In this study, we applied an evaluation model of multiple attributes sport-based tourism to the marketing strategy for a marathon event in Kinmen (Taiwan) based on choice experiment methodology. We found that participants appreciated experience authentic cuisine and availability souvenirs. They also preferred engaging ecotourism activities supporting establishment sport development fund. market...

East African athletes now dominate international distance running events from the 800 m to the marathon. Explanations for their phenomenal success have included optimal environmental conditions for developing distance running performance, psychological advantage and advantageous physiological characteristics. It is well established that genetics plays a role in determining inter-individual diff...

Object handover is a basic, but essential capability for robots interacting with humans in many applications, e.g., caring for the elderly and assisting workers in manufacturing workshops. It appears deceptively simple, as humans perform object handover almost flawlessly. The success of humans, however, belies the complexity of object handover as collaborative physical interaction between two a...

Blood chemical parameters were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (notably for determining the concentrations of glucose, lactate, urea, glycerol, triglycerides, and proteins) in 14 top-class marathon runners (133.7+/-4.1 min at marathon, 10.1% difference between extremes) who performed a 10-km run at their individual marathon velocity. Marathon performance level was correlated...

We study the crowding of near-extreme events in the time gaps between successive finishers in major international marathons. Naively, one might expect these gaps to become progressively larger for better-placing finishers. While such an increase does indeed occur from the middle of the finishing pack down to approximately 20th place, the gaps saturate for the first 10–20 finishers. We give a pr...

15THE MEANING AND IMPACT OF THE ASH SCHOLAR AWARD – Dr. D. Gary Gilliland reflects on how his career has benefitted from the ASH Scholar Award. What did you do for your 50th birthday (or if, like me, you haven’t quite reached it yet — what would you like to do?) Did you splurge on a sports car, or take an exotic vacation? Will you compete in a marathon or triathlon, or perhaps celebrate the eve...

There’s nothing quite like a day at the races . . . . The quickening of the pulse as the starter’s pistol sounds, the thrill when your favorite contestant speeds out into the lead (or the distress if another contestant dashes out ahead of yours), and the accompanying fear (or hope) that the leader might change. And what if the race is a marathon? Maybe one of the contestants will be far stronge...

During a marathon, a runner often does not know which position he is in. His nearest competitors are either so far ahead or so far behind that he doesn’t know where he stands. We earthlings are in a similar situation. We do not yet have a cosmic context for life. We don’t even know if there are other competitors. Approximately 5% of the sun-like stars surveyed possess close-orbiting giant plane...

Large scale public events are attractive targets for terrorist attacks. It is of great significance to intelligently allocate limited security resources to protect such events. In most public events, the impact of an attack at different targets changes over time. For instance, in marathon, the impact of an attack at different locations changes over time as the participants move along the race c...

Previous research demonstrates an association between religiousness, spirituality, and generosity in adolescents, but few studies have tested the mechanisms by which religion might facilitate the development of generosity in real-world contexts. In this paper, a theoretical model is presented describing the potential mechanisms by which engagement in transformational contexts (i.e., participati...