More About the Great Lakes of North America

The Great Lakes of North America are a group of 5 large lakes which include Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It is collectively the largest freshwater system on earth. The region includes portions of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York as well as the Canadian Province of Ontario and the 6 U.S. states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

The region forms distinctive economic and historical and political bi-national history, culture as well as a political economy. The Great Lake region is distinguished for its significant contribution in culture, economy and technology.

The tourists are drawn to these natural attractions for very good reasons, and here's why:

Great Lakes of North America

Lake Michigan
It is the third largest Great Lake of North America and the only one situated entirely within the United States. The lake is bounded from west to east by Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Visitors can cross it by riding a ferry that runs from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan. It is home to bowfin, carp, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pinfish, yellow perch, lake trout and some species of catfish.

Lake Huron
This is the second largest of the Great Lakes bounded on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada and on the west by the U.S. state of Michigan. Its surface is 176 meters above sea level and the average depth is 59 meters. There are several significant cities on Lake Huron such as Sarnia and Goderich, Ontario Canada as well as Bay City, Cheboygan, Rogers City, Alpena, Port Huron and St. Ignace, Michigan.

The lake is home to several fish and plant life like the now extinct deepwater Cisco. The notable feature here is the Manitoulin Island that separates the Georgian Bay and the North Channel from the lake's main body of water.

Lake Erie
This is the 4th largest Great Lake and the 10th largest worldwide. It is bounded on the south by U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan. It is primarily fed by Detroit River and it is drained via the Niagara Falls and Niagara River into Lake Ontario. Some major contributors to this lake include the Cuyahoga River, Sandusky River, Maumee River, Huron River and the Grand River. The lake is home to one of the world's largest freshwater commercial fisheries.

Rivers in Great Lakes

St. Clair River

This river is situated in central North America that drains the Lake Huron into the Lake St. Clair. It is 64 kilometers long and 1.5 meters in elevation from the Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. It is one of the important areas of the Great Lakes Waterway where cargo vessels pass through to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes.

Niagara River
It flows north from the Lake Erie to the Lake Ontario. The river serves as part of the border between New York and the province of Ontario in Canada. It features two large islands namely the Goat Island and Grand.

Saint Lawrence River
It is a larger river that extends greatly from southwest to northeast of North America. It connects together the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The Saguenay, Ottawa and Richelieu rivers as well as Lake Champlain are being drained here.

Significant Travel Guide to Akron Hotels

Akron is one of the most exciting cities of United States which is located on the banks of the Little Cuyahoga River and a very renowned and significant place of rubber industry. The word Akron is derived from a Greek word which means 'an elevation' or 'point'. With the completion of the canal between Akron and Cleveland, the communities residing in Akron started expanding their business with other important cities of Ohio.

During the beginning of the twentieth century, it continued to grow and many industries started to emerge such as stoneware and cereal manufacturers along with sewer pipe industries. In 1930, the city had been adversely affected by the Great Depression which resulted into an industrial unemployment.

Akron has grabbed the title of 'first' this is because of many reasons; it is the proud manufacturer of the first automobile tire in United States, the first balloon tires, first toy company and first artificial fish bait made. It houses the most renowned institutes of Rubber Research, an art institute, music center with a symphony orchestra.

Akron offers an array of attractions which include fascinating museums, historic homes and lush green spaces. The Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, The Akron Zoo and many more are the must visit attractions which one will not afford to miss. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is another area which offers a great natural scenic beauty which offers great opportunities for hiking and bicycling along with lots of winter sports and historically significant sites. It accommodates an excellent example of Western Reserve architecture in form of Frazee House.

Most of the Akron Hotels are situated conveniently and confirms perfectly to the round shape of the silo. The rooms of the hotels are elegantly decorated with traditional furnishings and taste. Weather you are looking for independent hotels or well known brands, Akron offers a great deal for such travelers. Even if you are staying at the cheapest hotels of Akron, you will hardly find any loops in the hotel serves and quality.

The hotels of Akron are known for its pleasant stay and warm hospitality. The hotels such as the Crown Plaza Quaker Square, Rodeway Inn which are the most popular hotels and are known for its luxurious lodging and comfortable stay.

The Central Plaza Quaker Square is situated right across the way from the Akron University is one of the most unique and marvelous hotels in the world. The hotel's highlight is that it is for the 19 century mills and silos. The silos of the hotels are on the National Register of Historic Places and in the silos together, all large rooms are perfectly round.

