Posts Tagged ‘blogs’

The Carnival of Running #31

Welcome to the 31st edition of The Carnival of Running!

This is the only race where I’d prefer the uphill leg, and the volunteers suffer just as much as the runners:

Here’s a story from Rochester, Minnesota, I’m ashamed to say I found hilarious:

“Police officers in Rochester have found a missing Med-City Marathon runner after issuing several emergency alerts on the radio.

“Officers tell us that they received a report of a disoriented and possibly lost runner who may have been suffering from heat stroke.

“When she didn’t cross the finish line, they were worried for her safety and launched a city-wide search.

“The 27-year-old woman was found less than a half hour later when she crossed the finish line.”

This crabby columnist from The Guardian says, “It wasn’t long ago that running a marathon was the ultimate hard-nut badge of honour. Now every TV presenter and her manicurist has run the course, you have to do it wearing chainmail if you really want to prove something, preferably finishing several days after the race began.”

The New York Times will be running a series of personal marathon stories. The paper also had an interview with Kara Goucher about first marathons. She gave solid advice if not particularly insightful. And the Times added a product review of the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.

Marathoner Ryan Hall gets advice from an old hippie.

Here’s an article that suggests you can blog your way to running success. If only it were true.

There’s always a lot of advice out there about what to eat before running, but Wesley Korir doesn’t pay any attention to it. He won the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:08:24 after his usual pre-race meal – a six-inch Subway tuna sub.

In the future you may be able to walk into a store and purchase a pair of personalized running shoes. Even better, “With the elastomeric zp15e powder and a flexible infiltrant, you can get a range of performance depending on the exact urethane product you use to infuse the parts,” says Joe Titlow, director of product management at Z Corp. “A shore hardness range of 20A to 70A is achievable, typically with 100-200 percent elongation.” It’s a worthy goal to achieve 100-200 percent elongation in all aspects of your life.

What’s the point of having a Night of the Ninja 5k and no one posts any photos? Oh well, at least we have a race report from Old-Runner.com.

Running humor is not for amateurs. The proof is the spectator at the Ottawa Marathon holding a sign that read, “Hey… Who Fartleked?”

Zennie62 has a full race report and video of the Bay to Breakers.

Ben Stiller thinks Tom Cruise is one of the best “screen runners.” I think it’s a tie between this guy and this guy.

Here’s some good advice about how to avoid common running injuries.

What do you think should happen to runners who don’t follow race rules? I’m for summary execution, myself.

And for those of you have been on pins and needles waiting for the results of The Great Funny/Viper Challenge, well, it wasn’t much of a contest. Here’s my race report and concession speech, and here is Viper’s race report and gloat.

Fortunately I have an opportunity to salvage some pride. I have to be in San Diego on business the first week of July, and as luck would have it, there is an Independence Day 15k on Coronado. This will be my first 15k, so my goal is to beat Viper’s PR of 1:20:24, which he set in March.

Yep, it’s like Ryun vs. Liquori all over again!

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

The Carnival of Running #30

Welcome to the 30th edition of The Carnival of Running!

With all the pageantry in the Bay to Breakers 12k, it’s nice to see the race itself was a great contest:

Sammy Kitwara set a world record for the distance, saying afterwards, “I feel very well, but very hot.” That prompted one wiseguy to remark, “You know it’s hot when the Kenyan says it’s hot.”

Usain Bolt shows us he’s a pretty fast road racer, too.

The men’s 400-meter hurdle race at the Adidas Track Classic featured a set of misplaced hurdles. Oops. If you missed the meet on ESPN2, Universal Sports has a rundown of the winners and losers.

A guy in New Zealand will attempt to break the record for fastest marathon run on a treadmill. In case you were considering it yourself, it’s 2:21:40.

If you’ve never done a hash run, here’s a good primer of what it entails, which is mostly beer.

Steve Bond says runners rarely exhibit the “crush the opponent at almost any cost mentality.” He’s right. What’s that “almost” doing in there?

The Associated Press discovered three recession-proof products are chocolate, Spam and running shoes. Smells like race day to me!

Cameron Stracher is writing a book about the 1970s running boom, and he’s of the opinion that economic malaise and increased interest in running go hand in hand. But I was more interested in this little story:

“In law school I ran with a world-class, 5,000 meter runner who disclosed he was stoned in the middle of a 13-mile run (apparently a common training technique for him).”

Maybe he was doing… wait for it… speedwork!

On Run Oregon, Joe Dudman discusses the etiquette for passing someone while training. I have soft footfalls, so I use the ninja sprint, sidling up behind them and then shooting past so they foul themselves in shock.

