Billy 

LONDON (Reuters) - Humans were born to run and evolved from ape-like creatures into the way they look today probably because of the need to cover long distances and compete for food, scientists said on Wednesday. From tendons and ligaments in the legs and feet that act like springs and skull features that help prevent overheating, to well-defined buttocks that stabilize the body, the human anatomy is shaped for running.

"We do it because we are good at it. We enjoy it and we have all kinds of specializations that permit us to run well," said Daniel Lieberman, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University in Massachusetts.

"There are all kinds of features that we see in the human body that are critical for running," he told Reuters.

Lieberman and Dennis Bramble, a biology professor at the University of Utah, studied more than two dozen traits that increase humans' ability to run. Their research is reported in the science journal Nature.

They suspect modern humans evolved from their ape-like ancestors about 2 million years ago so they could hunt and scavenge for food over large distances.

But the development of physical features that enabled humans to run entailed a trade-off -- the loss of traits that were useful for climbing trees.

"We are very confident that strong selection for running -- which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees -- was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form," Bramble said in a statement.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

The conventional theory is that running was a by-product of bipedalism, or the ability to walk upright on two legs, that evolved in ape-like human ancestors called Australopithecus at least 4.5 million years ago.

But Lieberman and Bramble argue that it took a few million more years for the running physique to evolve, so the ability to walk cannot explain the transition.

"There were 2.5 million to 3 million years of bipedal walking without ever looking like a human, so is walking going to be what suddenly transforms the hominid body?" said Bramble.

"We're saying 'no, walking won't do that, but running will."'

If natural selection did not favor running, the scientists believe humans would still look a lot like apes.

"Running has substantially shaped human evolution. Running made us human -- at least in the anatomical sense," Bramble added.

Among the features that set humans apart from apes to make them good runners are longer legs to take longer strides, shorter forearms to enable the upper body to counterbalance the lower half during running and larger disks which allow for better shock absorption.

Big buttocks are also important.

"Have you ever looked at an ape? They have no buns," said Bramble.

Humans lean forward when they run and the buttocks "keep you from pitching over on your nose each time a foot hits the ground," he added.

Mills - Olympic Legend
In the 1964 Tokyo Olympics 10,000 Meters race, Billy Mills set a new Olympic record of 28 minutes 24.4 seconds. While the record was later broken, as of 1992, Billy Mills is the only American athlete to ever win this race, the only American athlete ever to establish a new Olympic record in this race, and the only American athlete ever to receive the Gold Medal for this race.

One Who Helps His Country

1964 Tokyo, Japan, American Billy Mills
glistened brighter than any star in the eastern sky.

In the 100 years of the Olympic games, Billy Mills is the only American ever to the win this event. When the race was over, the press and the crowd were so shocked that Billy was stopped from running the traditional victory lap. "Who are you?", one person from the press asked in disbelief.

But this was only the beginning for Billy Mills. For while other American's might quickly forget this shining moment, the people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where Billy was raised, learn early that life does not always come easy. It was this realization that brought Billy Mills to the pinnacle of the athletic world, where he became one of America's greatest distance runners. But it was this same spirit that made the person he became a continuing role model for young Native Americans growing up, in an often uncomfortable world with limited resources.

• REVISIT HERE this special moment in Olympic history. A tribute to Billy Mills
  and all the Native Americans who have brought honor to this country.

  Today, Billy Mills walks in two worlds with one spirit -
  the indian world and the white world.

  He has become a
  successful business man,
  author and
  speaker.

  This information was made possible by:
  The Billy Mills Speakers Bureau -
  7760 Winding Way Suite 722
  Fair Oaks, Ca. 95628 (916)-965-5738

• Note: Great running movie about Billy Mills  "Running Brave"...........    ~Achilles
• 
  Running Brave (1983) - Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments, Discussion, Taglines, Trailers, Posters, Photos, Showtimes, Link to Official Site, Fan Sites ... come as close to portraying the actual events as Running Brave. Billy Mills' amazing finish to win the ... with other users on IMDb message board for Running Brave (1983) ...
  

Future Star??? You Decide!!

 Attached below are the Youth Boys 3000 meter results from the National Youth Athletics Championship meet held in Buffalo this last weekend. Emil Heineking, who will be a freshman this next year at Chardon High School, finished 3rd overall with a time of 9:38.78 which roughly converts to a 10:17 for the common high school distance of 3200m.

3000 Meter Run Youth Boys ======================================================================= Name                  Age             Team           Time =======================================================================   1. Lynch, Marcelis     14     Distance Hea     9:30.30
2 Apwah, Jason     14     Green Streak     9:37.82 * 
3 Heineking, Emil     14     Unattached     9:38.78 ****** 
4 Klein-Cloud, Rafael     14     Kenyan Runne     9:44.02
5 Falcon, Peter     14     Cornhusker F     9:44.06 
6 Feldhake, Matthew     14     Effingham TC     9:46.14 
7 Kuhlman, Travis     14 Southern Cal     9:58.61 
8 Wilson, Jacob     14     Cornhusker F     10:06.21 
9 Lopez, Derek     14     Cyo Track Cl     10:24.29 
10 Nieland, Tyler     14     Cornhusker F     10:25.32 
11 Reynolds, Ryan     14     Cornhusker F     10:34.14 
12 Bautista, Alex     13     Cool Running     10:35.94

Check out Dave Ritz and Genuine Son by clicking on the album cover to the left.

2000 Flag Day 5k Run

It's time for a change Already!!

Lets face it, local running coverage in Lake County/Cleveland area Sucks. Yes, I know the word "Sucks" isn't the best word to use on an important topic and my college professor  would have laughed at me, but what other word describes it? Ever since the great Jim Michaels left the running scene, for reasons we all know, running coverage has dropped to an all time low. Why?  People like Jim care about our sport, but the sad truth is running isn't a big ticket draw like football, baseball, or basketball. For example Mentor's Todd Moyers,  barely got any coverage while making it to states and running above all expectations. While crappy football team's receive all the coverage. Well this is why I'm set on changing that, my goal at Achilles was always to provide more running info. This year I want one and all to send Achilles all  your running results and race information. Everything will be posted, unlike in the local papers. Achilles will become the one stop information center for all die hard runners.  So where do we start? High School track season sounds good.  I want to keep up to date information on all High School track teams in Northeast Ohio. Providing a sort of all Lake County team, ranking teams and top athletes in the area. Pretty much clocking's taken to a new level " All East Side Track " ". Also if a  team wants there own page for results, like the Mentor Men's cc team  Mentor High School Men's Cross-Country , we can do that to. This is only a start, but it's better than what's being provided now. Achilles is open for any thoughts and ideas. So Finally, its going to take a lot of work, but that's nothing new to anyone that knows and loves running..........

 Achilles

Madison's Nick Cordes All American for third time!
Nick Cordes running for Ashland college placed fourth in the mile "4:05.62" in the indoor division II track championships. This is Nick's 3rd time being an All American.

NOTE: SEND IN YOUR RACE RESULTS AND ACHILLES WILL POST THEM

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