Earth Day - then and now

In the late 1960's air pollution clouded our cities with toxic fumes spewed out by cars and factories. Air pollution in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities were linked to disease and death, thus leaving city life barely breathable. Another concern was the large-scale use of pesticides, which were often used in highly populated areas. Additionally large amounts of dead fish were reported on the Great Lakes, and the media carried the news that Lake Erie, one of America's largest bodies of fresh water, was in its death throes. Ohio had another jolt when Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, an artery inundated with oil and toxic chemicals, burst into flames by spontaneous combustion.

In addition to the media coverage about the Great Lakes, the media coverage of the massive youth rallies of 1969 - as well as the ghetto riots of 1965 to 1968 - helped to impress on the American public that the United States had become an urban country with complex problems aggravated by a large number of people. In 1960, a conference on conservation and preservation of our parks and recreational areas. Talk of environmental sustainability or less in force until the early 1970's to come.

A prominent politician, Gaylord Nelson, then Senator from Wisconsin, was frustrated during the 1960s because only a few of his colleagues in Congress had an interest in environmental issues. But during his travels in the United States, Nelsonhad been greatly impressed by the dedication and the expertise of the many student and citizen volunteers who were trying to solve pollution problems in their communities. Early in December 1969, Senator Nelson of Wisconsin and a 25-year old named Denis Hayes, former President of the Stanford student body, as national coordinator, became making plans for the inaugural Earth Day.

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated. It was on that day that Americans made it clear that they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources. That day left a permanent impact on the politics of America. It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too. In short, Earth Day launched the Environmental decade with a bang.

Perhaps the most impressive observance was in New York City, whose mayor, John V. Lindsay, had thrown the full weight of his influence behind Earth Day. For two hours, Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic between 14th Street and 59th Street, bringing midtown Manhattan to a virtual standstill. One innovative group of demonstrator's grabbed attention by dragging a net filled with dead fish down the thoroughfare, shouting to passersby, "This could be you!" Later in the day, a rally filled Union Square to overflowing as Mayor Lindsay, assisted by celebrities Paul Newman and Ali McGraw, spoke from a raised platform looking out over a sea of smiling faces. In New York, as elsewhere, self-policing demonstrators left surprising little litter in their wake.

Earth Day 1970 made it clear that the public is committed to saving our environment. Although the Fight is not over, we made substantial progress. In the ten years since 1970, so necessary for the basic legislation, protect the environment have been adopted in law: the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, Water Protection and Control Act amendments, the Resource Recovery Act , resource conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control, Safety and Health Act, the Federal Environmental Control Act of pesticides, endangered speciesAct, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. And, the most important piece of environmental legislation in our history, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on January 1, 1970.

Here is your call to action, celebrate Earth Day 2008 on April 22nd. Plant a tree, reduce green house gasses, or make a commitment to start recycling, these are small steps and yet these steps can do so much for our environment.

5 Best National Parks to Take Your Dog

The welcome mat in our National Park System rolls up when we drive in with our dogs. Very few national parks allow dogs on hiking trails. In Yellowstone National Park dogs are not allowed more than 100 feet from roads, parking areas and campgrounds. In Yosemite National Park dogs can walk the paved paths of the Valley floor but are not permitted on any trail or slope. At the Grand Canyon dogs can walk along the South Rim in developed areas but can not go on any trail below the rim. At Zion National Park dogs are permitted on one mild trail.

And on and on. So, while most of America is making plans to visit our national natural treasure, we dog owners must be a bit more creative. Here are the 5 best national parks to take your dog in America.

1. Acadia National Park Bar Harbor, Maine

Acadia National Park is certainly one of the crown jewels in the National Park Service and dogs will not bark in dissent - this is the best national park to bring your dog for outdoor adventure. Except for the swimming beaches and ladder hiking trails like the Precipice Trail, dogs are allowed throughout the park.

Much of your time with your dog in Acadia will be spent on its intricate network of carriage roads. Mount Desert Island, named by French explorer Samuel Champlain in 1604, was once the summer

playground of America's rich and famous. When John D. Rockefeller, Jr., no great fan of the horseless carriage, visited the Maine coast he enjoyed outings with his team of horses and open coaches. He painstakingly directed the construction of wide, motor-free carriage roads twisting through the island mountains. Forty-five miles of rustic broken stone roads were eventually built between 1913 and 1940 and the hand-built byways are the best examples of the construction technique still in use in America. In addition to the stone roads and stone guardrails, irregularly spaced granite slabs known locally as "Rockefeller's Teeth," there are 16 stone-faced bridges - each unique in design.

