New York Times: 3 Beanbags and 26.2 Miles

New York Times Joggling Article

New York Times reporter Sara Beck put together an excellent piece on 67-year-old joggler Jack Hirschowitz, who will be joggling his fifth New York City Marathon on Nov. 4. I was quoted a few times in it, calling joggling "a fringe sport for the odd lunatic." Lunatics in a good way, of course. 

Beck describes the rules of joggling and sums up quite succinctly the types of competitions: "Records have been set with five balls. Clubs are possible, but awkward. Knives are discouraged. Hurdling should be left to the experts."

I agree that joggling knives isn't advisable in a marathon, but on a treadmill is fine, right Tyler Wishau?

Zen and the Art of Joggling

Oh, the intensity of running 42.195K while tossing and catching beanbags 32,000 times. Photo courtesy of the Trapline Marathon.

Trapline Marathon: 1st Joggler and 1st Overall

The Trapline Marathon is no ordinary race. The starters' gun is a trappers' rifle (that was so loud we all froze at the line for a second of stunned silence before making our way forward), the start-line posts are made out of wooden snowshoes, there was a moose on the race course and moose stew served after the finish (a different moose, I was told by race organizers), along with a smorgasbord of other local delicacies.

The people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador (how's that for a lengthy place name?) welcomed this wacky joggler with open arms and a good sense of humour and didn't even get mad at me when I won the marathon overall while juggling, in a time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 32 seconds, and also set a course record.

I can say with near-certainty that this marks the first time anyone has won a marathon while juggling. I, of course, think this is pretty cool, however, the rest of the runners behind me might think otherwise. But I salute all of the runners in the full marathon, half-marathon and 10K at this spectacular race. And thank you to the hawk that flew half a foot in front of my face near the halfway mark for not making off with one of my balls. I salute you, too.

(Images courtesy of the Trapline Marathon)

The Bannister of Beer

The beer mile is getting a lot of press now that American Olympian Nick Symmonds is going for the world record. A video from TMZ shows Symmonds running a 5:15, which is very close to Canadian Jim Finlayson's world record of 5:09.
When I was the editor of Canadian Running, I assigned a feature article to Finlayson so he could tell the story of his record, and of his quest to break the magical 5-minute beer mile barrier. Here it is, one of my all-time favourite features in CRM, "The Bannister of Beer":

Next up for me: the joggling beer mile. Wonder what the record is for that one?

Matt Feldman Destroys 5-Ball Joggling 1-Mile Record

They say learning how to juggle five balls is 10 times harder than juggling three. When it comes to joggling with five, I'd say it's about 60 times more difficult than the traditional three-ball joggle.

Considering that, Matt Feldman's recent world record for the five-ball joggling mile of 6:33 is nothing short of astounding. Even better, there's a good video of it, so you can see how fluid his form is with the five-ball pattern on the run. Feldman makes it look easy, but trust me as one who has tried, this is reedonkulous skill.

Would this not be an entertaining Olympic event? Imagine a dozen jogglers and 100 balls flying around the track in an Olympic five-ball 1500m joggling final!

 

Wacky Sporting Champions

Guinness World Records has a new ebook dedicated to "Wacky Sporting Champions," including the basketball spinner from Benjamin Fingerhut's documentary, Breaking and Entering. I wonder if any jogglers made it in there?

Triathlon Juggler Joe Salter is Huge in Korea

Joe Salter shocked the world – even the hard-to-shock joggling world – when he managed to juggle his way through a triathlon in May. Since then, his video has gone somewhat viral (not quite Walk Off the Earth viral, but pretty good for jogging vid) and he's made an appearance on Good Morning America. Now a Korean TV show is apparently trying to convince him to swuggle (swim and juggle) across the Han River, which is about 1.7km across.

Joggling the Trapline Marathon in October

Ah, Labrador! That beautiful territory northwest of Newfoundland will soon get what it's been waiting for all of these years (they just didn't know it): joggling! On Oct. 7, 2012, I'm coming to town to joggle the Trapline Marathon. I've never been to Labrador and this looks like a great event that showcases Canada's trading frontier. The marathon route follows a point-to-point course along an old trappers trade route at the mouth of the Churchill River, running from the settlement of North West River (pop. 553) to Happy Valley - Goose Bay (pop. 7,552). And as far as I'm concerned, any marathon that finishes in Happy Valley has to be a good one.

