There are not many competitions that have remained unchanged since ancient times. The contest “Who is faster?” has been held since the dawn of civilization. In this article, you will learn a little from the history of running and some of the most famous runners of all time. Nowadays, sports betting at https://www.scr888-vip.net/. is very popular. People cheer for their favorites and sincerely rejoice in victories and suffer losses.

As we know from history, the classic marathon was held in honor of the famous warrior of Ancient Greece – Filippidis, who ran from the scene of the battle of Marathon about 26 miles.  He ran to Athens with one goal – to deliver an important message that the Greeks had first defeated the Persians in battle. The story of this warrior ended tragically and heroically at the same time – after running the entire distance without stopping, he delivered the news, fell and died.

Interesting facts about marathons

Despite the long history of the distance, the distance of 26.22 miles or 42 km 195 m was officially stated only at the Summer Olympics in 1908 in London. As for the competition, the marathon had been earlier considered just a long race, and the distances were completely different and, nevertheless, this race was the most extreme.

Today the most dangerous and challenging world race is the Barkley marathon. The 100-mile track runs mostly through the dense forests of Tennessee. The distance runs along the path of the fugitive-killer of M. L. King. An interesting fact is that after the start of the race for such a long distance, there is a special roomy bus going along the distance and gathering all those who have left the distance.

Famous long-distance runners

As for the famous long-distance runners, there are not so many of them today.

For example, Sunita Williams, an astronaut, ran a full marathon distance in space. She ran to the ISS. At the same time, her sister was running this distance on earth; she who took part in the infamous Boston marathon.

Sister Madonna Bader passed 325 “triathlon.” She is officially the oldest participant of the traditional marathon distance (she is 82 years old), who passed the distance “Ironman” from the beginning to the end.

Fauja Singh from Britain, who turned 105 years old, was listed in the Guinness Book of records in 2011. He is the oldest person who overcame the marathon at the age of 100. It is unbelievable but true: this year he participated in another marathon. 

Another famous runner is Cliff Young. In 1983, when he was 61 years old, he became the champion of the famous so-called Australian race, which is the limit of the human body test of endurance. These competitions were held in the area between Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Cliff managed to surpass the ancient Greek – he ran 544 miles without a stop, sleep and rest.

No less impressive result was achieved by Sir Ranulf Fiennes, an adventurer from Britain. Fiennes ran 7 marathons in a row every day all week on all 7 continents of the planet. This fact does not cause much admiration until remember that one of the continents is Antarctica, which is not so easy to walk. Also, the Englishman has experienced a heart attack a few months before the start.

However, one of the most persistent runners is Belgian Stefan Engels. He managed to run exactly 365 marathons for 365 days, considering it in some way his work. And this is despite the fact that he was diagnosed with asthma as a child and was prescribed to avoid any physical activity.

John Dunbar was in the lead of the whole race at the Ironman competition, but when the team was suddenly run out of drinking water, his assistants did not come up with anything better than to pour him some beer. John began to collide with cars, stumble, but despite this, he was the second.

Terry Fox, a 21-year-old Canadian who lost one leg because of a tumor, decided to run the “marathon of hope” across the country at all costs. The goal of the race is to raise public awareness about cancer, raise money for research in oncology.

The most “toxic” marathon was the race at the 1904 Olympics. The winner of the marathon just drove a car more than half of the marathon distance. The athlete, who won the second place, was moved through the finish line after a shot of rat poison. The third place was achieved by the athlete, who took a nap in the middle of the distance in order to regain strength.

How you can be sure which recreational sport suits you? Though it is an easy question, but it doesn’t has a simple answer. First you should know what a recreational sport is. It is any sports activity which engages people during their leisure hour. Though in some cases, it has fiscal rewards or works as a major competition, fitness goal or pastime activity.

You have so many options to choose for your leisure activity depending on your age, ranging from outdoor to indoor. However, choosing can be a real challenge and the choices significantly vary from one person to another. If you are a former athlete, then your decision may be easier. But if you are notice, then choosing the right sport is a big task. Thus, to make the right selection, here are some important points to consider.

1. Select a sport which you know and understand and have passion for. Leisure sports should be entertaining and enjoyable. If you select a sport which you don’t like or no nothing about, then it could be frustrating for you. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something new.
2. Keep your aims and objectives in mind. You have different reasons to choose a recreational sport. Thus, select a sport which is line with your objective, for instance if you want to be a basketball player, then you should get portable basketball hoop and practice. If you want to shed your weight, then you should go for sports like swimming and cycling. Thus, your aim should stand in line with your sports.
3. Different recreation sports need different tools and equipment. These equipment also vary as per the need of the player. For instance if you want to play golf, then you need a golf club, shoes and ball. If you want to be a basketball player, you need a basketball and portable basketball hoop. So, you should have the right equipment for the sport you have chosen so that you play it efficiently.
4. As recreation sport is a pastime sport, thus, you should choose a sport you can dedicate time to. Some leisure sports consume a lot of time while others don’t. Similarly, some sports such as playing tennis, basketball and swimming can be played outside and inside while sports like biking, surfing, or golfing can only be played outside. 
5. Season also plays a major part in the selection of your leisure sport. Some recreational sports require snow while others are played during summers. So, if you choose skiing as your recreational sport, then you can only participate in it in a specific season. 
6. While most of the sports involve more than one player, there are some sports which need more than two players. So, number of players is also important depending on the sports you have chosen.