One of the wealthy elite, George B. Dorr, devoted 43 years and much of his family fortune to preserving the island. He offered more than 6,000 acres to the federal government and in 1916, Woodrow Wilson established the Sieur de Monts National Mounment. Three years later Lafayette National Park became the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Honoring its Acadian heritage, the park became Acadia National Park in 1929.

Several park highlights come with little purchase for your dog. The Jordan Pond Nature Trail is a mile-long loop leading to views of glacial mountains reflecting in the pond waters. The rounded mountains, known as the Bubbles, can be climbed on short trails. Other easy hikes include the Ocean Trail to Otter Cliffs that clings to the edge of lands' end over the Atlantic surf and exploratory walks atop Cadillac Mountain. The 1530-foot summit is the highest point on the Atlantic Ocean north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and sunrise hikes here will be the first to be illuminated in America. The Great Head Trail loops across Sand Beach and most people go right at the head of the loop. But going left into the maritime forest saves the spectacular coastal views from one of America's highest headlands until the end. All these trails are easily accessed from the Park Loop Road and can get busy. Seek out trails across Somes Sound - America's only fjord - in the western reaches of the park to find fewer paw prints.

2. Shenandoah National Park Luray, Virginia

The Blue Ridge Mountains that host Shenandoah National Park are the oldest rocks on earth. A billion years ago these mountains were higher than the Rockies when they were created. Time has weathered and rounded the peaks and valley that we see today. But what we see in Shenandoah has not been left to the hand of nature, as we have come to expect in our national parks.

Shenandoah is very much a planned national park. Herbert Hoover established a Summer White House on the Rapidan River (the park is only 75 miles from Washington DC) helping to trigger wilderness development. During the Great Depression Shenandoah was officially designated a national park and Franklin Roosevelt's "Tree Army" planted hundreds of thousands of trees on slopes that had been cleared for farms and firewood.

At the same time construction began on the 105-mile Skyline Drive that is today the only public road in Shenandoah National Park. Your dog is welcome at just about every stop along the way - only 20 of the more than 500 miles of hiking trails are off-limits for dogs. These are usually trails involving awkward passages and rock climbs. Unfortunately one such trail is on Old Rag Mountain that is considered by many to be the best hike on the East Coast. But generally your dog will be able to visit the best views and waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park.

3. Cuyahoga Valley National Park Brecksville, Ohio

Raise your hand if you knew that America's first national park of the 21st Century was created in...Cleveland? To the first people who came here 12,000 years ago the Cuyahoga was the "crooked river." Its steep valley walls inhibited settlement as easterners poked into the region in the late 1700s. But a navigable water link between Lake Erie and the Ohio River was a priority in the early American Canal Age and in 1832 the Ohio & Erie Canal became a reality. Ohio boomed and settlers poured into the area. The canal was put out of business by the Great Flood of 1913 and the Cuyahoga Valley was left to recreational purposes. The 33,000 acres along the banks of the Cuyahoga River were protected as a national recreation area so the heavy lifting for creating the park was done before its designation as a national park in 2000.

As befits its history as a recreation destination, Cuyahoga is a national park that permits dogs on its trails. It doesn't have the feel of the grand American national parks but instead evokes an intimate feel on the trails that are squeezed between highways, farmlands and neighborhoods.

The main trail through the park is the nearly 20 miles of the Towpath Trail along the route of the historic canal. Ten trailheads make it easy to hike the crushed limestone path in biscuit-size chunks. The trail is a mix of meadows and forests and the remnants of locks and villages. Another long distance trail through the park is the Buckeye Trail that circles the entire state of Ohio for over 1200 miles. About 33 miles of the blue-blazed pathway wander the ravines and ridges of the valley.

Some of the best outings with your dog in the park are in the north end of the Cuyahoga Valley, in the Bradford Reservation. A five-mile all-purpose trail traverses the Tinkers Creek Gorge area, exploring Ohio's most spectacular canyon. The gorge is a National Natural Landmark, noted for its virgin hemlock forests. Short detours off the main trail include an easy walk to Bridal Veil Falls and the Hemlock Creek Loop Trail.

