There was a report of a new record in running that I had not heard of this week. Thinking of all the different races, challenges, and contests that use the activity of running it seems almost anything goes when it comes to competing with some form of running.
It starts with the childhood games of “tag” and “pump-pump pull you away.” Then in school sports such as soccer, football, basketball enter into the activity list that include running. Track and field is specific for running along with the jumping and throwing events. Running events in track range from the 60 yard (meter) dash to a 10K distance run. The different challenges of track in between the varying distances include running over hurdles, jumping over bars with water on the other side (steeple chase), and running over fields and forests and streams (cross country). The large categories in track includes the sprints (up to 400 meters), middle distance (up to 1500 meters), and long distance (3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters and the mile and two mile events thrown in on occasion.
Outside of track events there are running contests with pro-runners to local runners competing at various distances. The distance will range from two miles to 100 miles. Popular distances include the half-marathon (13.1mile) and the marathon (26.2miles). From there the popular distances include the 50 mile or 50K, on up to 100 miles. The Western States 100 mile challenge has runners covering snow covered peaks, streams of water, and a desert in that 100 mile distance. I ran a 10 mile race in Flagstaff, Arizona, in the Coconino Forest. The course was on a trail in pine trees. If you lost sight of the runner in front of you it was a very easy way to get lost if there was a split in the trail. I happened to catch a quickglimpse of a runner on the trail to the left otherwise I might still be wandering in those trees.
