Big Man Run

It's not often I do something and think, "I hope I do this again every year for the rest of my life."

Big Man Run certainly falls into that category. I mentioned the rules of Big Man Run in an earlier post, but here's the quick recap:

• Run ~5 miles
• At each of 3 stops, eat a hot dog and drink a beer
• You must be a man, and you must weigh >190 lbs. (excepting a few sponsor's exemptions)
• You must bring cash to tip the waitress at each stop

I encouraged a bunch of my HBS buddies to do it, but my friend Steffen was the only one with the guts (no pun intended) to do it in the end.

Here are some thoughts on the day:

• There were a surprising number of guys that looked suspiciously less than 190 lbs.
• Many of the guys over 190 lbs. were the "tall with lean, athletic muscle" type, not the "I party all the time" type.
• We hit a total of 4 bars on the loop (including the one the race begins and ends at) and they were all awesome. Makes me jealous of people who live in Somerville.
• The Somerville area was incredibly supportive of our cause. I guess I would also enjoy watching such a spectacle, but I was impressed with how many people turned out to see us massive men run.
• It wasn't that hard to run with the beer and dogs in my stomach. I hadn't eaten since 10AM, and the race started at 4:19 PM, so I was actually pretty hungry for the food when I got it.
• Considering how much fun we all had, I'm surprised that this race format is not more common. Obviously, it's probably hard to find 300 fat guys willing to run 5 miles every weekend, but if they opened up the rules a little, and tried it with other foods, I bet they'd get a great turn out. Seems like you could do one on a hot summer day with ice cream and people would love it.

Here are all the pics from the day. I have to say, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun with anyone other than Steffen. He had the perfect attitude for the event. He says he'll fly back every year from now on from Belgium just to do this, and that he's gonna have a similar version over there that I should come out for. Sounds like a great plan to me. I have to say: I highly recommend mixing athletics with speed consumption.