The Teenager Who Flew into Red Square

Do you remember Mathias Rust? Hard to believe, but it's been 25 years since the 19-year-old pilot flew from his home in West Germany and landed in the center of Moscow, breaking through every Soviet defense.

Once the police had recovered from the shock of finding an unauthorised aircraft parked at the gates of the Kremlin, Rust was arrested.

He spent hours trying to persuade the authorities that he had acted alone and was not part of some sinister plot hatched by foreign governments.

In the Kremlin there was shock and plenty of red faces as the full extent of the humiliating incident became apparent.

Rust was arrested by Soviet police and was sentenced to four years in a Soviet labor camp. While that never happened, he did spend over a year in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. Today says he has no regrets. If you aren't familiar with the story, you can read all about it at the BBC. Link -via the Presurfer


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"Barkley Marathons?" What kind of wimpy name is that? If you want an exciting prison-themed athletic event, you can't beat the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
http://www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com/

Swim the frigid shark-infested waters of San Francisco Bay, with deadly currents that can sweep you halfway to Japan!

If you make landfall, you then have to assault a random bicycle courier and steal his bike for the second event: a bicycle race through the deadly gauntlet of The Financial District!

Finally, running at top speed up the sisyphean hills of San Francisco!

Only the best and toughest will survive! Only the survivors can win!
(OK, I think I exaggerate a bit on some of the details)
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An interesting article by Matthew Everett over at Metro Pulse about the Barkley "fun run" Marathon:

The elevation gain over five loops is roughly equivalent to two times the height of Mount Everest. GPS isn’t allowed, and much of the unmarked course goes straight up the sides of the park’s many 3,000-foot peaks, through downed trees and patches of malicious sawbriers that rip runners’ arms and legs to shreds. The Barkley community has given unofficial names like Testicle Spectacle, Rat Jaw, Son of a Bitch Ditch, Meth Lab Hill, Big Hell, and the Bad Thing to the park’s geographic features.

“This is not a race, this is a colonoscopy gone wrong,” one runner said after finishing a single loop in 2010.
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