05/20 Starting the day with a jog in the park, was good but today I felt twinges in the foot -- sadly when your running body is beat up this is what happens, a bag of broken bones. It always amazes me how the park swings between crowded and empty due to the weather. Breakfast was at Sarabeth's-- long time since I had been to the one of the East Side at 92nd and I had the 'big bad wolf' which is oatmeal, strawberries, brown sugar, and syrup. Not really sure why it is called what it is but I sure felt dumb asking for it! I had cranberry juice; thus no ratings their. The oatmeal was, as generally is, good, and the nice part was it was nice and quiet so talking was good.
I had breakfast with Stacey and we were both going from 92nd ST then to a meeting at the Met Life building on 42nd -- so we raced, her in a taxi and me on a bicycle. I arrived 17-minutes before her! Wow, plus I got prime parking. At the offices of Gibson Dunn they have great coffee so I drunk a jugful! Then Tony and I went for lunch at Rosa Mexicana's; guacamole as is a must here, Mexican beer (only one), and Fish Tacos - a perfect lunch, and coffee to follow. We went to the one on the West Side, that I think is infinitely better than it's East counterpart. I actually think R.M. is the standard bearer for "solid" Mexican in NYC. We were discussing how to get dollars for S4A.. hopefully this is the summer it happens!
05/19 Ok, I am actively going to start fund raising for my next funding goal. This one is going to be super tough. When I say I am going to run something people say 'huh, no problem for you' but for this there is a problem. I really do not enjoy running long distance - I was talking to super coach Ramon Bermo last night in Central Park about this, he's the opposite, the lonegr it goes the better it goes.
For me I top out after 7km (4-miles plus change). I just don't enjoy running anything that takes two hours plus. Forget longer... and to raise money I am going longer, much longer too. It is going to be a struggle as I have tropical heat and humidity and I have antarctic conditions in the same run...
However it is for a great cause and it'll be the best run I've done to date, so I am super excited. I was going to do it alone but my friend OzRod wants to come along, and that will be a blessing as he is a hoot!
Rain and cold in NYC; feels like November, and of course the worst downpour came when I went out running... I got beyond wet, somewhere further.I had a few meetings today, including a lunch one at the Farmer's which is on Irving Place at 18th ST. I got lost (as usual), so I was on 7th Ave asking people for Irvington instead of Irving... ayah.
Luckily I got there in the end. (Everyone I asked pointed towards NJ and said over there, right?) Finally, when I got there I had a salmon sandwich, the bread was good, what more can I say - the coffee was decent though a little bland! Earlier I had a coffee at the Ace Hotel on West 29th and did not even notice I was drinking coffee, earlier than that I had coffee at Cutler Salon and ordered a cappuccino. It was a coffee day, came home had coffee to warm myself up.
It is the Brooklyn Half this weekend, I was considering running till I saw an unearthly start time, I will never make it out to Brooklyn for that time; I accept defeat before the alarm clock! Actually I love the mornings and am up early everyday, but not for racing around the streets of Brooks!
05/17
Kenya backs Obama!
Mark Webber wins another Gran Prix, Monaco! See what happens when you donate to Shoe4Africa? You start winning GP's!Talking of which Susan Sirma, who I met last week, slips to #3 all-time for the 12km as Lineth Chepkirui hits a new world's best for this rarely run distance of 38:07 @ Bay to Breakers... one would guess since Paula has ran 30:21 (is it) for the 10k this is not a stellar world best.
Went for a bike ride with Tony and two of his buddies. We cycled out to Piermont, ate, road home, and went to Girasole. It was a great ride, nice weather and nice to get out into the country. Our next table guest was Al Roker, the weatherman.Saturday I went to the park; oh my gosh! I was lining up for the Healthy Kidney back with the 8-min milers and it took me 7-minutes to actually get across the line once the horn sounded. Gebre must have been at mile two! Plus for the next two miles I was chockerblock! What an experience. Anyway I had a great run chatting , talking, enjoying the day.Great news from Lille Marathon -- my friend Katui won his first marathon! I was with him last week in Kenya and he was not sure how it would go as he's never ran one before, he told me it was hard work, but he's glad he won! A win is a win!Talking wins it was a good Ethiopian weekend as over in London Gebrselassie won the Manchester 10k, he said he was chasing he hatrick -- was this th reason there were NO Kenyan men in the race?? funnily enough Gebre's wife, Werkenesh Kidane was making her road debut at 10k - she won; watch out for this one in the marathon, she is a KILLAH!Talking of which Charlie Francis, the former coach of disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, is dead at the age of 61. Canadian Francis died on Wednesday at a Toronto hospital after a five-year battle with cancer.
05/14
As fast as I write the biz plan, it changes!
On board helping Shoe4Africa - Thuy! Thx!
Designer Thuy Diep on the runway at Fashion Week Spring 2010 presented by Mercedes-Benz at Bryant Park on September 13, 2009 in New York City.
05/13 I ran in Central Park; so easy to run after the Kenyan mud, so easy. I felt I was flying; a nice feeling. So still with Kenya... here is a picture of Monicah's daughter n me. Monicah is Lornah's sister and does the wonderful job of collecting the shoes for me in Eldoret, and helps me with logistics. An unsung hero she helps Lornah so so much, and really has spent the last 12-years in this role... She says, "I never expected Lornah's career to go on this long."
You'll never see Monicah taking credit for anything, and in this world it is rather refreshing to see.
Talking of the Simba she is in good training and hoping to make a tour stop in NYC for the Mini in June after a small 5k in Holland. Word on the street is she is running with MORE FIRE!
Speaking of which it is the Healthy Kidney race this Saturday in Central Park, the premier men's only (elite field) event for the NYRR.HEATHER Mills McCartney to start the race at the Achilles Hope & Possibility on June 27th!
Another picture from Kenya, this below is one of the very first recipients of Shoes, as noted further below, Mr. Mark Yatich. A friend of mine asked me if I would mind to take a pair of shoes to Mark, so I tracked him down, and it was quite a task.
A former Los Angeles winner, from the tribe of Paul Tergat, and a Kenyan written about in Train Hard Win Easy.
More bad news for American sprinters as Crystal Cox, a runner in the 4x400-meter relay preliminaries from the Olympics 2004 could cost the USA team another Gold medal. Hardly unexpected news. That award goes to the great fantastic job of the ADIDAS GP on Randalls Island, June 12. They have the bees-knees line-up and have really turned this event around! They are on the fast road to becoming the London Marathon of marathons when you talk about the sharp end of the field.
05/12 Back in America; from sunburn to near frostbite - three jackets to go out, and forget running; too cold.Sad in many ways to be back, I always miss Kenya so much on leaving. However there is a lot to be done and NYC is a great place for getting it done.I was in Central Park last night coaching and maybe it was the cold weather but everyone seemed to be intent on moving at speed, a lot of grim faces out there pushing along. Super populated as always, and the thing that always strikes me is the difference of the 'general' running form from being in Kenya and seeing people run, and being in the Western world.
05/10 [LINK] Thanks to Luc Krotwaar for starting SHOE4AFRICA Holland.
Another Kenyan 'unknown' hits 2:05 in Prague, soloing according to Urbz. In Kenya they say that 2:05 is the new 2:10 -- the rationale, from the Cafe, is that Paula is running 2:15 so if you can not manage 2:05 best forget it. I might add all the Kenyans t the table had already ran that time, or faster (1).
Only in Kenya -- I am due to fly at 10:45 am and eating breakfast one hour's drive from the airport when my phone rings, "We have moved the flight forward to 9:30 a.m." It is 8:44!!
I am "No way." They say yes way someone big in Nairobi is calling. I find a car and we set off at 8:54, I call them back and tell them it is somewhat inappropriate to change the flight this late and I will sue if they set off without me. We fly down the roads, a policeman is standing in the road, we hoot so much he jumps out of the road. Diving round matatu's, over speed bumps... we made it in 33-minutes; new course record. Just as we are entering the airport I get a text, "Ok we wait for you."
I met up with Mark Yatich yesterday, perhaps the first ever recipient of a pair of Shoe4Africa shoes! He went on to win LA Marathon and Falmouth amongst other races. Now he is training for Rwanda, on May 23rd. Ben Limo emailed me and told me he, Sammy Wanjiru and I have an invite to the Rwanda Peace Marathon - but sadly I will have to miss it as I will be back Stateside.
05/07 Dinner tonight with Mo Farah, great to see him over here! Mo's just got married in April and was over in TZ for the Honeymoon. He looks in shape; watch out for him in the London 10k.I met Abel Kirui, the World Champion for a drink at the cafe in Eldoret; expect a fast marathon from him in 2011... then I was in Kapsabet at Martin Lel's camp -- I now know where all the runners are going for the fall marathons, very interesting, some mixing up this year.We drove by Pamela Jelimo's but she was not home, and more than anything it was all about the new Shoe4Africa Martin Lel School -- talking to the village Elders, the architect, the construction and project manager boss, also looking at some new technology that has not yet been used in Nandi for building.Watch out this weekend for the Glasgow 10k -- many Iten residents are running!
05/05 World Economic Forum in Tanzania right now... Mugabe is there in Dar! Meanwhile over in Kenya I continue to have good charity meetings-- two excellent days are now three. Things are moving, but tomorrow I fly up to Iten, the running land. First off is a meeting about the school.Running is tough here as there has been much rain and the fields are all boggy, but after running in Central Park for so long anything is a blessing!In the running world not much is going on here, it is the cucumber period!
