After 20 years, life-long runner and local coach David Allison returned to his alma mater recently to compete in the Penn Relays.

In the galaxy of big-screen superheros — a rather glum lot — Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is the snappy one.

I did it. Even though it might make me the last person in Ahwatukee over the age of 9 to do so, I have a smartphone. It was not a case of desire; the screen on my “vintage” phone was so scratched I couldn’t see it, and it turned out I could get the smartphone and pay $10 less per month. I suspect the kid that sold it to me was like a seedy, back alley pusher — “come on, its even cheaper” — and that a smartphone is gateway technology.

Phoenix Conservatory of Music received a three-year $120,000 grant to support its City Music Program from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The Phoenix Conservatory of Music’s City Music Program is a free college preparatory program for grades 4-12.

The 98th annual Board of Visitors Charity ball took place on April 6 at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley.

Seven-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident Ava Loew has a need for speed.

Monday was the deadline for another column, and so right now I should be polishing up 500 words or so about why women do more housekeeping than men and bundling it off to the Ahwatukee Foothills News.

Their stories are nowhere near as harrowing.

Gov. Jan Brewer said Tuesday that enhanced security is being put in place for this weekend's Pat Tillman run in the wake of the bombings in Boston.

Local running coach Susan Loken said there were several Ahwatukee Foothills residents competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The conception that no one knows or appreciates an artist until he’s gone doesn’t hold water with Peter Max.

Around 25 years ago, I was racing bicycles in Southern California. It was mostly local club races and I enjoyed training rides with teammates. We began hearing stories of a talented junior (under 18) in Texas. He had gifts, but tended to be so relentlessly competitive that he wanted to lead a race from start to finish, which often is not the best strategy. That young Texan turned out to be Lance Armstrong.

When competing in speech and debate, Desert Vista High School senior Kohi Gill has one surefire remedy for stage fright.

In Netflix’s bid for a flagship original drama of its own — a “Sopranos” to its HBO — the subscription streaming service is presenting a high-class adaptation of a British political thriller offered up all at once, with its first season immediately ready for TV-viewing gluttony.

Investors sometimes may get frustrated with their investments because those investments don’t seem to produce quick results. Perhaps that’s understandable in our fast-paced society, in which we’ve grown accustomed to instant gratification. But investing is, by nature, a long-term activity. If you look at it in terms of an athletic event, it’s not a sprint, in which you must pull out all the stops to quickly get where you’re going. Instead, it’s more like the 26.2-mile race known as a marathon.

The thing about covering the sports scene in Ahwatukee Foothills is there is always going to be a contender.

Professional triathlete Kristi Johnson, 31, was unable to compete in Ironman Arizona this past month but will be heading into next year’s season with unwavering fortitude and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Arizona State University.

A TV show DVD set represents more than a holiday gift that’s easy to wrap. It also demonstrates respect: you know the recipient is mentally fit and couch-ready for a viewing marathon of “Dr. Who” or “House.”

When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast Ahwatukee Foothills resident Deanna Montalbano was concerned about friends and family in the area, but as the worst of the storm passed she was also torn over whether or not she would still be participating in the New York City Marathon.