With the marathon season over in South East Queensland for another year, and having participated in one of the races, it feels like the right time to look at this questionable sporting event, and other events which don’t seem like a good idea at the time, or after it.
Not that we discourage anyone from doing, just question why anyone thinks it is a good idea. But still, all due respect for anyone who can be bothered.
But it’s not just the marathon runners, we celebrate our latest theme week by questioning several other sporting events which seem like they are way too hard, or worry about the people doing them.
Onwards then to our Celebrate Questionable Sporting Event Week.
Marathons
Running any distance over 400 metres is a questionable sporting endeavour, but doing it for 42.2 kilometres because of a Greek soldier sounds even more questionable.
Cars have since been invented, along with many other forms of transport, which is why highways are choked and running paths along the river are not.
But some people like running for some reason, especially Dennis Kipruto Kimetto at 2:02:57 at less than 3:30 per km. Madness.
This does not include Ultra Marathons which is upgraded from questionable to insanity. But we do love Cliff Young.
Triathlon
As if running for a long time wasn’t enough of a Questionable Sporting Event by itself, but to throw in a bike ride and a swim, makes you wonder about the kind of people who will do that to themselves.
Much respect for those who can multi task and punish themselves three different ways for fun. Much more interesting for the general Australian Sporting Public is that Australians do quite well at this Questionable Sporting Event in the Olympics and to a lesser degree, the Commonwealth Games.
Once again, the ultra triathlon like the Hawaiian Ironman which features the above marathon, plus a 180km bike ride, and a casual 3.8km dip is classed above questionable and into insanity. Considering the marathon is last and the record is 2 hours and 40 minutes. Maddest of the mad.
Tour de France
OK, so this is a Questionable Sporting Event for the length of the event, and the physical effort required to do it, not necessarily the question about how many of the riders are actually riding legally without some kind of performance enhancing product.
Although, we do think there should be a Tour de France type event that is open to anyone, with no restrictions on the amount of shit you can slam into your system. Russians are lining up to enter.
But aside from that more open option of Tour de France, we still question why anyone would want to ride up and down Alps, on cobble, or in France at all for 3 weeks.
Respect for doing so, as we couldn’t be bothered.
36 Hole Golf
Golf can be boring, unless it is played by Miguel Angel Jiminez, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, or features Mr Larson from Happy Gilmore in the crowd. That’s just for 18 holes. And not every golf course has easy social golf exit access on every third hole like Pine Rivers Golf Club, so that’s a long, long time to be chasing a little white ball around.
We get bored about 2 seconds after trying to smash the ball off the tee, so following up the tee shot with an array of ordinary iron play, short game and hopeless putting for 36 holes like the World Match Play Championship sound like the epitome of a Questionable Sporting Event.
Any sport that takes eight hours in a day is a Questionable Sporting Event.
Decathlon
One event at the Olympics not enough? Why not 10 events. All combined into a Questionable Sporting Event.
So instead of someone like Usain Bolt taking his money and running after less than ten seconds, why not have a go at ten events in one.
The modern decathlon features way too many events – 100 metres sprint and hurdles, throwing 3 types of athletic weapons, jumping over or on stuff using sticks or just your own legs, and if that’s not enough running 400 metres and 1500 metres. 10 x the madness in our opinion.
We do however salute anyone who is good enough to be just good enough to do all ten events.
The Wallabies vs All Blacks
Is there a more questionable sporting event than a team who keep turning up for the same results from the same performance like the Australian rugby union team turning up against New Zealand.
Some would say that rugby union is for man snobs with pink coloured polo shirts from their days in boarding schools, but that’s just mean and unfair.
What isn’t is that the Wallabies stink.
