The average American spends a total of just two hours per week, or 17 minutes per day, exercising. Only about 0.05% of the U.S. population has ever completed a marathon, while approximately 0.007% of the entire world’s population has ever done an ultra-marathon (any distance longer than the 26.2 miles of a marathon). And the average person walks no more than 2 miles a day.
But some people simply aren’t content being average.
So what exactly possesses a person to run for 10 or more hours nonstop, swim for 8, or swim, bike and run for 12+ hours straight? And what sort of person is inclined to attempt such excruciating endeavors?
“Outside of crazy?” jokes Connie Roberts, the COO of the Center for Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics in Chattanooga.