05/03 Thanks to John Jackson for emailing in about More Fire:
"Just a regular guy from the middle of the US (St. Louis) emailing to say that I’m really enjoying your book. It’s inspiring to read about the Kenyan’s commitment and humility. Keep up the good work. John."Today another great meeting at Java Junction - first results a great new friend to S4A and also 20-cents on every African Comic release for the hospital, another lead. Closer, closer.
Then I took a Matatu to visit my friend Angel up in Ngong. How weird to be back there. The place I used to live a long time ago. All the big buildings have memories mostly of long-forgotten athletes with amazing stories... like who remembers Machuka these days? Virtually nobody, but once he was just as good as Gebrselassie and feared by all Kenyan runners. Hezron Otwori? Who remembers this guy? If you were racing in the mid nineties on the roads you knew this man. What about Kirwa Tanui? Any, any any other country he would have been a steeplechase star... didn't make it despite qualifying for the national team. Anyway I had a great day, after 4-hrs at Java, wandering around the town. Weird thing, my phone rang, but as I was talking I put it on silent so as to ring back later, and when I was traveling back I looked and it was another friend of mine, Faith, who had been randomly driving past in a car... small world.
More rain in Kenya; each day is a jog in mud.
04/30 Exciting times-- I am in KENYA right now. I am here on a two-fold journey. Number one to build a School, my first building project, in conjunction with a few very kind donors in the USA, and also I am here talking to Kenyan businesses to see if there are synergies with partnerships to have a Kenyan element to the hospital. Nairobi is rainy then warm, hot sun, then rain again -- all in all Tee shirt weather. Fun to see/talk to all again.
The next Shoe4Africa event is coming soon... The Third Annual Shoe4Africa Run for Education Martin Lel race. If you are in Kenya; Karibu!
04/27 Wilfred Kigen, 2:09 and Sharon Cherop, 2:28 took the 25th edition of the Mobel Kraft Hamburg Marathon on Sunday. Sharon placed second in her first senior race; the Shoe4Africa 10k back in 2006... nice to see she's making it happen at the 26.2Lunch yesterday was at Orsay on Lex in the seventies - Salmon Burger, One Stella and a dessert whose name I don't know, I just asked for the largest. The coffee was very good, and being French it should be! I had lunch with Tony before he flew off to Hollywood.
04/26
Winning the London Marathon yesterday, and Chicago last year...
London Marathon was missing some substance somehow mostly in the men's race, although great top three performances in both the women's and the men's races. Reminds me of something Fred Lebow said, and would say...Tsegaye Kebede has a great shot to be the next world record holder, would be great to see him in Berlin with Sammy Wanjiru, and Le Selassie, if he makes it. Props to Tegla Loroupe who ran this time with Richard Branson, she sent me a message, she was fearing the five hours, and five hours she did! I thought Kim Smith's 2:25 was not bad, but it really shows how fabulous Paula Radcliffe's world record is; 2:15-- untouchable for the next ten years?
04/23 I heard there is a new running book, 'Run Less Run Faster' -- I bet this one does not sell well in Kenya. Lornah Kiplagat = one of the world's hardest training athletes, ditto Paula Radcliffe = world records.
Which equals running to their best. If you want to run to your best then you have to run more. It is not all about doing quality workouts and cutting aerobic running. Aerobic running builds the base that holds your body together, that prepares you for the inevitable pounding that only 'miles' can give you -- no amount of cross training prepares you for the 21st mile. If you want to run to YOUR best ability follow the principles of the world's best runners and water it down to what you manage, not the least you can manage. "My favorite quote? Train Hard Win Easy." From a lday who ran the last 5km of the Boston Marathon course faster than any man or woman that year -- never been done before by a woman, Rita Jeptoo!!!
Olympic Champion -- Not Denying taking drugs. [link] Funny, if this was a Chinese, or Russian, athlete the given excuse would not be the crux, or the crutch, of the story. For me the real story is would you believe that he was taking the drug for track performance or not? The evidence if this article was written outside of America points that he was using the steriod to win an Olympic Gold. Another slamdown for the raggedy sport of sprinting. I still can't believe how the coverup story of another 400m star happened, but it happened.
04/22
The various style of the steeplechase, love the girl to the left... happens to be in the world's top ten...
After training in Iten...The 101st running of the Drake Relays got off to a sterling start as Kenya's Boaz Lalang posted the second-fastest outdoor mile time in the world running a personal best of 3 minutes 54.33 seconds to win the inaugural Grand Blue Mile Tuesday night.
If I was an athlete trying to improve in running I would head for Iten; currently 800-odd athletes training in a village, go and train with the best at the High Altitude Training Camp -- I mean in the morning you'll go out and see every runner plus, you will learn more about running than you can grasp from any book...
Kudos to BROOKS for holding a fab event on 72nd St showcasing their line in a nice original setting.
04/21 I heard the new 'waste of money' Subway line in NYC (Second Ave from 96th to 63rd is it?) is going to be called the T-line! When a city is debt build a one and one half mile subway line; go figure.More Kenya power -- Henry Sugut, 2:08:40 win in Vienna on a very tough day wind wise and the lady with staying power, still winning, Helen Kimutai 2:31-- on our AIDS race we go past Helen's house and in fact the loop is called Helen's loop.
Over in Tanzania -- [read the LINK]
04/20 LOTS of interest flowing in for Caballo's talk Exclusively at Urban Athletics. Please call Jerry 212-828-1906 ASAP to get a ticket, donations are $20 going directly to the Tara' Indians. This will be the legend's ONLY NYC appearance, one night only; his NYC Premiere!
P-release: Keflezighi, 2009 ING NYC Marathon winner (the first American to win the event in 27 years) and 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist, will return to New York to launch The MEB Foundation -- a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that will support core causes of health, fitness, and education in the United States, Eritrea, and worldwide. Wednesday at Foot Locker 10-am, open to the public. Good for Meb.I was interviewed on Sirius radio last night and straight away I get an email from Marty on the West Coast.. waves travel fast. It was fun I was on Doctor's Radio.Talk about all the old haunts -- I was back at Girasole with Tony for lunch; that place continues to be the ace of the neighborhood!Boston; lots of great results from the Flyers, DJ and Chris, and I believe Eddy all PR-ing, good to hear from them up in Boston. I was at Tony's house adn we saw the last ten minutes on the TV. Great to see Cheruiyot 'the third' win! And on the same day over in Spain an equally stunning 27:04 10k road performance by another Kenyan Kiprono Menjo -- truly world leaders! He won the race from a trio of Iberian runners by a minute and a half, solo! Tebya Erkesso, 2:26:11 ran a tough race in Boston to hang on for the win, but there was more in her stride had the Russian come closer.
04/19
Run the City --
Boston: There used to a long chunk of time when today I would be in Boston, not so anymore. Suddenly going to watch a running race, or even writing articles about running races, is not the same as is was a few years ago. I was never a spectator but the Boston weekend is very nice with the Champions Breakfast on Saturday meeting all the runners, and I do miss people liek the insightful Toni Reavis in the press room. Never worry one day I will go back for nostalgia. I had a look at the field; really whittled down in quality, I suppose from cancellations. But Chicago seems to the only American marathon that can come anywhere close to looking like the field that London gives us every single year.
However some things stay the same, dropped by PT 212 on 24th ST over the weekend and have exactly the same recipe as usual, or should I say menu--very nice. The crowd has changed there. I also went back to Blaggards on 38th ST -- I like that place and for a midtown lunch with great Guinness it is tops, the salmon was great. Recommended though I must say the different between the first and second coff was somewhat bizarre.
Talking of coffee I did also pop in to see Tony - his family was having a family portrait flying round their living room and indeed one child was wearing ice skating boots. Tony's wife, Jeanine who invented STILA, has American parents but was born in Sweden hence you always have good coofee at their house.
MOst of the weekend I did what I always do; work, work, work as I have a good week coming up of charity work! Indeed I did slip out to the Rockefeller Center to meet a good friend who gives me advice in the charity world, Michael, and I did go for a walk with Michele... and then of course lots of running around in the park that is sublime right now!
Nice message (thanks) about MORE from a local road warrior Chris Stewart; "More Fire was a great insight into the Kenyan way of running, which I incorporated into my running-before you wrote the book. It just helped me to appreciate the Kenyan running way of life even more. It is time for me to read it again and ignite my running fire again. Thank you! Your work is much appreciated."
04/16
Have a dream, gaze to the stars, and follow your heart.
A most delightful dinner at Le Caprice, at the Pierre on Fifth Avenue. Wow, the wines were superb, and the frozen berry dessert were my favorite parts of the meal. Nice place!"If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them." --the Dalai Lama.I met Artie from the Achilles the other night. He is blind, for the first 47-years of his life he saw, and now (born 1945) he is not able. He said, "I see my life as being two parts, the seeing me and the blind me, and you know what the blind me is a better life, I have come to see people better." Very meaningful words. And how I met him was also one of those weird coincidences of fate.
04/15 Yesterday I met with Annie & Ricki, the director/producer team of a great film, the Devil came on Horseback with Alissa who kindly set up the meeting, we went to the Antique Cafe on 26th where the coffee was so so, not really strong enough. Anyway it was an honor to meet this team as I really liked the film when I saw it at the IFC back in the summer of 2007.