Other highlights include the dark and mysterious 2.2-mile ramble around the Ledges (from the Happy Day camp) and a short 1.25-mile loop through the Brandywine Gorge that takes your dog to the lip of Brandywine Falls and 160 feet down to the water level.

4. Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs, Arkansas

The water that bubbles to the ground at 143 degrees Farenheit fell to earth 4,000 years ago, percolating deep into the earth and heating four degrees every 300 feet before seeping out of the lower west slope of Hot Springs Mountain. Spanish explorers and French trappers visited the springs for centuries. In 1803 the United States acquired this land in the Louisiana Purchase and in 1832 the Federal Government reserved land around the springs - the first "national park" to protect a natural resource. There was little done to administer the reserve, however, and private bathhouses sprung up to cater to tourists visiting to relax in the "healing" waters. Finally in 1921, Hot Springs became a true National Park, a unique blend of a highly developed small city set in low-lying, rounded mountains.

There are more than 30 miles of top-notch hiking trails available in Hot Springs, mostly on short, inter-connecting jogs on Hot Springs Mountain and West Mountain that flank the city. Many of these paths were carved for visitors who were encouraged to walk daily in addition to their baths as part of an all-encompassing healthy routine at the spas. Most were constructed wide enough to handle carriages and are still roomy today. Although the mountains only top out at little more than 1,000 feet expect to find some climbs that will leave you and your dog panting. Also, there aren't many streams so make sure you carry plenty of cooling water for your dog on a summer afternoon's outing.

For extended canine hiking head out on the Sunset Trail that leaves West Mountain and tags Music Mountain at 1,405 feet (the highest spot in the park) before doubling back onto Sugarloaf Mountain. This trail doesn't loop and is a good candidate for a car shuttle. Back in town you can take your dog on a tour of Bathhouse Row with a half-mile saunter down the Promenade, vsiting several of the 47 springs that flow at an average rate of 850,000 gallons a day.

The one place you can't take your dog in Hot Springs is in the centerpiece bathouses but across from Bathhouse Row you can catch a ride on a Duck Boat, an amphibious vehicle that drives south of town for a cruise on Lake Hamilton. Dogs are allowed to ride on the top deck.

5. Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Not named for extinct wooly elephants but rather the length of its passageways, Mammoth Cave is by far the longest known cave system in the world. There may be no traces of mammoths in the vast underground world but archeologicalists have unearthed evidence of human occupation in Mammoth Cave from as far back as 4,000 years ago. In the early days of the country, Mammoth Cave was used commercially to produce saltpeter needed to manufacture gunpowder and in 1941 the cave was protected as a national park. In 1981, Mammoth Cave was named a World Heritage Site.

Your dog won't be able to sniff around the 336 miles of underground passages in Mammoth Cave but there are more than 70 miles of trails above ground to explore in the park. A variety of leg-stretching hikes less than two miles are available around the Visitor Center, including the Green River Bluffs Trail that snakes through thick woods to a promontory above the Green River. For prolonged canine hiking head for the North Side Trails. A half-dozen mid-length day hikes launch into the dark hollows and hardwood forests from the Maple Spring Trailhead (North Entrance Road). This labyrinth of trails cuts through rugged terrain that has been left in its natural state. In the Big Woods (Little Jordan Road), you can hike the White Oak Trail through one of the last remaining old growth forests in Kentucky.

Along Highway 255 (the East Entrance road) is a small parking lot for a short trail to Sand Cave. For several weeks in the 1930s, this remote section of woods was the most famous spot in America. A local cave explorer named Floyd Collins became trapped in the cave and the nation became fixated on the rescue efforts that were meticulously detailed in newspapers and radio reports. Rescuers were ultimately unsuccessful in freeing Collins from a leg-pinning rock. The incident spawned books and a movie starring Kirk Douglas, Ace In The Hole. The small entrance of Sand Cave is wired off today and there is little to remind visitors of the drama that once gripped America here.

Doggin' America's Historic Canals

From earliest Colonial times, ambitious entrepreneurs dreamed of connecting America's waterways to ease travel and promote commerce. George Washington was one of the first. He chartered the Patowmack Company in 1784 to construct a series of five canals along the Potomac River to reach into the virgin territory of the Ohio Valley.

The American Canal Age lasted approximately from 1790 until 1855. Many of the great projects were still under construction when the rise of the railroads made them obsolete and unprofitable. Most canals were privately funded and limped along financially until the early 1900s.

