The Royce Files

As expected, the debate started on the topic of the economy. Both Obama and McCain reiterated the superiority of their plan. I checked out to do a little research on each candidate's stance on poverty. They both agreed combating HIV/AIDS worldwide should receive more government attention. Obama specifically wants to double annual funding of such projects. McCain supports the President's Plan for AIDS Relief program. So what's the connection of HIV/AIDS to poverty? To answer I will take a quote from an United Nations document. Globally, the highest HIV prevalence rates are found in poor countries, but within regions such as Africa, it is not necessarily the poorest countries that have the highest prevalence rates. Nevertheless, poverty increases vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and exacerbates the devastation of the epidemic. Poverty deprives individuals of the means to cope with HIV/AIDS. The poor often lack the knowledge and awareness that would enable them to protect themselves ...

J eff Kolpack blogged the men's race suboerbly from start to finish but did not get his early predictions correct. He was probably quite surprised by Eric Sondag overtaking the Kenyan John Rotich in the last few miles. On Monday, Rotich's coach reported that Rotich injuried himself during the race and was not fatigued by his previous Lincoln marathon. He thus downplayed Sondag's strategic assumption that Rotich may not have enough to keep pace in last 2 miles. Sounds a little bit like rhetoric to me. Injuries in running can be the result of fatigue, lack of stretching, or over-exertion. There might be more. Nevertheless, even injuried, Rotich finished 3rd. The men's half and marathon course records made this weekend were not too substantial. Neither broke the previous record by large amounts. I suspect the wind may have been doing a bit of damage. Fargo has yet to break the 2:30 barrier in the marathon despite a few runners who have bested that mark. The presence of the...

Waking unexpectedly but necessarily I noticed snow on the windows. “Great, just great, the first Fargo Marathon and it snows. Can we ever break the arctic gulag stereotype?” I had hope the other day when the sun began peak out of the west in the evening. Surely this will dry us off. Unfortunately it did not last. I prayed for better weather. When I awoke at around 7AM to take up my volunteer traffic control post. It was cold. The temperature hovered somewhere below 40 yet definitely above freezing. A cool breeze and some light rain filled out the rest of the picture. Not ideal conditions but not arctic tundra. Between 2000 and 3000 runners participated in the races and probably around 300 volunteers were assisting. [The results actually give a much smaller number, just under 1000 so maybe it was the combined count with half marathon and 5k] This marked one of Fargo’s largest outdoor events. I arrived at 2nd St S and 8th Ave at 8AM. I set up the barricade and bedecked myself in ...