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On The WebPREAMBLE: The World Wide Web is an astonishing source of information. Sometimes, it scares us to see how much is known about ourselves on the Web. For example, the terrible race times that we hope nobody will find out about are probably posted somewhere. But there are worse things than that! On this page, we will provide some links to Central Park Track Club members that we have come across. Obviously, some of us have nothing better to do with our time than to dig up dirt on others. But enquiring minds want to know! Among Harvard University's All-Time Academic All-Ivy Selections, we find Margaret Angell and Margaret Schotte (see photo). Top sport story in the January 17th issue of The Royal Gazette of Bermuda is about none other than the Sid Howard. During the past few months, there have been many new faces around, to the point that people are unsure who is a teammate now. From here on, we will present a teammate to you every week. This is a way of introducing people to each other, especially about what they do outside of running. This week, the subject is Sara Grillo of the middle-distance group. Next time you see that girl with the long curly, wavy hair, you know who she is. Stefani Jackenthal was the winner of the Women's Sport Journalism Award for the print series "Your Attitude" in Sports Illustrated for Women. We cannot favor one of our favorite triathletes over another, so here is Shelley Farmer explaining how she decided to become an art dealer. P.S. Don't get jealous --- all triathletes are our favorites ... Larry Thraen is the Director of Corporate Relations for the New York Adventure Racing Association. In his spare time, he is an 'intrepreneur of Sheep Meadow (Central Park).' What ... ? These sock people provided this biography: "ROSS GALITSKY Triathlete and Ultra-Triathlete - Finished fourth in the Odessey Double Iron in 1999. Ross is currently ranked 43rd in the world by the Ultra Triathlon federation and number 3 among American athletes. Ross is also a coach and former member of the New York University Triathlon Club." Bonus picture included. That statement is a slight exaggeration, but you have to check out who won the 1999 Nikolaus-Crosslauf in Bremen, Germany. Yes, folks, it's the time of year to head out for cross country races in Van Cortlandt Park. A WEDDING On September 30, 2001, the New York Sunday Times
announces: "Anna Catherine Coatsworth, the daughter
of Patricia and John H. Coatsworth of Cambridge, Mass., was married
in New York yesterday to Jonathan Paul Simon, a son of Sybil Kern
of Watchung, N.J., and Jay, S. Simon of West Orange, N.N.
Justice Martin Evans, who is retired from the New York State Supreme
Court, officiated at the Metropolitan Club. This Dutch guide to New York City considers the Central Park Track Club a New York extra. Check out the company that we keep ... This Honolulu Advertiser article identifies
three age-group records as being the most significant ever: You may think that you know your running partners --- pace, form, breathing rhythm, diet, training regimen, etc --- but you are often ignorant that they have significant other lives (unless you read it on the website). Here is the biography of the other Shelley Farmer! Yes, she is a lot smarter than a dumbbell. MARATHON-VAGABONDEN TOBY TANSER Swedish-language interview with Toby Tanser. How much do you understand? Actually, much more than you would think possible ... Dr. Michele Tagliati gets interviewed on RAI, but he's not talking about Italian soccer ... Bob Summers is one of the featured
triathletes on this Ironman Live story. First Lance Armstrong, then Marla Runyan. Who is Stacy Creamer's next famous author ...? It is one thing to report a list of marathon finishers, but Charlie Stark even had the roster of his cheering squad published in the local newspaper! Recruit or die, that is the maxim for all clubs. Of course, we need to focus on those recruitment pipelines that have proven to be effective for us in the past. Based upon our recent history, our current strength seems to be triathletes and/or Canadians. According to Larry Thraen, a logical extension would be to go from triathletes to adventure racers. Who? You can find out more about adventure racing from Stefani Jackenthal (who is not Canadian, alas ...). We have long distance running, middle distance and sprint coaches. How about a swimming coach for the club that is sometimes referred to as the Central Park Triathlon Club? Well, you can pay the exorbitant membership fee for Scott