Side Of Rice To Main Course Causing Marathon Stir

Tag : marathon shoes

First, the commotion was about high-tech swimsuits and the latestSpeedo. Now, as the Olympics approach, it's about the shoes.
Japanese marathoner Mizuki Noguchi won the Olympic gold medal fouryears ago in Athens. She credits her victory to a rigorous trainingregimen, single-minded dedication and . . . rice.
Noguchi wears state-of-the-art track shoes that derive theirsuperior absorption and traction not from the latest combination offabrics and synthetics but from ground-up rice husks. The shoesprovide up to 10 percent better traction than the competition,according to shoe developer Asics.
With the Summer Games less than two months away, Noguchi and therest of Japan's marathon squad are ready to turn their rice-cladfeet loose on Beijing.
“The shoes are easy to run in,” Noguchi told TheAssociated Press. “The Beijing course is hard on the feet andlegs. It's flat and the surface of the roads is very hard.”
Shoe creator Hitoshi Mimura, a former marathon runner, said hebelieves the footwear will be a potent tool on what is expected tobe a very problematic course.
“We've made significant improvements to the shoes forBeijing,” Mimura said Friday. “I think my experience asa marathoner helped me greatly in designing these shoes. I knowwhat long-distance runners have to go through. I know about thepain they go through.”
The shoes weigh only 3.85 ounces and quickly release heat, whichshould prove valuable in Beijing, where temperatures are expectedto soar under the August sun. TRIVIA TIME
How much did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar weigh at birth in 1947? BIG BROWN DELIVERS
Snippet from Big Brown's exclusive interview he granted DavidThomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
“Q: Since the Belmont, a lot of the experts have been tryingto estimate how much of a loss in stud fees your loss will create.Have you thought about that at all?
“A: Nope. It's not like I'd see any of that money anyway.
“Q: So that's not even a concern for you?
“A: Not a bit. Trust me, when it comes to that part of mycareer – and you hear athletes say this all the time, but Ireally mean it when I say it – I'd do that for free.” QUOTE, END QUOTE
The Bears released running back Cedric Benson last week after hewas involved in two DUI incidents – first while driving aboat, then a car – just five weeks apart.
“If you're like me,” wrote Gregg Drinnan of the Kamloops (B.C.) Daily News, “you're wondering if he has a pilot's license.”
“NBA players who pound their chests after making a shotshould be required to put their hands around their throats whenthey miss a wide-open shot,” wrote Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. “Fair is fair.”