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The weather was perfect, the field enthusiastic, the times respectable, but Los Angeles' annual street party masquerading as street race was marred Sunday by the deaths of two runners and the collapse of an elderly man who was hospitalized in critical condition. Two retired law enforcement officers died after collapsing on the route. Det. Raul Reyna, 53, suffered a heart attack at mile 24 near Olympic Boulevard and Westmoreland Avenue, two miles short of the finish line. He died at Good Samaritan Hospital. The 28-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran had worked on the use of force investigation team at...

Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia is first across the finish line of the 21st Los Angeles Marathon.

A recent AP article discusses the accomplishments of Craig Holcomb of Streetsboro, OH, formerly chief financial officer at a company called Little Tikes. Holcomb quit his job, sold his home and ran 48 marathons, plus two ultra-marathons, in each of the 50 states. All in one year. Curiously, the AP article left out Holcomb's marital status. Craig has a website that documented his achievement. I noticed in addition to running two ultramarathons, he actually ran three. Craig ran in Chicago's starcrossed and presumably now defunct Lakeshore Marathon: That Memorial Day race inadvertently--but stupidly--added an extra mile to the official marathon...

Marathon to Expand Garyville, La.-Based Refinery in $2.2 Billion Project HOUSTON (AP) -- Marathon Oil Corp., an energy concern, said it expand its Garyville, La.-based refinery production capacity in project estimated at $2.2 billion. The expansion would boost production by 180,000 barrels per day, or bpd, to 425,000 bpd from 245,000 bpd.

Tonight's Sci-Fi Listing: 7/6 - Firefly 8/7 - Stargate Sg1 marathon.. Basically a marathon showing past episodes of Sg1.. Last weeks episode was good. So far I'm impressed the way BB is handling his role.

Nine years ago, we published a story about Sister Patricia Rayburn of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bend, who at midlife had taken up long-distance running. She was 52 years old then, and running marathons — 26.2-mile tests of physical endurance and mental toughness. Even she admitted it was a bit unconventional for a woman of her calling. At the time she was featured in The Bulletin, she had just completed her second Portland Marathon. We called her St. Francis Church's "Nun on the Run." Sister Patricia went on to run two more marathons, the last in 1999:...

Four weeks ago I ran in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon; I thoroughly enjoyed the city and the race. Of course, when I told people my intention to run Cleveland, they asked "Why Cleveland." The short answer was that some friends of mine invited me to join them, and secondly, I wanted to run a spring marathon. So Cleveland it was. Cleveland has a bad reputation, perhaps a very bad one, but it's greatly undeserved. And I'm not the only one who possesses these thoughts. On the very day I left for Cleveland, May 20, this article by Michael Gollust...

Hate to label it "vanity" because it appears anything but. http://www.jeffiscool.com/films12/TeamHoyt.wmv I wanted to share this with FReepers. I figure that if you don't cry from it's inspiration it's because you've seen the video before. The film is of Lt Col (Ret) Dick Hoyt, Air National Guard and his son, Rick.

Little Rock - "Quit Digging Your Grave With A Knife and Fork" In the words Governor Huckabee, that's the key to becoming healthy and the name of his new book. The book is not a guide on how to lose weight, it's advice on how to get healthy and for the Governor, it's the beginning of a new adventure. Friends of the Governor gathered at the mansion to celebrate the upcoming release of his new book. (Governor Mike Huckabee) "I think it does have an appeal. People say what? Quit digging your grave with a knife and fork? But really...

Global Warming Tax   Duke Energy, a leading U.S. electricity and gas utility, announced this week its support for a global warming tax () — essentially a consumption tax on consumers of gasoline, oil, natural gas and coal. The tax is intended to reduce energy use and resulting emissions of greenhouse gases. Duke calls it a “carbon tax,” but we might call it the “Greenpeace tax” in honor of the various radical environmental groups, like Greenpeace (), pushing global warming hysteria and supporting such a tax. But we could also call it the “corporate appeasement tax” in honor of businesses...

LITTLE ROCK - Nearly two years after he embarked on a diet and fitness regimen that left him 110 pounds lighter and diabetes free, Gov. Mike Huckabee finished the Little Rock Marathon Sunday ahead of his new running mate — Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa. The crowd cheered as Huckabee turned the corner toward the finish line and started the last stretch of the 26.2 mile race. Huckabee finished in just over 4 1/2 hours and hugged his two sons and daughter. "What do you say? Is that not cool?" the Republican governor said, holding up his medal afterward before...

