World of the Bizarre

Man arrested while trying to 'run' across the ocean in a hamster wheel

By T.K. Randall
September 7, 2023

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) We've seen a lot of madcap stunts over the years, this one pretty much takes the cake.

According to reports, 44-year-old marathon runner Reza Baluchi had decided to make history by running across the Atlantic from Florida to London using a home-made hamster wheel contraption.

The device (or 'vessel') was basically a cylindrical tube with paddles that made it possible for the occupant to effectively propel it across the surface of the water.

Impressively, given the circumstances, he managed to make it 70 miles out to sea before being stopped by the US Coast Guard off Tybee Island.The strangeness didn't end there, though, as Baluchi refused to come out and even threatened to blow himself up with a bomb (which, as it turns out, didn't actually exist).

It took several days for him to finally give himself up.

This isn't the first time he's tried a stunt like this either - back in 2021 he was arrested while trying to go from Florida to New York, having had to be rescued after drifting 30 miles from the starting point.

He was also rescued on two earlier occasions during similar ocean-crossing attempts.

Source: BBC News

Tags: Hamster Wheel