What's In a Name?

By the way, since my X360 Gamer Profile is now posted, I might as well explain the origin of my Gamer Tag, Enduro. Especially since I get asked quite often while playing.

Back in 2002 I was really active with the TRI-DRS listserve (Triathletes of the Dead Runners Society... don't ask) and made a couple of friends from California who seemed intent on egging me on into joining them in longer and stupider events. Thanks to them, I ran a 50k trail run in half a foot of snow, raced the Death Valley Marathon, and ultimately spent 6 months training for a ridiculous off-road Ironman triathlon that was scheduled to have a 30-hour time limit. Anyway, one of the guys started referring to me and the other guy as his band of "Endurados". There's part of it.

The other component is that, as a kid, we had an Atari 2600 in the house ever since I was about 5 years old. Actually, it was a wood-grain knockoff called the "Sears Entertainment Sytem" but it was basically an Atari 2600. And one of my favorite games for the system was an Activision title called "Enduro". It was a really fun racing game where all you did was try to pass hundreds of cars in varying conditions -- ice, fog, night, rain, sun. You just mashed the gas and strafed left/right across the screen passing hundreds of other racers. I think it was the first baja 1000 racing simulation. With 4-bit graphics and a 1982 release date. Or some such thing. Anyway, I loved that game and to this day racing games are still my favorites.

So... my Gamertag is really just a tip of the cap to my gaming roots and also a fun nickname reminding me of a very cool time in my life as a wannabe endurance freak. Boy am I glad that's over with.

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