I'll be speaking at the expo the day before the race and giving some joggling tutorials, because really, if you don't know how to joggle, what is the point of life? Check out the details at www.traplinemarathon.com and watch the super-geeky video of me above.

This will be my seventh joggling marathon and unlike most of the others, I won't be going for a Guinness World Record, though I am hoping to run a fast time. It got me thinking that I never actually wrote down all the races I've joggled, so here's a list of the big ones:

1. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (three times, and a world record each time – I like this race)
2. The Boston Marathon (in the 2006 joggling marathon duel with Zach Warren, which I lost)
3. The Salt Lake City Marathon (another duel with Zach, which I won)
4. The Royal Victoria Marathon (I had fun at this one)
5. The Cayman Islands Half-Marathon (ridiculously hot race)
6. The World's Best 10K (Puerto Rico)
7. The Rock and Ice Ultra (Northwest Territories, but OK, I only joggled for about 100 metres)
8. The Montreal Half-Marathon (unofficial half-marathon world record)
9. The Burlington Half-Marathon (soon-to-be official world record)
10. The Around the Bay 30K (unofficial 30K world record)
11. A bunch of other local races  

I'm sure Trapline will be a blast. I might even be so bold as to predict that I will become the first person to ever joggle in the region.

Swuggling Video by Joe Salter

Swuggler, joggler and cycluggler (or buggler? – no, that sounds bad) Joe Salter is training to become the first person to juggle his way through a triathlon. Check out his swuggling training in a pool (with tricks!).

Joggling Bladder

(Image courtesy of Sportszonephotography.ca)

I got the hat-cam hooked up a few minutes before the start of the Chilly Half-Marathon. Michael from vcardtv.com turned it on and the tape was going to be rolling until after I finished. That's when I realized I really needed to pee, but there was no time before the start. During the race, I tried to survey the area for a porta-potty or some woods to duck into, but it's hard to look around while you're joggling. Plus, imagine the surprise of the Guinness World Records judges watching the footage to certify the record, when all of the sudden I duck off into the bushes and – whoa, those aren't juggling balls! Maybe I'd get disqualified? So I ran on, with my bladder joggling for an hour and 24 minutes and 33 seconds.

The Joggler-Cam!

This is what I see when I'm joggling. The video of the Chilly Half-Marathon (below) shows a few clips from the "Joggler-Cam" (and a bit where I teach the mayor of Burlington how to juggle).

Bob Evans Lowers 5K Joggling Record to 16:42

Check out Bob Evans crushing his own world record for the joggling 5K at the Super Kids Sunday event in Long Beach, California. Oh, and he won the race outright. Bob's wife Trish also joggled a spectacular 21:02, not far off her own women's world record of (I think) 20:31. After the race, the couple put on a juggling the unicycling show.

Chilly-Half Marathon 'Official' Joggling Record: 1:24:33

(Image courtesy of Michelle from The236.net blog – note how the fire hydrant and mailbox match my outfit)

Yes, that weird thing on my head there is a camera. I think I set a precedent for the first ever joggling race footage with a head-cam. The videographer told me the footage turned out well, so we'll see. I ended up joggling the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington, Ontario, on Sunday, in 1:24:33, which was 44 seconds slower than my best joggling half from Montreal a few years ago. I never claimed that one through Guinness World Records, though, because I didn't have the independent witnesses and video footage that they require to certify it. This time I'll have first-person video of the whole thing, plus witnesses, so if it all pans out, 1:24:33 will be the new official Guinness World Record for the fastest time to run a half-marathon while joggling three objects.

