It's a bird, it's a plane....no, it's SPEEDO-MAN
March 2, 2001 1:14 PM   Subscribe

It's a bird, it's a plane....no, it's SPEEDO-MAN Almost an urban myth, SpeedoMan jogs the early morning streets of Annapolis, MD wearing nothing but...you guessed it...a Speedo. Is he CIA, is he FBI? Is he just some weirdo guy?
posted by briank (18 comments total)
 
Actually, I was bummed that the reporter was able to track him down and interview him. Some urban legends are better left unsolved.
posted by briank at 1:15 PM on March 2, 2001


Cute story.

Reminds me a bit of Pinkman from my college days in Eugene, OR. He was a unicyclist who would buzz around the college wearing a very bright, pink, spandex unitard. It had a hood and covered him down to the tips of his toes. Sometimes, he had a pink cape as well.

He would go around town and he would sing songs. At one of my more frequented bars, Max's, he would buzz in and sing this if there was a mic around: Pinkman! Comin' out of nowhere... Pinkman! He's a flying savior... or something like that.

He was around for a year before someone did a story on him. Then someone read the story and wrote a letter to the editor about his child molesting history in northern California. That was the end of Pinkman.

Pinkman! Comin' out of nowhere....!
posted by amanda at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2001


When I was in college, we had our own Speedo-Man, but everyone was scared of him. There were campus bulletins out all the time warning about him. I don't think he was every actually accused of being a rapist, but that was the implication.
posted by jpoulos at 1:44 PM on March 2, 2001


At my college, we had "The Blue Jogger". Clothed in a blue sweatsuit, he would run around the lakes early in the morning, and upon encountering a woman jogger/exerciser, would ask her to punch him in the stomach (no really).

He too was considered a menace (with campus bulletins devoted to his description), and as far as I can tell, has been pursuing his degree for at least a dozen years.
posted by Avogadro at 1:52 PM on March 2, 2001


hooray! i can't wait to get to annapolis next year. :D are there more naked people running around?
posted by pikachulolita at 2:36 PM on March 2, 2001


My god, avogadro! Fellow Domer! That's what I was referring to...I had the details all wrong. Class of '92.
posted by jpoulos at 3:09 PM on March 2, 2001


does no one find this man's story the least bit troubling, not to mention creepy/unlikely? his claim that the Speedo offers a runner greater comfort has to be take as the claim of a severly delusion man, doesn't it? this guy has got to be in an unbelievable amount of mental anguish to go out, day after day, pounding the streets like Satan was following and purposefully expose almost his entire body to the harsh climate of the annapolis winter, doesn't he? i think he does. anyone?
posted by jasonsmall at 3:12 PM on March 2, 2001


At my college we had a naked guy.
posted by perplexed at 3:21 PM on March 2, 2001


"Pinkman! Comin' out of nowhere....!"
Amanda-
I came to post about this guy, but you beat me to it!
I was there '95
Yeah, he was pretty funny until....
posted by metasak at 3:40 PM on March 2, 2001


What's the problem with pinkman? So he has done something (quite seriously) wrong in the past, does that forfeit his right to be weird or to be liked for the rest of his life? I assume he's been punished for it, isn't that enough?
posted by fvw at 4:10 PM on March 2, 2001


You had a naked guy? We have Shakey Jake.

More on local heroes here.
posted by rodii at 4:43 PM on March 2, 2001


Who said there was a problem with Pinkman?

I mean, obviously, there was a problem with Pinkman but the biggest part of his problem is that people would never see him the same way again. I mean, a guy in a pink unitard is weird enough -- it's crazy! But, the whole child molesting thing did take some charm out of it. I imagine after it came out, he wasn't safe cycling around the streets anymore, either.

J-school, class of '97, metasak.
posted by amanda at 5:01 PM on March 2, 2001


Okay... so searching google for one of Eugene, Oregon's other favorite wackos, Zeus.

Zeus rode his bike around Eugene. Was crazy as a loon and had a long-flowing beard. One of the stories was that he used to be a professor at the UO, that he had a breakdown and his parents wired him money on a monthly basis.

A friend of mine worked in a local coffee shop and said that once or twice a week, Zeus ordered a frothy Latte with one Barbie leg. He would bring in the legs, hand one over and ask that the latte be made with the leg in it. She always made the Barbie Leg Latte for him.

So, it sort of breaks my heart to see this story online. I'm pretty sure that she never saw him eat a leg.
posted by amanda at 5:17 PM on March 2, 2001


Apparently there is bicycle riding Conan around Seattle. Rides the Burke Gillman trail on a mountain bike with a big sword strapped to his back. Not sure about his diet, though.
posted by evad at 6:37 PM on March 2, 2001


In my university, UP Diliman, there's this one guy who walks or jogs around the University Oval wearing a cape (made of a ratty shirt, I think) and holding a piece of string or wire behind him. I can't remember if he's supposed to be pulling a toy car or walking a dog; he's been around for at least six years, possibly much longer. The last time I saw him was last week!

We also have a yearly tradition called the Oblation Run -- members of a particular frat run through the main building naked except for bags on their heads every december. It's sort of a big deal; kids from other schools in the area make a pilgrimage, almost all the freshmen turn out to see it, and there are always tons of media people around.

(perplexed, the Martinez link was pretty cool)
posted by lia at 11:59 PM on March 2, 2001


hmmm...at my alma mater we had...ugh...noone.

oops...yeah we did have a guy...he wrote scathing
anti-capitalist editorials for the college rag. He
was a weirdo college victim hippie sorta-guy.

he was arrested, eventually. he was charged with child-molestation because he had some nekkid pics
of kids.

he wrote some stuff that alot of people found bother-
some. the stuff was bothersome because it dealt
with the idea of nekkid kids.

it didn't deal with the idea of having sex with them.
it just talked about nekkid kids. and looking at them.

he's in prison now.

for life.


posted by red cell at 12:35 AM on March 3, 2001


I thought SpeedoMan was simply smuggling plums for Fidel Castro....

YOU LIED TO ME, SPEEDOMAN! I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE!
posted by Capn_Stuby at 11:53 PM on March 3, 2001


Hey there jpoulos! I was Class of '94 (Carroll Hall Vermin).
Send me a message!

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread...
posted by Avogadro at 12:39 AM on March 4, 2001


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