Within 16 minutes, three men collapsed and died while running the half marathon in Detroit. All had trained to do the event and according to news reports all were relatively healthy.

Emergency medical staff were on hand quickly for each man, but none could be saved.

It's a tragedy but unfortunately it happens. People who sign up for any organized race have to sign a waiver acknowledging that they understand the risk they are taking in participating in an extreme event.

Within 16 minutes, three men collapsed and died while running the half marathon in Detroit. All had trained to do the event and according to news reports all were relatively healthy.

Emergency medical staff were on hand quickly for each man, but none could be saved.

It's a tragedy but unfortunately it happens. People who sign up for any organized race have to sign a waiver acknowledging that they understand the risk they are taking in participating in an extreme event.

No sane person would compete in a half marathon or marathon without doing the proper training. It is hard on the body and you need to be prepared for it.

A whole lot of exercise doesn't necessarily mean that you're immune from heart troubles.

Studies have suggested that you're at higher risk than the general population of suffering a heart attack while you're running a marathon, but the rest of the time, your risk is much lower. A study out of the University of Manitoba also suggests that long-distance races can cause damage to your heart but it's healed within a week, with no long-term effects.

But the evidence is not clear-cut. A three-year old study suggests that for runners over the age of 50, it might be difficult to tell the difference between the positive effects of training on the heart and the onset of cardiovascular disease.

You have to know your limits. But the heart is a complicated and tricky little organ. By the time you realize something's seriously wrong, you may already be knocking on the pearly gates.

But there's risk in any activity probably more in a life of non-activity.

The Detroit deaths prompted the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association in the United States to issue a warning: we need to be more aware of the prevalence of sudden cardiac arrest.

The association estimates that 300,000 Americans die every year from sudden cardiac arrest. That's one person every two minutes. Clearly, not all of them are running marathons.

Some of them are at home watching television or outside office buildings, taking a smoke break.

Yes, three runners died in Detroit doing something that gave them great joy on Sunday.

What didn't make the headlines was that on the same day, in Columbus, Ohio and Toronto, 30,000 people crossed the finish lines for marathons and half marathon and while maybe not extending their lives, sure improved the quality of it.

Yeah, the hours of daylight are rapidly diminishing as summer fades to fall and mornings are a little cooler. But it's marathon season and all the big ones are coming up.

People who have been prepping for the distance are getting ready to scale back, to peak just in time for their goal races.

It's nice to see that race season means 78-year-old Ed Whitlock will be back challenging himself on the streets of Toronto. This week, organizers of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon announced Whitlock may be running the half marathon.

Whitlock's a guy I really look up to. He's got two things I've had to some extent in the past speed and a full head of hair.

Yeah, the hours of daylight are rapidly diminishing as summer fades to fall and mornings are a little cooler. But it's marathon season and all the big ones are coming up.

People who have been prepping for the distance are getting ready to scale back, to peak just in time for their goal races.

It's nice to see that race season means 78-year-old Ed Whitlock will be back challenging himself on the streets of Toronto. This week, organizers of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon announced Whitlock may be running the half marathon.

Ed Whitlock

Whitlock's a guy I really look up to. He's got two things I've had to some extent in the past speed and a full head of hair.

He's also the only person in the world over the age of 70 to run a marathon in under three hours. He's done that twice. The last time was five years ago. He may have lost a step or two since, but he's still very much at it.

Two years ago, he suffered a knee injury his second since 2000. He took all last year off from the race circuit to give his body time to heal. He resumed training about a year ago but isn't quite back to marathon shape. He's had some setbacks this year, but with a bit more rest he's confident he's firmly on the road back.

Whitlock's sure his latest injuries aren't related to his age. He doesn't subscribe to the theory that the older you get, the more prone you are to injury and the longer it takes for you to recover.

A lot of researchers have said similar things.

"Age is no barrier," he says. "At least I like to think it's not. Time is always the best healer. Racing is what we do between injuries."

Whitlock's regular marathon training routine is a three-hour daily run at an easy pace. He's up to about an hour a day and is slowly adding to it. If all goes well, he expects to be fit enough for another crack at the marathon distance next fall when he's 79.

Still, he says he may have to limit himself to the five-kilometre race this year instead of the half marathon. He'll make that decision after he runs a 10-K race on Sept. 20.

If Whitlock does run the shorter distance, he'll be joining 98-year-old Fauja Singh one of the oldest distance runners in the world. And the fastest. Six years ago in Toronto, he shattered the world record for fastest marathon by a runner over the age of 90: five hours, 40 minutes and four seconds. He took more than an hour off the previous record.