It was great to jump back into the ridiculous world of joggling, as I've been doing mostly "regular" running races lately. Some things I heard along the route:

• "Show-off!" (the most popular among the 5K runners who were passing by in the opposite direction – and might I add that this is not a very motivating thing to hear when you're struggling along trying to race the thing while juggling, with a camera on your head, and in fact, why don't you just punch me in the stomach while you're at it)
• "You're my hero!" (now that's more like it)
• "Don't drop a ball!" (thanks, thanks a lot)
• "I heard yoo speak at the pasta dinner last night, and you're right, I don't want to get beaten by a joggler!" (my favourite line of the day, by a guy running past me, referencing a line from my dinner talk about how other runners hate getting passed by me when I'm joggling)

Conditions overall were pretty good for the race. My hands were freezing off in the first 2K and I dropped a couple of times because my fingers were numb. Winds were gusting for the last 7K or so and my lightweight "racing" beanbags got blown out of reach a bunch of times. I had another seven or eight drops on the way back, which really screwed up my rhythm and focus. The head-cam was actually heavier than I expected, but I don't think it slowed me down too much. I'll post the highlights (if there are any) on YouTube when I get the footage.

Joggling the Chilly Half-Marathon

(Photo: Jamie Lynch)

Can I break my half-marathon joggling record of 1:23:49 at the Chilly Half in Burlington, Ontario, this Sunday? I certainly not as well prepared as I was for the Montreal Half-Marathon in 2009, but I did lose a good chunk of time in that race when I dropped a ball at the start, so it's still possible. I'll probably pace for a 1:20 and see what happens. This is the course where I set my half-marathon PB of 1:11:58 – good karma.

Joggling Records List

(Image courtesy of STWM Staff)

Recordholders.org has a really cool historical list of all the joggling records HERE. It's funny to see how many times Zach Warren and I went back and forth on the marathon record. And it's not over yet – Zach has plans to try to break it this year. If he succeeds, would I have a go at it? Maybe, if I can negotiate a multi-hundred-dollar endorsement deal with Stride Gum, who gave me a year's supply of tasty and long-lasting gum after I set my last record.

There are quite a few astounding records in that list. including Mike Hout's 20.2 second backwards joggling 100m and Will Howard's 4:42 mile.

I'm in Runner's World - again!

Another appearance in Runner's World in the Feb. 2012 issue, Human Race section, HERE.

Bob and Trish Evans make 5000m joggling history

Bob Evans tied the longstanding 5000m joggling record yesterday in Nashville with a 16:55, despite a drop in the first mile. His wife Trish also appears to have smashed her own previous 5K world record, running a 20:31. Amazing results. Even more amazing is that Bob and Trish will be going for the records again this Saturday in the Nashville Race for the Cure in an event that will feature 15 jogglers! Wish I could be there.

5000m Joggling Guinness World Record Attempt

I'm going for the 5000m joggling Guinness World Record tonight (Aug. 10) at about 7:30 p.m. at the Central Tech track in downtown Toronto.

The current record of 16:55 has stood for 25 years. Is it a tough one to beat? Hell yeah! I fell short by 8 seconds in my last try a few years ago and that one really hurt. I'm hoping to run a nice even pace this time.

A Sickly and Scrawny Boy

Benjamin Fingerhut's documentary Breaking and Entering recently screened at the historic Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks, Michigan, generating this writeup in the regional paper. This passage gave me a good laugh, and it's not far off.

There's Canadian Michal Kapral, whose obsession with the Guinness Book of World Records started when he was a scrawny and sickly young boy, dreaming of being an elite athlete. He grew up to become a gifted runner and juggler, and combined the two to become one of the best "jogglers" in the world.

With chronic asthma, allergies to virtually every food and airborne particle and general skinniness, I was a scrawny and sickly looking young laddy.

Feldman breaks 5-ball 5000m joggling record

Matt Feldman of Washington, Fla. set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest 5000m while joggling with five balls. The 18-year-old University of Florida student ran the 12.5-lapper in 27:06, eclipsing Billy Gillen's previous record of 28:11, set back in 1989.

For all the non-jugglers out there, juggling five balls is about 10 times harder than juggling three. Running while juggling five is, well, really, really hard. Joggling a 27-minute 5000 is a spectacular feat.

