High-intensity marble races are your new favorite extreme sport

Marbles are one of the simpler toys out there: they're small and they roll places. So you could be forgiven for underestimating how exciting marbles can be.

For Dutch YouTuber Jelle Bakker, marbles are his hobby. More specifically, creating fantastic and elaborate race tracks and machines for his many, many marbles.

The results of his efforts are 500-750 feet long tracks, which are really engaging to watch, especially with the addition of fast-talking sports commentary (which Bakker credits to Greg Woods). 

Pick your favorite marble, don't lose it, and see if it takes home the gold.

The contestants started out with simple names like Red and Blue, before moving into more racehorse-esque names (read: weirder but awesome) like Slimer, Lemon Head, Ghost Plasma, Fishy Fishy, or my personal favorite Marbly Mcmarbleface. It adds quite a bit to the commentary:

Not only are the courses fantastically devised, but the narration is the quality which I would except from a professional sports announcer. When combined with the podium and intricate starting line, this exhilarating race is elevated from mere child's play to true sport.

Besides the sand races, Bakker has also created a number of super-complex indoor marble tracks.

Your friends may think you've lost all your marbles when you tell them that this is your new favorite sport, but just direct them to Jelle's Marble Runs, and I'm sure they'll understand.

This story was originally published in 2016. It was updated in 2019 to reflect new videos available on the channel. Additional reporting by Charlotte Roos.