Lessons From Comic Book Heroes & Real-Life Sports Heroes

‘Thor’ – the Norse god of thunder - will be the next comic book character to be brought to life via Hollywood. Once again, Natalie Portman appears; she was the lead actress in ‘V For Vendetta’, about an underground, anti-establishment, renegade-terrorist. Shot in noir style, it was artsy yet believable in its Orwellian plot and premise. If there is a cause worth believing in, believers will uphold it. A Cause becomes a call for action – like the myriad of charities aimed at assisting a post-quake struck Japan.

This week, I watched a re-run of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Unbreakable’ which focused on superheroes. What if there was a man who was born so fragile that his bones break at the slightest movement? What if, he believed that there was another person – his antithesis – that was indestructible? This comic-book premise is about heroes and anti-heroes. 

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Tomorrow will be the 2XU 12K Compression Run. After the sudden strong downpour this evening, I expect an interesting morning. I hope to hold a 4:30 pace for the whole race; it is my time trial for the week (part of my Ironman and Gold Coast Marathon goals). That would be an assuring pace to work on (54:00 for 12K), as we make our way past iconic landmarks like the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands’s Helix Bridge, and F1 pit-stop/grandstand. The last time I ran there was at Pete Jacobs’s running session. I am looking forward to a tactically sound race, focused on clever and disciplined pacing.

Clifford Lee reported that he witness Zola Budd win the Iron Girl Race today at Nelson Mandela Bay – site of tomorrow’s Ironman South Africa. She was the famous barefoot runner, unfairly accused of tripping Mary Decker during a major race. Decker admitted, subsequently, that she was at fault. However, I was disappointed that silence on her part may have compromised Budd’s career, and more importantly, the desire to run to her potential. The  Budd-Decker Olympic, 3000-metre race was the race-of-the-year, yet yielded tragic results. Enjoy the Runner's World interview from 2009 - it is a very well written piece.