Friday Fun Day - from the Beeb (not Bieber, the BBC!)

It is worth noting, also a victory for feminists everywhere, and for all of us who live in the U.S. --- the actual first rider to finish was a woman from Texas, who lost her place as winner due to a technicality, which added a time penalty to her first place arrival.  This woman, below, was declared the winner.
A couple of items from 'the Beeb' aka the BBC world service, of interest:


12 August 2013 Last updated at 11:16 GMT

British rider Lara Prior-Palmer wins world's longest horse race

Lara Prior-Palmer has become the first Briton, first female rider and the youngest person to win the world's longest horse race. The 1,000km Mongol Derby took riders across Mongolia.
American Devan Horn crossed the finish line first but her horse later failed a veterinary inspection.
"I can't really believe it," said Prior-Palmer, 19, who is the niece of British equestrian and Olympic silver medallist Lucinda Green.

What is the Mongol Derby

• 1000km horse race across Mongolia
• 30 riders compete
• Race takes in a mammoth network of 25 horse stations across the Mongolian steppe
• Riders change their semi-wild Mongolian horses at each station approximately 40km apart

Prior-Palmer, from Hampshire, added: "I came into the first station last because my horse was so slow and I had to walk him in. "I thought that would be the end of my Mongol Derby.
"I knew that there were 30 people and nearly all of those 30 wanted to win and I really just wanted to finish.
"If you compare my first few days to my last few days, I was going so much slower and suddenly I just got the hang of it and how to ride the horses and what to do to catch up with the rest."
The race, which is in its fifth edition, was won in six days and eight hours and is a recreation of Genghis Khan's ancient postal system - a mammoth network of 25 horse stations across the Mongolian steppe.
Riders change their semi-wild Mongolian horses at each station - approximately 40km apart - and stay with the local nomadic herding families that run the stations and provide the horses.
AND.......in a separate news item, but just as impressive for feminists, and for the U.S.:

U.S. Teenager Is Youngest Ever To Pass Britain's Bar Exams

Originally published on Wed July 31, 2013 1:23 pm By Bill Chappell At 18 years old, American Gabrielle Turnquest has become the youngest person to pass Britain's Bar exams, qualifying her as a barrister. Turnquest is a native of Windermere, Fla. She studied for the exams at Britain's University of Law.
From London, NPR's Larry Miller reports for our Newscast unit:

"The average age to gain a barrister's qualification is 27. Turnquest says she's honored to be the youngest person to become a British barrister. Due to her parent's heritage, she is also called to the Bahamas bar.
"Turnquest graduated from Liberty University in Virginia at aged 16. That school's youngest-ever graduate, Turnquest says she'll return to America in the fall to sit for the U.S. multistate bar exam. Her objective is to specialize in fashion industry law. Also becoming a barrister is her sister Kandi. She's 22."

"I was not aware at the time what the average age was," Turnquest tells Britain's The Telegraph, discussing her new place in the history of Britain's 600-year-old legal system. "I didn't fully realize the impact of it."