Michelle Jenneke Loves the 100m Hurdles
Michelle Jenneke absolutely dominated heat 2 of the IAAF World Junior Championship last weekend in Barcelona with her 13.52. The video of her warmup and race performance was quickly forced to be taken down, but has since been put back up in slow motion and set to the sounds of pretty bad song that shows just how much she loves the event.
Michelle has a unique go-go dance that she does as part of her warmup that not only shows everybody how much fun she’s having but also is very appropriate for the movements she’s about to undergo during the race. She’s got enough of a lead at the finish to slack off and showboat a little a little before reaching the line:
Why Not Disqualify Bandits?
Consider this an open letter to Matt Nestor of the Columbia Tribune and all of the other people that think that banditing a race is okay.
The news is starting to get a little old at this point and common sense says it shouldn’t even be addressed, but Matt finished his recent article about Scott Downard being disqualified from the Cowtown Marathon after running with somebody else’s bib by mentioning that the win was reassigned to Kolin Styles and saying, “But we all know who the real winner is.”
Well yes, we do know who the real winner is. The real winner is Kolin Styles.
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Last Day to Win My Name is Big Book
Today is the last day to enter the first week’s contest at the 1 More Mile Challenge website. The prize is for a copy of the new book, My Name is Big. Entering is very easy, you only need to leave a comment on each of the first 4 updates of the challenge. Here is a list of convenient links to each update:
As of right now, only 2 people have commented on all of the updates, so your chances of winning could be quite good.
If you’d like to listen to today’s update rather than watch it, download the mp3 here.
Snowshoe the Brad – Snowshoe Racing in Maine
Snowshoe racing in Maine is quickly building up steam. From only 1 or 2 races a few years ago to there now being a second year of a 3 race series plus a handful of new races that have sprung up around the state over the last few years, there are plenty of opportunities (at least when we get snow and they don’t have to be cancelled.)
Today was the 3rd and final race of the Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series. I didn’t run in any of them this year, but I did get out to take photos today. Everybody looked like they were having a lot of fun, and while Judson Cake was no surprise for the men’s series winner (as he has blown everybody away in each of the races), the women had an upset win by Gnarls Barclay after series leader Danielle Triffitt came down with a bug and wasn’t able to make it to the final race!
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1 More Mile – Day 3
Just a quick note that I’m now done with day 3 of the 1 More Mile Challenge and got in 3¼ miles today. Even changed things up by shoveling the driveway after the run instead of before, ha ha!
If you want to win a copy of the book, today’s update can be commented on at:
http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/442/day-3-flooded-driveways
You can also listen to the update by downloading the mp3.
1 More Mile Day #2 – Hangin’ With the Ducks
I’ve posted an update to the 1 More Mile challenge over at the website – not a lot of comments so it looks like it will be really easy to win a copy of the book if you follow it through the weekend…check it out here:
http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/438/day-02-hanging-out-with-the-ducks
(You can get the MP3 of today’s video update here)
1 More Mile For Sunshine – It Has Begun!
I actually find the weather here in Maine very humorous.
When I ran the 1 More Mile challenge back in 2010, we had a pretty rough Winter with a lot of less than ideal running weather – snow, rain, heavy fog and the like. Then I stopped running the challenge, and the rest of the Winter was very mild with only a few more days that snow fell and it didn’t last more than 24 hours.
Today I began the challenge again, and we’ve had a very mild Winter this year. Very little snowfall…so little in fact that it’s been only at the last minute that the local snowshoe races (the ones that weren’t cancelled) were able to decide if they had a course that they could justify wearing snowshoes on. But, that changed, with 8 or 10 inches of snow today and more expected this weekend. All because I had to run 1 mile today…ha ha ha!
You can see my video update, as well as enter this week’s giveaway contest, at the 1 More Mile website. Here’s a link to today’s update:
http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/429/day-1-a-new-start-beautiful-weather-and-a-contest
If you’d rather just listen to the audio from the update, click here to download the MP3.
