This page is intended to immortalize the words of Central Park Track Club people. As is customary for this web site, everything is supported by factual details (dates, places, witnesses, photographs, audio-visual clips, etc.).  This page will grow over time, but obviously that will depend on your contribution of new stories.

#1552: WHO: Michael Rosenthal
WHEN: March 13, 2006
WHERE: Busines Week
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

No, Thanks. I'll Take the Stairs
More people are skipping the elevator—and are racing their way to the top.
By Bremen Leak

When a massive blackout hit New York in 2003, then 35-year old Jamie Leone had no choice but to take the stairs to her 28th-floor apatment. The next day, the elevators came back to life, but Leone opted to keep on climbing—and still does, even though "my neighbors think I'm nuts," she says.

All that climbing is paying off. In the recent Empire State Building Run-up, and annual stair-climbing race at the Manhattan landmark, Leone dashed up 86 floors (1,576 steps) in 20 minutes, 40 seconds—about 10 minutes behind the winner, but a solid first time performance. Stair climbing, she says, has taught her how to reach new heights in other ares of lief, including her job at a private-equity firm in New York. "It's a physical cahllenge. You have to learn to focuse and push through mentally," she says.

In today's sedentary cubicle culture, stair climbing could save you from more than just those awkward elevator conversations—it could save your life. The American Council on Exercise recommends 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Walking up steps, says Todd GAlati, ACE research scientist, can burn as many calories in a 30-minute period as jogging at a 12-minute mile pace or cycling at 12 to 14 mph. That translates to 286 calories for a 150-lb. climber and 382 for a 200-pounder. Plus, the faster you go, the more calories you burn.

Of course it's not a holistic exercise solution. "You should include strength training and flexibility training," Galati says, "and start out slow to avoide soreness." those with a history of knew problems should consult a doctor first, he adds. Once you're in shape, you'll be ready to race.

The wintry months spanning November to April constitute the stair climbers' racing season. More than 80 major "towerthons" take place around the globe each year, according to the Web site TowerRunning.com. And with new races popping up everywher from Boston to Taipei, the number of people who bypass the eleveator is rapidly taking flight.

SECURITY CONCERNS
Just ask Pedro Ribeiro, a Portugese-born mechanical engineer who lives in Macau, south China, near Hong Kong. Ribeiro, 33, uses his vacation time to compete in stair-climbing races. He recently finished 9th out of about 1,000 at the Taipei 101, a new 91-story race at the world's tallest building in Taipei, Taiwan, and 7th out of 150 elite runners at the Empire State Building. Tower running, he says, gives him more determination in his life, not to mention prize money. He took home $300 from the Taipei 101. The top prize? Nearly $6,000.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for climbers these days is not the steps themselves—but gaining access to them. Heightened security concerns in some high-rises make stairwells off-limits even for people who work or live in these buildings. A week before the Empire State Building event, runner Michael Rosenthal, who works on the 58th floor, was barred from traiing in the stairwel by building security, citing liability reasons.

Resigned to working out in his 26-story apartment building, the 42-year-old entrepreneur has big plans for the sport. He founded the International Federation of Stair Racers and is launching a Web site, stairracing.com, that he hopes will link the thousands of stair climbers and those who sponsor the races to make buildings more accessible for training and competition. "If my organization could do anything for the sport, it would be to move it out of the category of the novelty," he says. It's a step in the right direction. Only 1,575 more to go.

#1551: WHO: Devon Martin
WHEN: February 17, 2006
WHERE: The Columbia Spectator
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Olympic Track Journey Began at Columbia

By Tarin O’Donnell
Columbia Daily Spectator
February 17, 2006

Devon Martin, CC ’90, is already preparing for the night she will be inducted into Columbia’s Athletic Hall Of Fame. This honor will be the culmination of a long and storied athletic career as a runner, which in Martin’s mind all began with a simple question posed to her by a Columbia coach in her senior year.

“Jackie Blackett was my track coach during my senior year,” Martin recalls. “She asked me one question: ‘Do you want to make it to Nationals?’ and I realized that I did, and that was it.”

As a Columbia freshman, Martin chose to specialize in the 1500 meters. She recalls that during her first three years, the team was a close-knit unit, but there was an almost surprising lack of success for the Columbia female runners due to high turnover of coaches and a lack of training consistency. It was Blackett who finally stabilized the women’s track program and pushed Martin to a higher level of performance in her senior year.

“For me, the coaching was key. We were a young, developing program, so Jackie was everything. My teammates were extremely supportive, but Jackie was the one who gave me new ideas, techniques, and goals. She was the one who helped me verbalize my dreams.”

An energized and focused Martin saw results immediately, becoming the first Columbia female athlete to compete at Division 1 Nationals in 1989 for both cross country and the 1500m. Martin recalls the intense pride she felt wearing the Light Blue when she was introduced for her events.

“They always introduced the athletes right before the events, it was all very exciting. At that moment I was very proud to be wearing the Columbia uniform, and that was a lot of fun.”

Martin parlayed her intense focus and work ethic to greater heights after Columbia, competing in a number of USA and British Indoor Nationals and USATF Nationals. Winning the silver medal at the Olympic Festival in 1991, Martin finally attained her ultimate goal of qualifing for the 1992 Olympics in the 1500 meters.

Nearly a decade later, Martin continued to excel at the Masters level. She is a co-holder of the Masters World and American Records in the 800m relay and is a World Masters Champion in both the 800m and 1500m events. In 2001, Martin was voted the USATF Masters Track Athlete of the Year.

Now her heart is focused on coaching. She now works with the elite Central Park Track Club, which is one of only 33 clubs in the nation designated by the USA national governing body of track and field (USATF).

Martin still searches for intellectual challenges in her profession as an attorney to balance out her athletic prowess. Looking back, she appreciates her hectic schedule in college, when she juggled academics, sports, and sorority life. She believes all of those experiences taught her to be successful and highly versatile in her adult life and career.

“A lot of it was about discipline and consistency...you can’t make it through Columbia without studying pretty hard. It was just trying to combine both being an athlete and a student. Now I’m doing the same thing. I am still engaged in intellectual pursuits with my law firm, working on some really interesting cases.”

Martin laughs at the idea of her being a pioneer in women’s athletics at Columbia, but there is no denying the huge impact she has had on all female athletes at Columbia. She has high hopes for the future of Columbia’s women’s sports programs, and is confident that they will continue in the traditions of success that she and her teammates helped to forge.

“Columbia is one of the best in academics.” Martin said. “As far as athletics, there is no reason why we can’t do both.”

#1550: WHO: Brad Weiss and Bonnie Host
WHEN: February 5, 2006
WHERE: Kate Irvin's brunch
WHAT THEY SAID:

Brad: "I don't think we've met."

Bonnie: "Actually, we danced."

That dancing occurred at the awards dinner in December.

#1549: WHO: Frank Handelman
WHEN: February 8, 2006
WHERE: Responding to an old-timer who asked about a race Frank ran in Central Park in the 1970s
WHAT HE SAID: "I don't remember the year, I don't remember the distance. All I remember is that I won."

#1549: WHO: Caryn Waterson
WHEN: January 12, 2006
WHERE: The Armory, after calling her parents to report a race times.
WHAT HE SAID: "They still love me, even though I'm horrible."

#1547: WHO: Kate Irvin
WHEN: October 22, 2005
WHERE: fast-women.com
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Interview with Kate Irvin
by Maureen McMurray

For many college athletes, when they toss their caps at graduation they also have to toss in the competitive towel. For distance runners, however, the post-collegiate possibilities are seemingly endless. The rising popularity of 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathons and the crown jewel of them all, the marathon, has made competing after college a viable option. But middle-distance runners face a different reality. Most 800 and 1,500 meter runners, with the exception of elite runners looking to the Olympic Trials, either bump up to longer road racing distances, or stop competing all together.

Kate Irvin, a 10-time All-American at Middlebury College and one of Division III's finest middle-distance runners, has transcended these barriers and proven it is possible to keep at it even without the sponsorship deals. When she graduated in 2001, her PRs stood at 10:14 for 3,000 meters, 4:34 for 1,500 meters, and 2:12 for 800 meters. Now, as a member of the New York City-based Central Park Track Club, she has bested all of her college times and boasts a 9:55 (3,000m), 4:26 (1,500m), and a 2:10 (800m).

She outran the local competition at last month's Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile and won the NYRR Road Mile Championship in a time of 4:50.1. If her recent performances are any indication, it seems her star is on the verge of a major ascent. We joined her to talk about her transition from Division III middle-distance racing to post-collegiate competition.

Fast-Women.com: What were the years like after college? Did you know if you wanted to compete?
Kate Irvin: I ran on and off. I missed competing, but I didn't know how to get back into it. Once I didn't have nationals to qualify for, or championship meets to run, I had a hard time keeping myself focused. I didn't have a team and I didn't have a plan. I think it's hard for a lot of college runners. You graduate and you're used to running high mileage, so going out for a four-mile run seems like you're not doing anything. I almost had to get completely out of shape to want to run again. I actually did get to the point where four miles felt like I was really accomplishing something. Eventually I built back up to 50 miles per week, but it took time.

FW: You were a successful middle-distance runner in college, how difficult was the transition for you after college?
KI: I actually thought I was through with competitive running when I graduated from college. I moved to Park City, Utah, and I ran there, but inconsistently. Some weeks I'd run 10 miles, other weeks 40 miles. Then I traveled for six months with my sister, who is also a runner, through Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The first few months of traveling, we were in Asia just taking busses around and we didn't run a step. When we got to Australia, we started to run again.

FW: What were your focus events in college?
KI: I competed in cross country, and during indoor and outdoor track I always ran a few 3,000s, but primarily I was a middle-distance runner: 800, 1,500, 4x400.

FW: Do you have a favorite distance?
KI: I've always thought of the 1,500 as my event. I was a miler in high school and a 1,500 meter runner in college. What I like most about it is that you have to train specifically for it, but can be versatile. With 1,500 training under my belt, I was always able to race a 400, 800 or a 3K if I had to.

FW: When did you decide that you wanted to return to competition? Was there a particular moment when you realized this was something you wanted to do again?
KI: I started running seriously again when I moved to New York. I had a friend who joined the Central Park Track Club and I went to a few practices. As it turned out, they have a really great middle-distance program. One instance that stands out is when I ran a mile at one of the Thursday Night Races at the Armory [a winter all-comers series in New York]. I hadn't really raced that distance since college, and I was doing it as a fun thing. I was so out of shape that I didn't even know if I could break 6:00, but I ran a 5:31 and I was really happy with it. From that point on, I just wanted to dive back into it.

FW: There are so many running clubs in New York. Did you shop around? Why did you choose Central Park Track Club?
KI: After my trip, I moved back to Atlanta [where she grew up], and realized running was an important part of my life. So one of my considerations when moving to New York was having a community to run in. What first made me consider Central Park Track Club is that I had college friends on the team. I looked into other teams, but chose Central Park because they have two structured workouts a week and a great middle-distance program.

