Human Limits
{Fall is for apple picking. And sports. Lots of sports.}
All my favorite sports collided over the weekend. There was Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-2 hour marathon. Brigid Kosgei’s new women’s marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon, not to mention the incredible showing of American runners including 10 men under 2:12 and five women finishing in the top 10. (Side note: I loved how calm and relaxed Emma Bates looked as she cruised to a 4th place finish and PR. I cannot wait to see what’s next for her.) A new men’s course record at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. And the American League Championships Series between the Yankees and Astros (although, as I write this, the Yankees look like they are about to go down 3-1 in the series).
It was hard to pull myself away from my computer and TV and hard not to be a fan of sports. I know there’s a lot of opinions and naysayers out there about the purity of Kipchoge’s and Kosgei’s achievements in particular—and I get the skepticism. But for me, watching all these events unfold over the weekend, it really did feel like “truly no human is limited,” as Kipchoge has said.
What I’ve Written
Fact: Too often, women brace themselves against the constant threat of harassment while running and 84% (!!!) of women survey by Runner’s World have been harassed while running. It’s not just about the actual harassment that might take place on the streets or trails. There’s a mental toll that seeps into all parts of women’s lives.
I had a chance to talk to women about their experiences with running and harassment. It’s part of a larger initiative between Runner’s World and Women’s Health called Runner’s Alliance to offer concrete, real-time solutions to reduce harassment and improve the safety on the run.
The story is in the next issue of Runner’s World (available Nov. 5) and the November issue of Women’s Health. And the online stories are here and here.
On a lighter note, I also wrote about:
Skateboarding and the Olympics for Discover Life
The five best ski resorts of extreme skiing for Discover Life
Digital eyestrain for Costco Connection
Benefits of exercise for brain health for Energy Times
The best grocery stores for healthy eating for Women’s Health
If you really should be adding ghee to your coffee for Women’s Health
What I’ve Been Reading
A Tale of Two Marathon Records and Nike's Magic Shoes (Outside): Since everyone is talking about shoes…Should Nike’s Vaporfly shoe be banned like full-coverage, low-drag suits like Speedo LZR Racer?
Trail Running Involves Walking, And That Is Freaking Awesome (Trail Runner Magazine): This —> “If we start making value judgments on what type of walking is OK and what isn’t, we’re just looking for reasons to exclude others or harmfully evaluate ourselves.”
One Night at Mount Sinai (The Cut): This is a bananas story. At the same time, it’s not surprising that incidents of sexual harassment at academic medical centers in unparalleled. As the story says, “hospitals are like hunting grounds.”
Why It Matters That ‘Emily Doe’ in the Brock Turner Case Is Asian-American (NY Times): This is from a few weeks ago but worth reading if you haven’t already. It touches on the power of Chanel Miller’s anonymity as Emily Doe during the Brock Turner case and on how, by now revealing her identity as an Asian-American, it brings a whole other level of complexity to understanding what she experienced. And here’s a clip of Chanel on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Seniors Create Club to Combat 'Underrepresentation' of Women in Harvard Athletics (The Harvard Crimson): Three Harvard seniors started this club to try to build greater gender equality in sport.
Running With My Mom: Nowhere to Go but Up (New York Times): On family, grief, and running
How Canada's Newest National Park Faces the Wrongs of the Past—and Guards Our Climate Future (Audubon Magazine): Thaidene Nëné, one of the newest national parks in Canada, was declared this summer. It is a milestone for an Indigenous-led conservation movement and protects crucial habitat as the planet warms.
What I’m Listening To
Clean Sport Collective: If you’re interested in learning more about the fight for clean sport and clean athletes, listen to the Clean Sport Collective podcast. This episode with Alysia Montaño gets into what an athlete loses when dopers cheat—it’s more than just medals—and this episode with Kara and Adam Goucher gets deeper into the recent 4-year ban of Nike Oregon Project Coach Alberto Salazar for doping violations Side note: This is a great article from Women’s Running that gets into the financial and emotional toll and costs.
The Morning Shakeout: There are two really good episodes recently. The first one is more of a roundtable between Mario, Amelia Boone, and Brad Stulberg about mental health. The other is a conversation between Mario and Sally McRae. They travel all over the map from ultra running (obviously) to relationships to communication to how it’s OK to not be perfect.
Keeping track with Molly Huddle, Alysia Montano, and Roisin McGettigan: I’m really excited about this new podcast that just launched, broadly covering the current and future landscape of women’s sports
Thanks for reading!
Christine
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