It is very quiet on the empty road. This is not a traffic artery, so few vehicles usually pass by. What's more, today is the weekend, and many people will choose to rest at home instead of driving around in their cars.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses stood on the lawn in front of his house, wearing a baseball glove in one hand and holding a baseball in the other.
"Catch it!" The middle-aged uncle made a gesture of throwing the ball, and then threw the baseball to the opposite side.
Opposite him was a little boy, about eight or nine years old, also wearing a baseball glove. The little boy saw the ball flying over and stretched out his hand to catch it.
At this moment, people were running along the roadside, one after another, and more and more people were running. They all had numbers on their backs. It was obvious at a glance that they were athletes participating in some long-distance running competition.
The little boy stopped and looked at the people running across the road.
"Dad, are they competing?" the little boy asked.
"This should be a marathon." The middle-aged man wearing glasses also stopped, and then said: "This season, it is not too cold or too hot, it is really a good season for marathon running. "
"There will definitely be sports stars in the marathon!" The little boy looked at the crowd expectantly, hoping to see the stars.
"Don't look for it. There can't be any celebrities. This is just a race for marathon enthusiasts. All the contestants are amateurs!" the middle-aged uncle explained with a smile.
"You didn't participate in the competition, how do you know there are no sports stars in it?" the little boy asked with an unconvinced look.
"Look at that person." The middle-aged uncle pointed at a fat man running in the crowd, and then said: "If it is a very professional marathon event, how can there be runners with that kind of body participating? So this must be a marathon The level of competitions organized by enthusiasts is very low, and everyone focuses on participation. It is impossible for professional athletes to participate, let alone sports stars."
The little boy fell asleep on his father's fingers and looked at the fat man. The fat man was among the crowd, but his size made him very conspicuous. The number on his back also showed that he was really a contestant.
"He looks very fat. He doesn't look like the kind of person who can finish the game." The little boy said a little discouraged.
"Yes, that's why your mother and I asked you to eat more vegetables and less high-calorie foods like French fries. Otherwise, you will become like that and be too fat to complete a marathon."
The little boy nodded helplessly. He obviously didn't want to give up those delicious and high-calorie foods, but he didn't want to become a clumsy fat man.
…
Fat Hassel didn't know that he had become a bad example for the roadside uncle to teach his son.
At this time, Hassel was already covered in sweat and his clothes were soaked. He couldn't even tell the difference between east, west and north. The only thing he could do was to follow the people in front and keep running.
Hassel didn't know how long he had been running. He only remembered that at the beginning, there were still people around him. Gradually, the crowd turned into a long row, and occasionally two or three people would run abreast. There were fewer and fewer people around him. Some people ran to the front, while others began to fall behind.
Hassel didn't know whether he was running fast or slow. The colorful sportswear in front of him looked a bit dazzling. This also made Hassel feel a sense of security. At least it made him understand that he was not running alone. , he also has many companions.
Hassel didn't know how far he was from the finish line. At this time, he was just running mechanically, like a tireless robot on the assembly line in an automated factory. In fact, when he entered the stage of running at a constant speed, he had already numbed his limbs and forgot about the physical exertion. He didn't even think about it in his mind, he just repeated the running action.
Passing by a supply station, a volunteer handed Hasel a bottle of mineral water. Hasel did not stop, but directly grabbed the mineral water bottle. While continuing to move forward, he opened the mineral water bottle and drank it hard. into the mouth.
After drinking a whole bottle of water, Hassel felt much refreshed. The intake of water also promoted his body circulation, and he sweated more.
At this time, Hassel looked very embarrassed, and his running movements also looked very clumsy. It even gave people the feeling that he might not be able to hold on in the next second, and then stopped and sat on the roadside to rest.
On the roadside, there are indeed some contestants who choose to sit down and rest. Whenever Hassell passes by, they will look at Hassell with a strange look, either with admiration, sympathy, or confusion. Maybe they don't understand why a fat man like Hassell persists until now.
"You can't stop, you absolutely can't stop. Coach Li told me that I must keep running. Even if I run slower than walking, I can't stop to rest. Once I sit down, it will be difficult to stand up again." Dai Li's instructions flashed in Hasel's mind.
There are fewer and fewer people around the fat man. Some people are faster and gradually leave the fat man behind and disappear from the fat man's sight. There are also some people whose physical energy is seriously exhausted and their speed gradually slows down and is left behind by the fat man. This is the same as a marathon. The crowd that started together will gradually disperse, and the originally tight formation will become looser and looser.
The fat man was still running at his own pace, ignoring those who surpassed him and those who were surpassed by him. This was what he had been practicing these days, which was to run at a constant speed at his own pace.
From early morning to noon, the sun got higher and higher, and the temperature began to gradually rise. The fat man only felt hotter and hotter, and his sweat doubled.
The sun finally rose directly above his head, and the hottest time of the day was approaching, and the fat man finally realized that he had been running all morning. But he didn't feel tired, or his body was completely accustomed to this running rhythm.
But the fat man felt very thirsty. The sunlight shining on his body gave him a burning feeling, and the water in his body evaporated faster and faster.
