear. The game is to see who can
> >walk (or run) the greatest distance, assuming that the competitor
> >must carry *all* necessary supplies, food, water, whatever else
> >might be needed.
> "Peter C. McCluskey" wrote:
>
> This is virtually indistinguishable from an existing sport. There is a
> race where people run from Badwater (in Death Valley) to Whitney Portal
> (which appears to be nearly 150 km by road).
Ja, a competitor in the Badwater to Portals is a friend and former
neighbor, Gil Cornell. They made a huge deal of his competing and
(I believe) winning that race when he was a grandfather. Nowthen,
it was a bit misleading to suggest a wisened old man winning
an ultramarathon, for tho he was technically a grandfather, he got there
by getting in trouble in high school, then his son grew up and did
likewise, so Gil was only 34 when his granddaughter was born. I
can assure you, he was very much at the top of his game.
My comment to Gil was that golf and ultramarathon are among
the few sports that will not be totally dominated by children, since
much of the competition in ultramarathon is mental discipline, which
the teenagers have yet to develop generally (this was before Tiger
Woods).
Gil added that ultramarathon is one of the very few sports where
men and women may compete more or less equally, and further
speculated that in a much longer race women may have the advantage
over men with their legendary greater pain threshold, etc. This has
been shown in the recent Eco-challenge. Comments?
> Rules about contestants carrying their own water presumably affect the
> maximum distance people can manage, but I wouldn't expect them to have
> major effects on the character of the race.
My notion of carrying everything puts greater emphasis on strategy and
less on who is the strongest. Of course the one in the best condition
still has a big advantage, but a desk jockey who does everything exactly
right could still make a respectable showing. It also emphasizes choosing
the right equipment, which will change depending on the conditions.
Nowthen, I have in mind designing this sport so that CRers would
have a shot. Generally CRers have small muscles, which takes them
out of the hunt for almost any competition except long running or
walking contests. Having the event in Death Valley favors the boney,
for with leanness comes great efficiency of the body's own
cooling system. A very thin person can reject sufficient heat thru
the lungs alone to obviate much sweating thru the skin. If you are curious,
go to Death Valley in late September and see how it feels when
it is about 100 degrees F and nearly zero humidity. Its comfortable!
Lungs are great cooling devices.
Lastly, I want a competition that allows a shot by those of us who
labor away our lives making micro-changes in the magnetic domains
on a spinning metallic disc in a climate controlled office. This would
include most of us here. The distance walk with no stopping, no caches and
no jettisoning of anything you started with has all these elements. Ive
already started choosing my equipment. spike
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