The Pursuit of Greatness
In 1923, the British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory embarked on a fundraising tour of the United States to raise money for a seemingly impossible expedition. Mallory aimed to become the first man to summit the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest. This great voyage, though relatively commonplace today, seemed ludicrously dangerous at the time, and he was often asked why he would want to participate in such a risky undertaking. Mallory was ready for these questions, and his answer was immortalized in the March 18, 1923 edition of the New York Times:
"Because it's there."
We have three great loves in this life:
- The savory combination of cheese and meat
- Tasteful inebriation
- The thrill of a challenge
How might we combine our passion for these three great pursuits? We believe we've found a solution.
There are four Olde City locations in New York City, each offering the finest cheesesteaks that this great metropolis has to offer (sorry, Bradley Cooper). Over the course of a single day, we aim to dine at each of these locations, consuming a full cheesesteak and a beer/shot combo at each location. We will be traveling on foot to each of these locations for a total distance of 13.1 miles.
Essentially, this is a half-marathon with the additional challenge of having to eat and drink in the middle of it.
In exchange for completing this pilgrimage to each of the four great temples of Philadelphia cuisine that Olde City Cheesesteaks & Brew has erected in Manhattan, we are requesting that a picture of our feat will grace the walls of one of the Olde City locations. That's it. We are not asking for fundraising like George Leigh Mallory, simply the chance for a small measure of immortality in the form of our likenesses being hung in the hallowed halls of Olde City.
We plan to embark upon this expedition on Saturday, June 27th, 2026. We will make pains to document the whole experience, though we do this only to prove that we have done what we set out to do. We are not influencers, and are not trying to create a viral trend. We're just cheesesteak enthusiasts who'd like to challenge ourselves in the best way we can think of.
Should Olde City not accept our request, no hard feelings! This is an objectively silly plan, and we will continue to patronize Olde City's fine establishments with the same enthusiasm and affection that we have come to feel for Olde City. In fact, we'll probably still do this ridiculous half-marathon, even if it means their walls continue to display the faces of all-time great athletes instead of the acolytes of the Cheesesteak Half Marathon. Why?
Because this is our Everest, and because it's there.