We’ve all seen those poor pacers, running an entire marathon while holding up that little tour guide sign. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? They’re rabbits. They should have rabbit ears.

Outside magazine thinks long, slow distance makes for long, slow runners.

University of Oregon students make themselves feel better by generating their own electricity while on elliptical machines. Before you get too excited about this idea, it would take 3,000 people a day on 20 machines to generate enough electricity to power one small house. It makes more sense just to go to bed an hour earlier.

copia verborum notices some odd behavior while she runs through Sulphur.

You watch for potholes. You watch for traffic. But Run to Win says to watch out for wet paint, too.

Pam Anderson (this one, not this one) recommends hard candy instead of gels on long runs.

Race congratulations to:

* sound mind, sound body for her 10k PR and tasty free beer.

* The Running Laminator for a monstrous 10k PR but, alas, no tasty free beer.

* maria k at run, rock, and roll for completing her first marathon in Cleveland last Sunday. She even had enough energy to heckle her ex-boyfriend at mile 17. Tremendous!

* Sun Runner who BQ’d in the same race. For her BQ, I have NV.

Thanks to Nitmos at Feet Meet Street for introducing me to the All American Standards of Excellence for master runners. All of those are reachable for me, so I’m clearing a space for my $10 certificate to go right next to my C-130 Hercules One Thousand Hour Club certificate. The old joke was the award for 3,000 hours was a hearing aid.

That’s all for this time, friends. Monday is the Great Funny/Viper Challenge. May the best snail win! Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

The Carnival of Running #29

Welcome to the 29th edition of The Carnival of Running!

Runner’s World skirts the issue:

Doug Logan at Shin Splints does a good job with a timeworn topic – how much it sucks to get old. It’ll happen to you, too, whippersnappers. Meanwhile, Steve Nearman of the Washington Times discusses the joys of geezering.

Rick Broadbent of the London Times tries to jack up his web traffic by declaring, “Chariots of Fire Is Rubbish.” You have to love his synopsis of the movie Von Ryan’s Express: “Frank Sinatra gets shot in the back because he cannot run fast enough. A cautionary tale for all us plodders who fear we may never be able to evade electric scooters let alone bands of machine gun-toting Nazis.”

I haven’t seen it, but the documentary “Run Like A Girl” is getting some buzz.

Would you get “13.1″ tattooed on your wrist? I wouldn’t, but I might get “BQ” tattooed on my forehead.

Woman’s Day reports treadmill runners are more depressed than outdoor runners. But you can’t read Woman’s Day while running outside.

Kara at Between the Miles wonders why runners think they can eat anything they want, while the Vancouver Sun advises us to “say no to the post-run pig-out.” That’s like saying no to the sex after the foreplay.

The Chicago Tribune takes a look at the FIRST marathon training program, and I don’t mean the one used by Pheidippides.

Run for the Medal had his bike stolen. So he took it out on his body.

Running a 4:36 marathon might not be worth a newspaper story, unless you did it on a broken foot.

Rocky Mountain Raider has some great trail runs in the Boulder area. Even better, if you decide to run them naked, the ACLU will back you up.

The Polka Dot Zebra is disappointed with her showing at the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon, but we have a strict rule at Running Is Funny: No whining if you PR! Congratulations to both!

sound mind, sound body uses her high-level corporate connections to snag a spot at the New York City Marathon.

Razzdoodle’s son is a maniac. It can cut you like a knife.

Anne at Run DMZ is learning the joys of Achilles tendonitis (I feel your pain, sister), but failed to heed one of Murphy’s Laws for runners: Your chances of an injury rise proportionally with the amount of the entry fee you just paid.

The Running Moron doesn’t want to be a “half-assing shmoozy douche.” This is good, because some people aspire to be a douchnozzle at a very young age. On the other hand, he became a Twittist, so he’s riding the razor’s edge.

Nate Veldhoen teases a barefoot runner during the Vancouver Marathon about “all the swine flu you have to run through, and the phlegm.”

Vanilla at Half-Fast displays his mad skillz at tormenting morbidly obese golfers. His next phony exercise target: bowlers!

That’s all for this time, friends. Remember, running is like therapy. And it costs about the same. Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

The Carnival of Running #28

Welcome to the 28th edition of The Carnival of Running!

It’s hard to get a rise out of pedestrians in Omaha:

Kenyan runner Festus Langat not only won a half-marathon in Indianapolis, he is also officially the world’s fastest human named Festus.

However, the downturn in the global economy means cuts in sponsorship money for many Kenyan runners.

The latest issue of Sports Health suggests many leg problems are actually hip problems.

Jim LaFountain warns of becoming addicted to runner’s high, but I’m a lot more worried by this sentence: “In fact, scientists who have tested long-distance runners have found microscopic bits of organ, bone and connective tissue in their subjects’ urine.”

