We held a 10 km running race here on Sunday. Almost always here in the good 'ol USA such races have distance signs, if at all, in miles, even though this makes no sense. I made signs for our running club's event, which had 200 or so runners, for each km, with a "500 m to finish" toward the end. No miles at all. No complaints, and a lot of compliments on the run organization as a whole. It would be nice if this practice could spread! What would really make an impression would be to have someone stationed at the 1 km mark calling out times. Usually this is done, in some races, at the 1 mile mark, as American runners are used to knowing what mile pace they are running. But since almost all runners now wear digital running watches, the practice is fading out. The 1 km sign, with the lack of a 1 mile sign, would force them to thinking in a min/km mode. HARRY WYETH