Willett's coaching at the Chelsea Pier Sports Club. Or else Ramon Bermo can provide some free training tips (warning: bring your Spanish dictionary). HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE A TRACK ADDICT? You let Margaret Schotte tell you ... We apologise for not having found this article immediately upon publication. Our excuse is that we were in the wrong demographic group to be perusing the sub-20 website. Fortunately, someone else has directed our attention to it. This very helpful person has asked us not to mention his name, since he does not wish to be mistaken as taking a prurient interest in teenage girls. We respect his wishes. In this book about recipes from Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe, author Andrew McLauchlan included in his qualifications as having "worked with such acknowledged masters as Noel Comess at Tomcat Bakery in New York ..." Where do you remember seeing a Tomcat delivery truck? Answer: (a) the 2000 Central Park Winter Biathlon (b) the movie You've Got Mail. A brand new name showing up for us in the 2001 Spring Fling 4 Miler is Amy Sheeran, whose running credentials included a 2nd place finish in 18:43 in the Elvis Is Alive and Running 5K in Chicago. You can't say that we don't know how to pick 'em ... Recently, we reported how you could listen to one of your teammates deliver a 15 minute speech for a measly $875. Of course, some of you are wondering just what the subject was. Now you can actually read the text of that notorious speech (disclaimer: don't blame us if you get a headache!). Craig Chilton's review: "I tried to read it. I mean, I really tried but I couldn't finish." Stefani Jackenthal's kayaking article for SportsForWomen.com. Article by Stefani Jackental at Women's Executive Network. For her senior essay of high distinction titled "Savages, Beasts and Honnęte Gens: Collapsing Cultural Boundaries in the Work of the Baron de Lahontan", Margaret Schotte ('99) won the Oliver-Dabney Prize in History and Literature at Harvard University. Read Stefani Jackenthal's journals for the most prestigious adventure race, this time being held in Tibet. Stefani Jackenthal reviews
the Specialized's Rockhopper A1 FS --- "sexy and sophisticated
for city riding." According to CentralParkNYC.org, if you are interested in running/jogging, you can check out www.nyrrc.org for the schedule of events, and then www.centralparktc.org for everything else. C'est si bon, n'est-ce pas? We are glad to report that the art of letter writing is alive and well, especially in the Far East ... you tell 'em, Charles! After bringing you the Lance Armstrong bio this year, Stacy Creamer will bring you the Marla Runyan story next. If you are not getting enough on this website, there is another gallery completely devoted to Tobymania. Our self-appointed knowledge keeper of all things Latin American has finally decided to write about running after having exhausted the subjects of sex, violence, race, abortion, class warfare, globalization, environmentalism, human rights, soap opera, mtv, comics, McDonald's, cigarettes, seafood, volleyball, tennis and even rugby, ... Food stylist Rori Spinelli is one of the experts who assembled this list of "must-have" tools of the trade (e.g. "the lollipop-colored silicone Le Creuset spatula"). Story by Barbara Hoffmann about Toby Tanser. Question: What does it take for the news media to get an interview with this star runner? "Coffee and bagels!" The cheapest paid interview ever in history? David Pullman is honored as
one of the most innovative people of the twenty-first centuy by
Time magazine. This website actually lists the Central Park Track Club as one of its 'site friends' along with the NYU Triathlon Club, the International Ultra Triathlon Association, Wigwam Mills Inc (yes, the people who manufactured the socks) and the Rudy Project North America (no, not our unfaithful mayor). Yes, you will also learn about things like "What body part will surely fail?", "The fastest Deca-Ironman times", "Gatorade or gatorburf?" and so on. No, we won't tell you in what way are our sites related because you should be able to attribute guilt by association. THERMONUCLEAR FUSION IN CENTRAL PARK We kid you not, as you can read the home page of Eric Van Den Eijnden for yourself. DO SOMETHING You can run a marathon and, at the same time, you can "do something too". According to the Northeastern University magazine, "Stephen G. Kaplan, BA'67, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, reports that his daughter, Eve Kaplan, LA'94, ran the Dublin Marathon