Run to Win

At tomorrow’s pre-game ceremony for the Red Sox game against the Rangers (August 14, 2008), a familiar face to the running community is going to be in evidence. Dave McGillivray will be finishing a 54 mile run with a lap around the infield at Fenway park, celebrating both his 54^th birthday and the 30^th anniversary of his trek across the country. Both the event 30 years ago and tomorrow’s event raised money for the Jimmy Fund, which Dave has continued to support in the intervening years with multiple fund raising events.

In 1968, Dave ran 3,452 miles in 80 days, running between 40 and 50 miles each day. Here are some clips of his entrance into Fenway 30 years ago, as well as some of Dave’s thoughts on what he has accomplished since then:
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This week last year got away from the football theme and concentrated more on news that impacts athletes or athletics and the Red Sox. I also started my new animated how to series, which has been neglected since I got married and has not started up again because my photographer moved away.

• I began my animated series on how to do different exercises a year ago. The series began with how to do dumbbell shrugs.
• I reviewed the McMillan Running Calculator, which can be used to project different goal paces based on the distances you have already run. It works pretty well.
• A community in Texas instituted a mandatory sports training program for parents of children who wanted to participate in the sports in that community. They were tired of parents getting out of line and misbehaving at games and practices.
• I talked about how tough Washington’s anti-smoking laws are.
• Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines were both given 2 year bans for doping after being implicated in the Balco trial. In the comments, john y and I disagreed about whether these were bad bans or not.
• The Australian swimming team staged some mock executions in an attempt to motivate the swimmers.
• The Red Sox decide not to hire a new general manager, and city counselor John Tobin wanted to bring a minor league team to Boston because Red Sox games cost too much to bring the family to. I have been lucky enough to always live near some minor league markets. In other baseball news, Cuba was barred from the World Baseball Classic (temporarily, at least).

This week last year was dominated by baseball, with a few fitness tips and a story about some stupid referees.

• A lot of people have found Run to Win by searching for an article about a legless football player named Bobby Martin who got tossed during a game for not wearing knee pads.
• Postseason baseball was in full swing, and I talked about 5 ways for the Red Sox to beat the White Sox and vice versa. At the end of the week, the Red Sox were eliminated.
• FIFA investigated putting RFID in soccer balls for tracking goals.
• I got up on a pulpit and complained about people that go into calorie deficits rather than eating a balanced diet in an effort to lose weight.
• I reviewed the Running Dog Sports shoe store; they have since closed up shop, though, and been folded into the Maine Running Company.
• I discussed different options for running in inclement weather.

There were also some minor tweaks and improvements done to the site, some of which I believe have been undone.

This week last year was predominantly about football. That’s the sort of thing that is usually on my mind at this time of year.

• I had a lot of fun climbing Mount Washington and doing a bit of camping.
• The Minnesota Vikings got a lot of mention after claiming that Mike Tice’s job is safe (and we all know how that turned out) and that they were going to build a new stadium.
• I also spoke about both of the Monday night football games that benefitted the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Giants “at” Saints and Washington vs Dallas. I only got to watch half of the latter game and the former game was a big joke.
• In non-football news, Craig Hansen got called up to the Red Sox and Leavander Johnson died less than a week after fighting Jesus Chavez.

I also wrote a short bit about gym etiquette that I really should revisit at some point in the near future.

Johnny Damon has decided to wear pinstripes and has joined the New York Yankees. So far, the Red Sox have no idea who they are going to replace him with.
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The Boston Red Sox have decided not to hire a new general manager.
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It costs way too much to attend a Red Sox game, so city counselor John Tobin wants to bring a minor league team to Boston so that families can actually afford to attend a baseball game. I think that that is a good idea, as long as they don’t try to move my favorite team down there. He is hoping to expand the recently revived Canadian-American League.
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It never seems to end, but once again Manny Ramirez wants to be traded. Or so the rumors go at any rate. Now they say that he won’t show for Spring training if they don’t trade him away. If it weren’t for that rather sizable committment to his pocketbook that could sour a deal from 1300 miles away (oh wait…) (Click here to continue reading…)