He Never Intended to Be a Gun Runner

Odds are that one day you are going to get lost, whether it’s in the car or on foot.

Knowing that it’s rather awkward to run with a Thomas Guide, Runner’s World magazine asked readers to submit their very best oops-I’ve-gone-the-wrong-way story.

One reader couldn’t find the start of a marathon in the early-morning hours and ended up running the course backward, starting at the finish line. For another runner, Kyle Kaumeyer, it got precarious on his military base when he jogged onto a live firing range.

“An officer called a cease-fire and I was escorted back to headquarters by a very angry lieutenant,” he told the magazine.

Trivia time: Where did Lleyton Hewitt of Australia win his first title on the pro tennis tour?

C’mon! Hewitt was caught off guard last week at the U.S. Open in New York by a line of questioning about outer space. He was asked what his favorite space movie was, and whether he ever thought of being an astronaut.

“I think you must be at the wrong press conference,” Hewitt said. “We’re playing tennis here, aren’t we? Who are you? ... Well, I don’t watch too many space movies.”

Trading places: Andrea Kremer of ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” interviewed former Carolina Panther defensive end Shawn King, who spoke about trying to beat NFL drug tests by using substitute urine.

“One time I lost my substitute urine when I got stoned and dropped my Gatorade bottle” where the urine was stored, King told Kremer. “So I called a girlfriend and asked her for a favor.

“She FedExed me a urine sample, but I failed the test because I came up pregnant.”

Judging Joe: Howie Long of Fox took issue with speculation about whether Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs could cut it in a “young man’s game.”

“I find it entertaining when people question whether the game has passed Joe Gibbs by,” Long said on “NFL Sunday.” “Many aspects of the offense that he put in place over 20 years ago can be seen in today’s game.

“The other question was how is he going to deal with today’s athletes? He’s been working with [NASCAR driver] Tony Stewart the last few years! Football players are a piece of cake.”

Added Terry Bradshaw: “Maybe Tony Stewart ran Joe Gibbs back into coaching.”

No rush here: The Edmonton Eskimos’ Mike Pringle tied the Canadian Football League career rushing record Friday in Edmonton -- then was tackled for a loss on his final carry, leaving him a yard short of the mark of 16,116 yards held by former Saskatchewan star George Reed.

“I kind of wanted to get George another free trip,” Pringle, 36, said of Reed, who is attending Eskimo games until Pringle passes him. “The record is going to fall ... and then it will all be behind us.”

Trivia answer: In his hometown of Adelaide, Australia, in 1998, defeating Jason Stoltenberg in the final.

And finally: Fode Soumah, the minister for sports in Guinea, on the rewards for the country’s soccer team after its 4-0 victory over Botswana: “The president has decided to give the players special prizes, plots of land and two tractors.”