text:
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Way Too Long
53 comments:
- matteo said...
yes, let's run!
- February 17, 2011 at 1:04 PM
- Rob Timko said...
Reading your post, and everyone else posts on this topic, reminds me of the 'story' I was told in the documentary 'Riding Giants: A Big Wave Surfing Documentary' - regarding the emergence of big wave surfing and how some people who were so passionate about this 'grassroots' sport, ended up, by accident almost, 'creating' a recognized, popular, sporting industry with sponsors, etc.
I think this story has been told many times...skateboarding comes to mind as well.
It's the natural progression...only now we have this huge public forum called the internet!
(If someone reads and I'm mistaken on the documentary name, please correct me, but it was a big wave surfing doc) - February 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM
- Mark C. Ryan said...
Gee, I hate it when people can articulate their point so well from a logical standpoint.
Great post Geoff, but those clowns from the last post should be around in a bit to tell you that you that Hall and Meb would crush you and then call you an egomaniac and say how you and Anton are douchebags.
In the end you said all that needed to be said...let's run. - February 17, 2011 at 1:58 PM
- sharmanian said...
Geoff, seems like WS and UTMB are becoming the 100 mile championship races by default (which isn't a bad thing). From what I've been reading online and hearing offline, pretty much every 100 mile runner (particularly the faster ones) with enough money or sponsors wants to do both of these and the time between them is enough that (I think this is true) most of the top 2011 WS runners will also be in Chamonix. Well, on the mens' side, at the least.
I'm sure the sport will continue to grow quickly, but all tastes are likely to be catered for. As an economist, I believe that supply will match demand. And there's plenty of demand for all types of race, from low key events to ones where people can race against the best in the business.
I missed out in the Hardrock lottery, but one day I'll get the chance. In the meantime, there's plenty of other races that fulfil my needs and there'll be even more in future. Can't help but be optimistic about the future of the sport. - February 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM
- Dave Mackey said...
Geoff, as your friend I feel I can can say this.. re USATF races not cutting the mustard... I think I remember Nick Clark dissing USATF events as well in a similar way; not sure how many USATF races you have been to except Bandera 100k, but that is one way to help elevate their events by your attendance. The USATF mountain ultra trails (MUT) council is also always looking for members (I am not a member); becoming involved on the MUT board is another way to bring this change about. Seems like you have plenty of time given the tome you wrote! :)
- February 17, 2011 at 3:18 PM
- Michael Owen said...
Wonder what would happen if 50M or 100M became an Olympic Event! Could you imagine!?
I do have one thought and complaint: I am running the Nueces 50 (which is a USATF championship race) in March. I was looking at the race information and learned that in order to be eligible for winning the prize money, I would have to register to be a USATF member, which is $30 alone. -if I am understanding all that correctly-
I don't really have to worry about taking the money since I am still acting as an "amateur" in college athletics. But, these races, with travel, lodging, food, and entry fee is making it hard to a kid like me!
Anyways, I started paying attention to ultra-running about 2 years ago and it has grown so much since and am looking forward to being apart of it all. Still, I will ultimately make sure to value what is most important, a deep passion for simply running. - February 17, 2011 at 5:49 PM
- Kris said...
Why should ultrarunning become an Olympic sport? Once again, why do we feel to be validated through the Olympics per se? Look at soccer, it's an Olympic sport but the world doesn't take importance to it. With the FIFA World Cup, soccer is much bigger than the Olympics (summer and winter combined)! We need to stop dreaming that ultrarunning belongs in the Olympics. It is silly.
- February 17, 2011 at 6:29 PM
- David Hill said...
I sense your pain - you're basically at the top of your sport, yet you can't even eek out a living like other athletes at the top of their sports (basketball, football, etc.) Ha, those guys are making millions and in this sport it is tough to even think about paying cheap rent. Not only is it all but impossible to make a living, you can't even get into the big races you want to and at least have solid competition and race the other top guys because of these old school lottery systems. If I could run like you, I'd be kinda bummed out too.
I think one of the major problems, or things missing here is...ready? TV. Yes Television. The sport is just not TV friendly.
Why does a teacher make 35 grand and Jordan made millions? The teacher brings or gives value to 30kids in a class, Jordan gave some "entertainment value" to tens of millions because of TV.
Your dual at WS last year was followed by probably several thousand people online. But if it were televised on ABC Sports, than the audience numbers jump huge, sponsorship cash grows geometrically and you and Anton can pay the mortgage by being professional athletes. Ah, that'd be nice eh? But until technology can solve how to make running 100 miles through the woods more viewer accessible, hard to see it actually happening.
Forgetting the fantasy of making big money in this sport, it'd at least be nice for all the top guys to get into the same race. Then you create enough buzz and sponsors to race for some modest cash. Seems that's the real thorn in your side. I guess the answer is to create that race yourself, and I get the feeling that's in the works :)
Good luck - February 17, 2011 at 7:27 PM
- Les said...
I have been following this thread for a while and have two thoughts. First ,Woodstock had the right persecutive with his comment " every 100 years brand new people". Second, whoever Kris is he most definitely needs to go for a run.
- February 17, 2011 at 7:41 PM
- Kris said...
I'm a woman. So fuck off! Is your penis too small? - February 17, 2011 at 9:10 PM
- Kris said...
As a matter of a fact I think not only Les as a small dick but Geoff and all you clowns who somehow want to make ultrarunning "cool." Why don't you overgrown white boys get a real job and contribute to society.
- February 17, 2011 at 9:12 PM
- Unknown said...
Geoff - Thoughts that are logical and balanced. I have drummed up interest in your blog...enthused, am I. I come from the soccer world, but recently participated in a few ultras and am fascinated.
What I don't really understand are the negative comments in response to your blog. What is this Kris? Perplexing. Absurd. I have never read such a sound thought process which is insulted by vulgar depravity. Small penis jokes? Please. If you are going to insult, do so with wit and originality. The negativity is so base it is almost embarrassing. No, it is embarrassing.
I am impressed with not just your running, but your writing as well. Upstate? A place to leave. - February 17, 2011 at 10:13 PM
- momroes said...
If I were you Kris, I would not admit to being a woman - a woman (or maybe a lady) would not use the filthy language you use on here - your comments should not be allowed. AND, being the mother of GEOFF I do not appreciate you ripping him apart. He is a wonderful son, brother, grandson, uncle, boyfriend. father figure, and friend and all of us do not think your comments are justified. I guess you have never heard the old saying "If you can't say anything nice - do not say anything at all".
As far as these "overgrown white boys getting a real job and contributing to society" - how do you know that they don't have a real job? I am sure they contribute a lot more beneficial to society than you do (especially the language you use on here). That doesn't seem to be contributing to society in a positive way.
If this blog upsets you so much, don't read it and please if you do, keep all your gross comments to yourself.
Geoff is a wonderful, wonderful person and these comments are not necessary or true.
I am sure he will get a lot more positive comments BUT I am sure you will only receive negative ones. FB would not appreciate the language that you use on here.
As a family, we have been to some of these races and there is great friendship among these runners and they really like what they are doing and would just like to have a very competitive race. They are not trying to leave out the middle or back of the pack runners. Geoff supports all of the runners and is just as interested in how they do as he is in doing the best he can.
In closing I would like to say, please do not make derogatory comments about people unless you have real reasons to do so....... - February 18, 2011 at 5:51 AM
- Unknown said...
Love the support! Just like a "true mom". Way to go Geoff Roes' Mom!!!!!!
- February 18, 2011 at 5:57 AM
- Speedgoat Karl said...
Phew....Now I know why you were tired running the other day.....
So I gotta respond to a few, even though it's not my blog. :-)
Sharmanian, UTMB and Western are extremely different. UTMB will at this point be the De FActo 100 because they let ALL runners who have a chance up front to get in the race. Western States does not, and therefore it's really bunk to say it's the big dance in the US. Yah, it's very competitive, don't get me wrong, but still it's a lottery decision and some short qualifier races, they should re-instate the "special consideration" and take a few runners that are qualified to run near the front, without lottery selections.
Michael, yah, the 30 bucks is silly, why should we have to pay 30 bucks to win money? Makes no sense to me..and I won't get in to the discussion on no headphones, that's another topic.
Kris, an olympic 100 mile mountain run would be great for ultrarunning. Even though you don't get it, it's not about validation, but for some reason the Olympics to the general public is huge, so a 100mile mountain run would bring awareness to our sport. I don't think you understand that.
Next..Kris again, size doesn't matter, haven't you heard that one before? :-)
Next..Kris again, What does contributing to society really mean? Please explain, because you must be the biggest contributor of all.
Kris, one more time. You do win the award for most vulgar blogger I've ever heard. I think we can all validate that.
Momma Roes! Well said! - February 18, 2011 at 6:11 AM
- Bomber Athlete said...
The "DeFacto 100" is in progress. We will know more by the first week of March. Keep up the good work Roes.
- February 18, 2011 at 6:39 AM
Well said. The crowds are changing the sport. It's a good thing because we have more people to run with, but it has its costs. As a newcomer to the sport I don't even put Western or Hardrock on my "to run" list. I want races I can count on and the lottery puts me off.
