today stephaan engles completed his 365th consecutive marathon when he crossed the finish line of the carretera de les aigues marathon in barcelona, spain, today. according to news accounts it eclipsed the prior record of 52 consecutive marathons set in 2009. there aren't too many details of his accomplishment in the brief cnn new story. it seems unlikely that the marathons were actual "events" - probably 26.2 mile runs each and every day with official races spaced in at weekly intervals?
still, it's an impressive accomplishment - and gives new meaning to regular long runs! to put his mileage in perspective, he ran 9,569 miles in seven countries during his year long event! a few years ago, i ran three consecutive 50ks - which was part of a stretch when i ran 13 marathons and/or ultras in a 12 week span. it was major logistical challenge in addition to the actual physical one of running them week after week.
i really admire engles' perseverance. he compared the daily marathons to a "regular job" - day in, day out. "I am running just as Joe Average goes to work on Monday morning, whether or not he feels like it."
congratulations stefaan engles!
it's official - the four member florida board of clemency voted, unanimously, to pardon jim morrison of his 1970 conviction for indecent exposure. the charges stemmed from a 1969 concert appearance by the doors in miami - where, the prosecution alleged, morrision dropped his pants and exposed himself to the audience.
news of a potential pardon surfaced last month when governor charlie crist announced his support for the pardon. the governor, acting alone, could not grant the pardon. he needed a majority votes of the clemency board, which took action this morning, to secure the pardon. governor crist took the unusual step of speaking on behalf of jim morrison at the hearing. here are some excerpts from his remarks:
Much controversy surrounds this conviction, and not only because many witnesses testified they did not see Mr. Morrison expose himself.
Controversy also exists because Mr. Morrison was not arrested until four days after the concert. A case was brought against him only after newspaper articles recounted the alleged events at the concert, based on a complaint filed by an employee of the state attorney’s office who attended the concert.
...
Mr. Morrison appealed his judgment and sentence; however, he died before the appeal was heard. His death prevented him from exercising his right to a direct appeal, a right given to every American by the United States Constitution. If his appeal had been heard, a reviewing court could have resolved the controversies surrounding his conviction.
...
The words of an appellate judge, penned a decade before Mr. Morrison’s trial, provide insight into the question before us today: When death prevents the accused from appealing his judgment, the conviction is “a nullity” and “[j]urisdiction to determine the issue of guilt or innocence is now assumed by the ultimate arbiter of human affairs.”
a full copy of crist's remarks are appended to the ny times story reporting the pardon.
congratulations, in heaven, jim morrison :D
if all goes as planned, the doors of posthumous pardon may finally open for jim morrison - more than 40 years after he was convicted of misdemeanor incident exposure and profanity charges (he was acquitted of others) and sentence to six months in jail. while morrison's onstage behavior was gross and disgusting, his prosecution was vile and politically inspired. the ny times has an interesting story on the atmosphere surrounding the news, which includes an interview with one of morrison's defense counsel.
morrison never served any of the six month sentence, the decision was still on appeal when he died in paris of a herion overdose the following year. the florida clemency board meets on december 9 and will decide whether to grant the pardon. doors and jim morrison fans have petitioned for his pardon in previous years and under earlier governors. but this is is the first time a florida governor (albeit with less than 2 months remaining on his term) has indicated that he is willing to grant the pardon.
hopefully the pardon will issue. then jim morrison can join the likes of legendary lenny bruce, who himself received a posthumous pardon in new york in 2004, from then governor george pataki, for his 1964 obscenity conviction that stemmed from bruce's comic performance!
pardon jim morrison!!
registration for the 2011 boston marathon opened at 9 am - and the entire field of 26,000+ runners was filled by 5:03 pm!! i registered in the early afternoon (and, based on my submission id, was #17,577) without difficulty. but the earliest runners had plenty of hassles with the process - probably a direct result of the initial crush of volume. while i thought registration would close quickly (in a matter of days) - i still can't believe the time frame was measured in just hours!
this insanity is the logical conclusion of an ever shortening registration window - last year registration closed in only two months. gone forever are the days you could register for this event as late as march. in 2008 i was closed out when registration filled in february - and i payed for my procrastinating ways. last year registration closed before the philadelphia marathon. now it closed before the nyc marathon - shortening the qualification period even more as a consequence.
whatever your thoughts on charities - the boston registration process has been hurt by its decision to set aside more than 5,000 slots for charity runners (one fifth of the field). for a race that's built its reputation on stringent qualifying standards, that single decision may inevitably change the public perception about what running boston means.
it's official, the trail-mix 6 hour run has been moved off the debris strewn trails and onto the park roads. below is the text from the email we received earlier this week that explained the circumstances of the new course layout. in keeping with his characteristic great humor, richie has decided to rename the event the "trail mix-up" 6 hour run :D
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I was away for a few days, and was watching the morning news. I couldn't believe my ears that there was a tornado in Forest Hills on Thursday. A TORNADO IN FOREST HILLS!!! My first impression that it had to be some other Forest Hills like in Wichita. But I then realize one does not usually speak of hills and Kansas in the same sentence. I listened some more and to my dismay it was Queens. I had a sick feeling in my gut that Forest Park would be part of the carnage,
You may recall two years ago that there was a violent storm at the conclusion of the Unisphere 50. That storm lasted for 5 hours and did havoc in Forest Park. Several dozen trees fell and some of that devastation has still not been cleared. I could imagine what a tornado would do. I called our first president of BUS, Ben Grundstein. He runs three days a week in the Forest Park woods. I felt I would get a more reliable report from Ben than Fox News, and Ben is also not affiliated with the Tea Party or Central Perk.