and raised $4,000 for the Leukemia Society." CHELSEA PIERS SPORTS CENTER NEWS In the latest member newsletter (issue #14), we read this note from General Manager Betsy White: "I am pleased to announce that Scott Willett joined the Sports Center this month as our new Fitness Director, bringing over 13 years of experience in the Health and Fitness industry. In addition, his personal athletic accomplishments are impressive and extensive, including several Ironmans, a Double & Triple Ironman, Manhattan Island Swim, and numerous other grueling events. I invite you to visit Scott at his office on the Mezzanine if you have any questions regarding personal training services." This page is simplicity itself. The only thing that happens is that David's picture contorts when you place the mouse over it. For a more detailed biography, you'll have to look elsewhere. Actually, David is a celebrity these days following the New York Times article on Sunday (August 6). But the big question will always be: Is he ready to securitize his future with a Pullman bond? The 2000 Tour de France victory was Lance Armstrong's second in a row. But according to this article, Stacy Creamer was already celebrating a victory two days before Lance's first win last year ... Quick, you can still sign up for a full-month session to learn to cook ŕ la française with Rori Spinelli in Provence from September 5 to October 2, 2000 ... Here are your instructor's biographical data:
This hospital's photo album contains a photo of Dr. Alan Bautista, OLM EMS physician, in action. When informed about this link, Dr Bautista said, "I had no idea that my hospital even has a website. Well, at least, when I attempt to give treatment and advice the next time, you guys will know that I am properly qualified." No, we don't mean those of our runners who fold swiftly in races and/or workouts. We mean Scott Willett, whose foldable Air Friday bike has been the butt of many jokes (e.g. this article suggests that this bike has "fetish value" because "the saddle is perched at the tip of a cantilevered titanium beam"). PRIVACY IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET One of the wonders of the World Wide Web is the amount of personal information that becomes available. We would like you to click on this page, which is for Haverford College alumni, and search for the name Barbara Eisen. Interesting, isn't it? We didn't know that ... Those Toby Tanser quizzes are notoriously difficult. Apparently, the man himself has no compunctions about taking part in the solution of a (comparatively much easier) quiz offered by someone else, all for a free copy of Marathon & Beyond Marathon magazine and a measure of fame. What ever happened to minimum standards of self-respect? Toby Tanser
is listed on this Swedish running club website with various records:
13:58.59 (5000m), 29:46.24 (10000m), 1:03:04 (half marathon), 2:18:02
(marathon) and nowhere in the 3000m steeplechase. ARMSTRONG ROLLS TO MARKET GOLD David Monti points out there is an article in USA TODAY about the marketing of Lance Armstrong. Included in the marketing blitz is his soon-to-be-released book, described by his editor Stacy Creamer as "one of those books that comes around maybe once in a decade." Margaret Angell and Margaret Schotte are our teammates. But did you know that they were teammates once upon a time at Harvard University? And did you know that they even came down to compete in the 1996 Heptagonal Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park? A website builds traffic by having other websites linking to it. The Central Park Track Club has the luck of having the glamor of a world-famous park in its name. This particular link came from a Finn, Esa Piri, who visited New York City in 1997. In celebration of the silver anniversary of women's championships in the Ivy League, each member university selected two members in each sport for its honor roll. For cross country running, we would certainly expect to see the name of Lynn Jennings (Princeton), undoubtedly the greatest American cross country runner ever. But we were also happy to find Devon Martin (now Devon Sargent) named by Columbia University. Just because the two principals kept stiff upper lips about their wins at this event does not mean that the free press cannot locate good quotes. So now the Jerusalem Post tells us that Scott Willett won the swim and bike events, but was beaten in the marathon with his time of 3:26:15. No wonder the headline screamed "NYU Coach Wins Israel Ironman Event" and not "CPTC Runner Wins