5) St. Luke’s Celebration – “the largest women’s 5K in the country.”
I’m fascinated by this, as the best races for women have one thing in common – lots and lots of women and (virtually) no men. I may be wrong, but I suspect the best races for men would also include lots and lots of women.
Some academic should do a study about the interaction of the sexes as it relates to running, because there are several contradictory dynamics going on. In one sense, running is the ultimate level playing field – everyone covers the same distance under the same external conditions. Regardless of sex, some runners are hyper-competitive and others use road races as social opportunities or community events.
On the other hand, female-centric races and diva nights clearly have great appeal to women, though male counterparts would seem prehistoric and trashy. I’ve never thought it was appropriate to chat up women while they’re running, though the existence of flunning makes me wonder if that’s just old school thinking. At the same time, a race/expo for dudes only would have no special appeal for me, and I suspect most male runners would feel the same.
Why wouldn’t a “best race for women” simply feature more – and cleaner – porta-potties, lots of convenient viewing areas for family and friends, and gender-specific t-shirts? What are guys doing that make women-only races such a draw?
2 comments - What do you think? Posted by
Mike -
January 27, 2012 at 12:51
We could use some more mystery and drama about daily training runs, as mundane as they usually are. The U.K.’s Westmorland Gazette tracked down a suitable saga.
“Two terrified runners have spoken of their face-to-face encounter with South Lakeland’s mysterious big ‘black cat,’” the paper reported. “It follows years of apparent sightings of the curious creature in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.”
Anjela Jones and Eve Grayson were traversing the foggy moor during their evening jog (OK, I don’t know if it was a foggy moor, but it makes for a better story) when they spotted an animal shape in the dark. Angela said the animal was jet black, the same size as a labrador, had long legs, a tail and was staring straight at them.
“We stopped, shone our head torches towards it to get a better look and saw two orange eyes and the outline of a large feline animal,” said Angela “It was definitely a big cat.”
Let’s put on our deerstalker caps for this one. I have a theory…
But it’s hard to devote sufficient attention to solving this mystery while being distracted by the photo accompanying the story.
Is this meant to be a re-enactment of the incident? Did the two women really hide behind a thin tree branch and pull it down in order to see?
Even more baffling is the photo caption: “Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, who say they saw South Lakeland’s mystery big car.” That’s right, it says “car.” Were they really hiding behind a tree branch from a big black car?
The reporter adds to the riddle when he describes the culprit as “the mystery moggy.” The term can be applied to a cat, but also a cow, a mouse, or “an untidy woman.”
Hmmm… definitely a three-pipe problem.
1 comment - What do you think? Posted by
Mike -
January 26, 2012 at 11:31
The group finished the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last October in 6:20, breaking the previous record of 54 runners. The team was put together to raise money for the physical rehab of former elite runner Jenny Crain, who suffered severe injuries after being struck by a vehicle during a training run in 2007.
It’s easy to imagine the difficulties involved in running a marathon while tied to 61 other people, but this short video makes it even plainer.
Sage Canaday of the Brooks-Hanson team has plenty of time on his hands while recovering from his 2:18 finish in the U.S. Olympics marathon trials. So he put together this video of “Shit Marathoners Say.”
My favorite? “I run for a cause.”
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Mike -
January 24, 2012 at 12:00
Just one problem. No one bothered to check with the Prince or Kate or their representatives at Clarence House, which is where they reside. That is, until royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter did:
Just had confirmation from Clarence House that William + Kate are not participating in #SportRelief and so are not running a mile.
Most of you are probably too young to remember the days when cigarettes were advertised on television. But even then there were public service announcements about the dangers of smoking. This is a famous one, produced by the American Heart Association:
I’ve never smoked, but I thought then – and still do – that Johnny Smoke was a very badass dude. I’m not sure how effective the ad was in reducing smoking, but the coolness factor probably negated the message.
1 comment - What do you think? Posted by
Mike -
January 19, 2012 at 11:00
