Poor ol’ Reza Baluchi: all he wanted to do was navigate the Caribbean in a giant inflatable bubble in the name of world peace. Instead, all he got was airlifted by the United States Coast Guard.
Unfortunately a self-made “zorb” (or hydro pod bubble, whatever you want to call it) several bottles of water, a couple protein bars, and a GPS system are not accomplish one’s goal of “running” from Florida to Bermuda — regardless of the noble intentions.
According to Baluchi’s website, the ambitiously-minded goal-setting ultra-marathon-runner — he’s already run across the U.S. twice and around its perimeter once — had set a goal of running across 165 nations to encourage world peace. This most recent endeavor was part of a five-year plan to run across the world—even across oceans.
His Facebook page cites Baluchi designing “a boat that will allow [him] to cross the ocean 100 percent man powered.” It went on to say that he would be “supported by a larger boat to assure his safety,” though it does not seem that such a boat was with Baluchi at the time of his rescue. He also had plans to cross “the ocean from Rio de Janeiro to South Africa which, he has scheduled to take 67 days.”
On Baluchi’s actual site is footage of his trials with the resulting zorb, crafted for the running machine to continue his running even on top of the water.
The Coast Guard was first made aware of the existence of a man floating in a giant bubble near Florida on Wednesday (October 2). On Saturday (October 4), Baluchi alerted the emergency services of his need for assistance. Upon pick-up, rescuers said he was disoriented and asking how to get to Bermuda.
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