http://nhpr.org en http://nhpr.org/post/pedaling-pounds <p>A lot of Americans are struggling to lose a whole lot of weight, and they try all kinds of crazy things.</p><p><a href="http://ernestgagnon.blogspot.com/"><font color="#0c4ca2">Ernest Gagnon</font></a> — a man from Billerica, Mass. — decided to shed pounds by getting into the often intense, high-adrenaline sport of cyclocross: racing road bikes on obstacle courses.</p><p>Two years ago, Gagnon tipped the scales at 570 pounds. He was depressed and embarrassed to leave the house.</p> Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:04:57 +0000 Sam Evans-Brown 14493 at http://nhpr.org Pedaling off the Pounds http://nhpr.org/post/history-going-gold <p>Stephen Amidon, author of “Something Like the Gods: A Cultural History of the Athlete from Achilles to Lebron” tells less familiar stories of the Olympic glory.</p> Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:43:33 +0000 Virginia Prescott 9536 at http://nhpr.org History of Going for the Gold http://nhpr.org/post/something-gods <p>Sports-lover and novelist Stephen Amidon’s is author of “Something Like the Gods,” a new cultural history of the athlete, detailing sport from the first Olympic Games, to the rise of Lebron James.</p> Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:59:20 +0000 Virginia Prescott 6300 at http://nhpr.org "Something Like the Gods"