Urban Athletics 5th team -- forget the fact we’re supposed to be in the B league! And 11th in the women’s teams. Without even Chubby or Stumpy running for the men -- and with OzPaul doing the double -- running the Corp on Saturday too, and Cara or Flyin‘ Fiona for the women (though we have somewhat given up on Flyin‘ ever appearing)….Some fab age groupers lead by our fave --Ginette Bedard 72-yrs old NY 1:45:54, Stephanie Hodge 40 NYH NY 1:28:28 (Happy Birthday, missed that one), Edie Perkins 34 GNY NY 1:23:01, This guy is unstoppable John Samsel 61 WTC NY 1:27:22, The Rope James Lynch 40 WS NY 1:09:47, and Alan Ruben 48 CPTC NY 1:15:21.

Tis hearsay, but Chris Stewart (1:15) had come into the store on Tuesday saying how he was going to ‘destroy’ Danny the Dollarman… well too bad he was in a different park of the park to the Dollarman so no destroying was possible… a good few blocks behind.. Want to talk ‘destroy?’ Alex obliterated her PR by 12-minutes! Paola too did damage -- well run to y’all! Rick P from the Wedza night group, who runs for the Flyers, ran a huge PR… I had a bucket full of PR emails - everyone is rocking!!

Urbanosos -- CAMPOS DANIEL CURTIS PAUL STEWART CHRISTOPHER KUGLER ANNE SANTIAGO JOSE GUPTA SUNEET COLLINS CHRISTIAN KAVANAGH PAUL STROBRIDGE PARKS E. SHADDOW MICHAEL MCINTYRE KAREN HENRY PIERRE CANNELLA PAUL FERNANDEZ PAOLA MADELL ROBIN MARGULIES MICHAEL CURTIS TONI PULTZ DAVID ALLEN JONATHAN MOREIRA PATRICIA CHESLIK THOMAS SUMMERSON CHRISTINE E

Constanina Tomescu-Dita from Romania soloed to a 69:17 win over Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands, 70:19, and Susan Chepkemei of Kenya, 70:20. Dita will run Chicago next week(!) The Romanians ran away with Team Gold, from Russia, and Japan. The African team challenge never materialized -- with Ethiopia’s Adere and Kidane running the GNR instead, and Tulu obviously tired from winning there (67’ to 72’)… Good result from Canada’s Stevenson Nicole 1:14:26 in #28 - she won a Half in the park last year…. Anyway back to Romania - how good were they? Adriana Pirtea ran 71:10 and did not even count as a team scorer. The men’s teams? Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Japan. The USA men‘s did well in #6 with local man Matt Downin running a 64‘ -- Kudos to all the country‘s that sent full teams -- Shame on Britain for sending not one single man… I mean…. And Yes Jon Brown pulled out, but…

The Simba speaks, “Well Anne, since you were number One in Grete’s, and I was just number two in Edmonton we have to see who is the best!“ Back in NYC last night. “Anything I say tonight you can not put on the web site, okay?” Okay.

But news from the big day; Simba news - “Lornah won today her first medal ever in a Championship. She finished 2nd in the World Championships Half Marathon in Edmonton, Canada. Conditions were tough with 5 degrees and rain and Lornah had already after 5 K problems with cramps. However, she was able to hang in and at the finish she won the sprint from Susan Chepkemei.” From Starbucks.

Poor Stephane has a malady with his Kidney’s… got me thinking about the people who died in the GNR the other week, last week in fact. Five people died at the race, I mean that is a nice way to go though huh? When I was in my mid twenties I had some tests done on my heart and they said I had a murmur and should get an Echogram. Years later up in the Bronx when I was doing a running test the Doctor told me the same thing, he was listening through a stethoscope and said that I should defo get an echogram because I had a murmur. I never looked into it. I mean what if they said, “You have to be inactive, can’t do things blah blah.. I always think it is best not to know in these cases. And to back me up -- a young runner in Sweden, awesome talent was told something was wrong with his heart, so he stopped in his prime. Years, and years later, he decided to take up running again disregarding the Doctor’s advise -- he got to the Olympics, won the European Cup, was the top ranked Swede in ‘77, albeit past his prime -- what could have been? And still healthy n wealthy today.

The Madison Marathon mob -- some of them doing their last hard workout before next week’s Chicago Marathon. Countdown time! Tapering and toast, the time when you really feel for training, the antsy days.. Don’t miss them at all. Personally I would like to do another marathon one of these days, but it won’t be unless I train for one, and have no pains doing the training.

World Champs this weekend -- Fabiano Joseph who was second in the last two editions of the World Half Marathon Championships -- can this Shoe4Africa/Team Timmax athlete go one spot better? The heavy money is on Sihine of Ethiopia who, despite the fact, he is just to make his Summer/Fall road debut, is an athlete few would bet against.

I actually ‘adore’ Paris -- the first time I went was when I was a nipper with my parents and we slept in a van round the corner from the Moulin Rouge… it was a long story, but we got stuck on a roundabout and people drive like… well finally pulling up on a side street we had no energy to go any further. I remember at 6-am in the morning I took a walk from the van to check out the ’hood (as everyone else slept). When I turned the corner as the smell of tobacco and beer was awash in the air, and there was this flippin red windmill! I ran back to the car, “I know where we are!” We camped there for a couple of days, a good spot! Le Exclusive, no other campers on La Rue -- the things you can do with a VW hippy bus are unlimited. The next time I went was my thumb, and then motorcycle - a city one never forgets, like Amsterdam, and unlike that city I once stayed in around Ohio whose name eludes me now.

From the NYRR, “Abdi Abdirahman, the national record holder at 20K, leads three other American men—Ryan Shay, Matt Downin, and Peter Gilmore—as the latest additions to the field for the ING New York City Marathon 2005, it was announced today by New York Road Runners president and CEO and race director Mary Wittenberg.”

The Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi, 27-yrs old and powered by a love of sushi, had bypassed the chance to upgrade her World Silver medal (from Paris 2003) at this summer’s games in order to take a crack at the Japanese national record (Yoko Shibui, Berlin ’04: 2:19:41). Last year after winning in Athens she had made her intent clear on claiming the National record over competing at the Helsinki world championships. Marathon running is at a premium in the Far East at the present, and with the 2000 Olympic Champion Naoko Takahashi recently signing a multi-million dollar sponsorship Noguchi, who hails from the city of Ise, probably surmised a Sub 2:20 clocking and a national record would greatly increase her worth on the Tokyo Stock Exchange -- a slight hint of Japan’s commercial impact on the Berlin race? Check out the fact Miuzuki had Japanese text printed on the bib number at Berlin. The weather at the 32nd Real Berlin Marathon on Sunday was slightly warmer than usual, and with no competition bar the clock the diminutive star, who had not raced a marathon since her Golden day in Athens 2004, led the race with only the company of male pacemakers to disturb her record shot.

After reaching the 10k marker in 32:53 she already had over a minute on her rivals. The half way was reached in 1:09:19 with a pack of three women still within reach, two and a half minutes in arrears. However only the weather, which reached 70-degrees Fahrenheit at the finish, could compete with Noguchi who lengthened the winning margin to nearly eight and a half minutes as she broke the tape in 2:19:12 -- becoming the third fastest woman in history after Briton’s Paula Radcliffe and the mind boggling 2:15.25 in London ‘03, and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya (Chicago ‘01: 2:18.47). The winner deduced the heat cost her a 2:18 clocking.

Both the runners-up, Germany's Luminita Zaitac 2:27:34, and Ethiopia's Asale Tafa, 2:28:27, expressed satisfaction with their performances. Noguchi, who had smashed her PR by over two minutes, praised the crowd and course before dedicating the win to her coach Nobuyuki Fujita. Fujita has coached for the past 37-years in Japan and his athletes have set national records from the quarter mile to the half marathon, only the marathon distance had eluded his full house.

King Kenya; As Usual -- Kenyan men have an almost Boston like lock on the winners’ podium in the German capital, they had taken the past six men’s titles and although the men’s event did not have any clear favorites as with the women’s field, a slue of elite Kenyans were poised to continue the winning trend. In fact the only non African born athlete looking capable to challenge for the overall title was the man who broke the Kenyan ten-year winning streak in Boston, Bong-ju Lee of Korea. The Korean had stated in a press conference earlier in the week, "I am here to win… I will show that the Korean runners can still win and I will prove it here."

However Lee’s challenge lasted only just before the large lead pack hit the half way marker in 63:38, when he faded and would eventually finish 11th in 2:12:19. Already it was clear that the men’s course, and world, record of 2:04:55, set by Kenyan Paul Tergat in 2003, would not be broken.

Last year the Kenyan Philip Manyim, also 27, was ‘just’ pace making world class steeplechase races on the International circuit. In the fall of last year he turned to marathoning, and with confidence reamed from his Second place finish at this Spring’s Rome Marathon, 2:08:07 (a stunning upgrade from his Amsterdam debut in ‘04; 2:18:17), he surged strongly in his third race over the 26.2-mile distance before the 30k mark (1:29:54) to distance himself from a group of his very fast countrymen. It took a series of 4:40 miles but it was enough for the veteran Kenyans Peter Chebet, Michael Rotich, Joshua Chelanga, and Jackson Koech, to allow a slight gap to open up. As with Noguchi the Kenyan began to suffer in the heat and told afterwards of his struggle over the final two miles, but the closest pursuers, now just Koech and Chebet (the younger brother to the former Boston & New York Champ Joseph), were also suffering! Manyim managed to hold on to a 2:07:41 win, over a minute ahead of Chebet, 2:08:58, with Jackson Koech, 2:09:07, making it a Kenyan clean sweep.

