MFS - Strange But True - People

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - People 16

Blind woman catches record Albino Catfish.



A fisherman who introduced his blind wife Sheila Penfold, 59 to fishing has been upstaged twice - as he watched her break two world records for catching giant catfish.Retired gardener Alan Penfold, 63, decided to start bringing wife Sheila along on his fishing trips four years ago but wouldn't have expected to be upstaged by his partially-sighted partner.She has broken the record for the biggest catfish ever caught by a woman and then hooked the largest albino catfish ever caught in two fishing holidays.The 59-year-old housewife, who has three children, three grandchildren and one great grandchild, said her second record-breaker came on October 4 this year when she reeled in a rare albino catfish.She was rowed out into the middle of the river to place her bait before heading back to the shore - and within minutes she felt a tug on her line which she said 'felt like a car', she told the Angler's Mail.After nearly an hour of reeling the fish to the surface, she almost dropped her rod in amazement when she heard people shouting around her that it was a very rare catfish.Four fellow fishermen and the tour guide helped Sheila, from Wandsworth, south London, get the huge fish onto dry land.The previous world record for an albino catfish- caught by either a man or a woman - was just 179lb, almost a stone lighter than Sheila's catch.Picture and copyright by Stian Alexander.Read and see more on this catch at MFS,with 1 videoclip on Catfish angling.

MFS - Strange But True - People 16

Updated on MFS - Strange But True - People 16

The Tarahumara a.k.a. The super Athletes of the Sierra Madre.


The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are an indigenous people of northern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability.In their language, the term rarámuri refers specifically to the males, females are referred as muki (individually) or igomele (collectively).Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because of their presence.Current estimates put the population of the Rarámuri in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as caves or cliff overhangs, as well as small cabins of wood or stone. Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Rarámuri still practice transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost all Rarámuri migrate in some form or another in the course of the year.The Tarahumara language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is still widely spoken.The word for themselves, Rarámuri means "foot-runner" or "he who walks well,"in their native tongue.And they've been known to irritate American ultramarathoners by beating them while wearing huarache sandals and stopping now and then for a smoke.Read and see more about these amazing people on MFS,with 2 videoclips.