Then I met the Russian who runs the Achilles programs over in Russia, he told me a story of him interviewing Bobby Orr a Hockey player. He made a few racist remarks and this guy printed them, Bobby's lawyer's tried to sue him, but as he had said them... and apparently it ended up costing a Tiger-woodload of endorsements. According to the Russian Bobby thought what was said in Russia would stay in Russia; not so!
04/14
One of my fave moments of 2009 was giving out mosquito nets to kids who completed the Shoe4Africa Disability is not Inability run. Working with handicapped kids is such an honor as they are the kindest, most giving, sweet people you can meet. No pushing or shoving, and look at the little girl's eyes, so happy. I plan to do the Disability is not Inability run again this year... we are looking for sponsors,a nd it looks like NYC's own Achilles club might step up. So typical of them to do something like this, they are dirt poor as an Org themselves but they know the need, to get kids into sports. I will also be collecting little kids running shoes... so if you can donate a pair please let me know!
Talking to Robert from crowdrise.com, he was the brains behind the fund raising for Ed Norton's NYC marathon team, I wish I had him to help me, they ran a superb fund drive... Any charity looking for a bit of help would be crazy not to consider them.So it is now announced in the press, so I can write about it, very sad that Martin Lel is out of London. I still believe that he will run a world record should he go for a Berlin like course. He was two minutes faster than Kibet/Kwambai last year in the training runs before London then got injured in the last long run... it will come. Anyway whilst London is being run we will be doing something lasting far longer than running; the Shoe4Africa Martin Lel Primary School -- in the beautiful nandi area. If I remember I will post a pic tomorrow of the area... sublime!
04/13
At the races at least a decade ago, Dave Buzza (GB) Sean Wade (NZ) Eddy Hellebuyck (then Belgium), Moi, and Bruce Deacon (CAN).
At Daegu Marathon -- what a legend!! Leah Malot who was the best in Kenya in the 1980's!!! was a sterling 7th place in 2:34 -- Leah you are amazing!!
Well you never know do you-- I had a impromptu meeting last night at the Tick Tock Diner at 34th & 8th Ave and it turned to be a great find. It is very hard to find a quiet place in that area for a meeting (my least favorite part of town) but this place is just that, spacious too, and you know what the red wine was not bad at all. I had broiled salmon (so so) that came with a baked potato (over baked) and veg (hm) but apart from that it was great.Did you read BORN TO RUN -- did you like it?? For one night, one night only, Caballo Blanco is riding into town, and where is he going? He is going to give a talk at URBAN ATHLETICS MADISON AVENUE (#1291 @92nd ST, actually 160-meters from the Engineers Gate). So save the night, 27th of April as this event will fill up as quickly as he will come in and leave town. The hero of the book will give a talk and slide show.
04/12 hardly a shocker than Patrick Makau, the flying Kamba, lived up to all expectations in Rotterdam, but to hit the #4 alltime clocking was tremendous. Only Geb can climb into the top five, and at the top, to make the Kenyans at least seem a tad human. This was the fastest non-rift valley Kenyan mark, and one only wonders who will go Sub(2.0)4 next? Could well be the man who played second today, because, believe it or not, he is on the way up.IN Carlsbad - Eliud Kipchoge 13:11 and Meseret Defar of TEAM MIZUNO 15:04 won convincingly on the West Coast.Paris was 'only' a 2:06 affair, but to a man who is no stranger in NYC - Tadesse Tola. It was an Ethiopian ladies win too, and in Rotterdam where the ladies best performance was, 2:22 Aberu Kebede. Both her and Makau run for ADIDAS. Great run by Koen Raymaekers of Holland, 2:11:09 who lived 5km down the lane from the High Altitude Centre in Iten. Koen came to the Shoe4Africa race in December, nice of him to support.
04/09 Paula Radcliffe & Gary Lough - Congrats, having a baby in September!"Central Park Reservoir Track to be Dedicated to Alberto Arroyo
The official public dedication of the track around the Central Park reservoir will take place on Monday, April 12, at 6:30 p.m."
04/08 Chicago Marathon takes a leaf out of the London Marathon's press book. When all are talking about an event, then steal it. Domestically they do with the talk going to Hall and Chicago... but I am waiting for a Million Dollar announcement. In Cash on the finishing line, in bank notes. Then you get the field. Everyone knows in the Biz that Sammy Wanjiru, Martin Lel, Robert Cheruiyot would not dodge each other, and if it is a 7-figure sum it may tempt the others to come and run for the bucks. Marathon running needs the International heavyweights to come together, and apart from London no one else is doing it... as yet. It would be great to see a race director pull it together... An easy place to start would be the women's field in NYC.The good weather in NYC is bringing everyone out, even me, I did 4-miles last night with Et who was bemoaning states of fitness as we dodged the bicyclists who flew by at 500-mph and boom, then comes the crash. Central Park's meager size has not kept up with the fitness boom...A great lunch today with Mary who is prepping for London. I had a nice greens salad to start that felt suepr frewsh, two Stella's - just that, Stellar! The blueberry crumble was disappointing in the fact the blueberries tasted distinctly NOT fresh, but from a jar of Welch's jelly. The cod fish burger was not their best.. thius was not a typical ISLAND meal, but the place is typically great - Madison and 92nd ish.
04/06 Thanks to Michael Rooney for writing in; "I've finally begun and am absolutely loving More Fire! Having read "Train Hard..." about 5 years ago, it is so nice to be transported back there through your words: I can feel the East-African sun on my shoulders and practically smell the red earth in your writing. Keep up all your great work."
I hate when every day I check the 'Don't show this message again' box on the computer... jeez.Well today I had breakfast with Subway Jared, the man who is now famous for losing so much weight by eating subways. Personally I am a big subway fan and his story is great, so it was a nice opportunity to go down and meet him and eat Subway's new breakfast AND test their launched today new coffee!! And it passed the test; Seattle's best, so they are not inventing a new brand. Love it, tasted great. Anyway we were talking Marathons as Jared is running the ING NYC Marathon this year! He is up to runs of 7-miles.In the afternoon I had a great meeting with one of the Africa Angel people, Amini with more scope going to finding contacts in the Biz world of Kenya. I will be in Kenya in three weeks, wow, off again!Today's trivia: can you name Mary Keitany's famous brother-in-law? She is gunning for the world record in Berlin 25km, and it is a super fast course so I think she will get it. Noguchi holds it at 1:22 now which is ten minutes slower than the men, and a Keitany is about 8-min lower than the men in the half I think it i do-able. The half record really ha taken some battering for the men, when I was running 60-min was considered world class; now you better be running 59 and about 10 sub 59 performance, of course 60% of them Kenyan. Personally I think if Sammy W. had run his 58:33 in Lisbon he would have run a 57; I have ran both courses. But for now Eritrea holds 2times in the top ten with the same man- Tadesse.
04/05 Link: British BBC article looking at what they call the decline of the Europeans in the world cross country. It would be more correct to call it the rise of the Africans. I don't think the Europeans of today are running worse than the Euro's of the 80's and 90's -- Mo Farah would be one of the best in Britain in any era.
Pamela Jelimo returns to the track and wins in Nakuru Kenya on a dirt track, so don't be misled by the 2:06 clocking. Geoffrey Rono wins the men's in 1:46 which is a fab time for the track, and altitude....
Bolt continues to be the big draw for all ticket sales and he is coming to NYC in June, get your txt now for the adidas classic!
04/02 I had to chop my handlebars down on my bike, much quicker on getting through traffic, plus I had a very close shave with a big truck, so out came the hacksaw. I used to have one foot handlebars... I am good at cutting it close, so close I broke my friend's toes on the back of a motorcycle when I was younger and I raced through a stone door way, and his toe did not!And last night, after abuse and email abuse I went running with the Flyers, we zipped round the park for a few miles with DJ, Vickster, Chris, Pat the piper and Eddie. I am practicing for the Seas to the Stars run... Before going home and watching a DVD called Fantastic Mr Fox, the Roald Dahl book I remember from when I was younger. The film was, well a waste of time to watch, but as I was multi tasking, but defo not worth getting out the box.
04/01 There was a day when I would think about writing something relating to April 1st, must be getting old. One thing for sure is this year is flying by. Of late I have been getting some stuff together for a meeting this week with a charity, and also planning my December fun raiser... Also, if you want to run for the Shoe4Africa Team in the marathon this year please sign up to our face book group [search shoe4africa marathon 2010 on FB] as I hope the slots will quickly fill up. Thanks to the people who have already written in and said they will run.
03/31 One Bold Idea -- The gates Foundation. I have been down this road before. I WISH that foundations like this would not offer lines of encouragement. A few years ago the Gates put on their website they were looking to give grants to orgs that were promoting AIDS awareness, outside a medical place, to an audience over ++number, in a unique way... I was like da-dah, here I am! I fitted every single requirement to a T. I WASTED money sending in a package of DVD, papers, pictures etc ONLY to get a rubber stamped rejection letter saying I did not fit any of the requirements of their mission. WHA?? A couple of years later I meet someone from the Gates foundation who tells me because the overload is so big for their mail they don't even read half the applications.
Well today that REALLY annoys me, employ more staff then, or don't put these stupid leading invitations out on the website. The time and money I spent, to me, is a lot. So when I get an email alert today, 'We need bold ideas' I just like, go and jump in a lake Mr Gates. Anyway, that is my charity gripe -- he's a billionaire doing it his way, so good for him. I am sure he'll get his Nobel prize for finding a cure... for something. If I go to the grave please let it be without ever accepting a penny from that org.
