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The integrity of the long-distance runner
#1

The integrity of the long-distance runner
"Spanish athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre. He was running second, some distance behind race leader Abel Mutai - bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the London Olympics. As they entered the finishing straight, he saw the Kenyan runner - the certain winner of the race - mistakenly pull up about 10 meters before the finish, thinking he had already crossed the line.

Fernández Anaya quickly caught up with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai's mistake to speed past and claim an unlikely victory, he stayed behind and, using gestures, guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first.

He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn't have closed"

"I didn't deserve to win it," says 24-year-old Fernández Anaya. "I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn't have closed if he hadn't made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn't going to pass him."

[Image: Honesty-of-the-long-distance-runner.jpg]
“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
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#2

The integrity of the long-distance runner
And the perseverance… in the face of vileness and sexism…

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“In 1967, 20-year-old Kathrine Switzer made history when she defiantly became the first woman to officially run in the Boston Marathon — even as race officials tried to physically stop her.

Fifty years later, she finished the race again, donning the same number: 261.

“I just ran the fastest marathon I’ve run in 46 years,” she told NBC News after crossing the finish line Monday.

It’s an impressive feat for someone whose coach once told her, “No dame ain't ever run no marathon.”
Her story is well-known, especially to female runners.

The first time around, as a Syracuse University student, she registered for the marathon as K.V. Switzer, and no one seemed to notice she was a woman until two miles into the race.

That's when Jock Semple, a race official, jumped off the press bus and ran after her.
“He grabbed me ... threw me back and he said, ‘Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers,’” Switzer recalled. “And he tried to pull my bib numbers off.”


Her boyfriend at the time intervened, pushing Semple away while Switzer continued doing what she was doing — running.

It was all captured in an iconic photograph that galvanized the women’s movement and helped change the game for female athletes.

“It changed everything,” she said. “It changed my life and it changed millions of women’s lives.”

Switzer was, however, disqualified from the race and there was more backlash to come: Switzer said aggressive journalists approached her at the finish line, yelling, “Real women don’t run.”

She was then expelled from the Athletic Federation, which meant she wasn’t allowed to run. So she started her own club, and they ran in Canada, “just like draft dodgers,” Switzer said.”
“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
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#3

The integrity of the long-distance runner
Awesome stuff!

Have you seen this one:
Alistair Brownlee gives up chance to win race and helps brother Jonny

"An exhausted Jonny Brownlee is helped over the finish line by his brother Alistair who gives up the chance to win the race in a dramatic end to the World Triathlon Series in Cozumel, Mexico, on Sunday."
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#4

The integrity of the long-distance runner
crunchslap-crunchslap-crunchslap
R.I.P. Hannes
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#5

The integrity of the long-distance runner
Described as a "miracle run" John Landy famously secured the 1956 Australian mile title
despite losing around seven seconds while assisting Ron Clarke following a mid-race fall.
Known as Gentleman John, Landy—who two years earlier had become the second man
to break the four minute mile barrier—accidentally spiked Clarke in the arm and shoulder
after he’d been tripped by another athlete. In an amazing act of sportsmanship, Landy
turned back to help his fellow Victorian.

I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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#6

The integrity of the long-distance runner
I give you, the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.

"It featured a tug-of-war event, only one competition for women, and a racially insensitive sideshow in which First Nation Americans, Mbuti tribesmen and Filipinos climbed a greased pole and slung mud at each other. Then head of the International Olympics Committee Pierre de Coubertin described the 1904 Games as an "outrageous charade"

But it was the men's marathon that really highlighted the disorder of the event.

The race featured 32 runners, multiple incidents of cheating, drugs, rotten apples, a president's daughter and feral dogs. On a sweltering summer day, with organisers deliberately depriving athletes of water, more than half the participants dropped out from dehydration. Several nearly died.

The winner, who had to be dragged across the finishing line by his trainers, was doped up and hallucinating on rat poison.

[...]

The race was held at 3:00pm on a sweltering 32-degree day, and took the runners over dusty, unpaved roads.

James Sullivan, the chief organiser of the St Louis Olympics, was interested in 'purposeful dehydration' — an ill-advised area of scientific research at the turn of the century — and ensured there was only one water station on the entire course.

