This is T2's first year in Washington.

When the Marine Corps Marathon takes place in October in Washington, DC, as many as 250 of the runners will be members of the Team to End AIDS. T2, as it’s known, is a program that helps athletes train for endurance runs and raise money to support AIDS organizations. Christina Herold, the Program Director for T2 in Washington, says she knows from personal experience that running to support a charity enhances the marathon experience:

T2 operates in four cities — Chicago, Honolulu, Virginia Beach and, beginning this year, in Washington, DC. The money raised by T2 participants in each location is split between AIDS United, a national organization dedicated to ending AIDS, and a local AIDS organization. Here in DC, the local funding goes to the Washington AIDS Partnership. READ MORE »

The average thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail takes six months.

Beginning in March, many of the people who plan to thru-hike all 2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail start their journeys, following the warm weather as the trail winds its way from Georgia to Maine. This year, 25-year old Charles Merritt is among them. He’s been thinking about making the trek for years, and he’s spent the last several months gathering his gear and getting physically ready. He says he’s prepared, but he knows there are some difficult challenges ahead:

But Merritt won’t be totally alone on his hike. He’ll be taking people with him via his mobile technology.

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It seems kind of odd that a device built with audio in mind — a phone — has become home for the visual. Video and text rule on news apps and news websites, while audio is a second class citizen. As someone who’s spent a career in public radio (news in particular), this pains me a bit. But I’m coming to the conclusion that audio news producers need to step up their game and create the next generation of newscasts for new platforms.

I know there are lots of people who download podcasts of interviews and news programs, which are terrific to listen to while you’re commuting or working out on the treadmill. They work because they are generally not time sensitive. If you do want to hear something live, there are plenty of apps that will connect you to a live radio stream to catch the news. It seems the best you can do for an on-demand audio newscast, though, is a re-run of the most recent top-of-the-hour update, which, by definition, could be almost 60 minutes old. Immediacy aside, should the sound and length of an online or mobile newscast be different from the rado version?

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I spent many years as a radio journalist, working as a reporter and news director at a couple of public radio stations. I edited countless stories, interviewed probably a few thousand people, hosted local news and talk programs, and filed stories for national programs such as Marketplace, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. I even produced stories for the Osgood Files on CBS Radio.

I could argue that radio is a visual medium. It requires you to use sound and words to create a picture for people. In fact, the beauty of radio is that every listener gets to conjure up his or her own image of what you’re describing.

But who am I kidding?  Radio is radio.  It’s audio, and it’s an incredible medium. Now I’m entering the world of the real visual — video — and I have to admit that I really like it.

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