FW: Has team camaraderie always been important to you?
KI: I've been fortunate that I've always been on strong teams with very supportive coaches. I went to the Westminster Schools in Atlanta and running was a very big deal there. Our high school was small, but the cross country team had about 80 girls and 80 boys. Middlebury was very similar. We were certainly competitive, but it's always been a lot of fun. So I think I looked for that in my post-collegiate experience as well.

FW: When did you first start running? Was there a specific point when you realized that this was something you were good at?
KI: I ran my first race in the second grade — the kids' section of the Peachtree Junior Road Race in Atlanta. I ran so hard that I actually threw up after the race. I guess it was then that I realized I was a serious competitor. But I didn't start to actually race until junior high school.

FW: Are your goals different from what they were in college? Can you be a middle-distance runner in New York?
KI: New York Road Runners puts together some great indoor and outdoor track races, and I travel to a fair amount of meets, so I can definitely be a middle-distance runner here.

My goals haven't really changed, but my attitude and focus are different. I chose to run in college and I loved it. But back then, it was understood that I was on a team and we all went to meets on weekends. Now it's a choice I make on my own every single week. I have to decide, 'Am I going to rent a car and drive to Boston for this race?' For me, those choices place more importance on every race. As a result, I'm learning to run more tactically and to focus on specific goals, rather than racing every weekend like I did in college.

FW: How do you set your goals now?
KI: Usually I choose one or two meets where I want to be at my peak and then my coach, Devon Martin, and I work backwards. For example, this year I knew I wanted to be in top form in July for the [USATF National Club Track & Field Championships] at Icahn Stadium. So we worked back from there and figured out what kinds of workouts I should do and which races I should compete in.

FW: In college and high school, racing is broken up into three distinct seasons, cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. How do you break up your seasons now?
KI: Surprisingly, that's still how I break it up. Right now, I am focusing on the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in November. After that, I'll shift my focus to indoor track with the end goal being the USATF Indoor Championships, and then it's on to outdoor track. Sometimes when I talk to my track friends from college and tell them that I'm doing three seasons, I take a step back and say, 'Really? Am I really still doing this?' But I love it more than ever. It's just a great way to live in the city.

FW: How often do you race?
KI: I try to race once every two weeks, sometimes every three weeks. If I race every weekend, I get burnt out. It's a lot of traveling, and in New York you have a busy lifestyle. Working, fitting in proper training, and racing every weekend, it's too overwhelming.

FW: Has your training changed much since college? What workouts do you feel are most effective for you?
KI: I do fewer interval workouts now, but they are more challenging. One workout I need to do to feel like I am in good mile shape is 800 meter repeats at mile pace. In college, I did more 400 meter repeats, and I think that was all I could really handle back then. Now knowing that I can do 3 x 700 meters at mile pace, or sets of 800m-400m-800m with little rest, mentally prepares me for races and has made me a more confident runner. And my mentality is different. After work, it takes me an hour to get to the track, so once I'm there I am serious about getting a good workout in.

FW: What is your weekly mileage?
KI: I never go much higher than 55 miles per week and [during the] competitive track season it's more like 45. So it's pretty low mileage for a post-collegiate runner.

FW: What do you think has allowed you to break through your college times?
KI: In college I was never as disciplined as I could have been. I never really put in a great summer of training, so every year I was racing myself back into shape during cross country. I could always run well by the end of the season, but looking back, if I had been more serious about summer training, I could have been a better runner. I think I also allowed myself to believe that cross country just wasn't my thing, so I wound up being mediocre.

This will be the first year I've ever done a consistent year of training, and it's paying off. I still don't think of myself as a cross country runner, but I work out with our distance runners in Central Park at least once a week. So knowing I can do a four-mile tempo run with male marathoners is certainly a confidence booster going into the track season.

FW: Has running on a club team in New York changed your attitudes about running?
KI: Absolutely. Now I am running with men and women of all different ages, and I'm around a lot of great masters. We have men on our team who are running faster times than when they were in college and they are 40 years. Sid Howard, a Central Park Track Club runner, is like a rock star at the Armory. It's really inspiring to know if I wanted to, I could run competitively for 40 or 50 more years.

I don't think many kids in college know it exists. You either think you have to graduate and be one of the top runners who gets the deal with Nike and is immediately competing in the Olympic Trials, or you might as well give it up or run marathons recreationally. And marathons are great, but if you're an 800 runner in college it doesn't really make sense. So it's been great to move to New York and realize that there are other options

FW: How does the rural setting of Middlebury, Vermont compare to New York? Do you have a preference between rural and urban training?
KI: There are certainly times when I miss rural running. Middlebury was very beautiful. On Sundays my team went on its 12-mile run along dirt roads that passed by farms, and our track was at the base of the Green Mountains. But I love Central Park. When I go home to Atlanta, before my runs I often think, 'Which way do I want to go? Which route do I want to run?'. Now I know I am coming to Central Park everyday. To a lot of people I guess running the same 2.5-mile loop over and over would seem boring, but I always run into my teammates in the Park and I never have to run alone. I get to hear about someone's day, their love life, their frustrations at work, so it's like meeting friends for happy hour, but we're also getting our run in.

FW: Do you have any future goals? Do you think you'll stick with middle distance? KI: I will just see where training takes me. I've already shaved off more time from my PRs in college than I ever expected, and I think I have the potential to run much faster. In terms of taking it to the next level, I'm just beginning to learn what I'm capable of. But who knows. I thought I was through with running after college and now I am breaking my college times. I am always surprising myself.

FW: If you decided to try to take it to the next level do you think you could work, train, and live in New York?
KI: New York is a great training environment because of all the clubs and the New York Road Runner races. But with all the training, lifting, and travel that kind of racing would entail, it would be very difficult to have a full-time job and be an elite runner, and you wouldn't have much of a life beyond running. I enjoy where I am right now and I'm not sure if I am ready for that.

FW: And the question every runner is asked, do you think you'll do the marathon?
KI: It could be a lot of fun and I am certainly tempted. But I like what I'm doing now, so maybe sometime farther down the road.

(Interview posted October 22, 2005)

#1546: WHO: Paul Saunders
WHEN: January 2006
WHERE: Marathon & Beyond:
WHAT HE WROTE:

Hope for Us All

Bob Deidenstein's article in the November/December Marathon & Beyond is an inspiration to us old (I am 64) folks who struggle with the marathon but still love it. I have run 21 marathons, but last year, after Paris, my knee (osteoarthritis and torn and missing ACL) and my hip (the regular kind of arthritis) hurt so much that I couldn't walk. My time was over five hours (well off my PR of 3:58), and I wrote myself a letter saying that I was through. I would do nothing more than a half-marathon again. Later that year, ignoring my letter to myself, I decided that I hadn't trained enough and that that was my problem, so I ran lots of long distances in July and August, looking ahead to New York in November. I overtrained, and, well, you know the rest of the story. My orthopedic surgeon told me to suck it up. But I didn't and I sat out New York. I was really through.

This year, I was comfortable with my decision to hang it up, and besides, my knee hurt like hell and my Generation II brace didn't help much. I did all the shorter races in Central park, but I didn't do anything more than a half. However, as New York approached, I started to think about doing it again. As Bob said, there is nothing quite like it. I hadn't really trained. Nothing more than a half (of which I did three, all very slow and painful), and I ran only a few times a week. I was quite certain that I could cover the distance, but I thought that it would hurt so much that there would be not point to it.

Then I read Bob's article, and that was all I needed. I said "What the hell, let's do it again." My wife and two sons, one of who is a doctor, thought I was nuts. On November 6, I did New York for the 12th time, and it was by far my most enjoyable (and slowest, over six hours, part of that time spent on the Queensborough Bridge helping a guy who had a heart attack).

What a blast! At my age, speed isn't everything. Covering the distance and enjoying it is what it is all about (at least at my age). Thanks to Bob, I'm back! Slower, sure, but who cares? I've just signed up for my third Paris Marathon in the spring!

Thank you, thank you!

Paul Saunders
New York, N.Y.

#1546: WHO: Jesse Lansner
WHEN: January 8, 2006
WHERE: The New York Times:
WHAT HE WROTE:

Re "The Book Review: Who Critiques Whom - and Why?" (Dec. 18):

I suspect there is another reason for the relatively high number of books by Times writers in The Times's "100 Notable Books of the Year." If you see The Times's Op-Ed page columnists as important opinion makers with an influential role in setting the national discussion, then books by Maureen Dowd and Thomas L. Friedman would almost by definition be worthy of attention and notice.

That is not to say that the inclusion of those books on the list was based on anything other than their own merit. But it is reasonable to assume that the editors would consider their colleagues' work to be worthy of attention, and therefore worthy of inclusion.

As long as the "worthy of attention" criterion exists, the editors are best served by putting books by Times authors in a separate list.

JESSE K. LANSNER
Brooklyn, Dec. 20, 2005

#1545: WHO: Stacy Creamer
WHEN: December 12, 2005
WHERE: One day after catching her her left middle finger in a garage-door hinge and really smashing it (the end-joint is currently black-purple, scraped up, and huge), Stacy was asked if she'd been able to take her usual lunchtime spin class. She said that the finger hadn't been much of a problem there, and then went on:

"...but lifting weights was pretty tough. I had to do some of it with my middle finger extended. Hope no one mistook this for an actual gesture..."

We aren't sure what gesture should be made at someone who'd attempt a weight-workout with a finger looking like that, but this is the woman who won the Urban Environmental Challenge extreme cross-country race with a strained hamstring by limping over logs, squelching through bogs, et cetera — so we'll tentatively settle for a big, fat, swollen thumbs-up.

#1544: WHO: Stuart Calderwood
WHEN: July 20, 2005
WHERE: After the Nike Run Hit Wonder, in response to a rock 'n' roll type, who was apparently miffed at being turned away from Joan Jett's post-race concert.
WHAT HE SAID:

Rock 'n' Roll Guy: "Fucking runners. They probably don't even know what CBGB is."

Stuart: "Played there twice."

#1543: WHO: Stuart Calderwood
WHEN: June 22, 2005
WHERE: Discussing the workout he did at the Columbia track while it was under construction.
WHAT HE SAID: "When life gives you a lemon, make lactic acid."

#1542: WHO: Peter Allen
WHEN: June 18, 2005
WHERE: The Daily Record :
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Not too many marathoners, who also do triathlons, will take a stab at becoming a miler. But that's what Peter Allen, 45, of Harding Township did last Sunday at the Garden State Athletic Club Randolph Classic track meet. He finished in a very respectable 4:56. Not bad for a man who finishes in the top 100 in the New York City and Boston marathons

Allen has been a road racer since his teens, even while he was competing at cross country and track at Pingry School.

