Relay race

During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating (usually with a baton in the fist) parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field.

Relays in swimming

A swimming relay of four swimmers usually follows this strategy: second fastest, third fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor). However, it is not uncommon to see either (1) the slowest swimmer racing in the second slot, creating an order as follows: second fastest, slowest, third fastest, and then fastest, or (2) an order from slowest to fastest: slowest, third fastest, second fastest, fastest.

FINA rules require that a foot of the second, third or fourth swimmer must be contacting the platform while (and before) the incoming teammate is touching the wall; the starting swimmer may already be in motion, however, which saves 0.6-1 seconds compared to a regular start. Besides, many swimmers perform better in a relay than in an individual race owing to a team spirit atmosphere. As a result, relay times are typically 2–3 seconds faster than the sum of best times of individual swimmers.

Running

Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. A characteristic feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride occur simultaneously, with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.

It is assumed that the ancestors of mankind developed the ability to run for long distances about 2.6 million years ago, probably in order to hunt animals. Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas. Records of competitive racing date back to the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 BCE, while the first recorded Olympic Games took place in 776 BCE. Running has been described as the world's most accessible sport.

Running (No Doubt song)

"Running" is a song written by Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady (2001) and was released worldwide as the album's fourth and final single on July 1, 2003. The song was also used on the last episode of the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 2003.

The song received mixed reviews from music critics and was compared to Depeche Mode-style songs. The song only charted on the official charts of the United States, where it became the band's lowest charting single, and in Germany, where it had longest charting period. The song was accompanied by a music video which was directed by Chris Hafner, which featured many old and new pictures as well as clippings of the band members.

Background

The song was written by Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal in Kanal's living room. They used an old Yamaha keyboard that Kanal's father had purchased for him when he was in eighth grade and developed the song's harmony first and then wrote the lyrics. The band worked on the track to give it a "spacier sound" but were displeased with the result so they took the song to producer Nellee Hooper, who stripped Running down to the basics.The song was then produced by him, with whom Stefani collaborated again for her solo project two years later. Whatever the intent, the result was a track that resonated with catchy "Mario Bros." background instrumentation throughout the entire song.

Running (film)

Running is a 1979 drama/sports film directed by Steven Hilliard Stern. It is about the fictional American marathon runner and Olympics hopeful Michael Andropolis and his struggle to compete in the Olympic Games. It stars Michael Douglas and Susan Anspach.

Overview

Michael Andropolis (Douglas) is a US hopeful for the 1976 Olympic Games as a marathon runner. However, his life is fraught with trouble. His marriage, which produced two children, has fallen apart and ended in divorce. He struggles with unemployment and at one point in the movie is seen snapping due to frustration with the unemployment office bureaucracy. Additionally, his coach is reluctant to endorse him for the games. Andropolis always starts races strong, but because of his over-competitive strive, he pulls ahead of the pack too soon, sapping strength he'll need for the final minutes of the race. So he tends to not come in first, having used his stamina too early. His coach feels he is a quitter.

However, he providentially makes it through to the Montreal Olympics by finishing fourth in the qualifiers, but getting the ticket due to an injury in one of the top three finishers. Andropolis surprises everyone, by pacing himself early in the race, only pulling ahead halfway through the race. Well on his way to the finish line ahead of the main pack, Andropolis slips on wet leaves rounding a turn. The fall leaves him with shoulder and leg injuries as other runners pass him by.

Baton (conducting)

A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to enlarge and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians.

Description

Modern batons are generally made of a lightweight wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a comfortable grip called a "bulb" that is usually made of cork, oak, walnut, rosewood, or occasionally aluminum and that may be tailored to a conductor's needs. Professional conductors often have personal specifications for a baton based on their own physical demands and the nature of the performance: Sir Henry Wood and Herbert von Karajan are some examples. Historic examples of their construction include one given to the French composer Louis-Antoine Jullien in the mid 1850s prior to his first visit to the United States: it is described as "a gorgeous baton made of maplewood, richly mounted in gold and set with costly diamonds."

Batons have normally varied in length from about 10 to 24 inches (250 to 610 mm) though a range of between 12 and 26 inches (300 and 660 mm) is more commonly used; Henry Wood once requested the use of a 24-inch baton. When Gaspare Spontini arrived in Dresden in 1844, Wagner had a baton made from a thick ebony staff with ivory knobs at either end.

Baton (law enforcement)

A baton or truncheon (also called a cosh, billystick, billy club, nightstick, sap, blackjack, stick) is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, rubber, plastic or metal. They are carried for forced compliance and self-defense by law-enforcement officers, correctional staff, security-industry employees and (less often) military personnel. Other uses for truncheons and batons include crowd control or the dispersal of belligerent or non-compliant people.

A truncheon or baton may be used to strike, jab, block, bludgeon and aid in the application of armlocks. The usual striking or bludgeoning action is not produced by a simple and direct hit, as with an ordinary blunt object, but rather by bringing the arm down sharply while allowing the truncheon to pivot nearly freely forward and downward, so moving its tip much faster than its handle – effectively a slingshot action, only without releasing. Sometimes, they also are employed as weapons by criminals and other law-breakers because of their easy concealment. As a consequence, they are illegal for non-authorized civilian use in many jurisdictions around the world. They have a common role to play, too, in the rescuing of trapped individuals—for instance, people caught in blazing cars or buildings—by smashing windows or even doors.

Baton (military)

The ceremonial baton is a short, thick stick-like object, typically in wood or metal, that is traditionally the sign of a field marshal or a similar very high-ranking military officer, and carried as a piece of their uniform. The baton is distinguished from the swagger stick in being thicker and effectively without any practical function. Unlike a staff of office, a baton is not rested on the ground. Unlike a royal sceptre, a baton is typically flat-ended, not crowned on one end with an eagle or globe.

Ancient world

The origin of the commander's baton is remote but common to all pastoral societies and the ones in Egypt and Rome are manifest through art. It used to believed that the type of decorated prehistoric artefacts called bâton de commandement had this role in the European Upper Palaeolithic, but archaeologists have discarded this theory. In western Europe most are later variations of the ones consuls received and that represented the overall command of those tied to the fasces that represented the Roman tribes that comprised the Roman people. With time they came to be extended to the commanders that held supreme authority, civilian and military over the provinces of the republic, and later under the dictatorships and finally the emperor.