Yesterday I watched a movie about the Barkley Marathon. The Barkley Marathon is not like a normal marathon. For one, its existence is a “secret”. Despite this, the organizers get a lot of applications from people all over the world wanting to compete in it. I believe that what draws participants to this marathon are its unique quirks. For example, once applicants are selected, the organizers ask them to bring things like state license plates and shirts as payment. Every year, they also select an unqualified applicant to compete in the race, calling him or her the “human sacrifice”. These quirks make people want to apply, but what makes them want to actually finish the race despite the grueling conditions?

For a lot of the runners, this race is about proving something. While many of us have never competed in a marathon, I think that we can relate with the motives of the runners. They want to achieve something that they think is nearly impossible. I think all of us have goals like that, from getting into that dream grad school, or getting that dream job that you think is nearly impossible. I applaud all of these athletes for all the effort that put into training and competing. Lots of them had bruises and cuts all over after running in the marathon, and I think that it must take a lot of endurance and perseverance to continue on despite the pain.