A jogger waiting at a red crosswalk light must have really not wanted his muscles to cool, say observers who watched him do several somersaults through a flaming hoop.
Pedestrian Lara Jorgenson says she has seen joggers run in place or even do jumping jacks, but this was the first time she had seen circus-level acrobatics.
“The moment the jogger approached the zebra crossing and saw that the light was red, he pulled out his hoop, poured fuel on it, lit it up, and started leaping through it,” she said. “He did it four or five times before the light turned green, and we all crossed.”
When questioned, jogger Rodrigo Vauvert admitted that like most serious runners, he cannot stand it when his muscles cool.
“For years, I simply did high knee kicks during those perilous ten or fifteen seconds,” he said.
“That turned out not to be enough, so I started doing a speeded up version of the ‘Macarena’ dance.”
“I could usually get through twenty or thirty rounds before the light turned green,” he added. “Hey, Macarena, ay!”
However, Vauvert says that his body temperature sometimes dropped by as much as a tenth of a degree, and he could still feel his muscles cramping with lactic acid.
“So I took up doing flying Taekwondo kicks, then backflips, and eventually somersaults through flaming hoops that I bought from a circus supply company,” he said. “It’s working for now, and I’m able to keep my muscles warm during those vital moments. I just wish people in cars wouldn’t stare.”
