Happy Birthday! Nike Swoosh!

A simple check mark established itself as a timeless symbol on this Saturday some 40 years ago. With all the submissions in place, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recognized the Nike Swoosh logo on June 18th, 1971. But what became the designer of this icon, who reportedly gotten only $35 for her effort? Reporter Allan Brettman of The Oregonian tracked down graphic designer Carolyn Davidson, who indeed only billed the company $35, or $2 per hour for 17.5 hours, for her work. An assistant professor at Portland State University and a part-time executive at Blue Ribbon Sports, Phil Knight’s chance meeting with Davidson, then a graphic designer major, landed her a freelance gig with Knight. After years of chart and presentation productions for Knight’s numerous meetings with Onitsuka Tiger of Japan, whose sneakers Blue Ribbon Sports distributed at the time. Knight asked Davidson to create something else, a logo. Disagreements between Knight and execs at Onitsuka made it clear he should create his own firm. But obstacles, especially the mammoth adidas, meant Knight needed something as symbolic as the 3-Stripe. That task went to Davidson.

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Blog Roll - Reid Coolsaet

Nationals this year (June 22-25) are in Calgary, AB which sits at an altitude of 3400 feet. That altitude isn’t all that high but it will likely still make distance races a little harder (slower). In order to prepare for the elevation a bunch of us from Speed River are heading to Canmore, which is about an hour’s drive from Calgary. Canmore is at 4400 feet which is very similar to Sedona, AZ where I’ve done many runs while training in Flagstaff. On a typical run you won’t even notice any altitude but when you try and run fast on the track it’s just a little slower. It’s not like 7000+ feet when you’re gasping for air between intervals. I’m looking forward to the trip because I’ve never been to Banff and have heard great things.

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The star-spangled runner: On your marks for the Los Angeles to New York Footrace 2011

"Treat it like a job" – that's the advice I need to remember this summer. It won't be your average nine to five. Going to "work" in the next few weeks will mean weaving through the Joshua trees of the Mojave Desert; scaling the peaks of the rugged Black Mountains in Arizona, battling across the windswept high plains of Oklahoma, and through the forests of Missouri.
But it's a good tip for tackling the epic task ahead. This Sunday, I will be in Huntington Beach in Los Angeles, with 15 others, for the start of the LA to New York City 2011 footrace (the world's longest, incidentally).
Three thousand, two hundred and twenty miles across an entire continent stretch ahead, all of which I plan to do on under own steam. Fifteen states; 45 miles a day; just the one pair of legs. In just over ten weeks' time, on August 27, I hope to run into New York, seeing the skyscrapers of Manhattan for the first time in my life.
You may well wonder why (and no, my favourite film isn't Forrest Gump). My mum certainly does. She hardly leaves Leicestershire. What's making me do this?

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Get your kicks - NIKE LUNARGLIDE+ 3

Grandma's Marathon 2011: Schedule, Route, History And More

Grandma's Marathon 2011: Defending Men's Champion Withdraws From Race

Long-distance running generally is not a sport that lends itself to guarantees, but this one is pretty much set in stone.

The men's side of the Grandma's Marathon is guaranteed to have a new winner in 2011.

Defending men's champion Philemon Kemboi, a native of Kenya, has been forced to withdraw from the 35th annual running of Grandma's Marathon due to visa problems, according to the Duluth News Tribune. The withdrawl was confirmed by race officials on Tuesday.

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Bid to con Wanjiru girlfriend foiled

Police in Nakuru on Wednesday arrested three people who tried to fleece a girlfriend of marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru three days after his burial.

The three are being held at the Central Police Station after their plan to lure Judy Wambui to sign up for a suspicious deal at a Nakuru hotel failed.

“We are holding three suspects and we are interrogating them to establish their motive for calling Ms Wambui to partner with them only a few days after Wanjiru was buried,” said Nakuru police boss Johnston Ipara.

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Yuki Kawauchi Building Up for World Championships With 50 km Ultra This Sunday

by Brett Larner for JRN

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) became an international name when he finished 3rd at February's Tokyo Marathon, qualifying for the Daegu World Championships marathon with a time of 2:08:37 which made him the top man on the Japanese team despite an existence completely outside the corporate running leagues. At the recent Nittai Time Trials meet Kawauchi ran his last track race of the season before getting into the brunt of his marathon training, running 14:10.32 for 7th in the 5000 m in the midst of a typhoon. Before the race Kawauchi sat down with JRN to talk about his planned World Championships preparations. First up on his schedule is the Okinoshima 50 km ultramarathon this Sunday, June 19.

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