There is clearly a place for both types of races. I also think having some races with tough qualifying standards (think Boston Marathon or harder) could add a lot to the sport. - February 18, 2011 at 7:12 AM
- John said...
I think what you said regarding the grassroots nature of a vast majority of road marathons is a really good point. Most of these races are really just a collection of like minded individuals competing against themselves (And the distance) on some predetermined weekend morning. Volunteers help you stay hydrated, some medical personnel are there to make sure you don't crash out but all in all it's just a big fun run. I'm not sure what people are afraid of when it comes to increased popularity in ultras. Perhaps increased trail usage? I honestly don't think that is all that big of a deal. A majority of the trail usage in my area is from hikers. I'm guessing a lot of newbie "trail runners" used to be hikers anyway. Plus increased use would probably bring an increase in trail work parties and donations to local trail organizations.
Personally the top level competition in a sport helps motivate me. Seeing top level athletes compete gets me excited about my own running. It's doubtful that I'll ever compete at the top level, but it makes me realize that people in general are capable of much more than we think and that perhaps...just perhaps, running 50k, 100k, 100M or beyond isn't quite as crazy as many would think. I do know one thing, I'm going to be traveling to Auburn, CA this year to follow WS 100 because of the simple fact that I want to see some of the best compete. I want to see somebody putting down the hammer at mile 85 because they can. I want to take that, internalize it, make an awesome memory of it and maybe even apply it to my own running.
At the end of the day, I wholeheartedly agree with the vibe of this "tome". Maybe it's because I'm getting into the sport late. I hope that it's more just because I understand where the sport is going and see a way in which the grassroots races can coexist with some better known, elite focused events. - February 18, 2011 at 7:20 AM
- Liza said...
Yeah Goeff's mom!
- February 18, 2011 at 9:43 AM
- Geoff said...
yeah, i was thinking a lot about surfing/skateboarding as i wrote this post. i think one difference worth pointing out though is that we already have hundreds of running events which are competitive races. running is natural to turn into a race because it can be so quantifiable. it lends itself very well to competition. activities that require some amount of judgement to become a competition add an extra element/challenge to the equation of competition focused events.
Ian, I think you are correct that WS and UTMB (and probably the NF 50 again) seem to be the most competitive races this season. I'm not so sure this will be the case next year, or in a few years, but I guess only time will tell. looking forward to running with you at WS
I appreciate the suggestions. I think for what they are the USATF races work nicely, but I also think that the sport of ultrarunning has long since outgrown the age when an organization who is primarily a track and road running organization can be the driving force of championship races within ultrarunning. i think trail ultrarunning needs, deserves, and demands championship races that are run by individuals/organizations whose primary focus is trail ultrarunning. This isn't a diss on USATF (ok, i was pretty harsh in my post, but that was more a dramatic way of proving a point than anything. probably immature on my part). As far as I know they do fine at what they do, I just don't think they have the focus/desire to do what is needed in this sport. but, i could be totally wrong and look forward to chatting with you about this on our next run. tomorrow?
I think the olympic thing might be quite some time off... but kind of funny to think about.
hey, we actually agree on something (didn't see that coming). i really don't think that ultrarunning and the olympics go together or ever will. it's not about the olympics or any other specific designation, but rather about having a true championship race within the sport. for many sports the route to this has been the olympics and for others (like soccer) it has been other ways.
As to your other comments, they have nothing to do with any of the substance of this thread so i'll opt to not take the bait this time... i guess i'll just stick my mom on you :)
David, I think there is something to what you're saying, but I also know all kinds of people who aren't anywhere near the top of this sport who are also very interested in having this kind of thing in ultrarunning, and working to get to the level of taking part in something like this. I think this frustration is most apparent at the top, but certainly isn't isolated to the top... which is basically the same thing you were saying.
thanks. couldn't agree with you more. - February 18, 2011 at 10:26 AM
- Dopple Bock said...
Ultra-Runner magazine had all ultras finished in USA 2009 = 36,000 (Male and female)of which 9% were 100s.
After adding the number of people doing multiple events - I would guess averages @ 5 per person in a year.
We are still participating in an obscure sport. - February 18, 2011 at 11:37 AM
- Unknown said...
I did just that Geoff! Ran Tennessee Valley trail, down to the bottom of Coastal Trail and up up up but instead of hitting Pirate's cove I kept going up to Coyote Ridge and then bombed back down to the house (you should know this if you've done Miwok 100 or NF 50). It's about 46 and raining outside which is miserable weather for the climate we are used to but thanks to your words after such a long blog I just had too. First time writer long time reader. Good luck on your quest for an elite league of runners!
- February 18, 2011 at 1:53 PM
- 6months said...
my blog has pics
- February 18, 2011 at 3:23 PM
- jacob said...
Hey Geoff. I like the comment someone made about starting one as a group(or maybe yourself?). What if you, Scott, Anton, Dave, etc etc, were to do a sort of secret(and I hate to use that word for the connotations it has) fat ass sort of 100 miler. Maybe if you guys organized one for the top runners you would like to race against in a trail area of your(collectively) choosing and then published a site for people to follow via the internet, eventually sponsors would pick it up as "the" championship. I don't know I didn't get to run today. and I'm taking some newbies out tomorrow for their first trail run. Any who.
If it makes you feel better I laughed reading your post. I sense your humor. And way to go Momma Roes! - February 18, 2011 at 5:56 PM
- Kris said...
I thought that it was the year 2011 where women are free to do and say what they want. I don't live in a morally repressed frame of mind. We live in America, where there is this thing called freedom of speech that my brother has helped to defend by being a solider in the US Army for 10 years now. With all due respect take your Sarah Palin republican ideas somewhere else. - February 18, 2011 at 6:41 PM
- Kris said...
How do I contribute to society by being a special ed teacher. - February 18, 2011 at 6:43 PM
- Kris said...
Karl, if a woman tells you size doesn't matter, she is LYING to you. Size does matter.
- February 18, 2011 at 6:44 PM
- Dave Mackey said...
Just to put a cap on the mom vs kris vs phalluses thing... i think Geoff has some pretty good Sarah palin stories that would make you all laugh, crack a few beers, and get along merrily.
- February 18, 2011 at 7:16 PM
- I am from Texas said...
Geoff I was told to come to your blog by a friend. I have read many of your posts. I think that you might be giving yourself and the "sport" a bit to much credit. I am just guessing you don't have a lot going on in life right now outside of running, judging by the "sat around all day waiting for the wind to die" comments. So I can understand why you would look for something too make yourself feel good, which you are obviously doing. Stop trying to defend your somewhat meaningless life. I respect what you do on the trail, you really are a amazing runner, however you are going a little over board. Great runners like Karl, dominated the "sport" for years and never asked for anything and didn't complained relentlessly about there situation. The world does not care about your running believe me! Cause I respect you and ultras, and really don't care that much. So keep up the good work on the trail but grow up, get a job and try to be an adult, your mom can only defend you for so long!
- February 18, 2011 at 10:16 PM
- I am from Texas said...
One more thing, you cry about not having your championship? Make your own!? That is what an adult would do, not just sit and complain like a child, thinking about ways you could further build your ego on your blog. You obviously have the time, you know with all that wind pinning you down in the house? Be some what productive start your race invite "your" list of elite buddies and you guys could all hang out and talk about how you are changing the "sport." SO COOL??? The best part is by only inviting your fast friends you will continue to do nothing to help the rest of society or the other people involved in the "sport." Best of luck out there Geoff.
- February 19, 2011 at 1:37 AM
- matteo said...
why everybody keep telling Geoff to get a job, or Tony to get a job.
Do you realize that running it's a job for them?
They live with that!
And if you're jealous because they make money by doing what they love, well, that's your problem! - February 19, 2011 at 4:23 AM
- Speedgoat Karl said...
Dave, yah, I was running yesterday and thought to myself. "Why did I even bite at Kris' bait? :-)
Texas, all of us at the top of the "sport of ultrarunnning", have jobs. We just don't have the 9-5 routine. It's simple, we work to live, we don't live to work. There is a big difference.
One of the reasons some of us are fast is because we scrape to get by so we have more time to run. Pretty good evidence that we do it because we like it, not to satisfy anyone else.
To me, as long as I have enough dinero to pick up some food at the grocery store and have a roof over my head, I'm fine. We can't bring the money with us, so why have a pile of it. It'll get heavy! :-)
All in good fun.
Kris, keep up the good work, freedom of speech is cool. - February 19, 2011 at 5:39 AM
- Unknown said...
"It's simple, we work to live, we don't live to work."
If I've learned anything from Karl Meltzer, it is this.
Awesome!!!!!!!!! - February 19, 2011 at 6:59 AM
- Geoff said...
Dopple Bock,
you are correct. the overall numbers are quite small, but I believe are growing faster than what the existing style and format of the sport are capable of keeping up with in all areas.
the other thing to remember is that ultra races have a very high DNF rate. 36,000 ultras finished in 2009 was likely closer to 50,000 started. it'd be interesting to tally the numbers for 2010 (maybe UR magazine has/will do this?) and see what kind of increase there is, if any. it'd also be interesting to see what the numbers were 5, 10, 15, 20, etc years ago. my guess would be that it's doubling about every 5 years (or less) right now.