Felix Carbajal de Soto, a Cuban runner, had raised money to go to America to compete in the Games. But he blew all his donated funds when he went gambling in New Orleans, and had to hitchhike to St Louis in time for the marathon.

He showed up to the starting line in a dress shirt, slacks, leather street shoes and a beret. A sympathetic bystander found a pair of scissors and helped him turn his pants into shorts moments before the race began.


[...]

The conditions were so gruelling that American runner William Garcia collapsed halfway through the course and needed emergency surgery. "He had ingested so much dust that it had ripped his stomach lining," historian Nancy J. Parezo wrote in The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games."

[...]

But then, suddenly, American runner Fred Lorz came into view at the Olympic stadium, much to the delight of spectators. He ran across the finish line and had his photograph taken with president Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice.

Just as he was about to accept his gold medal, a witness stepped forward and declared Lorz a fraud. The 20-year-old, exhausted and dehydrated, had given up at the 14th kilometre. His trainer had offered him a lift to the stadium so he could pick up his clothes. But when his trainer's car broke down, Lorz figured he may as well run the rest of the way.

The officials and spectators were in an uproar as allegations of cheating were bandied about. Lorz insisted it was a misunderstanding, claiming he had only jokingly crossed the finish line and broken the tape.

[...]

Fourteen kilometres from the finish line, American runner Thomas Hicks was in agony. He too was fading fast from the dust and heat, and tried to lie down on the road.

Hicks' trainers, who also believed that water diminished an athlete's performance, gave him small sips of a toxic cocktail to stimulate his nervous system. High on rat poison which was mixed with an egg white and brandy, the 28-year-old staggered along for the rest of the course while hallucinating.

When he reached the finish line, his trainers practically dragged him across it. Witnesses say he wandered the stadium in a stupor and forgot to collect his medal.

[...]

One of the Tswana tribesmen, Len Tau, turned out to be a talented marathoner, but he was chased more than a kilometre off-course by feral dogs. He placed ninth.

[...]

And Felix Carbajal de Soto, who ran in a beret and dress shoes, managed to acquire food poisoning during the race. His bender in New Orleans and frenzied journey to St Louis for the marathon meant he hadn't eaten in nearly 40 hours.

"Suffering from hunger, and with no coaches to assist him, he picked a green apple from a tree along the route," sports historian Thomas F Carter wrote in the book, Olimpismo. But the rotten apple left him with painful stomach cramps, so he took a quick nap on the side of the road before continuing on the race.

The tenacious Cuban rallied, and still managed to come in fourth place.

[...]

Felix Carbajal de Soto was sponsored by the Cuban government to travel to Greece to race in a marathon in Athens in 1906. But when he failed to show, he was presumed dead and his obituary was published in Cuban newspapers. A year later, he surprised everyone when he returned to Havana on a Spanish steamship and resumed his running career."
“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
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#7

The integrity of the long-distance runner
(07-26-2020, 07:02 PM)Vera Wrote: I give you, the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.

"It featured a tug-of-war event, only one competition for women, and a racially insensitive sideshow in which First Nation Americans, Mbuti tribesmen and Filipinos climbed a greased pole and slung mud at each other. Then head of the International Olympics Committee Pierre de Coubertin described the 1904 Games as an "outrageous charade"

But it was the men's marathon that really highlighted the disorder of the event.

The race featured 32 runners, multiple incidents of cheating, drugs, rotten apples, a president's daughter and feral dogs. On a sweltering summer day, with organisers deliberately depriving athletes of water, more than half the participants dropped out from dehydration. Several nearly died.

The winner, who had to be dragged across the finishing line by his trainers, was doped up and hallucinating on rat poison.

[...]

The race was held at 3:00pm on a sweltering 32-degree day, and took the runners over dusty, unpaved roads.

James Sullivan, the chief organiser of the St Louis Olympics, was interested in 'purposeful dehydration' — an ill-advised area of scientific research at the turn of the century — and ensured there was only one water station on the entire course.

Felix Carbajal de Soto, a Cuban runner, had raised money to go to America to compete in the Games. But he blew all his donated funds when he went gambling in New Orleans, and had to hitchhike to St Louis in time for the marathon.