A new book reveals Iraqi insurgents were paid to take out U.S. Army Capt. David Rozelle in June, 2003. In Back in Action Rozelle details the conversations he had with friendly Iraqis alerting him to the sinister plot. "Captain, there are men in town who are planning missions in our mosques, under the command of clerics here and from Ar Ramadi." Rozelle, at the time, was the de facto sheriff of the region, which included a Ba'ath Party headquarters called Hit (pronounced "heat."). "These men I do not know," continued his trusted Iraqi translator, "but they are dangerous. Some are...

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/415877|top|07-19-2004::15:07|reuters.html Man Sought for Photographing Texas City Refineries Email this story Jul 19, 2:57 PM (ET) HOUSTON (Reuters) - Law enforcement officials said on Monday they are looking for a man seen taking pictures of two refineries in Texas City, Texas. Texas City, located on the Texas Gulf coast about 30 miles south of Houston, has three refineries including the largest U.S. plant operated by BP Plc., which is the third-largest U.S. refinery, processing 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The man, described as white with dark hair, was seen taking pictures outside the refineries, all located on the...

As a general rule, politicians--especially the ones in the heat of a presidential election--talk as much as possible, to as many people as possible. But there are two things that John Edwards, Democratic senator from North Carolina and vice-presidential nominee, doesn't like to talk about at all. Oddly, one of them is running. The 51-year-old Edwards has been running for almost 30 years. He was a runner before he was a presidential candidate, a senator, a big-time trial lawyer, a father, or a husband. He has finished five marathons, one of them, in 1983, in just over three-and-a-half hours. So...

Wrote to BAA, this is what I got back. Dear Mr. S. It was reported (Summer 2004) to the B.A.A. by aides of the John F. Kerry campaign for President of the United States that the Democratic nominee ran the Boston Marathon in the late 1970s [1977, 1978 or 1979 most likely]. He reportedly ran as an unofficial entrant and finished the entire 26.2-mile race (i.e., without an official bib number); as an unofficial participant, his performance (name, place, time) would not appear among the official record or in any results book publication. Beginning with Kerry's role as Massachusetts Lt....

Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he's training to compete in the Little Rock Marathon in March. Huckabee said he's planning to run in the marathon in an attempt to draw additional attention to his statewide Healthy Arkansas initiative. During an event at the state Capitol on Tuesday morning, the governor announced that the Healthy Arkansas program will be a sponsor of the marathon. The governor said he especially wants the public to be aware of a fitness program for children known as the Little Rockers Kids' Marathon. "I'm not suggesting that people need to go out and run marathons,"...

Recently, Football Fans for Truth learned that John Kerry claimed a significant achievement: qualifying and running the Boston Marathon. In an ESPN interview, he said, "I ran a marathon back in '80, something like that. Did the Boston Marathon." An ESPN analysis of his athletic achievements mentions that "[he] ran the Boston Marathon in the 1970s". In its November 2004 issue, Runner's World observes that John Kerry "[ran] the Boston Marathon in the '70s". In April 2002, John Kerry was the starter for the Boston Marathon. The Daily Free Press reports that Senator Kerry "lamented the fact that time constraints...

Ireland invite marathon runner, ‘priest’ in more trouble DUBLIN: The Brazilian runner knocked over by an Irish-born priest in the closing stages of the Olympic marathon in Athens was invited to Ireland on Thursday by the country's Sports Minister John O'Donoghue. Vanderlei de Lima was in the lead in the race last Sunday when he was suddenly grabbed and pushed into a group of spectators by former priest Cornelius Horan. The shaken athlete resumed his race but was overtaken by rivals and ended up claiming the bronze medal. O'Donoghue described the incident as a “travesty” and invited de Lima to...

Spectator Assaults Marathon Leader Sun Aug 29, 2004 01:09 PM ET ATHENS (Reuters) - Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil was pushed off the road by a spectator while leading the men's Olympic marathon on Sunday, the final event of the Games. He got away and rejoined the race, holding his leg, with around 15 minutes to run but lost the lead to Italian Stefano Baldini soon after. The spectator, dressed in a kilt with some writing on his back, resembled the Irishman who interrupted the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone last year. Cornelius Horan ran on to the...

