Saturday, July 31, 2010
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Car Talk Producer and former Only A Game Senior Producer David Greene with his PMC pedal partner, Henry Fenollosa, who was diagnosed with cancer before he was even born. (Photo by Karen Given)

Only A Game’s Karen Given reports on the joys and the difficulties of running what may be the world’s most effective sports-related fundraiser, the Pan-Mass Challenge. To see Karen’s photos from the event, click here.

Bill recollects his brief and unexpected trip to a minor league mound. STEEEEEE-RIKE ONE! Now, sit down, son…

Only A Game’s Nancy Greenleese brings us into Il Foro Italico, the sports venue famous for its art and architecture and infamous for housing Mussolini’s pool.

Practice supposedly makes perfect, but is it also what makes sports superstars and artistic geniuses into what they are? Author Matthew Syed thinks so. He speaks with Bill about his book Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham and the Science of Success.

Sure the Boston Marathon is great, but have you ever thought it would be better if it was four times longer and horses shared the course with the runners? If so, you’d probably enjoy the Vermont 100. Only A Game’s Doug Tribou reports on the popular endurance race. You can also check out Doug’s photos from the race here.

At The Lebowski Fest, fans of the Coen Brothers’ cult classic “The Big Lebowski” get together once a year at bowling alleys across the country to bowl with The Dude…at least in their minds. Only A Game’s Charlie Schroeder attended the 2009 festival.

(For our Boston-area listeners, please note that our evening broadcast time has changed on 90.9 WBUR. We now air at 7:00am and 7:00pm every Saturday.)

  • Fred Barth

    Matthew Syed talks about 10,000 hours of practice.
    In his book, “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell also discusses 10,000 hours relating to other fields.
    Any connecton?

  • Alan Saul

    Thanks for the bit of Don as a segue between the ultramarathon and the dude. But shouldn’t it have been Her Eyes are a Blue Hundred Miles?

  • Jim

    In 2007, I was hiking the Appalachian Trail. When I passed through Vermont, I was getting pretty pleased with my achievement and physical condition, since I had hiked almost 1,700 miles over the past 4 months. Then the trail passed a dirt road one day in Vermont and I saw a bunch of incredibly fit folks competing in the Vermont 100. It gave me a new perspective on fitness. Though I could and eventually did hike the entire 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail that summer, there is no possible way I could run 100 mile at one time. It’s all relative, I guess.

    Love your show.

  • Bill Littlefield

    Jim,
    You have my admiration for hiking the Appalachian Trail. As far as not being able to run 100 miles at one time, you have a lot of company…me, for example.
    Bill, the more or less stationary host

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