crazy man runs 90 miles around Beltway

My friend John McCrarey sent me a link to an article about a man, Michael Wardian, who ran 89.9 miles around the Capital Beltway that encircles Washington, DC, passing through southern Maryland and northern Virginia. The term "Beltway" often serves as a synecdoche for DC politics, and the road system is infamously gridlocked during rush hour, perhaps adding heft and cynical humor to associated political metaphors. Wardian has spent his share of time sitting in stalled traffic, so the thought came to him that he could literally run circles (well, a circle) around everyone on that stretch of road.

The Beltway is only 64 miles long, but Wardian's path, which looks jagged on a map (see this article here; the above-linked WaPo article is hiding behind a paywall), and which didn't literally stick to every inch of the Beltway, was over 35 miles longer.

Hats off to a crazy guy who ran a huge distance at the hottest time of year.

Better him than me!