Somewhere Smarty Jones Is Crying

June 13, 2004 10:41 AM

Man Beats Horse, wins 25,000 pounds. For the first time, two legs triumphed over four in the annual Man Versus Horse Marathon in Wales.
posted by Frank Grimes (10 comments total)

I hear Cicciolina beat off a horse once.
posted by mr.marx at 10:47 AM on June 13, 2004

If elite marathoners have run 2:10 for 26.+ miles, then 22 miles at 2:05 is not staggeringly unusual...how many elete marathoners (say, Kenyons) have ever tried this race? I would guess none.
posted by Postroad at 11:31 AM on June 13, 2004

If elite marathoners have run 2:10 for 26.+ miles, then 22 miles at 2:05 is not staggeringly unusual...how many elete marathoners (say, Kenyons) have ever tried this race? I would guess none.

The pictures on the race's website give the impression that the path is much more, well, natural than you'd find at a typical city marathon which is run over roads. Looks like there are water crossings and steep, rocky hills that neither horse nor man could run up... Maybe an elite Kenyan marathoner would do well, but it looks like they'd be unable to keep up the type of rhythm and pace you see NYC or Boston marathon winners get into.
posted by crank at 11:54 AM on June 13, 2004

Yeah, we do a Man vs. Horse triathlon up here every year, and generally the horses do well in the running part, but drop behind in the swimming and bicycling legs.
posted by Hildago at 12:46 PM on June 13, 2004

I've hiked and mountainbiked in this part of Wales - it's a beautiful area. Running in this event is nothing like running a regular marathon - where you're not wading through rivers, jumping over fences, and negotiating very steep, rocky and/or muddy hillsides. This terrain is very tough for both the foot and horse competitors.
posted by normy at 12:57 PM on June 13, 2004

Hildago: After spending four hours digging a large hole in the backyard, that was just the "LOL" I needed to get the humor flowing in my body once again.
posted by Potloaf at 1:07 PM on June 13, 2004

very nice hildago
posted by knapah at 2:21 PM on June 13, 2004

Potloaf.. what are you up to?
posted by shinynewnick at 2:30 PM on June 13, 2004

HoleFilter.
posted by neckro23 at 3:42 PM on June 13, 2004

Poastroad, check this out. This is actually in the Lake District rather than Wales, and it's the route I took myself this last weekend, but the photographs are typical of the kind of terrain fell runners tackle for fun. It's very definitely not typical marathon country. This particular route would be impossible for a horse though...
posted by vbfg at 3:26 AM on June 14, 2004