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Greek and Roman Mythology
Atalanta was a woman of legendary proportions. She was a master hunter, an excellent runner, and beautiful beyond the immaginations of mortal men. She left quite an impression on the boys, but she was determined to avoid marrage and live free forever.
Atalanta needed a way to dispose of her would-be suitors, and killing them was out-of-the-question. Finnaly, she had an idea. She would marry any man who could beat her in a foot race. This was immpossible as Atalanta knew, because she was the fastest human alive. One by one the men would challenge her, and one by one they'd come home exhausted and empty handed.
One of her lovers was Hippomones. He had heard of Atalanta and her race. He also knew she was the fastest thing on two feet. So what was he to do? Well, he did what any mortal would do when plauged by insurmountable odds: call the gods for help. With the help of Venus he managed to find three golden apples so irresistable, no one could resist picking them up. Hippomones got them and headed off to the races!
The two got to the starting line and took off! Atalanta blazed ahead of her competition, so Hippomones decided to try one of the apples. He pitched it out ahead oh her. Sure enough, the apple worked it's charm on Atalanta, who stopped to pick it up. During this time Hippomones was able to catch up with her. She noticed this and began running again. Once more he tossed out an apple, and once more she stopped. Hippomones pulled ahead of her for a moment until Atalanta realized what was going on abd took off again. Hippomones tossed the last apple way off of the track, and Atalanta had to swerve way off course to get it. By the time she started off again, Hippomones wsa already at the finish line. He had beaten her, not exactly fairly, but a deal was a deal. She had no choice but to marry this (clever) young man.