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Attention, shoppers! Are you thinking of gifting someone on your list a pair of running shoes?Don’t.I’ll qualify that instruction. Give someone running shoes if you (A) are giving them the exact same brand, model and size as the shoes they already use...

There was a vacant lot on the corner of 10th Street and Avenue H. I learned to play there, meeting up daily with other children in the neighborhood after school. There is something irreplaceable about unsupervised play; many lessons are learned. We...

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

Taylor Swift’s song “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” has turned me into a full-on Swiftie. Yes, you read that right: This 60-something widow is now belting out lyrics about pain and power with a vigor that could rival any teenage girl wrapped in...

Thanksgiving is almost upon us and I’m ready to carve the turkey. White meat or dark meat? I go for the white but I always remember my grandfather; he said the neck was the best part. I have yet to eat a neck, but one does wonder why turkeys have two...

The cusp between colorful early autumn and chilly later autumn footraces is loaded with activity. This Sunday, for Valley runners who aren’t in New York for the marathon, the local running calendar offers four different races in the space of three...

When Charlie Baker left the Massachusetts Governor’s Mansion in 2023 for the last time as its resident, he presumably had a whole host of professional options to move onto as America’s most popular governor. However, few foresaw Baker choosing his...

By JIM JOHNSON

For years, athletic directors and coaches have referred to their college athletes as scholar athletes or student athletes. The reference is that college athletes are students first and athletes second. Meanwhile, college athletes, especially...

Historically, American sprinters have been one of the biggest stories at the Olympics, and this summer’s excellent Games in Paris hardly altered that pattern. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record for the 400-meter hurdles for the sixth...

By AMY NEWSHORE

Part 1 of a 2-part seriesWhen you think of someone you consider to be intelligent, what comes to mind? Perhaps they are well-schooled, are good problem solvers, or are self-taught, knowledgeable and passionate about a subject. It is most common to...

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

Sometimes life teaches you things you never wanted to know.As I alluded to in a previous column, I broke my femur, or thigh bone, this past March 25th, when I went down on a patch of ice while bicycling. For those of you who do not know, the femur is...

By all accounts the Paris Olympics were a great success. We were treated to a magnificent sport spectacle, the world’s greatest athletes at their best. The display of sportsmanship was fulfilling, a tribute to the competitors. The Olympics are for the...

The next time we tune in to hear the drums of NBC’s Summer Olympics coverage, the torch will be lit in California for the first Summer Olympics in the United States in 34 years. And from the perspective of those studying the business of sports, the...

The last time Paris hosted the Summer Olympics was 100 years ago. If you were to walk into one of the dining halls at that time you would not be able to predict which sport an athlete participated. Swimmers looked like discus throwers and distance...

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...

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...

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...