[at-l] Something for the runners to ponder

[EHamilton]

The AT is "the equivalent of" 83.3 marathons (2,183/26.2) . Actually you walk a lot farther than that, what with trips to the water sources, trips to town, etc. From Springer to Harper's Ferry (1013 miles) is "the equivalent of" 38.6 marathons. If I walked those 38.6, which I did, plus the side trips, I'm saying I walked the distance of 38.6 marathons, and more, even though I didn't do 26.2 miles every day, or any day.

If you want to get technical, Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, back in 2006. Eight of those were official races in which he was a registered competitor. Since there isn't a marathon in every state every day of the week, on the other days he ran the exact course of an official marathon held in that state, even though there wasn't a race being held on it that day. Do did he run 50 marathons, or their equivalent? Did he white-blaze or blue-blaze? 

Who's counting?

MacGyver





________________________________
From: David Addleton <dfaddleton at gmail.com>
what exactly does "the equivalent of" mean here? 


as in the elevation gains in an AT thru hike "is the equivalent of" climbing Everest 15 times

hardly: you never hike above 7,000 feet hiking on the AT . . . I've climbed "the equivalent of climbing Everest" walking up and down to my office in my 10 story building;  bah . . . . I've hiked the equivalent of an AT thru hike walking to school every day  for eight or ten years -- as a kid! bah . . . . 

IMHO, and more likely, George Santayana was right: whenever we use the word *is* we deeply misuse it.

and I think those sorts of comparisons devalue the achievements of those who *actually* climbed  everest or ran 75 marathons in 75 consecutive days . . . or did a thru hike . . . . or raised their kids as a single parent . . . .

in my surly opinion = imso


On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Jim Bullard <jim.bullard at gmail.com> wrote:

This guy <http://www.terryhitchcock.com/> ran the equivalent of 75 marathons in 75 consecutive days. Now that is awesome.
>
>Jim Bullard
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