subject: The Endurance Christian Louboutin [print this page] AS I WATCH the endurance leg, the final event of FIELD & STREAM'S four-day Total Outdoors- man Challenge, outside Branson, Mo., I come to the following conclusion: God did not intend for middle-aged men to do anything at high speed. This realization occurs while I'm watching John Sap- pington, a 46-year-old fishing guide and one of 16 finalists. christian louboutin In this part of the contest, you start flat on your back in a laydown blind. Jump up, fire two blanks, and retrieve your "birds." Run to a tree and attach a climbing stand. Run some more and drag an 80-pound sled 20 yards. Run some more and shoot two arrows at 3-D targets with a wobbly bow while sucking air. Run again and start a match- less fire. This, incidentally, is the spot I'm watching from, along with John Davis, the fiend who designed the course - the ringmaster of this circus. Davis cups his hands and hollers, "C mon, John! Almost home, buddy!" Christian Louboutin Pumps Sappington has entered a parallel universe of suffering. He's a big boy to start with (40-inch waist, XXL shirts, and size 13 boots), and 46 is not one's athletic prime. And now his face goes splotchy. His eyes take on the wild desperation of a man lost in the deep woods. But Sappington didn't come this far to surrender. Somebody will ride out of here $25,000 richer. Somebody will claim the aura that comes from being the Man: the guy with the chops, the poise, and the grit to overcome. Christian Boots sale It may be this desire to win that has Sappington unconsciously windmilling his arms as he runs, as if he might gain a step by pulling himself through the humid air. He lumbers toward the last station, sit-on-top kayaks at the edge of a stream. Christian Pumps sale The goal here is to don a life vest, launch, and paddle 20 yards upstream. "Do it, John!" calls Davis.
