My USB Is Faster Than Yours

MacLife.de says Nike's SportBand, an armband that connects to the Nike+ running device, might be finally coming to retail some time in April 2008. The armband will still be wireless and still require you to shove a Nike+ kit into your shoe in order to track how fast/far you run, but you won't have to carry an iPod Nano on you, which lowers the chance of muggings (but raises the chance of being bored while running). Once you're done with your workout, take out the attached USB stick and plug it into your computer to sync data with nikeplus.com

What is nike+, you ask?

"The all-new Nike+ SportBand is the newest way to link to the world’s largest running club. The Nike+ Sportband lets you track your distance, time, pace, and calories right from your wrist. Wear it while you run and reap all the benefits of Nike+. Be sure to download the SportBand utility from nikeplus.com before you plug the Link into your computer’s USB connection. This utility is necessary to sync your data and save it to nikeplus.com. Once configured, you’ll instantly be able to upload your runs to nikeplus.com, where you can track your runs, set goals, get training programs, and join challenges with runners from all over the world."


As a runner, this is really exciting for me. I don't know how many times I've tried to plot out my mileage by reading my odometer in my car, only to forget if I was at 4.5 or 4.6 miles. This little gadget takes all the guess work out of tracking mileage and pace and makes it easier to focus on the important stuff. In my opinion, the global "challenge" feature is where Nike hit it on the head, as taps into people's natural sense of competition and now a runner in Queens can see how they stack up to someone in India.

According to Nike’s Vice President of Global Brand and Category Management, Trevor Edwards, Nike + iPod revolutionized running. Now the Nike+ SportBand gives more choice and allows Nike+ to cover any running situation. It tracks your distance, calories burned and other performance information while providing a simple link to the world’s largest running club, when you choose not to or can’t run with music.” Acting as your personal coach, it gives real-time accounts of a runner's progress and allows people to track progress individually or alongside others.

With so much customization and freedom of the Nike+ program, users will have a sense of control that is sure to be a driver in its popularity, and I can't wait to see the progression of this amazing technology.

[Click here for source]

Age is just a number...

Buster Martin is an unlikely candidate to set a marathon record. He drinks beer, smokes cigarettes and stays out late. And he's 101. He came out of retirement and returned to work at the age of 99 saying he was "bored after two years of retirement". Martin hold down a job at a plumming firm as a van cleaner three days a week and says he trains for the marathon only in his spare time.

If Martin completes this marathon, will break the previous record of 98 years, held by greek marathon runner Dimitrion Yordanidis. He already holds three world title records for the oldest person to run the 5K, 10K and the half marathon.

According to an article at NBC.com: Martin says that in the last weekend, he's completed a 13-mile half marathon that took him a little more than five hours. It would have been faster, he says, but he says he stopped for a beer and a cigarette. He states "I like running, but not as much as I like beer."

If Martin is not working, training, or sipping on a pint, he may be found singing in his band called The Zimmers. Consisting of over 40 seniors, the band has a combined age of over 3000 years and scored a hit single last year with a cover of The Who's ''My Generation.'' When asked by locals, it was discovered that Martin could actually sing quite well.

After hearing about Martin's story, one would think that taking up smoking or heavy drinking is the key to the fountain of youth; and when asked what his secret was, he stated: "I haven’t got [a secret]. They say fags and booze are bad for you—but I’m still here, aren’t I?”

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Catch Me If You Can

This is probably one of the more creative running ads I've seen. How come they can't run ads like this in the US? Anyway, check it out:

London Calling

In 1981, the gun to the first London Marathon was shot. More than 20,000 people applied to run: 7,747 were accepted and 6,255 crossed the finish line. Now at capacity, a total of 46,500 were accepted from a record 80,500 applicants, with 32,563 finishing on the day. Since this time the event has continued to grow in size, stature and popularity with a capacity 46,500 accepted entrants each year. In all, a total of 676,743 have completed the race since its inception with a record 35,674 crossing the line in 2007.

According to the marathon's website, it's four day exhibition is to reel in a record-breaking amount of visitors. This could be in large part to the fact that there is no entrance fee for the race. So runners are encouraged attend with family or friends, which increased the total visitor numbers to an excess of 71,000 in 2007. It is estimated that visitors spend well in excess of 2.5 million pounds (almost 5 million USD) over the four days of the show.

The 2007 Flora London Marathon Exhibition is the only major mass consumer sports expo of its kind in the UK. Exhibitor's range from major sports manufacturers and retailers to companies selling financial products, sports tours, health care products, general food products, other major national and international races, energy drinks, health food products and charities. With huge exposure in the media this year including Live TV on the BBC and regional independent stations, plus a whole days radio broadcast by award winning sport reporter John Cushing at LBC. The show is becoming a must see event for all runners.

The exhibition provides businesses the opportunity to launch new products and promote existing ones while also providing a direct source of consumer feedback. Businesses who partake in the exhibition also get some great perks, including a free listing in the pre-race program and a listing, a link, and editable marketing information and logo on the Marathon Exhibition web site. The logo will also appear on the on line floor plan plus any stand activities posted to the site will be mailed to a visitor email list.

I Run, Therefore I Am

Hi. I'm Alison. I've read a lot of blogs about running...some of them are good, and some are not so good. One thing I've noticed about all of them, however, is that they all seem to be personal accounts of one kind of another. Everything from training logs, marathon aspirations down to shoe size. That's great and all, but where are the blogs about the history? The current events? The business behind it all?...I don't know about you, but I can't find it. Anywhere.

This is where my blog comes in. I'm the kind of person who asks questions. Who, what, where, when why. I want to know where running started. How and why. It's evolution. So of course I googled "history of running", as I do with every question that plagues me. Google knows all. Thousands of results came up, but I found one that particularly interested me runtheplanet.com. This basically sums up the entire article:

"The researchers do not know why natural selection favored human ancestors who could run long distances . For one possibility, they cite previous research by University of Utah biologist David Carrier, who hypothesized that endurance running evolved in human ancestors so they could pursue predators long before the development of bows, arrows, nets and spear-throwers reduced the need to run long distances.

Another possibility is that early humans and their immediate ancestors ran to scavenge carcasses of dead animals—maybe so they could beat hyenas or other scavengers to dinner, or maybe to "get to the leftovers soon enough", Bramble says. Scavenging "is a more reliable source of food" than hunting, he adds. "If you are out in the African savanna and see a column of vultures on the horizon, the chance of there being a fresh carcass underneath the vultures is about 100 percent. If you are going to hunt down something in the heat, that is a lot more work and the payoffs are less reliable" because the animal you are hunting often is "faster than you are"."

- Taken from "The Evolution of Human Running"

I've always taken it for granted that if our ancestors didn't run they'd be eaten, or squashed, and we wouldn't be here. But this gives me a whole new perspective on something that most people take on as a hobby, or even a lifestyle, has evolved from something so instinctive and basic. Back then it was about survival, it wasn't about cutting your 5k time or wording on your stride.

So that's what this blog is about. In order to understand something now, you have to know where it came from.