The leader of the Olympic Marathon was charged by a spectator and pushed into the crowd. The assailant appeared to be an adult male who wore clasic Greek garb and had a placard or sandwich board covering his upper chest. Vandelei Lima of Brazil was leading the race at about one hour fifty seven minute point when a man ran from the far side of the street and held Lima as he pushed/threw him into the crowd. The assailant was subdued by spectators in the crowd and Lima was able to rejoin the race.

Cyrus the Great Cylinder, The First Charter of Human Rights By 546 BCE, Cyrus had defeated Croesus, the Lydian king of fabled wealth, and had secured control of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Greek colonies along the Levant. Moving east, he took Parthia (land of the Arsacids, not to be confused with Parsa, which was to the southwest), Chorasmis, and Bactria. He besieged and captured Babylon in 539 and released the Jews who had been held captive there, thus earning his immortalization in the Book of Isaiah. When he died in 529, Cyrus's kingdom extended as...

GENETICALLY modified mice that can run twice as far as normal mice have been developed by researchers in the United States and South Korea.The marathon mice are also naturally slim, even when fed on a high-calorie diet. The key seems to be enhancing the “slow-twitch” muscle fibres, needed for endurance, at the cost of the “fast-twitch” fibres needed in a sprint. The researchers, from La Jolla, California, and Seoul, South Korea, had not planned to create a mouse with these properties, but one with less fat tissue. They had sought to do this by enhancing the activity of a gene...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- During the latest season of excavations of the northern gate of Takht-e Suleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple located in northwestern Iran, the stamps of two seals were discovered which indicate that objects entered Takht-e Suleiman from other regions with special tags attached to them which seem to be advertisements. They signify that an early form of advertising was being practiced during the Sassanid era (224-642 C.E.), Yusef Moradi, the head of the excavation team, said on Friday. “The team began its excavations in early August and found the stamps of two seals at the upper levels...

Secrets of an ancient Persian armada sunk off the coast of Greece 2500 years ago are being dredged up by modern archaeologists. A team from Greece, Canada and the United States has just completed a second expedition to retrieve artefacts from 300 ships of the Persian King Darius that were wrecked in a storm off the Mt Athos Peninsula, northern Greece, in 492BC or 493BC. Aucklanders will be among the first to hear the results today when three of the expedition leaders present their findings in a free public lecture at Auckland University. In two trips so far, last October...

The marathon at the Olympics in Athens this month is fearsome, so grueling that even an elite athlete is liable to feel at least a moment of trepidation. The 26-mile, 385-yard course includes, among other body-bashing stretches, a 13-mile hill so steep it has been described as the equivalent of running up a five-story building every mile. Your everyday, normal sort of runner, like me, will be breathless just watching. But many of the Olympic runners will make it look easy. I can run up that mountain only in my dreams, no matter how hard I work. The difference between...

The History Channel is going to air a new historical series entitled DECISIVE BATTLES including some classic wars between ancient Persian armies and Roman and Greek ones. The History Channel goes on location to the actual battlefields and integrates cutting-edge videogame technology to bring history and imagination together in the new series DECISIVE BATTLES. The half-hour series DECISIVE BATTLES premieres Friday, July 23 at 9-9:30pm ET/PT. The series is hosted by Matthew Settle (Band of Brothers) on location at the ancient battlefields and features expert commentary from the world©s foremost historians. DECISIVE BATTLES is unlike any series The History Channel...

A team of astronomer gumshoes has pinned down the date of an ancient Greek-Persian battle at Marathon that led to a long-distance run and the sport that survives today in its honor. Analysis of lunar records show the 490 B.C. battle occurred not on the long accepted date of September 12, but a full month earlier, researchers said. How important is a month for a professional runner more than 2,000 years ago? Apparently it's a matter of life and death. According the Greek historian Herodotus, Plutarch and others, after the Greek army routed their Persian attackers at Marathon the long-distance...

. Coca Cola 600 from Lowe's Motor Speedway Please drop in and say hi and thanks to our troops, veterans, and their families here... The FR Canteen Support Our Troops Please pray on this day, and every day, for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.