What about the rest of us those of us who are mere mortals? Israeli researchers suggest it's never too late to reap the benefits of exercise. Even if you're well into your 80s.

Reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers said that previously sedentary 85-year-olds who start exercising can double their three-year survival rate compared to their peers who'd rather watch the world go by.

For people like Whitlock and Singh, it's not about life extension. It's about extending what you do with your life.

Add some exercise to the mix and your body will burn more than it takes in and you'll lose weight. Add an ice cream cone a day to your diet without increasing your activity and you're well on your way to obesity.

Some weight-loss programs preach the virtue of not eating anything after eight in the evening. However, there's a fair bit of research that suggests a calorie is a calorie to your body: it doesn't distinguish between daytime or nighttime calories.

Well, it might not be that simple.

Add some exercise to the mix and your body will burn more than it takes in and you'll lose weight. Add an ice cream cone a day to your diet without increasing your activity and you're well on your way to obesity.

Some weight-loss programs preach the virtue of not eating anything after eight in the evening. However, there's a fair bit of research that suggests a calorie is a calorie to your body: it doesn't distinguish between daytime or nighttime calories.

Well, it might not be that simple.

If you've ever put your body through the wringer of working shifts, you'll know that it wreaks havoc with mealtime. It's tough to sit down to dinner when you should be eating breakfast or having lunch when everyone else you know is having breakfast. Then you hit your days off and you try to get on the same clock as your family. It's a recipe for a messed up gastro-intestinal system.

It'll hit you in one of two ways: you're either eating extra meals or your body gets so ticked with you, that your appetite shuts down.

Several studies have suggested links between working weird shifts and putting on extra weight even when appetite is decreased.

The body just wasn't meant to be chowing down at three in the morning at least not every day.

Now, new research suggests our circadian rhythm could be linked to weight gain. Our biological clocks were set around the time what became humans emerged from the primordial ooze. Unlike a lot of creatures, we're not naturally nocturnal. We did our food gathering during the day and hid from our predators at night.

Researchers at Northwestern University suggest that eating at irregular times when your body wants to sleep could influence weight gain.

The researchers put two groups of mice on a high-fat diet. They found that the group of mice that were fed during normal sleeping hours put on significantly more weight than mice on the same diet that ate during naturally wakeful hours.

"One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight," said lead author Deanna M. Arble. "Their schedules force them to eat at times that conflict with their natural body rhythms. This was one piece of evidence that got us thinking eating at the wrong time of day might be contributing to weight gain. So we started our investigation with this experiment."

The researchers plan to take their experiments further, to help determine how our body's natural rhythms and weight gain are linked.

Something to think about next time you find yourself reaching for a phone and a delivery menu at three in the morning.

No details about the fall were released except that it was accidental and that it happened inside the chalet where he was staying. It was the first significant health issue in Benedict's papacy.

Among people over the age of 65, falls are the leading cause of deaths by injuries. Older people face a higher risk of falling as they tend to have more problems with eyesight, movement and balance.

"Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility, give me more time for prayer and meditation," the 82-year-old pope added as he left the chalet.

No details about the fall were released except that it was accidental and that it happened inside the chalet where he was staying. It was the first significant health issue in Benedict's papacy.

(Antonio Calanni/Associated Press)

"Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility, give me more time for prayer and meditation," the 82-year-old pope added as he left the chalet.

If you're over 65, your chance of falling at home is 30 per cent higher than the general population. If you're over 80, that risk rises to 50 per cent.

But household hazards aren't necessarily to blame. A study published nine years ago found that slippery showers, loose throw rugs, obstructed pathways and other household hazards are not the leading cause of falls by the elderly living at home. The researchers found there was little evidence to support a link between household hazards and falls.

The authors suggested that if there's a set amount of money to spend to make things safer for seniors, targeting home safety assessments may not be the best choice. Instead, they said, the money should be geared toward areas that are effective in preventing falls in the elderly: increasing muscle strength, improving gait and balance, corrective footwear and monitoring of medications.

Other studies have backed that up. Earlier this year, a study out of New Zealand found that exercise programs may help prevent falls among the elderly.

Last year, researchers in New Hampshire reported that maintaining muscle power may be the best strategy for preventing falls. The researchers found that while both young and older women were able to build muscle power during exercise, older women recorded only modest gains. The researchers said their findings suggest starting exercise early in life and maintaining it as long as you can is your best chance of having the muscle strength you'll need to minimize your risk of falls as you age.