The first non-African in the race turned out to be the Boulder-based Australian Andrew Letherby setting a new PR of 2:11:42, surely to cement his place on the Australian Commonwealth Games team for Melbourne 2006. A month ago Letherby’s coach, Nic Bideau, had predicted two things for his stable; Mottram would win the 5th Avenue Mile, and Letherby would PR in Berlin -- he was right on the Mark, or was that the Yen?
A report on Berlin by your intrepidso reporter.

And women - 1) Lena Gavelin, Trångsvikens IF, 1.58.39 2) Malin Ewerlöf-Krepp, Spårvägens FK, 2.00.50 3) Helena Olofsson, Rånsä 4H, 2.02.24 And the 10k race (women only) saw Norway’s underbar 5000 runner zip to a win - 1) Susanne Wigene, Norge, 33.27 2) Nancy Kiprop, Kenya, 34.05 3) Annemari Sandell, Finland, 34.38 Post race, “Jag har gjort en supersäsong.” You can guess what that translates to right? “I have had a super season!” That sounds like another Sherlock quote.

Number two in the 30k women‘s race is my old teammate Malin who was the first ever winner of the World Junior XC Champs when she was 16! Anyway the first runner is coached by my friend Richard, who used to run for the same team, and now works for the Swedish version of Runner‘s World.

Other news; The Simba on the race, “I could not even tell you who will be there. All I know is that I am going to win.” Bold words indeed.

The other fast guys -- Simon Bor, KEN 2:11:57 CR, #2 Nelson Lebo, Ken 2:12:18 & #3 Wesley Ngetich, KEN 2:14:31... Kassahun Kabiso was there but DNF’d.

Catherine’s sister - Anastasia Ndereba, KEN 2:36:31 #2 Lucy Hasell, GBR 2:38:09 & #3 Tania Jones, CAN 2:41:51
In the half - Lyubov Denisova, RUS 1:15:08 & the men’s Giitah Macharia, CGO 1:04:34

On the left, running for URBAN ATHLETICS, Yelena Kanales -- the Number One track ranked Miler in the world.

Unfortunately she had a hamstring pull, but all of Urban was very proud to have this runner run for us… and we hope to see her back for the Millrose Games.

Well I gave the tip, and the tip came home - Craig Mottram was the bean in 3:49.9. Fun race to watch -- John Itati took out the pace in 54 for the first 400, he hit 1:53.9 for the 800m with Webb tucked behind, Webb then lead till the last 100m when Craig, who was never further than 1.5-secs back, slid by running a very smart race the whole way. I was on the lead truck for the races (alongside Paul McMullen who was doing a web cast)…. The fun part was going back up 5th Ave at 80-mph against the way traffic usually goes to make the next race. A couple of times I nearly fell out of the back as the gate was down.

In the women’s race it was Kim Smith (second left) who did the pace making duties, pulling the field along, congrats to 4:28.0 winner Carmen Douma-Hussar (far right).

Great race by Upper East Sider John Honerkamp in a classy 4:09 to win the Local Mile and Kate Irvin 04:50.1 for the women’s race that was rather slim on the ground, only two under five minutes, only four in the entire race! Zoomalong was there. Had a good chat with John Itati, he‘s doing the LV marathon… he was very happy to hit the pace -- the rest of the Lisa B. camp are up in Toronto for the marathon that was on Sunday with Ronald Mogaka going the distance.

Performance of the day for the locals? Of course CPTC’s Mr. Alston Brown of Jamaica - aged 56 running 4:46! Other mazing age group winners - Conor O'Driscoll 44-yrs old 4:28 of WTC, stunning, Witold Bialokur 70-yrs old - 6:00! John Bates 82-yrs old 7:11! Charlotte Rizzo 43-yrs young - 5:15, Mary Evans 46-yrs old 5:23, Mary Rosado 55 at 6:30, Ann Makoske aged 60 at 6:33, and of course Ginette Bedard 7:11 at the age of 72 - flipping awesome!

I met Isaya the skinny Kenyan, and whilst talking to him near the start everyone was clapping following some announcement, Isaya started too, so I said to him, “Why are we clapping?“ (As I joined in too), “I don’t know but it keeps me warm.” he replied. I saw Krafty Krebs talking lots of photos. Great quote by Peter Walsh, the owner of Coogan’s watching the men’s elite mile, “The one with the blue shorts.” They all had blue, nearly! Ah, you had to be there.

Outside the starbucks was John Henwood who is thinking about the Hartford Half, then as we talked the best 60+ runner in the city right now, John Samsel came by…. Buena Vista East Side, I tell you--

1 Noguchi, Mizuki (JAP) 2:19:12 Nat. REC 2 Zaituc, Luminita (GER) 2:27:34 3 Tafa, Asale (ETH) 2:28:27 4 Kraus, Melanie (GER) 2:34:23 5 Tola, Worknesh (ETH) 2:35:31 6 Crombie-Hicks, Shona (GBR) 2:38:42 7 Aagaard, Anne-Mette (DEN) 2:38:44 8 Rahm, Anna (SWE) 2:39:31 9 Gradwohl, Eva Maria (AUT) 2:39:51 10 Draskau-Petersson, Jess (GBR) 2:42:00

Peter2 in purple, “it’s my gym wear!” Jeff & Rick focusing well on Philly. Jamie who was coached by Jim G before up in CT - small world. Paul C running a fine session, with Todd too - in split decisions. Yuen giving a good effort & blood (well that was earlier in the day). Eric doing great - progressing strongly, as was Vanessa with Cristina on her heels. Ivar made it down and ran a great set of miles, and welcome down to Heather after a long hiatus, “Forgotten how much fun the track is!” Too right! WE have a hoot always!

AnneG on the money and ran a great bonus 400m Michael S worked hard and was rewarded, Paul K too -never complains! Trackman (aka DavidP) was scooting along on pace with Randi on his heels. Paola & Tracey were flying in tandem nicely. Luis - welcome! And Luiz; every lap remained the same even as the rest diminished mile by mile! Randy also hitting yearly PR‘s as the night wore on, & Sabrina the bean booming along.

We’ll be super happy if they turn the lights on down at the track as it is dark down there now -- I had three watches, four groups, and had to try and spot who was who before trying to look down at the dark watches, and subtract thirty seconds off the third watch to time the fourth group, whom I had to remember who was in the 3rd and who was in the fourth….the mind boggles. I suppose it was pay back for my much appreciated witty comment, “Okay, one mile done, nearly finished, four and a half miles to go.”

Meanwhile tonight OzPaul, Anil, & Chubby were missing -- it was Ozpaul‘s stag night and they were off to some strip club - Yuck. Whatever floats your boat.

Here’s a Classic quote, Don Roberts, “So I was feeling good as I had done a 40-miler, doing the second twenty faster” (when training for the London to Brighton 54-mile race), and this man told me, “40?? The race begins at 40, and indeed it did!” Don’s first therapist? “this man ran 65-miles on Saturday, 65 on Sunday, and 65 on Monday -- it was Labor Day weekend.” Of course he was talking about a gentleman who was a couple of seats down - Ted Corbitt. All this and more at the NYRR AGM last night -- I think I knew everyone in the room -- all 25 of us! The Mayor of Van Cortlandt Park was there, he also had done the London Brighton race that talked about year, Mike Frankfurt, then George Hirsch who will be running Berlin on Sunday was there. Of course the Queen of the NYRR, Mary Wittenberg. Snapper Don was there - snapping as usual, and Peter Roth, the man who married Deena from Drossin to Kastor a couple of years ago -- poor Peter had broken his ribs whilst cycling last week… what else -- wel the bad news is I wanted to pick up a pizza on thwe way home, and I completely forgot until I was putting the key in the door - yargh!

Ophs I forgot to talk about the AGM - two main points, the direction of the club - very healthy, for e.g. 5-yrs ago no school kids were helped/serviced by the NYRR club, today it is 7,000 per week! The Projection for Mary, “100,000 in thirty years!” and a note on the voting - a fab $15,000 has been saved by the new online voting (way to go), and don’t say it was inconvenient (I know the pdf was a pain), but you could also have filled in a ballot at the club for the last month, but this online is superb as 89% of the 39,000 members have an email address…

Down that Avenue the next club event, at the same location between 2nd & 3rd Aves on 76th is the ING-NYC clinic - you should go, you will learn SO much on running! I always do.

Speaking avenues -- I was down in Café Habanna yesterday, having lunch with a friend (can I recommend the sweet corn for starters that is roasted on the cob and rolled in parmesan) anyway following which I passed a food shop that I really like down there in Nolita and thought, “Full up but just let me check. When I happened to notice that their mustard, French, was on sale. A fav of mine, so I bought two big jars and noticed also that the Lime Honey from Germany looked rather tasty, so I left the shop with two kilos in a paper bag. So I was cycling up 1st Ave trying to avoid all the numerous potholes when ‘bam’ the obvious happened!

