Archive for January, 2009

The Carnival of Running #13

Welcome to the 13th edition of The Carnival of Running!

Here’s a little video of the indoor marathon…

…but you’ll get a better sense of it if you read Nic’s race report at Left. Right. Repeat.

The 27th Annual Frostbite Run was held at Yokota Air Base in Japan, and this is the first I have ever heard of it, even though I was stationed at Yokota in the mid-1980s. I was probably flying elsewhere in the Far East and just missed it each time.

If the cold weather is getting you down, catch a flight for the Marianas Coffee Trail Run on Saipan.

But if you prefer to go extreme, Markus Wiaderek enjoys a little trail running – like 74k through the Grand Canyon. And ESPN will be there when The Raven runs his 100,000th mile.

Meanwhile, Josh Cox proves you can set an American record in the 50k even after tossing your cookies and making two porta-potty stops.

Meb Keflezighi and Magdalena Lewy Boulet both had impressive comebacks from disappointing 2008s in winning the Houston Half Marathon. Ethiopians swept the full marathon.

Run to Win has some great video of Josh, Meb and Magdalena.

USA Fit gets plus points for organizing a marathon for those shut out of the Houston Marathon.

Olympic marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru thinks he’s getting too fat, having ballooned up to 119 pounds “over the festive season.”

Jo Ann Kirby of the Stockton Record joins the legion of reporters who have taken up distance running and write about the experience. She signed up with a Fleet Feet training group for the Shamrock’n Half Marathon in March. This interests me because I’ve done the same thing for the same race, although my training group is in Sacramento, not Stockton.

If I ever qualify for Boston, believe me, I won’t be shy about telling everyone I know, but I doubt it will get my name in the newspaper. Instead of talking trash, Art North and Mike Serkes pick up trash as they do their morning run.

Brom Hoban follows the most-given marathon advice and discovers it works.

Brandweek has some news about Under Armour’s foray into the running shoe business.

Some of the things they are doing to make running shoes, such as the Brooks Trance 8, eco-friendly are amazing. About the only thing they haven’t tried is making them more durable so you’re not throwing them away every 4-6 months. I wonder why?

A publisher of a women’s fitness magazine decides to convert it toWomen’s Running. Visit the website here and the blog here.

Rudeness is a big topic these days. First Runner’s World and now Sacramento Bee columnist Sam McManis get all worked up over waving vs. not waving. Simple rule of thumb: Make eye contact. Wave. No return wave? Who cares?

In the same vein, you’ve gotta love this guy: “Better yet, next time I hear of a race I’m going to rent a police officer to sit at the end of my driveway and stop runners, while I back in and out of my driveway for four hours.”

That’s all for this time, friends. Giving you a wave while asking that you remember to submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

Geb Says, “Calgon, Take Me Away!”

Winners of an Adidas contest got to hear secret marathon tips from world record holder Haile Gebrselassie after his victory in the Dubai Marathon. Surprisingly, Secret #1 was not “Run faster than anyone else.”

Even more surprising was Geb’s suggestion of “taking a long hot bath” after a marathon. That’s the opposite of what you usually hear.

Greeting Cards for Runners

This is such a great idea I don’t know why somebody didn’t think of it before. The good people at Far Gone Greetings have greeting cards designed specifically for runners, as well as categories for other enthusiasms. Lots of in-jokes and runner-specific humor, so check it out.

Age Group Karma

Last Saturday there was a small local 10k I had planned to run. But I had just gotten back from a long trip, and spent most of Friday catching up on neglected work. It was a good 40-minute drive to the race and I hadn’t registered yet, which meant getting up hecka early. So I skipped it, slept in and did a training run later in the day.

Naturally, had I dragged my lazy butt out of bed I would have (barring a mid-race broken ankle) finished second in my age group in the 10k. That’ll teach me.

New Site: RunningMoms.com

Brand-new and pretty stylish, RunningMoms.com looks like a worthwhile stop for those of you who fit the category. It has tips, inspiration, race reports, blogs and a discussion forum. Check it out.

The Carnival of Running #12

Welcome to the 12th edition of The Carnival of Running!

Let this be a lesson to you: The race isn’t over until… well, you’ll get the idea…

Running On Empty gives up booze, mostly.

But the Hash House Harriers in Portland, Maine, are more than making up the difference.

I Signed Up for This?!? is beating a much tougher jones – coffee. Good, because you don’t want to turn out like this guy.

This post from The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy isn’t about running, but it’s good enough to qualify for a Running Is Funny waiver.

Run4Change provides links to many marathon and ultra-marathon training sites.

Marathon Mama explains just how average she is.

Blair at Run to Win has a terrific 50-mile race report and recommendations for two products that helped ease the pain

Steve in a Speedo?! Gross! got hit by a car, but it didn’t prevent him from posting the most detailed close-up of frozen eyeglasses to ever hit the Internet.

CBS News continues to promote the notion that Gov. Blago’s running is somehow associated with his, uh, way of doing business.

Chic Runner has “the WORST bloody sock EVER!”

Manely Montana posts her favorite runnning quotes – that’s right, they’re so good they have an extra “n”!

Ever enter a 5.4k race? Neither did these guys.

The big-time marathon business is evidently recession-proof.

Outside magazine has a new running blog, featuring a guy trying to BQ.

Jeanne at Not Born to Run won second place in her age group before Christmas, then PR’ed on New Years Day. Great holiday season!

A reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner gets geezered on a cold training run.

An Australian man told police his naked jogging “just happens.”

But remember not to confuse streaking with running streaks.

Mostly Running… uncovered a conspiracy that could shake the very foundations of Western civilization.

Half-Fast trumpets the joys of taper gladness.

Xenia does the Rocky thing in Philly. How come nobody does the Clubber Lang thing?

Adriano Bastos wins his fifth straight Disney Marathon, this time while wearing a Goofy hat.

Nitmos at Feet Meet Street is already making plans for Boston 2010 (as am I, God willing), but any self-respecting Bugs Bunny fan knows it’s “fricka, fracka, fire-cracka!” Always check your sources, dude!

That’s all for this time, friends. Remember to submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

Police Blotter

A BOLO (be on the lookout) for runners in Flathead County, Montana:

10:07 a.m. A driver, or maybe an occupant, of an older green Honda traveling south on US Highway 93 shouted obscenities at a couple of joggers.

If that isn’t frightening enough for you, take a look at these incidents that occurred on the same day:

1:27 p.m. Someone thought a small white plane, likely a Cessna, was suspicious. It was flying very slowly.

2:34 p.m. A cat came home with a pellet gun wound. No one knows who the shooter was.

3 p.m. A car stereo was too loud for someone’s neighbors.

8:36 p.m. Two girls weren’t allowed to hangout. One of them is a bad influence on the other.

8:41 p.m. A vulgar woman called a man. He says she is his ex.