Racing, lots of Racing

2008 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon
The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is one of the nations largest 1/2 marathon races, which sells out each of its 35,000 alloted slots. The race is run in scenic Indianapolis at the sight of one of the greatest racing venues of all time, the Indianapolis Speedway. This years race did not disappoint as it literally came down to a sprint to the finish. Kenyans Lamech Mokono and Valentine Orare both won the race, as the race officials awarded the first ever tie in the events history.

After reviewing the replay and still photos it was decided that each would be awarded the prize. I myself find that the sprint was a little weak, but judge for yourself who won the race. The video is located here, its HILARIOUS (ok, its only funny if your a runner or know a runner :-) )


Kentucky Derby Tragedy and Triumph
This weekend was the storied and historical horse racing event, the Kentucky Derby. This years race had history written all over it. A young gun with only three career starts trying to become the first in 93 years to do so, and a filly, trying to show the boys that women know how to run as well. The race lived up to its billing, with excitement in more than ways than one could imagine.

Big Brown (see top picture), the winner of this years derby, raced smart, hanging towards the front middle of the pack and then when he had to, turned on the gas and roared around the leaders for a 5 length victory. Eight Belles ran a great race as well and finished second behind Big Brown. As she was cooling down something terrible happened, one which is really hard to explain. Both of her front ankles broke, sending her to the track. With no legs to stand on, the on track veterinary euthanized her on the spot, to end any pain and suffering she might have endeared.

This will undoubtedly open up a huge controversy on whether or not horse racing is humane or not. PETA will most likely have some sort of outcry over this and images of Barbaro from a few years back will get plastered before our eyes once again. My only statement is this. These horses are bred to do this, this is what they live for. If you say that they are inhumanely treated, then I ask you to reevaluate your base line on this. These horses get treated better than nearly all animals and many humans at that. This is a sport, there will be injuries and casualties. I think we have bigger fish to worry about than a few deaths of horses. Anyways, I am out in DC for the week, probably no posts what so ever. I'll post the highlights from the trip, but really no news links or anything exciting. Cheers