"I was enjoying my first road races right around my senior year," he said. "I really got hooked I guess."

His first marathon was in Maine at age eighteen and he knew nothing about how to run a marathon.

"I felt a cramp coming on and I thought it was from the water I had just drunk," he said. "So I didn't drink anymore."

As Allen became dehydrated from his self-imposed ban, he slowed to a walk. When he told other marathoners around him that he hadn't been taking water they were astonished and urged him to drink up.

"I drank water and then was flying into the finish,"said Allen. "It made the marathon all the more exciting a barrier to break."

By the time Allen entered his first triathlon, he knew about water, but knowing and having water are two different things. Hitting a rough spot on the course, his water bottles went flying except for one that he saved. It was half full.

"I was totally dehydrated,"said Allen. "They didn't hand out water and I only had half a bottle of water."

Allen has plenty of experience now and has done over twenty Boston and New York City marathons. His best was done at Boston, his favorite event, in 2:31:30 at age 31.

"Those are the two most serious races of the year," said Allen. "I train for them hard and along the way I do others -- a lot of them are in Central Park and others are locally."

Once Boston is done for the year, Allen switches focus and begins to train for the Tupper Lake Half-Ironman Triathlon that is taking place next weekend on June 25th in New York state.

He fell easily into the three-event sport and thrives on the challenge of the half-ironman distances of 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. I've always liked to go for a distance swim," said Allen. "That was a natural and adding the biking -- I did that just as a summer activity."

"I take it seriously enough to back burner my running for a month or two during the preparation for the triathlon,"he said. "It gives me a break and the wind is always cool in your face."

Bugs cannot keep up with a cyclist and that is a factor for Allen who is lives within four miles of the Great Swamp. He can get in from 12-15 miles but once the bugs hit he'll go into the swamp on his bike and train.

Allen is also close to Jockey Hollow and runs on the trails in the park. In the winter, that is where he cross country skis.

"I love to be out in nature,"he said.

He also loves challenges and has now done the Tupper Lake race three times.

"You don't take it too lightly," said Allen. "It takes me just under five hours to do. For that it's kind of a special part of my year.

"Usually it's fun to have that half-ironman because the difficulty gives it a bit of a barrier breaking feeling to do it."

So why was he on the track running in a mile race? The answer is that his two sons, Matthew, who is in fifth grade and Robert who is in the seventh have been running track and dad has been participating as well.

A couple of weeks back Allen and Matthew competed in a 1,500 meter race and then did the 100 meter dash. The marathoner took a back seat to the kid in the 100, and Matthew was able to beat dad's pedestrian 16 seconds.

Allen's wife, Rhonda, also runs and all four will be at Monday night's President's Cup Night Race in Millburn.

"I won't be running very fast," said Allen. "My legs are tired from the biking and training. I'll do the best I can, but I am running in the Father's Day race in Central Park on Sunday."

Not very fast in Allen's log will be right around 17 minutes if history can predict. Someone who enjoys challenges is not likely to hold back at a race like the President's Cup, tired or not.

#1541: WHO: Alan Ruben, Nicole Sinquee, Margot Sheehan, Brian Schaffer, Allison McCabe and Audrey Kingsley
WHEN: June 16, 2005
WHERE: The New York Times:
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

How Am I Doing?
By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

WHETHER you are a competitive runner or a weekend jogger, the kind of data you want your sports watch to provide is a matter of preference. Lap time and elapsed time are basic information. Pay a little more, and the watch will include a heart rate monitor, typically tuned to a chest strap, that can gauge your effort along the way. Pay even more, and the watch will also have a built-in global position system sensor that can tell you how far you have gone, how fast you traveled, and even show you the route you took.

Are they worth it? Some runners, even some serious competitors, may never think so. They eschew fancy but cumbersome hardware, preferring to rely on their own well-honed sense of how hard they're working and a trusty old watch. But many, some casual joggers included, find it useful or even motivating to monitor their progress in detail. And then they are faced with a wide choice of watches.

Competitive runners from the Central Park Track Club in New York agreed to help sort out the selection. Last week they wore some of the latest watches during their Thursday night practice and gave us their assessments.

1. Left: NIKE TRIAX SPEED 100, $79. This S-shaped watch, shown above in super size, features an interval timer to help you time alternating hard and easy segments. Records your best and average laps overall.
ROAD TEST The two things Alan Ruben, 48, appreciated most about the Triax were its ability to display both his lap time and his total time at once and its capacity to record and store 100 laps (or a mile by mile breakdown of a race). “You could keep your favorite marathon on the watch for a while,” said Mr. Ruben, the president of the Central Park Track Club.
Right: NIKE IMARA RUN $79. This sleek oval-shaped watch, which Nike says is "created by women for women," is designed for someone who doesn't want a bulky gadget. It records average and best lap times.
ROAD TEST The Imara Run is the same price as the men's Triax Speed, but records less than half as many laps (43 versus 100 for the Triax). Most of the women surveyed at track practice said it looked too "girly" for a sports watch. But it may appeal to women who want to wear their exercise watch all day.

2. GARMIN FORERUNNER 301, $324.98. This device includes not only a watch and a heart rate monitor (chest strap not shown) but also a GPS sensor to track your pace, distance and calories burned.
ROAD TEST Nicole Sinquee, 33, said she felt as if she were "running with a TV" on her arm. The mileage count was accurate, but a glitch occurred with the GPS sensor, telling her she went from a 10-minute mile to a 7:30-minute mile, when her effort remained steady. (High-rise buildings nearby might have caused the miscalculation, Garmin said.) Still, Ms. Sinquee could see getting used to a constant flow of information. "I started to get compulsive" about reading it, she said.

3. POLAR S625X SPEED AND DISTANCE, $369.95. A foot pod, right, that attaches to your shoe allows this "running computer" to track speed and distance as well as heart rate (with a chest strap, not shown).
ROAD TEST Margot Sheehan, 46, said she learned that her pace fluctuates a lot wearing S625X. "I also had no idea that I was going 10 m.p.h.," Ms Sheehan said. She doesn’t think she would wear the foot pod and heart rate monitor for every run, but for speed work, it was "very useful."

4. TIMEX IRONMAN TRIATHLON 75- LAP SLEEK OVA, $70. This watch is designed to fit on the side of the wrist, so you don’t have to turn your arm to read it when running. It stores workouts by date and up to 75 laps of history.
ROAD TEST "Not having to roll my wrist to look at it is much easier," said Brian Schaffer, 29. Allison McCabe, 23, agreed but said that since she likes to wear her workout watch all the time, she would rather have one that lies flat on top of her wrist.

5. MIOSPORT SELECT $109.99. (Shown with an interchangeable strap, pack of two, $34.99.) This heart rate monitor works without the usual chest strap. Instead MioSport tracks your heart rate from your fingertips. It also estimates calories burned.
ROAD TEST The MioSport records information only when you touch it, so its accuracy depends on whether you diligently touch it every time you significantly speed up or slow down. Audrey Kingsley, 36, found that frustrating. Also, she noted, it cannot provide an average heart rate at the end of a run.

#1537: WHO: Stacy Creamer
WHEN: April 17, 2005
WHERE: After winning the JFK Rotary Club 5K
WHAT SHE SAID: "This trophy has bigger breasts than I do."

#1536: WHO: Andrea Haver
WHEN: April 9, 2005
WHERE: In the car on the way to Penn Invitational
WHAT SHE SAID: "Googling is dangerous — there are pictures of us sweaty and half-naked all over the internet. My grandparents could see them!"

#1535. WHO: John Roberts
WHEN: February 24, 2005
WHERE: The Armory, having just collapsed into the pole-vault pit after running a personal-record 4:22.2 for the mile
WHAT HE SAID: "I'd throw up if I had the energy."

#1534.  WHO: Stacy Creamer
WHEN: April 11, 2005
WHERE: U.S. News and World Report
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Not Older but faster
By Diane Cole

At 72, Ralph Swanson could barely run 100 yards without huffing and puffing. Fast-forward two years to last fall, when the 74-year-old retiree, who splits his time between Wisconsin and Texas, ran the Chicago half-marathon in two hours, 27 minutes, and 42 seconds.

Now he's training for a triathlon.

The standard wisdom is that the older you get, the slower you get. But new studies show the opposite: It's possible to get fitter, and faster, even as you age.

Swanson was among the sedentary seniors trained in a study conducted by cardiologist Benjamin Levine of the University of Texas Southwestern/Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Levine's conclusion: "Anybody, no matter how sedentary or debilitated, can, given the appropriate oversight and instruction, initiate, sustain, and progress in an exercise program."

In fact, male and female runners over 50 are increasing their speed--at a faster rate than younger runners, concludes Yale medical school orthopedist Peter Jokl, from his analysis of the 415,000 runners completing the New York City Marathon from 1983 to 1999. "They're improving at a phenomenal rate," says Jokl. Women 60 and over as a group, he adds, are shaving off nearly four minutes from their finish times every year.

But you don't have to be 60 to improve. New York publishing executive Stacy Creamer says she didn't really blossom on the track until she hit 40, after more than 15 years of running. "Almost every race post-40 has been a personal record," says Creamer, now 45. Her favorite triumph: At 43, the breast-feeding mother of a newborn, she ran a metric mile (a little less than a mile) in under five minutes.

Yes, "there is an aging process, and I don't think anyone 70 years old will break the world record," Jokl notes. Nor will elite runners who set records in their 20s surpass them in their 40s or beyond. Marathoner Frank Shorter won the Olympic gold medal in 1972 with a time of two hours, 12 minutes, 20 seconds; at 57, he clocks the 26.2 miles at the slower but still impressive clip of a bit less than three hours.

Consistency is the key for runners of any age who want to get up to speed, says Shorter, author of the newly published Running for Peak Performance (DK Publishing, $15). Some training tips for taking those first steps:

Start slow. After getting the go-ahead from your doc, start nice and easy. Especially if you've been sedentary, at first walk rather than run, and set a goal of time (say, 30 minutes out) rather than distance, advises Conrad Earnest, director of the Center for Human Performance and Nutrition Research at the Cooper Institute. "You do not have to exhaust yourself to improve your level of fitness," says Shorter. "As long as you are able to comfortably carry on a conversation, you are at the right pace."

Go easy on your joints. Whenever possible, Creamer runs on dirt rather than concrete. "Even though packed dirt is hard," she says, "it's much kinder to your joints and muscles."

Don't overdo it. " People need to understand that their cardiovascular system will adapt at a much faster pace than their orthopedic system," says Earnest. Increasing your mileage prematurely can lead to stress fractures and other aches. To be safe, add no more than 10 percent to your training time each week.

Stretch and lift. Stretching can help prevent injury, as can a strength training routine.

Try intervals. To go beyond the speed plateau most runners reach after about a year, Shorter suggests weekly interval training, alternating fast spurts (from a few seconds to three minutes) with slower recovery jogs about twice as long.

