GALACTIC MARATHON

Instigator: Runner

Purpose: To determine the fastest being in the Milky Way galaxy

Allies: Architect (Elder of the Universe), Fastforward/Buried Alien, Figillulli, Gzoom, Makkari, Miximixum, Nanda Announcer, Wheelie

Preliminary Try-Outs: Black Racer, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Quicksilver, Speed Demon, Super Sabre (Martin Fletcher), Whizzer (Stanley Stewart)

Judges: Galactic Roadrunner, Judicator, Uatu the Watcher

Opposition: Fooferah, but only in the sense that by cheating he damaged the integrity of the race

Spectators: Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast); unidentified spectators of various races including A'askvarii, Ciegrimite, Flb'dbi, Fomalhauti, Glx, Kymellians, M'Ndavians, Nanda, Popupians, R'malk'i, Rigellians, Sagittarians, Skrulls, and Zundamites;
    Quasar (Wendell Vaughn; preliminaries only)

Location:
                Preliminary: An artificial energy construct created by the Architect stretching from Earth to the moon, 384,392 Kilometers in length

                Galactic  Marathon: A course of unknown length generated by the contestants' wristbands stretching between "Starting Line World" and "Finishing Line World"

First Appearance:
                              Quasar#17 (December, 1990) (Preliminary races held for Earth contestants)

                               Quasar#58 (May, 1994) (Actual competition held)


History:

(Quasar#58 (fb)) - "Millennia" before the Galactic Marathon, the Elder of the Universe known as the Runner had visited the planet Grosgumbeek, leaving its speedy inhabitants a teleportation box, which would take their chosen champion to the "Starting Line World" when the Marathon was about to commence. No Grosgumbeekians accepted the offer, as they disdain competition.


(Quasar#17) - The Runner contacted a number of Earth's super-speedsters to engage in a race from Earth to the moon, in order to determine which was worthy to accompany him to the Galactic Marathon. Black Racer, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Makkari, Quicksilver, Speed Demon, Super Sabre and the Whizzer were chosen for the qualifying run. The competitors raced a stretch of track constructed by the Elder known as the Architect, which traversed the 384,392 kilometers from Earth to the moon, with "a short detour through warp space" to "take in account the motions of the heavenly bodies". Makkari quickly out-paced the other competitors, but was defeated when a mysterious man calling himself "Buried Alien" appeared on the track and ran to victory.


    Despite the fact "Buried Alien" had not started at the same point as the others, he was hailed as the winner by Runner, and accepted into the Galactic Marathon. Makkari fell to tears at his loss, but was consoled by Quasar, who told him he was still the fastest man on Earth, as "Buried Alien" was not from Earth (at least, not from Earth-616).

 

 

galactic_marathon-spectators

(Quasar#58) - Numerous contestants were gathered by the Runner from various points in the Milky Way galaxy and taken to the "Starting Line World" for further training. After an unrevealed period of time, everything was readied and the race was about to begin. Shortly before the race began, however, Makkari, who had been training on Grosgumbeek, arrived via the Grosgumbeekian teleporter box, and begged Runner for another chance to qualify. Runner acquiesced, and stated that if Makkari could beat the time of the slowest competitor, the Fomalhauti Figillulli, he could run. The Eternal easily beat Figillulli's time, and the unlucky Fomalhauti was sent away in tears.

contestants

The Galactic Marathon began, and the racers took off at incredible speeds. One of the racers, however, the sinister Fooferah, decided to cheat, first taking out the centipede-like Miximixum's legs with a baton, next striking the turtle-like Gzoom with a stun-drum, and then sticking another baton into the cyborg "Wheelie's" spokes, causing "Major Skiddage!" as Fooferah put it. With only Makkari, Runner, and Fastforward ("Buried Alien's" new name) left in the race, Fooferah threw his stun drum at Makkari's head, but Fastforward intercepted the weapon, turned around and beat Fooferah senseless, leaving the Marathon to Makkari and The Runner.

    To the Runner's surprise, Makkari reached even greater speed than the Elder himself, and won the Galactic Marathon by a wide lead. After accepting the Champion's Medallion from the Galactic Roadrunner, Makkari returned to Earth to brag to his friends, but found himself unable to communicate with anyone: Everyone seemed to be standing still. Returning to "Finishing Line World," Makkari found the Judicator and others frozen as well, and was informed by Runner that he had become trapped in Absolute Speed, his mental processes and perceptions being set at Hyperspeed: he was simply moving too fast to communicate with anyone except the superfast. The Grandmaster, smarting from having lost a bundle he'd bet on Runner, offered to help Makkari, in exchange for Makkari becoming his "champion" in the other upcoming Galactic Marathons, the Local Pangalactic Marathon, and finally the race for the championship of all known space. Makkari refused, leaving the jubilant Runner as Grandmaster's champion. As Fooferah had cheated, the judges threw out the ruling, and Runner was eager to race against Makkari again, but Makkari and Fastforward left to try to find a "cure" for the Eternal's accelerated speed trap. As they left,  Runner started throwing a childish tantrum, refusing to accept the fact that he wouldn't have the chance to defeat Makkari (or try to, anyway).




Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Peter Sanderson, Mike Manley, John Heebrink, Paul Becton, and Aaron McClellan.

    It is unrevealed who competed in the re-match caused by Fooferah's cheating, but without Makkari and Fastforward, Runner would almost certainly have won, though I doubt he enjoyed it; he wanted to prove himself against Makkari. I hope poor Figillulli got to run, (or slither), this time around.

    There are many galaxies, thus many Galactic Marathons, The Local Pangalactic Marathon would likely encompass champions from all galaxies within a chosen area of space. The Grandmaster stated that the race for the championship of all known space (the Universal Marathon?) would take place approximately three thousand years from this specific Galactic Marathon.

    Grandmaster does not possess hyperspeed, but he does have some control over time and space, which is how he was able to communicate with Makkari in his accelerated state.

    I list Quasar because he was a spectator in the preliminaries, cheering on his friend, Makkari. Quasar was busy in the Dimension of Manifestations (see Anthropomorpho) and was unable to attend The Galactic Marathon. (I suppose chatting with Eternity and The Living Tribunal could be considered more important than watching your best friend race in a galactic competition....)

Profile by Darc_Light

Clarifications:

The Galactic Marathon has no known connection to:

images

Preliminary. Quasar#17, p 22, pan 1

Galactic Marathon starts. Quasar#58, p 11, pan 3

Galactic Marathon. Quasar#58, p 13, pan 2

Quasar I#58, pg. 16, panel 2 (Galactic Marathon spectators)

Appearances:
Quasar#17 (December, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Len Kaminski (editor)
Quasar#58 (May, 1994) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Peter Sanderson (co-plot), John Heebink (pencils), Aaron McClellan (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)

First posted: 06/12/2005
Last updated: 03/28/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com/

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Events