Riddle me that...

[Plasman]

...Hey folks! I been away for a while, but I found a few more riddles for you:

A man is walking along train tracks when he looks up and sees a train approaching. Instead of stepping off the tracks straight away, he runs toward the oncoming train for about ten metres, and then steps off. Why did he do this?

Three people are standing next to each other. They are wearing very little clothing. One of them is crying, even though they are incredibly happy; the other two are smiling even though they are very disappointed. What are they doing?

What is the next number in this sequence?

1 3 3 2 1 4 2 4 1 8 5 1 3 1 1 3 ??

Have fun, and let me know if you need any hints.

EDIT: Changed the layout a bit because I originally posted this with a handheld device, which made doing all the fancy coloured-text and stuff much harder than it needed to be. Also, the colours aren't part of the puzzle for the third question; they just make it look fancy!

[mwchase]

A man is walking along train tracks when he looks up and sees a train approaching. Instead of stepping off the tracks straight away, he runs toward the oncoming train for about ten metres, and then steps off. Why did he do this?

He was on a bridge, and the end near the train was closer.

The other two are unfamiliar to me, though.

[strange_person]

Three people are standing next to each other. They are wearing very little clothing. One of them is crying, even though they are incredibly happy; the other two are smiling even though they are very disappointed. What are they doing?

Finalists in a beauty contest, after the winner is announced.

[Plasman]

OK, we have two winners already. I guess they were either really easy or really old.

MWChase, I would have also accepted a train tunnel. Well done!
S_P, you are also correct, they are indeed beauty pageant contestants.

No-one's had a crack at the third one yet. Some spoilered clues:
The sequence continues on from after the ??, but only for another nine numbers.
It's a pop culture reference - if you consider the late 1930s pop culture.
Okay, I lied - that colour scheme does in fact give the game away a little bit.
Remember the first picture puzzle I posted in the riddle threads?

[Plasman]

While I think of it... This is one I came up with the other day.

A Curious Paragraph
Hello! Primed for another puzzle? Terrific! This paragraph is the puzzle! But, can you figure out what makes it special? Pay attention! You've seen puzzles like this before. "What makes this paragraph unique?" Yes, that type. Something weird about the structure. Odd pacing, and strange, stilted language, concealing - what? Perhaps the paragraph is missing a particularly common letter? Like those ones without the letter "e"? Well, then; "quizzically jumbled foxes" should ruin that theory. (Sorry about that.) So... what? What else, then? Maybe the answer lies elsewhere within the text. Tried counting syllables yet? You'll go barmy if you do. Anything else? The text doesn't offer much help. But then again... What about punctuation? Maybe the typographical symbols conceal a secret code! Like Morse code! Except - wait. That's not how this puzzle works, apparently. There must be a kind of pattern to it. But it's not a code! It's a... cryptic mystery! Indeed. I'll bet you can't wait to see it solved. Maybe it will be YOU who does! Curious?

The puzzle speaks for itself. No clues until someone's had a guess. Figure out the logic behind the paragraph; if you're really clever, your answer will also fit into the paragraph's structure!

[Coda]

Hmm. I dare. I really challenge it. Anyway, vague, but abacuses abandoned -- baddest ire is now yielding your answer.

(Admittedly, yielding it in a different form than yours!)

[Plasman]

(after much head scratching)

...Oh HA HA!
Yes, you are RIGHT Coda! But since your answer is cryptic enough, I'll leave it open-ended in case someone else wants to have a go. It would be cool if someone else got it during the next week.
Except...

Hmm. I dare. I really challenge it.

I would change this word to "shall" or something similar. Plasman has a quick scan of his paragraph for any errors he made.

...And still, no-one's figured this one out:

What is the next number in this sequence?

1 3 3 2 1 4 2 4 1 8 5 1 3 1 1 3 ??

Oddly enough, this sequence is harder to find on the internet than I was expecting, so I'll give you the rest of the sequence in spoiler text: 1 1 1 1 4 4 8 4 10 and possibly 0.
It's also worth noting that even though the colours don't directly correspond to the numbers, they do have a relationship - having said that, though, it seems that I should have coloured them like this instead (depending on where you are in the world).
Is that enough to get this solved?

[Plasman]

No one's made any guesses since Coda's last post, so I'll solve the two remaining puzzles.

What is the next number in this sequence?

1 3 3 2 1 4 2 4 1 8 5 1 3 1 1 3 ??

The number you want is 10; it's the point value of the Q tile in Scrabble. The rest of the clues should make sense now.

As for A Curious Paragraph, counting the words in each sentence should give you the first forty digits of π (the title gives you 3, and everything else comes after the decimal point). Coda's answer does the same thing, except with the number of letters in each word. It was timely when I posted it!

That's that loose end tied off, anyway. Onward!