The bag broke, even though it was a natty string handled jobbies, I cringed as the three jars and also my wallet and a pile of Cds flew down onto the road. Amazingly nothing broke! Those thick glass jars huh. So now I had to pedal with one hand holding my bunch of keys, my wallet, and a stack of CD’s and the handlebar whilst in the other hand I had the honey, and tucked under my arm I had the mustard…. Now I was really looking out for potholes! At the united nations building they diverted the traffic for some security thing, and I had to go on the dual underpass (as I was too lazy to cross the avenue and cycle over on the side walk).. So I start going down the underpass (that is about five blocks long and where the cars absolutely fly through because there are no police) and I suddenly realize it is pitch black down there -- the underground street lamps are not working!

This is bad on two scores - firstly as a car driver you just do not expect to find a bike down there, and secondly I was wearing my Johnny Blackglu sunglasses that are made for brilliant sunlight -- I could not see a flippin thing! And of course I could not take my shades off as my hands were over full, and could not stop as there was no lane to stop in! I thought I was sure fire road kill.. Just imagine, found in a pulp & pap of lime honey and Dijon mustard.

1. Isabellah Ochichi, KEN 51:08 2. Susan Chepkemei, KEN 51:13 3. Gete Wami, ETN 51:30 4. Rose Cheruiyot, KEN 51:33 5. Hilda Kibet, KEN 53:08 (HATC)

1) Nancy Kiprop, Kenya, 33.34 2) Christin Johansson, Kville, 34.37 3) Lena Gavelin, Trångsviken, 35.03 -- this is a race I won back in the day when the prize had been a mountain bike,a nd when I won they turned the nbike into a lottery prize and gave me a piece of string with wooden balls on instead as the bike was up on stage with the label 1st prize men’s taped on the cross bar… go figure! That was the last year I went back.. That was in 94 I think, and nowadays I think there was good $$

@ Turin Half-Marathon 1. Nicholas Kemboi, QAT 1:02:10 2. Joseph Ngeny, KEN 1:03:39, and WOMEN - 1. Zaituni Nkoki, TAN 1:13:25 2. Anne Jelagat, KEN 1:13:41

Yes when you get 50,000 people in the same area the chances are that a couple will die, sadly.

At the races: Congrats to Abraham Assefa WTC 19:05 & Kathy Martin, 24:26 Saturday was Leg One of The Chubby Boss Vs Danny the Dollarman… Chubbs has promised to slay the dollar man in one of the next five match-ups. The gun goes off and Chubbs races off with the leaders… He has upped the bet, to double or nothing (“crazy!”). Going up CatHill it looks like it may be the day, unless we recall that we are only ½-mile into the race.. The Dollarman comes sliding by as the leaders disappear into a different city as far as we are concerned. Shiney is running in the pack, Chubbs had offered him the latest singlet but Shiney prefers to keep the red old one, “Wales y’know” - I did, maybe others not. Dollarman Danny puts in a surge, he would later say, “I tried to run with Chubbs for a while, but he was too slow!” and makes distance that can not be made up. The distance grew to ‘outta sight…’ and now Chubbs has only four more chances to recoup his $500. OzPaul, on hearing of the bet, “I wonder if he’d bet anything with me?? I could do with a 500 or two…. Anyway I should be careful not to say too much as I know it‘ll be repeated on the website” On that note Costanza said, “Better not to say the thing about Dollarman saying Chubbs was too slow else he’ll be miserable all day…” too late - Chubbs had already, via the grape, heard, “Ha, I’ll be back, faster. Today was my warm up!”
Congrats to the Front Runners NY & Moving Comfort NY who scooped the team awards. Back at the store Anil meanwhile reading the paper did not glance up and moaned that the morning’s run for him, 21-miles, was pretty damn far. He’s training for NYC, as is Dollarman… but Costanza is getting ready for the Cyclo races…. And drinking vitamin red coke -- a new formula…. Anyway back to the race site --

Post race, Chucky Martin, “Has a 53-yr old woman ever won a race in Central Park??” Referring to the splendid result that his wife Kathy had just produced! Chuck, who knows a thing or two about a good coffeehouse was rightly proud of Kathy’s latest, of so many, super dooper performances.

Congrats to the Urbanosos - called yuppies in some circles, labeled scallywags by others:
CAMPOS DANIEL CHASTON MATT MACARI JERRY R DARCY DAVID MARGULIES DENISE SHUFRO LEE MARGULIES MICHAEL CHIN DENNY LAMARCA-MEHIGAN MIA CHESLIK THOMAS.

The Dollarman is cleaning Chubby out - however Adam tells us that he won a soccer bet against the Dollarman last week, but the Dollarman paid him with new running shoes instead of cash, when Mexico lost to the USA.

Speaking travel how annoying is it that people on trains shout down their cellphone.. I mea I am relaxing, eating a bagel, reading a magazine when “How ya doing?” at 110-decibels, everyone of course looks round, and some woman is just phoning up a buddy, then she screams, “So, I had the MRI…” enough, enough. Kind’ve wishing for background music to drown out the drones.

Anyway that was up in MA, and on Sunday I found myself waking up in CT… at the ungodly hour of 05:30 wondering what the heck am I doing here? Well I did a long run out there and once again I must praise Marty S of Hitek racing & Jim Gerwick for great post run food, Great course markings, and what else….. Great weather! I was rather surprised not to see Martha Stewart though when passing through Westport with my eyes peeled, though I did see a cat with a pink ribbon round its neck that could have possibly belonged to Ms Stewart. Apparently Paul Newman lives there too - but we did not see him either, no marks for celeb spotting. Not that I would recognize them anyway!

Then fireworks in the main event - the Half - 1 Zersenay Tadesse (ERI) 59:05 [World Best] 2 Dejene Birhanu (ETH) 1:00:44 3 Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 1:02:25, 4 Abdelkader El Mouaziz (MAR-M35) 1:02:32, 5 Mark Carroll (IRL) 1:02:36, 6 John Mayock 1:03:27, 7 Julio Rey (ESP) 1:03:37, 8 Jon Brown 1:03:44,

Mizuno TC’s Deratu Tulu zapped her rivals to win in a time of 1hr 7 mins 3 secs to become the first Ethiopian woman to win the event. #2 is the super in form Werknesh Kidane (ETH) 1:08:09, 3 Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 1:08:11, 4 Edith Masai (KEN-W35) 1:08:19 [World W35 Best], 5 Berhane Adere (ETH) 1:09:47, 6 Mara Yamauchi 1:09:51 [UKAT 5th], 7 Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 1:10:20, 8 Sally Barsosio (KEN) 1:12:05,

Men’s race - 1, Gudisa Shentema, Ethiopia, 62:23 2, Simon Kiprop, Kenya, 62:34 3, Linus Maiyo, Kenya, 62:40 4, Christopher Cheboiboch, Kenya, 62:45 5, Mohammad Amyn, Morocco, 62:48 6, Samuel Ndereba, Kenya, 62:53...# 9, Mbarak Hussein, Kenya, 63:23 USATF masters’ record.

Paul Tergat has pulled out of Sunday's Great North Run because of injury. Sonia O'Sullivan, has made a late entry but will run just as a training run “A jog”. Worries obviously if Paul will be on par for NYC! Let’s hope so.

Ozpaul as the session went on looked better and better getting up on his toes, Jamie showing determination & spirit, DavidP chiseling well, Queen Diane - glad to have her back, Michelle running with good talent, Randy getting ready to lose the last few pounds before Chicago, Robin in the black H blending into the night (lights we need), Masterblaster who blasted the Tune-up absolutely flying on the last mile, Randi - powered by apricot liquor, Suneet - on ribena giving his usual 110%, and Paul K arrived late but stayed late to complete - an inspiration, like all the guys!

Sileshi Sihine and Abebe Dinkessa are the two big men’s names for the national team, yet last year’s winner and CR holder Dereje is not in the Ethio-team…

Also the NYRR elite 5th Ave mile - if you are a 4:25 man or faster, and a 4:55 women they have a special race that will start just before the Invitational International event with $400, 200, 100 prize dollars and 70,000 air miles for the winner. Apply to Webman Sam at the NYRR if you think you should be invited asap as the field is limited! This is not the same event as the fastest race on the day, but you must contact Sam asap to "In it to win it." Great idea.

Ophs before I forget (yeah I cut all other parts, though I did have a nice natter with Nich) Prospect Park is having a race on Thanksgiving Morning - a 5-miler, first three scored only, and home made apple pies as prizes.. I can recommend this race and when I ran they gave out Pumpkin Pies that were anything but homemade so they have now upgraded the one thing that needed upgrading to make this a magic meet. Mark your calenders now!