He showed up to the starting line in a dress shirt, slacks, leather street shoes and a beret. A sympathetic bystander found a pair of scissors and helped him turn his pants into shorts moments before the race began.


[...]

The conditions were so gruelling that American runner William Garcia collapsed halfway through the course and needed emergency surgery. "He had ingested so much dust that it had ripped his stomach lining," historian Nancy J. Parezo wrote in The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games."

[...]

But then, suddenly, American runner Fred Lorz came into view at the Olympic stadium, much to the delight of spectators. He ran across the finish line and had his photograph taken with president Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice.

Just as he was about to accept his gold medal, a witness stepped forward and declared Lorz a fraud. The 20-year-old, exhausted and dehydrated, had given up at the 14th kilometre. His trainer had offered him a lift to the stadium so he could pick up his clothes. But when his trainer's car broke down, Lorz figured he may as well run the rest of the way.

The officials and spectators were in an uproar as allegations of cheating were bandied about. Lorz insisted it was a misunderstanding, claiming he had only jokingly crossed the finish line and broken the tape.

[...]

Fourteen kilometres from the finish line, American runner Thomas Hicks was in agony. He too was fading fast from the dust and heat, and tried to lie down on the road.

Hicks' trainers, who also believed that water diminished an athlete's performance, gave him small sips of a toxic cocktail to stimulate his nervous system. High on rat poison which was mixed with an egg white and brandy, the 28-year-old staggered along for the rest of the course while hallucinating.

When he reached the finish line, his trainers practically dragged him across it. Witnesses say he wandered the stadium in a stupor and forgot to collect his medal.

[...]

One of the Tswana tribesmen, Len Tau, turned out to be a talented marathoner, but he was chased more than a kilometre off-course by feral dogs. He placed ninth.

[...]

And Felix Carbajal de Soto, who ran in a beret and dress shoes, managed to acquire food poisoning during the race. His bender in New Orleans and frenzied journey to St Louis for the marathon meant he hadn't eaten in nearly 40 hours.

"Suffering from hunger, and with no coaches to assist him, he picked a green apple from a tree along the route," sports historian Thomas F Carter wrote in the book, Olimpismo. But the rotten apple left him with painful stomach cramps, so he took a quick nap on the side of the road before continuing on the race.

The tenacious Cuban rallied, and still managed to come in fourth place.

[...]

Felix Carbajal de Soto was sponsored by the Cuban government to travel to Greece to race in a marathon in Athens in 1906. But when he failed to show, he was presumed dead and his obituary was published in Cuban newspapers. A year later, he surprised everyone when he returned to Havana on a Spanish steamship and resumed his running career."

Have you read any of the Peter Lovesy Inspector Cribb mysteries?  They feature sports settings in the 1800s/early 1900s; reading your post made me think of those books.
god, ugh
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#8

The integrity of the long-distance runner
(07-26-2020, 07:02 PM)Vera Wrote: The race featured 32 runners, multiple incidents of cheating, drugs, rotten apples, a president's daughter and feral dogs.

TBH, this sound like the cops raiding the Stockyards in Fort Worth on a Friday night.

Though we really didn't mess with apples, fresh or rotten.
On hiatus.
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#9

The integrity of the long-distance runner
(07-26-2020, 07:51 PM)julep Wrote: Have you read any of the Peter Lovesy Inspector Cribb mysteries?  They feature sports settings in the 1800s/early 1900s; reading your post made me think of those books.

Can't say that I have. I've mostly only read Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle (found him a bit boring on a recent, older reread).

But coincidentally I *have* been re-reading (in bits and pieces during the day, just to cleanse my palate from my unbelievably crappy book, when I can't read something properly) some Judge Dee stories, written by Robert van Gulik. It's a different type of detective novel and as the writer was a sinologist and a diplomat, it's a fascinating glimpse into a completely different time and culture.

He even illustrated them himself, in a traditional Chinese style.

Though on rereading them I was struck a) by the fact that he seems to draw naked women a bit too often (and incorporate naked women in the stories for no good reason) and, rather worse, b) by a slightly disturbing obsession with sexualised torture. In way more books that seems strictly necessary, there are young girls being sexually tortured... and the repeated mention of the lashes visible on their tender naked thighs or backs... well, it starts to make one wonder at one point. Well, it made me wonder anyway  Dunno

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“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
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