Miscellaneous

Ancient Nemea to host 2008 Olympic-like summer games

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations | 04 June 2008

Just as the official Summer Olympics get underway in Beijing on June 21, an ancient athletic stadium at a UC Berkeley archaeological site in Greece that was home to the original Panhellenic Games will once again come alive with competition, writes Kathleen Maclay of the University of California at Berkeley.

I was barely two years old when Roger Bannister ran the world's first three-minute mile: 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954, but I remember it as if I was there :)

When it comes to music, I'm starting to sound like my father. Inevitable of course, that eventually I should catch myself shouting "Call that music?" almost every time I turn on the car radio. Of course, he was ranting about the Beatles, while I (usually) am ranting at rap, but the principle's the same.

But hey, it's not just me. The Play.com poll of Ipod users taken before the London marathon to find out what people were listening to while preparing and racing put two Queen tracks, Springsteen and the Stones in the top ten, backed by the theme from Rocky and "Eye of the Tiger".

Is it just me, or is the whole (non-running) world becoming obsessed with the marathon?
I guess when you get thousands of people running marathons for charity, and slow runners being hailed as super-heroes for "bravely" getting round 26.2 miles at barely above walking pace, everything else pales into insignificance. I won't start ranting. Suffice it to say that at the moment I am pinned in a non-running, non-athlete environment - and it comes a a bit of a shock when you live in Boulder.

Former Olympic champion and world record-holder Sebastian Coe has told the BBC that he fears for the future of athletics in the wake of recent drug scandals involving Marion Jones and British sprinter Dwain Chambers.

He is concerned about the effect that the reinstatement of drug cheats could have on the sport. "We could end up with a situation like WWF wrestling where everyone knows it is fake and they don't care", he said. Coe again called for drugs cheats to be handed a minimum four-year ban from the sport.

Hey Everyone,

First off, I wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Tom (in case you couldn't tell), and I work for the Kisco Group, the company that just acquired YourRunning.com and the rest of the Enthusiast Group sites.

No wonder it took him 30 years. John L.Parker obviously decided that having written "the best novel ever written about running", as Runner's World calls it, his follow-up book would be "proper" literature. I'm up to page 139 (of 344) and so far there is precious little running in it. We've had Vietnam war stories, two funerals, fishing trips, family and relationship stuff. John -- this is not what we want; it's not why your "Once a Runner" fans are buying this book.

It's all very well written, but most of the time I am reading it I catch myself silently screaming "Get on with it!"

Bobby Bostic, who recently ran the North Pole Marathon as a fundraiser for CFA, invited me to sit at the table he sponsored at the Challenged Athletes Foundation Celebration of Heroes, Heart and Hope benefit. I accepted not only for the opportunity to attend this amazing event, but also to meet him in person, finally, after exchanging comments and messages on-line here.