There is a Club Council meeting - tonight @ the NYRR 7:00-PM

Well on Saturday I did my second interval session of the year, the last being a nice 5 x 1000m this summer (have been doing tempos earlier) -- this one was a little longer, though a shorter distance - 500m…. After interval #12 I didn’t want to count, after #18 I was getting happy, at #20 I was like ‘Yeehar, making progress!’ At #34 I stumbled down a crack in the road and pulled the bad leg, #35 I thought, damn, have not come this far not to finish, at #39 I thought it was 37, and at #40 it was done. Even with a scant 58’ average recovery this session took all morning! Kudos to the Dolphin runna who blew through the session like a golf ball off Tiger’s Iron. At Absolute Bagels buying the cinnamons I spotted a vitamin water called Rescue - seemed fitting. Meanwhile over in Boulder at 8400-ft the Simba completed another 3-hr run… anyway I must have been grimacing as I split my lip -- where’s that dead fish pose when you need it?
Furthermore we hear that Cara did an excellent pace run along the West Side too!

Sunday it was up to the blackberry picking farm area of New Paltz (where Kathrine Switzer has just bought a house) for a 2-hr easy afternoon run -- halfway up this hill that lasted forever I was trying to think how the word easy fitted into 'steep'. A mountain -- the nice news was that it was deserted out there. Beautiful running trails and not a running soul in sight! After days of Central Park that was quite a relief.

Meseret Defar, 14:45, beats the injured Dibaba aka The Baby Faced Assassin, 14:46, as Mizuno TC go 1-2,and Adere 14:46 wraps up the podium for Ethiopia in the women’s 5000m. Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Ethiopia, ophs Bahrain, was the only woman under 4-mins in 3:50 taking the 1500m, she has run a 1:11 half marathon too! Tomashova was #2 in 4:00, Paul Koech won the steeple in 8:07 as Shaheen stayed away, and Doris of Uganda won the women’s event in a runaway 9:21 polishing off her dominant season….Day Two - Ivan Heshko took the 1500m in 3:33:50 5/100th in front of Bernard trying for the double,, Rui Silva ran 3:50 - I‘m striking him off my list of favs for the 5th Ave mile as something is obviously wrong with him, it has now been a string of poor races…. The men‘s 5000- Sihine S won in a 13:39 time which is great for the mortals, but rather sluggish - Boniface Kiprop was next to finish in 13:40.… Wilfrd Bungei took the 800m in 1:47 - every one was just running for the $$positions$$.

Defar, 8:47, pulled out the double winning the 3k from Burika of Ethiopia by a second. Here‘s a fast time - W800- Calatayud Zulia 1:59.07 of Cuba from Hasna Benhassa 1:59:86

Congrats to All Urbanoso’s - CURTIS PAUL CAMPOS DANIEL GLASHOW ROBERT MULIA ADAM COLLINS CHRISTIAN ZLOTCHEW DAVIDALDERSON BOB MARGULIES DENISE SHADDOW MICHAEL STROBRIDGE PARKS 7:43 KAVANAGH PAUL FERNANDEZ PAOLA BOHRER JONATHAN PULTZ DAVID MARGULIES MICHAEL MOREIRA PATRICIA COLLETT CAMILLE CURTIS TONI SUMMERSON CHRISTINE CHESLIK THOMAS

Of course this is an ancillary event to the Half Marathon, and we hear from Nic Bideau that Craig is in great form. So I am going on record now as saying - Craig Mottram will win the 5th Ave mile for my September prediction. My July prediction was that Wanjru would get the record….

Go figure, and to think I was holding out in the dinner stage from asking for a bagel. Better to eat at home, least you get what you want!

Dame Kelly, "I want to go there to win," she said of the Melbourne games. "There would be no point otherwise. If I am OK to train it will be at the top level." May as well sell those seats, for our bet Ms Kelly will not make the starting line if anything Post-Olympics 04 is anything to be judged from.

MEN - Solomon Tsige Lishan Yegezu Raja Assefa Sileshi Sihine Abebe Dinkessa Nassir Abdissa WOMEN - Merima Hashim Eyerusalem Kuma Adanech Zerkiros Derartu Tulu Berhane Adere Le’tay Negash

And we hear from Belgian Roger, “PS Big day in football today. Belgium won 8-0 against ....... Saint Marino And Sorry, Iceland lost today. 3-2 against Bulgaria.” Thems the breaks.

Jose in Basque red, Dan steppin up a gear, Anne in gear, Gary - head down and working hard, Rick hitting pr‘s en route, MasterBlaster, Jeff, Eric, Randi with the Bulgaria Liquor , and Randy with the Seattle throttle coffee, Shawn off to Baton Rouge, DavidP well focused, Evelyn jumping in zooming hard, Jamie & Kirsten on cue, Cruiser zipping along well, Vanessa back from Brazil, Cristina driving well up the homestretch, Luiz pulling through well, and Ozpaul running around searching for body glide… but running well!

Today in Boulder - “On September 7th, 2005 we will be holding Ecuador night. There will be Ceviche and other traditional Ecuadorian Food. Donations will be accepted and T-shirts as well as sweaters and other traditional Ecuadorian articles will be for sale. (All donations and purchases are tax deductable).
“If you are interested in attending, the event will begin at 7pm at Fleet Feet which is located in the shopping center on Broadway across the street from the Boulder Community Hospital.” Organized by Silvio Guerrra, The Ecuadorian Marathon record holder at 2:09.

vimmin - 1. Merima Hashim (Prisons Police) 1:11:52 2. Eyerusalem Kuma (Prisons Police) 1:12:04 3. Adanech Zekiros (Prisons Police) 1:12:06

Very fast times for 2800m altitude and a tough course!

La femmes - Mizuki Noguchi, JPN, 2:21:18 Luminita Zaituc, GER, 2:26:01 Leila Aman, ETH, 2:27:54 and 40,000 runners!! Will be the world’s biggest ever marathon. It will also be broadcasted live in Japan by Fuji TV.

ick Van Exel & Michael Finley have been signed up by San Antonio - I think Mr Nick Van is one of the most underrated players in the league.

Only weeks after finishing 4th in the Helsinki Marathon the incredible Derartu Tulu of Miuzuno TC, twice Olympic 10,000m champion, won the Hydro Active Women's Challenge in London. Tulu won the 5,000m road race in 15 minutes and 30 seconds. She finished five seconds clear of Kenya's Susan Chepkemei, with Kim Smith, New Zealand's World University Games 5000m gold medallist, third. Report from on the site Urban, “Good run by Kim Smith, she drove the pace for the first 3k. Brits of the like Charlotte Dale and Julia Bleasdale were dropped early on and so was Sonia O'Sullivan who was targetting more like 16 mins. With 1k to go Tulu in her Mizuno kit made a move and Chepkemei couldn't do much. Smith in third. Bleasdale came 4th, then Dale. A bit scary one of the Serpie girls who races frequently too just came 11 seconds behind Sonia O'Sullivan.. Tegla Lourope (Mizuno?) won a race in Liverpool.” Thanks Urban, and yes Tegla is Mizuno TC. Dibaba, also Mizuno Track Club, had picked up a hamstring injury while training on Friday thus missed the 5km race.

Anyway thanks to Snapper Don for digging out this photo and passing it on to us! Taken in one of the two subsequent years when I 'conformed' and wore a toned down version of my business attire.

W5000- Adere Berhane ETH 14:47.56 2 Mohamed Zakia Mrisho TAN 14:58.88 3 Wigene Susanne NOR 14:59.04
W800- Calatayud Zulia CUB 1:59.25 2 Andrianova Tatyana RUS 2:00.50
Most deservingly, for $1-million, she did win the triple jump, by a scant three centimeters! Lebedeva Tatyana RUS 14.85 +0.8 2 Aldama Yamilé SUD 14.82

So standing on the starting line I think the race is going to be between John Henwood, Kabiso, and possibly Bennet from Urban who is a runner waiting to happen - he’s only about 30” per 5k behind these guys without their experience or training. However I figured John would take it. The gun goes off - for the first mile I actually have a view of what is happening - Kabiso taking the pace trying to leave John… after the first mile I could no longer see (foliage y’know, okay the truth was I was running backwards.)

Actually I had a good run until mile number three when I fell down a hole on the side of the path and pulled by troublesome leg muscle. Slowing to a jog I thought I’d drop out as I did not want to further impair the offending bane of my running, but I thought, ‘flip, only a mile to go…’ - Anyway - the warm down jog revealed that John had won from Kabiso, he took him in the final straightaway, as he put it, “He was leaving me on the hills, up and the down hills. Being tall those down hills area killer with the steps. On the finishing stretch I could see I was catching him….” Also the Bronx is Kabiso’s home training ground. I think Bennet was third, but will have to wait and see when the results come out as I forgot what he said.

The steps are indeed horrendous and were never there in the good old days of VCP racing. John had the same problem as me, his sunglasses darkened the ground perspective and flattened the bumps. And who won the women? Well I think it was a woman in Orange, thus Central Park, and the first letter of her name might have been an L… at that stage I was talking to Cara and Chubby. Chubby? Well he developed a nose bleed, a fine excuse if ever there was one. Cara had just finished her long run with the Madison Marathon group… apparently Danny the Dollarman was up there…. More to come in another day’s episode--

Well you have got to remember that things move very slowly in these offices, where the simple word such as ‘Next’ is then up graded to “you!” To “Hey you I am pointing at! See I am beckoning you to the next window??” Are all met with a placid smile and not an inch of movement. I was most surprised that I had to remove my earrings to give my fingerprints (yup a snap shot too), such a pain as they take an age to put back in and never become a ring again as I squash them trying to force the clasp shut, more like the shape of a planters peanut…..

