At the heart of the competition were ordinary people slogging it out in one of the most grueling races of its kind in the world -- and all for charity.

CNN: SHARE THIS

To erase the difference between blacks and whites, Saletan wrote, would probably require vigorous interbreeding between the races, or some kind of corrective genetic engineering aimed at upgrading African stock.

NEWYORKER: None of the Above

This kind of option buying is rather like betting on horse races, and probably as hard to succeed at.

FORBES: Civilized Gambling

This kind of talk has touched a raw nerve with Italians and increasing numbers of Grillo's candidates are winning mayoral races.

CNN: Beppe Grillo: Clown prince of Italian politics

In February last year, Tata Communications struck a deal with F1 to provide the technology backbone for races under the franchise just the kind of high-profile gig Mr. Kumar hopes will attract new customers and build wider brand recognition.

WSJ: Tata Unit Seeks Profile Boost Via F1 Deal

In traditional retail, the closest example of this kind of effort is at independent running stores where customers come together to form running clubs and train for races.

FORBES: Many-stop Shopping? How Niche Retailers Are Thriving on Internet 2.0

So, I mean, that's kind of a hard sell to say that you're not - you know, you have nothing against other races when you're, like, but I don't want them mixing or touching us.

NPR: How Will Bachmann's Departure Affect Politics?