The Value of Youth

I am thinking about my 2008 goals.

In 2007, I ran 3 marathons (although one was a training run for another one - we can still count it) but only did one Triathlon. Thinking for 2008, I might not do a marathon. I was interested to see the Globe and Mail ran an article on how there are less deaths on the road during a marathon. Excerpt:

"PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER December 21, 2007 While the death of a runner during a marathon attracts widespread media attention, in reality fatalities fall in a community hosting a mass-participation distance race, according to provocative new Canadian research.
That is because the road closings associated with a major marathon result in fewer motor-vehicle fatalities, which more than offset the rare running-related death.

"There are fewer tombstones the day after a marathon," Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, said in an interview.

"From a societal perspective, we're better off having people running than driving." The research, published in today's edition of the British Medical Journal, found that over a 30-year period, there were 26 marathon deaths.

But because of road closings during the races, an estimated 46 motor-vehicle fatalities were prevented, the researchers found."

I think I work out to the extent I do to fight aging and to give me the energy and vitality I need to do what I do. Jon Rohr from Exchange Magazine had a great quote in the Jan edition by Mistral:

"The young have never been old and so do not know the true value of youth - if people could wait to be young, they might make better use of time"

Jon is an excellent writer (which I guess would be expected since he does publish a magazine) and a feisty business person. He competes in the publishing world against the giants of publishing.

Enough rambling. Off to set goals.