I think you're reading a bit far into my posts and making a lot of assumptions based on ideas of what you think are right and wrong. i don't expect you to live to my standards of what's right or wrong and i certainly have no obligation or desire to live to your standards in this regard. if you disagree with specific things i'm talking about in my posts i would love to have those conversations, but if you simply feel that i shouldn't be writing about these things because no one cares about them except for me then maybe you should consider the irony of the fact that you're reading my blog and commenting on my blog as a means to inform me that you don't care about what i think. When I don't care about what someone thinks I generally don't "read many of their posts" and then comment that I don't care what they think. there is a difference between disagreeing with what someone thinks and not caring about what someone thinks. so again, if you actually want to have any conversations about your disagreements with specific things I wrote about in this post, fire away, i'd be open to those conversations.
I would say the same to you. if you actually want to talk about any of the things i'm writing about in my posts i'd be happy to have those conversations. if not, you can feel free to continue to entertain us all with your juvenile cries for attention, but please know that if you continue to use my blog as a forum to make vulgar, completely off topic, and personal attacks at other's who are making comments I will be switching to moderated comment format and deleting these types of comments. - February 19, 2011 at 8:17 AM
- Kris said...
Back on subject then. Why do we need the Olympics to validate our sport? We don't need the X-games. Does soccer need the Olympics? No! Soccer has the FIFA World Cup which in "The Greatest Show On Earth." The World Cup dawrfs the Olympics and we are talking about one sport. Do triathletes need the Olympics? Last time I checked it was still the best that go to Kona.
- February 19, 2011 at 10:31 AM
- Aaron Spurlock said...
It costs nothing to run through the woods. So why do we pay to race? Certainly not for the gaudy buckles or yet another technical tee.
We pay for the competition. We happily pay. We pay for it in dollars and long training miles and occasionally blood and broken parts. No matter where we fall in the "pack" we do it because we are trying to achieve something personal and meaningful and ultimately quite selfish. Selfish in the best sort of way. Its what seperates a race from a run.
A championship race is just the next logical step in the evolution of our sport. If you can't accept that the best in the sport want to be challenged by high caliber competition then whats the point of races at all?
And, yes, we are validated in knowing that what we gain from running our best race is something that Joe Couchsurfer can not buy at walmart for any amount of money.
Geoff, good luck with all your races this year. - February 19, 2011 at 2:04 PM
- Hone said...
I bet 100 bucks Kris is really a dude.
Maybe it is time to turn on the moderation and get rid of these wankers. I am all for freedom of speech but not when it is hid behind spineless anonymity. - February 19, 2011 at 3:51 PM
- GZ said...
Kris, you make a much better point if you were not explicitly trying to be an asshole.
Ultras are still a fringe sport. They have grown a great deal. It is fair for athletes (particularly top ones) in the sport to request that the leading bodies - USATF or key races - use their power to move the sport forward.
Kona was not what it is today. It was with the introduction of significant prize money that made it what it is.
No way is ultra running going make its way into the Olympics - they got rid of XC years ago because it was too scary. - February 19, 2011 at 5:59 PM
- Wyatt Hornsby said...
Hi all, I do think ultrarunning has some potential as a spectator sport, contrary to what some have said on here. Do you guys remember the YouTube video of Geoff in the last mile+ of Western, running down the road with Dave Mackey? That was intense stuff and I think it would play well on TV. As much as it pains me to mention Ironman Kona, look at how successful it is on TV--the intensity, the drama, the stories--and I think ultrarunning does have great potential on TV. I'd love to see it in the X Games and I do think a 100K road race would fit well with the spirit of the Olympic Games.
Just my two cents.
Wyatt - February 19, 2011 at 6:00 PM
- Peter said...
...woke up in the middle of the night and read this post and these comments, and started laughing...
Yeah Olympics would be nice but, i agree with Kris and Geoff, it takes a championship just like Kona and by the way, its not the ironman distance at the olympics, so nobody really knows these guys (at the O.) unless you follow the world cup events of triathlon. When you think of triathlon, you think of Mark Allen, Dave Scott... great ironman champions, super match-up.
Speaking of getting this sport to the next level, again, Kona might not be so much on the radar if NBC had not started to air it. They do a wonderful job of getting compelling stories of winners in 8-9 hours all the way to the last guy-gal in 17 hours... in a 2 hours format.
Why couldn't they do it for a 20-30 hours ultra race ? They certainly could. Just need a few helos, a finish time during the daytime (for better image), 1500-2000 people line up, and you're all set.
Kris, as Dave Mackey once said, running ultra sucks, its ultras. They don't do it cause its cool because they want to push themselves like everybody else here. What's cool is these guys coming here, debating, some receiving mud in their eyes, have a beer, laugh, and go out again on the trail.
I don't imagine for one bit, that Hall or Meb would do this... so hourra to these ultra guys and being so cool...
Karl, Geoff, Dave, you guys rock ! - February 20, 2011 at 2:19 AM
- Mike Place said...
" the other thing to remember is that ultra races have a very high DNF rate. 36,000 ultras finished in 2009 was likely closer to 50,000 started."
Hi Geoff,
I was thinking about this very thing the other day. I was wondering if, with the increased popularity of ultras if the DNF rate might be on the rise as well. This comes into play when thinking about the need for a lottery system in some races. If the DNF rate were rising, it would suggest that more people ar running who aren't properly trained and that qualifiers might be a better option than pure lotteries.
So, I took the entire history of the Wasatch 100 since that's my local race and I graphed DNFs over time. Other than a few early years, the rate hasn't really changed that much. It varies a bit from year to year, but there's no clear increase. (Aside: did you guys know that in 1981 *nobody* finished the race? I didn't.)
At any rate, that's a little off-topic but I thought I'd toss it out there in case anybody finds it interesting. If anybody wants the numbers, the raw ones are here: http://www.wasatch100.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=2&Itemid=5
I'll post the graphs if anybody really wants to see them. - February 20, 2011 at 10:43 AM
Re: growing popularity of the sport. Has anyone ever seen good estimates of the number of people who attempt and/or complete ultras or even just 100's in a given year? When I see the data about number of finishes, it obviously begs the question... but how many runners? Since a significant proportion of ultrarunners do multiple races per year (and probably a significant minority of people do ridiculous numbers of races in a single year), knowing the number of "finishes" doesn't give us a very good estimate of the numbers of participants in the sport. Since ultrasignup.com tallies data for individual runners, perhaps that would be the best source for this sort of data mining? (number of unique individuals listed in results for ).
- February 20, 2011 at 7:41 PM
- L and S said...
Anytime someone says get a real job I feel bad for how miserable theirs must be. That's all..haha
- February 20, 2011 at 8:20 PM
- Mike Place said...
trlrnrgrl, I sent a note over to the folks at Ultra Signup asking them if they'd be willing to share that sort of data with the community. I'll post back here if they get back to me.
Cheers! - February 20, 2011 at 8:32 PM
- Unknown said...
This was posted earlier by Double Bock -
"Ultra-Runner magazine had all ultras finished in USA 2009 = 36,000 (Male and female)of which 9%were 100s.
After adding the number of people doing multiple events - I would guess averages @ 5 per person in a year.
We are still participating in an obscure sport." - February 21, 2011 at 11:45 AM
- Wyatt Hornsby said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 21, 2011 at 12:55 PM
- Wyatt Hornsby said...
Trlrnrgrl: Good question. This is one of the reasons why we need a national ultrunning body that is effective. It could look at trends, stats, etc. and help keep the sport in line with demand. We need one place for all ultra registrations. Many registrations are at Ultra Sign Up, but many are elsewhere. If one location housed all registrations and results, it would be easy to track stats. The key is getting buy-in from all RDs.
- February 21, 2011 at 12:56 PM
- japhruns said...
During a totally non-Zen non-here-in-the-now moment during the Moab RedHot this weekend the whole discussion about an elite race popped into my head again (like I said very non-Zen) . . . in some ways us middle of the pack runners are lucky because we have people to compete against all the time and I realized that competition is definitely part of the attraction and that I full-on enjoyed the little competitions I was in during the course of the race despite the fact that the winner (Dakota) was nearly an hour ahead of me by the time I crossed the finish line. I tend to believe the best thing that could happen would be a new national race to be developed that would be focused on competition (either elite style or Boston style) and that this should probably happen at both the 50 and 100 mile distances . . . I for one would be totally willing to waste a day on the couch drinking beer watching you top runners duke it out (hell, if it was Boston style and I was lucky enough to qualify I would even be willing to sweep and simply see you all at the starting line) . . . good luck and I hope it happens soon enough that the current generation of top dogs get a chance to race a "real" national championship in the mountains.
- February 21, 2011 at 1:09 PM
While everyone doesn't use ultrasignup for registration, I am pretty sure they've done a pretty good job of collecting all of the results (in the US at least) in one place, which is why I suggested that would be a good database to mine. (I've run some pretty small obscure races, and all of my results are there... the good, the bad, and the ugly.) Obviously ultrarunner magazine has all or nearly all results for the US as well, but I don't think they have a user-friendly interface like Ultrasignup. The data exists, we just need a runner stat junky to mine it for us :) The person who runs that web site might be our guy :)
- February 21, 2011 at 5:53 PM
- Michael Owen said...
