Another annoying mystery that has plagued Zelda 64 since it first appeared was the true purpose of the Hyrule Running Man. Of course we know that you sell the Bunny Mask to him, but later on, as adult Link he become an unsolvable conundrum. He always beats you by one second. According to Nintendo he was put in the game just to make you keep playing, but the questions he raises go far beyond this. First off, in the carpenters tent "The Crest of the Royal Family" mocks us right above where he is laying. This is a very important symbol and for it to be here is totally ludicrous. Furthermore, he says things rather cryptically like "You want to find you killer instinct!" Just for laughs I put in Killer Instinct the game before I put in Zelda to see what would happen and nothing did. I even put my controller pak into the controller that had some killer instinct data on it to see what would happen and there was no change. Trust me, I spent days on the Running Man, and found both no solution to his race or his purpose in the game. Rodney Johnson, a prominent (and respectable I might add) member of the Zelda community, has done some investigating and come up with some interesting revelations that need further study. Hear what he has to say and come to your own judgement.

I have been doing some investigating, and one day I decided to trace the exact path that the Running Man takes around Hyrule Field in Child Link's world. This took several hours, since the runner stops when night comes, and I wanted to follow him around several times to get a better idea of the path he takes.

This investigation yielded some very interesting results, in my view. As you'll see in the enclosed file, Runpath.jpg, I have traced the Running Man's path in green, onto the map of Hyrule Field. The path I have traced is only approximate, but pretty close.

There's something very odd about the shape of his path. It is mostly symmetrical, but at a slant. I noticed that the 3 outermost points of the path form a triangle, so I triangulated the center. The triangulation points to the hole which can be found in Lon Lon Ranch. That hole leads to an underground grotto where one can find 3 Business Scrubs and one of those "beehives".

The Runner always starts from the tree at the top of the path. You can prove this to yourself by bombing the ground near that tree, and entering the hole (This is where you'll find a Heart Piece, underwater). When you leave that grotto, turn to the right and you'll see the Running Man as he starts his run.

Anyway, back to the hole in Lon Lon Ranch. This seemed like a very benign discovery, until I went to Lon Lon Ranch as Adult Link and discovered that in Adult Link's world, the hole in Lon Lon Ranch is GONE!!

Clearly, this points to something. It may not be the Triforce, but it has to be something. The fact that the hole is missing in Adult Link's world suggests once again that if we are to find anything special, it would most likely be in Child Link's world, before he pulls the Master Sword for the first time.

Perhaps if someone can figure out what the shape of the Running Man's path means, or can offer any other ideas or theories, we can solve this mystery.

He does make an interesting point about the Hyrule Running Man and the Hole is Lon Lon Ranch. Regarding Lon Lon Ranch I must comment on that hole high on the wall in room with the movable boxes and the two cows. This is very unusual. Strange holes remain mysterious to this day whether they are part of the background or not.