Posts Tagged ‘women’s running’

Fend Off Attack and Lose Unsightly Arm Flab!

Ladies, want to carry pepper spray but find it interferes with your training? Combine the two with Hot Walkers from Rose Guardian:

Great news for walkers and joggers that are looking for a personal defense spray that won’t slow them down and can be integrated into their workout! The unique and versatile Hot Walkers are one-pound walking weights with foam-covered hand grips for comfort and elastic hand straps for support. One weight has a built in self defense OC Pepper spray unit, The 12 gram spray unit has an effective range up to 10 feet. Each set of Hot Walkers includes a free refill unit.

They come in a variety of colors, including pink, so they won’t clash with your outfit. If that won’t do, the company also has stun guns that look like cosmetics or cell phones, as well as the Heart Attack keychain.

Coming soon: jewelry that doubles as shuriken, Greek fire hidden in small flowerpots, and stilettos concealed in stilettos.

A “Button” Who Can Run You Down

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Yesterday’s New York Times has a story by Gina Kolata about how far women’s running has come in just the last few decades, overcoming a patronizing attitude of male runners.

It’s a timely article, because the same day it appeared, Runner’s World Daily showed us that we still have some work to do when it comes to patronizing female runners.

RW Daily highlighted the story of Gabrielle Jennings, who at the age of 10, won the 3,200 meter race at the Louisiana State High School Indoor Championships with a time of 11:58.9.

The Runner’s World headline? “10-Year-Old Is Cutest Champ Ever“. We’re also told she “that not only has a fantastic attitude, but is also cute as a button.” Acompanying the blog post is a four-minute interview with Jennings conducted by a complete amateur.

I agree that Jennings is cute, and her attitude is commendable, but her accomplishment would be just as amazing if she were plain and grouchy. I’ve posted the Flotrack video of her race so you can see her in action. The first half is hardly riveting, but you should pay attention because Jennings is a distant fifth until she starts to make her move about 4:30 into the race. By the 6 minute mark, she’s in second, and still well behind the leader, but you can tell from her superior form it’s only a matter of time before she makes up the ground.

She takes the lead with three laps to go (about 9:45 on the video), and with a lap to go the PA announcer informs the crowd that she’s 10 years old. She wins going away and looks like she could have covered another two miles at the same pace.