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Hello
Everyone,
April
8, 2010
In
this Issue:
- De-bunking the Myth of the First Marathon
- Much Ado about Minimalism
- Run Faster in Boston
- Upcoming Local Events -
Spring Tune-Up 5k and Sudbury
Rocks!!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes
- Running Room Update -
- Track North News -Ellerton
in Arizona and York High School Indoor Meet
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De-bunking the
myth of the first marathon
By David Grant
I had to include this article from
iRun
Magazine - Pheidippede's record set straight
Next to Oprah, it could be argued that Pheidippides is
the most famous long distance runner in pop culture. He’s
definitely the most shortchanged. The common misunderstanding
of Pheidippides’ story is that he was an ancient
Athenian messenger sent roughly 25 miles from Marathon
to Athens to announce the Greek triumph over the invading
Persians. Upon delivering his message, he promptly dropped
dead. This is the heroic tale told in Robert Browning’s
1879 poem Pheidippides, which inspired modern Olympic
revivalists Pierre de Coubertin and Michel Breal to include
a 25 mile endurance run in the 1896 Games. (The distance
wasn’t standardized at 26.2 miles until 1924.)
While this story can be thanked for the wonderful endurance
test undertaken by millions of recreational runners today,
it is almost certainly untrue. The foremost authority
on the Greco-Persian Wars, the Greek historian Herodotus,
writes in The Histories that since Athens had been left
undefended, most of the victorious Athenian army itself
headed home from Marathon immediately... a march of less
than one day. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger
being sent on ahead of the army. The earliest account
of such a messenger is found in Plutarch’s On The
Glory Of Athens, where this runner is named Thersippus.
However, Plutarch’s information must be taken with
a grain of salt, as he is relating a story that is by
then five centuries old, whereas Herodotus wrote The Histories
only decades after the events occurred. Indeed, no credible
accounts of the Battle Of Marathon make mention of Pheidippides,
and there is no reason to believe he was ever there.
So the legendary Marathon to Athens jog probably never
happened, and if it did, it wasn’t run by Pheidippides.
Which is just as well, as he deserved a rest after the
far more epic run he did endure. According to Herodotus,
Pheidippides was an Athenian messenger and a distance
runner of some fame. In the sumer of 490 BC, Athenian
generals sent him to Sparta to request military support
against the invading Persians. Herodotus says he arrived
in Sparta the day after being dispatched, having covered
an astounding 246km. For reasons of politics or religion,
the Spartans declined to join the fight until the next
full moon. So Pheidippides duly turned around and beat
the 246km back home with that message.
The good news is the Athenians held off the Persian invasion
at Marathon and won history’s first battle of global
significance. The bad news is that a case of muddied history
has meant that most of the modern running community is
shafting Pheidippides out of 91% of his mileage! (Think
of that the next time a runner complains to a race director
over a GPS reading of 42.3km.) Four hundred and ninety
two kilometres, and Herodotus makes no mention of Carb
BOOM. What does a guy have to do to get a little respect?
Luckily for our hero, some hearty souls have endeavoured
to bring together the worlds of historical accuracy and
sports lunacy. In 1982, British RAF Wing Commander John
Foden and four buddies wondered if Pheidippides’
legendary run was even plausible. They painstakingly researched
the historical Athens to Sparta route, and set out to
run it. Much to their surprise and exhaustion, three of
them were indeed able to cover the distance in under 40
hours. The next year, a formal race was organized and
it has been contested every year since. The Spartathlon
has grown to be acknowledged as the world’s most
gruelling footrace, where such ultramarathon luminaries
as Yannis Kouros, Jens Lukas and Scott Jurek have cemented
their own legends by retracing the steps of Pheidippides.
Still, it’s a shame the man himself didn’t
have a better publicist.
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Much Ado About Minimalism
The science and practice of reducing your running shoes
By Richard A. Lovett
As featured in the April 2010 issue of Running
Times Magazine
| We called her barefoot
Bonnie. She showed up at a training run in Earth Shoes
and clobbered most of the guys. Then she ditched even
that minimal footwear for a summer on the track, beating
several of the local elites. At the time, less than
two years ago, most people didn't even know it was
permitted to race without shoes. Today, we're in a
minimalist running craze. The untraditionally shod
are, if not everywhere, vociferous enough that they
certainly seem to be. Is there anything actually to
it, or is it just noise, inspired by Born to Run,
Christopher McDougall's New York Times bestseller
about the sandal-wearing ultramarathoners among Mexico's
Tarahumara Indians?
