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The marathon was not part of the ancient Olympics but was introduced as a special event in the 1896 games. Seventeen participants from five nations started the race but only nine finished. One American entered but did not finish. The original race was...

Running in the kind of hot weather we’re having these days can be fun. It can also be uncomfortable, exhausting, depleting. In extreme cases it’s even dangerous. Seriously, how do you exercise in the heat?Part of the answer is obvious. Dress lightly....

With the Summer Olympics in Paris upon us, expect the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to start complaining about ambush marketing. Ambush what, you ask? Ambush marketing – it’s a term unique to the business world of sport. History has it that...

(Note: Fit To Play columnist Jim Johnson will lend his voice on the 2024 Summer Olympics throughout the next month with special features pertaining to specific events and what goes into them for the athletes competing in Paris.)Athletes from all over...

It’s been over seven months since the Massachusetts State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation announced that reservations for a new license plate, depicting an image of an eastern wild turkey, would soon be ready to go. This new license...

In 1972, UMass graduate Charlotte Lettis, then 22 years old and living in Amherst, became the first women’s winner of the Mt. Washington Road Race. A pioneer in the evolution of women’s long-distance running from fitness jogging to hardcore...

The ancient Olympics ended in AD 393 and for 1,500 years there were no games until Pierre de Coubertin facilitated the revival of the modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. Since then, the Olympics have grown from 241 athletes representing 14 countries to...

At a recent event I attended in Spencer sponsored by the Central Mass. Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, I found myself engaged in dialog with people at my table who were attempting to explain their take on a recent report they had read....

Good morning!Last week’s Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was the biggest happening in upstate New York since Woodstock. Four days of horse racing in Saratoga after three days of peace and love at Yasgur’s farm. You half expected Arlo Guthrie to come...

A recent “My Turn” piece in the Recorder (Compromise needed on Sunday hunting June 7) brought a grin to my face when I read it. It was a well-written article by Mason Bassett, who reached out to me in early May, with his classmate Landon Smead, about...

Good morning!In January, Boston’s chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow told the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham that catcher Kyle Teel, shortstop Marcelo Mayer and outfielder Roman Anthony are “guys we think are the next wave, not just big leaguers...

In less than two months, thousands of athletes from around the world will converge on Paris for the Summer Olympics. To me, the Olympics have always been the epitome of sport. Yes, we have the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the World Cup, but...

You can probably beat me in the Bridge of Flowers Road Race on Aug. 10. Here’s why:I like running up hills. Somehow my gait and posture seem well adapted to uphill running. In many cases if someone is the same speed as I am on flat ground, I can run...

As the first moments of daylight crept over the horizon like a sedated manatee on the last day of turkey hunting season, I was mesmerized at how long it took for the sun to appear that day. I honestly don’t know why this was, or what was making me...

Artificial intelligence is experiencing a renaissance. Tools like ChatGPT and Copilot are becoming a daily part of conversations. AI’s history stretches back nearly as far as computers themselves, but the advent of generative AI has made it more...

Moving into the final week of turkey hunting season, hopefully you’ve already put a nice tom turkey on the table this spring – though we all know that it doesn’t always work out the way we want. Calendars fill up, the weather doesn’t cooperate, birds...

Good morning!Unless there’s a hole in the fence I’ll be covering the Belmont Stakes from Union Avenue. The days of slipping ushers a five spot with a wink and a nod are gone. Ticketmaster wants $164 to simply walk through the gate and $1,000 for a...

With this year’s wild turkey hunting season nearing the end of a second full week, stories have been coming in from all over the state from friends and colleagues who’ve had a great start to the 2024 season. And with two full weeks-plus remaining, I...

Some suggest that pickleball is a fad but I believe it is here to stay. After all, some reports indicate that 36 million people played pickleball last year compared to around 24 million tennis players. Parks departments are inundated with requests to...

Good morning!Close to $200 million will be wagered on the 150th Kentucky Derby this evening, so let’s take a look at the contenders and which horse or horses Recorder handicapper John Dobrydnio thinks will win.The 5-2 morning line favorite is...