Journalist and sailor Olivier Le Carrer released a book called Atlas of Cursed Places: A Travel Guide to Dangerous and Frightful Destinations full lot maps and stories that appears to be catnip for geography nerds. It contains the stories of 40 unfortunate places and the stories behind them, along with detailed period maps. Here’s a taste of one such place.
Gur-Emir: The Malevolent Mausoleum
The site of this cursed edifice lies in modern-day Uzbekistan in a region formerly known as Transoxiana. Timur, ruler of the region in the 14th century, went around and slayed everyone in his kingdom who he felt served him no purpose—a total of 17 million apparently purposeless citizens. Timur commissioned this mausoleum for his grandson, who was killed in combat, with the intention of joining later on. While the mausoleum is elegant and impressive in its grandeur, don't forget that the man behind it sent 17 million people to their very arbitrary deaths. Skipping ahead a whole bunch of centuries: On June 22, 1941, a few hours after a Russian forensic scientist opened the tomb to exhume and study Timur’s remains, Germany launched an attack on the Soviet Union. Curse or coincidence? You decide.
Here’s what that mausoleum looks like. Read about seven other places from the book at Atlas Obscura.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfield_Ultra_Marathon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Marathon_Race
Contestants run up then hurl themselves down a mountain.
Similarly some teams do a Coke 1 mile around a track. Contestants chug a 2-liter of Coke and run like hell for a mile. Again, puking DQs you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Transcendence_3100_Mile_Race
The best part? There was a "Thrilla Gorilla" team that performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance after the race... while dressed as Gorillas.
http://www.icemarathon.com/
Sincerely,
Gruntie
(It may be published under 'Richard Bachman', his psudonym).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_Plate
Running 14 miles, and eating one of those things in the middle of the run doesn't sound like my idea of fun...
http://attaustinmarathon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=16
See my link above for more than you ever wanted to know about that race.
Little Miss Musician over here is loving the Beethoven race. Unfortunately, the 5th isn’t the most upbeat, speed-inspiring music. I’ve never been a fan of Bond, but here’s a great use for their music-butchering! Finally!
Lets just say that one of us had to go to the hospital as he lost his mind.
http://www.marathondumedoc.com/pages/en/esprit.php
A marathon with compulsory rest stops for wine and food tasting in the Bordeaux region. Extra points for costumes and themes. Points deducted for finishing too soon.
http://www.muddybuddy.com/info.php?id=1
in Richmond and it sounded like a real blast.
I sure like seeing Iowa references on Neatorama!
I've heard of the Gorilla run too, they had it in London a little while back.
I'm doing a race (well more of a walk really) in about two months for the local hospice at midnight. It's women only (I think we're raising money for breast cancer equipment, which affects a lot more women than men) walking about six or seven miles along the beach in almost complete darkness!
Also I have a question: why do Americans use the imperial system for everything except running differences (kilometres)? Is it just to make it sound more impressive (5k sounds more impressive than three miles)?
It's only short - half a mile - but 15 people have been killed so far:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_of_the_bulls
My mother hash was The Carolina Trash, I was the president of the VD-Hash and founder of the Asad-a-bad-ass h3.
Also, according to beermile.com I am still the world record holder for a guinness draught from a can beer mile!
http://www.beermile.com/records/ref_beer/beertype_Guinness+Draught
Imagine running through the tourist-rich sections of SF with packs of people in various dog based themes pulling carts, barking and running amok. If you are running too hard to bark at tourists, you are running too fast! The run is broken up with stops to water the dogs.
Teams can consist of as many participants as needed to meet the minimum 650 lb. for the team.
One of their mottos is 'Fat - the other white meat.'
http://www.fatboy5k.com/
You MUST check it out!
http://www.bisbee1000.org/
Bisbee Arizona is a mile-high mining town on the Mexican border, barely attached to various deep canyons. About 1/3 of Old Bisbee houses are accessible only by steep stairways. The annual race up-and-down those stairs is always a blast.
Scores of other stairclimb races are also held.
http://www.towerrunning.com/english/races.htm
Those of us with bad knees had best just watch such events.