Run to Win

Over the past week, a lot of stories have broken that you’d rather not have to hear about in the world of running. Here’s a quick summary of what’s happening in the world.

Colleen De Reuck drops out of the Trials

The 43 year old Colleen De Reuck will not be able to compete in this year’s Olympic Trials due to injury and has been scratched from the race. She has competed in 4 Olympic Games, with her best finish in 1992 when she was 9^th in the Marathon. She ran for South Africa at the time. (More Info: USATF)

Bees send 30 runners to the hospital

In Saga city, Japan, a swarm of honeybees attacked the runners in a half marathon and sent 30 of them to the hospital. The bees swarmed in a black cloud and bit and stung the runners as they ran near a local riverbank. (More Info: Herald Sun)

At least 11 are dead on the starting line of a Sri Lankan marathon

In even worse race news, a suicide bomber suspected to belong to the Tamil Tigers targeted Sri Lankan Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle at the starting line of a marathon in Weliweriya, about 12 miles from the capital city of Colombo. K.A. Karunaratne, a former Olympic Marathoner, was also killed in the blast along with at least 9 others. Over 100 people on the starting line were injured. (More Info: Times Online)

Protests follow and precede the Olympic Torch

The protests over China’s selection as host of the Olympic Games has been increasing. The torch had to be extinguished multiple times in Paris when the mob threatened to overrun it, and protesters are already hanging flags and banners on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in anticipation of the Torch arriving next week. Hillary Clinton is calling for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing after China’s reactions to the latest civil unrest in Tibet. (More Info: NYT – ESPN)

Not All Doom and Gloom…

Not all of the news is doom and gloom though, and I’d rather finish up with an upbeat bit of news. A local story that I found very interesting is about Ivy Bergquist, who just ran her first marathon and is now preparing to run the Mount Washington Road Race. The interesting part of the story? Less than 3 years ago, she weighed 232 pounds, over 100 pounds more than she is currently carrying. After surgery and radical changes to her diet and lifestyle, she has managed to lose a whole lot of weight, regain her health, and discover a love and addiction to running. (More Info: Press Herald)

Hat tips for stories go to Runner’s World, ESPN, the USATF, and Teresa (a newsletter subscriber.)

I was recently contacted by Rina Ward to sample and review Hornet Juice, a powdered drink that is supposed to boost athletic performance. For all of the buzz about Hornet Juice, I did not really know all that much about it. There are two websites that the company maintains. At HornetJuice.com, you can purchase the product, and at Vaam-Power.com you can learn a bit more about what it is and how it works.

First, hornet juice is not your typical energy drink. Unlike Gatorade or Gu or other products of that nature, hornet juice does not actually replenish the fuel in your body as your work out. You could mix it with those products to get that sort of an effect, but that is not the purpose of taking it. The idea behind hornet juice is that it helps your body to metabolize fat for energy rather than glycogen. Theoretically, this would cause your glycogen stores to last longer, provide you with more readily available fuel than you might otherwise have during endurance exercise, and will help you burn off fat if you are currently trying to lose weight.
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