Walking His Life Away

I don't read SI much, but I found this by Gary Smith in The Best American Magazine Writing 2005 tonight. Um. Wow:

Who knows why? In two weeks they'll light the world's largest wick, let some white birds loose and then start lining up men and women from around the earth to see who can run the fastest from here to there. The fastest down straightaways, around curves, over barricades, through puddles, even clenching metal sticks. Who knows why? For days you'll sit in front of your TV and watch all of these races. Except for one.
It's the oddest and longest footrace, the one that forbids the competitors to go as fast as they can — in fact, that forces them to walk. It's the one Olympic race…