Triathlon" ... WINTER CLOTHING THAT IS "FIT TO PERFORM" While this may come too late for Fritz Mueller who is wed to the pullover and the grey sweatpants, you can still get some tips from Coach Mindy Solkin. Just read a couple of sentences and you'd recognize that she has a background in the apparel industry. No, this is not a Discovery Channel television special. It is the photo album by David Monti from his trip to Kenya, including a picture of him with Moses Tanui (check out that altitude! --- we're getting vertigo just from looking at the photo). We bring you one of University of Scranton's greatest runners in history ... our Jack Brennan! When the public library in Davenport, Iowa carries your book, then you know that you made it as an acknowledged writer. Such is the case for Stefani Jackenthal and her The Complete Idiot's Guide to Rock Climbing. Say, are there even rocks to climb in Davenport? OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD One of the hazards of being on the Central Park Track Club is that you are now a public figure, you will be pursued by the paparazzi everywhere and your photos can be published anywhere without a dime in royalty for you. That is our essence. Thus, two of our members found themselves in the second item on this page about cross-media advertising in Latin America, thereby promoting the cause of NAFTA (fittingly, one of them is Puerto Rican and the other is Canadian) ... MY SISTER HANGS OUT WITH JUNKIES Our sister site Zona Latina was just reviewed in the February 2000 issue of Latin Trade magazine with the opening line of "Finally, there is a web site for media junkies." Good heavens! And we thought she only pushed sex and violence. Stefani Jackenthal reviews the move "The Jackal", which she re-titles "Blood, Guts & Hair." Can you believe that Luca Trovato gets paid a fortune to take pictures of this? We must confess that we have a conflict of interest here. On one hand, there is a list of more than 100 delicious low-fat soups to eat and enjoy every day, with food styling by Rori Spinelli. On the other hand, our sister site Zona Latina is highly popular among soup-haters and is endorsed by the Soupbusters Society ("El site dedicado a todos los que odian la sopa"). What is to be done? To soup or not to soup?
You know that Toby Tanser comes to us from Iceland. When we attempt to run on ice, it is hard and slippery. So how did he learn to run there? Well, Iceland actually has nice paved roads lined by greenery like anywhere else. Here is a collection of photos of Toby winning the Reykjavíkumaraţon in 1997, beating the British master runner Hugh Jones by two seconds.
PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION 2 MILER
This race took place in May, but we want you to read this article for form and style. Read about how the New York City poet got lost in Philly. This is how to do good reporting. When we grow up, we want to be able to write just like that (and also give proper credit to all the sponsors ...)
We found that this Stuyvesant High running website refers to our web site as a "hilarious site, a great resource one can browse for hours." We sigh at this lack of appreciation of our seriousness, even as our coach Tony Ruiz waits patiently for the second coming of Moti Margolin, who is cited in various places on their web site ...
RECALLING A SUMMER OF POLITICS
When this link was posted, this protest note came in, "Is nothing sacred?" Since there is a separation of church and state in this nation, anything related to politics obviously cannot be considered sacred.
"WHO IS DAVID PULLMAN ANYWAY?" Well, the person who uttered that fateful question
is one of those named in a $2.5 billion lawsuit
filed by David Pullman. If David wins a fraction of
that amount, and if he would give a fraction of that to us, then
we wouldn't have to hassle everyone to buy a couple of books at
Amazon.com in order to keep this website going ... FOREIGN DICTIONARY TIME, AGAIN Alright, what is going on in this article? Just in case you think that this website is for Swedes only, how many names on this other page from this same website do you recognize? (pssst ... see where the Italians were?) WASHINGTON INTERNS, IN THE SHADOW OF POWER
Oh, no, you think, another Washington intern story again. Yes, we're just as sick of it as you are. But all we want you to do is to read the last two paragraphs of this Washington Post story. Okay?
To our surprise, we found that someone who professes to hate 5k's --- namely Alayne Adams --- holds the course record of 17:39 at the Great Bear Run, Needham, MA.
