It’s ultrarunning season, and people around the world are stepping out to do the impossible. Fifty miles feels like a lot, but hey why not double it? These mammoths of mileage have unlocked a new level of human potential, but as heroic as their achievements may be, there is still so much mystery when it comes to going the distance....

　　To those who don’t run, calling the act of running “fun” can seem absurd. Even for those who do understand, it’s not easy to define or explain. In the most basic sense, it’s just fun to move playfully through the world—running wherever you are—with just a pair of shoes and your body. You feel capable. Free. 　　And that fun extends...

　　After a rollercoaster-like opening three episodes, Alone Africa has finally slowed down. 　　In the fourth episode, which aired last Thursday, nobody caught a debilitating gastrointestinal illness or fired arrows into a fuzzy ungulate. Nobody called for a rescue, and nobody went home. 　　And with the six remaining survivalists looking confident and secure, we, the audience, finally got an opportunity to...

　　Not a day goes by that we don’t hear about an aspect of human ability made redundant by the powers of artificial intelligence. Let’s face it: AI is on the march. And when it comes to action sports, it’s already arrived. Earlier this year, an artificially intelligent robot—nicknamed “The Owl”—judged practice events at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado....

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　　I ran my first marathon in a basketball jersey. Not just any basketball jersey, a vintage Chris Webber Golden State Warriors number, bright blue and straight from the mid-nineties. As racers lined up at the starting line of the Sunflower Marathon in Mazama, Washington, I looked out of place next to technical T-shirts and space-age microfibers. But in many ways,...

　　Im not crying, youre crying. 　　OK—so were probably both misty-eyed. But how could you watch Alone Africas fifth episode and not tear up while watching the shows lovable and grandfatherly contestant battle his inner demons? 　　Spoilers ahead. Of course, Im referencing Douglas, the 57-year-old from North Carolina with the Santa Claus beard and folksy twang. On episode five, we spent ample...

　　If I had a chance to be magically transported back to the American frontier in the 1880s, I’d leap enthusiastically into the back of the covered wagon. At least for a temporary stretch, I’d welcome life in simpler times. There are aspects of our modern day, especially as a parent, that I wonder would be improved by going back in...

　　I dont believe in ghosts, but the campsite where we stood felt heavy with loss. I glanced between the trees, the branches swayed, and a breeze whispered across my cheek. I had come to this remote island by boat with Jerry Schmanda, who had been a member of a search party 28 years before. He stamped a steel-toe rubber boot...

　　The Dragon Bravo wildfire continues to burn on the northside of Grand Canyon National Park, closing access to visitor services on the canyon’s North Rim for the remainder of the season. As of July 24, the blaze had scorched 23,082 acres, making it the largest active wildfire in a national park so far this season, and the fifth-largest in recent history....

　　The most famous joke in music involves a lost tourist in Manhattan who asks a passing musician how to get to Carnegie Hall. The reply: “Practice, practice, practice.” This quip popped to mind when I was reading a new study about the caloric requirements of 100-mile mountain ultramarathons. You’ll burn something like 16,000 calories during one of these races, which...

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