Word: marathonic
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...that the short residency of most guest choreographers often necessitates a grueling sequence of six-hour rehearsals on weekends that spill into four-hour sessions on weekdays. Two Sundays ago, Company members remained at the Loeb from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., going home exhausted and sore after a marathon session of hanging lights and setting up the theatre...
...Women are a relatively new force on the marathon scene; for decades, 26 miles was considered simply too grueling for the fairer sex. The Boston Marathon in 1972 became the first major race to allow women; they were welcomed into the Olympic race in 1984. That's not to say it was the first time a woman had competed: in 1966, Roberta Gibb hid in bushes near the start of the Boston Marathon and then jumped into the race shortly after the starting gun fired, finishing (unofficially) in 3 hr. 21 min. 40 sec. The next year, Kathrine Switzer registered...
Legend holds that the world's first marathon was run - unintentionally - in 490 B.C. by a Greek soldier, Pheidippides, who ran the 25 miles to Athens from the town of Marathon to announce a battleground victory over the Persians. "Greetings, we win!" he shouted - and then fell to the ground, dead. It would be more than 2,000 years before the marathon would make its return, at the revival of the modern Olympic Games in Greece in 1896. In that event, 17 runners ran 40 km, or 24.8 miles, with Greek runner Spyridon Louis taking the gold medal with...
...estimated 800 marathons are now held around the world each year; 20 of them with 10,000 or more finishers. They include such punishing races as the Great Tibetan Marathon, held at 12,500 ft. above sea level; the Polar Circle Marathon, held on Greenland's ice cap; and the Pikes Peak marathon, which includes a 6,000-ft. climb to the summit of the Colorado mountain. Record times have fallen from close to three hours a century ago to close to two hours today, with Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie setting the current record in Berlin last year with a time...
...woman has also entered marathon lore as one of the most infamous competitors in race history. In 1980, Rosie Ruiz took first place in the Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line at 2 hr. 31 min. 56 sec. But there was a problem: competitors and officials never spotted the New York woman on the course during the race. As witnesses later verified, the 23-year-old had jumped out of a crowd of spectators about a half-mile from the finish line and simply sprinted to the end. An investigation revealed she had pulled a similar stunt in New York...