Local athletes host US runners in Ngong  race

By Obegi Malack

Athletes who train at Vapor AIC Sports Centre in Ngong last month participated in a friendly race in the Ngong grounds with 30 runners who arrived from South West Baptist University in the United States.

The US Ministry sponsored the race and awarded several athletes. It also contributed more than Kshs 200,000 for renovation of sports facilities in the centre.

Kajiado North Sports Officer Lucy Njenga awards an athlete

Those who took the first positions in their respective races were awarded. They are Emily Somoei and Lewis Nyaliki in the women and men’s 10,000m respectively and Peninah Kigen  and Cyrus Kimutai in the 5,000m.

In the 1,500m Lucy Kamene and Frederick Korir took the accolades and were awarded respectively as were Mirrian Chepkmoi and Nicholas Kiplagat in the 800m.

The US team’s coach Corey Mceihaney said they chose Kenya since the country produces the best athletes in the world.

He added that it was the first event they had hosted in Kenya but they were planning to hold more in the future to help in putting up sports facilities and help upcoming athletes in the country.

Julius Rotich, the athletes’ representative in Ngong, said the athletes lack training facilities and called on donations from well-wishers and the government.

The  event was attended by celebrated athletes such as Vivian Cheruiyot, Paul Kigen, Margaret Chirchir among others

Presiding over the event, Kajiado North Sports Officer Lucy Njenga praised the donors saying  Kenya lacks enough sport facilities and it needs sponsorship to boost sports.

The sports officer urged youths to participate in sports activities such as Basketball, Hockey, Rugby, Volleyball and others which they have neglected.

Njenga said that many youths give priority to football leaving out other sports which could take them to higher levels.

“The district has more than 60 football clubs, a number that is high as stadiums here are few, we know our youths got talent that they should put in use,” she said.

Kajiado County Football Kenya Association (FKF) Chairman Moses Kamalik said stadiums have been neglected and the County government needs to upgrade them.

He said sports events will bring lots of revenue to the County adding that they are planning a launch the Kajiado County Sports Website on August 4.

Kamalik said some clubs in the County have a fund challenge since they have not paid the  league participation fee  and called on the Kajiado County MPs to put aside some of the CDF kitty funds to help the teams participate in the next season.

Speaking in his office in Ngong Town where he met with FKF Chairman Moses Kamalik and area Sports Officer Lucy Njenga, Kajiado North MP Joseph Manje said he will organize an annual football tournament in the constituency during holidays to boost the sport in the County.

Shahid Mbwibo from Mtaani Self Group Football Club raised concern over unavailability of a sports stadium in Nkoroi.

Mbwibo said five clubs are forced to share Arap Moi Primary School grounds which, he said, is a school facility.

Meanwhile in Kajiado County league matches, Kiserian beat Rongai Youths 3-0 in Nakeel Grounds with Mayor Road thrashing Red Scorpions 4-1.

Runners are not giving themselves arthritis

 

While out on a run recently, I passed a hiker on the trail. “My knees hurt just watching you,” he told me, shaking his head. It was a variation on a comment I hear over and over: Keep running like that, and you’ll give yourself arthritic knees.

The notion that running causes wear and tear on the joints that could spur arthritis makes some intuitive sense. But is it true?

No — if anything, running probably offers protection from osteoarthritis, says Paul Williams, an exercise scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who leads the National Runners’ Health Study and the National Walkers’ Health Study. These projects have enlisted almost 90,000 runners and walkers and followed them since the studies began, in 1991 and 1997, respectively. In an analysis recentlypublished in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Williams calculated rates of osteoarthritis and hip replacement among participants in his studies and found that runners were approximately half as likely as walkers to develop osteoarthritis or need a hip replacement. Furthermore, runners who ran the most had the lowest risk of osteoarthritis.

“There’s a perception out there that somehow you’re wearing out your joints if you’re out there running,” Williams says, but the thousands of runners in his study show this just isn’t so. “I’ve recruited people who were doing 60 or 70 miles per week, and we’ve followed them over time,” he says. “If there had been an effect, we would have seen it.”

The notion that running causes osteoarthritis arises from a misperception about how joints work, says Alex Hutchinson, a science journalist who is author of the Sweat Science blog at Runner’s World and the book “Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise.” “People think the joint is just a static, inert hinge that wears down, but it’s actually a dynamic, living thing that can respond to stress and adapt and get stronger,” he says. Rather than wear down cartilage and other joint tissue, running appears to strengthen them, Hutchinson says.

