When the 33rd and final man trapped for two months in a Chilean mine was rescued, I wrote:

All well and good. However, two months is not four months. Two months is not the epic, the incredible test of the human spirit that the experts had promised us. As humans, we can't help but admire such tests of the spirit because what else are we but the masters of endurance?
The human can endure like no other mammal. We are not the kings of speed; we are the kings of great distances. Give us enough space and we can outrun even a horse. Leave sprint races to the cheetahs; the human has its meaning, its species-being (its true gattungswesen—which is not consciousness) in the marathon.

The response by one of the many haters who did not get the essence of my point:

i swear, do you just sit at your desk and think, "hmmm, what contrarian approach should i take to keep me on the staff of this cutting-edge paper"?

we do not wish they were down there longer. no one does, not even you, mr. mudede. stop with all the stupid talk. it doesn't serve anyone.


This weekend, my marathon post was elucidated and vindicated:

Edison Pena, one of the 33 Chilean miners recently rescued after 69 days trapped in a 2,300-foot underground cave-in, completed the New York City Marathon on Sunday with a time of 5:40:51.

Pena was invited to watch the NYC Marathon, but the amateur runner didn't want to stand on the sidelines, preferring to join the other 43,000 runners.

Humans are about endurance. The longer, the better.