Monday, June 13, 2011

Great Britain: Bipeds Make a Horse Race Out of Contest of Man vs. Beast

Online.wsj.com - Full Article

By JOHN W. MILLER

LLANWRTYD WELLS, Wales—Just three miles from the finish line, Duke's Touch of Fun bumped into John Terry, a 34-year-old, pony-tailed marathoner from Bristol.

Mr. Terry stumbled. And Duke's, a 12-year-old gray mare, galloped past in hopes of taking her fourth career title in the Man Versus Horse Marathon.

The only two victories by human runners in the 32-year-old race have come in the past seven years, inspiring Mr. Terry and a record 286 fellow runners to pit themselves against 50 horses this year. Both wins came on hot days, where people have an evolutionary edge: People sweat more easily than horses because they lack the heavy horsehair.

Matching man and beast is as old as Roman gladiators fighting lions. Olympian Jesse Owens once beat a horse in a 100-yard dash...

Read more here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303714704576381593288615606.html

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