Cynthia — a woman of a certain age — with no experience in distance running — got it into her head to run a Marathon. In France.
She and a friend put in the training. And met their goal. Congratulations.
Details on her website — TWO OLD LADIES RUN A MARATHON
Original Homo sapiens could only digest lactose in milk until age-5.
But around around 10,000 B.C. a genetic mutation appeared, allowing many — including me — to enjoy lactose milk products their entire lives.
read more on Slate – The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History
In fact I use chocolate milk as a sports recovery drink. LOVE IT. 🙂
Cheers to Peter and Warren for the link.
Looks like at least $1.5 trillion mostly wasted, so far.
I HATE right wing politicians who trot out this dead horse as a diversion from bigger issues.
The War on Drugs (December 14, 1914 – present) is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, and the stated aim to define and reduce the illegal drug trade. …
… In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared that “drug abuse is public enemy number one” …
On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), signaled that although it did not plan to significantly alter drug enforcement policy, the Obama administration would not use the term “War on Drugs,” as he claims it is “counter-productive” …
In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs, declaring “The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. …
Obviously, governments have to look at alternatives.
(via Boing Boing)
I still recall the very first Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research, 32yrs ago. Happy to be back for yet another.
It was a hodgepodge of anyone and everyone at the start.
Very casual. Definitely a FUN RUN. For once I wasn’t obliged to walk away with a t-shirt I’d never wear again. 🙂
Two 5km loops through one of my favourite beach campgrounds in the world, Rathtrevor.
Yeesh. 😦 The first 5km in 31min. Not good for me.
I tried push harder.
… Let’s just say my FINAL time for 10km was sub-1hr. … I don’t want to be caught out exaggerating the speed of my run. 🙂
I walked off the stiffness on Rathtrevor Beach at low tide.
Terry Fox, (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist.
In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy.
The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$500 million has been raised in his name. …
Terry refused corporate branding. And refused to change his shorts, no matter how tattered they got.
Feisty.
I enjoy Michael Moore‘s movies, even if he is “left of Lenin”.
Recently I saw Capitalism: A Love Story (2009). His weakest. Completely barking up the wrong tree.
His best, I feel, was Sicko.
Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba. …
I love this concept in the film. Taking 9-11 rescue workers to Guantanamo Bay to request the only “Universal Health Care” in America.
Click PLAY or watch the clip on YouTube.
Permission to enter.
I have three 9-11 rescue workers.They need some medical attention.
These are 9/11 rescue workers!
They just want some medical attention!The same kind that al-Qaida is getting.
They don’t want any more than
you’re giving the evildoers, just the same!
Obama should have kept his promise to close Guantanamo, regardless of consequences. It’s WRONG WRONG WRONG in dozens of wildly conflicting ways.
Any system that treats victims worse than criminals is doomed to fail.
Prisons should be work camps. The quality of life must be worse in prison than for a law abider on the outside working for minimum wage.
The North Coast Trail – Cape Scott is brutally difficult, especially the first two days. Decidedly tougher than the West Coast Trail.
Charmed as I am, we had no rain for 7 days!
🙂
That helped. A lot.
Trip report and photos to come.
My personal priorities include anti-smoking, education of girls & women, and clean water.
Bill Gates:
This week in Seattle, the foundation is holding a Reinvent the Toilet Fair.
Today I awarded prizes to three universities who responded to our challenge a year ago to come up with solutions for capturing and processing human waste and transforming it into useful resources. The winners included: first place to California Institute of Technology in the United States for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity, second place to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom for a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals, and clean water, and third place to University of Toronto in Canada for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water.
A special recognition was awarded to Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) and EOOS for their outstanding design of a toilet user-interface.
And the Winners of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge Awards are…?
Click PLAY or watch the winning design on YouTube.
(source)
Obviously, that’s too complicated for the developing world. A simple, foolproof design is needed.
But kudos to Bill Gates for pushing this forward.
I first got interested in this topic when visiting Gandhi’s toilet museum in India.
My gymnastics website crashed …
@bluehost sucks
… due to too many visitors over the Olympics, so I had time for some exercise.
Parkour … (abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline and non-competitive activity which focuses on efficient movement around obstacles.
Developed in France by David Belle, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing, and leaping. …
Etymology
“Le parcours” was the original word passed down to David Belle from his father Raymond Belle. This was the term Raymond used when speaking to David about the training he had done. The term derives from “parcours du combattant“, the classic obstacle course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert …One day when David Belle was on a film set he showed his ‘Speed Air Man’ video to Hubert Koundé, who suggested to change the “c” of “parcours” to a “k” because it was more dynamic and stronger, and to remove the “s” for the same reason. Belle liked the idea and officially changed the name of his discipline to “parkour”. …
On a break from activity at GymRep Gymnastics & Cheer Camp near Montreal, I took to these woods trying each and every home made obstacle course challenge. Dozens.
Survived. 🙂
One fall from a rock scramble. And one collapsed wooden rung.
GREAT FUN.
I love parkour as fitness exercise.
The 2004 Olympic Champion in Gymnastics spent decades fine tuning his anaerobic capacity. … And then switched to aerobic sport after retirement.
Yeesh.
A great read on his blog – Marathon: The Finish Line
My only Marathon was the same one — Calgary. I limped in near the cutoff time. 5hrs plus …
Rick McCharles 