Originally Posted by hamster

And then it dawned on me. It's all part of the big plan, likely even a forward agreement between Kurt and Steve. Steve is going for maximum mileage in a calendar year. Kurt is going for maximum mileage in 365 consecutive days. Both of them can achieve their goals simultaneously, neither one has to lose. If Steve fails for whatever reason, 9 day handicap is small enough that Kurt can still pick up the pace and break Tommy Godwin's record. If Steve succeeds, Kurt will try to keep his cumulative mileage just below Steve, so that Steve wins in terms of 1/1 to 12/31 mileage, and Kurt logs enough miles in the first 9 days of 2016 to get ahead. This way, neither one loses.