Khalid Khannouchi - September 11th racing in Providence for the men’s 5km! The legend is back on the roads, we hope he has a great race and finishes injury free….

Talking food - I get my breads at Eli’s Vinegar Factory, not much else as it costs an arm and a leg, (how about 7oz of bread for $2:95??). Anyway I am standing there and this lady comes up to me, “Do you know if I can pick up a soda in this store? I should know as I am here everyday!” What I want to say - ‘Do I look like a friggin sales help person standing here in my running singlet and holding a backpack?? I mean there’s a cashier to your left and to your right - take a wild stab at who might know!’ What I do say, “I am sorry, I don’t drink soda.’ and turned away - this in fact is a bit of a lie, but I figured out it was informative, but polite and unfriendly enough to make sure she never asked me anything again, if she does shop here often! Good ploy huh?

Thanks to TGV who voted today, and also to Urban in London - an overseas voter! Glad they voted, hopefully a tick for me, but voting is the main thing.

I guess this is not the most dazzling of paragraphs to follow my Vote Campaign, I should have told you I was reading… urm… Well W is a great magazine.

Anyway enough, enough, but Komen has added, “To display his confidence that the mark will take a long time to improve on, Komen has promised a car or cash bonus to any Kenyan athlete who beats that mark on home soil.” Talking about his World Record - well a souped up Komen could not beat his records on Kenyan soil so that is a dumb bonus to put out there - like saying, I’ll pay a Million dollars to anyone who breaks the world marathon record at a certified marathon in Kenya, make it three million, make it five…..

Here’s my own take on Komen, firstly he is no way near 29-years old. I ran with several of his class mates from the Burnt Forrest region who are a good 7-years older.. Secondly he had a long career in Kenya as a pace maker before making it to the ‘outside world’ thus you can compare him to an American athlete who performs well here but is not yet known in Europe….

The big change came in 1998, back in 1995 he was shy, quite, and trained like the devil himself. He hardly came out of the shadow. Then after 1998 he wandered around in a Hugo Boss suit, with wads of cash and (yes back then) offering people cash if they could beat his times.

Personally I was rather surprised when he failed a caffeine test back in the 90’s - NOT because of any reason other than I know he is a tea drinker and the excuse circulated at the time about Daniel not digesting coffee so well, staying in the system, just did not make sense as he was not drinking it.. At the same time there was a series of tests being run with two ingredients being mixed to give great boosts for those performing at the 12-13 minutes of needed energy range… but this being a web site, I’m speculating, just musing on a story and not getting into the things I could. But I will say Caffeine was by far, far, the less potent of the two ingredients.

Nice email from Mary S, “Tx again for your entertaining web site, especially like the NBA updates on who teams sign. Also, did you know that the owner of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, also owns Seattle SuperSonics. We get free Starbucks coffee here.” Wow, what a boon!

Mark on the skates. Kirsten switching shoes mid interval (pretty snappy trick). Charlotte passing by. Eric looking pained at the short rests. Gary hanging on to a Sabrina the Iron eye. Jonathan looking better as the laps rolled by. Jonnie & Suneet coming in matching Newcastle colors - both English too! Paul K. remembering how the Wedza group is one long pain bath. Cruiser doing great and hanging in with AnneG who is doing the remembering after recovering from doing San Diego in June. Randi blitzing along. MasterBlaster too with Robin on her heels. Luiz running a negative splits. Jamie on the button the whole session. DavidP stepping it up a gear on the 800’s, and Shawn looking snappy in here red outfit. AmexLee contemplating which group to run with Susan B, pushing well, and Jeff coming late, but finishing fast! Michelle Had a bad knee so she was absento, but she did tell us that Mike Trunkes sent the link with the world master results. We are sending the Chubbs next year!

Anyway I had forgotten all about this until I saw the Manhattan shots had been posted on the NYRR site, and every single picture nearly tells a story! Briefly (one pic per line) the front line of pics middle one - Anne (second row of runners) giving Lete a beady eye as the latter dances for Lily, who won the parks 4-miler and is the parks pink panther. Chubby standing by looking like doom….wondering can he hit the splits, “Surely”….he is thinking, as it should have been routine.
Next row first pic Felipe Garcia who has apparently started running for UATH now, displays the blue singlet, Anne is in the red singlet version, and to the right of Anne is chubby in the white Urban singlet. Chasing Felipe is Rafael, who is now back running for WSX and is the best Dominican runner over the 21.1k distance - first met him with Sherlock back in New Mexico ‘99. The event staff person is Alem, a former top Ethiopian runna‘ in the city.

Next line photo to the left has to be Boubacar who runs for the Achilles and finished in 2-hours! Chasing him is Mitch from the Flyers who was standing on the start talking about his bad leg injury before the run! Next line, left, we have GNY’s Edy in the bright yellow who was doing her 18-miles inside the 13-miles run… The guy in the pic came to one of the last lectures at the club - glad to see he is taking the advice! The next line we have Assafa crossing the line with Bernie the Chairman and Peter C from the NYRR holding the tape for a fantastic time performance on the day - remember this guy ran in Atlanta ‘96 Ethiopian Olympic 10,000m team! What you might not know is that Peter, a runner too, was a top man at Sony before moving to the NYRR.

Wow, this is taking a long time - Next line (middle) Chris from Urban again, in the toothpick pose - this is the guy Costanza thinks is toooo thin. Middle line again - has to be Michelle Bleako’ who is sadly leaving us in five weeks - Melbourne‘s gain is GNY‘s loss…. Okay, getting tired now, but we should mention another Urbo further down - Sabrina under the water! Funny because RandySax mentioned that he was not able to make the store breakfast party because, “Sabrina was complaining about the need for her to shower..blah, blah,” He he.

Females.01. Alicia Rodríguez (MEX) 2:42.43 02. Dina Kipkoech (KEN) 2:42.45 03. Paula Apolonia (MEX) 2:44.06“ Thanks.

Yesterday I met with Peter S. and he was talking about Long Runs and how everyone runs them then discovers that someone else had also had a long run that weekend - and they could have hooked up - So if you want to go Long this Sunday at 9-min mile pace in Central Park please email and I‘ll put you in touch with Peter - a most interesting chap who has lived all over the world and can tell you about the delights of running a marathon in Dubai amongst other things! We met at Sarabeth‘s on Madison just next to The Store, and I was surprised how good the food was, in particularly the Halibut pecan main dish, and Fruit Pie Crumb. The salad was pretty dull, but I did like the raisin bread. Pretty to that I had tried running in Central Park and I kid you not on a three mile run I had to stop twice whilst running on the bridle path because of the ever growing number of the traffic jams on there(!)….

Prior to that I had dropped by the store to meet Chubby but he had gone home, so I ended up chatting to a customer about their experience in the Manhattan half, and prior to that I was down at the Fashion Institute of Technology as my first day back as the Cross Country Coach, and had to walk all over Campus for half an hour as they have changed the ID system and lost my paperwork, so can‘t find my AT(?) number to print out a new ID even though I had my three month old ID from the Spring season - go figure.. The woman asks, “Sir, what forms of ID do you have on you?” So I say ‘only this’ showing her my old ID, she looks at my wallet in my hand, “No other?” I tell her, ‘I’ve got a starbucks card, is that any good?’

And that was only mid afternoon, from 6-AM it was nonstop… The latter part of this week I have my cooking hotline, and nope I don’t think I will print the 1-800 number, and the organizers sent me the paper work for the guidelines, FAQ’s, etc, it is a ZIP file with each document with multiple pages - like taking an exam! Do I need to read all this? Who to direct media calls to, names of this and that - forget cooking expert, it is like a whole new kettle of carrots…

2. Grete Waitz 1978 - NYC comes in as a pace after running her liongest run of 13 miles - wins the race and sets the World record in the process forever changing womens running without her I doubt it would be as far as it is now
3. 1982 - Duel in the Sun Boston Salazar and Beardsley toe toe toe head to head in the blistering heat neither ever ran faster after this race 4. 1984 - Joan Benoit - tough choice here - but I will go with the Inaugural Olympic Marathon she decides to take it from the gun out on the LA freeways alone in the heat of a California Summer (it was either that or her World Best bettering Grete's mark set in London by almost 3 minutes and doing it at Boston)
5. 1975 - Bill Rodgers - Boston again a relative unknown comes in and takes the race setting an American record in the Process.
6. Derek Clayton 1967 - destroys the 2:10 barrier - dropping the world record down from 2:12 - 2:09 he would then go on to drop it to 2:08 which would last for 12 years

7. Paula - tough to characterize this being so close in time - but either her dropping of the world record to 2:15 was an amazing run - but I think I would think that seeing her win a major championship after the long list of setback in championship races is that bit more significant. 8. 1952 - Zatopek - yeah it seems low but in only considering the marathon not the full triple it is still on the list takes the first one he has ever run and wins beating the World record holder Jim Peters at the time

9. 2002 - Khannouchi/Tergat/Geb - duel it out through the miles with KK victorious in the end and a World Record amazing to see these three running stride for stride 10. 1896 - wouldn't be right to not have the event that started it all on here Spirodon Louis wins the inaugural Marathon in front of the home crowd to secure their only Athletics Medal in the first Olympics.