[already got a couple of emails about that post, about playing the game -- hey, I don't play it. Anyone who has read this web site for a while should know that, I don't post to please, like...Back to running
I think Patrick Makau is going to run well in Rotterdam this year... I would like to see James Kwambai get a major victory; all is looking good for one of the spring's hottest marathon dates, April 11th.Horrible weather continues in NYC - kudos to Eddie, Gordon, Vickster & DJ for a tough session in the scabbiest weather - the road to success begins on nights like last night, that is what defines the athlete.
03/30 Sad that over the weekend Alberto, dubbed the Mayor of the Reservoir, died. There was a nice story in the NY Times about him, although distant in voice, he had so many friends.
Each winter I used to look forward to celebrating his birthday. It was only a small huddle of us, five or six, who would head to a restaurant on the Upper West Side, we would sit, eat, celebrate and he would talk, and what a colorful life he led. A true gentleman, caring, kind, compassionate, and now gone, but never to be forgotten - Adios.
I found out my jeans size is size four, if I was to wear ladies jeans that is. All this happened due to a puncture on Fifth Avenue, in the evening, with the wheel tool a few miles north and me heading south, it was raining and the adventure begun. An hour later, with a packet of mango sorbet from Agata, the great store on First, and a big bottle of Shiraz wine, I was walking past the UN dressed in a change of clothes, ladies jeans. Always a first time in life for everything.Email of the day; Toby,
I posted some shoes to Kenya today.
Asics Nimbus and Mizuno Wave creation. Mens size US 9.5. They have
less than 50 miles in each of them.
I will send some more in a couple of months.
There was a big line in the PO so I told every one to mail their shoes
to Kenya.
Take care.
Will Gillies--Thanks so much Will.
Big thanks to our email of the Week from Wendy and family, just returned from Malaysia for supporting one of our races - much needed as we have no sponsor for a LONG time now. Currently poor, or always poor.
03/28
World Champion Emily Chebet, winning a Shoe4Africa event.
Kenya Vs the rest of the world -- Kenya Nine medals (four gold) and the rest of the world Three medals (zero gold). And that was individual medals. Of course Kenya swept all the team gold too. Last seen in 1994 by... of course, Only Kenya!
World domination in the world's most popular participatory event; Running. Big congrats to a man who is carving out a name as the world's best coach, Claudio Berardelli who gets an athlete on top of the podium.
[Link} TRAIN HARD, WIN EASY - How to run the Kenyan Way.The Simba made a comeback to competing today in Holland, running a 5.3km race, Starbucks reports she had fun.
03/26 Out in New Jersey yesterday at a boxing tournament. People smoke in the hall, odd to smell again, I am so used to smoke free NYC. The announcer was asking people not to smoke but... It was very old fashioned as the audience was 95% men, the ring girls wore bikinis, and the ballroom lights flashed red and green. Eilon won in a decision after six solid rounds, Award of the night went to the ref; first name Sparkle second name Lee.
Mara Yamauchi, winner of the NY Half, now on a training camp, reading MORE FIRE for motivation whilst training for the London Marathon. Go Mara!!!
Quote of the day: "Despite what you may have learned from Hebrew school or from Jimmy Cliff, sometimes the bigger they are, the harder they kick your ass"World Cross Country Champs this weekend? Or is it Kenya Vs Ethiopia with a rare oddball appearance from some random country. let the results decide.. and Good Luck to Linet Masai!
03/25 Fusha on First Ave at 58th St for lunch and The Cornell Club on 44th for dinner. Wow, a day of eats. For lunch they have some nice lunch options and I had spicy tuna and a spicy salmon roll that comes with a miso soup and a salad - very nice. Highly recommended and quiet too -- which was good as we were having a meeting. In the evening it was Lobster night; I ate like I was going to the electric chair. The salmon starter was a meal in itself, a huge plate, then I had a 2lb lobster with fries; again a massive plate. The fish (es) were both superb. I ate four rolls too as the house bread was excellent. Then two pints of Guinness's, and when it came to the dessert I could not choose between the NYC Cheesecake and the Apple Cobbler with vanilla ice cream - so I had both.
Today was a good day; I had some great meetings that are making things happen! ran 10-miles too making me feel like an athlete.
In the morning I was honored to be on Bart Yasso & Chuck 'marathonjunkie' Engle Purefit radio show -- such nice guys, doing amazing things. Bart is the killer, read his book, and now he is off to conquer Comrades. Chuck runs a marathon virtually each week. One of those interviews where I wished I was doing the listening to them!
03/23
Edna Kiplagat running in the December 2009 Shoe4Africa race. Congrats to Edna for winning the Los Angeles Marathon and $100,000 Challenge!
03/22 A great weekend in the running world where Eritrea in the name of Tadese took a world record of 58:23 in the half on the super fast streets of Lisbon... and in NYC Mara Yamauchi won the half, with Peter Kamais getting the considerable scalp of one of the greatest ever legends of the sport of running, be it any distance, Haile G.There was a nice story over in Rome too where Siraj Gena of Ethiopia won the Rome Marathon fifty years after Abebe Bikila's historic run that was the springboard for African distance running with Siraj taking off his shoes to run barefoot over the last 300-meters and winning in 2:08:39, twenty seconds clear of Benson Barus. He received a 5000 EUR bonus for the gesture. Ethiopian women went 1, 2, & 3 with Firehiwot Dado taking the women's race in 2:25:28
03/21 A year ago a friend introduced me to a producer saying he'd be a good person to do the clips from Kibera. I met the guy and he wanted to view the clips. Not having a Mac computer I lent him my new MacBook Pro so he could view the files. Nothing happened, I waited, I waited. I asked my friend for his contact after a few months, she said she did not see him anymore. I went to Africa, came back, tracked him down. I got the computer back. WOW -- it was broken. He had been using it for home use. Not only that judging from the pictures on photo booth he'd also given it to his son. I looked in the page history browsing. Over 5000 hits in one month to soccer.com???
So I emailed the guy and point out he was only supposed to be using the computer to view this file and now my computer is dud. He emails back, 'I will pay for a portion of the repair bill.' Jeez, forget it. What a mean person.
03/20
Haile G comes to NYC.
03/19 Today was a first in running and it is rare I can say that. I actually went for a run, came back, went to the gym to shower and realized I had done the run in two odd shoes! First time ever.
Gov. Paterson breasts the tape at the H&P.
Met Alissa today to plan the project that will be my big fund raiser this year, a really exciting concept - not the marathon!So this weekend Haile comes to town to run wild; can't see anyone int he field who can beat him, but you never know in sports. In the women I will be rooting for Mara Yamauchi who is a SHOE4AFRICA Ambassador and sends shoes from Japan. GAMBATTE Mara!!!We read, "The world fastest man Usain Bolt has confirmed his appearance at 49th Ostrava Golden Spike Meeting on 27 May in the Czech Republic. To run the 300m.. another WR? Probably!We also hear Billy Mills, Olympic 10,000m Gold, may be teaming up with Joseph Nzau to train Native Indians! That would be a great coaching pool.
03/18 Great day today - a good run (always helps) then I had lunch with Roz and Samira, now if you have seen the film The Last King of Scotland then you have seen Samira's house... in Nairobi. Although the film was set in Uganda most of it was filmed in Kenya!
Then I was over to Brooklyn to meet Lara who I have been talking with to a view of helping our mission of getting the hospital built. Totally a positive day, and I also managed to dodge all the drunk Green people sprawling over Manhattan today, funny Brooklyn looked normal.
03/17 Great News - The H&P Achilles race June 27th is, of today, a MARATHON qualifier --Please support the disabled athletes of NYC, come run for the feel good race of the year! Please sign up and this now will count as one of your 9-races!CLICK HERE
Hilda Airlines Kibet - a former winner of the NYC Half.
Speaking of the half -- at the URBAN Downtown store we read (World Financial Center, yards from the finish).
*****20% off ALL full priced footwear and apparel, PLUS a huge selection at 50% off. Lots of food, refreshments and raffle prizes! We'll get started early- at 9am"******
Lloyd Hoo; the hero of the NY Flyers once again steps up to the plate at the New York Flyers training speed work session last night.
03/16 Buy the best running documentary of the year - Alex Vero's superb pursuit of chasing a dream, helping another, capturing the emotion of putting it on the line, and delivering what he discovered - it is about motivation! Buy here and $2 goes to S4A, thanks so much.
03/15 Scottish Will talks politics;
"Gas - they should do the same as they do in the UK and Europe - tax it to
the hilt. Who needs SUV to drive 3 blocks - no wonder we have such a large
obesity problem. Make people buy running shoes instead of an SUV.
"Re Health Care. It sucks here and to say a public healthcare system will
not work is bullshit. Social healthcare systems work very well in Canada
and Western Europe. After all people live longer in Western Europe than
they do here. Instead of wasting billions on wars and pointless missions
to space why not invest in a healthcare system that can be used by all and
not by the chosen few. For all the money we invest in healthcare in the
USA (Americans laugh at the socialist healthcare systems in Europe) tell me
'WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME ANYBODY CURED ANYTHING" no they don't want to
because they want the public to be addicted to drugs and inflate the
profits of the drug companies and Insurance companies.
"Bill Gates and the Bono's of this world who have access to multi media
channels should wage war on the FDA and get people working to find cures
not drugs that make you sicker.