That’s great. I’ve got enough problems without peeing away my internal organs.

Scott Peacock learns the answer to the question, “Are you faster than a 5th-grader?”

Run for the Medal finished the Country Music Marathon, but was WAY ahead of the Biggest Losers, Blaine and Dane.

Balance in Me discovers yet another advantage of living in the U.S.A. – running!

Nick Falsone waxes rhapsodic over his cheap beer chaser during a half-marathon.

BoingBoing puts the Nike Plus through its paces, while Chic Runner tells you everything you need to know about her Garmin.

Naomi submitted a post about the London Marathon, but I much preferred this one about the unveiling of a statue of Laurel and Hardy.

China has a stiletto heel race, but women get a handicap of two centimeters.

I think you’ll like Cranky Fitness, if for no other reason than they have a blogger called Crabby McSlacker.

Kate Day discusses covering the London Marathon using social media. One of the problems? “Is that a picture? Should I tweet about it? Should I do an AudioBoo?” Yikes. Do people still read?

The Running Moron wasn’t too impressed with the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon.

Running into the Sun turns a taper into a 23:08 5k and a first-place age-group finish.

Help Anne at Run DMZ solve her marital mystery.

joyRuN races through New Jersey as fast as she can, which is really the way to see it.

Nitmos at Feet Meet Street discovers running a race for fun can be, well, fun.

The Violet Pen likes endurance sports because of the use of “productive aggression.”

Jeanne at Not Born to Run gets advice about men from Runner Susan. I… am… speechless.

Finally, Viper at The Booze Hounds Inc. Running Team is extra-motivated for our 5k race challenge by the fact that everyone apparently wants to see him totally destroyed.

I don’t know how this turned into St. George and the dragon, but I’ll do my best to hold up my end.

That’s all for this time, friends. Viper is waiting to hear how much you hate him, so don’t disappoint. Crush his spirit! Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

The Carnival of Running #27

Welcome to the 27th edition of The Carnival of Running!

Watch as Boston Marathon spectators pit themselves against the 27 mph top speed of Usain Bolt:

If you’ve never seen the episode of Nova where coaches at Tufts take 12 people off the couch and train them for the Boston Marathon, it’s available on Hulu and well worth your time just for the stuff about how your physiology adapts to training.

Bryan Green of The Runner’s Tribe hammers the marathon coverage by Universal Sports. He was being too kind.

Sara at Run On is doing a 26.2-mile run – to train for her first marathon. No wonder she’s tired of running.

A little Internet research might have directed her to this blog, with a pretty good post about why it’s a very, very bad idea to run 26.2 miles without a race being involved – particularly if you haven’t trained, and have no water or food.

Even dogs require training for distance runs. But if you’re in Milwaukee keep them away from the Racing Sausages.

This article in Toronto Star explains research claiming that human beings are evolutionarily adapted to long distance running so that we could run down wildebeests and other wild game. This guy asks the next logical question: If that’s true, then why didn’t the wildebeests evolve?

I realize Running Is Funny has been overloaded with runner-in-costume stories lately, but these guys run in a white tux and tails.

Here’s a pretty good article about a part of track and field you rarely hear about: rabbits.

Sharon Chesworth isn’t that kind of a rabbit, but she dressed up in a bunny costume and completed the London Marathon in 8:08:09. I’m sure she would have done better if she had this bunny chasing after her.

Vanilla at Half-Fast complains about the enticing aroma of barbecue while he’s out running in the evening, but Roisin at The Beat of My Noisy Heart complains about the enticing aroma of doughnuts while she’s out running in the morning. Maybe you guys should eat first.

Gina Kolata of the New York Times writes that if you want to get seriously faster, you need a professional trainer. I think this is nonsense, but maybe it helps sell newspapers.

Apparently chasing ambulances is good training for Boston. I kid. This is a pretty good race report from a personal injury lawyer.

Olympic gold medal marathoner Sammy Wanjiru continues to astound, even without a giant pink nurse to motivate him.

I’m not a technophobe, but if you’re tweeting during a marathon you’re running too damn slow.

Are carbo-loading tips really necessary? If you’re unsure how to stuff your face with pasta and pancakes, Run Oregon can help you out.

Loving the debate over the benefits of running shoes? Believe it or not, Popular Mechanics weighs in.

Seven ultras in seven days on seven continents. Nuts.

Want to test running shoes? Contact The Running Man.

Talia Peery lists the top 10 reasons to run. She says number one is better sex. That’s a good motivation for anything, but do you really need to do a six-minute mile to run it down?