I was the one that originally brought up the Olympic thing. Sorry.
Just to clear up what I meant... I don't think ultra-running needs to be an Olympic event. I was just thinking out loud and jokingly wondering "what if."
Geoff didn't mention it in his post either so you really are arguing against the wind. Because no one on here has actually stated that ultra-running NEEDS/SHOULD be in the Olympics.
So, lets close the book on talking about the Olympics thing. I should have not opened it. - February 21, 2011 at 7:12 PM
- Morgan said...
Hi Geoff
A few thoughts from England. Fell running started around (say) the 1860s in England but only really got numbers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We quickly created a national governing body, The Fell Runners Association, which sits under (now) UK Athletics with delagated authority but lots of autonomy.
Our Championship doesn't go longer than our definition of a Long race, but these can be in the low 20s miles.
Off road ultra running is both becoming more popular and getting more organised. Like you we don;t have a true national Championship race set up, and I'm not hearing a huge demand for anything of that type.
We do though have a first go at an Ultra Championship series under the Run Further banner, brief details here:
And as I have mntioned in other posts, there is now a Commonwealth Mountain Running and Ultra Championships, this year to be held in North Wales, with both a 24 hour and 50km+ trail race, brief details here:
I am observing the debate with interest from afar, because, as ever, I suspect that we will be a few years behind you in terms of some of these conclusions, but may well be able to deliver solutions quicker because of some of the underlying infrastucture laready in place.
Morgan - February 21, 2011 at 11:40 PM
- Andrew said...
Congrats on the UROC100k Geoff ... seems to me like you put your time/effort where your mouth is! :)
You weren't expected to do this... there's nothing wrong with bringing forth innovative thinking/ideas to your career and passion.
Just to do that in such a manor is commendable... but to do so and then help bring about a true championship race like you have been talking about is awesome and shows you care a great deal.
Mom Roes... the bigger the sport becomes and the longer Geoff dominates the more random 'haters' will come out of the wood work. More often than not they will have hateful things to say based on 0 fact. I know its hard as a Mom but you have to take those comments with a grain of salt.
Looking forward to Sept 24th to see what shakes out in the mountains of VA! Would have been nice to see it run as a 100m but I think 100k will still give time to sort the men from the boys (and women from the girls). - February 25, 2011 at 7:10 AM
- Rainshadow Running said...
trlrunrgrl: ultrarunning magazine, at the end of each year, does a huge spread with all kinds of stats about our sport. i think it was either the latest issue or the one before. check it out.
- March 15, 2011 at 12:36 AM


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December 19, 2013Hospice Care for Your Pet
December 27, 2013Goals Aren't Just for People
By Jessica Vogelsang, DVM (petmd.com)
The start of a new year can signal a fresh start for pets needing a change in their routine. For example, with over 50 percent of pets in the U.S. classified as overweight, there's no better time for owners to commit to a new diet and exercise regimen for their pets. Need more ideas? Here are ten resolutions to make this year your pet's healthiest year yet!
#10 Measure Your Pet's Food – Every Time!
Many owners "eyeball" their pet's daily intake and pour that into a bowl, usually resulting in overfeeding and weight gain. It's important to use an 8-ounce measuring cup to ensure your pet isn't taking in more calories than they need. The recommended feeding guidelines on the bag are good place to start to figure out how much food Fido (or Kitty) really needs. Older pets and those who have been neutered usually have lower energy needs than young, intact animals.
#9 Choose an Age-Appropriate Diet
Growing pets have very specific nutrient requirements to ensure their bodies grow healthy and strong. For example, some senior pets may have lower energy requirements, but have other medical issues like degenerative joint disease that may be helped with the appropriate diet. Choosing a diet specifically tailored to your pet's life stage is a great way to keep them in optimal health.
#8 Try a New Activity with Your Pet
From doga to hiking, skijoring to kayaking, it's easier than ever for people to incorporate their pet into a new exercise routine. It's a great way to bond, it'll get you both out of the house, and both owner and pet will reap the rewards of a healthy physical activity. Meet-up groups are a great way to find like-minded pet owners to join you in your exercise, too!
#7 Incorporate (More) Playtime into Your Routine
Cats love the thrill of chasing a laser toy; just don't tell them it's exercise! Toys that trigger a cat's predatory instinct are a great way to get them off the couch and engaged in a little aerobic activity. Experiment to see what really gets your cat going — in addition to lasers, catnip toys, crinkly balls, and climbable cat trees are perennial feline favorites. Even a cardboard box can become a cat cave that satisfies a cat's desire for a hiding place.
#6 Make a Date with Your Vet
Yearly examinations by the veterinarian are a key component of good preventive care. Many medical conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, or obesity are common in aging pets and much easier to manage when detected in the early stages of the disease process. Veterinary visits are also the perfect time to ask for advice, update your pet's food, or get an expert opinion on any behavioral issues that may be affecting your bonding with your pet.
#5 Groom Your Pet Daily
Brushing your pet serves many purposes. It removes excess fur from the coat, reducing the amount you find on your clothes and furniture. It helps distribute oils from the skin to the fur, keeping the coat shiny and healthy. Lastly, daily grooming is a bonding activity that demonstrates to your pet how much you love them by taking care of them in a very soothing manner.
#4 Practice Good Oral Hygiene Habits with Your Pet
Daily toothbrushing is the best way to keep tartar and plaque at bay — just be sure to use a toothpaste meant for dogs and cats. Water additives, dental diets, and treats designed to reduce tartar can also be a helpful tool in keeping teeth clean. And even with all of these tricks, regular cleanings by a licensed veterinarian are the best way to keep those pearly whites in tip top shape long into your pet's senior years.
#3 Teach an Old Dog a New Trick
Studies show that mental stimulation can help reduce cognitive deterioration in aging animals. In other words, keeping your senior pet's brain active can actually make it healthier! Teaching your pet new tricks and practicing those they already know are a great way to keep those neurons firing. Puzzle feeders, which force a pet to think through a task in order to be rewarded with a treat, are also an excellent way to keep a pet's mind engaged.
#2 Update Pet ID Info
Over the course of a year, a lot can change — people move, get new phone numbers, and forget to update their pet's tags. Often they only remember once the pet is lost. If any of your contact information has changed in 2012, don't wait — update their tags and microchip information today! It's the best way to ensure a lost pet makes their way safely home.
#1 Consider Fostering
You think you want a new pet, but you're not 100 percent sure it's right for you? Try fostering. Many animal shelters and rescues need loving homes to provide safe and temporary living arrangements for pets. It's the perfect way to test the waters of pet ownership without the lifelong commitment, since you are simply hosting a pet while they wait for their forever home. Who knows? That home just might end up being yours.

subset: commoncrawl


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The London 2012 Olympics were billed as the Social Games, with Twitter, Facebook and other services making it an immersive experience. But it might be remembered as "The Crying Games," for the swelling of emotions many Britons experienced. We run down some of the Olympics' winners and losers:
The Losers
The Stiff Upper Lip
It helped the British tough out their more painful moments during centuries of empire and world wars, but the Stiff Upper Lip is now officially obsolete. The Brits shed anguished tears during the mass mourning that followed the death of Princess Diana. But TV talent shows soon figured out how to get viewers to turn on the waterworks, and the Brits have been getting weepier and weepier in recent years. The London Olympics Games have now established them as world-class blubberers, who'll happily mark the success of every fellow Briton — no matter how obscure — by crying. The Brits are now, without embarrassment, calling these Olympics "The Crying Games."
London's Grumbling Cabbies
The drivers of London's iconic black cabs staged several protests before the Games — against the road lanes assigned to vehicles conveying the "Olympic family" of athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists back and forth from the Olympic stadium. The cabbies, who are prone to pessimism, were convinced the "Olympic Lanes" would bring London to a standstill - and cost them mightily in lost revenues. One driver showed his anger over the issue by swan-diving into the Thames from London's Tower Bridge. Cabbies say they did indeed lose money during the games, as London was much quieter than expected. But their predictions of chaos did nothing but secure their long-standing reputation as Olympian Moaners.
English School Kids Who Hate Sport
Anyone who cannot catch a ball; anyone who remembers the humiliation of being the last kid chosen for a team; anyone who remembers their knees knocking together as the winter winds ripped across the playing fields of England while everyone else was galloping around having fun — should spare a thought for the next generation of young sports-haters. For they are in trouble. The British government wants to follow the Olympics by introducing more compulsory competitive sports in schools. They are convinced it is character-building — forgetting the corrosive effects a sports-hating juvenile's character might endure when he or she must feign injury to get out of games.
Scottish Nationalists
The airwaves are jammed with people declaring that they are now proud to be British. The Union Jack flag, which once seemed to be dying out, is back, and it's everywhere. Scottish Olympian heroes like tennis star Andy Murray and cyclist Chris Hoy marked their success by wrapping themselves in it. This is not a good atmosphere for the Scottish Nationalists to try to win a referendum on independence in just over two years.
