In an ultraconservative America of the not-too-distant future when America has become a police state, the annual marathon is the ultimate sports competition. One hundred boys are selected each year to enter a grueling 450-mile marathon walk. The game is simple: maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out--permanently. The winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life; but a single misstep could be the last.
I first read this about thirty years ago and I still find it to be one of my favourite Stephen King stories. It's not scary in the sense of horror or the realm of the supernatural, but it is scary in that it is something that could be quite real or plausible. One hundred young men/boys take part in an annual walking contest, where they must keep walking at the speed of at least 4 miles per hour, with no rests or breaks allowed. They get three warnings and after the third warning they get their 'ticket' and are out of the race. The last one left wins the 'prize'. As the story progresses the horror of what the 'ticket' really is becomes too real. The story is set in a dystopian version of the US in the early 80's, in a world where it is hinted that the Germans won WW II. As the race moves slowly to an end the ways in which the contestants unravel or find ways to deal with the horror of the situation become all too clear. I only read this the first time after it was revealed who Richard Bachman really was, but there are enough clues in there to work out that it is a Stephen King masterpiece. Hopefully such grace would never happen in these kinds of circumstances, but in today's world of reality TV and an appetite for such things as this, who knows?
