Posts

Cynthia Erivo Takes Her Love For Running Around The World, Offers Best Travel Tips 

/in , , /by

Cynthia Erivo is a powerhouse actor, vocalist, and talent. Her latest feat has been training for the London Marathon, and Erivo being the force she is was doing so while simultaneously playing 23 roles in the one-woman play “Dracula” on London’s West End seven times a week.

Read more
marathon

Global Warming Is Making Major Marathon Events More Dangerous 

/in /by

In a new study from Climate Central, rising temperatures caused by global warming around the world is making major marathon events more dangerous, and is preventing elite athletes from breaking records, and recreational runners from hitting their goals. 

The report analyzed 221 races, and it found that 86% of them were less likely to have optimal racing conditions for runners by 2045. This data includes last week’s New York City Marathon and six other major marathons around the world in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, Boston, and Sydney. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We’ve seen time and time again where athletes are passing out from dehydration and heat exhaustion during races and taking months to recover,” Scottish distance runner Mhairi Maclennan told CNN Sports.

“It has really significant impacts on the thickness of your blood, on how quickly your body is able to recover, on your hydration levels for days, and also your ability to train after that kind of experience, which can then delay other achievements and goals that you’re pursuing.”

The study reported that the optimal temperature for elite male marathon runners is 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) and 48 degrees F (9 degrees Celsius) for elite women.

The Tokyo Marathon this year had a 69% chance of optimal race day temperatures for elite men, the study showed, and the odds are expected to decline to 57% within the next 20 years. The Boston Marathon’s odds are also expected to drop from 61% to 53%, and London’s is expected to go from 22% to 17%. 

For elite women, the likelihood of optimal conditions is expected to decrease at five of the seven major marathons by 2045. 

Copernicus, a climate monitoring agency, released data that showed 2024 was the hottest year on record; 34.88 Fahrenheit (1.6 degrees Celsius) warmer than the period before humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels.

Embed from Getty Images

Higher temperatures cause greater stress to be placed on the body, especially during exercise in high humidity conditions. This makes hydration even more important throughout a marathon. 

“Some of the exceptional heat experienced at the 2025 Berlin and Tokyo Marathons pushed temperatures far beyond peak performance conditions,” said Maclennan.

“That’s difficult because at the end of the day, sport is a business, and it generates revenue from spectators, and if spectators are there to see fast performances and that’s not happening because of climate change, that’s an issue for the sector.”

“We have marathons in the spring and in the autumn in the northern hemisphere, because those are the times when we get the good, cool temperatures that you need for good running performance,” Andrew Pershing, who leads the Climate Central science team and worked on the new study, told CNN Sports.

“As the climate warms, if you have a race that happens at the same week every year, that good climate is moving past you and it’s moving away. Those good conditions are becoming less and less frequent.”

Organizers could start scheduling earlier start times for races as a solution. Maclennan then said that the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will likely cause athletes from all over the world to acclimatize. 

“The same is true for any competition where the environment is different to what you train in. There is consideration to be made into how you adapt and how you train your body to compete in those conditions.”

run

London Man Runs 365 Marathons In 365 Days For ‘Hope For Justice’ Charity

/in , , /by

41-year-old Aaron Robinson has run 365 marathons in 365 days, a major accomplishment for not only himself, but Hope For Justice, the anti-human trafficking charity where he works.

Read more
Marathon Runners

2020 Boston Marathon Officially Cancelled For The First Time In 124 Years

/in , /by

Organizers of the Boston Marathon announced this week that for the first time in the event’s history the marathon will be cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic. Originally, event planners were trying to work out a feasible way of implementing social distancing lanes of running so that everyone would be in their own space, however, as case numbers continued to increase and America became the most Covid-19 infected country in the world, they soon realized it just wouldn’t be possible. 

The Boston Marathon originally began 124 years ago, persisting through both world wars, a volcanic eruption, and a whole other pandemic. The race itself typically draws a crowd of 30,000 athletes from all over the world. Originally, when the coronavirus pandemic was just starting to impact citizens of the US, marathon organizers moved the event from April 20th to the beginning of September. However, now that we really know how unpredictable the coronavirus is, the event has been fully cancelled and will instead take on a more virtual format. 

Embed from Getty Images

“It became clear as this crisis developed that Sept. 14 was less and less plausible. This is a challenge, but meeting tough challenges is what the Boston Marathon is all about,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference outside City Hall, going on to bring up the response to the finish line bombings seven years ago. “It’s a symbol of our city’s and our commonwealth’s resilience. So it’s incumbent upon all of us to dig deep, like a marathon runner, like we did in 2013, and keep that spirit alive.”

As previously mentioned the Boston Marathon typically has 30,000 recreational, charity, and professional runners participate in it, but the event itself draws in a crowd of up to 1 million. Fans line up every year from Hopkinton to Boston’s Back Bay as they cheer on their friends and family while they race to the finish line. This route is also the reason that organizers knew creating a social distance means of running the marathon wouldn’t work. 

“There’s no way to hold this usual race format without bringing large numbers of people into close proximity. While our goal and our hope was to make progress in containing the virus and recovering our economy, this kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on Sept. 14 or any time this year,” Walsh said.

Embed from Getty Images

The Boston Marathon is the longest-running annual marathon in America. It originally began in 1897 and the first race consisted of 15 men racing on a dirt path in Ashland and heading into the heart of the city. In 1918 the city modified the marathon format to be more like a relay race amid World War 1. 

Besides that, the only other times the Boston Marathon had to “adjust” the way it was organized was in 2012 when temperatures in the city hit 90 degrees and it was too dangerous for individuals to be running for that long, and in 2010 when a volcanic eruption in Iceland grounded air travel and prevented thousands of runners from Europe from participating in the event. 

“The spirit of Boston and the spirit of the Boston Marathon is to be strong and to be smart. When necessity drives you in a direction you might not have liked, you need to have the strength, the wisdom and the guidance from public officials to do what’s right,” Boston Athletic Association CEO Tom Grilk said.

Mayor Walsh went on in his speech now to say that those who already paid their entry fee for this year’s race will receive a full refund and will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual marathon. Between September 7th-14th, the city of Boston will post a “virtual toolkit” that will include a printable finish line and winners tape for those who want to “run the marathon” at home. Those who provide evidence of finishing the marathon in less than 6 hours will receive a program, T-shirt, medal, and runners bib; per tradition.