The Winners
The Olympic Volunteers
For the past two weeks, a vast army of men and women, young and old, got out of bed and trudged off, unpaid, to airports, railway stations, sports venues, tourist spots — anywhere an Olympic visitor might need their help. Clad in purple and orange, they soon became the toast of London's great Olympics party because, despite the British reputation for being aloof, they were actually warm and friendly and helpful. They wanted to be part of the games, and they were. Yet many of them never got to a single event. It is a measure of their popularity that, when a tribute was paid to them during Sunday's closing ceremony, the crowd gave an enormous cheer.
The Nasty British Press
The British tend to forget they still have some great papers - notably, The Financial Times, and The Guardian. Decades of sharp practice by their highly competitive mainstream press earned newspaper journalists a reputation for being seedy, unprincipled, and cynical - a view reinforced by the scandal over phone-hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. But editors were quick to realize that the euphoria and surge of patriotism generated by the Olympic Games could be good for them. They devoted vast amounts of space to the Olympics, giving British performers rave reviews, and disproving the old adage that "the only news is bad news."
Monty Python
Eric Idle's rendition of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the Python movie Life of Brian was one of the gems of the closing ceremony, a celebration of the British appetite for the absurd.
Danny Boyle, film director
No one knew exactly what to expect from the man who made Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. His Olympics opening ceremony certainly baffled many overseas viewers, but its exuberance, informality and humor delighted the British. He held up a mirror to the British of the 21st century, and for once, they liked what they saw.
Queen Elizabeth II
No one will ever see the queen in quite the same light, after her cameo film performance with 007 during the opening ceremony, followed by a parachutist dressed up as Her Maj in a peach dress. This was the moment the British realized these games were actually going to be fun. It is now official: at 86, Elizabeth really does have a sense of humor. Many people like that — even, one suspects, republicans who would rather Britain got rid of its monarchy.
Prime Minister David Cameron
Cameron has the asset all politicians crave: Luck. Nothing has gone wrong for which he can blamed. The success of Team GB, who won the third-most gold medals this summer, has generated a wave of pride. Being British is, for now, fashionable again. This will help Cameron in his battle to persuade the Scots not to leave the United Kingdom. The games have also distracted public attention from the profound problems facing Cameron's government: recession, the Eurozone crisis, and worsening tensions within his ruling coalition. During the after-glow left by the Olympics, Cameron will seek to take credit for their success, but this is unlikely to last long.
Sebastian Coe, chair of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Former Olympic champion runner, ex-parliamentarian, lord of the realm, Seb Coe is widely credited for the success of these games. He now takes up a top job as Prime Minister Cameron's Olympics legacy ambassador.
London Mayor Boris Johnson
Many stunning images have emerged from these games, but few more entertaining than that of Johnson dangling haplessly from a jammed zip-line, wearing a suit, and flourishing a British flag in either fist. For most politicians, this incident during a publicity stunt at a London park would be a blot on their careers. But Londoners tend to relish Johnson's eccentricities. He has won praise for his passionate support of the games and his central role in organizing them. This will likely outweigh the complaints from some London businesses, who accuse Johnson of driving away business by issuing dire warnings of transport congestion before the games began. The games have reinforced his stature as one of Britain's most significant political figures, and one of the most interesting on these islands. This may explain his decision, finally, to comb his wild bright blonde hair.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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At an industrial park where they build appliances and other products for companies from South Korea, 55,000 North Koreans typically earn about $62 each a month, a North Korea expert tells NPR.
And they've got some of the best jobs in one of the world's poorest nations, from Leeds University said on All Things Considered this week. Per capita income in the North is estimated to be as little as $1,000 a year. Not only is the pay at the Kaesong Industrial Complex better than elsewhere (other estimates put it as high as $100 a month), but the workers are "reasonably well-looked after," Foster-Carter said.
Now those jobs and what's done at the Kaesong complex are in the international spotlight. On Wednesday, North Korean authorities blocked trucks and workers coming from the South to the complex about six miles inside North Korea.
As NPR's Louisa Lim told Morning Edition, North Korea's regime is skilled at "this sort of cycle of threats" — particularly at times, such as now, when the U.S. and South Korea are holding joint military exercises.
So, along with threats to fire missiles as the South and the U.S., leader Kim Jong Un and his generals have also shown their displeasure by cutting one of the last ties between North and South — the access given to companies from the South to workers at the Kaesong complex.
Experts hope the move is just the latest in decades of rhetoric from the North and that South Korean companies will have access to Kaesong again soon.
Meanwhile, here's more about the complex:
-- The project was launched in 2003 in the hope it would both provide much-needed income for those in the North and build better relations with the South. Work began there the next year, according to Foster-Carter. Now, reports the BBC, there are 123 companies from the South with operations in the complex.
-- Along with small appliances, the companies with operations in the complex make clothing, textiles, car parts and semiconductors. About $470 million worth of goods were produced there last year, the BBC says.
-- Everything made there is exported to the South.
-- The South Korean government has not only given companies incentives to put operations at Kaesong, it has also made available "political risk insurance" to cover any losses if North-South relations sour further.
-- About 800 South Koreans are at the complex most workdays.
-- A "Mr. Kim ... [who] asked that his full name not be used," is a manager for a South Korean sportswear company that employs about 950 North Koreans at the complex. "The skill and labor intensity of workers at Kaesong is far better than we could get in China or Vietnam," he tells The Wall Street Journal. "They're disciplined, hard workers and of course language is no problem."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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A very big report came out last month with very little fanfare. It concluded what we in nuclear science have been saying for decades – radiation doses less than about 10 rem (0.1 Sv) are no big deal. The linear no-threshold dose hypothesis (LNT) does not apply to doses less than 10 rem (0.1 Sv), which is the region encompassing background levels around the world, and is the region of most importance to nuclear energy, most medical procedures and most areas affected by accidents like Fukushima.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (UNSCEAR 2012) submitted the report that, among other things, states that uncertainties at low doses are such that UNSCEAR "does not recommend multiplying low doses by large numbers of individuals to estimate numbers of radiation-induced health effects within a population exposed to incremental doses at levels equivalent to or below natural background levels." (UNDOC/V1255385)
You know, like everyone's been doing since Chernobyl. Like everyone's still doing with Fukushima.
Finally, the world may come to its senses and not waste time on the things that aren't hurting us and spend time on the things that are. And on the people that are in real need. Like the infrastructure and economic destruction wrought by the tsunami, like cleaning up the actual hot spots around Fukushima, like caring for the tens of thousands of Japanese living in fear of radiation levels so low that the fear itself is the only thing that is hurting them, like seriously preparing to restart their nuclear fleet and listening to the IAEA and the U.S. when we suggest improvements.
The advice on radiation in this report will clarify what can, and cannot, be said about low dose radiation health effects on individuals and large populations. Background doses going from 250 mrem (2.5 mSv) to 350 mrem (3.5 mSv) will not raise cancer rates or have any discernable effects on public health. Likewise, background doses going from 250 mrem (2.5 mSv) to 100 mrem (1 mSv) will not decrease cancer rates or effect any other public health issue.
Note - although most discussions are for acute doses (all at once) the same amount as a chronic dose (metered out over a longer time period like a year) is even less effecting. So 10 rem (0.1 Sv) per year, either as acute or chronic, has no observable effect, while 10 rem per month might.
UNSCEAR also found no observable health effects from last year's nuclear accident in Fukushima. No effects.
The Japanese people can start eating their own food again, and moving back into areas only lightly contaminated with radiation levels that are similar to background in many areas of the world like Colorado and Brazil.
The huge waste of money that is passing for clean-up now by just moving around dirt and leaves (NYTimes) can be focused on clean-up of real contamination near Fukushima using modern technologies. The economic and psychological harm wrought by the wrong-headed adoption of linear no-threshold dose effects for doses less than 0.1 Sv (10 rem) has been extremely harmful to the already stressed population of Japan, and to continue it would be criminal.
To recap LNT, the Linear No-Threshold Dose hypothesis is a supposition that all radiation is deadly and there is no dose below which harmful effects will not occur. Double the dose, double the cancers. First put forward after WWII by Hermann Muller, and adopted by the world body, including UNSCEAR, its primary use was as a Cold War bargaining chip to force cessation of nuclear weapons testing. The fear of radiation that took over the worldview was a side-effect (Did Muller Lie?).
Of course, doubling the dose doesn't double the cancers below 10 rem/yr (0.1 Sv/yr). It has no effect at all. The millions of nuclear workers that have been monitored closely for 50 years have no higher cancer mortality than the general population but have had several to ten times the average dose. People living in New Mexico and Wyoming have twice the annual dose as those in Los Angeles, but have lower cancer rates. These cannot occur if LNT were true, because LNT states this could not occur.
There are no observable effects in any population group around the planet that suggest LNT is true below 10 rem/yr (0.1 Sv/yr) even in areas of the Middle East, Brazil and France where natural background doses exceed 10 rem/yr (0.1 Sv/yr).
Although rarely discussed, LNT does not take into account the organisms immune system, biological recovery time between doses or other relevant mechanisms that operate at low doses on an actual organism versus cells in a petri dish.
UNSCEAR is an independent body of international experts that has met regularly since 1955 and helped establish radiation as the best understood, though weakest, carcinogenic agent in the world through its studies of atomic bomb survivors, the effects of the Chernobyl accident, industrial radiological accidents, and medical radiation treatment.