Be realistic. In his 40s, Ken Sparks, director of Cleveland State University's Human Performance Laboratory, strove to slice his running times. Now, at 60, he trains "not to get slower." But that sure beats losing the strides you've worked so hard to gain.

#1533.  WHO: Devon Martin and Joe Bolster
WHEN: April 5, 2005
WHERE: Columbia Track
WHAT THEY SAID:

Devon: "You're going to be on our 4x400m team at Penn Relays "

Joe: "Great! I can pull a hamstring!"

Devon: "You'll also be doing the 4x100m."

Joe: "So, I'll pull the left hammy in the 4x1and the right in the 4x4. By the way, if I end up on the 4x1, my baton exchanges should be videotaped and shown as a 'Don't' to all young sprinters."

#1532.  WHO: Andrea Haver and Devon Martin
WHEN: April 5, 2005
WHERE: Columbia Track
WHAT THEY SAID:

Andrea: "It wouldn't be a good idea to run these intervals naked. There'd be jiggling going on."

Devon: "By the end of the season there won't be any more jiggling."

#1531.  WHO: Alberta Anderson
WHEN: April 5, 2005
WHERE: Columbia Track
WHAT SHE SAID: "That was a big word I just used. I'm very happy."

#1530.  WHO: Chris Price
WHEN: April 5, 2005
WHERE: Columbia Track, addressing an overly ambitious teammate
WHAT HE SAID: "That last interval was supposed to be at your mile pace, not Kenyan mile pace."

#1529.  WHO: Andrea Haver
WHEN: April 5, 2005
WHERE: Runner's World Online
WHAT SHE SAID:

A Brief Chat with Andrea Haver
by Peter Gambaccini

Andrea Haver, 24, the Assistant to New York Road Runners President and CEO Mary Wittenberg, was 20th in the USA Women's 8K in New York on March 26 in 27:54, outrunning such heralded athletes as Briana Shook, Dana Coons, Sara Wells, and Ann Gaffigan. Haver is improving by quantum leaps; even her 5K split of 17:18 in the 8K was a personal best by about 30 seconds. Haver was the Central Park Track Club's Most Valuable Performer in 2004, and won the 2004 Fifth Avenue Mile in 4:51. Her other bests include 9:49 for 3000 meters and 23:03 for four miles (a common race distance in Manhattan, due to Central Park's configuration). Haver and her Central Park TC colleagues won an exhibition Distance Medley Relay at the 2005 USA Indoor Championships. At Claremont McKenna College in California, often competing for a combined Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps squad, she was the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champ in cross country in 1999 and in the steeplechase in 2002. After college, she was a waitress at Glacier National Park in Montana and an assistant editor at W.W. Norton before joining the NYRR staff. Haver recently profiled Katie McGregor for www.fast-women.com and interviewed Jorge Torres over the Icahn Stadium public address system after his win in the USA Men's 8K.

Runner's World Daily: In the USA 8K, you beat at least six women who have already been "Brief Chat" subjects, so we had no excuse not to talk to you.

Andrea Haver: (Laughs). Well, I do think I'm in that interesting middle realm of "you're pretty decent, but what are you going to do with that?" There are a lot of other runners at my level who love reading about the pros but also try to figure out their own running futures for themselves.

RWD: Did you feel you belonged in the USA 8K, or did you think they were doing you a hometown good deed?

AH: I appreciate in this sport that there's not a lot of subjectivity. There's some, of course. When you're coordinating an elite athlete field and bringing different people together, you have to look at the trend of how they've been running, and just because they ran a certain time two years ago doesn't mean they can run it today. I felt like I was validly in there. I've been running my best times over the last year, so I don't think I was done any favors. I knew I could be solidly midpack.

RWD: Is there an advantage for you to finally be in a race with several people running near the time you ran, including three women who finished one second behind you? Do you prefer being pulled along like that to being on your own in front?

AH: Oh definitely. This was fantastic. I felt like I didn't have a lot of pressure on me. I was just pleased to be in the race. People were looking at Deena (Kastor) and asking "are you going to get the American record?" To me, they said "wow, well, good luck, whatever happens, it's just great that you're in the race." The fact that there were people between Deena and I definitely helped. In the last 500 meters on the track, I saw my track coach and a lot of my teammates and figured "I've been working on my mile speed all winter, I definitely need to pick it up here and pass a few people." The fact that I could leapfrog a little bit to a few people in front of me was really helpful. I didn't really move position very much throughout the whole race, except in the last 800 meters, I passed a few women. Basically what was going through my mind was that a lot of these women had been training for marathons and I had been doing fast indoor track all winter, so I thought "go past them right now, they haven't been doing all these short intervals." If I had one strength at the end, it was that.

RWD: You're also close to the sport because of your job. Did you recognize some of the people you were beating?

AH: Definitely. For a lot of the race, I could see Amy Mortimer in front of me, and that was exciting. I think she was the only person in the race wearing long tights, so she was easy to spot (Mortimer finished ninth). I knew people around me were cheering for Dana Coons, and I could recognize Briana Shook. These women are like my superheroes, so I could recognize a lot of them.

RWD: Was this actually your first national roadrace?

AH: Yes. This is what my Division III college coach would call "running with the big girls." This was definitely my biggest race ever. Of course, I wanted to do well. I didn't think I was going to be upsetting Jen Rhines (who finished second to Deena Kastor) or anything like that. I was a little nervous, as you race, you gain confidence in your abilities. I really had had a lot of good races and workouts leading up to this the last few months. I felt like I just had to go out there and do it. I think it's my job as an athlete right now. I felt ready for it.

RWD: How'd you gravitate to your job at New York Road Runners?

AH: I'd been in publishing about a year and a half and realized it was probably not for me for life, for various reasons. I was always going to the New York Road Runners website getting various race results, and once clicked on "Employment Opportunities" and noticed that Mary (Wittenberg) was looking for an assistant. I didn't know Mary personally but came in to meet with her. I was a little bit hesitant at first, I wanted to check this out, but didn't know if it was the right thing, being an executive assistant. Just meeting Mary, I was so enamored with her. She's so energetic and she really draws you in, and was so inspiring talking about where New York Road Runners is going--how it's moving into the new millenium. I just figured I would take a chance and see where this went.

RWD: To keep up with someone like her, it surely helps to have cardiovascular fitness.

AH: Well, we are on the fifth floor. I'm up and down the stairs about 80 times a day. I only went up and down 50 times the day before the race. I put a limit on it.

RWD: Would you say you've made a lot of progress in a hurry lately as a runner, or is it more gradual and incremental?

AH: No, I wouldn't say it's been gradual. I took a good six months off after college. Now these women I'm meeting--I did this interview with Katie McGregor, and I've talked with Shayne Culpepper and taken others on runs in the park--they were really good in college, some were winning national championships, and people say to them "hey, maybe you should be a professional runner." Me, coming out of Division III, and I didn't even have a very stellar Division III career, it was never even in my mind that I would be more than a recreational marathoner. It's been a big surprise to me. I started running with Central Park Track Club because a friend from Norton dragged me out. That was the spring of 2003. It took me a year there to get in shape. I worked out with the longer distance crew with (Coach) Tony Ruiz, and then finally met (Coach) Devon Martin, who said "you should work on your speed." Doing two full years of track workouts with her has really made such a difference. I think my speed is my weakness and it's something I've been working on. That's been helping me throughout any race I do. If you can keep you health and add to your fitness base over a longer progression than just one season, you can see improvements. I don't know if it's the time of my life or the ten years I've been running or whatever, but in the last year, I've started to hit PRs and really get it together. Not having a college season, where you have to race all the time, I have more time to build a base. This March, I just basically ran and trained the whole time. I hadn't raced at all since indoor nationals in February.

RWD: From being around elite athletes, what have you learned that's of value for your own running?

AW: To be where they are, they have a certain level of focus that a lot of runners at my level might or might not have. A lot of us are on the fence as to whether we want to give up our social life or quit working. You can say people have talent, and they do, but they (elite runners) lead a very regimented life. Most don't work. Most get massages regularly, they run two times a day, they go to bed at 9:00 or 10:00, they've really made that jump to where running matters enough to them in their lives that they're going to be serious about it. I know that you can't really get away with a lot of things if you really want to keep improving in running.

RWD: Are you surprised at what a good running city New York is? There's every kind of racing from indoor to outdoor track to cross country, and every conceivable roadrace distance. The training venues are there. Is it easier to be a runner in New York than you expected?

AW: Oh, completely. It was such a surprise. I didn't come here considering running at all; it wasn't even a factor for me. I figured I would run on my own anywhere, but that this being the most urban city in the country, it would be difficult, and I was going to be doing some treadmill running in the winter. It's been fantastic to see the scene, the depth of my team, Central Park Track Club, and everybody else at local races. It's amazing, people's dedication to it, and having a team of all ages. People bring their kids out in strollers. People are really dedicated to improving their own running. It makes some sense, because New York is such a driven city. Running often appeals to people who have that internal drive, striving for more, striving for their personal goals. All the people around make it safer. When I was in Montana, you couldn't go running at night by yourself because there are no streetlights. There are bears around. I didn't know you could walk out of your door in New York basically any weekend of the year and run a race. That's been such an amazing discovery. To have measured courses where you can test yourself every seven days is pretty great.

#1528.  WHO: Harry Lichtenstein
WHERE: International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology Newsletter - Winter 2005
WHAT HE SAID:

PERSPECTIVES

Perspectives don’t belong to lifeless void spaces.
You can compare yourself to lifeless emptiness,
but that comparison is your perspective.

You can’t escape having perspectives –
You are not in an empty void or dead yet…
and after death, is there lifeless void?
You don’t know and you do have perspectives.

Are perspectives linked in universal consciousness?
Love, hate, morality, sin, Heaven, beauty, and ugliness –
are defined differently in different perspectives.

Do truth and reality exist only in perspectives?
You exist in mine and I exist in yours.
Do Gods exist in ours and do we exist in Gods’ perspectives?
Can science…time or space…atoms and subatomic particles…energy…exist in the absence of perspectives?

Who you really are is according to you.
You can be anything that you imagine.
Are universes infinite and finite depending on your perspective?
If you are happy and there is no suffering in the universe;
then that is your perspective.

One thing can be a contradiction in terms of conflicting perspectives.
I can be happy according to my perspective,
but sad according to yours.
The same relationships can be loving, caring, and joyful, or loveless and sad.

Perspectives!

#1527.  WHO: Chris Price
WHEN: March 28, 2005
WHERE: Riverbank Track
WHAT HE SAID: "It'll be fun. If running is your idea of fun."

#1526.  WHO: Tony Ruiz and Scott Johnson
WHEN: March 15, 2005
WHERE: The Armory
WHAT THEY SAID:

Tony: "I would do anything for Yankees tickets."

Scott: "Really? How about doing a marathon?"

