Saturday Mailbagging

From #1 Make Nice Friend of Activeness (FOA) Marshall:

The latest HBO Real Sports (#124) gets my nod, not for the arrogant Gary Sheffield who has the lead story, but for the look at Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is profiled as once being named the world's greatest adventurer by the Guinness Book of World Records. He of marathon fame a few years back: 7 marathons / 7 days / 7 continents - four months after having a heart attack...among many other amazing outdoor mountain and running adventures. A good watch, worth the 15 minutes.

Word to Borat story, too! Me make nice with Kazakhstan sister of # 2 Prostitute in town.

Marshall

From Activeness Reader John W. from Bethesda, Md:

Thank you for posting your March 2006 article about Craig Virgin. This morning, I read about Alan Webb breaking the American record for the mile -- Webb was a high school phenom in Northern Virginia, not far from where I now live -- and it made me think about my high school days, growing up in St. Louis County and the time I went to the Alton Relays with my track team and watched Craig Virgin lap the field in the two-mile run.

Your article came up when I "Googled" Craig's name, and I truly appreciated the opportunity to read about how he's been doing since the end of his competitive running career. I knew nothing about the accident in 1997 (my wife and I have lived in the Washington, D.C. area for twenty years, and the news never made it here), and I never knew about his childhood health issues. As an unremarkable runner who is now 51 and dealing with the fact that even runners like me have to cut back and modify training regimens, your piece about the far-greater challenges Craig has faced over the years was inspiring and put a lot of my own minor challenges in perspective.

Again, thank you, and best regards.

John W.