800m Runner, Khadevis Robinson, Great On and Off the Track

The 800 meters is a tough event. It's a pulse-pounding, lung-busting distance, and the level of national and worldwide competition is very high. One of the standouts in the 800m for the past decade is Khadevis Robinson - the subject of a great article in toady's New York Times (story). Coached by legendary 800m runner, Johnny Gray, Robinson is 31 and still making finals and winning meets. His PR of 1:43.68 is 1.08 seconds off of Gray's American record, which he's shooting for, if a bit reluctantly. Perhaps more impressive than his times and his Olympic Team credentials are his feats off the track. Rudderless after a disappointing Olympic Trials in 2000, he decided to get a graduate degree in public administration and then started a youth track club in Santa Monica (Youth Track and Running Club). Clearly, life beyond the track hasn't slowed him on the track; he's realistically gunning this weekend for a spot on the indoor U.S. Worlds team.

The Real Run for the White House: How active are the candidates?

The race for the White House just got a lot slower with Senator John Edwards shutting down his campaign. The most accomplished runner in the field - with a marathon PR of 3:30 - he could handily spank the rest of the candidates as well as our famously active current president, Bush, who has a respectable PR of 3:44.

So, when it comes to the best of the rest, which candidate would win in a real test of endurance? Check out where the candidates fall on Run Junkie's water bottle rating system (below). Hands down, it seems Mike Huckabee would take the victory. With four marathons under his ever shrinking belt, and Boston queued up for April (previous post), he gets four bottles, and no other candidate even really comes close. Hillary Clinton speed walks occasionally (one bottle). Barack Obama stays fit by regularly playing basketball and hitting the gym (two bottles). Mitt Romney runs three miles every other day or so (two bottles). John McCain does some hiking now and then (one bottle, with one extra for enduring the Hanoi Hilton.) Though not yet an official candidate, Mike Bloomberg doesn't seem to be a regular exerciser (data are hard to come by, though), but we give him one full bottle for his great policy work to advance the health of NYC's eight million citizens.

Your Voice: Help Keep Roadless Areas...Roadless

We runners tend to be a motivated lot. It's not always easy to get in the miles when life throws big work weeks, heavy class schedules, or horrid weather your way, but somehow we manage to get out the door regardless. At times, we're called to put some of that motivation to use toward causes other than the kinetic part of running, and it seems that this is one of those times. Our nation's wild roadless areas are at risk, and their fate hangs in part on our ability to move policy makers to act to preserve the pristine backcountry so many of us love. The New York Times recently ran a good story and an editorial outlining the key issues (story; editorial). Basically, the roadless areas in the nation's wildernesses are being over-run by off-road vehicles and, even worse, offered up to the highest corporate bidders. Whether you get to enjoy running the serene backcountry or just love knowing it's there, it's time to let the White House and Congress know that we won't let one of the nation's greatest assets be sold off or ruined for our generation and those that come after us. Here's what we can do:

Let them know:
White House (link)
Congress (link)
Bureau of Land Management (link)
Help the cause:
Heritage Forests Campaign (link)
Wood River Land Trust (link )
Nature Conservancy (link)