Burritos and Track & Field: A Match Made in Heaven

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.milesplit.com/article/12090

Burritos and Track & Field: A Match Made in Heaven
By: Jason Byrne -
2007-01-17 15:20:30

Competition runs deep in the veins of Americans. It comes only natural to us. We tend to turn everything into a contest. People compete in the corporate world, striving to have a successful career or lots of money. We like to try to beat out our friends with the best car, hottest girlfriend/boyfriend, or even loudest stereo. Everything is a contest!

And that is not even mentioning sports--Americans are fanatical about their sports! But the standard lot of sports just isn't enough. Beyond football, baseball, and track & field we even find it necessary to invent new competitions out of mundane activities such as eating, duck calling, or who has the most "breed standard" dog. And then there's reality TV that has put these competitions into our homes every night: American Idol, America's Top Model, The Great Race, Iron Chef, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, etc. We love competitions!

We athletes are probably even more infatuated with it than the general population. It's part of who we are.

Out of that competitive drive (and a love for both track & field and Mexican food)--or maybe just pure boredom--has arisen the new sport soon to be sweeping the nation: the Burrito Mile. This event is a perfect union of speed eating and running (and as a side effect also tends to be quite messy). Competitors (known as burrathletes) start in the "consumption zone," 10 meters before the start line, and on the gun must eat an entire burrito (of at least one pound) and leave no scaps behind. Once the meal has been finished, the judge will give clearance to the burrathlete to start their mile. For four laps around the track they must race against the clock, other competitors, and against the unrelenting urge to up-chuck. This is not a competition of the faint at heart (or the weak in stomach).

The event was first conceived and executed in Montgomery County, Maryland (on the forums of mocorunning.com). The inagural race took place on March 5, 2006. Later that year a sister event was created that incorporated a team concept: the 4x8urrito relay. These two events (and any additional events that may be added) are known collectively as the Burritolympic Games.

In anticipation of the next race to take place in Maryland on February 23, 2007, MocoRunning.com webmaster Kevin Milsted and MileSplit Network founder Jason Byrne have collaborated to help promote the event nationally. This past week they officially launched the web site BurritoMile.com, which will serve as the official home for the sport where announcements, upcoming events, results, records, photos, videos, official rules, and press coverage can be found.

Do you have what it takes to be a burrathlete? Check out BurritoMile.com and look for a competition coming soon to your area--or better yet host one yourself!

[SKOT]

At NCAA D3 Nationals last year they ran "The Chocolate Milk Mile" at the High School across the street from Benedictine University. Some of the non-competing distance runners from my school (Hope College) competed. I will try and find more details at practice tomorrow!

[decanuck]

Burritos? Lame.

It's all about the beer mile:
http://www.beermile.com/faq.beer#rules

[snow26]

one day we had a team track dinner, all you can eat spaghetti. SO we decided to get togeather a team spaghetti mile right after. There are over 100 people on our team (high school public) we rallied 13, but we were stopped on running on the road by our coach back to the school. It kind of fell apart after that because we forced most of the people to do it. But me (PV, sprinter, Lj,TJ) a thrower and a distance runner, a odd bunch for a spaghetti mile, decided to drive to the track and do it anyway. the distance runner won in sum 6min. thrower got 6:14 and i got 6:45, it was improv, i did it in street clothes and didn't even run hard, i wanted to be fresh to vault tomorrow. i could go sub 6min don't worry.

no one pucked.