Many of us have been at them for years to stop procrastinating and prevaricating on something so important that the inaction itself is harmful. This report is a welcome change. The report, approved by the United Nations General Assembly, will now serve to guide all countries of the world in setting their own national radiation safety policies.
This is incredibly important to Japan where national guideline changes have been horribly over-reactive in response to Fukushima, especially for food, using LNT in a way it should not be used.
Regulatory Limits On Radioactivity In Foods (in Bq/kg)*
Country Water Milk Foodstuffs Babyfoods
Japan 10 200 100 50
*Japan's new limits for radiation in food
Accepted global limits on radioactivity levels in foods is 1000 Bq/kg (1,200 Bq/kg in the U.S.). Dominated by cesium-137 and Sr-90, these levels were set by organizations like the IAEA and UNSCEAR after decades of study. Because of public radiation fears broadcast in the press after the Fukushima accident, Japan cut the limit in half hoping it would have a calming influence. But the level of fear remained high, so Tokyo lowered the limits to one-tenth of the international standards.
This was supposed to induce calm? Telling the public that radiation is even more deadly than they thought? That their food is toxic? Were they nuts?
This has had the unintended consequence of making people even more afraid of what they are eating, moving safe foods into the scary category and limiting food exports, causing even further economic and social damage.
Suddenly, all sorts of normally safe foods are now banned. Wild mushrooms from Aomori Prefecture are now banned because they have cesium levels of about 120 Bq/kg. This cesium has nothing to do with Fukushima, it's the same type as is in everyone's food around the world, and it wouldn't have rated a second look before the accident (Japan's Contamination Limits Way Too Low).
The Japanese people should not be punished for nothing. But these new results and the UNSCEAR reports demonstrate that they are being punished. There was no reason to lower the rad limits on food, especially after the short-lived nuclides have long decayed away. One of the incorrect assumptions was that people in Japan would be eating only contaminated food, which is quite wrong. The international limits were set for very good reasons, lowering them makes no sense except to further hurt farmers and consumers in Japan.
UNSCEAR's chair Wolfgang Weiss stated that no radiation health effects had been observed in Japan among the public, workers or children in the area of the damaged nuclear power plants, in keeping with studies already published by the World Health Organization and Tokyo University. Doses of radiation received by people near the damaged power plant were so low that no discernible health effect could be expected.
The Japanese government, for all its failures, did the right thing in evacuating Fukushima Prefecture quickly and by preventing contaminated food and water from being consumed. This was in stark contrast to Chernobyl where the Soviets intentionally kept the public in the dark.
Ingestion of the short-lived isotope iodine-131, with its well-known risk of thyroid cancer when absorbed in the thyroid glands of children and young people, was the only major radiation-related health effect of the Chernobyl accident on the public. And the Soviets could have prevented that by acting quickly and openly. Of course, the Soviets didn't much care about the public.
This will not happen in Japan. Iodine-131, with a half-life of only 8 days, decayed away in a few months following the accident and no one was found to have ingested any significant amount.
According to the reports, six Fukushima workers received total doses of over 0.25 Sv (25 rem) during their time fighting the emergency, while 170 workers received doses between 0.1 and 0.25 Sv (10 to 25 rem). None have shown ill effects and most likely never will. Radiation played no role in the coincidental deaths of six Fukushima workers in the time since the accident, who died from accidents, e.g., being crushed by debris or being swept out to sea.
Yes, there are health effects of radiation above 0.1 Sv (10 rem) that statistically increase up to 1 Sv (100 rem) but even in this higher range it's hard to see them without a big enough population. The only radiation events on this scale, where large populations received 0.1 Sv (10 rem) to 1 Sv (100 rem) have been the atomic bomb blasts from World War II.
The effects of radiation only start to become clear at high acute absorbed doses of over 1 Sv (100 rem), and even then it is necessary to eliminate other potential causes before radiation can be unequivocally said to be the cause, advised UNSCEAR.
What this means for nuclear waste disposal is even more dramatic, but more on that later!
In the end, if we don't reorient ourselves on what is true about radiation and not on the fear, we will fail the citizens of Japan, Belarus and the Ukraine, and we will continue to spend time and money on the wrong things. I'm sure the anti-nuke ideologues and conspiracy theorists will not accept these U.N. reports, but then…they don't like the United Nations anyway.


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A brief overview of the Global Robo-advisory Market is provided in the report based on product scope and market status & outlook. The market is segmented on the basis of type, end-users/application, and geography.
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Export 15 results:
Filters: Author is Moira R Dillon [Clear All Filters]
From Map Reading to Geometric Intuitions. Developmental Psychology (2018). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000509
Spatial cognition across development. SRCD (2017).
Young Children's Use of Surface and Object Information in Drawings of Everyday Scenes. Child Development (2016). doi:10.1111/cdev.12658
Children's expectations about training the approximate number system. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 33, (2015).
Connecting core cognition, spatial symbols, and the abstract concepts of formal geometry. Cognitive Development Society Post-Conference, More on Development (2015).
From spatial symbols to Euclidean intuitions. Biennial Meeting of Cognitive Development Society (2015).
From spatial symbols to Euclidean intuitions. Cognitive Development Society (CDS) (2015). at <http://cogdevsoc.org/sites/default/files/Official%20Full%20Conference%20Proceedings_10.10.pdf>
Infants' sensitivity to shape changes. Cognitive Development Society Pre-Conference on the Development of Spatial Thinking (2015).
Isolating angle in infants' detection of shape. (2015). SRCD_2015_Dillonetal.pdf (5.01 MB)
Reorientation ability predicts early spatial symbol reading. 2015 Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (2015).
Young children's automatic and alternating use of scene and object information in spatial symbols. Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development (2015).
Core geometry in perspective. Developmental Science (2014). doi:10.1111/desc.12266
Core foundations of abstract geometry. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, (2013).


text: The concept of Best Value is to offer customers the best value product, sourced from a variety of manufacturers all over the world, in any given category, at any point in time. The products selected for our Best Value range are carefully evaluated in terms of price, performance and manufacturing quality before they make it onto our website. Although certainly a 'value' brand, Best Value products are never inferior quality... just superb value for money


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Stomach and Duodenal Ulcers (Peptic Ulcers) in Children
What is a stomach or duodenal ulcer?
An ulcer is an open sore, or lesion, usually found on the skin or mucous membrane areas of the body.
- An ulcer in the lining of the stomach or duodenum, where hydrochloric acid and pepsin are present, is referred to as a peptic ulcer.
- When the ulcer is in the stomach, it is called a gastric ulcer.
- When the ulcer is in the duodenum, it is called a duodenal ulcer.
In the past, it was believed lifestyle factors, such as stress and diet caused ulcers. Later, researchers determined that stomach acids ? hydrochloric acid and pepsin ? contributed to ulcer formation.
Today, research shows that most ulcers develop as a result of infection with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).
It is believed that, although all of these factors ? lifestyle, acid and pepsin, and H. pylori ? play a role in ulcer development, H. pylori is considered to be the primary cause in most cases.
Factors suspected of playing a role in the development of stomach or duodenal ulcers include:
- Helicobacter pylori. Research shows that most ulcers develop as a result of infection with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The bacterium produces substances that weaken the stomach's protective mucus and make it more susceptible to the damaging effects of acid and pepsin.
- Smoking. Studies show smoking increases the chances of getting an ulcer, slows the healing process of existing ulcers, and contributes to ulcer recurrence. This is yet another health-related reason for children and teenagers who smoke to quit.
- Caffeine. Caffeine seems to stimulate acid secretion in the stomach, which can aggravate the pain of an existing ulcer. However, the stimulation of stomach acid cannot be attributed solely to caffeine.
- Stress. Although emotional stress is no longer thought to be a cause of ulcers, people with ulcers often report that emotional stress increases ulcer pain. Physical stress, however, may increase the risk of developing ulcers, particularly in the stomach. For example, people with injuries (such as severe burns) and people undergoing major surgery often require rigorous treatment to prevent ulcers and ulcer complications.
- Acid and pepsin. It is believed that the stomach's inability to defend itself against the powerful digestive fluids, hydrochloric acid and pepsin, contributes to ulcer formation.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs (such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium) make the stomach vulnerable to the harmful effects of acid and pepsin. They are present in many nonprescription medications used to treat fever, headaches, and minor aches and pains.
Signs and symptoms
The following are the most common symptoms for ulcers. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently.
Although ulcers do not always cause symptoms, the most common ulcer symptom is a gnawing or burning pain in the abdomen between the breastbone and the navel. The pain often occurs between meals and in the early hours of the morning. It may last from a few minutes to a few hours. Less common ulcer symptoms include:
- Anemia
- Bloating
- Belching
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blood-tinged vomit
- Poor appetite
- Loss of weight
- Feeling tired and weak
The symptoms of stomach and duodenal ulcers may resemble other digestive conditions or medical problems. Consult your child's doctor for a diagnosis.
Complications from ulcers
Without proper treatment, people with ulcers may experience serious complications. The most common problems include:
- Bleeding. As the lining of the stomach or duodenal wall is eroded, blood vessels may also be damaged, causing bleeding.