Proponents of minimalism speak with the zeal of
the recently converted. Opponents spout dire warnings:
you'll ruin your arches, step on an HIV-contaminated
needle, pound your feet to hamburger. "If you
talked to people in podiatry a decade ago, nobody
would have said that barefoot activity had any benefit,"
says Ray McClanahan, a Portland, Ore., podiatrist.
"But now, a few people are starting to say
it might be good for you."
Away from the hype and the extremes, the minimalist
movement is rightly correcting decades of drifting
in the other direction when it comes to running
shoe design. At its core, minimalism asks the runner
to look for the least amount of shoe he or she can
safely wear now, and to work toward reducing the
amount of shoe necessary through strengthening the
foot and improving one's stride. It assumes that
running is a natural movement of the body, rather
than an unnatural act that requires pads and braces
to perform safely. Putting it plainly, the movement
embraces the notion that the beefier the shoe, the
more a runner's natural stride is inhibited...
Read all the article at Running Times here.
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Minimalist Foot Diagram
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And for You Boston Runners:
Run Faster in Boston
Tips for improving your time on Boston's difficult course
By Brian Metzler
As featured in the May 2010 issue of Running
Times Magazine
| We polled several veteran age-group runners who
ran faster at the Boston Marathon in 2009 than they
did the previous year. Many factors can play into
your experience in Boston, including weather, sleep
and travel details. But the answers of the five respondents
below reveal key insights about training, pre-race
preparations and race-day execution from their experiences...
Read
all the article here |
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Upcoming Local Events
| May
2, 2010
Dear Friends,
I wish
to invite you back to the SudburyROCKS!!! Race, Run
or Walk for Diabetes, held Sunday May 2, 2010. Come
celebrate with us our 5th birthday!
We want
2010 for 2010. Help us meet our goal and raise $75,000
for the Canadian Diabetes Association!
Register
by April 2nd for discounted race fees. Register online
at www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com
and save $5 more!
The SudburyROCKS!!!
Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes has a 5K, 10K, half marathon,
full marathon and 1K free kids event. Want to run as
a group? Sign up for the Marathon Team Relay with up
to 8 of your friends, family and co-workers. Not going
to run or walk this year? We
welcome new volunteers!
A new change
to 2010 is our On The Rocks Pasta.
We have moved our Pasta Dinner to a new location, Respect
is Burning, where you will enjoy a truly
one-of-a-kind experience with rustic Italian soul food.
With tickets only $25 each, you will get a fabulous
dining experience at one of Sudbury’s best restaurants.
While there, enjoy the music of singer/songwriter Angie
Nussey. Raised in the Sudbury area, Angie began playing
piano and writing songs at the age of 7. Now at 31 years
of age, with eight years of creating, releasing, and
touring, five full length albums, and a wealth of experiences
to draw from, this boldly honest songwriter solidly
prepares to release her most prized possession through
music: Herself. Look for "Little Tragedies"
in stores and online. Tickets can be purchased through
either the website, or by emailing Mandy at mandy.hryciw@diabetes.ca.
Hurry! Tickets are limited.
Haven’t
seen our new website yet? www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com
Check us out, including signing up for our Facebook
and Twitter pages. We are already at more than 250 Facebook
fans in 2 weeks. Let’s reach 2010!
Support
the Canadian Diabetes Association and help make strides
in diabetes research. All pledges and proceeds go towards
diabetes research, and programs and services of the
Canadian Diabetes Association. More than $150,000 has
been raised for the cause of diabetes since our start
in 2005 – thank you!
Hope to
see you May 2nd!
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Visit our Events
Section for all the Details
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Run
Club Update |
Join us for our
Health Fair
&
Clinic Information Day!
Sunday April 18th at 9:30am to 1pm,
following our Run Club we will be hosting our 2010
SPRING health fair & clinic information day.
Join us after your run or come in throughout the morning
and talk to local health professionals and local businesses.
Ask about your ailments or get to know YOUR community
a little better.
So far in attendance we will have
Meridian Health
Barrydowne Chiropractic
YMCA
Eat Local
and others to be anounced.
Coffee is provided courtesy of Old Rock!
For those who are thinking about joining a clinic
or would like to join us for our FREE Wednesday and
Sunday practices. We will have an instructor and club
members here to answer all your questions. We are
also always looking for instructors - if you are an
experienced runner or walker and think you may like
to lead a group, this is a great time to come and
speak to other instructors and find out about our
programs.
Local Events
www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com
Join the North's largest race!
1K, 5K, 10k, 1/2 marathon and marathon and an 8 man
relay!
All distances are walker friendly!
Proceeds for Canadian Diabetes Association.
Volunteers are needed too!
Happy Trails!
Join us for FREE Practice
Club
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