Patience and humility might help the Pope avoid future accidents. But he might be better off focusing on:

• Getting more exercise, particularly programs that work on balance and strength.
• Having his medication checked to make sure none of the drugs is increasing his risk of falling.
• Having his eyesight checked: cataracts and other vision problems can increase your risk of falling.
• Making some modifications at home to reduce falling risks.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has more pointers.

He made the decision after running three marathons this year, including his 19th trip to Boston a race he won in 1953. He ran the marathon for Japan the year before at the Olympics in Helsinki.

Yamada's 81. A pretty fit octogenarian.

He told Sports Hochi newspaper "I'm not getting any younger so I won't run any more 42-kilometre races."

"I will carry on running for fun to stay in shape," he added.

His "running for fun" is a daily 20-kilometre jaunt. That's more exercise than the vast majority of even the most active people get. If it's not fun, it's pretty tough to be motivated to enjoy that much exercise.

He made the decision after running three marathons this year, including his 19th trip to Boston a race he won in 1953. He ran the marathon for Japan the year before at the Olympics in Helsinki.

Yamada's 81. A pretty fit octogenarian.

He told Sports Hochi newspaper "I'm not getting any younger so I won't run any more 42-kilometre races."

"I will carry on running for fun to stay in shape," he added.

His "running for fun" is a daily 20-kilometre jaunt. That's more exercise than the vast majority of even the most active people get. If it's not fun, it's pretty tough to be motivated to enjoy that much exercise.

Researchers have spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out the most effective ways of getting people motivated to get active enough to stay healthy and ward off obesity.

Two years ago, the Canadian Obesity Network warned that without action Canada would face an obesity epidemic that would be a bigger drain on the health-care system than smoking. The network estimates that 11 million Canadians about a third of the population are overweight and a million of them are so obese they need treatment.

Last week, an Australian study found that spending money on public campaigns can make a difference in getting people active. The study found that encouraging the use of pedometers was more effective than having doctors refer patients to an exercise physiologist.

Pedometers give you instant feedback. They'll tell you how many steps you've taken, how far you've gone and how many calories you've burned.

Feedback's good. You can use those numbers as a base to build on. That can help develop motivation far better than a piece of paper that will get you in to see a specialist a piece of paper that you might ignore.

The findings of the Australian study were similar to one published in the July 2008 edition of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. Among its conclusions was that it's more effective to encourage people to walk at a moderate pace than to prescribe high-intensity walking.

That's right: exercise doesn't have to be this high-intensity medicine that you have to force yourself to swallow every day.

Casting a wide net with mass campaigns might get more people moving, like the ParticipACTION ads did when it was first launched back in the 1970s. But information and encouragement won't be much help in keeping you motivated, especially after you figure out that getting in shape is not the end goal. You don't go back to your old sedentary ways once you hit that target weight or complete your first five-kilometre race.

Getting in shape and staying there is the payoff for being a little more active, for the rest of your life.

Keizo Yamada may be through with marathons, but he's not done testing his limits. He says he could still be coaxed into racing the odd half marathon.

Except that teenager who's probably still asleep in his or her basement lair.

There's a good reason for that, according to a recent study out of the Université de Montréal. It found surprise, surprise that teens are more active in the warmer months than during the dead of winter.

No shocker there. However, the study — published in the Annals of Epidemiology — also found that the winter drop-off continues and builds each year. Your kid may be getting a little more active in the spring and summer, but not active enough to compensate for the previous winter's drop-off.

Except that teenager who's probably still asleep in his or her basement lair.

There's a good reason for that, according to a recent study out of the Université de Montréal. It found surprise, surprise that teens are more active in the warmer months than during the dead of winter.

No shocker there. However, the study — published in the Annals of Epidemiology — also found that the winter drop-off continues and builds each year. Your kid may be getting a little more active in the spring and summer, but not active enough to compensate for the previous winter's drop-off.

The study found that for every 10 mm of rainfall, the number of physical activity sessions per day dropped by two to four per cent. Physical activity sessions rose by one to two per cent for every 10 C rise in temperature. Overall, activity decreased by seven per cent per year.

So by the time you're sure your teen's ready to move on and — say — find a summer job, they've barely got the get-up-and-go to carry out a midnight raid on the refrigerator.

A second study — also out of the Université de Montréal and just as "surprising" — found that Canadian adults aren't active enough.

Increasingly less active teenagers turning into less active adults?

It was a pretty comprehensive study — collecting data from other surveys from over two decades. The results were published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

The study found that 56 per cent of Canadian adults are consistently inactive. Only 12 per cent of participants remained active from survey to survey.

