Photo by Yves Alarie on Unsplash 1. Ever heard of the Azores? This all started with a trail running video, which was great and is embedded below, where the Golden Trail Series was recently run in the Azores. The Golden Trail Series is like the bowl games and Super Bowl for trail running. In any…

The year in running shoes started out in a bad way, but ended well. Like most people, when I purchase running shoes, I pretty much have to consider them an investment. I made one investment that didn’t pay off, two that had good performances, and two that excelled. Nike Epic React Flyknit 2 ($89.98 at…

Photo by Raph Howald on Unsplash 1. Ever heard of Kiama? Me neither, but it’s just south of Sydney and the name Kiama is Aboriginal meaning “place where the sea makes a noise.” Do we have English words that have meaning like that? Anyway, Kiama is on the coast and one of the cool things…

Ever had something that’s just made your life better? Me too. These are not things that are necessarily in a category, but they’re just things that have made my life slightly better and as a result, I thought I’d share them. So this is definitely not a gift guide or anything like that. And I…

Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash 1. I’ve never heard of Ubatuba, but it’s in Brazil and it looks like it could be in Europe, but it’s actually in the state of Sao Paulo and just west of Rio de Janeiro. The Tropic of Capricorn crosses the city and the bay is surrounded by the…

That’s Veneto, Italy. Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash 1. I didn’t know who Rafer Johnson was before this week. Johnson died at the age of 86 and was the world’s greatest athlete in the 1960 Olympics winning the decathlon. There were so many great parts to Johnson’s life, including competing against C.K. Yang, his…

Photo by Veikko Venemies on Unsplash 1. Ever heard of the Aulanko Nature Reserve​? Me neither. It’s in Finland, and the park was established in 1883, in region of Häme, the property originally purchased by colonel Hugo Standertskjöld, who had made his money manufacturing arms in Russia. 2. This is right up my alley. Outdoor…

Photo by Med J on Unsplash 1. Can we talk about Zanzibar? Zanzibar is one of those places that sounds like it is completely made up, but it’s not. It’s a real place. The name Zanzibar almost sounds completely made up. It’s not. It is real. Zanzibar is an archipelago, which is a series of…

Photo by Miguel Ángel Sanz on Unsplash 1. Need to be uplifted a bit? Me too. If you have never heard of the story of Chancellor Lee Adams, then please read Charlotte Observer’s Scott Fowler’s account. Chancellor is the son of Rae Carruth. Carruth hired a hitman to kill Chancellor’s mother, but Chancellor survived. And…

1. Ever heard of Coromandel? Me neither. It’s in New Zealand and is actually the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island and provides an barrier from the island itself. I think I could spend a week on the peninsula itself. Photo by Ferntech DJI on Unsplash 2. This has made the rounds quite a bit…