Another popular reason for desiring pain is that it creates a contrasting sensation that intensifies pleasure.

A very popular reason for incorporating pain into sex is that it can enhance feelings of helplessness and submission, which can intensify power play. Receiving and tolerating pain can feel like giving a gift to the person causing said pain, turning endurance into a test of devotion.

At sixty hours and 250 miles covered, Maggie Guterl becomes the first woman ever to win Big’s Backyard Ultra,

“Laz always says that once you feel like you can’t win, your race is basically over, and it’s really hard to keep going,”

That is, normally, your mind gives up before the body. Here at Big’s, Shawn Webber pushed past that. His body broke down before his mind. It is difficult to witness.

“A lot of things you do in life are easy, so maybe there’s some kind of human nature [in] yearning to suffer,” says Maggie Guterl. “Maybe it’s like childbirth. You forget about the one painful part because the rest is a reward.”

running since dawn. Laz says that the hardest part of the course is the walk from the chair to the starting corral. Every time a runner returns, they get to sit down. They have to decide to get back up again and start running again.

“running today is about running tomorrow,”

With their long legs, short forearms, and springy tendons, humans have more efficient and stable body mechanics for running, especially compared to the long-armed, short-legged Australopithecus, with their permanently shrugged shoulders.