Free Republic

A Florida woman was arrested on Thanksgiving after driving recklessly toward a closed course for a 5K turkey trot that was in progress, according to WESH. Some 3,000 runners were participating in the Coffee Pot Turkey Trot in St. Petersburg, Florida, when Ashlee Lauren Morgan, 38, was “driving recklessly south on Coffee Pot Boulevard Northeast, approaching the Snell Isle Bridge,” according to the St. Petersburg police department. She was pulled over and three officers requested her credentials. She refused, according to reports, and fled the scene “at a high rate of speed onto the race course.” Another officer attempted to...

Twenty-one people, including two of China’s top marathon athletes, died after freezing rain and high winds struck a 62-mile mountain race in northwestern China, local officials said Sunday. Liang Jing, 31, an ultramarathon champion, and Huang Guanjun, the winner of the men’s marathon for hearing-impaired runners at China’s 2019 National Paralympic Games, were among those found dead, according to state news media. The deaths prompted outrage in China, with online commentators questioning the preparedness of the local government that organized the race, held at Yellow River Stone Forest Park in Gansu province. Hours into the event Saturday, the weather suddenly...

More than a year after COVID-19 surfaced in the United States, the pandemic rages on, with 433,000 deaths and counting in the United States as of early February. While the situation remains dire—we can only hope the virus is past its peak—there’s finally a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. Two vaccines, produced by Pfizer and Moderna and both in the form of a double dose, were authorized and recommended to prevent COVID in December. While the rollout is moving slower than expected—as of the end of January, about 25 million people had received at least one...

A self-proclaimed "vegan runner" from Berkeley, California received backlash on Saturday after asking neighbors to close their windows when cooking meat because the smells were 'overpowering and offensive.' The rant was posted to @BestNextDoor -- an account that houses neighborhood drama -- which showed the runner had requested nearby residents only barbeque vegetables because it's "always hard for me this time of year when the weather starts warming up." "Several nights a week I'm out running around dinnertime and when people have their windows open I can smell what they are cooking," the request said. "I've noticed a sharp uptick...

Two students are dead and four are seriously injured after a driver reportedly hopped a curb outside of Moore High School in Moore, Oklahoma, and struck members of the cross-country and track team as they were starting their practice run after school. Moore Police stated that they responded to the scene around 3:30 p.m. on Monday. There, students and staff were administering life-saving care, including CPR. The driver of the truck, Max Townsend, allegedly fled the scene and was taken into custody by Moore Police three blocks away. All six students were rushed to the hospital. One of the students,...

After years of snafus and miscues, a revamped Portland Marathon and its concurrent half marathon—under new management and with a new route through downtown—went off on Sunday and garnered largely positive reviews. But for about 15 to 20 of the race’s fastest runners—organizers don’t yet have an exact number who were affected—this edition of the 48-year-old race was another exercise in frustration. By mile 9, the eventual race winner, Kallin Khan, had already opened up a sizable lead. With a motorcycle guiding him, he was out of sight of the trailing pack. Runners were supposed to bear right from the...

Last Sunday’s London Marathon produced plenty of positive headlines. Eliud Kipchoge ran a new course record, Emily Sisson had an incredible marathon debut, runners set nearly 40 new Guinness World Records, and the event itself had more finishers than ever before (42,549) and passed the £1 billion mark in cumulative fundraising. But it was not all celebration for some runners, especially those who finished at the back of the pack. In the first year the race has offered an official 7:30 pacer—which should have made the race more inclusive—runners who finished toward the end reported experiencing some disturbing conditions. In...

In February, Bonnie VanDeraa approached the finish line of the Sweetheart 5K in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With a determined look in her eye, and loads of cheers from the crowd, she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. This race was a major milestone for her; it was the first she’d complete without the aid of a walker in more than a year. At that point, VanDeraa had been running for a little more than five years, starting after she signed up for that same race back in 2014 with a coworker. Following that, she completed a bunch...

You may be bundled up during the polar vortex that’s sweeping the nation, but for some outdoor enthusiasts, it was the perfect temperature for this year’s Arrowhead 135 ultramarathon. The a race is purposely held in late January or early February each year to line up with what they hope is the coldest temperatures of the year. It runs roughly 135 miles between International Falls, Minnesota, to Lake Vermillion in Minnesota along the arrowhead State Trail. This year, they were right on the money, as temperatures dropped as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit. “It’s supposed to be coupled with this...

I‘ve always been a slow runner, you’ve probably heard me say that before. I’ve been slow at my skinniest, I’ve been slow at my fittest. In fact I don’t think I’ll ever get to a sub 10 minute mile unless I quit my job, divorce my husband and never see my friends again. I’d have to put in some serious woman power and fortunately I have a life to live and other goals I want to achieve. But do you know what, that’s ok. It’s ok to not hit a sub 10 minute mile and still call yourself a runner....