Honorable Mention here 1983 - Dixon in NYC - I was there wanted it in the top 10 but couldn't figure out who to bump out kicks Smith in Central Park in the rain.
1968 - John Stephen Akhwari triumph of the runner - limping into the stadium limping badaged but never beaten.
1920 - Hannes Kolehmainen - 1920 Antwerp wins the Olympic Marathon and sets the Worl Record in the process.
1964 - Bikila again first man to repeat - then after winning setting another World Record he breaks into boot camp in the center of the track.
1972 - Shorter wins iN munich the city where he was born.
2001 - Takahashi and Nderba - Takahashi becomes the first woman under 2:20 only to be beaten a week later by a minute by Catherine the Great.
1945 - Johnny Kelly Wins Boston at age 37 10 years after winning it for the first time.
2001 - Lee Bong Ju - Boston Breaks the Kenyan streak.
1956 - Alain Mimoun - finally gets a win after finishing right behind Zatopec on so many occasions…

Phew what a list, thanks Kurt.

Talking women; I met the rudest today, at the Gym - she was the type of woman who, nah I won’t go there - we were in the elevator Gym, (okay, it is six flights of stairs give me a break). I shuffled in to the back and she walked over and trod on my foot. Wondering what she had trodden upon she looked round and straight into my eye, then turned away. So I said, “Don’t worry, it was only my foot you trod on.” to which the Madame replied, “Well, you should not have such big feet.”
To that I countered, “That you can’t see that my feet are a normal size may be part of your initial problem.” To which she spun back, “Problem, do I look like I have problems?”
To that I told her, “You like someone….” and then the elevator opened, thank goodness.

And on that note I heard from Rikard K. of Stockholm, “Annmarie Sandell won the 10,000 (in the Finnkampen), and Lisa Blommé won the Tjejmilen (Sweden’s version of the Mini #1 Blommé, 78, SWE 34:45 2 Jenny Johannesson, 76, SWE 35:16 3 Karolina Arewång Höjsgaard 71, SWE 35:25), and Måns Höiom, of the Students Athletic team, won the Reykjavik Marathon - he runs 300 kilometers per week!”

W1500 - Jamal Maryam Yusuf BRN 3:56.79 2 Yevdokimova Natalya RUS 3:57.73 3 Tomashova Tatyana RUS 3:59.05
W800 - Jepkosgei Janeth KEN 1:59.15 2 Kotlyarova Olga RUS 1:59.49
W3000ST - Inzikuru Docus UGA 9:16.46 2 Volkova Yekaterina RUS 9:29.94

Women 1) Masako Chiba 2:25:46 2) Kiyoko Shimahara 2:26:14 3) Chika Horie 2:29:15

Men’s 10,000 - New World Record! - Bekele Kenenisa ETH 26:17.53 (WR) 2 Kiprop Boniface UGA 26:39.77 3 Wanjiru Samuel KEN 26:41.75 (W Junior Record) 4 Kemboi Nicholas QAT 26:51.87

M5000 - Kipchoge Eliud KEN 12:50.22 2 Goumri Abderrahim MAR 12:50.25 3 Limo Benjamin KEN 12:55.26
M800 - Borzakovskiy Yuriy RUS 1:44.54 2 Kamel Youssef Saad BRN 1:44.58(unlike his Father Konchellah this guy seems better in the non-champs mode of racing).
MST - Shaheen Saif Saaeed QAT 7:55.51 2 Vroemen Simon NED 8:04.95 3 Boulami Brahim MAR 8:07.48

At 36-yr old Simon V of the Netherlands smashed the Euro Steeple record with his outstanding 8:04, “Even when I ran 8:06 a few years ago, I said I wanted to be the first non-African under eight minutes,” Vroemen said. “At the same time I’m not the type of person who wants to speak in black and white. I think everyone’s a human. “Carlos Lopes ran the marathon World record when he was 37 years old,” Vroemen continued. “I was a little boy sitting in the stands when he did that, and it just always stayed in my mind that you can actually be a World record runner when you’re 37 years old.” - Gotta believe!

4 September Berlin is the last step of the Golden IAAF Tour.

In fact Pizza Supremo had once recommended somewhere in the W Village as having the best pizza in New York City, it was Joe’s but as we discovered there is no seating there John’s it was. I can honestly say, and I would have never guessed this, that New York really does have the best pizza in the world - and yes I have traveled extensively in Italy. It took us a while to find the place, and we did witness one of the Friday Night Bicycle rebel groups getting arrested on the street and lots of young students getting put in the Paddy Wagons.

the actual pizza was okay, but definitely not near the best I’ve tasted in NYC - Grimaldi’s was better, but not the best as many tout - for me it is either the place on 116th, Patsy’s, or Totonno’s on Second Ave.

From Glen, “Just read your "business card" (aka blog) and I saw your post regarding my watch's reading of the altitude in Manhattan. It prompted me to do a google check. FYI: According to the USC & GS Datum the highest natural point in Manhattan is 265.05 above sea level. See the link: http://americasroof.com/nyc-manhattan.shtml Obviously, first ave on 90th is lower than 5th/90th and the reservoir is even higher. And btw according to my watch my apt on the 22nd floor is 395 feet above sea leveI. WOW, Maybe I should do altitude training in my apartment.” So there you go!

Congrats to Abrha Assta 33 WTC NY 1:06:41 & Leteyesus Berhe 27 WTC NY 1:19:32 the overall winners. Ozpaul, “I wish they gave the awards by net time instead of the gun time as I missed the start…” Well you would not have got an award with net times anyway!
Danny’s hoped for 1:14 was a reported at the store “bad run, 1:16:10” became a 1:16:44 reality in the results.. Still he won $250 as Chubby did not break 1:18, yet lost $80 to Adam for not running 1:14.… But back to Chubby, I told him it was all about the first mile and settling in to a pace, I said, ‘just dip under 6 for the first, just…’ So he runs 5:40, so I caught him up, got in front and tried to slow it down for the second mile, 5:57, right on the button, then he sprints off… tusk!
The men’s race was a complete runaway win, but the women’s was a tough down to the wire race with Urban’s Anne & WTC’s Lete separated by mere seconds right at the tape.

Congrats to all the Urbanoso’s and Look how the team is growing! A mob scene, heebeegeebees!
GARCIA FELIPE STEWART CHRISTOPHER CAMPOS DANIEL CURTIS PAUL MACARI JERRY KUGLER ANNE SANTIAGO JOSE GUPTA SUNEET MULIA ADAM WALSH RICHARD KNAFLIC RANDY COLLINS CHRISTIAN MACARI CARA ZLOTCHEW ETHAN TILLMAN SABRINA STROBRIDGE PARKS MCINTYRE KAREN KAVANAGH PAUL ALDERSON BOB ZLOTCHEW DAVID MARGULIES DENISE GOODWIN DAVID HUNTER GARY MADELL ROBIN FERNANDEZ PAOLA SHADDOW MICHAEL ROMAN HENRY SHORE IVAN J CANNELLA PAUL CREHORE CAROL YOUNG SHAWN PULTZ DAVID SUMMERSON CHRISTINE CHIN DENNY CURTIS TONI MARGULIES MICHAEL CHESLIK THOMAS

Thanks to Kyomi for sending in the photo, so quickly too!
Back at the store (walked awhile with Michelle B. who is sadly leaving us for the land of OZ). Chubby looked terribly depressed, “I’m giving up, I’m just going to be a coach I’ve had enough.” Join the Club Chubby! Like Leonard Cohen‘s songs - some need an ending. Stumpy’s race had an ending - he dropped out on the first loop - apparently he has been having some issues at home with slighted sleeping arrangements that might have left him a tad tired. A scene of misery, a duck out to Starbucks with Bay Guerlain. I need caffeine these days to breathe, like others use asthma inhalers.

Later back at the store Jay was there buying up the entire shelf as this was a trip in to Manhattan, “I’m working on my diet for Chicago, but it is so hard!” He said quaffing a beer at 11-am in the morning(!) Mind you I was on the end of the chisel as Costanza told me, “You eat too much, you should slow down, I’ve been watching you…getting a belly you greedy pig,” A roller as the compliments kept coming with Rice n’ Beans coming in the store and saying something bad as well - wham, who needs enemies with friends like these guys! The Harrier Gals came in, another group drinking in the morning.. Costanza warned, “Another Beer and they’ll be dancing on the tables again..” Obviously something that we missed… Well actually the day had ticked over noon by now.. And Edy came by who will be racing in the Cape next week in a 25km - she had a hard morning - 6-miles before the race, then the first loop at 7:15, then the second at 6:50’s - impressive! She was on the podium last year, so the best of luck for this year‘s race!
Jeff did well, “shooting for 7.10 pace and ended up averaging 7.11” and Adam, and Parks, both having great splits too - sounds like a banana shop! Not to forget Moses who is running like a Bull these days and going through his running shoes in a way that keeps the Boss smiling.

