Posts Tagged ‘cycling’

Ugly Legs

Apparently there is a hidden problem with those Spartan races and similar mud runs: a nasty rash.

The Warrior Dash has morphed into the warrior rash for scores of runners who after racing in the muddy, extreme obstacle course at Amesbury Sports Park are now flocking to doctors to get treated for itchy, painful sores on their arms and legs.

“It’s horrible,” said Michelle Pupka, 39, of Oxford, one of 20,000 people who shelled out $40 to $60 to run in the first New England staging of the international, for-profit race held June 25 to 26. “On my ankles it looks like traditional poison ivy but on the rest of my legs are these little red dots all over. It’s crept up everywhere the mud hit.”

That is pretty bad. But I’ll bet they look better than George Hincapie’s legs:

Yikes.

Russell Crowe Smokes Gossip Columnist

It’s not a running story, but it’s in keeping with this week’s unplanned celebrity theme.

Annette Sharp, who writes the Sydney Confidential column for The Daily Telegraph, took actor Russell Crowe to task for his training regimen, which apparently consisted of 10-15 minute bike ride, followed by a cigarette and three crispy tacos.

Crowe saw the item, and had his publicist call Sharp with a challenge: “Get on your bike. Russell wants you to go riding with him,” the spokesman said, adding: “Are you ready to die?”

The resulting 20 kilometer ride left Sharp in the dust, literally, as she took a spill on a dirt trail.

It wasn’t a total loss for Sharp. She ended up with exclusive video of Crowe, and a bunch of photos to boot.

And I made it all the way to the end of this blog post without a cheap pun about eating Crowe.

Ladies! Another Reason to Choose Running Over Cycling

Believe it or not, my usual news sources do not include the Female Urology & Urogynecology blog, but it’s amazing what you can turn up with a keyword search for “runners.” In this case, I discovered news of a study that compared women competitive cyclists with women runners. It determined the cyclists have a “decrease in genital sensation.”

What’s also amazing about the Internet is what you can turn up if you keep digging. For example, this groundbreaking new study is actually from November 2006 – so if you’re counting on the Female Urology blog for current news, you’re waaaay behind the information power curve.

Additionally, I learned that male cyclists have been suffering from numb nuts for years – the problem even prompted a series of recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

All of which suggests a new TV ad campaign for U.S.A. Track & Field: “Running: It’s a Genital Sensation!”