Mort was eager to train for the marathon. Maybe too eager.
His wife had always told him that he was overachieving. Still,
Mort went on longer and longer training runs until he finally
disappeared. No remains were ever found. Perhaps you can help track
down some evidence of what happened to him.
This much we know: On his last training run, Mort had planned on
running a distance equivalent to four marathons. Starting at the
posted coordinates, his plan was to run the marathon distance due
north ("true" north for you trivia buffs). Then he was going to run
the same distance due east; then due south; and finally due west.
His expectation was that he would end up where he started. But he
didn't.
We know that he didn't wind up where he started from his
frantic, delirious, and final, phone call to his wife during which
he begged for direction home. Sadly, she could not help him. He has
not been seen nor heard from since.
It is theorized that Mort failed to take into account that he
was running on a sphere. If he had been running on a flat surface,
like he apparently assumed, then he would have traversed the four
sides of a square and ended up in the corner in which he started.
But alas, the poor sap did not wind up where he started. Had he
understood that each of the legs of his run was actually a great
circle route on the WGS84 spheroid, he would not have met his
(likely) demise.
Please understand that Mort was an overachiever. He was not
bothered by running across water, through fences and buildings,
through private property, nor in traffic. You could try and retrace
his steps, but that would be very dangerous. Can you help?
MORT
 |
You can check to see if you have found Mort (within about 25
feet)
here.