Showing results for "Running" in Sports History

What will it take to run a marathon in less than two hours? The world's fastest times for the marathon have been dropping since the distance of 26.2 miles was made official nearly one hundred years ago. But after a noticeable decline that occurred for a half century, the times, while still edging lower, have stalled several minutes north of two hours for the past decade. For the first time, 1:59 examines what it will take for an elite distance runner to go subtwo hours.

In the tradition of Seabiscuit, critically acclaimed author Neal Bascomb reaches back to the golden age of sport and crafts an utterly captivating narrative of what may be the most remarkable athletic feat of all time.

There is No Finish introduces the exploding world of the Backyard Ultra. Birthed from the high school musings of Lazarus Lake, renowned for the Barkley Marathons, the running event has spread globally—to over eighty countries— with sky-rocketing numbers. Runners have up to one hour to complete a 4.1-mile lap. At the start of the next hour, again they attempt to complete the same lap. The race keeps going, with no finish, until all except one person gives up. The winner is the last one standing who does one lap more than anyone else.

First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting programme in the world and one of the BBC’s hardy perennials. Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the programme since 1981 and here he sifts comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, he highlights memorable moments from Sports Report.

More than a century ago, a woman ran in the very first modern Olympic marathon. She just did it without permission. Award-winning journalist Maggie Mertens uncovers the story of how women broke into competitive running and how they are getting faster and fiercer every day—and changing our understanding of what is possible as they go.

No man has affected more runners in more ways than Bill Bowerman. During his 24-year tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also ignited the jogging boom, invented the waffle-sole running shoe that helped establish Nike, and coached the US track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

From Monday Night Football to Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL is a dominating force in the lives of millions of fans who tune in and passionately cheer for their favorite teams. And when the games are over, the conversation is just getting started. Who's the greatest player of all time? Which coaches truly shaped the game we known and love today? Why is professional football such an undeniable part of our culture? Three-time Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi has done it all—from scout to executive to coach—and now he sets the record straight on these questions and more.

For millions of people worldwide, running is an essential part of life. It is seen as a path to health, longevity and mental wellbeing – but what is at the root of this international obsession? Where did our desire and ability to run come from, and what role has running played in communities through the ages? Talking to scientists, historians, athletes and authors, Helen Mort follows a trail leading from neolithic times to now, to find out why we run, how our relationship to running has changed and how running has been depicted in our culture across the ages.

This audiobook will take you on a journey along with American fencing from the beginnings in the times of the founding fathers, all the way through the lackluster first decades of American competition in the Olympic Games, and on to today where American fencing stands poised to build on its success and become a major player on the world stage. It’s been a complicated road for the United States, one that’s intertwined with world politics and changing social structures.The American story is one of immigration and tenacity.

One of the greatest marathon runners of all time, Tom Longboat was one of the best-known athletes of the western world in the early 20th century. Longboat was an astonishing long-distance runner who grew up on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario. He won the Boston Marathon in record time, 2:24.24, almost five minutes faster than the 10 previous winners. Longboat then raced in the Olympic Marathon in 1908, but he collapsed on the course amid rumours that his manager had drugged him with strychnine.