Bill Andberg was a teenager before he paused long enough to notice that most people walked, not ran, through daily life. He's almost 93 now, and he still can't sit still. At Tuesday's annual Anoka County Health Walk, Andberg will speak to employees and county commissioners. But his message -- the importance of physical activity at any age -- is clear to anyone with eyes and ears. "I'm a survivor," he said. "I'm still above ground." Two strokes have slowed him down a bit since he set more than 30 national and world running records between the ages of 50...

LOS ANGELES -- For the first time in history, a woman crossed the finish line ahead of the men in the Los Angeles Marathon. Russian Tatyana Pozdnyakova, 49, defended her title as the elite women's winner of the LA Marathon with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 16 seconds. Pozdnyakova won the battle of the sexes, besting male winner David Kirui of Kenya by about four minutes. Kirui finished the race with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 13 minutes and 40 seconds. The women were given a 20-minute head start on the men this year to...

<p>Republicans are touting a recent poll that suggests they won the recent marathon debate over the blockade against President Bush's judicial nominations.</p> <p>While neither side came away from the debate smelling like roses among independents, Democrats came away smelling worse, according to Republican pollster David Winston.</p>

<p>After 40 hours of nonstop talking organized by Republicans to protest filibusters on judicial nominees, Senate Democrats added two more names yesterday to the list of judges they have stalled successfully.</p> <p>Democrats declared the longest uninterrupted Senate debate in 15 years a victory for their side. Republicans said the Democrats' methods could come back to haunt them.</p>

Photo credit: Julia Ewan - The Washington Post A multitude of conservative and Republican groups came together Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to help Republican senators highlight the obstruction by the Democrats of high profile judicial nominations made by President Bush. The Justice for Judges Marathon began at 6pm Wednesday. It featured continuous debate on the Senate floor by both parties through Friday morning. The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic was honored to be asked to help. We were able to provide homemade food, assistance in the War Room and the Mansfield Room, moral support in the Senate Gallery, and hundreds...

<p>November 15, 2003 -- Yesterday, Republicans concluded a 40-hour marathon to highlight the Democrats' filibusters of several top Bush judicial nominees.</p> <p>Democrats then promptly blocked a vote on Texas' Priscilla Owen and California's Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown, and the Senate went back to business as usual.</p>

Fri November 14, 2003 10:05 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats capped a nonstop U.S. Senate debate of nearly 40 hours on Friday by sustaining a procedural hurdle against one of President Bush's four blocked federal appeals court nominees, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen. Democrats were also ready to block two additional conservative judicial nominees on Friday -- California jurists Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown -- to raise to the number stonewalled to six.

Despite extending the unprecedented 30-hour talkathon on the Senate floor by more than nine hours, Republicans failed to force a vote on President Bush's three judicial nominees deemed too conservative for the American mainstream by Democrats. Republicans launched the round-the-clock debate Wednesday night to counter Democratic filibusters on the nominations of Texas judge Priscilla Owen and California judges Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown. At the outset, Democrats warned the Republican tactic wouldn't work. "I'm terribly disappointed that we are spending the time of this institution on something like this when we need to be spending what little time...

After plowing through the 7,000+ post Senate Filibuster Mega-Thread, let us know who you thought was the best, and the worst, which Senators you got to know more about for the first time, which speeches or comments you liked the most, or hated the most, etc. In other words, this is the post-game show thread.

The Filibuster Debacle By Monty Rainey November 14, 2003 The scheduled 30-hour Senate filibuster of judicial nominations has ended, unsuccessfully, as we all knew it would. It appears the only thing accomplished by the filibuster was to bring the issue, once again, into the headlines and create more ammunition against the Democrat obstructionists. As is usually the case, there is no shortage of imbecilic rhetoric spewing from the mouths of the filibustering (and I use the term loosely) Democrat Senators. Take for example, Chuck Shummer (D-NY), who claims the judicial nominees being refused an up or down vote are “out...

WASHINGTON -- A marathon Senate session called by Republicans failed to produce action on some of President George W. Bush's stalled court nominees. Undeterred by nearly 40 hours of straight debate, Democrats continued to block votes Friday on three of Bush's appeals court choices. Republicans called the special session to protest the stalling tactics. But in three successive votes, they never got close to the 60 votes needed to overcome the Democratic resistance and get a final yes-or-no vote on the judicial nominees. After the votes, top Democratic senators stuck to their guns. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said Democrats will...