Tony: "Only for World Series Tickets."

#1525.  WHO: Alston Brown
WHEN: March 14, 2005
WHERE: The Idaho Statesman
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

(click to englarge)

"It's not the hair," said Alston Brown. "It's just hard work and training."

Brown, 57, of New York, won the men's 800-meter run in the 55 to 59 age division Sunday morning at the USA Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Idaho Sports Center's Jacksons indoor track in Nampa. The New York City sanitation worker, who has had the long locks for almost nine years, runs for the Central Park Track Club.

Several American and world records fell during the three-day event, which brought 585 participants, ages 30 to 92, to Nampa.

"If you look from the waists down at these people, you couldn't tell their age," said competitor Jerry LaVasseur, 67, from Brunshwick, Maine. LaVasseur competed in the 3000 and 800 meter runs this weekend and also volunteered as a judge for some running events.

#1524.  WHO: Stacy Creamer
WHEN: March 20, 2005
WHERE: Front Runners Track Meet at the Armory
WHAT SHE SAID: "I try to smile when I pass people in a race so they think I feel a lot better than I do."

#1523.  WHO: Scott Johnson
WHEN: March 20, 2005
WHERE: Front Runners Track Meet at the Armory
WHAT HE SAID: "I want to do the 60m. You get to run fast and bang into a wall. That would do something for my manhood."

#1522.  WHO: Frank Handelman
WHEN: March 10, 2005
WHERE: The Armory, upon learning that Joe Bolster has 13 younger siblings.
WHAT HE SAID: “I come from a big family, too. There were five of us. Five kids in a Jewish family is as many as 14 Catholics.”

#1521.  WHO: Brad Weiss
WHEN: March 10, 2005
WHERE: Westside Brewing Company
WHAT HE SAID: “I used to be very shy.  I didn’t say a word until I was six years old.”

#1520.  WHO: Devon Martin and Frank Handelman
WHEN: March 8, 2005
WHERE: The Armory
WHAT THEY SAID:

Devon: "It's a good idea to take a day or two off after running a PR."

Frank: "I usually take a whole season off after running a PR."

#1519.  WHO: Devon Martin
WHEN: March 8, 2005
WHERE: The Armory
WHAT SHE SAID: "I don't appear on the website enough."

Yes, it was meant sarcastically.

#1518.  WHO: Rick Shaver
WHEN: Winter 2005 Issue
WHERE:  New York Runner Magazine
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Marathon Streakers

Richard Shaver, 52, Manhattan
Length of Streak: 28
Marathon best: 2:43:19 (1986)
2004 time: 4:09:03

Shaver got caught up in the running boom that swept the country when Frank Shorter won the 1972 Olympic gold medal. "I had so much fun after my first New York City Marathon, I made up my mind that I would always do New York," he recalls. He realized the personal importance of his streak when he ran with a torn hamstring two years ago. "I don't know who has a longer streak than I do, but I'll outlast them."

Rick is one of three men with a streak of 28 years. Two men have run 29 straight. The longest streak is 30 years, held by 60-year-old John Kenul of Brooklyn, who also ran the first and second NYC marathons, skipped the next two, and hasn't missed one since.

#1517.  WHO: Andrea Haver
WHEN:  March 4, 2005
WHERE:  Dallas BBQ, after the MAC Meet
WHAT SHE SAID: "A drunken 10-mile run is one thing, but a drunken marathon is a real challenge."

#1516.  WHO: Audrey Kingsley
WHEN:  February 26, 2005
WHERE:  Central Park, after the Snowflake Run
WHAT SHE SAID: "I'm going to break three hours [in the marathon] if it's the last freaking thing I do."

#1515.  WHO: Joe Bolster and Devon Martin
WHEN:  February 17, 2005
WHERE:  Armory Workout
WHAT THEY SAID:

Joe: "I hear that once The Gates are taken down they're going to use the material to make 75,000 bridesmaid dresses."

Devon: "That's awesome! I'd even use it for a bridal gown."

#1514.  WHO: Kate Irvin
WHEN:  January 4, 2005
WHERE:  Armory Workout
WHAT SHE SAID: "It's painful to watch the faster group finish their workout when I still have another interval to go."

#1513.  WHO: Andrea Haver and Kate Irvin
WHEN:  December 28, 2004
WHERE:  At dinner after the workout
WHAT THEY SAID:

Andrea: "Do you ever make New Year's Resolutions? "

Kate: "None that I keep."

#1512.  WHO: Tony Ruiz and Frank Handelman
WHEN:  November 7, 2004
WHERE:  Watching the Marathon at 89th Street in Central Park.
WHAT THEY SAID:

Tony: "If someone was having a bad race today, would you tell them to drop out and run the Philadelphia Marathon instead?"

Frank: "No. I'd tell them to drop out and become a middle distance runner."

#1511.
WHO: John Scherrer
WHEN: September 16, 2004
WHERE: His blog, Exit, Pursued by a Bear
WHAT SHE SAID: "I like to run but don't like exercise."

#1510.
WHO: Jessica Affleck
WHEN: September 14, 2004
WHERE: Talking to husband John Affleck at the Columbia track workout
WHAT SHE SAID: "Why are you running so slowly?"

After hearing this, Chris Price's commented: "You know you're having a bad day when your wife can tell how slow you are." When told that would probably make the website he raised his arms in triumph and yelled "Yes! Quote of the day!"

#1509.
WHO: JT Mann
WHEN: September 8, 2004
WHERE: The Herald News
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Broome, Mann complete successful track season

MOUNTAIN LAKES - Rich Broome, 46, a Mountain Lakes resident, earned All American status in the men's 45-49 division with his victory in the mile at the Hub Lakes track meet on Saturday, June 26, in Mountain Lakes. At that event he ran the fatest time of the day - 4:51.

Jonathan (JT) Mann, 38, Mountain lakes earned All American status (men 35-39) with his 800-meter (roughly 1/2 mile) races this summer. He won in his age group in the 800-meter run at the Randolph Track and Field Meet on June 6 in Randolph. Mann also was the overall winner in the 800-meter run at the New York Roar Runners track meet at the City College of New York on Saturday, July 25, with a time of 1:59.6.

Mann took the silver medal in his age group in the 800-meter run at the Masters Nationals Track and Field Mett on Aug. 7, in Decatur, IL, and finished seventh in his age group at the Fifth Avenue Mile race on Aug. 14 in a time of 4:37, a 14-second improvement from 2003.

Broome and Mann are regular training partners on Saturdaymornings at the Mountain Lakes track.

Mann credits Rich, Ed Hemberger, his message therapist in Boonton, and Coach Devon Martin of the Central Park Track Club with his success this summer track season

#1508.
WHO: Alan Ruben
WHEN: August 17, 2004
WHAT HE SAID: "One of the perks of being a CPTC webmaster is that you don't have to run Club Championships "

There are other perks to this job?

#1507.
WHO: Audrey Kingsley
WHEN: August 14, 2004
WHAT SHE SAID: "My job is ruining by running and my social life. Which are really one and the same."

#1506.
WHO: Neil Fitzgerald
WHEN: August 14, 2004
WHAT HE SAID: "We do more before 5:00 in the evening than some people do all day."

#1505.
WHO: Devon Martin
WHEN: August 14, 2004
SITUATION: Talking about how highly all the CPTC runners placed in the Fifth Avenue Mile
WHAT SHE SAID: "Not that I'm competitive, or anything."

#1504.
WHO: Kate Irvin
WHEN: July 11, 2004
WHERE: Devon Martin's post-track race party
SITUATION: Kate and Andrea Haver are weighing the merits of Britney Spears vs. Enrique Iglesias
WHAT SHE SAID: "Britney speaks my language."

#1503.
WHO: Kevan Huston and Ana Echeverria Huston
WHEN: August 11, 2003
WHERE: The New York Observer
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

Ana Echeverri and Kevan Huston

Met: Dec. 9, 2001

Engaged: June 12, 2003

Projected Wedding Date: Aug. 30, 2003

Ready, set, wed: Ana Echeverri, 32, a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan-Kettering who runs eight miles daily, is marrying Kevan Huston, 31, a librarian and researcher at UBS Securites who logs about twice that. The pair has completed 10 marathons between them, which bodes well for whatever's going on behind their bedroom door. "I think running provides an outlet for stress and tension for us," she said.

Mr. Huston is redheaded, weighs 148 pounds, has a body-mass index of 20 and hails from Canada ("but I look like a normal person," he said). Two years ago, however, the six-foot-tall hunk was tipping the scales at 207 pounds—which seems fine to us, but then again so does a 16-minute mile. "I was a whale," he said. He would hang out at pubs and smoke a pack of cigarettes per day. "Now I just run," he said. "Running has really become the center of my social world."

Indeed, he discovered his half-Colombian, half-Chinese future fiancée while loping through a group 10K organized by the Central Park Track Club. "I hate to use the word ‘exotic' to describe her, because it's kind of not politically correct," he said. "But she's gorgeous—bronzed, beautiful, warm skin. And here I am, Scotch-Irish—you can't tell when I'm wearing a white shirt."

He bore down upon her at a party for a fellow runner at Grace, a restaurant in Tribeca. "I thought he was interesting—very, very charming," Ms. Echeverri said. "But sort of awkward. He kept saying that he couldn't stay out late because he had to go out and run with a friend the next morning at 6:30. He was so focused on his training that I thought he couldn't be romantically interested in me."

Nonetheless, she agreed to accompany him for a carbo load at Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown the next week, followed by tiramisu in Little Italy for her (Mr. Huston—we're concerned to say—abstained).

Soon after, they enjoyed that hollow-eyed swingers' rite of passage, the New Year's Eve midnight run in Central Park. He was falling fast. "She has the most amazing smile," he gushed. "It's radiant. It's the cause of global warming."

They tend to complete their daily slogs alone, at different paces (though they're about the same level if you adjust for generic gender differences). "When we get together after a run, we're both in a good space," Ms. Echeverri said.

Eight months and Lord knows how many miles after meeting, they moved into a one-bedroom off Central Park West, where his habit of using the same knife in both the peanut butter and the jelly has caused them to resort to his-and-her jars.

But everything else has gone well, and after a 5K cross-country contest in Van Cortlandt—she came in third in the ladies' division; he kindly brought up the rear—they began discussing that other M-word. "It was very egalitarian," Mr. Huston said. "We got home after the race and the whole idea just started gaining traction." And so he bought a white-gold ring with a Toronto-purchased, Canadian-mined diamond. At just under one carat, it's not gonna slow down his Atalanta.

Better bring Neosporin to the nuptials: Their ceremony, to be held in Alberta, will be preceded by an optional two-mile road race.

#1502.
WHO:  John Scherrer
WHEN: July 30, 2004
WHERE: His blog, Exit, Pursued by a Bear
WHAT HE WROTE:

"Can you imagine life without the CPTC Web site?  How would we know what's going on in the world?  However, we must lament the horrible death of the Famous People, Famous Sayings section.  Less running, more quoting!  If you're desperate for material, feel free to repost quote #1291--it's still pretty accurate.  As is #1203.

