The Million Dollar Bet, Pt. 1 & 2

Haseeb Qureshi and Ashton 'theASHMAN103' Griffin made a 3:1 prop bet last weekend: if the half-drunk, underslept Griffin can run 70 miles in the matter of a mere 24 hours, he wins $300,000; if not, however, he is due to pay Qureshi $900,000. Eventually theASHMAN103 won the bet, which is an astonishing achievement on its own, let alone getting it done in the poor condition he was, wrestler or not. During the past couple of days, Qureshi aka ‘Internetpokers’ posted two writings on his blog, “The Million Dollar Bet, Pt. 1 & 2,” discussing the event. Here we give you a few samples of these.


“I'm going to do this. I can do 70 miles no problem. I know my body." We discussed it and asked what's the most he'd ever run before. He told us that the most he'd ever run in one stretch was twenty-two miles. Ashton is very athletic; he's a collegiate-level wrestler, he ran cross-country in high school, and he'd run 13 miles just a couple of days prior. He's extremely fit. But he'd never even run a complete marathon in his life.

“The way I saw it, he was ready to grab a handful of his money and throw it into the wind. I can't save him. I can't stop him.
I replied, "Alright, I can do 70. 70k for your 210."
"Alright, it's booked," he replied. He finished eating his Dunkin' Donuts and ran upstairs to change into his shorts. It was around noon then. We set up the terms of the bet - he was given a span of 24 hours to complete the run. He had to maintain a running speed at all times on the treadmill - any walking or anything below that given speed would not count toward his total. He was free to take as many breaks as he needed. Doug up took a small piece as did another friend, but most of the action was mine.
He scurried off with a spring in his step to the nearby gym to start his running. And so at 12:30 PM on Friday the 4th of February, the bet began.

“Around 2PM Doug and I went to Ruby Tuesday's to get lunch. While we were eating, we got a text from Ashton saying that he was looking for more action, and that he was going to find other people to buy it up so he could put up 900k of his own money (…)
So I texted him, "alright, I'll buy up the rest." He texted back, "Are you sure about this?" "Yeah, I'm sure. My 285k plus the other 15k you have booked makes 300k. Consider it booked."

“The story seemed to be getting more and more f****d up the longer it went on. I wasn't expecting any of this. Ashton was going through something truly horrible. Rocking back and forth in that bedroom... all the fear and confusion he must've been feeling... us sitting downstairs waiting for our friend to give in. He was falling behind pace to win the bet. I was supposed to be relieved, but I felt miserable. The entire thing started to feel perverse.

“It was almost noon, and we still hadn't heard from Ashton. I couldn't even contemplate anymore what was happening. My mind was starting to numb, and I just wanted it to be over with. I was ready to lose, and I didn't care anymore... I just wanted it to be over. The bet had begun at 12:30PM the previous day, and it was already 12:00PM. It was truly down to the wire.
I heard the door swing open.
I ran into the corridor at the head of the stairs. I didn't know what I expected to see. My heart felt like it was being held up by wire strings. In that first second that I saw the scene before me, I didn't understand.
Ashton was being helped up the stairs by his stepfather. He barely had the strength to pull his legs up. He was gripping onto the rail for support. "Is he okay?" They didn't answer me. In that moment, I didn't know.
When he finally got the top of the stairs, he stepped into his room. He could walk. And then I knew.
It was over.
He had won.”

To read more, check out Qureshi’s The Million Dollar Bet, Pt. 1 and The Million Dollar Bet, Pt. 2.