The story was written in 1979. “Modern” running shoes had only been available for a few years and were certainly not well known to the non-running population.
Based on any bag-drive ruck march I have been on, running training doesn’t cut it. Marching, walking is all about your feet. If I was going into something like this, I’d find some great hiking boots and break them in.
It mentioned that you have to stay on the course, but does that mean you had to keep going forward on the course or just stay physically on it? Could I just go back and forth between two areas?
Why would you? You still have to maintain a 4 mph pace so you’re still getting tired and they’ll just shoot you if they think you’re concocting some sort of ruse.
Any ruling class/society sick enough to shoot somebody for stopping for 3 minutes in a race is sick enough to ventilate my skull for any reason their black little hearts desired.
I’d be looking up the local Underground Railroad and getting my happy backside out of that place.
I feel like the thing about Stephen King stories is that reading a summary of the story is actually more interesting than reading the actual story. So many times, I have read (usually on Wikipedia) a summary of a King story and thought, “wow, this sounds so awesome.” And then I read the actual story, and I hate it. The Jaunt is prime example number 1. There are so many others. I think from now on I am only going to read the summaries of King’s stories. His concepts and ideas are always first-class. His actual text? I can’t stand it. His overly-wordy prose is obviously fueled by cocaine and writing-mania.
By all means. Try your loopholes and tricks. Trying to nitpick the rules just gets you shot sooner rather than later and one less opponent for me to worry about. Your family can appeal the decision after the race is done.
For myself I’ll go with intensive endurance training. Then a week before the event I’ll go with an astronaut type diet. High energy, low bulk and get the GI tract flushed out. Then still wear only a kilt for the walk, I don’t expect to have any trouble taking a dump while walking if there’s anything left to run through.
From what little information I’ve got at this point, packing red blood cells would be a definite advantage but I’ll have 6 months to research that and performance boosting chemicals if I believe it won’t get me a bullet. Or more likely, have someone research it for me while I train.
I remember Kurt Vonnegut had one of characters say of his perennial author stand-in Kilgore Trout: “He has such brilliant ideas! If only he could write!”
I think King of the 70s was much better, when he had to restrain himself. Cocaine may have contributed to that, I’m not sure.