Danny Kassap: Remembering a Great Running Friend

It's hard to believe I'll never see Danny Kassap's smiling face – or his unmistakable feet-kicking-the-butt running stride – at races anymore. The 28-year-old fixture of the Toronto running community died on Monday at Sunnybrook Hospital, a day after he turned his Sporting Life 10K race into a light jog to the finish, complaining that he wasn't feeling well. There's no word on the cause of death, but it's likely related to the after-effects of a virus-related heart attack he suffered at the 2008 Berlin Marathon.

When I became launch editor of Canadian Running in 2008, I assigned Alex Hutchinson to write a feature story on Danny for the premiere issue, which chronicled the Congo native's struggles to gain Canadian citizenship (a battle he eventually won). And in my very first editorial I recounted my first encounter with Danny, at the 2002 Backs in Motion 5K in Sunnybrook Park. Here's what I wrote:

This first issue of Canadian Running is about time in more ways than one. For marathoner Danny Kassap, profiled here by Alex Hutchinson, the clock is ticking on both his Canadian citizenship and a qualification time for the Olympics. Will the Congo native become a citizen in time for the Beijing Games? Can he shave enough time off his personal best to meet Canada’s rigid Olympic standard?

I first met Kassap at a 5K race in Toronto in 2002, not long after he burst onto the Ontario road racing scene. I had heard reports of a running phenomenon who had arrived in Ottawa with the Congolese team for the Francophone Games and hadn’t returned home. Coming from a war-ravaged country, I expected Kassap to be a sombre type, or at least somewhat subdued, but the guy I found lined up at the start of that 5K was positively chipper. Much like marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie, Kassap has a near-permanent I’m-so-happy-to-be-alive-and-running smile on his face.

In a brief chat before the race start, Kassap told me how glad he was to be in Canada. The gun went off and, in what would become a familiar sight, Kassap flew into the lead, his feet nearly kicking his butt. 'That could be the future of Canadian distance running,' I thought. Six years on, Kassap is still flying, still thrilled to be in Canada and desperate to represent our country at international races. His story is symbolic of how so many of the ups and downs of running are often mirrored in our everyday lives.

I'd eventually become good friends with Danny and must have seen him at 100 races or so in the past 10 years. And no matter what was going on in his life, he was always smiling. He came to Canada with nothing and left us with a legacy.

If you can, make a donation to a memorial fund to help pay for a burial in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, his old training grounds.

Boston Marathon unveils new registration process

B.A.A. TO OFFER FASTEST QUALIFIED RUNNERS

EARLY ACCEPTANCE INTO 2012 BOSTON MARATHON WITH NEW REGISTRATION PROCESS.

NEW QUALIFYING TIMES IN EFFECT FOR 2013 BOSTON MARATHON.

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today a change in its registration process for the Boston Marathon, allowing the fastest qualifiers to enter the earliest and with a rolling admission system while also offering all eligible runners an increased registration period. The changes in registration are a response by the B.A.A. to greater than ever demand by runners to gain entry into the Boston Marathon and culminate more than three months of analysis, including input from the running industry. Rather than accepting runners who have met the qualifying standards on a first come, first served approach, a more systematic, performance-based process will be employed.

2012 Boston Marathon

For the 2012 Boston Marathon, registration will extend for two weeks, beginning on Monday, September 12 and continuing until Friday, September 23. The qualifying times for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not change from recent past years since the standards had been previously announced and have been in effect since last September. However, the new registration process addresses the increased demand among qualified runners to participate in the Boston Marathon and will accommodate those who are the fastest qualifiers first.

Registration will occur on a “rolling admission” schedule until the maximum field size is reached, beginning with the fastest qualifiers. On the first day of registration for the 2012 Boston Marathon, those who are eligible for entry by having met the qualifying standards for their age and gender group by 20 minutes or more will be able to enter on the first day of registration (September 12). On the third day (September 14), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more. On the fifth day (September 16), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by five minutes or more. During this first week of registration, applicants will be notified as they are accepted and their qualifying performance verified.