That’s all for this time, friends. May Day is approaching, so a shout out to the commies. Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

The Carnival of Running #26 – Boston Marathon Edition

Welcome to the 26th edition of The Carnival of Running!

If you have ever run a marathon, you know how you feel afterwards. Now imagine delaying your food, water, massage and ice while some clown who doesn’t know your name waits for his microphone to work:

Of course, if you’re an elite runner at Boston there are a number of ways to console yourself.

One indication of just how tough Boston is: both of last year’s winners ended up in the hospital this year.

Losing was so painful, some folks simply printed the results of last year’s race.

I might be able to huff and puff my way through the Boston Marathon, but tweeting would be out of the question.

Olympic 10k bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan finished second in the BAA Invitational Mile at Boston and thinks she may move up to the marathon next year.

The Boston Globe has a gallery of photos of people who wore costumes during the race.

As a former historian, it’s hard for me to believe that some people don’t know what Patriots Day commemorates.

Local newspapers really got behind their Boston Marathon qualifiers, from Hawaii all the way to Kamloops.

Something you might want to frame – the elevation chart for the marathon route (you’ll recognize Heartbreak Hill when you see it).

I was far from the only one who thought Universal Sports’ coverage stunk on toast. The residents of LetsRun.com chimed in, and if you read all of their live thread you’ll get a better sense of how frustrating it was.

Some people don’t realize how lucky they were.

Bill Rodgers showed he’s a better runner than prognosticator.

Who cares about running? Here’s a five-part series on the best Boston Marathon pubs.

You might think that writing funny articles about running is easy, but this guy proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that not everyone can do it.

And Jimmy Fallon was hilarious, too. “The 113th Boston Marathon was run today. People train all year to get up early, drink beer and yell at runners.”. Was that really the best he could come up with?

Running along with Kara… on a treadmill.

DC Rainmaker scores with an excellent Boston expo report.

As you might expect, there’s always at least one dissenting voice.

Marathon Mama paced a friend to a monster PR.

Finally, our enthusiastic congratulations to copia verborum, The Running Laminator, Frayed Laces, Bill, Jennifer, and anyone I missed who completed Boston. Great job, one and all.

That’s all for this time, friends. It’s back to regular spring running. Submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!

The Carnival of Running #25

Welcome to the 25th edition of The Carnival of Running!

Here are the Running Superfans with a glimpse of ultra-running:

Here are a couple of oldies but goodies – a roundup of people running in costume, and ESPN’s Sports Guy’s 2003 article about the Boston Marathon from a non-runner’s point of view.

David Maril has a few suggestions for improving the Boston Marathon, like having half of the field start in Hopkinton and the other half start in Boston and run towards Hopkinton. Somewhere around Wellesley it would resemble the battle scene from Braveheart, which would be pretty cool.

I’ve been searching, and it doesn’t look like anyone will be broadcasting Boston nationally and live on April 20, so we’ll have to depend on the Universal Sports web site for a live feed.

Boston Marathon legend Bill Rodgers says he’ll run it next week at victory-lap pace if it isn’t too hot out. And I know there are some of you out there screaming, “Make him qualify first!”

Here are some interesting video profiles of Boston Marathon entrants.

Finally! A running problem I don’t have! Are you too young to run a marathon? For the rest of us, there’s Are you too old to run a marathon?

The Running Laminator is under the impression that running off the back of treadmill going at a 6:50 pace with an incline is an embarrassment. For me, it’s a VO2 max test.

Last week I posted a photo of a runner from the North Pole Marathon, but here’s a link to a short video.

The Salt Lake Marathon has had its share of financial problems, the police are still waiting for their payment, and in an uncommonly straightforward headline, the Salt Lake Tribune notes, “Salt Lake marathon boss has been sued and sued and sued”.

Here’s a short article on the Bare Buns 5k at a nudist ranch in Texas. Running nude is encouraged, but not required. Here’s something you don’t find in the small print of too many race brochures: Everyone who enters the ranch has to undergo a sexual predator and criminal background check.

Were you planning to run the Army 10-Miler? Too late.

Marathon Mama takes a spill, and a yappy little dog wasn’t even involved.

An Australian study suggests running on grass may be no better for you than running on roads.

What burns the most calories – running fast, slow, or in-between? You may be surprised by the answer.

At the Body and Fitness Blog, they suggest running in the evening after a workout in the gym.

LorDi takes us on a running shoe shopping tour.

The National Sports Review has another one of those “You Might Be a Runner If…” posts, my favorite being “You wake up every morning in pain.”

That’s all for this time, friends. Good luck to all our Boston runners. Stay safe, and submit your posts to carnival@runningisfunny.com. Now run away!