HAPPY (SLOVENE) HALLOWEEN

The largest, and central cemetary in Ljubljana is Zale, built in 1906. It has since been expanded several times, once in 1936 by Jose Plecnik. Tomorrow is the national Slovene holiday, All Saint's Day, and tonight, is All Soul's Eve. All Soul's Eve is celebrated with thousands of candles placed on the graves of the dead. Zale had so many candles, that a red glow filled the sky.

LJUBLJANSKI MARATHON

Ljubljanski Marathon -- the castle, and the start

Leading runners

Today was the 15^th annual Ljubljana marathon with 10,000 participants from 35 countries. There were bands, and booths, and crowds, and costumes, and lots of men in those nice, muscle-defining black running pants.

But something stood out today, and it wasn’t those flashy yellow shoes that EU marathon runners seem to prefer nowadays. Instead, it was the bodily perfection and color of the winners, the high incidence of temporal vasodilatation of the runners at the finish line, and the trash.

Clearly there is something about extreme sports that breeds in the moment behavior. Perhaps it is obvious that focus on oneself, and not on what you're excreting-- be it sweat, saliva, vomit, or plastic bottles—is a necessary component of success in competitive sports. It’s understandable. What’s the use in recycling, when you feel as if you're likely to die any moment?

And besides, who wants to be a loser, when they could just be a litterbug instead?

We’ve all read those shocking articles like, “Mount Everest; The world’s largest trash dump”. In fact, according to estimates, there are nearly 120 tons of litter, and 120 dead bodies, on Mt. Everest.

So it should come as no surprise to know that even in this greenest country on earth, sports are trashy business.

Mount Everest trash

Ljubljanski marathon trash

Cleaned up promptly at 5 pm

Next, one couldn’t help but notice the high incidence of temporal vein dilatation on the runners heads at the end of the race, verses the beginning.

temporal venous dilitations

Finally, and most strikingly apparent, was the bodily perfection and color of the men who grabbed the top ten spots in the race.

Kenyan Winner

Winning leg

On the heels of the winner

Blanket of champions

Another (beautifully shaped) Winning head

The Kenyans didn’t grab all the top slots though. That Slovenian gene pool made a good showing, and many of the septuagenarians and octogenarians running were Slovene.

And you can bet that Slovenian dog gene pool was there as well.