There was one bright spot: 25 per cent of those surveyed increased their levels of activity over time.

That is good news because other studies have shown that it's never too late to get into an exercise program. Just don't nag me into it.

A study — published several years ago in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine — found that 98 per cent of people over 50 surveyed said that getting exercise is key to staying healthy. But getting them off the couch was another matter.

Part of the problem: warning people to see their doctor before embarking on an exercise program made it sound like there's a risk to exercising.

Of course there is. Sure, running a marathon may cause short-term injury to your heart, but the effects are gone within a week. And you'll be healthier than your less active friends.

At least that's what a cardiologist told me last week after reviewing my test results.

"No signs of damage or blockage anywhere," he said. "Your heart rate's a little low. But that's a sign of a fit person."

"Keep on exercising."

We were all led to believe that our bodies need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy. Turned out that not only is that a myth, but most normal people don't need to take in lots of water unless they live in hot, dry climates or are high performance athletes.

Now they're taking aim at massage.

We were all led to believe that our bodies need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy. Turned out that not only is that a myth, but most normal people don't need to take in lots of water unless they live in hot, dry climates or are high performance athletes.

Now they're taking aim at massage.

If you do exercise a lot whether you run marathons, play soccer or spend a bunch of time in the gym there's a good chance you've sought out the services of a registered massage therapist. You were probably told that getting a massage after hard exercise will increase blood flow to your aching muscles and flush out waste products like lactic acid, the stuff the experts say causes that burning sensation in your muscles.

If you've ever suffered an exercise injury and seen a physiotherapist or a sports therapist, you've probably been told that. Go to the website of the Canadian Sport Massage Therapists Association and they'll tell you the same thing.

Well, a couple of researchers at Queen's University in Kingston beg to differ.

Kinesiology and Health Studies professor Michael Tschakovsky and Vicky Wiltshire, a student working towards her masters degree in kinesiology, say they decided to look at this topic because there's no scientific evidence backing up that claim. Their findings will be presented at the annual American College of Sports Medicine conference in Seattle, Wash., later this month.

Tschakovsky and Wiltshire had 12 healthy undergraduate male students do isometric handgrip exercises for two minutes. They measured forearm blood flow and lactic acid buildup every 30 seconds for 10 minutes immediately after the exercise period. The measurements were taken during rest, massage and "active recovery" (easy exercise).

They found that during massage, not only was there was no increase in blood flow or in flushing of waste materials from the muscles, there was actually a decrease in blood flow which hindered the removal of waste from the muscles.

So massage isn't helpful?

"What we're saying with this research it's not that massage isn't good," Tschakovsky told me. "It's just that the common perception that it increases blood flow and helps in the removal of lactic acid isn't correct."

A lot of runners I know including me were convinced the theory was correct. My routine was to book a massage a few days before a marathon made me feel like a racehorse raring to go - and a few days after, which I thought helped those still sore muscles feel better so I could get back out there and start getting ready for my next race sooner.

Tschakovsky says he's done the same thing gone for a massage after soccer tournaments.

"Certainly it makes me feel better and it makes me feel as if my muscles are going to work better. It's just that it's not because of these claimed reasons."

Tschakovsky says if massage does improve performance and help you recover more quickly, science has yet to prove how it works. On the other hand, science has not proven that massage hinders performance and recovery.

The bottom line?

"It feels good, that's the truth of it. A lot of performance is psychological-based so if you feel better, if you feel you're in a better situation to do something, it probably has the ability to affect performance."

Oh and that lactic acid stuff? Turns out it's been getting a bad rap may be a myth too.

They'll fiddle with their diets. Take supplements. And take in sports drinks.

Two years ago, the American College of Sports Medicine issued revised guidelines on how much fluid you need to take in while exercising.

The bottom line was: it varies. But it did note that if you're exercising for more than an hour, you need to do more than just replace the fluid you're losing. You also need to replace electrolytes and take in carbohydrates to fuel your muscles. Don't do it and you run the risk of running out of gas or as marathon runners will say hitting the wall.

It's big business selling sports drinks.

They'll fiddle with their diets. Take supplements. And take in sports drinks.

Two years ago, the American College of Sports Medicine issued revised guidelines on how much fluid you need to take in while exercising.

The bottom line was: it varies. But it did note that if you're exercising for more than an hour, you need to do more than just replace the fluid you're losing. You also need to replace electrolytes and take in carbohydrates to fuel your muscles. Don't do it and you run the risk of running out of gas or as marathon runners will say hitting the wall.