The latest research shows that osteoarthritis isn’t just a result of wear and tear on your joints, says Patience White, vice president for public health policy and advocacy at the Arthritis Foundation. Instead, the disease arises from an interplay between environment and genetics. The strongest risk factors for osteoarthritis are obesity and family history, says White, who is also a professor or medicine and pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Every extra pound you carry is akin to four pounds on your knees, White says: “If you lose five pounds, that’s like 20 pounds across your knees.” But obesity’s role in osteoarthritis isn’t confined to the extra stress it can put on joints. “People who weigh more also get more osteoarthritis in their wrists, so it’s not just about mechanical loading through the joint,” Hutchinson says. Fat tissue is metabolically active and secretes inflammatory hormones that interact with everything in the body, including cartilage and joints, he says.

Family history is another predictor of osteoarthritis, and researchers have identified several genes associated with a susceptibility to the disease. “If you have osteoarthritis in your family, you’re more likely to get it no matter what you do,” White says.

This sounds like bad news for me, since osteoarthritis runs in my family, and my dad recently had a hip replacement because of the disease. But White says I can delay or perhaps even prevent getting osteoarthritis by staying active and keeping my weight in check. Running accomplishes both.

Still, it’s important to run wisely, White says. If you try to go from the couch to a marathon without putting in the necessary training, you’re liable to get hurt. Injury ups the risk of osteoarthritis, although developing the disease takes the kind of traumatic injury that tears ligaments or tendons — problems that more commonly occur in sports that involve contact or require sudden changes in direction. Such injuries increase osteoarthritis risk by promoting abnormal mechanics or by creating scarring that can strain the joint, White says, and an injury can deliver a double whammy by forcing a decrease in physical activity that leads to weight gain.

More than 50 percent of people who have a serious knee injury such as a ligament or tendon tear will develop osteoarthritis within 10 years, White says. “If you’ve had a bad knee injury at age 15, chances are you’ll have osteoarthritis at 25.”

While running wasn’t associated with osteoarthritis in the Williams study, other types of exercise, such as soccer and hockey, were linked with a greater risk of developing the disease. “We’re trying to pursue that further,” Williams says.

Given that other activities seem to increase osteoarthritis risk, why does running get a bad rap? Some of it may be schadenfreude, Hutchinson says. “Every time a runner gets osteoarthritis in their knee, all their friends and family say, ‘See? I told you you shouldn’t have run. You did this to yourself,’ ” he says. “But when five non-runners get osteoarthritis, people just say, ‘Well, I guess you’re getting old.’ ”

I am getting older, and even after decades of running, my knees feel better now than they did when I was 20. I hope I never have to quit trail running, and Williams says that if I keep at it, chances are good that I won’t have to stop anytime soon.

Pos:t Washington Post

 

Lines a guy will pull on you if he is just not interested…

Posted  by CAPITAL LIFESTYLE

Whenever we meet someone new that we may be interested in, feelings check in at full throttle. You think about them randomly and smile. You think about their smile and smile again. You think about how good they smell and you just want to find them and smell them. Everything reminds you of them and you just want to call them all the time to hear their voice and without knowing it you are thinking of how much you want to spend time with them and your future relationship together. That is why there are some things somebody who likes you and wants you in their life wouldn’t say. Find out what some of those lines are below:

*I just have a lot on my mind

When that line is thrown at you as an excuse for him not calling you for a while or for not returning your calls/texts then you should know better. When somebody likes you, you are what they will think about most of the day. In fact any chance they get they just want to erase everything else from their over saturated minds and just think about you.

*Work is crazy, can I see you when it’s less crazy…like say a month?
Same applies as above.Even the busiest of men in the world will make some time for a girl he really likes. If your new man can’t make time for you because he’s just too busy…that should be your hint to step! It’s just the best excuse he could come up with and it’s lame!

*I’m not relationship material

If the new man in your life tells you this…he is trying to tell you he doesn’t want a relationship with you or with anyone or he’s just being a chicken! He just doesn’t think of you in that way. Men are much stronger when it comes to handling relationships and such other things. So there is no way a guy will meet the woman who is perfect for him and let her go because apparently he is not relationship material…that is absolute crap! There is just no way anyone is not relationship material.

*I’m not looking for a relationship right now

Same as above…you cannot just let the girl of your dreams go and be with someone else as you watch because you are not ready for a relationship. If you are into someone you will forget even your worst of heartbreaks and do everything in your power to kick it with the girl who you know will make you happy.

*I’m still nursing my heartbreak

Men always know what they want. It comes more naturally to them…they know better than to fill you in on their past relationship details. Men know how to move on very fast and they’re perfect when it comes to hiding their emotions. He isn’t going to tell you about what his ex did while he knows you have feelings for him.

