Born To Run

Humans evolved to be long-distance endurance runners. An interesting New York Times article mentions evidence that the ability for humans to run long distances is an evolved trait. Apparently, having good stamina that allowed early human hunters to track their prey for long periods, spanning time and distance, was of great survival advantage.

Tracking prey for long periods over vast distances is necessary to tire out prey animals. This trait can be observed in wolves, animals also known for their ability to track their prey for long periods. Wolves are capable of covering several miles trotting at about a pace of 10 kmph (6.21 mph) and can reach speeds approaching 65 km/h (40.39 mph) during a chase.

Therefore from an evolutionary perspective it makes sense that humans generally are good distance runners. Humans have evolved to run over long distances, with world-class distance runners being at the extreme end of the scale. As mentioned previously, I admire world-class distance runners, who can run on average at sustained speeds* of:
22.82 kmph (14.18 mph) for a distance of 10,000 metres run in 26:17.53 (current record holder is Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia); and
20.42 kmph (12.69 mph) for a marathon (42.195 km) run in 2h03:59 (current record holder is Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia).

However, I don’t especially admire their physique (particularly female marathon runners):

[Paula Radcliffe, New York Marathon November 1, 2009]

In comparison, the world’s fastest man in terms of sprinting short distances is Jamaica's Usain Bolt who sprints at 37.58 kmph (23.35 mph) over a distance of 100 metres. So a world-class marathon runner is able to run at a little over half of Bolt’s top speed over 100 metres … but can do so 422 times consecutively. This is simply astonishing.


* These times are based on men’s events


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0289 HKSAR Name of the Day

Oakes Lu, SCMP reporter, Hong Kong

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0288 HKSAR Name of the Day

Kindness Mok (Ms), Senior Business Manager, BEA Weblogic (multi-billion dollar web enabler), Hong Kong

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0287 HKSAR Name of the Day

NiQ Lai, Corporate development director, City Telecom, Hong Kong

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Bus Feet

Are more people putting their feet on bus seats? Here are two recent examples:













What’s interesting is that local Chinese are often (sometimes wrongly) criticized for being inconsiderate; but these two examples perhaps show that some non-Chinese can also be thoughtless, uncouth and selfish. However, I offer no statistics so I may be mistaken.

0286 HKSAR Name of the Day

Fenny Tsang Chun-sim, widow of a Sars patient, Hong Kong [See 0259 HKSAR Name of the Day]

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Quality Cabbies Award

Congratulations to Mr Yau Chi-keung for winning one of twelve Quality Taxi Drivers 2009 awards. In my book, he's a hero simply because he refused to complete the lengthy lost-and-found procedures when he took the lost bag to the police station. Ten other cabbies also won the award for "reporting lost property found in their taxis and returning it to the passenger or to police". The other award went to a taxi driver for "sincere and helpful service".

If only the police would minimize the amount of paperwork and time needed to report lost property, more people would be willing to report lost items.

Anyways, now that the criteria for winning a Quality Cabbie Award have been revealed by the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee (pun intended?), let's hope more Hong Kong cabbies will report lost property (to the Taxi Operators' Association) and provide sincere and helpful service.

Edit: Link here to recent comments

Cabbie who handed in diamonds among 12 to receive quality award
Maggie Ng
Nov 06, 2009

An Indonesian man of Chinese descent was able to retrieve his bag of diamonds worth HK$1 million left in a cab thanks to Yau Chi-keung, one of the 12 winners of the Quality Taxi Drivers 2009 award

In April last year, the 59-year-old taxi driver drove the passenger from Tsim Sha Tsui to Quarry Bay at about midday. Five minutes after the passenger got out, Yau noticed that a bag had been left under the back seat

He radioed the Taxi Operators’ Association to report the lost property. Unable to find the owner, he went to a police station not knowing what was in the bag. Police wanted Yau to remain at the station while they completed lost-and-found procedures, but he did not have the time. He took the bag home and returned to the station later to drop it off

At home, he opened the bag and saw small bags of diamonds inside, but had no idea what they were worth. Yau only found out from police later

Although Yau had never met the owner of the diamonds before, the owner gave him a few thousand dollars as a reward, which he donated to a charity for the poor

The driver said that he had no second thoughts about handing in the diamonds once he had opened the bag and found them inside

“The owner was happy to get back what was his and I’m happy because my conscience is clear,” Yau said

With more than 30 years’ experience as a cabbie, Yau intends to retire in the next year or so. He has four children and four grandchildren

Ten of the other 11 winners were also nominated for reporting lost property found in their taxis and returning it to the passenger or to police. One was nominated for “sincere and helpful service”

Winners received an identity plate yesterday, recognising them as Quality Taxi Drivers of 2009

The ceremony was attended by Commissioner for Transport Joseph Lai Yee-tak and Jimmy Poon Wing-fai, chairman of the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee.

0285 HKSAR Name of the Day

Rufina Chan, clinical optometrist, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

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