It's big business selling sports drinks. Worldwide sales approached $30 billion in 2007, according to a report from Zenith International, a company that provides research on the beverage industry. That's 1.8 litres of sports drink for every person on the planet.

The market is expected to grow by a third by 2012, taking per capita annual consumption to 2.3 litres.

There have been concerns that the stuff is contributing a growing obesity epidemic. Sports drinks can pack a lot of sugar and a lot of calories — and they can be rough on your teeth.

You see vats of the stuff from the comfort of your couch, while you're watching pro football, hockey and baseball. You'll see thousands of discarded cups of some kind of "ade" whenever a marathon or other road race winds its way through your neighbourhood.

While scientists have known for a long time that these drinks do help athletes, they weren't sure how they worked. A new study suggests the key might be mind games.

The research published in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of Physiology found that performance in endurance athletes was boosted not only from sugary drinks but also from drinks that contained a tasteless carbohydrate. And it didn't matter whether athletes swallowed the drink or spat it out.

The researchers prepared drinks that contained either glucose (a sugar), maltodextrin (a tasteless carbohydrate) or neither. They added artificial sweeteners until they all tasted the same. They asked groups of endurance athletes to complete a challenging time-trial, during which they rinsed their mouths with one of the three drinks.

Athletes given the glucose or maltodextrin drinks outperformed those on "disguised" water by up to three per cent. They were able to work harder even though they didn't feel like they were.

The researchers suggest that as-yet unidentified receptors in the mouth send signals to your brain that then tell your body that you can keep working hard.

The researchers monitored the athletes' brain activity and found that both glucose and maltodextrin triggered specific areas of the brain associated with reward or pleasure, while the artificial sweetener did not.

The brain was telling the body "you're not working as hard as you think, so keep going."

The study is the latest in a string that suggest it is not the muscles, heart or lungs that do you in over the long run, but the brain — based on the information it receives from the body.

Kind of like what Yogi Berra once said about baseball, although it's especially relevant to endurance sports: [It's] 90 per cent mental — the other half is physical.

They're the people who can eat a few bites of the yummiest dishes and say they've had enough. It's a trick I've yet to learn.

I like to run marathons, so moderation is something that doesn't come naturally to me. I put in a lot of kilometres in training last week, almost 110. That's good and bad. I'm burning a lot of calories, but also developing a substantial appetite.

Think Michael Phelps the diet, not the bong.

They're the people who can eat a few bites of the yummiest dishes and say they've had enough. It's a trick I've yet to learn.

I like to run marathons, so moderation is something that doesn't come naturally to me. I put in a lot of kilometres in training last week, almost 110. That's good and bad. I'm burning a lot of calories, but also developing a substantial appetite.

Think Michael Phelps the diet, not the bong.

That doesn't do much good if you want to lose weight. You take in as much as you burn and your weight won't budge. You're also courting dietary disaster if you cut your activity but remain as my father used to say "a good eater."

A lot of the folks noted as experts in the fields of diet, nutrition, exercise and how the body works say we should emulate those mostly lean and lanky people and combine a moderate diet (a little over 2,000 calories for the average woman and a little over 2,500 calories for the average man) with moderate amounts of exercise about 30 minutes, five times a week.

But what do they mean by "moderate exercise?"

Researchers at the School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences of San Diego State University, think they have the answer: 3,000 steps over 30 minutes, five times a week.

That breaks down to 100 steps a minute, which may sound like quite the pace. While it's no leisurely stroll, it won't win you a medal in the 100-metre sprint. Think walking quickly to get to a meeting.

Nobody's going to go around counting steps for half an hour. However, lead researcher Simon J. Marshall says you can do it with a pedometer and a watch. Pedometers are pretty accurate when it comes to counting steps, but they won't measure the intensity of your workout. Count your steps for a couple of minutes, and you'll get a pretty good idea of your pace.

After half an hour of this if you're not totally out of shape - you'll feel like you've had a workout. Not exhausted, but moderately tired.

Marshall notes that half an hour at a time may sound daunting to a lot of people. His advice: break it up. Your body benefits from workouts as short as 10 minutes. So instead of looking at this mountain of 3,000 steps, you'd get the same benefit by doing 1,000 steps in 10 minutes, three times a day on level terrain.

It's a small change that over time - can yield more than moderate results.

He's got a point, you might be thinking. Why would anyone want to run on the streets in the middle of winter when there are perfectly good health clubs loaded with treadmills and the odd indoor 200-metre university track?

Why not just run on the sidewalk?

Well we might, if they were cleared properly.

