Zen buggers? Mad or no?

I can only shake my head in wonder at this :

The longest foot race in the world is 3,100 miles, long enough to stretch from New York to Los Angeles. Those who run it choose a different route: they circle one city block in Queens -- for two months straight.

The athletes lap their block more than 5,000 times. They wear out 12 pairs of shoes. They run more than two marathons daily. In the heat and rain of a New York summer, they stop for virtually nothing except to sleep between midnight and 6 am.....

..... The 51-day event is sponsored by followers of meditation master Sri Chinmoy, who teaches his students to excel mentally and physically.....

They eat on the run. They talk on the run. They use a port-a-potty. One athlete cruised into a podiatrist to have two infected, ingrown toenails removed and was back on the course in two hours. He still ran 60 miles that day.

For someone like me, it's easy to dismiss this as an act of - in the words of Terry Pratchett - some mad Zen buggers. But they really believe. That's what's scary.

According to the article, there's only 14 people doing this 2 month race. And my mind fills with questions, starting with Only 14? Mad buggers! No wonder only 14 people! It's sponsered by some yogi somewhere who believes!

And continues with Mad buggers they may be, but they're amazing nevertheless. Fiona, you can't do your 2.4 and you're scoffing at people who do 2 marathons a day? What's that? A gazillion kilometres?

And ends with Ok, perhaps they're on to something? They possibly have the equivalent mental strength of someone the size of Australia?


There's more, but it takes time to pound out one's thoughts.