Some abandoned canals were filled in; others drained and returned to nature. Old canals were naturals to be converted into parks and are great places to take your dog for a hike. Towpaths are often left in their natural state or covered with gravel - not paved over like most abandoned railroads. The hiking is always easy on wide, flat towpaths once trod by horses and mules and there is usually plenty of swimming for your dog.

When you're out traveling, look for a canal park to enjoy with your dog. Here are a few to consider:

Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Just 15 minutes south of Cleveland is the dog-friendly Cuyahoga Valley National Park along the twisting Cuyahoga River. There are 1000 miles of canals in Ohio and a navigable water link between Lake Erie and the Ohio River was the first priority. In 1832 the Ohio & Erie Canal became a reality.

The main trail to hike with your dog through the park is the nearly 20 miles of the Towpath Trail along the route of the historic canal. Ten trailheads make it easy to hike the crushed limestone path in biscuit-size chunks. The trail is a mix of meadows and forests and the remnants of locks and villages.

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park: A canal that could connect the Potomac River to the Ohio River 460 miles away in Pittsburgh would provide a continuous water link from New Orleans to the Cheasapeake Bay. The C&O Canal, dubbed the "Great National Project" by President John Quincy Adams, was finally started on July 4, 1828. It would take 22 years to complete - actually construction just stopped since the canal route never made it out of Maryland with only 184.5 miles dug - and was obsolete before it opened. The ditch survived filling in through the efforts of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas who championed the canal as "a long stretch of quiet and piece."

The national park service has maintained the towpath for almost 200 miles. There are several excellent places to experience this canine hike - Great Falls Tavern near Rockville, Maryland, Harpers Ferry in West Virginia and the terminus in Cumberland, Maryland are just three. On the Virginia side of the Potomac River you can hike with your dog through the remains of George Washington's Patowmack Canal in Great Falls Park.

Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park: When canal building fever swept America in the early 1800s it didn't take much imagination to dream of a water route between New York and Philadelphia across central New Jersey. Ships could navigate up the Delaware River to Bordentown and to New Brunswick in the east so all that was required was to dig a ditch between the two villages. Construction began in 1830 and by 1834 the canal was open. The main artery - 75 feet wide and seven feet deep and all hand dug - stretched 44 miles and another feeder line ran down the Delaware River to Trenton for 22 miles.

The Delaware and Raritan was one of America's busiest canals and staved off competition from the railroads at a profit until almost 1900. It remained open until 1932 until the last coal barge was grounded. The State of New Jersey took over the property as a water supply system and today the canal remains virtually intact. The state park is a 70-mile linear park connecting fields and forests along its route.

Canine hiking along the old towpath uses natural and crushed gravel surfaces. Several mill buildings, wooden bridges and canal structures are reminders of the bustling times that were once routine here. The canal still brims with activity today - almost any time you can count on sharing the trail with joggers, fishermen, cyclists, horseback riders - and other dogs. The canal towpath can be accessed many places; the canal office is at 145 Mapleton Road in Princeton.

Apartments in Cleveland Ohio That Can Consider a Broken Lease

The artistic Cleveland, Ohio downtown area is rich in history, adventure and culture. This picturesque city located in the proximity of the Cuyahoga River, continues to attract droves of people who either simply come to visit, work or settle. There are also plenty of attractive riverside apartments for rent around the riverside section and also within the Cleveland environs and neighborhoods. But these apartments do conduct background checks not to mention checks on rental history and credit. This spells automatic denial for any customer who has a previous broken lease with other apartments. So are there any apartments in the Cleveland area that will consider a broken lease?

Neighborhoods In Cleveland With Second-Chance Apartments

Apartment complexes in the Cleveland area do routine checks. Many use a service called SafeRent which is a national database that houses tenants' rental history information and any derogatory information that has been reported by previous apartments. A previous broken agreement, meaning the tenant walked out of a lease, is deemed very serious and can warrant immediate approval. Here are some neighborhoods that have apartments which will be willing to consider a broken agreement.

Downtown Cleveland
Buckeye-Shaker-Square
Central Cleveland
Collinwood
Corlett
Forest Hills
Union-Miles Park area
Woodland Hills

With second chance apartments that are willing to rent to individuals with an impaired rental background, the challenge becomes finding the exact apartments that are willing to take the risk. When it comes to the list of items considered non-negotiable, bankruptcy is the most serious followed by a broken lease.

