The Long Run‪.‬

In August 2000, Charles Hubbard was passing through Reykjavik on his way home from a vacation in France with his wife and two daughters. They had an extended layover--72 hours to experience Iceland. In this position most people would go searching for restaurants where they could sample the puffin meat or, if they were bird lovers, the festering shark. Then, they might catch a bus out to the eponymous Geysir, or bag out for a while with the other trans-Atlantic travelers and psoriasis patients at Iceland's number one tourist attraction, the Blue Lagoon. But Hubbard ("Chuck" or "Turbo Dog" to his friends) noticed that his layover coincided with the running of the Reykjavik marathon. He figured, what the heck, he'd join the race while his wife and kids went out for ice cream. And what do you know--he won. Lucky Chuck: the prize for the top finisher was a round trip ticket to anywhere in the world on Icelandair. Hubbard was pleasantly surprised to win, but he did not at first think much of the prize, even though it was the most valuable thing he had ever won. In fact, he was a little disappointed because he wasn't entirely sure how he would use it. "And sometimes you just want something that's cool. You know, why not a taxidermied seal? Or at least cash," he said, years later, when I called him up.