City-Pier-City in Holland: Patrick Makau 1e MSR 59:51,2 Eshetu Wendimu 2e MSR 59:52 and 3 John Mwangangi 3e MSR 59:56 -- One week to the NYC Half. I think Irene of kenya, Irene Jelagat won the women's in 1:10...Wow did it rain in NYC this past weekend, I felt sorry for all the people going to Boston out there doing the training. And it is the last lottery day to train for the marathon, I mean ENTER the marathon in NYC. The Shoe4Africa team is filling up already and I have a hit list of a couple of names I want to come and run for us this year beyond the names we already have - Thanks Liz McColgan & German Silva!Talking moans about Central Park again for an hour two official vehicles parked on the Bridle path sitting with their engines idling and smoke a chugging. So sad for the poor runners of the city, let alone the carbon footprint. Funny enough, it was a lady sitting behind the wheel of one vehicle and it was the same one as had been their on the Flyers night -- I am sure she just likes the heat but a tip (if you are reading this but I am sure sadly you are not) try getting out the van and walking. She was shaped like a donut with a tennis ball for a head on the top.
03/13 Any ideas? We are looking for a sponsor for SHOE4AFRICA -- we have quite a package,and we are quite cheap too to boot.
SLEEPY Sylvia grabs fourth in the Worlds -- Meseret Defar wins, 8:51, with Vivian Cheruiyot in second 8:51... Meanwhile Deresse Mekonnen wins the men's 1500m with Kenya's Haron Keitany in third 3:41 to 3:42Elarbi from WTC, on the local scene wins two gold and one silver at the WM Indoor!
03/12 Just got Alex Vero's DVD story about his goal to run a Sub 2:20 marathon in RUNNING TO THE LIMITS. The DVD is great, it is a part of many runners, it is a film that captures the dreams that embrace every level, and his unselfish attitude and warmth for embracing others dreams whilst in pursuit of his own shows that he won on his journey. The footage is shot is such a way that it comes out as 'this is it' type documentary, where you feel you are running along with him. And how well he did in such a short time is absolutely stunning -- from Zero to the people's running hero. A really inspiring watch!Yesterday was to lunch with Tony at Ocean on the West Side. I had a papaya and shrimp salad where the shrimp was super fresh, then fish n chips with a fish beginning with a H (not haddock) - that was a bad move, the fish was ok (I asked for it to be grilled) but the chips were pretty ropey. The good part? When I winked the waitress knew to bring another Heineken - how good was that? But the rating was 5.7/10 making it urm, go to Isabella's a couple of blocks South (same owner, or used to be).
03/11
An early picture of the great Fabiano Joseph in running action.
I was in midtown today, dipping and diving around. Not my fave area of town. I am more uptown, it is quieter. So happy the snow has gone for another year at least. I was on the phone today with Tim in Minnesota, he who used to run for West Side Runners, he's gone out there, "The winter's are quiet tough..." No kidding.I seem to be eating more these days, a shame, I wish I would eat less as it is cheaper to live that way. Last night I was invited to Pomodoro, on the West Side, but I have been dying for an early night and no alcohol, so I went pizza and hot choc instead - must be getting old.Obama? Need help? Well for starters why not put up the Gas prices - in Europe we pay four times as much. You know what you save the environment again. I heard that the average car ride is less than 3-miles, and in the words of Mr. Hughes, "You know how low that average must be when you consider all the long distance drives, trucks...." Shows that people use their cars for getting from one block to the next. In a jiffy the economy would change. NEXT - why not make all the cars/vehicles in the Military battery operated? Not so dumb when you think about it; I mean we don't attack with tanks anymore in the streets of the United States. But I should not talk politics or I might say, "Gosh, how odd that the vehicles in the small central park are all petrol and diesel."
Also whilst I am on it, the carbon footprint of a private jet is a few times worst than 24-hr air conditioning but paying a staff member to tell you how you can be more green if you preach green would be money well spent... or is it read my lips and don't watch my moves. Does it matter? Gravity to words; do they matter?
Americans consider Conservative Brits to be right wing; Conservative Brits are for National Health... go figure.
03/10
Gete Wami, multi world champion, out n about.
Out to Girasole yesterday with Tony. I was supposed to go to Blaggard's, but instead I went with him - crab meat salad, a Salmon thing with brocolli, ricotta cheese cake, pieroni, coffee, table biscuits, bruscetta bread... and good converse at our "office".
Then I went down to the Achilles office and ate so many jelly beans. The annoying thing was I was eating a handful, then I tasted one that I really liked, but it was in a bunch of many so I had no idea which it was, until I took another handful...A good connection to a new foundation today; each day brings something new. I was cycling home and a cyclist came up behind me to shout hello and it was Jean-Pierre, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so I cycled with him thru the park... the world comes to NYC.
03/09 Aiyah, lots going on, not least my new fund raising idea! It is a classic, and already has the makings of something very special involving Tanzania & Kenya.Talking of Kenya, here is a picture of yesterday's stars, today... Joyce Chepchumba, one of the world's finest ever. She is now living in Sugoi. Sugoi means Incredible in Japanese... so it is fitting that Joyce and Salina Kosgei (who we think will not be in Boston in good shape), live there. Moses Tanui comes from there...
Speaking of Sugoi I am sitting in the tights and believe me they are just that.Got an email that one of the characters from Born to Run, Caballo, is coming to NYC -- a talk on the 28th of this month (if the 28th is a Tuesday).I watched the Oscars, just because I was with a friend who had a television and we were eating. I was so so happy to see Prudence won the Short Documentary, and there was Lesley standing right next to her!!Do I think Jeff Bridges' is the year's best actor? Corporation game... As I wrote on FB before the event Christoph Waltz was being put up as best supporting actor to win and not take from JB, because Waltz was the lead role in that film (InGlorious)... It was so clear. That is why I love awards that are actually based on result -- you run a race, you get the position, boom.
03/05
More Fire -David Rudisha! 'Rudisha opens with blistering 1:43.15 in Melbourne this week'
Kool beans -- I caught up with Philemon Hanneck, still the world record holder for the road mile, 3:47, and a good friend from back in the day. A true gent of the sport, and I used to watch Jeopardy with him after the PM run.Last night-
At the Metropolitan Club next to the paintings, someone comes up to me and says, "You must be the artist." I am like no, jeez, I even made an effort and wore a tie! Better than when I went to the Clinton Global Initiative and was asked if I was a football mascot I suppose...
I met a lady whose Aunt was married to Olof Palme, that was a highlight. Olof was a hero of Sweden, the JFK of Sweden.
Then we went over to the Atrium on Broadway at the Lincoln Center and saw the Amazing Morley perform. Morley Morley makes you want more ly of it.
[LINK]. A nice article about Linet and Shorty, both actually live in Iten, which is actually much closer to Kaptagat that Mount Elgon, which is miles and miles away... Moses lives in Iten too, and is actually buying quite a bit of property there, and the article omitted the big goal of the season this year will be the event that inspired Paul Tergat to start being a runner -- The All African Championships held on Home ground for the first time since 1987. If you are a running affectionardo this is the games for you. I remember years ago with the national team in Nairobi, they said, "We run harder here because it is in front of people yelling for us, we go abroad and nobody pulls for Kenya (In the way the people do over there)."
Kenya went absolutely mad, screaming mad at Mombasa, and imagine in one stadium, rooting for their heroes.
For a writer I was thinking a good story would be the village of Iten and talking to the three world champions - Vivian Cheruiyot (Shorty), Linet Masai, and Mary Keitany, with their in depth thoughts.
The Friends of the Farmer restaurant is nice! I had omelet and coffee (eating like a dieter huh?) Well I must have eaten a pound of chocolate an hour later...
03/04 I met DJ for coffee today, and it was just along my road, thus my new local coffee shop. Called the black pearl. [Website link]. I am yet to explore my neighborhood. I did try the Saw out today and made a mess in my apartment, yikes. I think I have to move some stuff first. then I have to get a wardrobe from IKEA. I hate this kind of stuff. As if I don't have enough to do. I barely can keep up with life as it is. I am trying to install my printer/scanner as I noticed I have not been putting up pics for a while and have lots to scan. My hard drive is at another's house, I need to get that too as we are getting a new web site for Shoe4Africa made. Aiy. It is a tough life. Tonight I am going to a function at the Metropolitan Club, I seem to remember they have a dress code that needs a tie, have to find one. I am going to pick up a pledge for S4A for $5000. Earlier in the day I have a meeting at the The Farmer down in the teens I think. Coaching first thing, and after that thing, inbetween the other thing.
03/03
A day in the life; this girl runs a 17-minute 5km on a dirt road (90% of the course) with hills you can not comprehend, at an altitude of 2400-meters, and no body is helping her with shoes, assistance, or whatever... she runs because she loves to run.
A day in the life: John G emailed in, 'what is your day like beyond drinking coffee or eating?' -- John, you have a good point. My life is mostly computer based, looking for ways to put me on the road to what I hope to do. Like today, I ran a bit on ice, slush and snow. Came home showered changed, oops actually I did that at my gym which is a cultural Jewish center on the Upper East Side. The gym is not local to me anymore, it was for 9-years, and I have a number of great friends, but more than that it is not a NYC gym (you get this if you are a NY-er). So then I am home drinking coffee, answering emails aplenty, looking for grants, fixing things and 100+ shoe4Africa things and also Achilles Track Club stuff I am working on right now. Then I go to my best friend's house. I met him as an actor, I never knew how famous he was, but he is a legend actor called Anthony Edwards, "tony". So we eat breakfast, then go to his country home, out in another state. We stopped to pick up dinner, he shows me furniture for my apartment and we pick up a Saw as I want to chop something down in my small NYC studio.
