Curlers Were First, Marathoners

A tradition I discovered yesterday during the Detroit Free Press Marathon was that spectators often cheered the runners by ringing cow bells. That's all right, but as we all know, curlers used the cow bell cheer first.

The Swiss have for years inspired their national curling teams with cow bell ringing. As a curler, I have a sweater which attests to it.

So go ahead and wave your cow bells at the 2023 Detroit Marathon. Wave them vigorously. But just to set the record straight: you're copiers, not innovators. We did it first.