Thursday, May 21, 2009

The "Ego Challenge" is on

You've hear of the Eco Challenge. The adventure race in some 3rd world country cossing 100's of miles on foot, bike, canoe, etc. over many days.

Now there is the Ego Challenge.

Put simply, it is me vs. "Get Primal" Adam.

He is running FANS 24 hour timed race on June 6th, the same day I embark on the Kettle Moraine 100 Mile run.

The Challenge:

Who can be the first to reach 100 miles?

* There is a 2 hour gap between start times, so we are going by race clock. Or, add 2 hours to my clock time, and that is equal to Adam's. (If I finish my 100 by 4am, he needs to hit 100 by 6am.)

If that was not enough, you can follow it on Twitter. We will both be "twitting" from user "aharmer". If anything, this will be more real time than the race webcasts. (assuming the crews don't mind texting updates).

I will work with my crew to give live updates, as Adam will be doing the same.

So, not only can you follow one race, you can see how 2 unfold.

Is this cool, or super geeky? I am not sure. I just hope I don't get my butt kicked by more than 4 hours.

10 comments:

nwgdc said...

I didn't realize "cool" and "super geeky" were mutually exclusive.
All along I thought I was both. Hmph.

I'm excited to follow along! I'm still debating a "screw Grandma's and go run some trails" approach to Grandma's, where I'd go down to Kettle and run the 38 miler and maybe even heckle you a bit...

keith said...

This should be interesting!

Londell said...

Now who is collecting the wagers. I think Adam has the easier terrain so how did you only get 1 minute 5 seconds a mile? I think at least 3 minutes a mile or 5 hours would be fair. But the again, you have a 100 under you belt! Be fun to follow

Runnin-From-The-Law said...

Looks like I'm gonna have to finally figure out how to use twitter.

Carl Gammon said...

Ooh, how did you get talked into this one? You're running trails and hills and stuff and Adam is on a nice smooth bike path.

SteveQ said...

Just so none of the tweets say: Steve died.

Adam said...

I'd say "super geeky" is not only the better description, it is an understatement. Nevertheless I look forward to kicking your butt. Londell and Carl, you're right about the terrain. I think the rationale was that I still had 4-5 hours left at 100 miles, while Matt was done. The bike path seems easier but I dread 24 hours on that damn thing far more than being on a trail with some leg relieving hills. Who knows, I might not even get to 100!

Steve said...

"Just so none of the tweets say: Steve died."

I second that.

Personally, I would find running on trails easier than around a flat 2-mile loop. The trails will offer a variety of terrain, which will allow you to use different muscles, plus the given advantage of softer ground. On top of that, running in loops is mentally draining due to the monotony.

Having that start/stop aid station only 2 miles away makes it awful tempting to camp out or quit. All Matt has to do is get past the 100k mark and he's on his way to a teapot finish. Adam, on the other hand..........

Best of luck to you both!

Andrew said...

Well this is fun, isn't it.

This gets right back to strategy. Is Adam running a 24hr run or a 100 mile race? He can't do both.

Helen said...

Sweet!! Can't wait to follow it - I'll be at FANS so I'll have to get the twitter updates on you from Adam's crew... like facebook I am avoiding getting to know how that works as I'd likely get hooked...