The coveted Badwater Buckle!!!
Runner's World Brasil - May 2009 edition Article about long distance running/endurance races inducing mental breakdowns and hallucinations! Sorry it's in Portuguese....but the point of the story (and there were 4 other stories in the same article too) is that very long distance running and adventure/endurance racing induces mental breakdowns! hahahahaha
I had spent the 2nd night of the Brazil 135 mile Ultramarathon in January of 2008 looking for hidden treasures while running....at one point I didn't even remember I was in an ultramarathon at all. I believe that it was brought on by the fact that on the plane from the U.S. to Brazil a week prior to the race I was reading Paulo Coelho's book "The Pilgrimage" where he tells of his journey pilgrimage on the Road To San Tiago of Compostela where along the way he is taught some magical (or rather spiritual lessons about life) and is tasked with searching for a sword...I never found my sword (I don't think, or did I?), but I finished the race in 45 hours 43 minutes, finishing 7th overall out of a field of 41 international athletes, and am a better person for it... I learned so much about myself on that solo run that I would never take the experience back no matter how painful and exhausting it was at the time!
Other's in the article tell about seeing elephants and a field of heads and smiling faces and hearing fairies speaking an unfamiliar language....etc and many other stories...lol