Eddie Izzard is one of The UK’s most beloved comedians. He is not, however known for his athletic prowess. But that's all about to change, because Eddie’s just completed a run - a very, very, VERY long run. 43 Marathons in 51 days for charity. [more inside]
posted by ColdChef on Sep 15, 2009 - 94 comments

"In 1968, I received an invitation to the hundred-mile run at Walton-on-Thames, England, scheduled for October 1969. I pulled out all the stops for this one, running every marathon possible and enduring unheard-of training mileage when not racing. In July alone I ran a thousand miles, two hundred short of my goal[...]My only goal was to break the existing American record of 16:07:43." (Which he did, finishing in 13:33; still the U.S. 45 to 49 100-mile record.) Ted Corbitt, Olympian, American Record holder at 100 miles, died yesterday. NYT obit. [more inside]
posted by OmieWise on Dec 13, 2007 - 13 comments

Believe it or not, there was a record for running the fastest 50 mile ultra marathon while juggling. And this guy just beat it. I present to you: joggling. [more inside]
posted by Terminal Verbosity on Nov 5, 2007 - 11 comments

2:04:26 Sunday 1 Oct. Haile Gebrselassie set a new World Record (by 29 seconds!) when he won the Berlin Marathon. He's held the WR at 2k and 3k (indoor), 5k (several times) (1998 part 1, 2) , 10k (several times), 10mile, 1/2 marathon, one hour (also) and 25k. Bonus: Alan Webb bests the American Record for the Mile this summer: 3:46.91
posted by OmieWise on Oct 4, 2007 - 21 comments

A 44-year-old Buddhist priest completed a seven-year, 24,800-mile running ritual on Thursday in Japan. The grueling ritual is performed by the gyoja, or "Marathon Monks," of the Tendai School of Buddhism at Mount Hiei. The ritual began in the year 831 with the monk So-o, and involves periods of running, walking, and chanting and praying to the Japanese deity Fudo Myo-o.
posted by homunculus on Sep 20, 2003 - 8 comments

Today is the 105th running of the Boston Marathon. Growing up in Natick, Massachusetts, which is the ten-mile point of the route, the Marathon was always a huge deal. I remember watching every year as the wheelchair racers would zoom by to the roar of the crowd. We'd then wait a few minutes until the State Police motorcycles and the press trucks marked the lead runners. Before long the street was nothing but a solid wall of runners in all shapes, sizes and colors. A favorite thing to do would be to cheer someone on based on the t-shirt they were wearing. One year I saw a man wearing a t-shirt with a picture of the Mandlebrot Set. I yelled "Go fractal man!" He looked at me and smiled, and I knew I gave him a little bit of a boost that day. The race is certainly a yearly tradition around these parts. Does the rest of the world care? Is this big news elsewhere or just a small blurb on Page E-6?
posted by bondcliff on Apr 16, 2001 - 37 comments

Robert Garside has received uncritical media coverage as he attempts to get into the Guiness Book of Records for being the first man to run around the world.
David Blaikie maintains Ultramarathon World (an online magazine for runners who find marathons too short) and is more than a little skeptical of Garside's claims.
The inevitable legal threats result.
posted by normy on Jan 28, 2001 - 4 comments