April 5, 2007

Canada's ONLY Chase Marathon

    Clinics

1. Karen Beaulieu Runs Knoxville Tn. Marathon
2. NASA Astronaut to Run Boston Marathon in Space
3. Marathon Runners at High Risk for Melanoma
4. Can You Help by Volunteering
5. Upcoming Events - SUDBURYROCKS!!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes
6. Running Room Update -
7. Track North News - Laurentian Athletics Award Winners and CIS Championships
8. Mike Coughlin's Tri Section:

Karen Beaulieu Runs Knoxville Tn. Marathon

Local Rock!!, Karen Beaulieu, traveled south yesterday to run in Knoxville's' Covenant Health Marathon. This area had been her home for the last few years until very recently and the visit back was appropriate as she got to renew old acquaintances and, of course, run the marathon for her second year in a row.

Race day temperatures were great averaging about 15 C or 60 F but the rains did come and continued off and on throughout the event. Karen was not fazed. She finished strong in 3:49. Good going girl! Results here.

NASA Astronaut to Run Boston Marathon in Space

Forwarded by Tim Uuksulainen

Thursday, 29 March 2007
NASA astronaut Suni Williams will go faster than anyone has ever gone in the Boston Marathon. She will run the famed race in April as an official entrant from 210 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station. This will be the first time an astronaut in space will be an official participant in a marathon.

Williams hopes her unique run will serve as an inspiration.

"I encourage kids to start making physical fitness part of their daily lives," Williams said. "I think a big goal like a marathon will help get this message out there."

Williams, who is an accomplished marathoner, has served aboard the space station since December 2006 as a member of the Expedition 14 crew. She will run the race on a station treadmill, circling Earth at least twice in the process, running as fast as eight miles per hour but flying more than five miles each second.

And she will not be alone in her adventure. Her sister Dina Pandya and a fellow NASA astronaut, Karen Nyberg, will run the race in Boston. Williams and Nyberg qualified for the Boston race by finishing among the top 100 females in the Houston Marathon in January 2006.

Exercise is essential in NASA's efforts to counteract the effects of long-duration weightlessness on astronauts' health. For months, Williams has been training for the marathon while aboard the station. She runs at least four times a week, two longer runs and two shorter runs. Station crews are required to exercise on the treadmill, a stationary bike and a resistive exercise machine to counter loss of bone density and muscle mass.

"In microgravity, both of these things start to go away because we don't use our legs to walk around and don't need the bones and muscles to hold us up under the force of gravity," Williams said.

Williams is a native of Needham, Mass., and graduated from Needham High School in 1983. Her family resides near Falmouth, Mass.

NASA will have an exhibit in Boston during the marathon. Nyberg and astronaut Jeff Williams will be available for interviews. Jeff Williams, who is not related to Suni Williams, completed a six-month stay on the station in 2006. NASA's exhibit will be at the John Hancock Sports and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Convention Center April 13-15.

Due to the crew's sleep schedule, Williams' run of the marathon on the station may not coincide exactly with the race on the ground, but mission control is working to match the events as closely as possible. This year's marathon is Monday, April 16.

Marathon Runners at High Risk for Melanoma

forwarded by Tim Uuksulkainen

As spring looms around the corner, marathon season will soon begin to take full force. 400 marathons are scheduled in 2007 around the country. There will be over 400,000 participants with an additional 500,000 onlookers creating quite a crowd. Amongst all the bottled water, ice cream, and pizza served at these events, there is also an increased risk for everyone present to develop Melanoma, which is the most dangerous skin cancer.

Melanoma originates in the skin cells which are called melanocytes and create melanin. Melanin is what gives skin its color and protects the deeper layers of your skin from UV rays. Essentially if one's skin receives too much UV light (from the sun or tanning booths), the melanocytes begin to grow abnormally fast and become cancerous. The end result is Melanoma.

An Austrian research team studied 210 white male & female marathon runners against 210 white male & female non-marathon runners. Each person was given total body skin exams, was surveyed about their habits, skin cancer family history, sun sensitivity, as well as observed for traits such as eye color, skin type and change in moles. The final study results revealed that runners had more abnormal moles (large, asymmetrical), more lesions suggestive of basal and squamous cell carcinoma and more solar lentigines (age spots or liver spots). All of these indicators are high risk factors for Melanoma.

Why would this be true? Obviously runners are exposed to the sun much more than the average person. First, they train only with short shirts and shorts which increases their exposure. They train on average 25-45 hours a week. Only a little more than 50% of marathoners use any form of sunblock. Finally, this high intensity activity depletes the runners' immune system which makes then more vulnerable to sun damage.

"The long term skin damage someone in their 20's, 30's, or 40's can do while running outdoors is not even comprehensible until it is too late," says Dr. Sam Speron, plastic surgery expert and consumer advocate. "More education on this topic is desperately needed as thousands of innocent people are exposed to increase of Melonoma by doing what they enjoy. The sad thing is that most runners do not even take proper precautions such as wearing sunblock. It's just like driving your car down the highway at 80 miles per hour without a seat belt!"

The initial indication of melanoma is usually a change in the size, shape, or color of a mole. However, melanoma can also appear on the body as a new mole. The most common locations are:

In Men:

* On the upper body, between the shoulders and hips
* On the head and neck
In Women
* On the lower legs.
In Dark-Skinned people:
* Under the fingernails or toenails
* On the palms of the hands
* On the soles of the feet

If you are suspicious that you might have Melanoma or have an oddly shaped mole, it is always best to seek professional advice. And use that Sunblock liberally.

Can You Help by Volunteering

CAN YOU HELP BY VOLUNTEERING?

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: Sunday, May 6th, 2007
Place: Downtown Sudbury

Upcoming Events

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