h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Where do you get a 42173m diameter plate to fit that marathon? (alternatively, use a 13424m diameter plate and drape it along the edge)

You could also take a ride in one of the planes of Marathon.

http://www.lakepowell.net/marathon.html

Phidippides ran not just 26 miles, but 140 miles twice in succession, carrying messages between Athens and Sparta, after which he ran the 26 miles back to Athens to announce the news of Athens's victory. That's more than 200 miles. If he died soon afterward, was it any wonder?

Oh, and he was part of the army that fought the Persians, who outnumbered the Athenian soldiers four to one.

Running is for idiots!

Why run ? You still advance at the same age in time, if you walk

There's no mystery about it, Prof. Whether you walk a mile or run a mile, you burn the same number of calories. If you don't have much time to spare, you can run the distance in less time than it would take to walk it. There are many busy people who do their running in the morning, before work. If running doesn't work for them, they swim. I knew a doctor whose only exercise consisted of an hour of fast swimming twice a week. There just was no time in his schedule for any more.

That said, destiny plays a part. Look around. Some people are light and thin and agile. They could run all day without putting damaging stress on their joints. Running is what they're built for, and no apologies are necessary. Cut them some slack.

There are also some pudgy people who should *not* run. You'd be surprised, though, how even some very fat people are capable of walking for miles. I knew a guy like that. he was immense, but he walked everywhere. Way out in the country you would see him trudging along, happy as a clam.

Some people gravitate to swimming or tennis. Arthur Murray, the famous dance instructor, stayed trim and agile on the tennis court, until the age of 88, when an injury pushed him to the sidelines.
There';s a theory that all tennis players are naturally good dancers. I'm dubious about that theory, but my father played tennis almost up to his 90th birthday, and was amazingly light on his feet for some time afterward.

yep! I've always said - that there isn't such a thing as an "average man or woman" where "they" talk about statistics etc

Well, in Lake Wobegone, everyone is above average.

got me on that one ?

Lake Woebegone is an imaginary place in Minnesota, Prof. There's a man named Garrison Keillor who used to do a radio show called 'Prairie Home Companion'. He told stories about this imaginary place.

It's American humour, as popular here as those things you Brits find amusing, but just as incomprehensible to outsiders.

Dmitri.

Brit humour "they" aren't enough to match MY humour

Is it close to Dontgonearthe Castle?

If it's too close, the castle will sink into the mud