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BENNETT: Good night for a run

Saturday night’s Kicks for Kids 5K here in Parkersburg might not have had the biggest field, but it appears both runners and walkers are coming back to the sport. Following the event and prior to the awards ceremony, race co-director Sharon Marks thanked everyone who participated. Money raised from the event should turn into around 100 pairs of shoes for students in Wood and Washington Counties. “Sharon does a great job putting on the race and everyone that helps her,” admitted men’s run champion Scott Burnham, who said his next race will be the News and Sentinel Half ...

PATRICK: New South coach Bryan Youngblood loves being around baseball

Baseball has always been his blood. After his days catching at the collegiate level, he spent much of his adult life umpiring Division-I baseball. Even at the age of 50, Bryan Youngblood continues to get a few swings in and hold down the fort as a first baseman as part of a pair of men’s leagues in the Canton-Akron area. He is a die-hard fan of the Cleveland major league baseball team he still refers to as “the Tribe” and their home as the “The Jake.” Now add high school varsity baseball coach at Parkersburg South High School to his resume after spending the better part of ...

SMITH: Rucking category adds race challenge

We all know that running and walking is a great way to burn calories while getting fit. Some people chose to make it even more challenging by adding weight to their workout. This is called rucking, and there is a whole group of walkers that have been adding to their weekly workout by carrying a few extra pounds in a backpack before heading out. Rucking allows a person to do strength training during which one would normally be in the gym lifting weights, while at the same time doing the endurance training that one normally equates with running and walking. We have had people rucking ...

BENNETT: Back at it again

KISS. Does everyone remember that acronym — keep it simple stupid? Actually, that’s a pretty good daily reminder of how one could go about life. Basically, try not to make things any harder than they have to be. Now that my least favorite day of the year has gone by the wayside — the summer solstice — and I’m back from taking some time off to recharge, one of the first things I wanted to delve into was the new ratings plan for prep football here in the Mountain State. Wayne Ryan, an assistant executive director at the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, ...

MORRISON: Reds rebuild moving rapidly

For this die-hard Cincinnati Reds fan of nearly 50 years, the 2022 season was just about as brutal of a season as I can remember. First off a labor dispute delayed the season and the offseason and the minute the dispute was settled and things were back to normal, the Reds continued a rebuild that had started the previous season by trading popular players such as Sonny Gray, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez before the season began. Some ill-advised comments by the son of Reds owner Bob Castellini on opening day added to the frustration as did the fact the 2022 Reds began the season ...

HOLLAND: Reds doing their best Etta Express impression

Entering the 2023 NCAA Division III Super Regionals against visiting Misericordia, Marietta College baseball coach Brian Brewer noted that the Cougars played a similar style of baseball as the Pioneers. “They bunt, steal and try to wreak a lot of havoc on the bases, which we try to do as ...