If the field size is not reached after the first week and additional space remains, then registration will open to all qualifiers at the beginning of Week Two (September 19) and those who have met the qualifying standards by any amount of time will be able to apply for entry. The application process will remain open for the entire week, closing on September 23. At the conclusion of Week Two, those who are the fastest among the pool of applicants in their age and gender will be accepted. Accepted athletes will be notified on September 28.

If space remains available after this two week process, registration will remain open to any qualifier on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.

The field size for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not represent a significant increase from the most recent past years.

Registration Process for the 2012 Boston Marathon

First Week Day 1 (Sept. 12) Qualifiers who have met their age/gender qualifying times by

20 minutes, 00 seconds or faster may apply

Day 3 (Sept. 14) 10 minutes, 00 seconds or faster

Day 5 (Sept. 16) 5 minutes, 00 seconds or faster

Second Week

Day 8 (Sept. 19) Qualifiers who have met their age/gender qualifying times by

any amount of time, including qualifiers who could have registered in Week One.

Day 12 (Sept. 23) Registration closes for qualified applicants

September 28 Qualifiers from entry during second week of registration are notified of their acceptance.

If the field is not filled at the conclusion of the two weeks, then registration will remain open and qualifiers will be accepted on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.

2013 Boston Marathon

For the 2013 Boston Marathon, in addition to the new “rolling admission” process for registration which will be in effect for the 2012 Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. will adjust the qualifying times by lowering them by five minutes from the times which have been in effect in recent past years. The adjusted qualifying times will go into effect on September 24, 2011, and are as follows:

Age Group MEN WOMEN

18-34 3:05:00 3:35:00

35-39 3:10:00 3:40:00

40-44 3:15:00 3:45:00

45-49 3:25:00 3:55:00

50-54 3:30:00 4:00:00

55-59 3:40:00 4:10:00

60-64 3:55:00 4:25:00

65-69 4:10:00 4:40:00

70-74 4:25:00 4:55:00

75-79 4:40:00 5:10:00

80 and older 4:55:00 5:25:00

Registration for the 2013 Boston Marathon will begin on Monday, September 10, 2012.

“As the number of qualified runners has increased combined with greater demand to run the Boston Marathon, our new registration process enables those who qualify by the greatest amount of time to have the longest period to enter,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director. “Our new registration process takes into consideration the many comments we received from runners this past fall and winter, most of whom urged the B.A.A. to institute a system which recognizes athletic performance above all else.”

Additionally, to recognize and to encourage longtime Boston Marathon entrants, the B.A.A. will allow those who have met the qualifying times and who have finished the last ten consecutive Boston Marathons to enter anytime during the registration period. Currently, there are approximately 500 runners who have run 10 or more consecutive Boston Marathons.

The B.A.A. last adjusted the qualifying times for the 2003 Boston Marathon, relaxing times for runners who were 55 years old and older. The last time the qualifying times were made more stringent was for the 1980 Boston Marathon.

The 2011 Boston Marathon reached its maximum field size of qualifiers faster than any previous year when qualifiers rushed to fill the race and the qualified field closed in eight hours, three minutes.

Great reviews for Breaking and Enterting in NY Times and Variety

Filmmaker Benjamin Fingerhut's excellent documentary about Guinness World Record breakers is hot on the filmfest circuit and just received a couple of great reviews from Variety and the New York Times, both of which mention my friendly joggling rivalry with Zach Warren.

My wife got a kick out of the Variety review of Breaking and Entering: "Fingerhut depicts a kinder, gentler form of rivalry in his chronicle of Michal Kapral , a marathon "joggler" (one who juggles while jogging), who sets a record, only to have it broken by Zach Warren. The two men become friends, inspiring each other to greater and greater exertions for charitable causes, while Michal wonders how much longer he can pursue his completely profitless hobby to the detriment of his financial obligations to the wife and kids."

The New York Times review: "There’s definitely no place for mockery in the case of the jogglers Michal Kapral and Zach Warren, who can each run a marathon, juggling three balls the entire route, in under three hours. When you can do that, who needs Guinness." While I appreciate the writer Mike Hale's compliment here, I disagree - there must always be a place for mockery of joggling. What kind of imbecile runs a whole marathon while juggling?