To find places in Cleveland that are willing to take a chance with a tarnished rental record, an applicant must first of all check the Internet. The Web offers excellent opportunities to look for such complexes without having to leave one's house. The challenge off course becomes that most of these types of apartments do not readily advertise because they do not want to attract negative publicity and also they want their rates to remain high. Bad publicity can drive rental rates down.

It is good to note here that even if you manage to locate these types of apartments, there are a few qualifiers that will be required. For instance, these apartments will be stringent on employment and income. One has to have been employed for at lease six months and be making almost 4 times the amount of the rent not to mention that the apartments will also conduct a criminal check.

Is Aging's Physical Decline Between 20 and 40 Inevitable?

It is commonly accepted as an indisputable fact that the human body deteriorates significantly between the ages of 20 and 40 due to the natural aging process, and one cannot expect to have the energy, stamina and durability of a twenty-year-old when in his forties. Just look at how few professional baseball, basketball and football players are still playing when they reach their forties; and of those few who make it that far, how many are in their athletic prime when they reach that advanced age for an elite athlete. Case closed. Right? Not so fast.
In order to test the truth or fallacy of this belief that aging means our endurance,stamina and ruggedness take a steady inevitable downhill slide, we need a sport that tests these physical attributes better than our major team sports do. A good candidate for this job would be long-distance running. What would be better for checking the endurance and durability of folks of differing ages than comparing their times in a 10K (6.2 km), 10 km run or marathon 26.2 miles? Why stop there? How about a race of 100 miles? This would be even better.
Only a run of 100 miles, but it would not. For a real test, a race that had the ultra-long distance runners the best young people are attracted to. We decided for the 100 Mile Trail National Championships, a USA Track & Field-sanctioned race, running July 31 to August 1, 2010 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run course. Loveda national championship race, it attracted many, if not most, of the top 20- and 30-year-old runners, making it perfect for seeing how the 40-something runners held up in head-to-head competition with the youngsters.
The course was challenging, with virtually no long stretches of level ground on which to cruise; it was, rather, up and down the whole 100 MILES! Keep in mind, uphill taxes the cardiovascular system, while downhills pound the leg muscles into submission. On top of this, think Cleveland/Akron, Ohio in the middle of summer -- that's right -- hot and muggy. This would be a real challenge for the top 40-and-older runners to try to keep pace with the best of the 20- and 30-year-old runners.
Were the older runners able to hold their own in this ultimate challenge of endurance and toughness? Let's see. This championship race along the banks of the Cuyahoga River and through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park started with 249 runners, but due to weather and the terrain made it difficult to run only 166 finishers. Although the race was won by a 34-year-old Todd Braj, in 15 hours 29 minutes, right behind him in second place was Mark Godal, 40 Even more impressive from the point of view of aging was that the third place went to Jack Pilla Charlotte, Vermont - A 52-YEAR-OLD! In fact, 13 of the 20 men were 40 and older, to go with a 20th place 60-YEAR-OLD!
Women bosses not doing too shabby,be. In fact they were better than men in the race against their own sex, for the first three places for women in their forties. Annette Bedrosky, 43, took the first women (and sixth overall) with a course-record 16:44. This means that the dozens of ultra-elite women distance runners in their twenties and thirties, this course has been running in over the years are not able to get close to the time of Anna, because she had to break the record of two hours .
Evenbeating the former course record (her own record) was 46-year-old Connie Gardner, who came in second (Connie may have had an excuse for not doing better, because just two and a half weeks earlier, she had run the Badwater 135-mile race across Death Valley, said to be the world's toughest foot race, a race in which -- despite nearly unbearable desert heat and three mountain crossings --she finished second among the women with an endurance-demanding time of 30 hours 35 minutes). Larissa Abramiuk, 41, of Wayland, Massachusetts, was third and 19th overall.
There you have it. In a national championship race that attracted some of the best ultra-distance runners in the country, those in their forties, and older, took two of the top three spots for the men and a clean sweep for the women.
What better test of one's endurance, stamina and durability than to race on foot 100 miles across rugged terrain in the heat and humidity of summer in Ohio? The results of this race -- these masters runners -- show that aging doesn't have to mean a steady decline of the physical body. If 40-and-better runners can successfully compete with those in their twenties and thirties at the highest level of competition, then much of the physical decline most folks experience between ages 20 and 40 is not the result of inevitable aging, but rather is self-imposed.


Reference : www.thaisabuy.com