We hang out then come back to the city, answer more emails, try to fix Q's revolving our new web site, plan on certain things, make banana bread with Deena. Then work some more on the comps. Then it is dinner. Atii has cooked something for the family with Plantains, it is good -- I lose two arm wrestling comps with his kids,then go and coach the New York Flyers, a wonderful running club of nice people in NYC. It is an hour of fun as giving running advice and chat rolls into one. I also meet some friends from Urban including Scottish Will who I have not seen for a while-always good to catch up. Then I ride home, and it is straight back onto the computer, not only to answer 74 new emails since 5pm but also to look for more avenues on moving S4A into the place where I want it to be... does that answer?
03/02 Great news: This Summer we start on a long time project, getting it into gear -- the school. More news to come on this one but all good.Further good news -- German Silva is running for Shoe4Africa Marathon 2010!! Joining Liz McColgan.
03/01 Wow, what a week end. First can I say I was super happy about Martin Lel -- many happy Kenyan phone calls came my way... he is truly a chosen one. Speaking of which in May the Third Edition of the Martin Lel/Shoe4Africa run for Education is coming. Martin was telling me in January how he wants to be more of an ambassador for Shoe4Africa -- I want him to dig in the first shovel. We have some good news coming soon.It was a fab weekend for Kenya as in the World's Best 10k Moses Masai ran 27:19 to win the world best 10k beating Sammy Kitwara number 2 in 27:42. Vivian Cheruiyot beats neighbor Mary Keitany 31:07 to 31:09 for the women's race. Moses is featured twice in this [click] VIDEO -- now with over 117,000 hits! MO FIYAH!!So yesterday I went to a reading down on the very bottom of 5th Ave of Jack Hofsiss who won a Tony for his Directorship of the Elephant Man -- a writing by the very talented Ethan Silverman. Prior to that I was supposed to go to Brooklyn and run a race, but I heard there was a 50-50 chance it was going to be canceled and if there is one thing I hate it is going to a race, far off, only for it to be turned into a fun run. So I decided to drink a pot of coffee instead and do some writings of myself.I am trying to find a sponsor for Shoe4Africa, so we can do our races -- I mean all donations currently go towards the hospital but we have big expenses - just look at the youtube of events we do...
So I am now looking at possibilities -- Amy Winehouse where are you when we need you, in rehab?
Anyway, back to the supermarket; pet peeve, I am in line there is a, taking a guess, a grandma with a kid, and it is now their turn. The guy in front of me is preaching, god give me an out. So Grandma suggests to Chester he puts the goods onthe conveyor belt. Only one problem, Chester's arms are too short. Nanny now realizes, but Chester rebels as she tries to help, "No Nanny, you said it was my job..." God I was looking to buy bullets.
Finally, an age and an ice age later, every thing is packed up. The cashier looks at Nanny, Nanny looks back, "Oh yes, I have to pay don't I? Hey, Chester can you look in Nanny's purse and find..." Is this how David Bowie got into song writing?
02/28 Martin Lel wins another half! Mardi Gras. Lel the Gazelle gets another... has this man ever lost a half marathon? I don't think so! Plus he always goes up against the best competition he can. His motto? "More Fire!" Sammy Wanjiru was in second place, some 200m back.. the warrior Berhane Ahere took the women's in 67'
02/28 I hate to admit it because it takes me pulling to make it happen BUT SUGOI compression tights, and I got my pair at Urban Athletics, flippin work!! Hats off; what Bjarne was telling me in 1995 when he beat me to the Gold in the Swedish 5000m Championships (ah but I had run the 10,000m the night before) I know believed. Compression is the new forward in running; performance (improvement) running... and look at this, my competitor Chubbs was telling me the secrets. Seriously, when you run a hard work out wear these tights and you'll feel great.
PS: A plug for the store If you want hands on treatment DON'T run on a treadmill to chose a pair of shoes; the pull of the belt for starters changes your gate and this is a hands on (feet?) job.
02/26 Great night last night - first down to 12th ST where Marva Allen was being given a few awards and proclamations for her amazing work in Harlem; such a sweet person who meets a problem head on, then spins it round to use that energy to solve its issue. Then it was up town, in the snow to a talk where Kuki Gullman (African book fame & I dreamed of Africa film) gave a speech from the heart to the Africa Foundation. wow, the words she spoke were more than powerful, and she told me the nicest thing too.
Certainly a warm spark in the cold that has engulfed NYC. I was going to run out in Brooklyn this weekend, but looking at the weather I am guessing it is going to be a snow fun day... or? So maybe I stay home and eat bagels instead.
02/25
Beauty in Charity: A winning combination, thanks Gaby for being a part of our team!
Got a present today ;-> I went to Tony's house after a morning run adn he says we have to go to the food shop. I am like, okay. Off we trot, when we get to Eli's he turns the wrong way, I was nooo, realizing it was a trick... now I have a new bicycle, how nice huh? Snazzy too.
Then we went for breakfast, first we walked a mile because all the good places were shut and all the available places were so so, then we went to that place on Madison and 85 Pain Quotidien -- super nice. Waffles and a fruit bowl and coffee.
On a roll I took my phone back to the shop and lo and behold they replaced it! Just goes to show if you drown a phone all is not lost.Boston announces a great field --LINK Speaking of which I might go to Boston to go and see MwAfrica; he'll be shooting for his 5th title. Great to see Catherine the Great up there too in the field! If Anthony (Catherine's husband comes) then we'll finally get to have the coffee we have been phone tagging about for two yearss... Anthony loves Starbucks, second only to Starbucks... who coincidentally is putting a coffee shop into his Eldoret Shopping Mall.
02/24 Heavy rains in NYC; ice cold sleety rain. Horrible, and what is worse is I was standing out in the rain getting cold coaching at Cat Hill, whilst the Mayor was in the Boat House partying and leaving his two big black SUV's running so we were choking on the fumes; literally. Gross.PS: My cell phone got wet and is currently out of action, so please send emails to get in touch!Heard from the Ford Foundation "Sorry we don't build Healthcare, but we are interesting in other things, like Education." So I am great I am building a school.... "Urm, we are not accepting any new...
02/23 Food Review: Amber on Third at 80th ST - you have to get the red snapper -- he is more than there on the plate! The plain salad sesame something is special too! Mason was talking about the Litchfield Hills race - I had forgotten that race existed, it is on June 12th -- if you are in CT at that time you should run it, I remember it so so well.Morley is playing Harlem, my hood, next week -- on 135th ST we hear, and hope to hear!
02/22 Corruption link Every one says Africa Africa... But, it is everywhere. I mean in my old neighborhood, and people I knew, the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Meselech Melkamu won the Ethiopian women�s XC trials and Linet Masai won Kenya�s version. Bring on the race. Poland awaits you. My money is on Kenya. The Kenyan men have a good solid team and I think they should be able to take the team and maybe the long coveted individual title with the amazing Peter Tanui.A quick shout out for the Kigali Peace Marathon. It is on May 23rd in Rwanda. Everyone should go.Back to Kenya. Your time is here when it is here. Listen to this. Moses Tanui rarely allows another to drive as he loves to drive. Number two he rarely wears a seat belt. Last week he switched tactics. He was a passenger and he wore a seat belt. As Starbucks says God did not have his file ready. Talk about fate. Sadly David Lelei did not survive. In Kenya they always say everyone has his time.So off in the sticks as I was on Friday up in Irvington. I even took a dog for a walk with Scyld. The village has 6000 people and I did not see one single non-Caucasian person. Not one. We had a good time and I met Tamsen up there who has just lost her babysitter to Madonna. Apparently her babysitter was French and Madonna wanted a French one so off she went.My bike wheel is still bent as shepherd's hook as they say. Funny actually it gives me good resistance training as now the wheel on each rotation rubs on the right hand side forks. the other plus is that when people see me coming they get out of the way as it looks like the wheel is coming off (I had this happen on a motorcycle with a rear wheel and it is not funny). Anyway instead of riding down Lex Ave with people stepping out in front of you now people look and gasp. I think I may continue to ride around like this for a while.02/19 Today's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" -- A good day today because I started working on a positive new throw for the hospital-- one that I was discussing with Dr. Dave Feldman. I also had a good talk with some people of other hospitals, then I went and met the Architect Catherine downtown and we went to FIKA, a small Swedish coffee shop on Park Ave around 27/28th is it? (Good coffee and a nice mural of Kungsholmen on the wall), then in the PM I met another man, who turned out to be an architect amongst other things, in a restaurant called Tamarind on 22nd ST -- a nice small Indian place. The only bad part of the day was someone reversed onto the street where my bike was parked and bent the wheel... so I had to ride 110-blocks with a wheel shaped like a banana. That in itself is no mean feat, but when you consider all the sludge pushed to the side of the ride, where a bike goes... and I deserve a medal!So another day spent in the pursuit of building something that seems quite like a mirage in many ways.Today I am off to see my film specialist; the one who did the shoe4africa hospital make-up thingey.. to talk work. He used to live in Brooklyn, now sadly he has moved to Irvington of all places, I have to catch a train of all things to do!
