This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from April 2021, Jessica Anderson sets a world record in the London Marathon, though one that wasn’t recognized as such right away. Plus: NoseID is a pet identification system that can help out a lost dog in record time.

Woman Denied ‘Fastest Nurse’ Record Because She Didn’t Wear a Dress, Later Awarded Title (Sports Illustrated)

NoseID can scan your dog’s unique nose print to help find them if they get lost (It’s Nice That)

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This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from July 2021, a look at the men’s marathon from the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. You couldn’t write a weirder race than this one. Plus: American athletes took home a record 239 medals at the 1904 Games, for one very unusual reason.

Running a marathon was never crazier or harder than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics (ABC Australia)

8 Unusual Facts About the 1904 St. Louis Olympics (History.com)

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This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from July 2019, Cynthia Arnold of Missoula, Montana ran the Missoula Marathon while pushing a six year old, a four year old and a one year old in a triple stroller. Plus: Tony Fisher bought some salami and did the only logical thing with it: construct a 2x2x2 Rubik’s Cube out of it.

Mom Runs 3:11 Marathon With a Triple Stroller While Pushing 185 Pounds (Runners World)

Real Salami Sausage 2x2x2 Rubik’s Cube (Tony Fisher on YouTube)

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This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from April 2023, the Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon in 1983 ends up being won by a guy you wouldn’t have expected. Plus: Delaware hosts the Wilmington Coffee Fest.

When age and modesty won the race (Sydney Morning Herald)

The 61-Year-Old Shepherd Who Shuffled His Way to an Unlikely Ultra Win (Adventure Journal via Archive.org)

Wilmington Coffee Fest

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Colleges and universities all seem to have their own particular customs and traditions, but few have made students take a vow against one guy, as the University of Oxford did for centuries. Plus: today in 2018, some 18,000 people in Mexico City set a record for a particular type of photo.

The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis (Oxford Bodleian Library) 

18,000 Mexicans get naked (NBC News)

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National Train Day is this Saturday, and that may be an opportune time to drop by Budapest, Hungary, which is home to an entire train service run by children. Plus: starting today in Louisiana, it’s the Rayne Frog Festival. 

The Budapest Children’s Railway (Kottke)  

Rayne Frog Festival (Rayne Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture) 

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Today in 1927, the birthday of Edsel Ford Fong, who became an institution in San Francisco’s Chinatown. People said he was the rudest waiter in the world… and they loved him for it (!) Plus: a new installation at a modern art museum in Berlin lets visitors build with hundreds of thousands of wooden blocks.

Memories, anecdotes and snippets through time of Sam Wo (SFGate.com via Archive.org) 

Lina Lapelytė Fills Hamburger Bahnhof with 400,000 Wood Blocks for Communal Building (Colossal)

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Today in 1924, the Olympic Games were underway in Paris. And it was at these Games that a former Olympian swimming champion won a medal far outside the water. Plus: Clinton, Iowa has unveiled a series of wooden sculptures around town that nod to the community’s history with timber. 

5 Odd Events from the 1924 Games We Will Sorely Miss at the Paris Olympics (Outside Online)

Experience the Thomas Dambo Trolls in Clinton (Grow Clinton)

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For Orange Juice Day, the story of how the Florida Department of Citrus teamed up with Marvel Comics to create a superhero that promotes orange growers. Plus: NASA teams up with the alphabet for a new public tool called Your Name In Landsat.

The Story of Marvel's New Branded Superhero, Captain Citrus (AdWeek)

This tool from NASA uses fractions of the earths surface, taken by satellite, to spell out your name. (Present & Correct via Bluesky)

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Today in 1897, the start of an event which gave the city of Nashville a pretty memorable structure: a full-scale exact replica of the Parthenon. Plus: if you like to go to fairs mostly for the food, you may want to head today to Springfield, Missouri for the Corndog Kickoff.

About the Parthenon (Nashville Parthenon)

Corndog Kickoff (Ozark Empire Fairgrounds)

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