While the attention of many of us may be drawn to the Olympic Games being held currently, watching competitors running hard and long, especially in the long-distance track races and the marathon, may bring back for some of us dreadful memories of our schooldays when we were forced to run long distances.
Many a child has tried to get out of running the annual school cross-country event, though it has been known even for adults to have cheated by taking taxis and hiding in bushes before appearing fresh and fit in the latter stages of a long race.
We might be encouraged (if anyone can be encouraged about long-distance running), or perhaps simply intrigued, to read of people who run long distances.
Nowadays marathons are not long enough for people to run; we have marathons not on smooth roads but on mountain trails, in freezing temperatures as well as boiling temperatures; we have ultra-marathons, races of 100 kilometres and 100 miles. We even have people who run from the sea to the summit of the highest mountain in each of the continents – for fun!
We may remember the wonderful fictional film ‘Forrest Gump’ and the classic scenes where he ran across America from one ocean to the other and then turned around and ran back again – and again and again, with the wonderful refrain throughout the film of “Run, Forrest, run!”.
Interestingly, Robert Pope, a British distance runner, became the first known person to follow the route of Forrest Gump, crossing America four times during a 422-day, 15,700-mile run in 2016. Run, Robert, run!
Another (again, non-fictional) character, Russ Cook (nicknamed, not surprisingly, the ‘Hardest Geezer’) is also someone who earlier this year did something equally extraordinary: instead of running across America, he ran the length of Africa, from the most southerly point in South Africa to the most northerly, Ras Angela in Tunisia, a distance of 16,000 kilometres (the equivalent of 376 marathons) over 352 days through sixteen countries – all for charity! Run, Russ, run!
Other people have also tried extraordinary feats of endurance.
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The World Marathon Challenge is an amazing logistical and physical challenge in which competitors run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days (in less than 168 hours).
These marathons begin at Novo (Antarctica), followed by marathons in Cape Town (Africa), Perth (Australia), Dubai (Asia), Madrid (Europe), Fortaleza (South America) and Miami (North America). At least 645 men and 358 women have completed this exclusive quest. In 2023 David Kilgore won all seven marathons. Run, David, run!
Dean Karnazes is another extraordinary person who ran 350 miles (560 km) in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep in 2005, ran a marathon to the South Pole in −25 °C temperatures without snowshoes in 2002, ran the Badwater Ultramarathon (217 kms) across Death Valley in 49 °C temperatures numerous times and ran a marathon in each of the 50 United States of America in 50 consecutive days in 2006. Run, Dean, run!
Karnazes noted that some people run for the medals, but most for the experience, distinguishing between those who race and those who run.
He also underlined that the latter are “In the sport for the long run” with the pun intended.
They are in sport for life. So too are we, all of us. Russ Cook, mentioned above, said that “I’m a totally normal bloke, so if I can do this, hopefully people can apply this to their own lives in whichever way they choose. For 99% of people, it’s not going to be running across Africa, but it might look like chasing their dreams a little bit more.” Run, everyone, run!
After all, we all know that life is not a sprint but a marathon. We are in life for the long run and because we are, then we are in sport for the long run.
We might be familiar with the ‘Where’s Wally?’ books but might be wondering “Who’s Wally?” when we read the name of Wally Hayward yet this late great man completed the 90kms Comrades marathon in South Africa within the cut-off time at the age of eighty! He truly was in sport for the long run! As Dean Karnazes succinctly put it: “Running an ultra is simple: all you have to do is not stop”.
We must not stop sport; education is for life; sport is integral to education therefore sport is for life. We are in sport for the long run – maybe not running but certainly sport. Fun, man, fun! Long, man, long! Start running – and do not stop!
