Participants awaiting the start, and finish, of the Philly 0.0 Instant Gratification Run last week. After they took one step, they were all given an official time of 1 second.”
PHILADELPHIA — Runners picked up their long-sleeve T-shirts, pinned on their bib numbers and gathered beneath a banner as rousing music played. Some wore sneakers in the subfreezing chill; others wore boots or flip-flops. One woman leaned on her crutches. Another was dressed as a nun.
“Who out here is going for their personal record?” the race director shouted into a microphone. “Everyone have their watches ready, their GPSs set.”
Runners took their marks, some fueled by something stronger than Gatorade. An air horn bleated, and they surged merrily forward to the immediate praise of “Congratulations! You have just finished.”
The Philly 0.0 Instant Gratification Run finished a step after it started Friday night. An official time of 1 second was given to each of the estimated 350 participants, who paid $20 to $35 apiece for a T-shirt, beer, food and live music. It was a race like any other race except for, well, the actual running.
Traditional races have spawned any number of novelty alternatives: obstacle courses featuring mud, fire and barbed wire; mile runs in which participants chug a beer before each of four laps around a track; color runs in which participants are showered with kaleidoscopic cornstarch.
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Even a race of one step proved too far, though, for Brody Clemmer, 25, of King of Prussia, Pa., who was carried across the line by D’Orazio and another friend. “One of my skills is not shortness of breath,” Clemmer said.
Deanne Ross, 39, of East Norriton Township, Pa., wore a plain sweatsuit in apparent homage to Philadelphia’s celluloid runner of museum steps, Rocky Balboa, and said she felt inspired to take up jogging.
“I’m going to be 40 this year,” Ross said. “Ticktock. Now or never.”
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
A version of this article appears in print on February 9, 2015, on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: For the Slothful, a Race Is a One-Step Process. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