My Guinness World Records now online

Looks like Guinness World Records has added a more comprehensive list of their catalogue to the website, and even included photos of the record-holders.

Here's my 10K joggling record. And here's the marathon.

At the recent Guinness World Records Day, there were a number of interesting events. I'm pretty sure I could break the new mark for "longest time to juggle three objects underwater" (1 minute, 20 seconds), but I'd have trouble with most of the others, including "most serpilleres by an individual" in 30 seconds (34) and "most stairs climbed in one minute while balancing a person on the head" (the entire staircase of the Sacre-Coeur in Paris). Joggling is a little odd, but hey, at least I don't spend my spare time walking up staircases with a woman balanced on my head.

Why joggle? Perry's joggling speech

This is a great speech on joggling by 50-mile joggling world-record holder Perry Romanowski.

Sepaktakraw: My New Favourite Sport

Peter Bone: 11 balls, 18 catches!

Joggling in Ford Flex ad

My mother-in-law was perusing the latest copy of Chatelaine magazine and came across an ad for the Ford Flex that listed "15 things to do together before your kids leave home." No. 2 the list? "Take up joggling (jog and juggle at the same time). Post a video online." Also notable was No. 8: "Break a world record. Invent your own entry!"

World Cross-Country Championships 2010

Canada's Simon Bairu 13th in the most competitive race on the planet!

Running up Mont Ventoux

Freezing my butt off at the top of Mont Ventoux in southern France.

Joggling Championships at UCLA 1990

Check out this footage from the Joggling Championships at UCLA in 1990. Thanks to Perry at www.justyouraveragejoggler.com for tracking this one down. Classic!

Breaking and Entering documentary 2009

Breaking and Entering movie poster

Plot: Explores the lives of would-be record-breakers as they pursue their dreams of fame and fortune, sometimes both, usually neither.

Ed Whitlock: Comeback Kid

Congratulations to Ed Whitlock, 78, who ran a 1:37 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon. I interviewed Ed recently for this article in the November issue of Canadian Running magazine.

Synchronized Cycling Routine

Impressive, but for obvious reasons, this routine could never be performed by guys.

Joggling: Poetry in Motion

Glad to see Reuters include this piece on joggling in their lifestyles section. Here's the opener:

The long-distance joggler understands better than most that the race is not always to the swiftest.

Joggling, juggling while jogging, requires a hand as sure as a foot is fleet. But for some well-coordinated multitaskers, there's nothing quite like it.

"Once I get in a good joggling groove with a nice, relaxed stride and a perfectly timed cascade juggling pattern, it's pure poetry in motion," competitive joggler Michal Kapral said in an interview.

Bolt breaks 200-metre record

Usain Bolt runs 19.19 for 200. Crazy.

Montreal Half-Marathon

Thanks to Jamie Lynch for this photo at the end of the Montreal Half-Marathon. I'm still getting the paperwork together to submit the record to Guinness World Records. Jamie, incidentally, is married to Cindy of Running Skirts fame.

This Sunday, I'm going to race the 5K, without joggling, at the Bread and Honey Road Race in Streetsville, Ontario.

Half-Marathon Joggling Record Established in Montreal

Success! I set a new half-marathon Guinness World Record yesterday, joggling the beautiful Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal course in 1:23:49.

I dropped a beanbag right at the start line and probably lost about a minute after kicking the ball off the side under the barricade. I had to ask one of the spectators to hand it back to me and by the time I jumped back into the race, I was behind a huge mass of slower runners. In the end, it probably helped me, since the slow start allowed me to finish strong. I dropped once just past the 10K mark and that was it. Much of the route is ont the Gilles Villeneuve F1 circuit, which makes you feel like a race car as you cut the tangents over the red-and-white stripes.

Congratulations to Tara Quinn-Smith for setting a new Canadian half-marathon record of 1:12 and change, and to Matt Loiselle for winning the men's half-marathon championships it 1:04.

SPIKESmag.com Interview

Here's an interview I did with SPIKESmag.com - a U.K.-based athletics magazine -- as a lead-in to the Montreal half-marathon record attempt this Sunday.

