It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hand anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there. This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of other people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the "handathon" contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car. It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world. And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else--someone who wants to go home and get some sleep. Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills. Maybe the popularity of the handathon is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Entrants in the Longview handathon certainly don't seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by "getting lots of sleep". Others say they will "eat healthy food" or "pray for success". The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something at the end. Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry   between the competitors. They help each other out and keep each other's spirits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement for those still standing. The reason why the sport is called "handathon" is probably that   _   in the competition.
people cover a long distance people keep hands in place long people wave hands as long as possible people do the same thing as in marathon