The Bottom Line: Quick facts about bats.
The Full Story:
- Here are just a few things you may not know about bats:There are nearly 1,000 species of bats in the world.
- Bats have been around since the age of dinosaurs.Mexican free-tailed bats can fly 10,000 feet high.
- Hibernating little brown bats can stop breathing for nearly an hour to reduce their energy needs.
- Fishing bats have an echolocation system so sophisticated that they can detect a minnow’s fin as fine as a human hair.
The Bottom Line: Learn more about the Boston Marathon.
The Full Story:
- Oh Boston humor. Until the 1970s, the Boston Marathon had a long-standing quirky tradition of strange checkpoints. Instead of the classic mile markers, they would put up signs including “19 7/8 miles to go.”
- Up until 1969, the marathon happened on Patriots’ Day, April 19th no matter what day of the week. In 1969, Patriot’s Day was declared an official holiday, also setting up the Boston Marathon schedule. The locals often refer to this day as “Marathon Monday.”
- In 1975, Boston became the first major marathon to have a wheelchair division.
- In 2007, the Boston Marathon decided to start runners in waves, because there were just too many to run all at once!
- To compete in the Boston Marathon, runners need to complete a Boston-qualifying marathon beforehand. The qualifying times depend on age and gender, but everyone must be professional. The exceptions? Celebrities who run the marathon for charity. Will Ferrell ran in 2003, Mario Lopez in 2002 and Lance Armstrong in 2008.