A couple weeks ago, Dan McQuade at Philadelphia Magazine broke down Sylvester Stallone’s famous run through Philadelphia in the movie Rocky II, revealing that Rocky would have completed a nearly-31-mile jog had the workout been real.
At the end of his analysis, McQuade cautioned, “This is one long run. I don’t recommend anyone try it.” But that warning seems to be lost on Philadelphia resident Rebecca Schaefer, who has organized a Rocky Run in honor of the film, set to take place on Dec. 7.
"When I read that post, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t already a race," Schaefer told Philly.com. "How could this not happen? The more I talked to my running friends, I realized there was a lot of support for this."
Inspired by McQuade’s post, Schaefer took Rocky’s route, tweaked it a little to make it a full 50k (31 miles) and started promoting the “fatass race” — running community slang for an unsanctioned race with no entry fees, bibs or medals — through a Facebook page and website.
The race will start at 7 a.m. at Wolf and South Lambert Streets, the corner of Rocky’s block in Rocky II, and then continue from there.
”It’ll run up Passyunk Avenue, then take Columbus Boulevard all the way up to Lehigh Avenue, then we’ll run all through the Kensington/Port Richmond areas, then take Broad Street down to run north through the Italian Market to get back up onto Lehigh Avenue,” Schaefer told Philly.com.
“We’ll head up onto Kelly Drive before we head to the finish — the Art Museum steps. That’s what everyone associates with the Rocky run, but the best part of this event is runners will get to see so many parts of Philadelphia.”
Philly.com notes that Schaefer's Rocky race is scheduled to take place just three weeks after the Philadelphia Marathon, but she doesn't expect that to impact the turnout for the event.
"Actually, it works perfectly," she said. "Marathon training should be enough to finish a 50k race — three weeks after a marathon, another five miles isn’t that much more, if you go a little slower. Three weeks is a perfect amount of time to recover.
"And again, this isn’t technically a race. If people want to do half of the run, or just a certain part of it, that’s fine. Those who want to gut it out and finish the whole course — great. This race is all about what you want to make it."
I’m not sure what the turnout for the Rocky Run will be — as of this writing the Facebook page has about 700 members — but, like Rocky, you’ve got to love Schaefer’s determination in putting it together.
Now, for some links:
• Newly single Tim Duncan went out clubbing in San Antonio.
• Bryce Harper on his faith: "I'm not going to be Mr. Tim Tebow."
• Just John Daly doing John Daly things:
• Vin Scully and Yasiel Puig, folks:
The only photo from "Rookie Dress Up" that matters. Vin Scully with Gumby, @YasielPuig: pic.twitter.com/5D0G8VDWqC
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 27, 2013
• An Oklahoma Boy asked a local news station for help running a 5K with his disabled brother, then finished the race:
• Twenty-year-old Jurickson Profar got a beer shower from his teammates after a walkoff homer.
• The guy who invented Whac-A-Mole accidentally blew up a Florida warehouse.
• Here’s the Dancing Frank Beamer video you never knew you wanted to see:
• Rawr?:
• MMA ref takes matters into his own hands after an out-of-control fighter gets physical:
• Josh Hamilton on his offseason plan to put on some weight: "I think there's something to say about having a little extra butt on you."
• Could the Jags' recent blowout loss have had something to do with the fact that they were using ball boys as scout team receivers?
• It’s not going to be pretty when the Broncos face the Jaguars in two weeks:
WOW! Bookmaker @JayKornegay told me #Broncos favored by 28-points over #Jags. That would be the biggest spread EVER!
— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) September 29, 2013
• A 5-year-old quadruple amputee got new Power Rangers running blades:
• Here’s a look at the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup rings:
• Cam Newton's unauthorized visor clips ended up costing him $10K.
• Scott Kazmir got stuck in an elevator for 90 minutes.
• Bret Bielema fell down during Hog Walk:
• I still don’t understand the question:
After the loss to Oklahoma, Brian Kelly handled this difficult question about as well as he could have: pic.twitter.com/myUHyJ1ofi
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) September 29, 2013
• As if you needed another reason not to climb on the back of a raging bull:
• A high school football team voted to cancel its remaining schedule after the death of a teammate.
• Juwan Howard is back with the Miami Heat — as an assistant coach.
• Via Buzzfeed Sports, here’s UCF defensive lineman E.J. Dunston executing a rare fat guy punt return:
• And Deadspin gave us this GIF of a two-yard punt by USF:
• Clippers coach Doc Rivers admits he didn't want to go through a rebuild with the Celtics.
• UNLV football won on the road for the first time since 2009.
• Jack Black sang the national anthem at a WNBA game:
• Jason Collins and Billy Bean threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers’ LGBT night:
• Earl Campbell says Mack Brown should get the Lane Kiffin treatment at Texas.
• Paul Pasqualoni is out as head coach at Connecticut.
• Via Deadspin, a one-handed catch on a kickoff:
• Jameis Winston and Kenny Shaw ended FSU’s first half in style on Saturday:
• And what better way to close things out than with a tuba pileup:
