Humans are Space Orcs: The Marathon

From the Intergalactic Journal of Mechanics and Biology

They say that a single human once ran for 80 hours 44 minutes without stopping to sleep. He covered a distance of 350m (360km) during that time. At a relative speed of less than 5 miles an hour, the speed pales in comparison to other apex predators of their planet. The spotted cheetah can run up to 76 miles per hour, but can only sustain that for approximately 1,500 feet. The best bread and trained horses of their planet may be able to run 100 miles in a day, but many who attempt this feat never finish.

Despite its relative speed, the human can sustain a relative pace of four miles an hour four a little over three earth solar cycles without rest (keep in mind that this is not an examination of average ability).

Once thought to be the most endurance evolved species in the galaxy, the Rundi can run for an hour at the speed of fifteen miles per hour, but in a long-distance race with a human, they find themselves slowly outmatched.

First, they outpace the human easily, they grow slowly tired, they fall to a slow walking speed, they try to maintain, but their body overheats. Eventually, the steady footsteps of the approaching human converge and then pass ahead to recede into the distance.

Compared to most creatures, the human has a few advantages. Bipedal in nature, they can carry objects with them as they run like water and food, the arches in their feet act as shocks and springs to decrease shock. The feet are oriented straight ahead and their toes are shortened to decrease the mechanical work of the foot. Spring-like tendons and ligaments aid them as they run. A narrow waist that can pivot allows for the swimming of arms during running action. A heightened sense of balance and movement keeps them on a straight course and allows their head to remain steady as they go. About 20 miles of energy can be stored in the muscles themselves. Additionally, one of the largest muscles in the body, the gluteus maximus is not engaged during a brisk walk but during a run. But the biggest factor is their ability to cool through sweat.

As far as we know, humans, and some of their earthly counterparts, are the only creatures in the universe that excrete water to catalyze cooling.

***

They were going to die.

They were going to die.

The sun would come up, and burn them to death and they were going to die.

Krill never thought that his life would end this way. Surrounded by the strange Humans on a class A death planet waiting for the star to rise over the horizon and melt them to a crisp.

Even the humans standing in the desert sand around him looked subdued. Usually, during near-death situations, they were relatively chipper, but this was different. They knew they were going to die.

Captain Vir gave a sigh, "knew we shouldn't have trusted that little scab." He muttered looking up towards the sky where the troop transport had vanished carrying with it their merchandise and its conniving Tesraki pilot probably laughing gleefully to himself about the stupidly of the trustingly naive humans.

The darkness was so profound out in the desert at night, though the stars overhead were particularly striking.

Krill, the captain asked, "How far are we from the sanctuary."

A few quick calculations in his head and Krill felt himself sink towards the sand. This was hopeless, and the planet's magnetic field made their communications ability almost nonexistent.

"How far?" The captain prodded

"40 Units."

"In miles please, America still hasn't switched to the metric system."

A quick calculation

"25 miles."

A sudden shift in the group, and he looked up to find a confusing sight. The humans looked almost hopeful glancing around at each other.

The captain grinned, "That's great news."

Krill stared at him in disbelief, "25 MILES captain. And only seven hours before the sun comes up. We have no chance."

A bark of laughter escaped the humans.

A cheer rose up.

What was happening?

"Anyone here ever run a Marathon?" The captain asked

The human's cheering died down and there was a pause.

The captain frowned, "Anyone want to run for their first time?" He questioned

Silence.

Krill stared on in confusion, "I'm sorry, what is a Marathon."

"It's sort of this tradition we have. Supposedly after the final battle between the Athenians and the Persians, an Athenian soldier ran 25 miles back to Athens to tell of the victory before he died."

Krill blinked in horror, "A tradition."

"Yeah, they hold them all the time back home."

"So a few of you just give up your lives to run a race."

Laughter shook the sand around him.

"No, thousands of people come to participate, and no one usually dies. Most people are up and walking after about an hour or two if not directly after."

Krill stared at the humans in a mixture of awe.

The captain rubbed the back of his neck, "I suppose I could do it.

"Yeah send the one-eyed one-leg cripple to run for our lives." One of the humans commented sarcastically

"I could go." Another volunteered

The captain shook his head, "I may have one leg, but that just means I can't feel pain in it. Not to mention I used to run when I was younger."

"Used to being the key point there." Someone muttered

"I heard that." The captain snapped though there was less malice in his voice than one might have supposed.

Krill sometimes did wonder about that. In most species cultures, the crippled were weeded out in order to preserve the race, but these humans were odd. Losing a limb seemed to have the opposite effect, and if you could function with a missing limb, the humans were even more impressed.

He wondered if it wasn't some sort of primitive form of dominance. The more scars you had the more fights you had survived, which made you the strongest.

The captain dropped his bag to the ground and began pulling off his jacket. Krill shook his head, "Captain, it is too cold out."

The captain shook his head, "I'll warm-up."

Krill stared on in confused fascination as the man proceeded to strip off his outer layer until he stood in nothing but his undershorts and socks.

The other humans laughed and Cat called back to their normal oblivious selves.

Did they not understand how dead they were? They were alone waiting for sunrise on a class A death planet. This was no time to be laughing at partial nudity.

The captain struck some sort of pose earing jeers before motioning to one of the other men, "Your shoes."

"But captain, I."

"Shoes, lieutenant, I am not running 26 miles in combat boots.

Reluctantly the other man gave up his shoes and handed them to the other man.

The group grew quiet and began pulling out supplies putting together a small bag of water and food.

The captain stood on the outskirts of the group stretching his flesh leg before checking the functioning of the robotic one. Both seemed to be working seamlessly.

His teeth chattered, and he began hopping around in a circle.

The man really had gone mad.

The lieutenant with the missing shoes approached him from the side, "You better hurry captain. I set a watch for you. You should have Seven hours to make it, but it will get hotter as the sun approaches." The Captain nodded, and with a sort of surreal optimism, he began his run letting off a whoop into the night as if he was challenging the sun itself.

Humans were reckless like that. They believed they could beat anything.

It was an almost beautiful thing to watch as the human grew smaller and smaller against the horizon. His footing was sure and seamless despite his injury. As a medic, Krill could almost see the cords of muscle contracting and lengthening under the skin. Despite its awkward appearance, the human really was graceful when in his element.

***

He wasn't' thinking that four hours later when the sky began to lighten. It was barely perceptible but he could feel it, and he could feel the heat of the approaching sun already beginning to warm him. The humans could feel it too, and they began taking off their jackets looking towards the horizon where their doom was fast approaching.

The jokes were sparser now as were the smiles. He could sense the tension on them as hormones in the air. Adrenaline... The scent of the poison made him ill, and he had no idea how the humans survived straight injections of it into their system.

The sky grew brighter. The heat was at around 70 degrees now.

The humans appeared comfortable, and so was he, but anything above 75 and he would begin to wilt. The humans told him they could withstand temperatures up to 100+ degrees for short periods, and not very comfortable.

He could tell when the heat increased because he felt his body shutting down.

In an act of reckless and pointless kindness, the humans used the rest of their remaining water to cool him. Not like it would matter. They were dead anyway.

Hour five rolled by, and he was sure they were dead... He was fading quickly as the heat grew to around 80 degrees. The humans frantically fanned him from all sides. In a sort of delirious haze, he felt a sense of attachment to these strange creatures who had taken him in despite the divide between species.

That's when they heard the sounds of the engines.

Looking up into the sky they caught sight of the transport fast approaching, and a great cheer rose into the air. He couldn't believe it.

It took a few minutes at 90 degrees before the ship landed, and he was quickly carried inside by a mass of cheering humans, the door shutting behind them with a screech.

He was enveloped in cool bliss. Enough to finally lift his head and look around annoyed that the humans seemed relatively fine despite the sheen of sweat and a few headaches, and of course... The captain.

He sat hunched under a reflective emergency blanket with an ice pack to his head. His prosthetic leg was gone and his other foot was a mass of blisters. His upper legs were a mass of raw skin where friction had rubbed it away, but he was grinning.

He must have seen the awed look on Krill's face for he gave a wink, "Told you, easy. We, humans, do it all the time."

Krill shook his head in amazement and fascination. They really were indestructible.

Of course, he may not have thought that later on if he had watched the captain limp piteously back to his room, squeal like a girl when the shower water touched his chafed skin all before flopping into bed to sleep a continuous thirteen hours.

That part would be conspicuously missing from the story. A story that told of a one-legged one-eyed human who ran 26 miles in almost no clothes during heat ranging from 40-90 degrees on a class A death planet under six hours all to save his crew.