Life is a marathon not a sprint. But for Jim Walmsley, a marathon is a sprint. “As he climbed the ridge’s left flank, a crowd of tourists began to point his way. I explained that he was Jim Walmsley, America’s best male ultra­runner. I told them he once ran from rim to rim to rim of the Grand Canyon — 42 miles with 12,000 feet of climbing — in under six hours. That he broke the course record at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in back-to-back years and had run the fastest 50-miler in history just months before. The run we were witnessing that October day — more than half a marathon up and down the South Kaibab Trail — was, for Walmsley, just a casual tuneup.” NYT Mag: Can the King of Ultrarunning Conquer a Race as Short as the Marathon? (We’ll find out in the long run…)

+ An awesome documentary on running maniacs and the sadists who create races for them: The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young.

+ NYT: A Kayaker and a 134-Foot Waterfall. What Could Go Wrong?