Monday, April 9, 2007

PRESS RELEASE: The Salt Lake City joggle-off

World Record Up for Grabs as ‘Joggling’ Rivals Face Off at Salt Lake City Marathon
TORONTO – The masters of multi-tasking, Michal “The Joggler” Kapral of Toronto and Zach “The Jolly Juggler” Warren of West Virginia, will race for Guinness World Record glory in a “joggling” showdown at the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 21, 2007.

Kapral, 34, senior editor at Captivate Network, and Warren, 25, a laughter researcher at Harvard, will each juggle three beanbags every step of the way as they race against each other along the scenic 26.2-mile marathon course.

The two elite jogglers have been tossing the world record back and forth in a fierce but friendly rivalry since Kapral first set the mark in 2005, with a time of 3 hours and 7 minutes.

Warren edged out Kapral’s record by just 41 seconds two months later at the Philadelphia Marathon and the stage was set for the first ever joggling marathon duel at the famed Boston Marathon. Warren and Kapral attracted international media attention in their marathon joggle-off, with Warren crossing the line first in a new world-record time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Kapral stole the record back with a 2:57 performance at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September 2006. But Warren – with a documentary film crew at his side – again joggled the record back into American hands with a stunning 2:52 in Philadelphia.

“Marathon joggling is a funny sport,” says Kapral, “but this record is seriously difficult. Salt Lake is going to see a no-holds-barred joggling battle and I really want to take the record back.”

Both jogglers are raising money for children’s charities. Kapral is accepting donations for A Run For Liane in support of The Hospital for Sick Children’s new childhood cancer research centre in Toronto, and Warren, also a unicyclist and circus performer, is collecting funds for the Afghan Mobile Mini-Circus for Children, an NGO based in Kabul (http://www.unicycle4kids.org/).

Kapral, a father of two girls, holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest joggling 10K (36 minutes and 27 seconds) and also the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon pushing a baby in a stroller (2 hours and 49 minutes). He won the Toronto Marathon in 2002 (without juggling) in a personal-best time of 2:30. Kapral writes a popular blog called The Bloggling Joggler.

Warren is a Divinity graduate student at Harvard and has been studying the healing effects of laughter on children in Afghanistan. Warren holds the world records for the fastest mile on a unicycle and the fastest mile on a unicycle while juggling three objects.

Guinness World Records rules state that if the joggler drops a ball, he must return to the drop point before continuing. The balls must be juggled continuously in traditional cascade pattern.

HIGH-RES PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Contact: Michal or Dianne Kapral at T:416-690-8887 or C:416-573-3036, thejoggler1@gmail.com.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Running, juggling and joggling inspiration

Still no running, no juggling and no joggling, but my neck is starting to feel better.

During this forced training retreat, I've had some extra time to relax. We finished Season 5 of '24' last night, and I've been getting myself motivated for the upcoming Salt Lake City duel by watching some running, juggling and joggling on YouTube:

Here's the end of Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley's "Duel in the Sun" at the 1982 Boston Marathon. I had hoped that my joggling duel with Zach last year in Boston would end with me pulling away from Zach, just like Salazar did to Beardsley. But instead it was Zach who pulled away from me at the 17-mile mark. In Salt Lake, I plan to reverse this.



For some vintage juggling inspiration, here's Swiss star Kris Kremo:



And Perry "Just Your Average Joggler" Romanowski takes care of the joggling inspiration with this clip of himself joggling up a mountain in Arizona:



Coming soon: The Salt Lake City Marathon joggling duel press release.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Prognosis: good



I have some potentially good news: My physiotherapist says he thinks my neck should be back to normal by next week.

He confirmed my own diagnosis of a severe case of joggleritis – a re-injury of the same neck muscle that I pulled a few months ago doing joggling tricks.

The good doctor did some treatments, after which I was able to hold my head straight up, and even turn my head a little bit without agony.

I also found out that I've been icing the wrong spot. Doh! What a waste of time and frozen sweet peas. But I now have optimism and a plan: rest, ice, heat, massage and Advil.

The Joggler will be back!

Ouch, this really hurts

Ow ow ow ow ow.

I couldn't sleep last night because of whatever I did to my back. It's been four days and it's worse than ever. This morning I have a physio appointment to get a proper diagnosis and hopefully some treatment.

I keep rewinding back to the point where I was lifting that heavy piece of furniture, wishing that I had just put it down when I felt my arm start to pull out of its socket. What an idiot I am!

In less than a week I'm supposed to be teaching Evan Solomon from 'CBC News: Sunday' how to joggle and I can barely move. Benjamin from the documentary film crew is also flying up to Toronto again to do shoot some pre-marathon footage.

This better get better.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Bad back idles joggler

Bummer. The back muscle that I pulled the other day took a turn for the worse and I'm now incapacitated and popping Advil for dessert.

Yesterday was horrible. The pain in my upper back near the right shoulder blade (the erector spinae illiocostalis cervicis, for you anatomy geeks) grew worse and worse by the minute and no position felt comfortable. I got a massage from the Great American Backrub, but it didn't do much. Last night I could barely sleep.

Things do feel a little better today, but I still can't move my head around properly. My brand new joggling Sport balls sit idle in my backpack, taunting me with their irresistible jugglability.

This is the same muscle that I injured about four months ago while doing joggling tricks. I think lifting a heavy armoire on the weekend reinjured it. But I'll survive. There's no way I' m missing this race. I'll joggle it wearing a back-splint if I have to.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Sport Juggling "Joggler" balls have arrived!

Dianne called me at work today to let me know that my new custom-made Sport Juggling Co. balls had arrived in the mail. "They are awesome ... so pretty," she said.

I had forgotten to bring my old beanbags to work, so my run home was just a regular old run with no joggling. It was my first non-joggling run in quite some time. I found myself automatically looking up at hydro wires and street signs to use for juggling tricks. Just when I was starting to get a little bored, I ran into a couple of guys I used to compete against in local road races, who were also running home from work. It was great to talk to them and not have to worry about juggling.

By the time I got home I was really itching to juggle the new beanbags. I was not disappointed. The Sport balls looked incredibly sleek and cool – bright white with "Joggler" in red stitching – and I was hooked right from the first toss. Of course I went straight back out for a test joggle, and man oh man were they a smooth ride! The Ultraleather exterior was soft to the touch, but firm enough for a good, accurate throw, and the 85 g weight was ideal for a comfortable cascade with minimal muscular taxation.

Overall rating for Sport balls: Beauty, eh!

Juggling at Niagara Falls

My apologies for the lack of posts this past week. I've been away in Niagara.

I did some juggling for tourists (and my daughters – that's Annika in the pink coat in the photo) at Niagara Falls.

On Sunday, I went for a really good long run from my mother-in-law's place in Niagara-on-the-Lake along the Niagara Parkway. My legs feel a bit creaky and I have a strained muscle in my back from lifting an armoire, but I think I'll be well-prepared for the marathon.