WASHINGTON – After 40 hours of nonstop talking organized by Republicans to protest filibusters on judicial nominees, Senate Democrats added two more Friday to the list of judges they have stalled successfully. Democrats declared the longest uninterrupted Senate debate in 15 years a victory for their side. Republicans warned that the Democrats' methods could come back to haunt them. In each of three successive votes Friday morning, Republicans secured 53 votes to advance the judicial nominees to a final confirmation vote. That was seven short of the 60 needed to overcome Democratic resistance. As in similar confrontations on judges this...

After 40 hours of nonstop talking organized by Republicans to protest filibusters on judicial nominees, Senate Democrats added two more Friday to the list of judges they have stalled successfully. Democrats declared the longest uninterrupted Senate debate in 15 years a victory for their side. Republicans warned that the Democrats' methods could come back to haunt them. In each of three successive votes Friday morning, Republicans secured 53 votes to advance the judicial nominees to a final confirmation vote. That was seven short of the 60 needed to overcome Democratic resistance. As in similar confrontations on judges this year,...

As I write this column, a dramatic debate is taking place in the Senate chamber. The "Justice for Judges" debate initiated by Republicans began Wednesday evening as a last-ditch effort to compel filibustering Senate Democrats to allow a vote on four of President Bush's judicial nominees. Democrats have refused to allow a vote on these four well-qualified nominees largely because they embrace a Judeo-Christian perspective in their personal lives. It's important to note that several other Bush nominees face potential filibustering by Democrats in the near future. This type of filibuster has never before taken place in the Senate....

This morning, we know for sure: the Senate Republicans are serious about President Bush’s judicial nominees. There had been some question. Up until 6 PM last night, all the Majority Leader Bill Frist and his staff had to offer was talk. We heard from the Senator’s senior advisor that Frist had an “itchy trigger finger” to get something done about the nominees being filibustered by his Democrat colleagues. Months ago, they told us to “get ready for hardball.” Even before that, it was “Anything is possible, nothing is off the table.” And so when Frist’s staff told us last week,...

(CNSNews.com) - Is the 30-hour debate taking place in the Senate "a colossal waste of time" or a "bold step" toward ending an unconstitutional outrage? The answer to this question depends on whether you're for or against the "Justice for Judges" marathon. The Senate historian's office Wednesday stated that the Republican-led effort is the longest non-stop discussion in that chamber since a 30-hour, 41-minute session in 1994 on campaign finance reform. Even before the debate got underway at 6 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) called the GOP strategy "a colossal waste of time." He added: "The Republicans...

Press Conferences 11/136:30 am Liberty and Property in the Judicial Process Host: Americans for Tax Reform Speakers: Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform Charles Francis, Republican Unity Caucus Brian Robertson, Defenders of Property Rights Maria Heil, Second Amendment Sisters Jeremy Rabkin, Cornell University Jason Wright, Frontiers of Freedom Kent Scheidegger, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation 7:30 am Judicial Confusion: International Law or the U.S. Constitution?Host: Eagle ForumSpeakers: Jessica Eshard, Eagle Forum Wendy Wright, Concerned Women for America Bill Saunders, Family Research Council Austin Ruse, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute 8:30 am Judicial Activism on Women's IssuesHost: Concerned Women for AmericaSpeakers:...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — With humor, anger and a show of GOP unity, the Senate on Wednesday launched 30 hours of uninterrupted debate on President Bush's political nominees not making it to the federal appeals bench, setting up cots and preparing to cast blame at each other throughout the night.</p>

<p>It became the war of the props yesterday in the Senate as Republicans and Democrats blamed one another for the impasse over President Bush's judicial nominations.</p> <p>Republicans wheeled dozens of cots with mattresses into the Capitol yesterday to demonstrate their resolve in talking all night and day about the four filibusters 45 Democrats have waged against Mr. Bush's nominees.</p>

<p>Last week, I announced that the Senate would sustain an extraordinary all-hours debate on judicial confirmations and on the nature of each senator's duty and right to give "advice and consent" to the president's nominees as the Constitution requires.</p> <p>The continuous debate will be framed by the bipartisan effort to get honest, up or down votes for 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Justice Priscilla Owen of Texas, denied a vote on three previous occasions, and for two new circuit court nominees from California, Judge Carolyn Kuhl (9th Circuit) and Justice Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit).</p>

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