- Perforation. Sometimes a hole has worn through the wall of the stomach or duodenum, and bacteria and partially digested food can spill through the opening into the sterile abdominal cavity (peritoneum) and cause peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal cavity and wall.
- Narrowing and obstruction. Ulcers located at the end of the stomach (where the duodenum is attached) can cause swelling and scarring, which can narrow or close the intestinal opening. This obstruction can prevent food from leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine, resulting in vomiting the contents of the stomach.
Testing and diagnosis
Because treatment protocols may be different for different types of ulcers, it is important to adequately diagnose ulcer disease and H. pylori before starting treatment. For example, for an NSAID-induced ulcer, treatment is quite different from the treatment for a person diagnosed with an ulcer caused by the bacterium, H. pylori.
In addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, diagnostic procedures for ulcers may include:
- Upper GI (gastrointestinal) series. An examination of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). Your child will drink a fluid called barium. Barium is a chalky liquid used to coat the inside of organs so that they will show up on an X-ray. X-rays are then taken to look at your child's upper digestive tract.
- Endoscopy. A test that uses a small, flexible tube with a light and a camera lens at the end (endoscope) to examine the inside of part of the digestive tract. Tissue samples from inside the digestive tract may also be taken for examination and testing.
- Blood, stool, breath, and stomach tissue tests. Performed to detect the presence of H. pylori. Although some of the tests for H. pylori may occasionally give false-positive or false-negative results, research shows that these tests can still be accurate in detecting the bacteria.
Specific treatment will be determined by your child's doctor based on the following:
- Your child's age, overall health, and medical history
- The extent of the disease
- Your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies
- The expectations for the course of the disease
- Your opinion or preference
Recommended treatment may include:
Lifestyle changes
In the past, doctors advised people with ulcers to avoid spicy, fatty or acidic foods. However, a bland diet is now known to be ineffective for treating or avoiding ulcers. No particular diet is helpful for most ulcer patients. If it seems that certain foods cause irritation, please discuss the problem with your child's doctor.
Some children and teenagers smoke, with or without their parent's knowledge or permission. Smoking has been shown to delay ulcer healing and has been linked to ulcer recurrence.
Doctors may treat stomach and duodenal ulcers with several types of medications, including the following:
- Antibiotics. Used to kill the bacteria.
- H2-blockers. Reduce the amount of acid the stomach produces by blocking histamine, a powerful stimulant of acid secretion.
- Proton pump inhibitors. More completely block stomach acid production by stopping the stomach's acid pump ? the final step of acid secretion.
- Mucosal protective agents. Shield the stomach's mucous lining from the damage of acid, but do not inhibit the release of acid.
When treating H. pylori, these medications or procedures are often used in combination.
In most cases, anti-ulcer medicines heal ulcers quickly and effectively, and eradication of H. pylori prevents most ulcers from recurring. However, rarely people do not respond to medication and may require surgery.


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Energizing 100% whole grain organic noodles with a rich, warming flavor. Buckwheat protein is superior to other cereal grain as it has all essential amino acids, and is the best source of the important flavonoid rutin. It is traditionally made and patiently two-step dried. Despite the name, buckwheat is not wheat and is not related to wheat. A delicious, versatile, strengthening food, enjoy it hot or chilled in dashi - a shoyu soy sauce kombu broth and in salads and stir-fries. Wrap it in toasted nori to make delicious noodle sushi. It provides fiber and protein with no salt added.
Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is 100% whole grain noodles with a rich, warming flavor. It is traditionally made in Japan and patiently two-step dried into a delicious and easy way to enjoy the flavor and exceptional health benefit of buckwheat. Soba is Japanese for buckwheat. In Japan, 100% pure Buckwheat Soba is called 'kiko uchi'.
Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is a bracing food made in Japan. It is made from only two ingredients – 100% whole grain organic buckwheat and purified water. Buckwheat is naturally gluten free, a special method was developed to prepare 'pre-gelatinized' flour that increases the binding power of buckwheat. Pre-gelatinized flour is made by puffing whole grain buckwheat with the hull on, similar to the process used for making puffed cereal, then grinding the puffed buckwheat into fine flour. The pre-gelatinized flour is then blended with regular buckwheat flour forming a 60/40 percent ratio. Water is added to form dough, which is then kneaded, rolled, and cut. The noodles are then dried and cut to length. Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is gluten free and skillfully made in a wheat, gluten, and egg free facility that is dedicated only to buckwheat production.
Buckwheat - Not Wheat
Commonly people avoid buckwheat in the mistaken belief that it's a type of wheat. Despite the name, buckwheat is not wheat, is not related to wheat, and is gluten free. Its old northern European name was 'beech wheat' in reference to its small, black, triangular seeds that although much smaller, resemble beech nuts of a beech tree. From 'beech wheat' came the Dutch name 'boecweite' or 'boekweite': 'boek' meaning beech and 'weite' meaning wheat. After Dutch settlers introduced 'boecweite' to colonial America, it gradually became known as 'buckwheat'.
Historical Information
Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum is a hardy wild, broad leaf plant crop, and not a grass. It belongs to the Polygonaceae or buckwheat family and is not a member of the cereal grain or Gramineae family. The fruit seed of the buckwheat plant has long been valued as important food in the East and West. It originated in the Lake Baikal area of Siberia, in the Himalayas, and Manchuria. Buckwheat was cultivated and eaten in China before being adopted throughout Asia and Europe. It has been a staple food in Russia and central Europe for centuries where it's best known as 'kasha.'
The art of making noodles is believed to have originated among farmers in China, were introduced to Buddhist temples, and taken to Japan by monks. The first reference to soba or buckwheat in Japan appears in records from the Heian period AD 794 to 1185. Soba noodles or 'soba kiri' are mentioned in documents from the early 1600s.
Nutrition Facts
Buckwheat protein is superior to other cereal grain as it has all essential amino acids and is the best source of the important flavonoid rutin. According to FDA, "Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers." Also, "low fat diets rich in fiber-containing grain products, fruits, and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors." Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is 100% whole grain, a good source of fiber. Furthermore, "diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of hypertension or high blood pressure, a disease associated with many factors." Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba has no salt added and is a good source of protein.
Allergen Statement
Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is gluten free and skillfully made in a wheat, gluten, and egg free facility that is dedicated only to buckwheat production.
Eden 100% Buckwheat Soba is a delicious, versatile, strengthening food. Enjoy it hot or chilled in dashi - a shoyu soy sauce kombu broth and in salads and stir-fries. Wrapped in toasted nori it makes delicious noodle sushi. It is important not to overcook cook 100% Soba. The very low level of gluten in buckwheat makes it fragile if overcooked.
Traditional Cooking Instructions for Japanese Noodles
Soba and Udon can be boiled just like other pasta or you can use a traditional Japanese cooking method which takes a little longer but is well worth it. This method is called the shocking method, cold water is added to boiling water several times during the cooking process creating a firmer, al dente noodle. For this method place 2 quarts of cold water in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Remove the cover, add the noodles, and stir to prevent sticking. As soon as the water comes to a boil again, add enough cold water to stop the water from boiling (about a 1/2 cup). Bring to a boil again, and add cold water again. Repeat one or two additional times until the noodles are done. Periodically check the noodles by removing a strand and biting or cutting it in half. If the center of the noodle strand is white and the outside is darker, the noodles are not done. When the center of the noodle is the same color as the outside, and the noodles are firm yet tender to the bite they are done. Rinse cooked Udon and Soba noodles under cold water. This lowers sodium and prevent clumping.


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With Spring repairs and renovation ideas flowing in mine and my husbands heads we know that the tools from Black & Decker will help us get what we need and want done! From Drills to Saws, you can complete a task with the tool sets from Black & Decker. So when I was given a Black & Decker 18v Cordless Combo Kit, to sample and review for my readers courtesy of Black & Decker, I knew that this set was exactly what we needed. This amazing tool set includes a 18V Drill/Driver with two-speed gear box that adjusts for high-torque or high-speed tasks, a 18V 7 1/4″ Circular Saw that provides excellent speed and cutting capacity, an 18V Reciprocating Saw that is ideal for general-purpose cutting for wood, metal and plastic, an 18V Flashlight that generates plenty of light to complete any task and 2 18V Batteries. Then once we are ready to put these awesome tools up the set came with a great canvas storage bag to not only store the set but also blades and other accessories. Once we received the set our first task was to fix our fence in the back yard. We first cut and replaced some of the wood in the gate so that it would no longer drag and stick. Once the gate was complete and ready to be put on we also had to replace the hinges. With the power tools set from Black & Decker, not only were we able to complete this task with ease, but we were done in a lot shorter time than we had anticipated. We were able to go to our next task right away with enthusiasm! By the time we were done, we had cut and replaced 42 fence planks, 3 posts and 4 2×4's that needed to be replaced. My husband and I, like many others, have a list of tasks that need to be taken care of and completed this Spring, and Black & Decker has the tools that can help make it easier to accomplish the completion of your tasks!
