It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. In the Spanish region of Navarre in 1879, two Frenchmen struck a bet to see which was the hardiest. The terms were these. After fasting for a day, they'd drink 17 glasses of wine each, then walk from Pamplona to a village six miles away. It was the height of summer, just to make it that extra bit more interesting. As one was far younger than the other, they hit on a handicap system - for every year's advantage the twenty-something had over his middle-aged rival, he'd carry a pound of dirt. So off they went. Both lurching towards their goal - one staggering under the extra burden of 16lbs of earth. They hadn't gone far, needless to say, when the wager took a dark turn. The elder man collapsed and died. The younger, reported the Manchester Evening News at the time, "escaped death only by the skin of his teeth".