SALT LAKE CITY, 10:51 a.m. Nov. 18 (AP)
New research suggests that developing the ability to run – long thought to be a byproduct of walking for early man – was actually an instrumental step in the evolution of people from ape-like creatures into what we know Thursday as humans.

In a study published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature, University of Utah biology professor Dennis Bramble and Harvard anthropologist Daniel Lieberman conclude that natural selection favored early humans who had genetic mutations that accommodated running.

Dec. 10 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Profile / Kevin Crowell, runner:

Dec. 10 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fitness calendar:

Dec. 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Rebel with a cause: The high school English teacher didn't find the message on Ryan Levinson's T-shirt amusing.

Dec. 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Profile: Emily Selvidio, runner:

Dec. 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Calendar:

Nov. 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Hardware storer: Inside his Alliant International University dorm, Josephat Keino keeps one wall reserved for his running hardware. There's a beautiful black plaque for winning the recent Race for the Cure 5K.

Nov. 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
The skinny:

Nov. 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
A good read: Feeding our lists fascination, the December issue of Outside Magazine features "The 25 Coolest People Now." Two locals earn props, 27-year-old snowboarder Keir Dillon of Carlsbad and Encinitas skateboarder Danny Way, 30.

Nov. 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
My favorite workout: When he's marathon training, Meb Keflezighi's long runs measure 21-26 miles. For track intervals, he'll clock six one-mile repeats, at 4,000 feet altitude in Mammoth, on a dirt track, at about 4 minutes, 30 seconds to 4:38 per mile.

Nov. 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fitness of S.D. kids shows slight increase: San Diego County children have slightly improved in physical fitness, but about 70 percent failed minimum fitness tests that included running, curl-ups, push-ups and stretches, according to a report released by the state.

Nov. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Smashmouth pingpong: My stepson, Brett, swings at a pingpong ball like Vladimir Guerrero attacks a waist-high, down-the-pipe fastball. Which explains why when Brett and I square off, a car must be parked outside the open garage door. Brett's shots, sometimes landing six inches to six feet long, bounce into the neighbor's bushes or worse, roll down the alley to the next ZIP code.

Nov. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Profile / Cory Gustafson, mountain biker: Gustafson, 18, started racing motorbikes when he was 5. By 12, he competed in his first mountain biking event and was hooked. The Carlsbad High senior has competed on the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) series for four years and enjoyed his most successful season in 2004.

Nov. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fitness calendar:

LAS VEGAS, 11:37 a.m. Nov. 16 (AP)
Too little sleep raises the risk of being overweight, study suggests: Weight-loss experts have a novel prescription for people who want to shed pounds: Get some sleep.

WASHINGTON, 3:35 a.m. Nov. 16 (AP)
Bowflex recalls nearly 800,000 fitness machines, second time this year: The makers of the popular Bowflex fitness machine are recalling nearly 800,000 units after dozens of people reported injuries from mechanical problems, the government announced Tuesday.

Nov. 5 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fool's gold or silver lining?: Meb Keflezighi knows what people think. That he's foolish for running the IMG New York City Marathon on Sunday. That 70 days isn't enough time to recover after his emotional performance at Athens, where he beat the heat, the hills and all but Italy's Stefano Baldini to stun the running world, winning the marathon silver medal.

ENCINITAS, Nov. 12 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
She hit the tri-fecta: Standing up to retrieve her breakfast at a local eatery, Michellie Jones wasn't stiff or limping. To the naked eye, she sported not a scrape of cycling road rash. Her mood was as light and breezy as the idyllic fall morning.

HELENA, Mont., 11:44 a.m. Nov. 3 (AP)
Half a loaf plenty for some consumers, says small Montana bakery: Sometimes, half a loaf is enough. That's what Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery is finding as it markets loaves of bread with eight slices and two heels – 50 percent less bread than the standard loaf in stores. The regional bakery and grain farm in southwestern Montana next plans to sell burger buns packaged four to a bag, instead of the usual eight.

WASHINGTON, 8:47 a.m. Oct. 27 (AP)
DIET: People in United States putting on pounds: Americans are getting a little taller and a lot fatter. Adults are roughly an inch taller than they were in the early 1960s, on average, but nearly 25 pounds heavier, the government reported Wednesday.

Oct. 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
To your health: Simple balance exercises helped cut chronic dizziness among two-thirds of patients in a study in The Annals of Internal Medicine. By contrast, in a group of similar patients who did not get the balance training, only a third reported significant relief.

Oct. 18 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
To your health: People who exercise only at the end of the week have lower mortality rates than people who are sedentary, a new study says.

CHICAGO, 12:48 p.m. Oct. 18 (AP)
AMA cites Chicago group as model for fighting obesity: Yoga and dance workshops for kids and parents at a museum. Free bike locks to encourage students to cycle to school. A food bank that offers fitness workouts along with hot meals for children.

SANTA MONICA, 12:15 p.m. Oct. 17 (AP)
Pilates promoter praises exercise, warns of possible injuries: She's often seen in a ubiquitous infomercial peddling Pilates videos, but Mari Winsor's lean and sinewy body may be the best walking advertisement of the exercise phenomenon.

DENVER, 10:52 a.m. Oct. 7 (AP)
Simple strategy for stopping weight gain grows quickly: A year ago, Dr. James Hill took a deliberate step to change fat America: Every day, he declared, people should walk a little more and eat a little less to prevent weight gain.

WASHINGTON, 10:45 p.m. Sept. 29 (AP)
Panel says reversing childhood obesity requires wide-ranging effort: Schools, food makers, government agencies and families themselves must work together to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity, a panel of scientists said Thursday.

LITTLE CHUTE, Wis., 11:38 a.m. Aug. 18 (AP)
DIET: South Beach Diet creates huge demand for Laughing Cow cheese: Cheese maker Bob Gilbert is struggling with his good fortune and his misfortune. Thanks to a mention in "The South Beach Diet" book, demand for his Laughing Cow cheese has soared beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't make enough of the cheese to meet demand.

Sep. 6 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
In exercise, 10 minutes is a magic number: In a mechanized society where people are more adept at burning CDs than calories, the term "intermittent exercise" may mean once every full moon.

July 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Dental health can deliver for expectant moms: Body and Soul We're beginning to see the evidence collect like bacteria around chronically neglected teeth: What happens in our mouth reflects and affects what's going on in the rest of the body.

RANCHO BERNARDO, July 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Trying times: Xavier de Anda is offering his expertise to anyone wishing to train for a triathlon.

July 5 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
To your health: Does climate play a role in asthma? A large-scale study involving children in 50 countries has found that asthma rates may be affected by climate, and that the skin condition eczema may also be affected.