While the keto diet can help you lose weight, it also has a ton of weird side effects, like the keto flu, diarrhea, and keto breath. Now, there’s apparently another one to add to that list: keto rash—and it sounds even worse than walking around with breath that smells like acetone. What is the keto rash? The keto rash—a.k.a. prurigo pigmentosa—is an uncommon inflammatory disease that’s often characterized by red, itchy bumps on the neck, back, and stomach, according to a literature review on the condition in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. While the rash’s exact cause is unknown,...

Six people were detained Sunday for allegedly plotting an attack on the Berlin Half Marathon. Local police said the men supposedly planned to brandish knives in crowds and slash spectators and participants around them, according to The Washington Post. “There were isolated indications that those arrested, aged between 18 and 21 years, were participating in the preparation of a crime in connection with this event,” prosecutors and police wrote in a joint statement.Police reportedly tracked the main suspect and his co-conspirators for weeks when they discovered a plot to attack civilians at the event. Once suspicions were confirmed, the residences...

DEAR man on the street, I’m writing to ask for your help. As a female runner, I am constantly aware of my safety when I’m out on an evening run. What is behind me? Do I hear anything strange? Why is that man running towards me? What is making those bushes rustle? And I am always home before dark. Author Margaret Atwood said, “Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.” You may think that’s hyperbole, but I promise you, it’s not. Every woman I know has been in a situation at least...

Caster Semenya, 25, a South African runner, is tipped to win the 800m But the athlete has ignited a debate about gender at the Olympic Games Semenya has testosterone levels three times the normal level in women She has no womb or ovaries but rather internal testes due to abnormality Of all the stars at Rio, few are as hotly tipped for resounding victory as 800m runner Caster Semenya. Fewer still can match her for controversy. There are those who say she should not be allowed to compete in the Olympics women’s 800m, which she is almost certain to win....

Jon Entine, author of Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It,” takes stock of the DNA London Olympics–where, as usual, African-descended athletes swept the running events while whites and Asians dominated in the water sports, field competition and strength events. What’s going on here? Segregation was on display in London over the past two weeks–which, surprisingly, should spark no concerns and may even help educate us all about the wonders of human biodiversity. Let me explain. Led by 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt, Jamaican men swept the sprinting events at the London...

Detroit, MI) -- Three men died Sunday while running the Detroit Marathon. Race officials say the three likely died of cardiac arrest during the race. Two collapsed at the finish line while the third went down at the 12-mile mark while at a fluid station. While deaths during marathons are rare, four have now passed away in recent weeks. Before the three in Detroit, a 23-year-old man died while running a marathon in Baltimore on October 10. Studies show about one in every 100-thousand runners die during marathons, with roughly half of those deaths happening in the last mile.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., Aug. 25, 2008 – It started as a leap of faith, but more than 10 million steps later, a 10-man relay team arrived here, at what the memorial run’s organizer called the most sacred place in America. Shannon Cleary, center, kisses her mother, Marianne Cleary, Aug. 24, 2008, during the last few moments of Run for the Fallen, a memorial run in memory of Cleary's brother, Army 1st Lt. Michael Cleary. Jack Flanagan, Marianne’s grandson, also participated in the last day of the living memorial that began June 14, outside the gates of Fort Irwin,...

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2007 – While thousands of runners braved the remnants of a late spring storm to run the Boston Marathon, servicemembers deployed overseas, and one in space, joined in to participate in the prestigious race. An Army soldier crosses the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Tallil Air Base, Iraq, April 16, 2007. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. So-called “satellite” races are nothing new to servicemembers deployed overseas. These running events, which are held on forward operating bases, are designed to coincide with massive stateside races like the Marine Corps Marathon and the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2006 -- Two Army combat veterans who both lost something dear in the war against terrorism say they are determined to keep on battling, and proving it as they prepare to run the Army 10-Miler race tomorrow. Left to right: Army Spc. James Stuck, Capt. Matthew Scherer and Spc. Joseph Keck meet the press at a Washington, D.C., suburban hotel Oct. 6. Stuck and Keck are Army combat veterans who both lost limbs in the war against terrorism. They will compete in the Missing Parts in Action team that’s competing in the Army-10-Miler race held here...

ATLANTA - Timothy "Bud" Badyna has broken world records. He ran a marathon in under four hours. He finished a 10K race in 45 minutes. Wait a minute, you say, that's not so fast. Right. But Badyna set those records running backward. Badyna, dubbed "Backwards Bud" by fellow runners, holds the Guinness World Record for fastest backward run in a 200-meter race (32.78 seconds), set in 2001. In the early 1990s, he held the record for backward marathon (3 hours, 53 minutes) and 10K (45 minutes, 37 seconds). Those records have since been broken. So the 39-year-old hospital nurse from...