*Can I come over you sort me out… You are so hot I can’t wait to unleash my desires on you

A guy who really likes you and wants to be with you in the long-term knows that he shouldn’t say such a thing. Instead he will choose his words very carefully especially when you’re getting to know each other.

*I really want to focus on my career right now

A guy who really likes you and wants to be with you will create time for you and will never come up with such excuses.

*Can we take it slow?

Low blow? Perhaps he just likes you but not like that… Does anyone ever need time to figure out whether they like you or not?  I don’t think so. So why the need to take things slow so that he can figure out whether he likes you or not by telling you to take things slow? Well, a guy who asks you to take it slow isn’t just sure about you.

Study explains how sleep loss can make you fat

Posted on August 7th, 2013 by AFP

 

Scientists said Tuesday they had found evidence that a lack of sleep causes changes in brain activity that lead to people feeling hungrier and craving more fattening foods.

Researchers have long pointed to a correlation between a steep rise in obesity in industrialised nations and a decline in sleep duration.

A causal link was suspected, but science has not been able to explain the mechanism, until now.

A team from the University of California said they used MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to spot changes in the brain activity of sleep-deprived test subjects.

“These findings provide an explanatory brain mechanism by which insufficient sleep may lead to the development/maintenance of obesity,” they wrote in the journal Nature Communications.

Twenty-three participants had their heads scanned twice; once after a full night of sleep and once after being deprived their shut-eye for a night — their brain activity measured the next day as they selected items and portion sizes from pictures of 80 different food types.

Among the fatigued individuals, the researchers noted impaired activity in regions of the cortex that evaluate appetite and satiation. Simultaneously, there was a boost in areas associated with craving.

“An additionally interesting finding was that high calorie foods became more desirable to the sleep deprived participants,” said study co-author Matthew Walker of the psychology department at the University of California in Berkeley.

“These findings of impaired brain activity in regions that control good judgement and decision making together with amplified activity in more reward-related brain regions fit well with, and potentially explain, the link between sleep loss, weight gain and obesity,” he told AFP by email.

“Our findings indicate that (to) regularly obtain sufficient amounts of sleep may be an important factor promoting weight control, achieved by priming the brain mechanisms governing appropriate food choices.”

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.4 billion adults aged 20 and older were overweight in 2008 — a figure that had nearly doubled since 1980.

More than a third of adults were overweight in 2008, and 11 percent obese, and at least 2.8 million adults die every year as a result.

23 Things you do that turn your man off

Posted  CAPITAL LIFESTYLE

As human beings, there are certain annoying habits that we have that could be seriously annoying to other people but then there’s no way those people can tell us to rectify them for fear of upsetting us or maybe making things worse and there’s also the possibility that we will hold an unnecessary grudge.

Ladies, there are many things that you do unknowingly that can turn your man off but he just can’t tell you. Here are the most common reasons. So read them and make sure to avoid them if you’re a culprit.
1.    Being unresponsive when it comes to bedroom matters and talking too much or doing random things like texting in bed and also never being bold enough to initiate sex.

 

2.    Wearing a hideous scarf or helmet to bed and wearing hideous unsightly underwear.

3.    Gully creeping in heels you can barely walk in, wearing too much bad make-up and overdoing it with jewellery

 

4.    Being too much of a tomboy. If he wanted to be with a fellow man he’d be playing for the other team.

5.    Constant nagging and hints for him to put a ring on it and constantly talking of having children.

 

6.    Devaluing his friends and the people he hangs out with.

7.    Trying to make him jealous by flirting with other men outrageously right before his eyes.

8.    Being over- dramatic, over emotional, needy, clingy and insecure.

9.    Having a very feminist attitude.

10.    Speaking ill of people especially his family members.

11.    Drinking too much and losing yourself because of booze. This is equivalent to lacking self respect.

Oprah ‘sorry’ for Switzerland’s flap

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey says she’s “sorry” a media frenzy emerged after saying she experienced racism during a trip to Switzerland.

“I think that incident in Switzerland was just an incident in Switzerland. I’m really sorry that it got blown up. I purposefully did not mention the name of the store. I’m sorry that I said it was Switzerland,” Winfrey said Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of Lee Daniels’ “The Butler.”

“I was just referencing it as an example of being in a place where people don’t expect that you would be able to be there,” she continued.

In recent interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Winfrey recalled a clerk at an upscale Zurich boutique refusing to show her a handbag. Winfrey said she was told she could not afford the $38,000 purse.

“I’m in a store and the person doesn’t obviously know that I carry the black card and so they make an assessment based upon the way I look and who I am,” said Winfrey, who earned $77 million in the year ending in June, according to Forbes magazine.

