Oddity Central

Oddity Central

The Endurance Race So Hard That Only 14 People Have Completed It in 30 Years

Posted: 06 Apr 2015 02:28 AM PDT

The Barkley 100-Mile Marathon, held annually in Frozen Head State Park near Wartburg, Tennessee, is considered to be one of most challenging ultra-marathons in the world. So tough, in fact, that only 14 people out of about 1,100 participants have ever managed to complete it since its inauguration in 1986! That’s just two more than the number of people who have walked on the moon.

The 100-mile run, which some claim is actually 130 miles or more, has a cumulative elevation gain of more than 60,000 feet – the equivalent of climbing mount Everest twice, from sea level. It consists of a 20-mile loop around a mountainous course that participants need to complete five times. Loops three and four need to be run in the opposite direction, with the direction for loop five being the runner's choice. Experienced runners looking for something less extreme can opt for the 60-mile 'fun run', where they have to run the 20-mile loop just three times.

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Seemingly Indestructible Kung-Fu Master Takes a Drill to the Head Without Even a Scratch

Posted: 06 Apr 2015 12:49 AM PDT

You could say Zhao Rui, a young Shaolin monk from China, is rather thick-skulled. In a shocking video doing the rounds online, he can be seen holding a powerful electric drill to his head, without even breaking his skin, let alone fracturing his skull. The 24-year-old Kung-Fu master can also bend an iron bar against a wall with his throat, and lie on metal spears while stones are broken against his back.

The recent display of Zhao's skills was intended to show how he had trained his body during several years of martial arts training. He revealed that he was fascinated by martial arts as a child, and ran away from home to join a Shaolin Temple at age 16. He studied there for two years, after which he continued to learn kung fu from other masters. He is now a master himself.

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Woman Finds Kidney Donor with Message on Car Window

Posted: 05 Apr 2015 11:49 PM PDT

When 24-year-old Christine Royles was diagnosed with failing kidneys early last year, she had to join a waiting list of over 100,000 people in the US who needed kidney transplants. When she learned that over 4,000 people die each year just waiting for their turn, she decided to take matters in her own hands. And miraculously, she found a donor all by herself – through a simple message she posted on her car window!

"I saw a story about this old man in a different state who was asking for a kidney for his wife," the South Portland resident said. "He stood on the side of the road with a sign." Inspired by the idea, she decided to take it to the next level – instead of standing on the road, she turned her car into a rolling billboard. "Looking for someone to donate me their kidney. Must have type O blood," her sign read, along with her phone number.

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