He's got a point, you might be thinking. Why would anyone want to run on the streets in the middle of winter when there are perfectly good health clubs loaded with treadmills and the odd indoor 200-metre university track?

Why not just run on the sidewalk?

Well we might, if they were cleared properly. Here in Toronto, it's up to homeowners to make sure the sidewalks in front of their homes are cleared after it snows except for a few main arteries. The quality of the clearing varies from house to house - mostly from fair to treacherous, if you're in sneakers.

Even in towns and cities that still do spend your tax dollars to encourage people to get out by plowing sidewalks, the footing can be dangerous.

But snow, slush and ice aren't the only obstacles on the sidewalks. So are dogs, especially when they're on those leashes that give your pet way too much room to roam.

Runners have a responsibility when they are on the streets. They include:

• Running in single file on the extreme left side of the road, facing traffic.
• Making sure they're highly visible.
• Obeying traffic lights.
• Staying on the shoulder if it's clear on busier roads.

When you are on the streets, you are taking your chances like catching the odd soaker as a car drives through a mass of slush or water. But no runner should have to face what I did a few weeks ago in Mississauga as I ran on the shoulder of a busy street with no sidewalk. As a privately-owned snowplow contractor approached, he dropped his blade sending a wave of slush and ice at me. As he passed, he lifted his blade.

Unfortunately, there are too many drivers on the road like him. I've seen them stake their claims of ownership of the road by coming at groups of runners before swerving away.

The city of Toronto has made a point of keeping two bicycle routes clear of snow and ice this winter. I'm lucky I have easy access to them and use them for most of my runs. Safely away from traffic and away from excruciatingly boring treadmills and short indoor tracks that can increase your risk of injury, the farther you run.

Sharing the road is less of a problem during the rest of the year. Fredericton, like many Canadian cities, offers an expansive off-road trail system. Most runners can't wait until the last of the snow and ice is gone so we can run in peace and safety.

But until then, with a little mutual respect, please let's share the road.

The federal government has conceded that it's headed back into deficit mode.

Things couldn't be worse — unless you're in the business of organizing running races, even at this time of year.

Take the annual Robbie Burns 8K race in Burlington, Ont., for instance. Held at the end of January, it usually features frigid temperatures and bone-rattling winds. Usually, you could wait until a few days before the race to decide whether the weather would be acceptable before you would commit your hard-earned dollars to run outdoors in the middle of winter.

The federal government has conceded that it's headed back into deficit mode.

Things couldn't be worse — unless you're in the business of organizing running races, even at this time of year.

Take the annual Robbie Burns 8K race in Burlington, Ont., for instance. Held at the end of January, it usually features frigid temperatures and bone-rattling winds. Usually, you could wait until a few days before the race to decide whether the weather would be acceptable before you would commit your hard-earned dollars to run outdoors in the middle of winter.

Not this year. It sold more than the 800 allocated spaces by Jan. 3. It's the first time the race has sold out so early. There's even a waiting list.

The Chilly Half-Marathon — also in Burlington — has been sold out for weeks. That race is still two months away. And the oldest road race in North America — the Around the Bay 30K Road Race in Hamilton — is rapidly approaching sell-out status.

Recent races south of the border — even in areas hard-hit by recession — have reported significantly higher numbers of entrants than in previous years. Over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Detroit's Turkey Trot reported an increase of 77 per cent in the number of participants over the previous year. Sacramento, Cal., hosted 5,700 runners for its Turkey Trot in 2007. Last November, close to 20,000 showed up.

Alan Brooks, director of the Canada Running Series of races across the country, says races are similar to the movies and other forms of entertainment.

"We're always told how movies boomed in the Depression of the 1930s, as a diversion from the grim realities of everyday life. Running is the fun part of people's lives. They may hate their jobs or have none, have a rotten social life, but their running and especially the races gives them a goal, purpose and joy."

You may have no say as you watch your retirement fund dwindle away, but you do when it comes to your fitness.

"Races are a life-experience achievement, and something you can control yourself while the world is falling, uncontrollably around your ears," Brooks said.

Brooks says pre-registrations for the races his company organizes in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are up an average of 44 per cent from this time last year.

There's a lot of competition out there for your fitness dollar — especially in January. Fitness clubs take advantage of your New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get fit by trying to sign you up as a member.

But when tougher economic times settle in, people tend to take a harder look at monthly expenses they can do without.

On the other hand, you can still keep your fitness promises by lacing on a pair of comfortable shoes and running — or walking — out the door.

A brutal cold snap has gripped the Prairies and isn't expected to move on before Christmas.

