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Lead Stories: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Note on the News:
Dixon & Smith Continue Kiwi Theme in New York

Posted October 17th, 2008 at 9:49 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

On the heels of Nick Willis’s victory at last month’s Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile, the New Zealand theme continues in New York next month when Rod Dixon and Kim Smith run the ING New York City Marathon.

Dixon, 58, will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of his classic victory over Geoff Smith at the 1983 New York City Marathon by running the race with his daughter. Smith, 26, and the New Zealand record holder for 10,000m amongst other distances, will be making her marathon debut.

Here are a few links to coverage:
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Q&A: Are hot tubs and saunas helpful or harmful?

Posted November 1st, 2007 at 8:15 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

For many years I have believed that heating muscles in a whirlpool or sauna after exercise interferes with muscle contractions and hampers muscular endurance.

However, a study from the University of Otago in New Zealand shows that taking a sauna after workouts for three weeks helped athletes to exercise longer to exhaustion (Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Sports Medicine Australia, August 2007).

Trained runners sat in a humid sauna for 30 minutes at 89.9 degrees centigrade immediately after exercising, 12 times in three weeks. They then ran as hard as they could on a treadmill for about 15 minutes, to exhaustion.
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Video: Post NYC Half- Marathon press conference w/ women’s champ HILDA KIBET

Posted August 6th, 2007 at 9:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Interviews, Live Race Coverage

Below is TheFinalSprint.com’s video coverage of Kenya’s Hilda Kibet at the press conference following her victory at the 2007 NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, Aug 5.

Hilda was able to out-sprint defending champion and fellow Kenyan Catherine Ndereba and Nina Rillstone of New Zealand in the last hundred meters to take the women’s crown. The three elite female runners untimely finished less than one second apart.

As NYRR CEO and President Mary Wittenberg predicted, the NYC Half-Marathon was in many ways Hilda’s “coming out party”.

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Exercising in hot weather and the body’s need for salt

Posted May 31st, 2007 at 11:00 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: Nutrition, Hydration, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Fatigue during hot-weather exercise is caused by lack of water, salt, sugar or calories. Of the four, exercisers are most ignorant of their sodium needs. A study from The University of Otago in New Zealand shows that taking a salty drink prior to competition can help an athlete to exercise longer and harder. (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, January, 2007; and Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, January 2007).

Athletes who took the salty drink had larger blood volumes and greater endurance. Salt makes you thirsty earlier so you drink more, and salt in your body holds water so you have more water available to meet your needs.
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