History Main / EpicRace

* The seventh story arc of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', ''Steel Ball Run'', takes place over the course of a cross-country horse race.

* ''Steel Ball Run'', Part 7 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', involves a cross-continental race. It is almost entirely a horse race, with the exception of [[BadassNative Sandman]], who just decided to run it on foot.

* ''Film/RatRace''

** ''Film/TheGumballRally'' came out shortly after ''Cannonball'', starring Michael Sarazin and Creator/RaulJulia.
** ''Film/TheCannonballRun'' was more directly based on the Cannonball, being written by the race's actual organizer. A sequel, ''Cannoball Run II'', followed a few years later with ''Speed Zone'', a semi-official sequel, coming a few years after that.

* * ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'': The show's premise.

* ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers''

* ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit''
* Many directly inspired by real races:
** ''Cannonball''
** ''Film/TheCannonballRun'' and its sequel.
*** ''Speed Zone'', a semi-official sequel.
** ''Film/TheGreatRace'' (inspired by the 1908 New York to Paris race)
** ''Film/TheGumballRally''
* ''Film/MidnightMadness''

* ''Series/{{Drive}}''

* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: The Run.''

* The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy," was not a race against other competitors, but a race against nature itself -- twenty mushers and over a hundred and fifty dogs undertook a 674-mile journey in blizzard conditions to save Nome, Alaska from a diphtheria epidemic after aircraft proved unusable. The serum arrived in five and a half days, a feat that has never been duplicated. The Iditarod, mentioned above, is in part a commemoration of this last great hurrah and CrowningMomentOfAwesome of dog-sledding.

* Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman -- ''The Long Walk''. It's a foot race run by 100 teenage boys, the so-called "walkers", with the following rules: if you drop below 4 miles an hour, you get a warning. Receiving 3 warnings in quick succession gets you killed. And as a final touch, it has no finish -- it lasts until there's only one surviving walker. It's written by Stephen King -- were you expecting a happy ending?

* The ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' [[TheMovie film]], ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure'', had this as their main plot. The Chipmunks and the Chipettes had to race around the world in hot air balloons, dropping off and collecting dolls.

* Sega's ''Rad Mobile'' is the first-person ''Outrun''/''Rad Racers'' inspired game that invoke racing across multiple locations from western to eastern United States of America.

** Also, parodies such as [[http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/ The 24 Hours of LeMons,]] where each car must cost $500 or less (including both purchase cost and cost of any repairs/enhancements! [[note]]and cooking the books isn't a great idea because the [[MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours administration can choose to buy your car for $500.]][[/note]]

A [[{{Plots}} stock plot]]: the characters have to proceed from a starting line to a finishing line under some set of rules over the course of an extended period of time - often several days. This could be by car, by horse, by foot, or by any means necessary. Expect {{Badass}}es of [[BadassDriver whatever]] [[ImprobablePilotingSkills types]] [[BadassBiker are]] [[{{Determinator}} appropriate]].

!Spacecraft

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/OutlawStar'' has a space race episode.
* ''Anime/SpaceDandy'' also.
* ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers''

!Automobiles & Motorcycles

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[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Series/{{Drive}}
* Arguably, the various TopGear Specials, although (except for the Polar Special) "get there first" was not the challenge. That said, more traditional {{Epic Race}}s have appeared on the show: the economy race from Basel, Switzerland to the Blackpool Illuminations took 17 hours; and the car vs. public transport race from Heathrow to Oslo took still longer.

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[[AC:RealLife]]

!Horses
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* ''[[WesternAnimation/YogisSpaceRace Yogi's Space Race]]''.


!Footraces
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman - The Long Walk. It's a foot race run by 100 teenage boys, the so-called "walkers", with the following rules: if you drop below 4 miles an hour, you get a warning. Receiving 3 warnings in quick succession gets you killed. And as a final touch, it has no finish - it lasts until there's only one surviving walker. It's written by Stephen King - were you expecting a happy ending?

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* On the future Mars of ''TranshumanSpace: In The Well,'' there's the Olympus Mons biathalon. You start by climbing the 15km-tall cliffs that make up the edge of the Olympus volcano -- with a bicycle on your back -- then you bike 300km to the caldera at the center.

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!Multiple Modes of Transport
[[AC:{{Manga}}]]
* ''Steel Ball Run'', Part 7 of Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure, involves a cross-continental race. It is almost entirely a horse race, with the exception of [[BadassNative Sandman]], who just decided to run it on foot.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'' may be the TropeCodifier.

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[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

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!Other
[[AC:ComicBooks]]

* In the Suske and Wiske comic "Het Sprekende Testament" (The Speaking Testament), the heroes of the series race in a modified train that drives on (and off) the road.

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[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''ThoseMagnificentMenInTheirFlyingMachines'' involved an airplane race. Its sequel, ''MonteCarloOrBust'', involved an auto race (see above).

[[AC:RealLife]]
* The TourDeFrance, a 3500-km bicycle race.
** Also Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.

* The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy," was not a race against other competitors, but a race against nature itself -- twenty mushers and over a hundred and fifty dogs undertook a 674-mile journey in blizzard conditions to save Nome, Alaska from a diphtheria epidemic after aircraft proved unusable. The serum arrived in five and a half days, a feat that has never been duplicated. The Iditarod, mentioned above, is in part a commemoration of this last great hurrah and CrowningMomentOfAwesome of dog-sledding.

* Numerous cross-country races, including the one which inspired ''TheCannonballRun''.

* ''RatRace''

* Issue #5 of ''SteelgripStarkeyAndTheAllPurposePowerTool'' features an "Around-The-World Super Construction Race", combining both a footrace with feats of engineering.

* ''PhineasAndFerb: [[VerySpecialEpisode Summer Belongs to You!]]'' has the title characters attempt to circumnavigate the world on the summer solstice. FinaglesLaw bites ''hard''.

* ''OutlawStar'' has a space race episode.

* ''NeedForSpeed: The Run.''

* The now-forgotten reality series ''Lost'' (no, not [[{{Lost}} that one]]), in which contestants were dropped off in an unknown location somewhere in the world and had to find their way back home.

* The Disney movie ''IronWill'' about a dogsled race.

* The seventh story arc of ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'', ''Steel Ball Run'', takes place over the course of a cross-country horse race.