As stated above, this is just a list of guidelines to help you know how to ick the perfect sports for you and make your life a recreational success.

Sports betting is legal in the United States!!! That was the verdict in 2018 when the Supreme Court determined the federal ban on sports betting was not constitutional.

But while betting is now legal, just how drastic does the ruling change the betting landscape? We all know sports betting was taking place all over the country all ready even before it was legal. So just how different will legal sports gambling look compared to illegal sports betting? Let’s discuss some of what could be changing.

More Regulations

Yes, legalizing something means the government gets more say, not less in how it operates.

Currently, 8 states have full legalized sports betting. Two states (Arkansas and New York) have passed laws legalizing it. Twenty-eight states and the District of Colombia are considering laws to legalize it.

For the states that have passed and the states considering passage, that means state and local governments stepping up oversight and regulation of gambling. And unless the federal government passes minimum standards for every state (something that was first proposed in DC in late 2018), it may be difficult to keep up with the Wild West style standards each state comes up with.

Inconsistent Regulations

For instance, not all states allow betting on college sports (Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island don’t allow the practice). Each state has a different group created to regulate it. Some states regulate through gambling commissions. Some combine gambling with their lottery departments. The type of organization a state chooses to regulate sports gambling with can have a major effect on the type of regulations that surround it.

And the type of regulations passed will be directly related to the opinions of elected officials. With every election could come new regulations from people who oppose gambling. Then, two years later, a new group steps in and undoes all those regulations. Regulations will be different from state to state and year to year depending on the political whims that are popular at the time.

So, count on needing to constantly keep up with the current regulations for the area you’re gambling in and expect those regulations to change frequently. Visit ESPN.com here for the latest on where each state stands on the legalizing sports betting, 

Taxes

How many people out there declared their winnings from sports betting last year?

Anybody?

Well, if you live in a state that allows it, expect to have to declare those winnings come tax time every year. 

When gambling was illegal in most places, there was no public record of your winnings. So, you could easily get away with not declaring those winnings. And even if you did declare, how would you explain on a federal return money you won illegally (unless you were in a few select places).

Now, with states regulating the practice, public records will exist of those winnings, creating a paper trail leading back to you for money you won. So just like game show and lottery winnings, your gambling winnings will now need to be declared on your tax returns.

Stronger Schools/Government Programs

While winnings will now be taxed, so too will casinos and other gambling operations be taxed for revenue they earn from sports betting.

And as is this case with most gambling revenue, that money has the potential to make great improvements for a state or region.

Many states use bingo, horse racing, and lottery money to make improvements to schools and offer scholarships. So, the way individual states use this previously untapped source of revenue could play a major role in improving their individual communities for the better.

College Injury Reports?

One-way legal gambling could change the sports world was brought up by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey at the league’s media days last July.

Unlike professional sports, college sports require no information on injuries from their coaches. And coaches use this to their advantage, often mentioning nothing about a player’s injury until the players status revealed because he’s not on the field.

This frustrates fans who expect to see and networks who market games on star players only to find one-star player can’t go. Add in the lack of access media members have to practice and a new treasure trove of insider information now exists for a select few to take advantage of.

While most are banned from attending practice, a select few (University official, major donors, recruits and their families, student managers, etc.) are allowed in. They can see with their eyes which players are not practicing or hurting while they practice. And that information could be invaluable to someone who wants to place a bet.

So, Sankey mentioned the need for injury reports to eliminate this cache of insider info.

We will see if conferences or the NCAA take action with this informal proposal by Sankey. But I for one would applaud this much welcomed piece of transparency from the closed off world created by the current crop of college coaches.

Gambling Sponsorships with Sports League

The major sports leagues in the United States stay away from products that stir controversy and/or are illegal. For example, current players in many professional sports leagues are prohibited by their leagues from promoting alcohol. This doesn’t stop former players, teams, or networks broadcasting games from jumping on this bandwagon, but I digress.

Now, with gambling legal at the federal level, sports leagues (as some already have) enter into partnerships with casinos and other sports books. 

These partnerships give the impression that leagues want to protect the integrity of their games from any undue influence illegal gambling could have. And in return, the sports books who enter into these partnerships receive access to exclusive stats provided by the league so avid sports betters are drawn to use those particular sports books. 

There’s also potential for new fans in sports who can now promote these partnerships and encourage active interest in games based on bets that can now be placed in the open. Also, with the rise of betting offer websites such as bestbetsfree.com, sports betting is also certainly going to increase over time. 

In Conclusion

So, the reality is not much is likely to change regarding the types of bets people make. But new relationships around the previously shady practice of sports betting will form and have impact on the communities doing the hosting, the governments openly regulating, and the leagues working with the gambling community.