The term "FAT ASS" was coined by Joe Oakes, who founded the original "Recover from the Holidays Fat Ass 50" which was run from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay along the shoulder of Highway 1 just south of San Francisco, USA. The original event was a VERY low key post-Xmas run. Joe, being an organizer at heart, encouraged other folks across the country (and now the world) to do the same -- devise a course and invite their running buddies to share in a little post-holiday fun. Interestingly, the original run is no longer. The San Francisco Bay Area Fat Ass 50 is now run on trails in the Big Basin area starting and finishing at Saratoga Gap. (More on Joe Oakes here)

In recent years, the number of these runs has mushroomed and there are now many FAT ASS runs all over the USA and worldwide [have a look here]. The vast majority are in very early January, just after the Xmas/New Year break and are generally 50 miles or 50km. The purpose is to burn off all those extra calories you consumed from Thanksgiving to New Year's that contributed to you getting a Fat Ass.

One of the original pioneers of FAT ASS was Alan Firth, an englishman living in the USA. He produced some T-shirts with the pig logo that can be seen on this page. He eventually moved back to the UK, and started the "Firth's Fun-Filled Formidably Fabulous Footslogging Fight the Flab Fat-Ass Fifty Four Finally Finishing in Farnham" run. I was lucky enough to attempt this run in both 1997 and 1999 (See a race report here).