My Name is Big
Lazarus Lake is well known in ultra-running circles not only for his own running but for the great races that he puts on, including Vol State, the Barkeley Marathons, and Big’s Backyard Ultra. A few years ago, he found a pitbull that had been abandoned and shot at the edge of his property, and decided that he couldn’t leave the dog there to die.
The ultralist agreed with him, and with their help Big now has a great home. It wasn’t an easy transition, though, and after a group of strangers from around the world helped Laz to adopt this dog and get him the care that the dog required, he felt that he should update everybody on how the Big Dog was doing.
Fast forward a few years, and you can now read Big’s story in one convenient package! As the second book published by my imprint, Trail Trotter Press, My Name is Big follows Big’s rescue, adoption into a permanent home, re-abandonment and finally making his way back to Laz’s farm for good.
There is some running in the book, and there is a lot of inside information that a casual reader might not notice that you would as a runner, but this book will appeal to all kinds of dog lovers no matter how active they are.
After the book was announced yesterday afternoon, it had reached multiple Amazon Best Seller lists by the end of the day! At one point, it was ranked #432 out of all books selling on Amazon, and was the 6th best selling Dog book, even outselling 2 of Cesar Milan’s books! (He’s the Dog Whisperer…and yes, I had to look that up!)
This book is a fun read and would make a great gift for any dog lover in your life.
(Please note that as the publisher of the book I obviously have a financial interest in it. You can learn more about the book at Amazon.)
1 More Mile for Sunshine – 2012 Edition
It’s been 2 years since the 1 More Mile for Sunshine challenge ended.
I didn’t make it through day 25 last time, but my friends rallied around me on the 31st to get the missing miles in and I was able to end on a high note and raise enough money for a family to attend Camp Sunshine.
Now that I’m full time with Run to Win, I’m better able to get my running in during daylight hours when there is less traffic and safer conditions.
Seems like a good time to start it again, doesn’t it?
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Biking & Walking in the US: How Do You Rank?
The Alliance for Biking & Walking just released their 2012 Benchmarking Report, which describes the data that they have collected and analyzed across all 50 states and 51 of the largest cities in the country on safety, infrastructure, habits, policies, education and the economic impact of bicycling and walking. The report is a great resource to help efforts in your local community to improving the infrastructure for people to move under their own power.
One of the most disturbing stats that I saw on a quick glance through the report is that 40% of the time, Americans are traveling less than 2 miles. However, 62% of the trips that were less than a mile were by car, and 87% of the trips between 1 and 2 miles! Sure, sometimes you need to carry a lot of groceries home, or the weather is bad you’re afraid that you’ll melt. I can understand that. But if it’s a nice day and you’re just going to visit a friend down the road, or if you live close to where you work, why not walk?
Economically, bicycling and pedestrian related projects will normally create between 11 and 14 jobs per $1 million spent, compared to 7 jobs created for highway projects. Despite cost/benefit analyses showing that every dollar spent can result in $11.80 in benefits, states are spending less than 2% of their federal transportation dollars on projects that will encourage people to commute under their own power. That’s just one of the reasons that biking and walking levels are down 66% since 1960 and is probably a contributing factor to a growth of 156% in obesity levels. In fact, between 1966 and 2009, the number of kids walking or biking to school went down by 75% and the percentage of fat and overweight kids has increased by 276%.
Did you know that 6 of the 10 states with the highest levels of biking and walking also have the lowest levels of bicycle or pedestrian fatality rates in traffic accidents? On top of that, in 7 of the 10 states where you are most likely to die in a traffic accident from getting hit by a car you’ll also find the fewest number of fellow bikers and walkers.
Maine is one of the better states to live in if you enjoy moving under your own power, which just gives me one more reason to be happy that I live in Vacationland all year. How does your state rank? You can find out by checking out the report at: People Powered Movement.org
Leave a comment below and let me know how you rank where you live.