Salomon Giant's Rib Raid

I had the honour of joining brothers Mike and Wil Smith on a three-man team at the Salomon Giant's Rib Raid 25K orienteering race in Milton, Ont. Mike and Wil have each won several national and North American orienteering championships. Racing with them was a bit like playing a round of golf with a couple of PGA pros. It gave me the chance to witness up close some spectatcular navigating through scenic, rugged terrain on the Niagara Escarpment. These guys can absolutely fly over loose rocks, slippery boulders, treaturous roots and loose branches, all the while plotting precise routes to lead us to checkpoints hidden in the woods (or in one case, inside a cave!). I had always assumed that orienteers spent a fair amount of time standing in one place poring over their maps. Wow, was I ever wrong. The pace of our four-hour-long race was merciless, with only a handful of brief pauses. Our team, Canadian Running Magazine, placed second, six minutes behind The Foreigners, led by Nick Duca.

Here I am climbing out of the cave checkpoint.

Galavanting in Puerto Rico

This marks the first time I've appeared in a travel show. Check out Kim and Maren's Galavanting Guide to Puerto Rico. And hey, my name is even in the credits. It was fun to watch this and re-live all the fun times Dianne and I had in PR.

Kibet's Amazing Rotterdam Marathon Finish

Kibet surges past Kwambai at the Rotterdam Marathon. Both finish in 2:04:27. Wow.

Gebrselassie's Treadmill Fun Run

Here's a story I wrote for Canadian Running about Haile Gebrselassie's treadmill run at the Adidas Running Camp, including a video clip. I'll be writing up a full article with details from my interview with the Adidas Super Seven in the July issue of the magazine.

And here's a new clip of Tyson Gay demonstating his race start.

Haile!

Adidas Running Camp

The Adidas Super 7: Gebrselassie, Vlasic, Wariner, Gay, Campbell-Brown, Ohuruogu, Felix


How often do you get the chance to interview seven of the best athletes in the world, and watch them train up close? I just returned from the Adidas Running Camp in Santa Monica, California, with Tyson Gay, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wariner, Christine Ohuruogu, Blanka Vlasic and Haile Gebrselassie. Between them, they have 16 Olympic medals. The event kicked off with a run with Haile near the Santa Monica pier. Can you say thrill of a lifetime? I'll be writing an article about the running camp in a future issue of Canadian Running magazine.


Haile and me


Running with Haile by the Santa Monica pier


Haile running 4:00/mile on the treadmill (and still talking!)


Jeremy Wariner and Tyson Gay coming out of the blocks

San Juan Marriott and World's Best 10K Photos

Hanging out at the bar.


The view from our hotel room at the San Juan Marriott.


Team Marriott and the running travel reporters.


The start of the World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico.

World's Best 10K Joggling Update

I fell well short of the joggling record at the World's Best 10K, finishing in 39:17, but the good news is that the race was incredible and I joggled it without a drop. Puerto Rico's world-class, IAAF Gold Label event is truly top-tier.

We're also here on a mini-vacation, staying at the San Juan Marriott, a resort hotel right on a gorgeous strip of beach. Not too many Canadians vacation in Puerto Rico, but I think they should. It's full of characater -- and there's a party atmosphere everywhere you go.

Vivian Cheruiyot won the women's race in 31:12 and fellow Kenyan Sammy Kitawara ran an incredible 27:26 to take the men's title. Considering it was hot and a bit windy, these times are surreal.

Joggling the World's Best 10K

Next weekend, I'm off to San Juan, Puerto Rico to joggle the World's Best 10K. The race offers a $100,000 bonus for a new world record. I'll be trying to break my 10K joggling world record of 36:27, and can expect a bonus of, hmm, maybe a handshake from the volunteer working the finish line?

Joggling on MTV

I found this link to the MTV Live Action News story about joggling. People keep recognizing me on the street from this, so I think it's getting far too much airplay.

Cay Compass Joggling Report

Here's a report frm the Caymanian Compass on my half-marathon joggle at the Cayman Islands Marathon. (Photo: Shurna Robbins, CayCompass)