Wind chills have been regularly dipping below 40C. Regina's expected to be basking under a relatively balmy -8 by Boxing Day.

A brutal cold snap has gripped the Prairies and isn't expected to move on before Christmas.

Wind chills have been regularly dipping below 40C. Regina's expected to be basking under a relatively balmy -8 by Boxing Day.

Southern Ontario's been spared most of the nasty stuff, meaning outdoor exercise is still pretty much a walk in the park. Despite that, people continually ask me, "So, do you run in this cold?"

"Yeah, this cold, real cold and even when it's really, really cold."

Dress for the conditions and you'll be fine.

It's what Pushpa Chandra had to do last weekend dress for the conditions. The naturopathic doctor from Vancouver spent last weekend in Antarctica running a 100-kilometre ultramarathon. She's the first Canadian to finish the distance down there and only the second woman.

It took her 18 hours 33 minutes and eight seconds to do it. That's a little less than six kilometres an hour in a place that recorded the coldest temperature on the planet: -89 C. At that temperature, steel can shatter.

But hey it's summer in Antarctica now so the temperature usually ranges between -10 and -20 even with 24-hour daylight. However, a good stiff breeze can make that feel a lot colder.

The race organizers suggest you dress in layers, using the following to keep yourself comfy:

• Upper body thermal layer, fleece layer and outer windproof shell.
• Legs thermal layer and windproof pants (middle fleece layer optional).
• Hands pair of gloves and mittens.
• Feet two pairs of woollen socks and neoprene to cover toes.
• Head balaclava, facemask, hat, neck gaiter, goggles.

Don't look for support from the fans to get you through the tough slogging, unless there's a bunch of penguins rooting you on.

Chandra put in the training for this race, running two to four hours most days and sometimes putting in 60-kilometre runs. It's not the first hostile climate she's run in. Last December, she completed the Everest Marathon in Nepal, billed as the highest marathon in the world. It starts at an altitude of 5,184 metres (17,000 feet), close to the base camp where people set out to conquer Mount Everest.

Bad weather can be a significant factor there, too.

Too cold to run?

Bah! Cold is just a state of mind although I'm tempted to take a page from co-worker Lee Hewitt's book. He ran a marathon last weekend, too. In Honolulu.

He came to personify what people on this side of the Atlantic thought about Greeks.

Back when I was a kid, if you had a Greek last name and your friends were raised on macaroni and cheese, youd automatically get the nickname Zorba.

He ate, drank and danced with gusto. And he was fit.

A recent trip to back to the land where three of my grandparents and my mother were born was a real eye-opener. Zorbas had a makeover. And not a very impressive one.

Yes, Greek waistlines — like those in North America — are getting noticeably bigger. And its happened very quickly.

According to figures released by the World Health organization, 74.6 per cent of Greeks are either overweight or obese. By far, thats the highest rate in the European Union. Finland and Germany are closest at a little under 64 per cent.

The WHO blames the deterioration of the Greek physique on — and this isnt rocket science — an increase in caloric intake and a decrease in activity. Greeks are eating and drinking as much — or more — as ever, but not playing nearly enough.

Its not hard to see why. More than half the countrys population is packed into Athens where there are almost as many cars as people. The days of the stay-at-home mother — like in North America — are over as families have to work longer and harder to try to make ends meet.

Recreational facilities are tough to come by. Going for a run through the streets of Athens — a city where a piece of sidewalk is just another parking spot — is really taking your life in your hands. Only Portugal has a higher rate of pedestrian fatalities than Greece.

The traditional Mediterranean diet consists of lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, a little meat and a fair bit of olive oil. All are abundant year-round in Greece.

But the diet is in trouble. More Greeks are relying on fast food and processed meals from supermarkets.

Its ironic that as more people in the west take a Mediterranean approach to their meal plans, the WHO describes the diet as "moribund" in the region where it came to be.

The Athens Daily News recently decried the state of the diet, saying that a traditional way of life was at risk of disappearing.

Study after study suggests that the Mediterranean diet leads to a longer life, protects against chronic diseases, and can add years to your life even after a heart attack.

Couple the decline of the Mediterranean diet with a stubborn refusal to give up a national nicotine habit, and youve got a health basket case. The Greek government banned smoking in places like hospitals, pharmacies, airports, trains and buses back in 2002. The legislation, which was aimed at bringing Greece in line with EU smoking restrictions, was also supposed to force owners of restaurants and cafeterias to designate 50 per cent of their establishments as non-smoking. It was largely ignored.

Last May, the government announced yet another ban that is supposed to be phased in by 2010.

