I just picked this list up off a running forum I frequent, and I judging by how I identified with all these statements, I guess that makes me a runner

• You have days when do more kilometers on your feet than in your car.
• When you're friends take the escalator and you beat them by taking the stairs.
• You care more about your running attire than your work attire.
• You know the exact distances from place "A" to place "B" in tenths of a kilometer.
• You know you're a runner when you can talk more about a city's running routes and less about the city.
• Your weekly long run becomes a reason to eat pizza.
• You finish the race looking like you wrestled a bear and you don't care.
• You'd rather run than watch T.V.
• You have a very distinct "watch tan"
• You know how many grams of carbs there are in a banana.
• You can say the word "fartlek" and keep a straight face.
• You consider a 10km run a good cure for a hangover.
• You buy ibuprofen in the economy size.
• When a non-runner asks you if you "jog" you have to fight the urge to punch them in the face.
• When running behind a hot guy/girl, the first thing you notice is how much they pronate and what kind of shoes they are wearing.
• You don't see anything strange in talking about going for an "easy 10km".
• Even a "Cadbury's Kid" can drink you under the table.
• When people offer you a lift and you say "No thanks, I rather run it".
• You have competitions with your friends to see who has the lowest heart-rate or blood pressure.
• Every new song you hear gets categorised according to the pace you would run while listening to it.
• You've turned down a date because it would have interfered with a run.
• You run on Christmas day.
• You hate walking anywhere because it feels so damn slow.

While I'm the first to admit I'm not exactly a "normal woman" in a lot of ways, with regards to physics and body mechanics I certainly am "normal", and I am not a statistic.  I've never had foot problems and my knees are stronger than they've ever been.  Use a stair-climber?  Does he have any idea how much stress that places on the ligaments around the knees? 

He's also assuming that the only reason women run is to get the "cute little runner's body".  What about all the other benefits?  High impact exercise, along with sufficient calcium and vitamin D intake, helps to increase bone density and thus ward off the evils of osteoporosis.  Regular vigorous exercise improves mood, especially in those prone to depression, strengthen's the heart and helps maintain a healthy circulatory system.  Not to mention its role in weight control!  Running for me personally gives me something to strive for, something to achieve, and something to be proud of.  I enjoy it, and despite his dire warnings that I will become "hurt and saggy", I'd like to see him try and stop me next time I'm heading out for 10K.  Bring it on Michael Boyle, bring it on. 

It was with a nauseous mix of horror and pity that I read this story about children around the world losing their lives through imitating the execution of Saddam Hussein (story posted on the Courier Mail website). Even in death, the man is still contributing to the destruction of other lives, and innocent children at that.  But does the fact that he took so many lives, either directly or indirectly, give us, or anyone for that matter, the right to take his in return?  To be completely honest, I profess to ambivalence about the whole matter. 

There are two sides to every issue, and in this case, both sides make clear and convincing arguments.  On the one hand, don't the citizens of Iraq and the families of those that he tortured and murdered deserve retribution and justice?  Is it not their right to exact revenge in the most basal way, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?  A life for a life (or in this case, many lives) seems a fair exchange after all.  Do unto others, etc, as they say, and as it turns out, Saddam's life ended by others "doing unto him". Of course, the "Do unto others" maxim cuts both ways. What about the person that strapped the noose onto his neck, or pushed the stool out from under him? (or whatever they do to conduct hangings these days).   Is that person, now responsible for directly taking a life, open to the same punishment as Saddam?  The whole "eye for an eye" rule, taken at its deepest and most basic level, says yes, in taking another's life he deserves to lose his or her own.  But then what of the person that conducts that punishment?  They would find themselves in the same position, and then where would it end?  Who is to say that one person has the right to take another's life, and another person doesn't have the same right?

And yet, where would we be without laws, ethics and moral guidelines?  If Hussein was allowed to live, what message would that send to other would-be mass-murderers and despots out there?  The message that human life is so worthless that a man can take as many as he likes, and the only price he will pay is to languish in a prison cell for the rest of his life? (or at least until his lawyers can wangle a release) At least the death penalty makes it very clear that there is no escape for those that commit such horrific and abominable acts against other human beings.  It seems however, as evidenced by the story I mentioned earlier, that message has gone somewhat astray, and it is children that have paid the price.

In reality, it is a little too late to be debating the morals and ethics of executing Saddam.  The thing we of the western world must remember is that our principles, and our laws, are quite different to those in the Middle East.  Corporal and capital punishment is much more common and generally accepted there, and while we can wrinkle our noses and decry their choice of penalty, it really isn't our business.