There is a story line within one of my all time favourite movies- Master and Commander- where the British Naval Vessel, HMS Surprise is at risk from a far superior attacker, a French vessel which can easily out-run and out-gun the already rather battered and war-weary Captain Aubrey and crew. This is illustrated by the whizz and splash of french shells that periodically rain down around the escapees.
In an attempt to flee in order to enter into the fight another day as in the saying "the better part of valour is discretion" a clever bit of cunning subterfuge is devised.
A small rowing dinghy is rigged with a mast and sail and carefully laid out on a line astern of Surprise.
A set of screened lantern lights are hung on its mast yard.
When the small boat is in line with the bright and glaring stern lights of the warship a brave young officer exposes the dinghy lanterns and simultaneously the main ships lights are extinguished.
To the lookouts on the pursuing French ship this action, undertaken in a smooth and seamless manner, arouses no suspicion as to any material changes in the chase down.
After the fearless officer is dragged back by rope to HMS Surprise through the cold Atlantic waters an order is given by Aubrey to strike out in another direction leaving the hapless enemy following the decoy. Surprise in in the clear.
I was quite taken with this clever deceit and tried hard to think of a situation in which such quick witted-ness would be useful to in my very much more mundane existence. I could think of none.
However, in the pages of a best selling book which forms my current bit of culture and relaxation one of the characters, in real life, clearly exhibits the same downright cheek and nerve of the fictional Captain Aubrey.
The book is Born to Run by Christopher Macdougall in which he explores the mysteries of the human desire to get up and run.
It is a compelling storyline and very well told although it is sometimes hard to believe that it is a recounting of the true lives of athletes in the extreme and endurance activity of long distance running.
In Macdougall's description of a particularly arduous and downright dangerous long distance race through the sweltering desert landscapes of South West America one of the competitors, the odds on favourite for the event displays amazing cunning and guile to exact an advantage, albeit miniscule over his closest rivals.
Such is the hazard to life of the harsh environment and physical exertions that are required on the course of the ultra-extreme race that the participants are permitted to have friends and colleagues in support either as pacers or in accompanying vehicles.
This is quite a logistical operation in itself as the whole team need to be self sufficient and skilled in all of the complimentary disciplines of running from medical assistance to dietary planning, management of equipment and overall safety.
The front runner in this instance was ahead of the rest of the field but only by a small margin over the 100 miles of the event.
He instructed his helpers to progressively build up adhesive tape to the rear light clusters of the support vehicles as the race progressed in its night-time phase.
Although just a few hundred metres separated the leader from the rest of the pack this trick gave the visual impression of diminishing tail lights and that the race leader was much farther up the trail and in fact romping away effortlessly when others were struggling pitifully in his wake.
Although very much to be frowned upon as an example of far from good sporting spirit I did have a bit of a laugh at the adaptation to a modern day scenario of the old trick exacted on an adversary in one of my favourite films.
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