Somebody please tell the waiter at Thannasis souvlaki restaurant outside Monastiraki flea market in Athens. When somebody asked him for a seat in the non-smoking section, he said, "No problem."

He took the ashtray off the table.

It started out with such promise. We worked together, had the same goals, the same aspirations. But somewhere, somehow, something went wrong. Long periods of silence. We just couldn't communicate anymore.

And just like that it ended. My latest affair with an exercise add-on.

I fried my personal digital music device for the second time in less than six months. So I'm going back to going mostly solo. Enjoying my workouts the way they were intended to be enjoyed without the intrusion of music.

It started out with such promise. We worked together, had the same goals, the same aspirations. But somewhere, somehow, something went wrong. Long periods of silence. We just couldn't communicate anymore.

And just like that it ended. My latest affair with an exercise add-on.

I fried my personal digital music device for the second time in less than six months. So I'm going back to going mostly solo. Enjoying my workouts the way they were intended to be enjoyed without the intrusion of music.

No Bruce Springsteen belting out "Born to Run" as I try to work my way up a long, steep hill. No Pat Benatar hitting me with her best shot as I punish my lungs by taking the pace up a notch or four. And definitely no "Eye of the Tiger" as I try to survive the last couple hundred metres of a two-hour run.

Nope, it's back to the sounds of my feet hitting the street, my heart thumping in my chest and cabbies cursing at me in eight languages as I get in the way of their rolling pauses before they nip right on a red light.

Yes, there are two firmly entrenched camps in this run with or without music debate. And, I'll admit, I have waffled in the past.

But I've come to the conclusion that I'd much rather be in tune with my surroundings than tuning in to tunes. Why pollute a perfectly natural experience with the unnatural sounds of music? With music blasting in your head, you'll never hear cyclists taking time out from their sacred war against road-hogging cars to curse you as they try to run you out of the bike lane.

Oh, these personal digital music devices have their place but they're not built for heavy exercise. At least that's what the service person told me when I brought my just-fried device in.

"That model," she whispered, looking carefully around the crowded store, "doesn't tolerate sweat very well. We've had a lot of complaints."

As a veritable sweat-making machine, I have to ask why sell such a device with an add-on that turns it into a talking pedometer? Went through three of those, too, in the same six-month period. Got really tired of the thing's friendly female voice telling me "workout complete" when I had barely covered a block or two.

The technician happily and immediately - replaced my fried personal digital music device. It was still covered by the original warranty. But I won't be taking it out for runs anymore. Well, not just yet.

Perhaps we'll ease back into some kind of relationship. Test the waters with a couple of short walks or a ride on the subway. But no promises, OK?

Those carbs and that caffeine help me get ready for that commute home — a 13-kilometre or so run along Toronto's waterfront.

Caffeine and carbs - people much smarter than me say will help me get through intense exercise and maybe even help me avoid developing skin cancer.

Caffeine, the science explains, offers the athlete the same boost as it does every sleepy-eyed person who tries to drag him or herself out of bed on a Monday morning. And carbs are what fuels your muscles.

Turns out I may have it all backwards.

Those carbs and that caffeine help me get ready for that commute home — a 13-kilometre or so run along Toronto's waterfront.

Caffeine and carbs - people much smarter than me say will help me get through intense exercise and maybe even help me avoid developing skin cancer.

Caffeine, the science explains, offers the athlete the same boost as it does every sleepy-eyed person who tries to drag him or herself out of bed on a Monday morning. And carbs are what fuels your muscles.

Turns out I may have it all backwards.

A new study suggests that caffeine and carbs may be a better combination after your workout. Helps the body recover and get ready for your next exercise session, say Australian researchers.

They studied a small group of cyclists and found that four hours after an intense workout, the athletes who had ingested caffeine beverages had higher levels of blood glucose and insulin, as well as 66 per cent more glycogen, than those who drank a carb-only beverage. The caffeinated drink had caffeine levels equal to five or six cups of coffee.

"If you have 66 per cent more fuel for the next day's training or competition, there is absolutely no question you will go farther or faster," the study's senior author, Dr. John Hawley, said in a release.

The study did not explain how caffeine helps the muscles absorb more glycogen.

This could explain why you'll sometimes come across groups of runners or cyclists in your local coffee shop late on any given Sunday morning. It's the day of the week most of them prefer for their longest runs or rides. And sitting with your friends over a cup or so of java seems to help ease any lingering aches and pains from pushing your body more than usual.

And perhaps by adding something loaded with carbs to that post-run routine, I'll have enough energy — once I get home — to make it to the backyard and my hammock for a proper recovery.