Fast food, fast running

The text came out of the blue and in desperate need of explanation, which followed in a rapid-fire series of more texts. Apparently, rising sophomore Daniel Czop set some sort of “world record” for something called the “Wendy’s 4-for-4 mile,” at the Bethpage High School track on Long Island. Rising junior Brendan Zeng, his teammate and fellow Commack High School graduate, established himself as fourth all-time in this rather dubious endeavor.

The details: Before each lap on a standard 400-meter track, you must consume Wendy’s products – three food items and one beverage. As an example, Czop went with the order of French fries, nuggets (4), a bacon cheeseburger (really?) and a Coke. Zeng went with a similar order: Fries, bacon cheeseburger (really?), nuggets (4) and a Coke. Eat fast food, run fast for a lap, and repeat. Czop finished in 6:46 and Zeng in 8:15.

They sent me a video of a previous Wendy’s 4-for-4 mile attempt, but I have yet to watch it. I have yet to Google this either, to verify if this is what we in the ultra world call a “Fastest Known Time” or FKT. And finally, be a nerdy track geek prone to this sort of minutia, I sit here wondering if they ran a full mile (1,609.34 meters, slightly longer than 4 laps on a standard 400-meter track) or 1,600 meters (which is commonly, and erroneously, referred to as “the mile” by most high school runners).

But alas, none of that really matters, does it? This sort of goofy melding of consumption and fast running has been going on for many years: Beer miles, Big Man races, New Paltz Pizza Challenge, Krispy Kreme Challenge … I’m sure I’m omitting many others. Congrats to Czop and Zeng for their “accomplishments.” They are pictured here with Pech, who is from Bethpage and I’m guessing witnessed this absurdity. Neat.

Update from Czop: They did run the full mile distance (nicely DONE) and the food was not random but rather a combo meal form Wendy's that's called 4 for 4 (hence the name of the "race"). Thanks for the clarifications!