“I didn’t have anything that said ‘I have money’: I wasn’t wearing a diamond stud. I didn’t have a pocketbook. I didn’t wear Louboutin shoes. I didn’t have anything,” said Winfrey on the red carpet. “You should be able to go in a store looking like whatever you look like and say ‘I’d like to see this.’ That didn’t happen.”

Swiss tourism officials and the boutique owner apologized for the incident last week, but Winfrey insists there’s no need.

“It’s not an indictment against the country or even that store,” she continued. “It was just one person who didn’t want to offer me the opportunity to see the bag. So no apologies necessary from the country of Switzerland. If somebody makes a mistake in the United States do we apologize in front of the whole country? No!”

“The Butler,” which opens Friday, documents the civil rights movement through the story of a butler who served in the White House for seven presidents.

44 worshippers shot in north-eastern Nigeria

44 worshippers shot in Nigeria

At least 44 worshippers have been shot dead at a mosque in north-eastern Nigeria, officials in Borno state say.

The killings took place during dawn prayers on Sunday, although news only emerged on Monday, as communications are disrupted by a state of emergency.

The attack occurred in the town of Konduga, 35km (22 miles) from the state capital, Maiduguri.

The gunmen are suspected of being from the Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed thousands since 2009.

Twelve further civilians were killed at Ngom village, closer to Maiduguri, reports say.

Vigilantes targeted?

A member of a civilian vigilante group told the Associated Press that four of their number were killed when they responded to calls for help in Konduga.

Several such groups have been set up since the emergency was declared in Borno and two neighbouring states in May.

The gunmen may have attacked the mosque in the belief that some of the vigilantes were praying there.

“We believe the attack was not unconnected with the cooperation residents are giving to security operatives in identifying and arresting Boko Haram members in their midst,” a senior government official told the AFP news agency.

While the group has frequently attacked churches, it has also occasionally targeted mosques, sometimes those whose preachers disagree with their views.

The attackers wore military uniforms, officials say, which they may have taken during recent attacks on a barracks.

Nigeria’s Daily Post reported that a further 26 people were being treated for injuries in hospital in Maiduguri.

After a lull immediately after the emergency was declared, there has been a recent spate of attacks, blamed on Boko Haram.

The military cut mobile phone networks when they imposed the state of emergency, saying they wanted to make it more difficult for the militants to organise attacks.

However, some local officials have said this prevents civilians from getting help.

Boko Haram wants to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state in the north.

News of the attacks came as a video emerged of the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, claiming responsibility for recent attacks including some that targeted the police and the military.

Published BBC

Food hawkers finned as Crackdown on unlicensed hawking continue.

Food hawkers finned as Crackdown on unlicensed hawking continue.

By Obegi Malack

After the release of a hawking notice last month, Kajiado North health officers are now trailing food hawkers who prepare food in the cosmopolitan towns in unsanitary conditions.

The operation has netted at least 30 hawkers and finned them heavily for not complying with the health orders.

 

“We have taken many to court and have been finned three thousand each, we gave them a notice but they ignored we are still on the crackdown and many will face the law,” said Sammy Macharia,Kajiado North  district Public Health Officer.

Macharia said that they were pushed to start the operation after increase of food hawking in the towns by residents whose cooking premises have not been inspected and licensed by public health officers.

“It is the duty of this office to safeguard the citizens from health hazards arising from preventive diseases, sale of food should be done according to the public health Act cap 242 and food drugs and chemicals substances Act 254 laws of Kenya,” the health officer said.

 The officer pointed out that the illegal hawking started during election period in streets and has spread as push fire in Ongata Rongai, Ngong, Kiserian and Magadi areas.

 He added that  in rain seasons cases of food borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera increases due to sewerage menace in the towns, warning residents who divert their sewer to roads and rivers on facing consequences if spotted.

 According to public health act for one to be allowed to prepare, store or hawk foodstuffs his or her premises must be inspected by public health officers and awarded a license besides being given a medical certificate to satisfy health department.

 The unavailability of sewerage in the towns is a great pullback in fighting hazards arising from sewerage   in Kajiado North, residents divert their sewer during rain seasons causing health hazard.

 Area residents are expecting the county government to put up a sewer in the cosmopolitan towns due to increase of populace and construction of the Kiserian dam.

Headless hen ‘reloaded’

Headless hen ‘reloaded’

Another  headless hen in Ongata Rongai.Photo Obegi Malack

By Our reporter

Residents of Ongata Rongai are once again in shock and disbelief after another headless chicken walked in the town.

The hen that was outside Tumaini supermarket has turned the area into an attraction centre as residents who had missed the first incident abandoning their businesses to get a glimpse of the strange living thing.

Last month a red headless walked in Kware slum in the town causing disbelief to local residents.