Talking Kenya - I got an email from a friend in Holland, Hugo Van Den Broek, nice guy who is sadly injured this year but has been running fab earlier and dipped down to 2:12 for the marathon was it last year in Rotterdam? I think he runs for Adidas, he writes, “ By the way, your website is great. First I didn't get it, there was too much information for me, but now I see that when you read it daily or at least several times a week it is very understandable and interesting.” Good we’re glad to hear it! Clarity amongst the purple haze to plagiarize Brother Jimmy (well you should hear how badly I copy him on the guitar! Some might say past the note of recognition, we just call it jazz).

We went to a Turkish Place on Ninth Avenue called Turkish something.. We were going to go to Lyndhurst New Jersey but the traffic was so so so bad (I mean forward one car space in two light changes) that we hit a place on Ninth. So I had a most entertaining night talking about Turkey, a place I really like and have visited a few times back in the day.

Reminds me of a story Eddy H told me about once winning his weight in wine in a French Road Race, then getting clobbered at the customs for importing too much wine… Food always makes a good prize - I once won 20-kilo’s of coffee, a great deal I thought until I noticed that the timedate was running as fast as I had to; I had to drink it all asap, wasn’t a problem - no, I just caffeinated all my friends…. I was given a hen once, running related, but that’s another story.

Then there was the time I ran through the supermarket (As part of the course of a race) and I remember running down the aisle thinking ’I could grab and run right now and I bet nobody would blink an eye’… I used to do a race each year in Selfoss Iceland that was hosted by a farmer, and it was his annual event, only about thirty or so runners would trek out each year, so following the race he’d put on a banquet like non other for the runners - it kept me going back! Food is an instrumental part of running - I first met Fred Lebow at breakfast come to think about it

Anyway Danny The Dollarman, amidst the usual compliments he was throwing out to the women about muscles, reveals he has a bet with Chubbs for Sunday - If Chubbs does not run 1:18 or faster then he pays the Dollar man $250, if he then Danny pays him $50 - the last half? Chubbs did 1:18:47 at Brooklyn, a year ago at this race he did 1:17:45... Gonna be close! Chubbs side, “I made the bet to just get me in gear, I’m fed up of the way I’m running.” We did find back in 1998 that Chubbs ran 1:11! And the Dollarman? He is shooting for, “1:14“ - Our predictions? Well Chubbs has reeled me in for assistance, as much help as I can be, so we‘re getting scientific with splits now, we want to carve the bone as close as we can, so if you see two desperate pirates hovering around the 5:57 per mile split don‘t push past up, pull Chubbs on! Like Chubbs I am just shaking my head!

The Madison Marathon Group out in the park last night running well… Stan was the new man, stepping up a chunk, Moses lead the night even in the middle of his Bull week, impressive, and Paul led the other group - looked like a cruise missile tonight! Yuen & Toni were missing Kathy, Carrie was flying in the middle, with newbie Manuela offering arm wrestling challenges….I saw Mary holding on to the guys well in the other group, with Paul K joining in from the Downtown group. Todd and Michael and Paoula (sp?) ran solid sessions, and another newbie Jen hung in well - a talent who we hope will be in Boston next April.

Rotterdam is also having a Fab half next month too - watch out for Simon Wangai there.

Ben, back off to New Paltz, but ran great tonight. Cristina was having a good battle with MasterBlaster who arrived early “Been on a boat all afternoon, refusing alcohol because of track tonight!” That’s the spirit….sorry. Diane came and fell asleep on the stands, but woke up foir the running part. Anil managed to keep his lunch contained this week. AmexLee was on a mission hurtling down the track. Dan made a welcome return and ran well. Michelle ran with Lissy, great sess! Susan B and John - Welcome, then Jamie came down again and ran well. The commander eased back into gear. And Suneet the demon put his usual 110%, Cruiser zipping along, and welcome back Anne G. Also to Jonnie who is selling his apartment and moving up to the Upper East - kool!

Evelyn was absent - I’m celebrating my 3rd anniversary of the wedding to Jim, good excuse! ChuckyChina was down and ran the session well pushing on alone. Gary took things up a notch. Randi was eager to increase the miles, “more!” DavidP was on pace. Rick now running in the middle of Group 1, Cara giving a swordfish eye! Luiz steppin it up as the session progressed, another guy who started in group II and ran so fast he ran into the back of Group 1, and Jeff who’s holding off from signing up for Sunday - we’ll be betting he’ll be there!

"The 10 thugs, who were armed with guns, struck on Monday midnight and harassed the runner before taking off with Sh12,000 and mobile telephones. The former Paris marathon champion was with her husband, Moses Omwanza. The two, according to Omwanza’s father-in-law Dan Omwanza, escaped unhurt.” Sadly a set back with Kenyan life.

Through the mail box came a bagel topping suggestion; “little beats a toasted salt or sesame bagel topped with a light spread of cream cheese, lox, tomato and red onion--oh, capers must be clumsily strewn on top of the mess“ I‘ll inform Chubby. Seriously make sure you drop by the store on Sunday for the Mizuno Party. Or go to the WFC on Saturday.

Shoe of the week - The Alchemy! Why? Try it on and see! It‘s a cracker.

1. Alene Emere, 23, ETH 14:22 2. Guor Majak, 20, Concord, NH 15:01 3. Paul Spaghetti Mwangi, 38, KEN 15:02

My own reco‘ is Raisin and Nut loaf bread from Eli‘s Vinegar Factory Bakery - The yum.

Here‘s a thought - No Stephanie Hodge at the race this past weekend! What a shocker! Has she disappeared from the racing scene completely, or has she found some marathon off the scanner? We hear there was a Harriers wedding in Denver, and that is why Diane K was missing - could Steph have got married? Would not surprise me?

Any road not that my diet is fabbo - I am on a rice kick at the moment, and in fact made some bad rice last week (my adding a tablespoon of Nutmeg instead of Cinnamon, and by using long grain brown instead of basmati is not to be recommended) so I had to make it again last night to check it was not as bad as it tasted using the same ingredients with adjustments… I could happily eat rice every single day - like the Kenyan guy who used to eat Spaghetti Bolognese every day, Muturi.. Ran a 2:08 so he must have been onto something there!

George Spitz, and Ted Corbitt, the Father of American Modern Long Distance Running,and ‘52 Olympian. If you are interested in George Spitz‘s campaign simply click here.

Proving her 800m win was no fluke - Calatayud Zulia CUB 1:59.16, Maria M. lost her amazing 12-year-long winning streak finishing 4th in 2:00.22
And in the women’s 3000m there was an absence of Ethiopian Dibabas allowing Jamal Maryam Yusuf BRN 8:29.45 to win from Adere Berhane ETH 8:31.89.… Arron Christine FRA 10.99 was only 4th losing her claim to the gold as Campbell Veronica JAM 10.85 took her 3/100th of a sec revenge on WC Lauren W in the W100m. So it is Lebedeva Tatyana RUS 14.94 winning the triple jump that alone remains in the hunt for the jackpot.

He must be talking about how much Ethiopia pours into their athletic program no? Mind you there are some good points in this article. The one about the scholarships is certainly true.

Team wise - #7 Urban Athletics women & 8th for the Urban Men! The men of course are tearing away with the B league!

Congrats to the overall winners -Abram Assfa & Alemtsehay Misganaw. Who is Abram? A non-existent name at the site known as Google… So a spell check? It turns out he is Abrha Assfa who ran 30+ in the Kidney 10k this year.

The teams really were top notch this year - if you look at the standard that the clubs brought out - wow!
Westchester from Warren St, to Central Park for the women’s teams, And Westchester, West Side, and Manhattan TC for the men… with Ryan Grote as their newest member, a former legend of the local scene, another legend there was George Milic displaying his 14kt gold chain “I saw you at Falmouth, you looked b-a-d” (as in slow) - nice pre-race pep talk George - like ya too, Michelle Bleakley - Yeah coffee, John Samsel who never stopped running for a good hour after the race was over, Paul ‘Spaghetti’ Mwangi “4th, I‘ve never been 4th before - I guess I over trained,” Monsieur Mileage who was running, and seen running the next day, but not seen running past the finishing line chip mat? The newly weds - Chucky China & Cece the new triathlete demon, We saw Cristina A. who had already done a mind boggling amount of miles that morning, Luis Trias - doing great although he has just started training, Rachid Tbani - the biggest believable story on the start line about ‘training’ (“I’m only running ten miles a week these days…” Yeah, right, we believe you). Mgee who I stood behind at the starting line Warren Streets former 800m star…

I like this day because you get a chance to watch the race after the race, so to speak (if you are a man) - the women’s event was an Ethiopian runaway…. It was blues all along for the WTC & WS teams until the mellow yellow of Michelle came along. Then along came Erin leading the Flyers! I saw Lily who always looks like she is having so much fun when she races, on that note thanks to Antonio, Lily, and Tim who sent in emails today saying they voted for me - kool!

After the race I went over to the CPTC gathering to talk with the Amazing Alan Rube & Zoom along (whom I missed talking to as she was off in all directions with the nippers), and then talking to people I missed the Flyers gathering before I realized I had to get up to the Store….

From the park to the Madison - ran into Rick P, of the Flyers & the Wedza Group running on the up & up, with Letisha - I went to Starbucks with them after the race on the way to the store social…. Glad to say the coffee at Starbucks tasted as good as I expected it to - one of the good things with that chain, one of the dependable things in life!

