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Cyber-Running
By T. Evan Schaeffer
I'd been wondering when the computer industry would design
something to serve
the needs of us runners. Finally, we have this:
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Digital Runner, Inc., is pleased to
announce its three flagship applications, each of them
designed to please and delight the computer-loving runner.
With three games to choose from, there's something for
everyone!
Run
'95, The Arcade Game: You are an animated runner in a 10-K
race.
To
begin, choose one of three user levels: beginner, middle of
the pack, or elite. Then you're off and running! You must
dodge traffic, leap over fire hydrants and avoid puddles and
meandering old persons. Watch out for that newspaper delivery
truck!
As you progress, your runner must slow down to gobble
food. If
sufficient calories aren't ingested, you'll stop entirely and
get trampled by the rest of the pack.
Near the finish, the going gets harder. Dogs will try to bite,
maim and kill your little figure; race officials will try to
rip off your number; and drunken rednecks will shout insults
from passing pickups and lob glass bottles directly at your
head.
You get all the excitement of the real thing at less than the
price of running shoes!
Marathon '95, The Computer Simulation: You can play the
simulation as a race director, runner or spectator.
Race
director. You'll negotiate with the mayor and city council to
conduct your city's largest marathon ever--all on a shoestring
budget. Next, plot the course on an actual 3-D rendition of
Buckhorn, Arkansas. (New York, Boston and San Francisco
available at extra cost.) Various natural disasters--
earthquakes, fires, tidal waves--may threaten a
timely start. (Sorry, tidal waves available for San Francisco
only.)
Runner. Begin four months before race day by developing a
steady base of miles, carefully planned so that you don't peak
too early. You'll choose your diet, your training schedule and
your running shoes. Don't forget to hydrate! A number of
injuries may set you back. It's so real, you'll feel like ifs
happening to you. Try to finish the marathon with
blisters, an
overuse fracture or an attack of appendicitis!
Spectator.
See if you can fight the traffic, park your car and set up
your lawn chair before your loved ones pass you by. At the
advanced level, it's your job to successful run the household
for months on end while your significant other fills up a
training log in preparation for the big race. Don't miss the
fun!
Finish Line '95, The Multimedia Encyclopedia: It's a
technological miracle--everything you ever wanted to know
about running on a single CD-ROM computer disk.
The
program includes sound, video and pictures of the most
important moments in running history--all on a
postage-stamp-size window in the middle of your screen. Who
wouldn't want to study again and again the last 3 seconds of
Roger Bannister's 4-minute mile; Zola Budd's 1984 collision
with Mary Decker Slaney; or German Silva's wrong turn at the
1994 New York City Marathon?
Filled with the equivalent of 52 full-length books, this
wonderful CD-ROM also includes a list of all finishers of the
Boston Marathon since 1897, which you can sort by age, time or
state of residence. What a perfect way to commemorate the
100th year of this grand event!
The Digital Runner, Inc., thanks you for your order. In the meantime,
keep running!
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