Minute 1: The most famous college runner in America this week
Never heard of Cassie Semyon? Well this former high school cross country runner got her picture on the front page of newspapers around the country when she sprinted out of a courthouse in Virginia. The summer intern displayed speed and good form bolting across the street to let her bosses at NBC know that the Paul Manafort verdict had been delivered. No smart phones were allowed in the courtroom, so Semyon had to boogie back to the office in her sandals to spread the news. The video has gone viral, of course, giving Semyon her 15 seconds of fame.
#courtrecord #beatingthecompetition #runofmylife
Minute 2: Pikes Peak Marathon records are topped
Dakota Jones didn’t think that winning one of the most difficult mountain races in America was enough of a challenge. So instead of driving to the start of the Pikes Peak Marathon like every other runner, Jones decided to ride his bike 250 miles to Colorado Springs. Jones was in second place for the first half of the race, a run to the summit of the 14,000 foot mountain. The second leg is the descent which Jones crushed in record time. On the women’s side, 38-year-old Megan Kimmel broke the course record which had withstood challengers for 37 years.
#rockymountainride
Minute 3: Why do runners neglect mental preparation for races?
Endurance athletes need to log a lot of miles to prepare for a race. We all know that. But how many of our running and cycling friends spend time preparing mentally for a race? New research is showing that mental training may be the easiest way to have a big impact on your performance. It can make you faster and increase your enjoyment of a race. Some studies have shown that mental preparation can speed you up by 10% or more. Shalane Flanagan said that before her huge 2017 New York Marathon win, she was in a better mental prep state than she’d ever experienced. For those of you who like your training in an app, a new company called Neurun just deployed their mental prep app at the San Francisco Marathon. Created by a recent Duke University Neuroscience grad, Neurun prepares you for major races by visualizing how to handle the most difficult parts of the course.
#ithinkican
Minute 4: Are endurance athletes really smarter than the average American?
Speaking of mental prep, collegiate women who compete in cross country have the highest GPA of any major sport athletes. The men trail only tennis players in the smart guy rankings. Some say that’s because the endurance sports attract smarter athletes to begin with and some say the sport actually makes you smarter. For years, academic studies have shown that “aerobic and sustained” exercise actually increases the number of brain cells. And sorry, weightlifters, pumping iron does nothing for the muscle between your ears. Furthermore, if you are a runner AND you are funny or messy, according to LIVESTRONG, you may really have above average intelligence.
#messyandfast #laughingallthewaytodean’slist
Minute 5: Finishing an ultra on a prosthetic leg
Another endurance record fell in Colorado this summer when Dave Mackey completed the grueling Leadville Race Series only 20 months after losing his left leg in a training accident. To become a “Leadman,” athletes need to complete six events over the race season within strict time limits. The events include a 100-mile mountain bike race and the famed Leadville 100 trail race. Very few humans with two legs have ever done it. No one had ever done it on only one leg – until Mackey.
#legup #andyou’recomplaining?