Another shameless attempt to get an entry on our Famous Quotes page. Surely you all know by now that these never work...

#1501.  WHO:  Margaret Angell
WHEN: May 2004
WHERE: New England Runner Magazine
WHAT THE ARTICLE SAID:

'Two athletes with large upsides on the day were Margaret Angell, 27, of NYC and the BAA's Cathi Campbell, 36, of Allston, MA. Training with the Central Park Track Club former Harvard track captain Angell's effort paid off in a PR 2:44:05 with the most even splits of the day - 1:21:58 out, 1:22:07 in.

"I felt that the key to my training was to make a 6:10 per minute mile pace comfortable for a very long run," explained Angell. "On race day I wanted to go out between 6:10 and 6:15 pace, run relaxed yet focused, and then try to push as hard as I could in the last 10K. At the halfway mark I was exactly where I wanted to be. I felt comfortable and I focused on maintaining my pace through 20 miles. After the half way point the other competitors started coming back to me. I focused my attention on the next runner, then the next runner, the next, etc.

"My coach and I talk a lot about finishing a race with dignity. It's our philosophy that in the last 10K, a marathoner should have one aggressive move left, I chose mile 23 in the long stretch along the edge of the park. I ran a 6:07 mile and passed about 7-10 women. After that I just focused on the finish line. I was a little surprised at how even the splits were, but I think it was because I was not too aggressive early and then focused on performing in the last 10K."

#1500.  WHO:  Kate Irvin
WHEN: May 18, 2004
WHERE: Columbia Track
WHAT SHE SAID: "I just love getting shorter and faster."

#1499.  WHO:  Alan Ruben
WHEN: May 6, 2004
WHERE: One-mile race at the Armory
SITUATION: Asked by a teammate why he wasn't running in the first heat.
WHAT HE SAID: "Give me a break. I just ran two marathons."

#1498.  WHO:  Sid Howard and Catherine Stone-Borkowski
WHEN: March, 28-29 2004
WHERE: The Boston Herald
WHAT THE ARTICLES SAID:

CANADIAN POSTS MIRACULOUS MILE
By Joe Reardon/ Track Notebook

Monday, March 29, 2004

...

Howard still on run

Sid Howard has no intention of slowing down any time soon either. The 65-year-old Howard has been on a tear of late, breaking American age-group records in the 800-meter run (2:19.4), 1,500 meters (4:56.36) and the mile (5:23.1).

The soft-spoken Plainfield, N.J., resident's 60-year-old mark of 2:12.71 in the 800 is still the fastest ever run.

Howard is still on a high from the recent World Masters Indoor Track Championships in Sindlefingen, Germany. Racing against some of the best Master athletes in the world, Howard used his deadly kick to take home the gold medal in the 800 and 1,500.

"The Lord blessed me with this gift and I'm sharing my gratitude," Howard said matter of factly. "I hope when they call for all the guys 100 and over to the starting line, I'll be one of those guys."

Howard wasn't about to share first place on the Reggie Lewis track. Racing in the 65-69 800, Howard got off to a strong start and was never challenged as he crossed the line in 2:23.79, nearly three seconds ahead of Mack Stewart of Katy, Texas (2:26.36).

Howard plans to rest up over the next few weeks and focus on August, when he'll be competing at the nationals in Decatur, Ill., and the North American Championships in Puerto Rico.

Howard hopes his achievements on the track inspire both his peers and younger athletes. "If anybody can see me and take a benefit from anything I've achieved, that's important to me," he said.

Martin wins 800

Middle-distance aces Catherine Stone-Borkowski of Ringwood, N.J., and Kathy Martin of Northport, N.Y., wrapped up phenomenal weekends on the track as both captured wins in the 800.

Stone-Borkowski used her dominant kick over the final 200 meters for a 2:25.26 win in the 40-44 division. The win was her second after copping the gold in Saturday's mile.

Martin showed no ill effects from her American-record win in Friday night's 3,000-meter run and Saturday's mile victory in the 50-54 age group by falling just one second short of the world record with a 2:28.07.

"I felt strong," said Martin. "I just miscalculated the first lap. I was going for the world record and I just missed it."

Said Stone-Borkowski, "I was hoping someone would take it out. I didn't go for time today, just the win."

Steve Sergeant of Charlestown ran away from the field in the 800 in 2:00.77 and Boston's Everad Samuels won the 45-49 200-meter dash in 22.88.

---

RUNAWAY VICTORY: Champion rolls on in mile

By Joe Reardon/ Notebook
Sunday, March 28, 2004

Defending 800-meter champion Catherine Stone-Borkowski of Ringwood, N.J., warmed up for today's 40-44-year-old group race by using her blazing kick to take the mile in 5:18.85 yesterday at the National Masters Indoor Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

The former University of Arkansas All-American defeated runner-up Mary Beth Evans of Scarsdale, N.Y., by almost seven seconds.

Stone-Borkowski, a national body-building champion, took a 10-year hiatus from track to concentrate on bodybuilding and only recently returned to the oval, toned and 20 pounds heavier.

"I took the time and completely changed the look of my body," said Stone-Borkowski. "I used to be really thin. I feel a lot stronger now. It helps me a lot."

Stone-Borkowski captured the cross-country nationals in the 40-44 division last fall in Holmdel, N.J.

"I was really surprised," said Stone-Borkowski. "I had only run one cross-country race prior to that in 20 years."

Despite her uncontested win in the mile, Stone-Borkowski wasn't totally pleased. She hoped to conserve a little more energy for the 800 race. "Unfortunately, I kicked harder than I wanted but I'll be all right for tomorrow," she said.

Stone-Borkowski hasn't ruled out a run at her personal best time she accomplished during her college years. She has recently run 2:19. Today, though, she'll be going for the win.

"My best was 2:13 and I don't think that's out of my range," Stone-Borkowski said. "We'll just see what this race holds. I really want to win here and worry about time later."

#1497.  WHO:  Stefani Jackenthal
WHEN: May 2003
WHERE: Attaché Magazine
WHAT SHE WROTE:

ROCKS AND ROLLS

An intrepid triathlete wages an uphill battle with the rugged terrain of the Catskills.

By STEFANI JACKENTHAL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AT PRECISELY 9 a.m., someone yelled, “Go!” Like elephants charging a peanut factory, 182 pairs of feet funneled across the narrow wooden bridge and scattered up the first of many steep ascents. Civilization would not be seen for hours. It was just like every third Sunday in July for the last quarter of a century. This was the 26th annual 30K (18.6-mile) Escarpment Trail Run race. “No award. No fancy categories.” In fact, the only thing race director Dick Vincent did give out (besides a terrific spread of bagels and fruit at the end) is the “broken bones” pin to the finisher with the best injury. Busted bones aren't necessary—bruises, scrapes, and gashes will do.

Billed as “for mountain goats only,” the rocky, ankle-biting course in New York's Catskills has nearly 10,000 vertical feet of elevation change, slippery rocks, hidden roots, extremely steep downhills, and narrow cliffs. And racers can't get enough. Each year the coveted 200 slots sell out months in advance, with runners coming from as far away as Michigan, Iowa, and Canada. This year I was one of them.

Why would I want to do something so tormenting? I'd like to say that it's all my friend Eric's fault. He'd been fired up for the Run since last summer. And because his wife was now pregnant, I, by default, became his adventure partner. In May, we got so lost in an orienteering race that little kids and senior citizens were passing us. Two weeks later, in a three-person adventure race, I royally rolled my ankle and looked for the next three weeks as if I was wearing a violet sock. As I signed the Escarpment race application, which clearly stated, “You are responsible for your own medical costs, including the cost incurred if an evacuation is necessary,” I was filled with both dread and excitement.

When Sunday arrived, Eric picked me up in front of my Manhattan apartment at the ungodly hour of 4:45 a.m. Three hours later, with the mercury already pushing 90 degrees and the humidity hovering at 100 percent, we loaded onto the yellow school bus that took us to the starting line in the town of Windham. For the next 45 minutes, I nervously nibbled a Power Bar while seasoned veterans lent advice and spun tales about past races. “Did you hear about the swarm of bees in 1987?” “Don't leave it all on the first hill.” “Just remember at the top of Blackhead, you're only halfway there.” Unlike other races, there is no sag wagon or bailout point. Once you start, the only way to reach the finish is by foot—or rescue chopper.

As I stood fidgeting anxiously with my Camelbak hydration system at the start line, amongst the crowd of sinewy runners, Eric shook his head, saying, “What did we get ourselves into?” Exactly what I was thinking. We exchanged sympathetic, sweaty high-fives and were off. One hundred and eighty-two competitors squeezed through the tight bridge, no wider than a swimming-pool lane. Casual chatting evaporated, and heavy breathing filled the bloated mountain air as the rock-peppered trail turned upward.

I dodged and weaved through the school of struggling Lycra-clad racers. I lost Eric. The frantic pace settled into a tempo trot for some, a power walk for others. I silently repeated my mantra: “An object in motion stays in motion.” My head hung heavy, while I constantly scanned for safe footing.

The pack broke up and six fit, lean guys tapped their way up the rock-strewn path. Among them was Peter Allen, a 42-yearold sculptor from New Jersey. Four years earlier the seasoned veteran placed second, finishing in a scorching 3:01. “This year was the first time I crashed hard,” Allen told me a few days after the race. Midway on a steep descent he mistakenly put his foot down where there was nothing but three feet of air. After freefalling past several trees, he stopped abruptly by sliding headfirst into a rocky ledge, but not before slicing open his shin on a jutting rock. “I was going to just ignore the episode and remember to brag about it later,” he explained. “But it required leaving immediately after the race for ten stitches.” (He had finished in fifth place.)

While Allen aimed to crack three hours, I was keen to break four. Finishing sans serious injury was my primary goal. I tagged along with a group moving at a brisk but manageable pace. My arms pumped like pistons as we snaked up the sheer ridgeline. Sweat stung my eyes.

The path narrowed and we followed the blue trail markers to the top of the first arduous climb. The guys skipped across the slick rocks as I followed anxiously. My head swam from focusing on every step. I tentatively stepped over the slippery softball-sized rocks and prayed for flatness, every once in a while remembering to breathe. Just when I was getting into the groove, my toe caught a “hidden” root and I launched forward. My arms shot out and barely saved my face from smashing into a pointed shard of rock. I hit the ground hard. “You OK?” a bearded man casually asked as he scurried past me. I wearily nodded my head yes, snapped to my feet, and staggered after him. Once I stopped shaking, I took inventory of my injuries. A purple knob appeared on my left kneecap, my palms were scraped raw, and my nails looked as if I had been digging for night crawlers. To make matters worse, it started raining, making the footing slick.

