The Nine and a Half Spookiest Things in Track and Field
The Nine and a Half Spookiest Things in Track and Field
By Dennis Young @dpyoung13
1) Galen Rupp's & Ashton Eaton's Masks
These are pretty good Halloween costumes.
2) Evan Jager's Steeple Fail
I've see the fall and replay (starting at 8:30 in that video) a ridiculous amount of times, and I'm still not convinced that Jager actually made contact with the barrier. Maybe he was tripped up by Ghosts of Steeples past or some other spooky crap.
3) Llewellyn Starks' Triple Jump Injury. (WARNING GRAPHIC)
You can skip this one.
Really.
Just close your eyes, scroll to the bottom, and go back up to #4.
You really want to look at this?
OK.
Last chance.
The fact that can possibly happen in a non-contact sport is pretty disquieting.
Moving on.
4) "The Gingerbread Man"
I had never heard the term "gingerbread man" or knew that runner's diarrhea had its own highly educational wikipedia page before today. What could be more terrifying than the idea that on any run, at any time, your butt area could just quit its job and poop could come rushing out? (Though runners are more susceptible to building gingerbread houses, all athletes are somewhat vulnerable to it; here's a strongly recommended read on the subject from ESPN the Mag) The next time you use that as an excuse for a bad run, though--remember that Paula Radcliffe took a roadside dump in the 2005 London Marathon and still won the race.
4.5) Bonus Spooky Vine: Drake Dancing to the Finest Halloween Song Ever Written... "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah"
5) Athletes Instagramming Their Kits
"It's a new season and we still breathin'," Drake....
A photo posted by Treniere Moser (@moser1500) on
Treniere Moser did this very thing today, excusing me from having to do any scrollin' and trollin' on the gram for research on this one. This always brings to mind disembodied Brands circling the track, which, no thanks. Drake quotes, though? Thank you very much.
6) Javelins and their Weapon-Like Cousins
Half of the field events employ actual medieval weapons. Pretty scary.7) Central Governor Theory
The call is coming from inside the house! There's a distinct possibility that your high school gym teacher and local track meet announcer are completely wrong about lactic acid causing fatigue. Instead, it might be your brain stopping your body from killing itself. Nothing creepier than super-powerful and uncontrollable braiinnnnnns.8) Meb's Never-Ending Dominance over American Marathoning
Is he secretly immortal, or what?
9) Comment Sections/Message Boards/Anonymous Accounts 
Some cool people on the internet.
This one disproportionately spooks thin-skinned, coffee- and carbohydrate-addicted pusillanimous take artists like me. I don't have some anti-anonymity high horse to mount, other than to say that if literally Edward Snowden doesn't need anonymity, some guy tweeting or message board posting about Mary Cain or Gordon Mack probably doesn't either. But I guess having commenters wishing death on us and trolls dedicated to us is the tax we pay for having our work read, being accountable to our readers, and getting free and instantaneous fact-checking. But seriously, we should probably get rid of comment sections.
Add your spookiest track & field memories below!