After my conversation with Ben, my fears were confirmed. The Park took a major hit. I was not aware that I traded my New Balances for a pair of red pumps and my new best friend is now Toto. I also learned later that a few other BUS "haunts" like Crocheron, Cunningham and Juniper Valley Parks had suffered major damage. I had to come back a day early from my brief journey to see for myself.
I first walked the bridle path loop. In less than a half mile, there were already 3 massive trees fallen across the path. I didn't even bother with the trail loop. I could notice from a distance that several sections have become wooden blockades. I knew that some kind of revision would need to be made.
Fortunately, the road and footpath sections were spared, except in a couple of areas. I laid out a paved "lollipop" loop about 2.6 to 2.7-mile in distance to be the existing race loop. The new route will be rolling and could be considered challenging after 3 or 4 hours. Entrants will be transferred to a shorten 1.3-mile loop in the final hour.
Naturally, I have to made new arrangements with the various bureaucracies about the new changes. But I don't foresee a problem. The current road and footpath conditions are filled with debris like leaves and twigs. Fortunately for us, there will be a 5K a week later in Forest Park for the benefit of the Forest Park Trust and that could mean a cleanup project in the near future could be put into motion.
I will admit that I am disappointed that the original Trail Mix cannot be held. I was very fond of the nature of the event and even its name, though Minnesotans may claimed I plagiarize it from them. But like the theater, the Broadway Ultra Society show still must go on, and the plan is that there still will be a 6-hour event in Forest Park on Sunday, September 26. But there will be a new name. It was created by ultra standout and ultra historian, Nick Marshall. The new name is now the Trail Mix-up. I am giving out a cool cap designed by David Luljak to early entrants. Hurry to get in your race application. The entry fee is still only $20.
today, september 25, is national punctuation day - something i didn't know existed until i heard it mentioned on cbs radio this morning. this is the 7th anniversary, having been created in 2004 by jeff rubin - who took it upon himself to publicize the need for correct usage! just writing this post make me double back to check my own grammar and punctuation! while poor grammar and punctuation - two entirely separate things for the purests among you - are pet peeves of mine, one of my favorite authors had little use for either!
jack kerouac was, on a good day, considered a poor writer - if not an outright barbarian - because he ignored punctuation with impunity! that isn't to say he started out that way. his first novel, "the town and city," was a masterpiece of wolfian literature. he had to really work himself up to abandon the traditional writing style of his generation (especially punctuation) - to go on the road and create to new beat :D
i'm not exactly sure how one celebrates "punctuation" day. it's a generally a pretty smarmy business pointing out the mistakes of others (especially trite ones). so i guess it's one where we need to focus on self-editing :D still, a correctly placed comma can save a life - so if you see stuff like this: "let's eat grandma" - go out of your way to insert the lifesaving comma :O
the results of posthumously conducted dna tests establish that chess legend bobby fischer is not the father of 9-year old jinky young of the philippines. bobby fischer's remains were exhumed last month, by order of the icelandic supreme court, to obtain the tissue samples for the tests.
there was evidence that fischer, who died in in january, 2008, had considered jinky his daughter - including a card he had sent to her signed "daddy." while the test results resolve one claim to fischer's estate, the two remaining claims to his estate will be heard next month.
stay tuned!
george steinbrenner died early this morning, july 13, 2010. he had just celebrated his 80th birthday. the boss (not springsteen in this case, as yankee fans will point out) gave up day to day control over the team to his sons hank and hal, but he nevertheless remained a looming figure at yankee stadium. during his 37 years as principal owner, the team won 7 world championships, the most recent of which was last year. and it was his vision that brought into existance the brand new yankee stadium.
steinbrenner was the stuff of legend. he redefined notions of modern baseball when he ushered in the age of free agency during the 1970s by signing catfish hunter and reggie jackson steinbrenner was a controversial figure - even among yankee fans - for his constant interference with day to day game decisions (and his impetuous hiring and firing of managers). but it all served to make him part of popular culture - no less so than when a caricature of steinbrenner became part of the seinfeld universe during the late 1990s.
while he made few public appearances because of his declining health over the last few years, fans will ever forget his determination to win! or, as he often expressed it, "he hated to lose!"
rest in peace george steinbrenner.
legendary chess champion bobby fischer died in january, 2008, in iceland (where he had been living) more than two years ago. yesterday, as the ny times reports, the supreme court of iceland ordered that his body be exhumed and a paternity test be conducted to determine whether 9 year old jinky ong is, in fact, his daughter.
from the news report: "since his death, there has been an ongoing fight over his estate involving competing claims by marilyn young, jinky’s mother; miyoko watai, the head of the japanese chess association, who said she legally married fischer in 2004; and two of fischer’s nephews, alexander and nicholas targ. agence france-presse reported that the united states government has also filed a claim for unpaid taxes."
interestingly, this is from the 2008 ny times obituary, "he never married, but had a daughter, jinky ong, in 2000 with a companion, justine ong, in manila. the child is his only immediate survivor." the obituary made no mention of miyoko watai, who claims she married fischer in 2004 (at which time they had been living together in japan).
update: dna tests establish fischer is not jinky's father.