02/18 You know that Beatles song.. 'When I wake up in the morning...' -- that is a classic, I mean waking up, It is not easy, and it is a life shocker to me that we do wake up. I am lining myself up here, hm, well here is a thought - my friend Roz emails, tells me that she has not ran outside since Miami, she is afraid to fall, she runs on the treadmill. I scoff back I run on the ice every day and never fall. BUT, somehow I end up today running on the treadmill, because of something,a nd guess what - yup, I fall on the treadmill, bounce on the mat... just my luck. I was only going at a 9-minute mile too! Aiyah.Chubbs and I are set to race soon, in our rematch, postponed from the postponed, lay yer bets. First he has to go to Mexico for some RnR. I wanted to run the snowflower 5k in Brooklyn, but it appears that Chubbs, the city's top masterblaster, is currently, urm, actually he is buying tickets to see Usain Bolt... why? Well the last time he bought tickets to see Uasin Bolt he left the stadium before Bolt Bolted...
Chubbs did give me a pair of tights to try out. So I am going to be a test model; let's see - they are SUGOI Piston 200 tights. I am not a tight wearer BUT since Lornah Kiplagat, Paula Radcliffe and others believe in the compression theory... I am going to give it a whirl. Oddly enough a Swedish runner who I used to race back in the day when I was a racer, called Bjarne Thysell, always wore tights - he was damn good too.. so let's see.
Talking Sugoi -- bit of sad news, the man from Sugoi, Moses Tanui, had a bad accident driving from Eldoret to Nakuru in his car. David Lelei, the passenger, best known for being the pace maker for Noah Ngeny, died on the spot. Moses was airlifted to Nairobi with Chest and leg injuries but is doing ok, stable.I have greatly improved my diet--I went to Jackson Hole today and only had black coffee and cheese cake.
02/17 Usain Bolt - is there a bigger advertizing name.. in the adidas GP news his name is mentioned more times than adidas! He is now selling tourism, he is now Jamaica. Great to finally see an athlete go from the sports world into the mainstream. Scottish Willy Gilly sent me an email telling me that the Coe-Ovett episode is going to be made into a film; now there was a drama that completely left the sports world and went pure mainstream. Everyone had their pick - Coe or Ovett, it was a golden time. Very rare that distance runners can get mainstream, unless you live in East Africa that is where Paul Tergat is still bigger than big, where Tegla Loroupe is a household name, where Gebrselassie can fill stadiums.Lunch today with Rich at Island - one of my fave places, and great to catch up with him... and we can announce it officially that SHOE4AFRICA marathon team 2010 is on the roll! Sign up to our facebook page if you are interested in getting involved this year! PS: Greens salad at Island, then the Grilled Salmon, Cranberry juice - I was missing something, I think maybe french fries or roasted potatoes with the G-Salmon... The coffee was not bad. I knew I was missing carbs because I came home and ate a packet of cookies whilst sending emails without even noticing I was eating cookies...
02/16 Have not watched anything of the Olympics BUT there for me are only two events - Men's downhill and hockey. Sweden are the defending champs in the hockey but was there ever a greater final than in 1994? Sweden won again in the most dramatic game ever... in those days I lived in Stockholm.How long do Winter's last? I have noticed that this year there are more runners out braving the cold than usual. The hardest is coaching in the cold. And in the middle bike riding.One the big stage the man from Kericho training grounds, Paul K Koech sets a world best at the 2000m steeplechase, indoor. This man is the Ron Clarke of Kenya.
At the same meet baby faced assassin's little sis, Genzebe, who is all of about 17, runs 4:04 indoors! She is going to be the talent of the future when the big Sis retires, well not big sis as there is one bigger than Baby F. - the one who won an Olympic Silver too, what a family!
Speaking Ethiopian... Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, who is Ethiopian by birth but switched over a couple of years ago, will make her debut over the half this week at the World's best half marathon (could you call it that?) at RAK in Abu Dhabi. She is up against Dire Tune and Hilda Airlines Kibet. Hilda was supposed to run in Abu Dhabi earlier in the world's richest road race, $300,000 first place, so she will be anxious to make up for lost chances there.The current hot name in the half will not be competing; Mary Keitany is prepping for a World record attempt at Paula Radcliffe's 10k road best in the (officially named) world's best 10km later this month... where we expect to see the long awaited return of the Simba.
02/15 Nice praise for the book (thanks to Ed Fox of TAFnews) "More Fire". It is a great book and provides plenty of food for thought re: the Kenyan running phenomenon. Roberto L. Quercetani, track & field's foremost historian (from Florence, Italy).Bad news for Kenya in the World Cross; Florence Kiplagat, the reigning champion, is out. However the Kenyan team is so loaded one presumes that someone like Linet Masai might just take over the mantle.The Kenyan men will be fired up to, after beating Bekele in Edinburgh earlier this year they now know that Impossible is Nothing. All the cards will play out next month of course in Poland of all places.Judd the man who brought us the good Fred Lebow movie now has one called 'The Most Dangerous Man in America' - I watched the review, looks good.
02/13 Please help and sign up to run (not volunteer) at the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5-miler June 27th. Sadly this is not a marathon qualifier (it never is, in fact for the past two or three years it is virtually the only non-qualifier in June). Believe you me I have asked. What does this mean? If you do sign up for this race you are truly doing something for the right reasons - to help the handicapped athletes of NYC attend 150-free programs, to help the Achilles kids programs that give free shoes and training classes to disadvantaged kids in NYC, to help the wounded warriors who go to war and come back handicapped.
I have been in the charity world for quite some time. One of the greatest lines I ever heard was from a friend of mine who lives on the West Coast, he gave a large donation with NO ASK for a tax deductible receipt, NO ASK for recognition because he said, then I would be giving for the wrong reasons, I want to give for all the right reasons...
So, if you have it in your heart, make a donation, run a race, get a T shirt (a medal too) and I am sure we'll have other goodies and do it... Just because... LINK 2 CLICK HERE
02/12 Meb the Senator comes to the half in NYC next month! Meb and Geb - Americans like to shorten names, in Europe Geb goes as Haile, and I have noticed here in America, or NYC, they pronounce the name Haylee - pretty odd... seems easily enough to pronounce the correct way.
Fed up of this cold! I got an email from Tegla who is over in London and is with Richard Branson talking about the Virgin London Marathon that is looking once again to be the race of the year with some match ups of the year in the men's race. My fingers are crossed that it will be a good Kenyan day. Talking of which congrats again to James LeGros of Shoe4Africa/NBC "Mercy" for his great NYC last year - first marathon, trained only from September, and ran a stunning 3:29! I was flipping through the NY Runner mag the other day at the Achilles, after I had just trodden on a mouse trap because Megan told me there was a picture of Tony in there... well they missed James from the celebrity list. Funnily enough, as he was running the last 100-meters, a volunteer tried to stop him from finishing thinking that the "James" bib was a fake! James not only had to fight the guy off, but also had to prove he was a real runner, and had ran the whole way by opulling a confirmation bib out of his pocket.
02/11 Well snow it came to NYC! Actually all the cars drove so slowly a bike was the fastest way around the city; I only had one near spill when some 'thoughtful' doorman dumped a huge barrow snow in my path and I had to slip n slide across snowy fifth avenue defying a bus I was currently overtaking... good job I learned to ride a unicycle when I was young.
I went to run in Central Park and who did I meet but Smiley! He came and ran with me, "I've been sick and not running, so maybe I'll run with you." There you go, so we did a few miles and it was great to catch up with him; he is now a teacher up in the Bronx. Don't get me started about the chances of good education if you have little money in NYC. You know 'walk a mile in my shoes' I wish people did, not in mine, but go up to the Bronx and see 40-kids in a classroom and the challenges they face, it is like a different world. Money hurts. On an educational note I am happy to say my school project is 25% funded! Wanna help? Please, please do and send me an email - but I am so excited that it is taking off! Meanwhile the whole of last night I spent composing a grant - not my strong point, I can tell you what is not my strong point either and that is shopping; I was an hour in the supermarket, I overladened myself with heavy things to carry home, then got home and remembered all the things I will have to return for tomorrow. Shucks! Anyway when I grow up and get rich I am going to get people to deliver food to me!
02/10 Happy birthday to Will Gillies! He will be celebrating no doubt with a tot of the Old Scots glug.
Meseret Defar, of Team Mizuno, ran a spiffy 8:24 for the 3000m, nearly getting her own WR of 8:23; a record I think both she and Baby Face can smash.Went to Land today with Tony and had a Field of Greens salad (very good) Shrimp Pad Thai (ditto) and two Singha beers, probably spelt wrong, but tasted nice. Outside the restaurant, Land, was a poster of the latest film he is in with Uma Thurman, Motherhood.Speaking of hoods we hear that Michael the Boxer was selling his new Hoodat outside the Superbowl on Sunday, he premiered by selling 300! A great start - what exactly, what is... a Hoodat? Check it out! (Link) I get mine on Thursday!
02/09 Sad News: Kipkemboi Kimeli died on Saturday, aged 43. Best remembered (running wise) for his Olympic Bronze in the 1988 Olympic Games. He leaves a wife and kids back home in Kapsabet, Kenya.
02/08 Getting wimpy, I was going to run the race in Central PArk yesterday, but I looked at the thermo, well at the computer actually, and it was 22-fareinheit which is lots minus. So I thought... hm, coffee instead? It was a no brainer! I don't have these issues when in Kenya; there you roll out of bed and dress the same way every day.
I am going through all my old biz cards, so if you get an email from me and think wow it has been ages since I heard from him it is because I am going through all the old names. All those leads that have not hooked up as yet.
Shopping for food yesterday, I think I was the only man in the entire supermarket! Is the superbowl a male thing? It was like being on Planet Venus, not that I was complaining at all!
