
Running a marathon was never crazier than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics - Thevet
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-26/the-wildest-olympic-event-in-modern-history/12467362
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dustincoates
If you've never watched Jon Bois or his Pretty Good series, you're in for a
real treat. He has a video on the marathon that's very worth the 21 minutes:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4AhABManTw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4AhABManTw)

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lostmyoldone
The most perplexing: How is it possible to come to believe water is bad for
athletic performance, especially long distance running? Not only water, but
seemingly distrusting any tangible amount of any liquid?

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nradov
Exercise-associated hyponatremia is an issue for endurance athletes. If you
drink too much water it can throw your electrolyte balance off which inhibits
performance. Athletes have been told to hydrate to avoid heat stroke but
sometimes they overdo it.

[https://www.outsideonline.com/1900801/tim-noakes-serious-
pro...](https://www.outsideonline.com/1900801/tim-noakes-serious-problem-
overhydration-endurance-sports)

~~~
verst
For those who won't read the article... too much liquid intake can dilute the
sodium levels in the body and lead to swelling of the brain which itself can
cause all kinds of issues, some of which can lead to death.

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tgb
And the worst part is that the symptoms are very similar to dehydration, so
it's easy to keep drinking water to try to fix it!

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justwalt
Stories like this make me wonder about what sorts of pseudoscience people will
laugh at us for believing in 100 years.

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pjc50
All sorts of nonsense is embedded in nutrition. And medicine of the mind is
still very much at primitive levels.

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ljp_206
The Dollop has a great comedic re-telling and examination of this event. The
show format is that one comedian reads a prepared and lightly researched
account of the event, and another comedian reacts and improvises over it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFLjcX163WI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFLjcX163WI)

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idm
It would appear the rat poison they are referring to is strychnine.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine)

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RocketSyntax
Haha "The winner, who had to be dragged across the finishing line by his
trainers, was doped up and hallucinating on rat poison.

That was only after it was discovered that the first person to cross the line,
Fred Lorz, actually hitched a ride in a car for most of the race."

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Simulacra
Those men barefoot is a sobering image.

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nradov
Abebe Bikila won the marathon in the 1960 Olympics running barefoot. Shoes
weren't much of an advantage until fairly recently when materials scientists
figured out how to make foam that returned a significant amount of energy.

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stevesimmons
A more recent barefoot example, though at shorter distances, is South African
runner Zola Budd. She ran 3000m barefoot in the 1984 Olympics. That race was
notable for Budd and American Mary Decker leading the pack, then colliding and
Budd's spikes piercing Budd's foot. Decker crashed out and Budd finished 7th.

~~~
lazyasciiart
*Decker's spikes pierced Budd's ankle - then Decker fell onto the track rail and was out, Budd ran the whole race but was too shaken up (/slightly injured) to win it as she was expected to.

Both of them were too fast to have much experience competing in a pack of
runners. Budd was only 17 and Decker was older, but had been winning
international competitions since she was 14, too young to even enter the
Olympics.

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RocketSyntax
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombing)

~~~
henriquez
I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted because you're technically correct.
For a statement to be proven false ("running a marathon was _NEVER_
crazier...") all it takes is one counter example. You've provided that counter
example; the statement is false.

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mikestew
I’m guessing downvotes because the counter-example comparatively isn’t that
“crazy”. Bear with me here, especially if you don’t recall the details. Every
participant was affected by conditions in 1904, by dusty roads if nothing
else. Whereas in 2013 I had crossed the finish line hours before and was
taking a nap when the bomb went off, and the top finishers had already
finished well before me. That’s not to diminish the damage for those affected
in 2013, but there is an argument to be made that the 2013 crazy didn’t start
until the race was effectively over. I mean, if we’re going to argue with the
title, _running_ a marathon (as the title says) in the Boston area on the 2nd
Monday of April 2013 was fine _for me_ , the crazy started afterward. 1904
sounded crazy from the start.

That, and contrarianism for the sake of it.

