Races that aren’t regular
Running isn’t always respected as the most exciting sport. If you break it down, it is just legs moving at a faster pace than they usually do. But there could be so much more to running. There are ways that you can make running more engaging, funny, and weird, and make it about something bigger than just a sport. Check out the following races!
Santa Speedo Run is only 1.6 km. That distance is so harmless that any serious runner would scoff at it. However, during the race, you’d be wearing nothing but Santa branded red undies and going against the sub negative 10 degree windchill of the Windy City. More interesting now, huh? Santa Speedo Run is dedicated to support people who live with Type I diabetes. A hundred percent of their proceeds go to the Chicago Diabetes project. If you ask me, that’s about the only reason that could make me strip down to I’m almost rated-R in a Chicago winter.
So you think Santa Speedo Run is PG? Nakukymppi says “hold my beer.” This 10k race in Finland accepts only socks, shoes, and hats as your gear. Go run like our ancestors did, in the beautiful Finnish fields and forest. This race doesn’t seem to stand for any bigger agenda than what it is. Someone over there at some point just simply said “people should be able to run with their asses out, and let’s give them a stage.”
“2400 calories, 12 doughnuts, 5 miles, 1 hour. The mantra of the Krispy Kreme Challenge epitomizes the test of physical fitness and gastrointestinal fortitude.” Runners for the race are categorized into three groups: the Challenger, the Casual, and the No-Doughnut. The Challengers have to finish 12 doughnuts and run 5 miles under an hour. The Casual can eat however many doughnuts they want. The No-Doughnut is fairly self-explanatory. In 2017, the Krispy Kreme Challenge hosted 6700 runners and raised 190,000 dollars for the UNC Children’s Hospital, which the Challenge has supported since its start.
If you prefer savory food to sweets, here is the NYC Pizza Run. The course is 5 km and participants have to eat 2 slices of pizza at checkpoints throughout the run. A portion of the proceeds go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, but moreover, the race itself is a satire/tribute to the busiest city in the world. They said it best on the Pizza Run website, after all New York is “a food obsessed metropolis where people are always on the run.”
If you like beer to go with your pizza, you are gonna have to fly all the way to Berlin. The Berlin Beer Mile is 4 lap (400m) race where at the beginning of each lap, participants have to chug a 330ml beer. If you puke, there is a one lap penalty. You can also join the race as a relay team, sharing the burden of the drinking, or the running if you are a bigger drinker than a runner. Awards for the race include best dress, biggest fan, and unicorn, which is the most spectacular puke award. Fun, right?
If you are a wine person, as opposed to beer, there’s a marathon for you in France. Le Marathon des Chateaux du Medoc is a 42 km run in Pauillac, France, where throughout the course, there are 23 stops for participants to enjoy wine and even oysters. A marathon sounds excruciating, but Medoc Marathon is a more festive event than competitive. People can dress however they like for the race. There’s live music performed along the course. You get to eat and drink and explore a beautiful French town on a peaceful weekend. What more could one ask for?
Do you like going for a jog with your dog? If the answer is yes, it is likely that you’d also enjoy Burro Days. The only difference is that your jog will be more than 29 miles with more 3000+ feet (900 meters) of elevation, and your dog will be your pet burro. Everyone has a burro right? Burro Days take place every year in July in Fairplay, Colorado. The race is organized to pay homage to the mining history of the town and the area, and it has been going on for 71 years! If you don’t have a pet burro, that is also ok. You can also race with your pet llama or dog packs…
If you like to race your dog instead, there’s also a race that you might be interested in, except that your dog will be horses, and you almost always lose. Every year in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, a man vs horse race is hosted. The course is around 22 miles across creeks, grass fields, and hills. In the 35 years history of this race, man only beat the horses twice in 2004 and 2007. Did that get you fired up a bit?
Men vs the machine! The Great Train Race has a course of 13.5 km and the goal is for participants to beat two trains to the finish line. (One fast one and one slow one) Apparently, trains are a bit more beatable than horses. Last year’s winner beat the fast train by more than 10 mins and the slow train by more than 35. It is a huge win for the humans after we’ve been embarrassed by the horses in Wales. So if you are scared for AI and machines taking over in the future, just know that in Australia there are some trains that you can still run faster than!
You can run a marathon in the happiest place on earth! I think that just about says it all…
(You can actually choose to run a 5k, 10k, or a half-marathon if a full one is too much for you. Also, rumor has it, that along the course there will be princesses, animals with human characteristics, and other magical stuff cheering you on. It’s Disney.)
The list above is just a few interesting races. There are so many more that could open your eyes to how fun running could be. Maybe one day, there will be a race where you run in undies, stop at stations for food and alcohol, against horses and trains, and is hosted in Disney World all together…
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