02/07 Big thanks to Andy Robinson for writing in, "More Fire" has been well-thumbed by half a dozen eager borrowers
already....thanks for one of the most inspiring running reads ever!Made my first ever three sided leaflets today for shoe4africa!
02/05 Shoe4Africa is looking for office space, ie free "desk and filing cabinet space" that is all we need. Wish list #1 harlem, #2 Upper East, #3 Upper West, #4 midtown. If you have any ideas please email. I would love to get all the paperwork out of my house!Fast running in Germany - Yuriy Borzakovskiy in 1:45,77 in the 8, and Paul K. Koech 13:02 in the 5000!Orsay for Lunch, Island for Dinner. I went with Tony after we met the Head of Pediatrics at CORNELL -- thinks looking good, they are very enthusiastic, a nice smile surprise! Food anyway was Salmon Burger, good n fresh, mesculin salad - very good. Stella's - perfect, and the biscuit platter, good enough.
Island - Spaghetti and a white sauce with broccoli, ok but I could have easily cooked this myself. Chocolate cake; if you like it rich... and Heinekens, that bit was right.
02/04 MORE FIRE is out of print, but hopefully ONLY for a week as they are reprinting; always a good sign. Good book, well I think so. I am actually looking for a book to read right now, my library has closed down sadly.Today I was on the phone with Indiana University and a Prof Lemons there who was the mainstay of a building. All of which keeps on helping the proposal. Get ready soon we should have a new and improved website; something that looks less, urm, homemade?I got a great shock, my friend Et has sold her citizenship and become something else? Well not that dramatic, but... Another foreigner jumps the boat.I hear that the Ethiopians dominated in the Marakkesh Marathon, that would be a great city to be in now; this cold is extreme, how do people manage to survive here?
02/03
Gladys Chemweno back running very strong in Kenya, we hope she makes the World Cross team. oops I have never posted a pic the wrong way, I was going to change it, but maybe it looks better this way...
Big nes is that Usain Bolt comes to NYC on JUNE 12th at the ADIDAS GP.
I was pedaling all over Manhattan today, I don't think that bikes were meant for these sub-zero degrees, or humans for that matter either. I miss Kenya so much. In fact thinking about that please remember if you want to donate ANY stuff for prizes, or shoes, for the THIRD annual Shoe4Africa Martin Lel race it is coming in May. I am also working with Robert Cheruiyot for his Orphan's football match in the Nairobi slums in May too... so this is the time if you want to get involved!Sign up at the NYRR for the HAITI Support run, speaking of which I bumped into Pierre the Pusher the other day. He was honking on his horn in his new car and of course I did not recognize.. usually when someone hoots at me it is for good reason (let me not tell you how I was driving in Eldoret earlier this year).Anyroads the GOAL for 2010 is to break ground and build this hospital, so again I need to reach out to 1.5 million runners and grab a $10 brick from all of them - any ideas shoot them this way, please!I thought I lost my cell phone today, I was actually not too bothered as it is a piece of trash, and later in the day something starts ringing in a pocket of who knows where. You see the thing is until November I never had a cell phone so I never remember to pick it up, or take it anywhere. At least the thing rings and discovers itself. And of course that came when I was doing the ironing - yup actually just a SHOE4AFRICA logo as Arnaud the Euro Indoor 800m champ from Holland is gonna be a S4A man this year!!Speaking of which someone is offering 15,000 Euros if Lornah runs a Half Marathon in Holland for S4A, so Lornah said she'll do it if I run with her... I better get in shape, when it gets warm! Lornah is still the World record holder but I believe there is an attempt to take her record this month in the RAK half, but I don't think it will work, the record will stand. The woman who could take the record was blocked by the AK in January, Linet Masai...
02/02 Unbelievable again to where the year has disappeared to already. Ok, so it is COLD in NYC, not good.
Today I had lunch at the Core Club on East 55th, a nice private club for biz meetings etc etc in midtown. Salad beet for a starter, risotto for the main and a fruit platter for the finish with about six cups of good coffee,t he sour dough rolls were great too - thumbs up.
Then it was up to the Store to have a meeting with Brooks concerning H&P. We see that Anil is now a painter and beginning to decorate the place, he was zipping up the paint so fast Jan was worried her jacket would get covered, very prof work. Speaking of which I need to paint myself.My runs have dramatically shortened since returning to NYC, back to a miniscule crawl, though I did manage to cycle all over town and back again doing jobs which was super needed.
01/31 Sleepy Sylvia wins the women's indoor 3000m at Karlsruhe in 8:41 thus qualifying herself for the World's where we think a medal is there! In the men's Shaheen runs a world leading 7:43 to take the men's race.
01/30 Met Mary D down here, she is at a hotel along the road with Jorge from NYC too. So I had a drink or few with them at their hotel. I came back for the Team Lifelife heroes - they have raised a million dollars this year at the Miami event; amazing!The weather continues to be fab, I will miss running on the beach for sure when I get back to NYC. I really like T-shirt weather, fits the life much better, and we are only three hours south, albeit on a plane but...
01/29 Running Nut; Not sure what is happening, I went for a run again this morning, thinking small after yesterday, and instead I did not come home for two hours!
I turned on the jacuzzi, before the water levels were over the Jets. Aiy! I was on the phone in the tub. The baths here have windows so you can look out over the Ocean.. all was good until that moment - then all got soaked, capissa!Another Haiti - remember today is the URBAN store day!! *VOLUNTEER BLURB
Concern's annual FUN RUN needs volunteers! Concern Worldwide US, an
international humanitarian agency--currently implementing an emergency recovery
plan in Haiti--needs 100 volunteers to organize its annual FUN RUN fundraising
event. Scheduled for April 10, at 9.30AM, in Central Park, the event is a 4 mile
run or walk.
All of the proceeds from the Fun Run will support Concern's
Emergency Response to the Earthquake in Haiti. Starting in early February, at
our offices in Midtown Manhattan, Concern counts on volunteers for a variety of
tasks in preparation of the event and, of course, support in actually executing
the FUN RUN on April 10. For information on how you can do your part to help
Haiti, please contact Dara Burke 212 557 8000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting��������������212 557 8000������end_of_the_skype_highlighting or write her at
dara.burke@concern.net or visit www.concernusa.org to learn more about Concern
Worldwide.Skills, Only enthusiasm!
*RUNNER BLURB
Join Concern Worldwide US— an international humanitarian agency currently
implementing an emergency recovery plan in Haiti —for its annual 4 mile Fun
Run/Walk in Central Park! Scheduled for Saturday, April 10, at 9:30AM, all of
the proceeds from the Fun Run will support Concern's Emergency Response to the
Earthquake in Haiti. For more information and to register, please visit
www.concernusa.org or email dara.burke@concern.net. Runners and walkers of all
skills welcome! EVENT DETAILS Phone Number: (212) 557 8000, Event Web Address
www.concernusa.org
01/28 Sitting on a balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in my beach towel... Just come back from a run on the beach. I was going to go for 30-minutes but I ended up running for 1hr 41 it was so nice to plod along in the sand. A few miles along the way I met my friend Ahuva! She is here for a holiday and running the half on Sunday, how nice! So we ran a bit and chatted. Ah, life is sweet.Last night when I got in to Miami Roselyn picked me up, she's rented a cabriolet so we went for a drive and went to a restaurant in Northern Miami called something grill. A very friendly waiter and good red wine. I can understand why people retire to Miami... now if only I had something to retire from!We read that Shaheen will race at Karlsruhe - Shaheen is a class act on the indoor boards, I wish him well. He was racing in Eldoret at the XC a couple of weeks ago. Also running there, and looking for a Sub 8:50 3000m is Sleepy Sylvia; and I bet she'll easily do it. Still, the first race of the year can also be a rusty one. But she is training so well... and you know what they say, Train Hard Win easy.
01/27 Want to help Shoe4Africa? Calling ALL ladies, we need Women's running shoes up to a women's size 10, and all men BELOW size ten -- if you could send even JUST ONE pair to Africa, you would be changing a life! Our next event is in MAY. If possible please run to your closet, grab a pair. Wrap them up in a small box, and write on the box M. Kiplagat/Shoe4Africa, PO Box 6945, ELDORET TOWN, KENYA.
~THANKS, so much, so much!!
I do not think I could have spent a better Christmas than this one. Here is a shot of giving out the food, at the second of five stations. Right next to me is Precious, my adopted student (she is also on my FB photo). I consider myself to be so lucky to do these things; this was the project I was working with Small Voices and I was standing there giving put 2500 bags of food thinking WOW, I mean I remember when I was a kid and saw Live Aid on TV, and sure yes that was a million times bigger, but than was 200 -rock stars selling records. I had no clue anything like this would ever happen, but as I said I consider myself so lucky to be a part of it. It beats anything, anything else I could have been doing at Christmas.
The little cup the boy has is because they thought they were going to get a cupful of beans.
Monicah is Lornah's sister and does the wonderful job of collecting the shoes for me in Eldoret, and helps me with logistics. An unsung hero she helps Lornah so so much, and really has spent the last 12-years in this role... She says, "I never expected Lornah's career to go on this long."
I was flipping through the NY Runner mag the other day at the Achilles, after I had just trodden on a mouse trap because Megan told me there was a picture of Tony in there... well they missed James from the celebrity list. Funnily enough, as he was running the last 100-meters, a volunteer tried to stop him from finishing thinking that the "James" bib was a fake! James not only had to fight the guy off, but also had to prove he was a real runner, and had ran the whole way by opulling a confirmation bib out of his pocket.
