You signed up for soccer, and played every game of the season. Sure, you're not the best player on the team, but most days you gave it your all. Do you deserve a trophy (奖杯)?

If the decision is up to Carol Dweck, the answer would likely be no. She's a psychology professor at Stanford University, California. She says a player doesn't have to be the best to get a trophy. But those who receive an award should have to work for it. She suggests trophies go to the most improved player, or the one who contributed most to the team spirit, as well as to those who play the best.

“The trophy has to stand for something,” Dweck told TFK. “If we give a trophy to everyone, then the award has no value.” Dweck argues that giving kids trophies for particular reasons, such as improving in a sport, teaches kids that adults value hard work and trying our best.

Others say that there's no harm in giving awards to all kids who play a sport, regardless of how they played or whether or not they improved.

“I think we should encourage kids' participation in sports,” says Kenneth Barish, a psychology professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York City. “A trophy is one way to encourage kids' efforts.”

Barish argues that when we single out only the best or even the most improved players with a trophy, we are teaching kids the wrong lesson. We are sending the message that winning is everything. “Winning is only part of the equation (等式),” Barish told TFK. “Playing sports also teaches kids about teamwork and the importance of exercise.”

There will be plenty of opportunities for kids to learn about competition as they get older, says Barish. They'll soon realize that only one soccer team wins the World Cup and only one football team wins the Super Bowl. For now, he thinks there's nothing wrong with letting all kids who play a sport feel like winners. That means trophies for everyone.

British anthropologists (人类学家) Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham, after studying the results of one-on-one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling matches at the Olympic Games, conclude that when two competitors are equally matched in fitness and skill, the athlete wearing red is more likely to win.

Hill and Barton report that when one competitor is much better than the other, colour has no effect on the result. However, when there is only a small difference between them, the effect of colour is enough tip the balance. The anthropologists say that the number of times red wins is not simply by chance, but that these results are statistically significant.

Joanna Setchell, a primate (灵长目动物) researcher at the University of Cambridge, has found similar results in nature. She studies the large African monkeys known as mandrills. Mandrills have bright red noses that stand out against their white faces. Setchell’s work shows that the powerful males — the ones who are more successful with females — have a brighter red nose than other males.

As well as the studies on primates by Setchell, another study shows the effect of red among birds. In an experiment, scientists put red plastic rings on the legs of male zebra finches and this increased the birds’ success with female zebra finches, Zebra finches already have bright red beaks (鸟喙), so this study suggests that, as with Olympic athletes, an extra flash of red is significant. In fact, researchers from the University of Glasgow say that the birds’ brightly coloured beaks are an indicator of health. Jonathan Blount, a biologist, and his colleagues think they have found proof that bright red or orange beaks attract females because they mean that the males are healthier. Nothing in nature is simple, however, because in species such as the blue footed booby, a completely different colour seems to give the male birds the same advantage with females.

Meanwhile, what about those athletes who win in their events while wearing red? Do their clothes give them an unintentional advantage? Robert Barton accepts that “that is the implication” of their findings. Is it time for sports authorities to consider new regulations on sports clothing?

Take part in running history with this great event, held between Preston and Blackpool. It’s the oldest half marathon (马拉松) in the country and began back in 1965. You’ll have every chance of recording a great time yourself on this mostly flat road race, which starts at 2 pm.

Please praise the organizers of this event for making the race friendlier to our environment. They’ve done away with free shirts (you can choose to plant a tree instead) and their medal is made of reused paper and includes wildflower seeds (种子), so you can remember your race in a beautiful corner of your garden.

The Ulster Way spreads out for some 1,024 km in a circle around Northern Ireland. This 100-mile run covers the coastline and mountains. These hills are beautiful but also come with some painful inclines (斜坡).

This is certainly one of the hardest marathons in the UK, and not just because it rises to 1,000 m above sea level (all in the form of short climbs, might we add). It also passes a quite wonderful huge chalk figure (人像) carved into a hillside near Cerne Abbas.