TAMPA, Fla. — Imagine running a more than 3-mile race in a full suit—coat and dress shoes included!
Tampa Bay resident Joe Lamb will be doing just that on Saturday at the Gasparilla Distance Classic 5K race.
It comes after he came in last place in his fantasy football league.
“People have said why don’t you do running shoes or sneakers something? For awhile, I was thinking about wearing a full 3 piece just to show the guys you can do it but it’ll be a good suit. Hoping to look as good at the end as I do at the beginning,” Lamb said with a laugh.
Evan Astorquiza is also part of the fantasy football team. He says they’ve had some interesting consequences for the person coming in last over the past few years. One year they did a hot buffalo wing challenge. Another year they picked the lowest rated buffet restaurant in town and chose the most undesirable menu items for their friend to consume.
Lamb’s so called “fantasy football punishment” is fitting, Astorquiza says, because he’s never ran a 5K before and he wears a suit every day for work and looks forward to switching to comfortable clothes on the weekend.
“Kind of interesting that Joe might not be the craziest one out there. I’m sure there will be pirates out there and Joe with his suit on so it’ll be fun to see,” Astorquiza added.
Lamb says as an added perk, they’ll be using their draft order to predict his final 5K finish time.
He’s spent the past few weeks picking out his business suit suitable enough to run in…and that includes those often uncomfortable dress shoes.
“When you sign up for the Gasparilla 5K, it asks what brand shoes you are running in. I put in Johnson and Murphy and I thought I’m probably the only person who put in something along those lines and I thought it was really funny,” Lamb said with a chuckle.
You can catch Lamb and all the other Gasparilla Distance Classic finishers as part of our live camera feed of the finish line.
The Gasparilla Distance Classic runs Saturday and Sunday along Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa.