"Hold on, hold on, we should be at the supply station soon. When we get to the supply station, I will have water." The fat man licked his lips.
Sweat broke out from the fat man's forehead, rolled down his cheeks, stayed on his chin, accumulated into larger beads of sweat, and finally fell to the ground. Wherever the fat man passes, there will always be marks of sweat on the ground. In front, where the fat man has not passed, there is the sweat of other people.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment, or the fat man could no longer feel the passage of time. He looked forward hesitantly, continued to walk mechanically, swung his arms mechanically, and repeated the same movements.
Finally, a large crowd appeared in front, as well as some billboard-like things.
"There is a supply station ahead!" Fatty Hasel has lost count of how many supply stations he has passed. Before that, whenever someone handed him mineral water on the roadside, Hasel would catch it and drink it. Keep running.
This time, Fatty ran over like he had done several times before, and he saw staff and volunteers wearing green overalls.
However, the staff did not hand him the mineral water, but thrust a piece of paper into the fat man's hand.
"Go and register over there!" the staff member said.
"What is this?" Fatty asked subconsciously, and this sentence also disrupted his breathing rhythm, and he instantly felt a sense of fatigue coming over him.
"Your completion certificate! Your 58-kilometer completion certificate." After saying this, the staff member ignored the fat man and handed the next piece of paper directly to the competitor behind the fat man.
"Proof of completion? Did I finish the race?" The fat man looked at the piece of paper in his hand. This was indeed a certificate of completion of the 58-kilometer long-distance race, with the number just written on it.
"I've finished the run! I've really finished the entire 58 kilometers!" Hassel finally stopped and took off his shirt that was completely soaked.
"This 24-hour frogman challenge doesn't seem to be as difficult as I thought!"
…
The blond boy Cruz was lying on the beach. In front of him was a wall about two and a half meters high.
The two-and-a-half-meter-high wall is one of the 25 obstacles. Participants have to climb the high wall and then flip to the ground on the other side.
For Cruise, this is not a difficult project. Cruise is over 1.8 meters tall, and he is also an athlete. He can climb to the top of a 2.5-meter-high wall without running. He can jump on the spot and stretch his arms.
However, at this time, Cruise was unable to climb over the wall. He had tried many times, but his physical strength was not enough for him to climb over from one side of the wall to the other. His hands could grasp the top of the wall, but he could not Strength supported his body.
The 58-kilometer long run and the 8-kilometer swim completely exhausted Cruise's physical strength. The 25 obstacles that were originally the easiest for him have now become obstacles that he cannot overcome.
"I didn't expect the 24-hour Frogman Challenge to be so difficult. I have signed up for a special physical training course, but it is still difficult to pass." Cruise gasped for air. He decided to take a rest first and then accumulate some strength. , and then climb over the wall in front of you.
"In the first two events, I consumed too much energy. The 58-kilometer long-distance run was okay, but the key was the 8-kilometer swim..." Cruise unconsciously recalled the situation when he participated in the 8-kilometer swim just now. .
Cruise spent more than three hours swimming 8 kilometers, and the physical energy consumed in these three hours was not much less than that of the 58 kilometers long run.
Swimming is inherently more physically demanding than long-distance running, and it takes place outdoors in public waters. Even people who are very good at swimming will feel exhausted after swimming for more than three hours continuously, and swimming for three hours after running 58 kilometers is enough to make anyone exhausted.
So this athlete fell. In fact, his fall was not unfair at all. There are not many contestants who can persist in the 25 obstacles. Most people will stop at the first two events.
"Lie down for a while, and my strength will be restored. I will climb over the wall by then!" This thought kept appearing in Cruise's mind, but his mind was groggy. Consciousness is becoming increasingly blurred.
"I'm so sleepy, I really want to sleep for a while." Cruise glanced at the wall not far away again.
A fat but vague figure appeared under the wall. He started running, jumping, grabbing the top of the wall with both hands, and constantly kicking the wall with his feet. His arms were violently supported, and with the inertia of advancing and jumping, he climbed up. On the wall.
It is said that he climbed up the wall, but in fact he put his whole body across the wall, with his belly clamped on the wall as a support, and his body was suspended in the air. From Cruise's perspective, he could only see the fat man staring at his legs and holding on. He balanced his body and then fell upside down to the other side of the wall.
"What an ugly posture. The look of this man reminds me of Hassell. I wonder how he is doing now. He should have been eliminated a long time ago." Cruise sighed secretly, and at the same time his eyes could no longer hold up. He closed it slowly, and after more than ten seconds, a steady sound of snoring came from Cruise's nose.
A staff member passed by. He knelt down and took a look. He found that Cruise had just fallen asleep, so he took a blanket from the side, covered Cruise, and murmured to himself: "Here again One person falls asleep and one more person quits the race.”
The staff obviously knew that at this time, anyone who fell asleep would not be able to wake up again in a short period of time, let alone return to the game.
…
Fat Hasel got up from the ground. The way he climbed over the wall upside down made him feel dizzy. Moreover, the ground was covered with soft sand, so he also took a mouthful of sand.
"Bah, bah, bah..." The fat man spat out the sand, then raised his head and looked forward with persistent eyes.
He's going to challenge the next obstacle.