We hit the first major downhill and that was when I said adieu to my new best friends. As a competitive triathlete, I had the fitness to hang with the boys on the 40-minute ascent, but like Spiderman, they plummeted down gnarly, narrow, clifflined trails and launched off lofty ledges. My Spidey senses warned me to obey my inner weeniness. I sucked up my ego and cherry-picked through the reckless rock garden, flopping onto my bum at sketchy points and scootching over rock ledges.

I was alone for the first time that morning. An hour into the race, I finally noticed the lovely damp pine smell, melodic chirping birds, and rain tapping on the tree canopies overhead. Wet spruce branches tickled my bare arms with their rain-soaked pointy pods. It was magical.

But the moment was fleeting. I was soon numb to the spitting rain. The cool, wet boulders soothed my scraped hands as I clawed my way hand-over-fist up the muddy rock face. Progress was slow and scary. At the top, orange ribbon lined the route to a crew of cheering volunteers at the rest stop. They had schlepped hundreds of gallons of water, Gatorade, and goodies up the mountainside.

I sloshed down some water, munched a handful of mini-pretzels and the tastiest M&Ms ever, then started down the wicked steep descent that had claimed Peter Allen. Sitting back on my heels, I slalomed between trees to cut speed. I fluttered my arms and desperately grabbed twigs and boulders for balance, longing for the forgotten gloves I had left at home.

Some time later, without warning, the scree-strewn trail spilled onto a grassy field and I tumbled across the finish line. My watch beamed a teasing 4:00:10. I thought of five places I could have saved ten seconds, but it didn't matter—bruised, scraped, and exhausted, I was exhilarated. As Vincent said, “Sore ribs, skinned hands, and all that jazz is reason to rejoice.”

I sipped an icy-cold Coke and eased slowly toward the mound of mouthwatering melon piled high next to the overflowing bowl of bagels and containers of cream cheese covering the folding table. My legs felt as wobbly as a sailor stepping on land after a month at sea. I dropped onto the grass with a relieved sigh and traded war stories with fellow racers, all the while watching for Eric. A half-hour later, looking as frazzled as I felt, he flopped across the finish line. We embraced in victory and relief. My stiff body ached all over, and I knew that the next day my insides would feel as shaken as a dry martini. But right then I felt as happily buzzed as if I had just finished one.

STEFANI JACKENTHAL resides in Manhattan. Her next challenge is an urban-adventure romp through New York City.

#1496.  WHO:  Devon Martin and Jessica Reifer
WHEN: March 21, 2004
WHERE: At the Armory race
WHAT THEY SAID:

Devon: Coaching this group can be stressful sometimes.

Jessica: Not because of me. I'm the perfect athlete.

Devon did not respond to this, but we imagine that she was thinking all sorts of unprintable things.

#1495.  WHO:  Jonathan Cane and Jesse Lansner
WHEN: March 20, 2004
WHERE: At dinner, wondering whether it was a good idea to order another round of drinks before an 8:00 am group run the next morning.
WHAT THEY SAID:

Jonathan: We can't lead a group run hungover.

Jesse: Laura [a member of the group] is still here, so we won't be the only ones who don't feel well tomorrow.

Jonathan: No, because she's just drinking water.

Jesse: I guess she's smarter than we are.

Jonathan: The water she's drinking is smarter than we are.

#1494.  WHO:  Otto Hoering
WHEN: March 8, 2004
WHERE: New York Daily News
WHAT HE WROTE: 

MIA
Manhattan: President Bush wants us to remember the leadership he displayed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I do remember. I remember that he stood on the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center and proclaimed that he would find those responsible for knocking the towers down. So why isn't he using images of a captured Osama Bin Laden in his reelection campaign commercials? Otto Hoering

#1493.  WHO:  John Gleason
WHEN: March 2, 2004
WHERE: At the Armory workout
WHAT HE SAID: "You're a diamond in the rough. But only time will tell if the emphasis is on 'diamond' or 'rough.'"

#1492.  WHO:  Devon Martin and Jessica Reifer
WHEN: March 2, 2004
WHERE: At the start of the Armory workout
WHAT THEY SAID:

Devon: Jess, here's the workout.

Jessica: Um--

Devon: Shush!! I don't want to hear it!

#1491.  WHO:  Kate Irvin and Andrea Haver
WHEN: February 29, 2004
WHERE: Reacting to the tunes played in the van on the ride home
WHAT THEY SAID:

Kate: What CD are you guys playing? Those are strange tunes

Andrea: I think what we are dealing with is a major generation gap

#1490.  WHO:  Andrea Haver
WHEN: February 29, 2004
WHERE: During a speedy ride from Boston to NYC after the track meet with D'Money on the wheel - making it back in record time.
WHAT SHE SAID: "Devon, you're the man!"

#1489.  WHO:  Tony Ruiz
WHEN: February 28, 2004
WHERE: Observing the following photo at Club Night
WHAT HE SAID: "I came over to ask you to take a photo, but instead I just want to take your place here."

#1488.  WHO:  Tony Ruiz and Margaret Angell
WHEN: February 10, 2004
WHERE:  On the way home from the Armory
WHAT THEY SAID:

Tony: I've been doing 50 push-ups first thing every morning since I was 18.

Margaret: How do the women in your life feel about this?

Tony: Why do you think I'm divorced?

#1487.  WHO:  Mike Dougherty
WHEN: January 27, 2004
WHERE:  Coogan's
WHAT HE SAID:  "I'm going to look you up on the internet, but in a good way."

As Chris Price replied, "Aren't they all good ways?"

#1486.  WHO:  Jerome O'Shaugnessy
WHEN: January 27, 2004
WHERE:  The Armory
SETTING: A fellow member commends Jerome for still trying to recruit members, even at his last workout.
WHAT HE SAID:  "I'm still going to be recruiting new members at the airport."

#1485.  WHO:  Frank Handelman
WHEN: January 20, 2004
WHERE:  The Armory.
WHAT HE SAID:  "My father and his brothers all lived into their 90s. My wife's fear that I'll be 85 and still running the 800m. My fear is that Sid Howard will still be running better age-graded times in the same race."

#1484.  WHO:  Joe Glickman
WHERE:  Metrosports Magainze
WHAT HE WROTE:

Three women, three countries, three sports. The common thread: they're all New York City endurance athletes who excel on a local, regional and national level. Helen Havam, a 27-year-old from Estonia who didn't lace on in-line racing skates until 1997, now competes against the best in the world. Stefani Jackenthal, a 37-year-old native New Yorker with a long and eclectic athletic resume, is a sub-3:00 marathoner (2:59:59 to be exact) who has competed at the elite level as a cyclist, triathlete and adventure racer. And duathlete Margaret Schotte, a 27-year-old Canadian and Harvard grad, has in just two seasons become one of the top run/bike/run specialists in North America. All three "wonder women" live in Manhattan, train in Central Park and race internationally. Read their stories, but prepare to suffer if you try to keep up with them in a race.

She'll Tri Anything

Name: Stefani Jackenthal

Age: 37

Home: Manhattan

Sport: Triathlete, Cyclist, Adventure Racer

Full-time job: Journalist, entrepreneur

How's this for a novel personal ad: White Jewish female, 5 feet, 6.5 inches, 115 pounds, former professional cyclist, rises at 5 a.m. to swim, bike and/or run. Trains 16 to 18 hours a week, enjoys sushi, gourmet coffee (black with sugar), yoga, weight training, low-fat frozen yogurt, fine wine and running across the Grand Canyon. Seeking like-minded athlete willing to climb 20,000-foot mountains, swim leech-infested rivers and rappel sheer granite cliffs. No drugs or meat eaters please. Meet Stefani Jackenthal, all-around athlete extraordinaire.

Jackenthal's career as a multi-day adventure racer started innocently enough. A varsity lacrosse player at SUNY Cortland, Jackenthal began cycling between her sophomore and junior years to rehab a leg injury. After graduating from business school in 1991, she cycled through Scandinavia and enjoyed it so much that she got her racing license when she returned. Though the first few races scared the sushi out of her, Jackenthal hung tough, secured a sponsor, and began shining on the national stage. In 1994 she finished a surprising second during a stage of a prestigious pro race in Killington, Vt., proving that she could hang with the top sprinters in the sport. But after damaging her hip in a pileup in 1995, her umpteenth serious crash, she'd had enough. After a six-month layoff, Jackenthal started swim training.

A triathlete was born. By 2001 she earned All-America Triathlon honors at the Olympic distance. That same year Jackenthal won the inaugural New York City Triathlon and qualified for the World Champs in Hawaii at Ironman Lake Placid. How tough is this petite woman from the Upper West Side? Despite "vomiting her guts out" in the heat of Hawaii from mile 80 on the bike to mile 20 on the run, she willed herself to carry on and finish. "It was such a primal experience," she says. "It wasn't pretty but it showed me how deep I could dig."

In fact, until Jackenthal agreed this year to be part of a four-person relay team that set out to break the coed record for cycling across America, she'd planned on qualifying for Kona a second time to "do it right." Though her team crossed the country in six days and 16 hours, narrowly missing the record, Jackenthal raised $15,000, to be split between the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. Her mother, who joined Jackenthal at the end of her ride, recently endured surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer. Despite sleeping about three hours a night for six days in June, Jackenthal loved the experience. "One night I was riding in Missouri at 2 a.m., cranking along while listening to the B52's blaring from the speakers duct-taped on top of our support vehicle," she says. "The headlights barely penetrated the mist in the mountains; it was an eerie and strangely beautiful landscape. I felt part of something larger."

So what's next for this peripatetic jock/journalist/wine connoisseur who's raced and reported on adventure races all over the world? "I dunno," she says. "Maybe a cool half-Ironman this fall; although my running stinks right now. I'm really getting into videography-filming adventure races with a mini DVD player. Did I mention in September I'm headed to Primal Quest in Lake Tahoe ."

Fastest Female on Five Wheels

Name: Helen Havam

Age: 27

Home: Manhattan

Sport: In-line skating

Full-time job: Administrative assistant

Born and raised in Estonia (a small country between Latvia and Russia that gained its independence in 1991), Helen Havam was a national junior champ in the heptathlon with Olympic aspirations. Made up of seven track and field events, the heptathlon is the female equivalent of the decathlon. After high school, however, Havam stopped training and started working at the Foreign Ministry. In 1996, she came to New York for a two-year stint at the Estonian Consulate; she's been here ever since.

A year after arriving in the Big Apple, Havam bought a pair of recreational skates. Every day after work she and a co-worker headed to Central Park to do a lap as fast as they could. One evening, she blew by accomplished local racer Bobby Piedra, who stared in disbelief at the 5-foot, 3-inch woman whizzing by on four wheels. Much to her dismay, he took up the chase, attempting to fraternize with her all the way around the park. By the time they finished the 6.2-mile lap, Piedra asked if she'd like to log another lap, something she'd never done before. In the months that followed, Piedra had Helen on the faster five-wheel skates and began teaching her the nuances of the technically demanding sport. In October, he convinced her to check out a "fun" race in Georgia called the Athens to Atlanta. She finished the 86 undulating miles in 5:21, third in her age group. Though her back ached for weeks, she eventually married her in-line mentor and vowed to learn all she could about her new sport.