To help conquer some of your Spring tasks the wonderful people from Black & Decker would like to give one of my awesome readers a couple of tools of their own! One lucky reader will get a Black & Decker Cordless Lithium-Ion Screwdriver and Compact Saw! These compact tools stay charged and ready to use for up to 18-months in addition to helping DIYers access tough-to-reach places.
Cordless Lithium-Ion Screwdriver
• Compact Fit™ Design fits where other screwdrivers don't
• Lithium BatteryTech™ stays charged and ready for up to 18 months
• 40% more torque than competitive units
Lithium Compact Saw
• Compact versatile design provides optimal control for on the spot cutting
• Lithium BatteryTech™ stays charged and ready for up to 18 months
• Perfect for quick, straight cuts or accurate curved cuts
Mandatory Entry:
Like Black & Decker on Facebook. Then come back here and leave me your email with this entry!
Extra Entries:
Follow Black & Decker on Twitter
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Tweet About This Giveaway Daily
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Blog about this giveaway and leave the URL to the post (5 entries)
This giveaway is open to US residents. This giveaway will end at midnight on April 11,2011. Winner will be chosen at random.org and will be given 48 hours before another winner will be chosen. All products for reviews and giveaways are given as a sample from the companies. All opinions in reviews I conduct are my own. I was not paid to say anthing or review any products.


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JAWS™ creates eco friendly solutions for the water sports industry. With JAWS - Just Add Water Solutions you get quality products that work, naturally. It's your solution for fun and adventure! JAWS products are designed to provide superior quality for a wide variety of uses.
The brand chooses not to advertise its product. Instead, it focuses on using simple, efficient bottles, labels and packaging to concentrate its efforts on improving the quality of the product. The brand prides itself on creating the best products on the market, including its "spit antifog," the most recognized antifog in the world.
JAWS™ products are sold only through authorized dealers. By maintaining a dealer base, the brand is able to service the customer on a more personal level. JAWS™ also donates 10 percent of its profits to "saving our oceans." So when choosing a water product, get one that works with you and the environment with JAWS™ eco friendly solutions.


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- your name,
- your blog's name and URL
- a link/URL to your soup, (or salad or sammie) post
- a picture of your dish (or indicate which picture on your post you want to use if there is more than one picture of your soup, salad or sammie) (Your photo will be posted as a medium-sized photo on the round-up so please send a 350 x 450 size)
- mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays in your post
- mention Kahakai Kitchen and link to my blog: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/ in your post as well.
- you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and blog (optional)
Can I send you old posts of soups I have made before? Just to keep things fresh and current please send just new posts of your soups, salads and sandwiches or posts within the current month rather than old posts.
Can I participate in Souper Sundays if I made my soup, salad or sandwich for another event? Sure! The more events the merrier! ;-) Just make sure that you include a mention of Kahakai Kitchen and Souper Sundays and a link to it in your post along with the information you post for your other event(s).
I don't think I can make a soup every Sunday--can I still participate? Of course! Come by whenever you want to share a soup. That's the great thing about soup--it feeds a little or a lot. Now that we are also accepting salads and sandwiches or "sammies", hopefully you can stop by more often!
Aloha & Mahalo!
Deb (Aka Deb in Hawaii)


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It seems we can't find what you're looking for. Perhaps searching can help.
It seems we can't find what you're looking for. Perhaps searching can help.
As you know, blogging changed my life. I left Ireland broke, with no plan, with just a one-way ticket to Thailand and no money. Since then, I started a blog, then a digital media company, I've made more than $1,500,000 USD, bought 4 properties and visited (almost) every country in the world. And I did it all from my laptop as I travel the world and live my dream.
I talk about how I did it, and how you can do it too, in my COMPLETELY FREE Ebook, all 20,000 words or so. Just finish the process by putting in your email below and I'll mail it right out to you immediately. No spam ever too, I promise!
"If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs"


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Also lost in yesterday's SoSG billboard hysteria was a more critical and rational perspective of the Dodgers' second-half outdoor advertising campaign. So let me begin.
I like the "This Is My Town" campaign. But I hate what it has become in the last month.
First, I've got to go back a couple of seasons to set context. In 2007, the Angels blanketed Los Angeles in a sea of red starting in March. With their simple "A" halo logo on a red background, they tried to stake a loud claim to Los Angeles proper, within our city limits. Bold. Interesting. I hoped the Dodgers would take notes.
The following year, in 2008, the Angels once again beat the Dodgers to the punch. Now comfortable to use some of the other 25 letters on the keyboard, the Angels posted billboards that heralded "VLAD" and announced the change of the Angels' radio station affiliate. When the Dodgers' outdoor advertising program finally limped out of the starting blocks weeks later, the graphics were so embarrassingly bad that it was obvious this was a rush job whose hackery rivaled SoSG's own photoshop skills.
This year, the Dodgers seemed to finally get it right, which I thought was a critical step to both maintain the goodwill momentum from our 2008 playoff run, as well as take a first-mover advantage at a time when economic prospects were bleak and the fight for the fans' wallets would need extra support. With billboards that hit in early March, Dodgers players loudly pronounced "THIS IS MY TOWN" in both English and Spanish. And while Manny Ramirez' protracted contract negotiations left him off the initial campaign (though Ramirez did get a large building wrap here), seeing Chad Billingsley, Russell Martin, and Rafael Furcal larger than life and asserting their claim to the city was really awe-inspiring. It made me psyched to be a Dodger fan, pumped for the 2009 season, and ready to go.
By the time the Angels billboards hit, including one at Hollywood and Highland that simply said "Fan Strong" with the "A" in "Fan" using the Angels' logo (I've got a picture of this somewhere that I'll try and add to the post later), it wasn't close to the Dodgers' impact. And given the horrific tragedy of Nick Adenhart that beset the Angels early this season, the slogan unfortunately and sadly began to ring more like a support group mantra rather than a fanatic's rallying cry.
I have nothing against the Angels, as I've written here as well as in numerous other posts. But I did think that it was incumbent upon Frank McCourt and the Dodgers to show some pride and get the Dodgers fans rolling early on this season, as Los Angeles' geographically and historically true team. And it was cool to see that, in 2009, we finally did it. Los Angeles is a Dodger fan's town. It's all of Dodgers fans' town.
Except now, with the whole celebrity marketing twist to the "This Is My Town" campaign, what started as a cool rallying cry has become diluted by C-list celebrities and unrecognizable people altogether. Oscar De La Hoya and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Okay, they're Los Angeles sporting legends. Alyssa Milano? She has made no secret of her love of the Dodgers (figuratively and literally), and blogs about them when not designing her mlb-licensed imprint line of apparel. Got it.
But Kim Kardashian, "celebrity" only in her own (and her publicist's) mind? No way. Tara Lipinski? Yeah, she was relevant 11 years ago when she won Olympic gold, but why do I care now? Bret Michaels and Nickelback? Why? And we can't even figure out who the hell this guy is.
Besides Oscar and Kareem, the only "celebrity" that seemed to get universal validation was Yoda. And he's not even real (and it was a Clone Wars Yoda, to boot).
It's not just that seeing random uninteresting and/or washed-up people, none of whom have been long-time Dodger fans in any sort of setting, makes no sense to the common Dodger fan. I mean, sure, it makes the Dodgers look pathetic in comparison to the Lakers' star-wattage fan following of Jack Nicholson. (And furthermore, it's not like any real celebrity of any import is going to be motivated to align with the Dodgers, now that he or she sees the low-level of talent that the team attracts.) Do the Dodgers really need to scrape the dregs of low-rated reality television for celebrity endorsements? Isn't this franchise better than this?
(And by the way, this is not a knock on Drew Merle, Assistant Director, Business and Entertainment Public Relations with the Dodgers, who does a great job at getting people from all walks of life (fame and infamy) to be involved in pre-game festivities like the first pitch. Merle is a very nice guy and I know he works hard at building the association with Hollywood (which hopefully becomes easier as the Dodgers start to become a more consistent winner). And I'm actually fine with all 27 Kardashians showing up pre-game, large-hipped jeans notwithstanding, even though I'm not a fan of theirs. I can live with the fact that I'm not in the target demo. But seeing Kim on a billboard each day is a different story.)
Underlying this whole campaign is an insulting premise that people will feel more excited about building or retaining their association with the Dodgers by looking at these ephemeral people who don't bleed Dodger blue in the first place. Let's even say that Tara Lipinski is a huge Dodger fan, comes to 12 games a year, has the Dodgers tattoo. As a Dodger fan, do I feel better about myself now that I see Lipinski on a Dodgers billboard? As a non-Dodger fan, would I now come to a game and/or buy a ticket? And if the answer to both questions is "no", why are we doing this campaign at all?
If the point of the campaign is to show that Los Angeles is the Dodgers' town and attracts people from all walks of life, then show the everyman. Show the random people who have bought season tickets for years. Show the peanut guy who hauls his wares up and down the aisles each game. Show Irene the usher who greets every guest with a smile. Show the teenager who has just inked a Dodgers tat on his arm. Show the person who painted his own car as a mobile billboard for the club.
Show us the Dodger fans. Don't show us the Dodger poseurs. If "This Is My Town," then I want to be associated with people who care about the Dodgers, not just people who care about their own publicity.


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"Authority is an illusion."
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