We Need Bizarre Runs!
Maybe running needs less stopwatch and more soapbox derby.
Maybe we need fewer medals and more mud.
Maybe we need to chase cheese, dodge camels, or climb ropes with a firehose in our face.
Because running doesn’t always need to be noble. Sometimes, it just needs to be ridiculous.
Think of Red Bull: soap box races, cliff dives, flying machines falling into harbors. Spectacles that bring people together because they’re fun to watch, outrageous to try, and unforgettable to tell afterward. Why can’t running steal a page—or three—from that playbook?
Dipsea in Marin is a taste of it. Brutal, beautiful, and still somehow joyful. Scotland rolls cheese wheels downhill. Africa races camels. Eugene once had Torture Ridge—a run so wild it belongs in the Smithsonian of absurd athletics.
Maybe what we need at 50+ isn’t just more measured miles. Maybe we need more B-sides. Remember Queen? The A-side was “We Are the Champions.” Then came the flipside, the hand-clap anthem that stole the show: “We Will Rock You.”
Running has its A-sides: Boston, New York, marathons, PRs. But what if we flipped the record? What if we gave ourselves permission to laugh, to play, to collect bizarre finish-line stories instead of just times and splits?
let’s run forever.
THE PERSONAL MILE
Eugene, Oregon, 1981. Torture Ridge Run.
Imagine a course between 5 miles and 10K—“???” was the actual posted distance. Lemmings down a cliff, nautical ropes on a mud hill, sorority girls’ white sneakers ruined by firehose spray. Loose dogs, pothole streets, chaos by design.
And the finish? Forget shiny event shirts. Organizers dumped a pile of leftovers from 30 other races. Pick your prize. Sizes random. Colors clashing. Perfect.
It was ridiculous. It was brilliant. It was unforgettable.
TOOLBOX
Flip the Record – Life’s A-side is fine. But find the B-side too.
Collect Chaos – Seek one story per run you can laugh about later.
Play the Fool – At 50+, dignity is optional. Joy isn’t.
Make a Memory – A bizarre run might be the one you talk about 40 years later.
Share the Laughs – Tell your story. Pass it forward. Better yet, …send it to us. https://irunforever.com/contact/