In 1999, Havam finished in the money in a prominent pro race out West. In 2002, she made the U.S. National Team and qualified for the World Marathon Champs, although she couldn't compete because she's not a U.S. citizen. Earlier this year, however, Havam represented Estonia at the European Championships in Italy. "It's the biggest race of my career," she says. Havam competed in eight events, finishing fourth in the 500-meter sprint and 13th in the 26.2-mile marathon.

Havam trains six days a week, two to three hours a day. Though she's the dominant skater in the East, she still considers herself a "new skater" compared to the international competitors who've been racing for a decade or more. Getting her to brag about her accomplishments is nearly as difficult as defeating her on the road. "Every race gives you more experience," she says. "I'm still learning. I just love the feeling of pushing hard and doing my best. If my best isn't good enough to win, I'll train harder and go again next year."

A Two-Sport Terror

Name: Margaret Schotte

Age: 27

Home: Manhattan

Sport: Duathlon

Full-time job: Rare book dealer

Ask Ontario native Margaret Schotte, the former captain of the cross-country and track teams at Harvard University, what her best 10K time is and she equivocates like an elected official. "Well, it's not that fast."

How fast?

"Well, just 37:05," she says. "I should be able to go faster."

In elementary school, Schotte (pronounced Scotty, as in "Beam me up") gravitated to running because, she says in her wry, self-effacing style, "I had absolutely no coordination to do anything else." Under the rigorous coaching she enjoyed (and endured) in high school, Schotte was the Canadian national champ at 3,000 meters. At Harvard, where she majored in history and literature, she focused more on the rich social and academic world of Cambridge, Mass., and less on running. "I was faster in high school than I was in college," she says. "There was so much going on, not to mention all the junk food I consumed."

In 1999 she moved to Manhattan, got a job as a rare-book dealer on 55th and Park Avenue and joined the Central Park Track Club. Schotte found the camaraderie and laid-back attitude a "good environment to recharge my running batteries," she says. In 2001, she began cycling to soothe her ailing hamstrings. After completing the 325-mile New York-to-Boston AIDS ride, Schotte continued training on two wheels throughout the winter. Last fall, she tried her first duathlon and was the second woman and eighth overall. She won her next race, the Central Park Biathlon. "My strength as a cross-country runner came through on the bike," Schotte says.

Last winter, Jonathan Cane, a personal trainer and competitive cyclist whom she met during speed workouts in Central Park, hooked her up with Kirk Whiteman, a spinning instructor and elite track cyclist. "Kirk turned my sluggish distance-runner legs into decent biking legs," she says. This spring Schotte eyed the duathlon race calendar like a book dealer would a first edition of Boswell. "I was chomping at the bit to race," she says.

In 2003 Schotte crushed the field in each of the four duathlons she's done. At the Canadian Nationals this July, the 5-foot, 7-inch, 140-pound bookworm won the 10K/40K/5K race comfortably. "I had a smile on my face the whole race," she says.

#1483.  WHO:  Stacia Schlosser
WHEN:  November 2, 2003
WHERE:  The post-marathon party at The Parlour.
WHAT SHE SAID:  "I don't care what you write on the website as long as it doesn't mention me.  Of course, now you'll probably put that on the site."

Well, if you insist...

#1482.  WHO: John Prather and Stuart Calderwood
WHEN:  November 2, 2003
WHERE:  The post-marathon party at The Parlour.
WHAT THEY SAID:

John:  "From now on I want you introduce me just as 'John who used to run with CPTC and now lives in Arizona' and not add anything else."

Stuart:  "Sure."

John:  "Thanks."

Stuart:  (turning to the person next to him):  "This is John.  He once ran a 10k in 30 minutes."

#1481.  WHO: Yves-Marc Courtines and Alexandra Horowitz
WHEN:  October 23, 2003
THE SETTING:  Yves-Marc had just made a hooting sound during the workout.
WHAT THEY SAID:

Yves-Marc:  "That sound means to start the pickup."

Alex:  "So all those construction workers are actually telling me to run faster!"

#1480.  WHO: Margaret Angell and Kevan Huston
WHEN:  October 23, 2003
THE SETTING:  The recently married Kevan was pushing Kieran Calderwood's baby jogger during the workout.
WHAT THEY SAID:

Margaret:  "Are you running with that baby jogger for practice?"

Kevan:  "No.  Why, do you know something I don't?"

#1479.  WHO:  Marty Levine
WHEN:  October 14, 2003
WHAT HE SAID:  "The only thing worse than being a Yankees fan in Boston this weekend was being beat by Trot Nixon and Mike Timlin's wives by almost six minutes in the Boston Half Marathon."

According to the race website, "Included in the field were Red Sox wives Dawn Timlin (wife of Mike), who placed 1001st (1:50:55); and Kathryn Nixon (wife of Trot) who placed 1002nd (1:50:56).  Both were running as part of the Dana-Farber team of runners, who competed and fundraised to fight cancer.  More than 400 Dana-Farber Runners were among the field."  Marty finished in 1:52:30.

#1478.  WHO:  Yves-Marc Courtines
TO:  Mark Sowa
WHEN:  October 5, 2003, during Grete's Great Gallop
WHAT HE SAID:  "There are only two women ahead of you!"

Hearing this, the runner next to Mark asked him:  "What race are you running, anyway?"

#1477.  WHO:  Kim Mannen
TO:  Jessica Reifer
WHEN:  September 7, 2003, after Jessica finished the Fifth Avenue Mile
WHAT SHE SAID:  "Come here.  I want to spank you!"

#1476.  WHO:  Sid Howard
WHERE: RunnersWorld.com, A Brief Chat with Sid Howard by Peter Gambaccini, September 5, 2003

Sid Howard, 64, a great-grandfather from New Jersey, won the 1500 meters gold medal in 5:04.19 for the 60-64 age group at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Puerto Rico in July.  In August, he won the 1500 in 4:57.97 and the 800 in 2:21.94 at the USA Masters Championships in Eugene.  On his 60th birthday, Howard, who competes for the Central Park Track Club, had set a 60 and over indoor world record of 2:12.75 for 800 meters.  At age 59, he received his B.S.W. degree from Kean University if New Jersey

Runner's World Daily:  Is this 1500 your first individual world championship?
Sid Howard:  It is.  Twenty years ago in the same place, Puerto Rico, I ran the World Games and I didn't make the finals of the 800 or the 1500.  A friend of mine was running the marathon and said "why don't you run 20 miles of the marathon with me?"  I was only running after five years at that time.  We got to the 20-mile mark, and instead of me stopping, he stopped.  I ran the whole marathon in 2:46:47.  Someone said "Sid, they're looking for you, you got third place."  But I wasn't legally entered into the marathon.

The next time I ran the World meet was 1989, when I was 50.  I got sixth place in the 800 and seventh place in the 1500.  I finally made the finals.  In '95, in Buffalo, I got my first medal, a second place in the 800.  In '99, I got a bronze medal but I broke the American record (60 and over) with a 2:12.71 in the 800.  Two years later in Australia, I got the silver medal in the 800 and still got fourth place in the 1500.  So I never even won a medal in the 1500 until this year.

RWD:  Was this 1500 a close race?
SH:  It was close until the last lap.  We had 16 people in the race because we didn't have a prelim.  Nobody wanted to take the lead.  Nobody wanted to sacrifice themselves.  It was more of a tactical race; I actually ran seven seconds faster at the Nationals.  My closest competitor was a guy from Norway, and the third guy was from Great Britain.  I led with a lap to go.  It was pretty close until the last 120 meters, and I had a nice finishing kick.

RWD:  You've set world records and relay records and won lots of national championships.  Is this your happiest running achievement?
SH:  I love the team golds more than anything.  I love relay records more than individual.  But for individual accomplishment, I can't get higher than this.  I set world records, and records are made to be broken, and no one can ever take away the fact that I won the 2003 world championship in the 1500 for men 60 to 64.

RWD:  There was a large Central Park Track Club contingent in Puerto Rico.  You've meant a lot to them, leading by example, but it must work both ways. They keep you interested.
SH:  It was good to have my teammates there in Puerto Rico to cheer me on.  That had to help me tremendously.  Without the team, my succcess would not be what it is today.  I have to give the team a lot of credit.  Training by myself is never the same as when I train with the team.  When I'm by myself and I set out to do eight quarters (400s), when I get to the fifth one, I say "oh, I think I've had enough."  When I'm with the team and I know I'm tired and I look over at my teammates and they're still going at it, that helps me tremendously.  Nothing's better than team camaraderie.

RWD:  Were your 800 and 1500 wins in Eugene pretty convincing?
SH:  They were exciting races, especially the 1500.  On the last lap, I took the lead.  I wanted to have those guys chase me down the backstretch and pass me, which they did.  I know that in the 1500, you only have the opportunity to make one quick move.  I wanted those guys to make their move on the backstretch so I could save mine for 150 to go.  That's when I started my kick.

RWD:  You're been running great in age groups for over 20 years.  Physically, how do you keep it going at that level?
SH:  I don't run on the roads and do roadracing as much as I used to.  I don't do any road workouts with the team if I can help it.  I think a lot of it has to do with my diet, that I've been a vegetarian for over 25 years.  I don't do a lot of quantity; I do a lot of quality.  I think that has helped me maintain my speed and my fitness.  I do 400 sit-ups in the morning, five days a week, and try to stretch as well as I can.  I take two days off a week now; I took no days off when I was younger.

RWD:  In December you do the Pete McArdle 15-K cross country in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, with three laps of those difficult back hills.  That's unusual for an 800/1500 guy.
SH:  I will always do that Pete McArdle.  He was one of my idols.  That basically sets me up for indoor track.  Whenver I can do those three times around, that gives me a lot of confidence that I'm going to have a good indoor season.  That's the longest distance (15-K) that I run, and it helps me out tremendously.

RWD:  Do you figure you'll be racing well into your 70s?
SH:  I was hoping I would be one of the first men at the age of 100 to actually not jog but run.  Next year, I'm going into a new age group.  Every age group gives you something to motivate you.  I'm doing to continue hitting age groups until three digits, one-zero-zero.

#1475.  WHO:  Isaya Okwiya and Devon Martin
WHEN:  August 16, 2003
WHERE:  Post-softball game dinner on Devon's rooftop deck
WHAT THEY SAID:

Isaya:  "Breasts are nice, but I prefer legs."

Devon:  "Of course you do; you're a runner."

Isaya:  "I thought we were talking about the chicken."