At the store (no cinnamon raisins!) we overheard the discussion with Danny the Dollarman and Costanza the Store mascot who was out supporting, “OzPaul had a problem with the toilet and #2, that’s why he didn’t run better than that…” “yeah, “ added Chubby, “He was coming out with some excuse about a hang-over, can ya believe that one?” Jeff revealed that his landlady in Wisconsin was non other than Suzy Favor Hamilton, “Kind’ve cool having her come round to paint the window frames!”

Anil was ‘again’ trying to set up Danny Dollarman with a girl from the Harriers with a name beginning with Mollie or Melanie, or something who was wearing a white hat. Anil quickly went to get the girl (and her friends) some beers, Costanza muttered something about a step ladder, and Jeremy (the course record holder for the Round-the-Block challenge) looked out the window. RandySax disappeared through the door without any chocolate, and Cara nodded her head. A customer who had come in for some running shoes, sat down ate a bagel and promptly said, “This is the first time I have been in this store, I live across the road, I never knew what I was missing, see ya next week for breakfast - can I bring the wife?“ Anil’s ears pricked up, Who was it that said he needed a Dating for Dummies phrase book…. Costanza?

Anyway Danny The D was wearing a Harriers Singlet and was heard to say, “The NYH need me if they are ever going to be any good again….” Danny Cap’s eyebrows sailed over that one and someone else choked on a bagel… Edy came in, she placed 5th - well done, and was seen trying on some blue shoes, then Susan from the Harriers came in with huge arm muscles….Meanwhile Chubbs wants a nickname change, “I want to be known as the Chubby Bull from now on as I can not keep my weight down, I fluctuate like a yo-yo!” CJ the wife though looked pretty fit are they eating at the same table? “It’s amazing - I hit every end of the scale and never stay anywhere!” Then Chubbs took out the pace calendar to start musing on what pace he’d hit for the next week’s 1/2M - the races never stop!

’Stanz starts telling us about this Mexican Rabbit who won(?) NYC, “Siva, that was it.” Well when we told him that German S. was not a rabbit the years he won ‘Stanz says, “Well I could be wrong…” really? Would never have guessed!

Chubbs & CJ - click on the pic for more pics from the day

We bumped into Edy at the finish and she kindly offered up her Gatorade, I said no as I was sure she wanted it herself, but I did see Chubby gulping, “Hey, I too was getting the shakes at the end…” It certainly was one of those dog days… we got back to the store and about 11:10 Chubby & Cara wanted to leave but the staff (for the 11-o’clock opening) had yet to arrive!

Then I jumped on my bike and set off for Brooklyn, (God the outer boros, how I love traveling to brooklyn!) I sympathized with the triathletes as I pedaled down Park Ave, then tried to get over the QueensBoro Bridge - finally after a Police car caught my attention by flashing its lights, honking and generally moving in my direction, a kind officer gave me an escort to the bicycle path - gotta love NYC’s finest, he took me round the bend, up the street and even parked at an angle and waved me onto the path(!)

I was visiting Shawn & Kenny (not a gay couple on the fringe of Williamsberg, as most who read this website know that Shawn is actually a ‘She’). In fact the last time I visited was the famous dog mucus story - this week’s episode; including the graphic of our Chef Kenny explaining he’d just scooped up the dog’s poop in the park with a bag that the cat Maggie (one of four no less) had bitten a hole in, “I had this warm feeling in my hand and then I realized the bag was up my wrist!” I cautiously bit on my cinnamon raisin after that I can tell you whilst drinking flagons of good Puerto Rican coffee to bring life back into my depleted body.

Well you might it was pretty yucky of me to hop off a long run, and onto an 8-mile bike ride, and into someone’s living room, but we did have a cold shower stop before the breakfast, nothing like turning up sweaty saying “Can I borrow your shower Pleez?” But in my defense Shawn had asked me to come at a logistically pressing hour, and hating to be late I mused it was better to be there, shower there, than stop at the gym as planned en route, then get sweaty again cycling.

The ride home was uneventful apart from the bit when I decide to ride over the Pulaski Bridge and not use the Bike path - firstly some man in the middle stopped me as his truck had broken down and asked me to carry his Jerry Can to the gasoline station back down and below the bridge and buy him $a few$ dollars of gasoline - I passed on that one by answering him in French and shooting him a dumb tourist glance, then over the other side a taxi came and drove at my speed with the driver (over on the other side of the cab) shouting something to me… So I was bending down trying to hear, and he was shouting, and we were collectively causing a road hazard, and all the cars were swerving round us and blowing their horns… what a palaver! Finally we get to the stop lights and he turns down his Arabic music station and says, “Bikes are not supposed to be up there on the bridge, didn’t you know?” Well funnily enough there is not a sign that says this on the road that approaches, but instead of saying that I asked him the quickest route to getting up on the Queensboro Bridge…

And on that note (as I was cycling over the Q-bridge feeling happy that I won’t be running over there in November) I remembered the cool race that has sadly disappeared - the Roosevelt Island 10km - the first ever NYRR race I ran in 1999! A flat fast 10k in NY City - bring it back.com!

Women's race 1. Rose Jepchumba KEN 27:59 2. Rosalba Console ITA 28:05 3. Salomè Jepchumba KEN 29:18

Why is it that Sheffield in the UK gets 17,000 and NYC gets less than 4,000 when staging a T&F meet? Kelly Holmes made a dramatic helicopter entrance (how times change with a couple of medals tied round your gizzards) to finish 9th & last, 2:06, in her final UK race - as usual the organizers failed to put any stars in this event (bar Kelly) so Briton‘s took the top five places with athletes who would be hard pressed to get into a Zurich type meet… Mizuno’s Double world 5,000m and 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba held off the challenge of her sister Ejegayehu to win the 5,000m. Dibaba had hoped to get close to the world record, but she was hampered by a stomach problem and clocked 14 mins 51.79 secs. Her sister, the only other athlete to go Sub 15 was two ticks back.

Australia's Craig Mottram took the two miles with a dominant display in 8mins 11.28secs, a new national record. #2. Boniface Songok (Kenya) 8:12.86 3. Shadrack Korir (Kenya) 8:19.53 4. Adrian Blincoe (New Zealand) 8:21.00 5. Joseph Ebuya (Kenya) 8:23.21 6. Ian Dobson (United States) 8:29.30

Fine home win - Men's Mile 1. Michael East (Britain) 3:52.50 2. Laban Rotich (Kenya) 3:52.55 3. Bernard Lagat (United States) 3:52.89 4.

Two-time World Marathon Champion and event record-holder Jaoaud Gharib of Morocco, who recently defended his crown at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, has joined the field for the ING New York City Marathon 2005, it was announced by New York Road Runners.
In addition, top Romanian marathoner Nuta Olaru has also entered the ING New York City Marathon 2005, which will take place on Sunday, November 6, 12 weeks after the World Championships.

***News from Tanzania shoe4africa camp! "Did you know that Christopher Isegwe is the full product of Shoe4Africa!" The same Christopher who won Tanzania's First WC marathon medal!***

New York Road Runners Voting Season is soon back. Should be in your mailbag - thanks for the response so far!

By the way I just want to say that the migration of athletes I was harping on about is only for athletes who jump for the $$, I understand them but I think objectively it is bad for the sport... mind you if I was intheir place I may well do the same... Runners like Wilson Kipketer, Lagat on the otherhand are people who move for genuine reasons and are not at all included in this zip... I just don't like to see a race where the runners have new names each week.. Imagine the next world championships if Kenyan Steeplechasers are farmed out to Qatar, who could have 4, Bahrain - who could have three, Kenya.. you get the picture!

Sunglasses are often ‘touted’ by journalists as being fashion items, nonsense - commonsense. The amount of dirt flying around is horrendous to start with, then as we invariably squint the facial muscles, then the shoulders tense up….I could go on.

But pleez - I mean Paula is doing stuff nobody on the planet has ever done, so she should be the only expert on this one!

5000 - Songok and Kipchoge looking as thought they can match the Ethiopians, and Mottram looking ominous too. My guess between those three…. Gebre looked somewhat tired…
Very happy that Brian Clay won the decathlon - a very nice chap….. And Urban Athletics star performer, OzPaul asks, “'Ran like a shark' What the hell does that mean?” It means you killed everyone on the track!

Yuen clocking in right, Toni with a touch of the stitch, Lynn working great, Kathy too getting it done properly. Ivan not being fooled to cut to the rest - he was sharp! And Carrie did really well starting off on the road to speed… Stan with a touch of dizziness but did great up to that point…. Nice to see how the athletes are progressing, and the work is the all-important factor. Even the ones coming into the session with tired legs….

So I am talking about how it is now the time to take running more seriously, stretch and hydrate, look after your diet etc and I get back to the store and the place stinks of beer - Danny the Dollar man & Anil are obviously waiting for someone… the first girl who walks in from the group they do the worst pick-up job since Butch Reynolds spun off his one -liners back in the bell-bottomed days, I was going to repeat a few lines but I’ll spoil it for the next female who walks in there, cos‘ you can be rest assured they‘ll be used again. She loses interest faster than a brick through a wet paper bag, Anil tries a few more lines tossing out a fishing net the size of Cuba…. and she scoots out the store… that’s just what the group needs!

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