According to this article, "El Dr. Michele Tagliati y colaboradores del Mount Sinai Medical Center, explican que la neuropatía periférica es una de las neuropatías más frecuentes en la enfermedad por VIH y que PSD es la modalidad más observada en pacientes con SIDA." If you don't read Spanish, you can try this other article which names Dr. Tagliati in the first paragraph. His name is the only thing we can read in the whole article, as our keyboard doesn't even have many of those symbols ... SISTER, SISTER The Central Park Track Club is a member of a network of websites, and has a number of sister sites. The newest sister site is Zona Europa, a European media portal which was just re-launched. And, yes, you can read Icelandic newspapers and listen to Icelandic radio from that site ... TRAIN HARD, WIN EASY Toby Tanser is the author of the book titled Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way. Oh, would it really be as easy as that ... it's not easy to train hard, it would be very easy to win (like if nobody else showed up), but it is impossible to become Kenyan at this stage of my life ...
GUIDE ON HOW TO READ NEW YORK RUNNER (Nov/Dec 1999 issue)
Click to see the cutest photo ever ...
RED UNIFORM
The November 1999 issue of Runners World has an article on page 52 by Peter Gambaccini about historical moments in the New York City Marathon. There is a photo of Grete Waitz leading in the 1984 marathon. As was usually the case, she was followed closely by our Fred Kolthay. Please note that Fred's Central Park Track Club uniform is red in color! Eeeek!
HEAR THE WALRUS ROAR
Please note that the New York Road Runners Club website is now hosted by Walrus, which is owned by our teammate Michael Rosenthal.
Fritz Mueller holds the Men 50+ course record of 2:30:27 set in 1986. This tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. has photo-illustrations by Luca Trovato. Other websites link to us, but who are these guys? What have we done to deserve this honor? BIG EAST MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK RECORDS Look for Brian Denman (Seton Hall), with titles in 100m, 200m, 400m relay, 800m relay, including three of them in a single meet. MIKIPROZESSE UND MAKROSTRUKTUR The reference list in this paper by someone at the Universität GH Essen refers to a paper co-authored by Roland Soong. Was ist Diffusionsprozesse in sozialen Beziehungsnetzen? Does Jonathan Pillow really want to be the geekiest person at the Discrete Random Structures program at Michigan Technological University? Also check out that dinner photo ... HISTORY OF METROPOLITAN 50 MILER, 1971-1999 You will find the names of Central Park Track Club members Gunther Erich, Fritz Mueller, Michael Koenig, Allan Kirik, Stuart Mittleman, Roger Yergeau, Miki Shiraki (this is the guy who said that his minimum race distance is the marathon), Alan Ruben (in the 50K), ... Our Global Surveillance System (TM) traverses space and time. So here we found Eve Kaplan at the 1997 Dublin Marathon in her marathon debut, well before she had heard of the Central Park Track Club and vice versa. She said, "Please don't print my time" and so we won't ... Read Stefani Jackenthal's review of the Mel Gibson movie Ransom. HEAD OF THE CLASS What do you do when you receive the NYRRC mailing packet of the month? Well, we go and look for photos of people we know. Is it hard to find someone? Here is an axiom: "If it is a starting line photo, then you can probably find Paul Stuart-Smith." (See him in the NYC Marathon Tune-up photo in the August 1999 packet) Among the credits for that website, we found the name Luca Trovato! O, what effervescence! Reader Irene Jackson-Schon (Japan Airlines) wrote to tell them, "I like your newsletter." Well, we're really upset because we never got that kind of praise from her ... but then maybe she had good reasons not to? WHEN BOYS WERE BOYS The PSAL Indoor record book shows that our track coach Brian Denman ran an indoor 400m in 48.8 when he was at Boys & Girls High in 1978. The PSAL Outdoor record book shows that Brian ran an outdoor 46.64 in 1978. Locate the name of Stacy Creamer in the story about the Della Reese biography and read very carefully. If this were true, it would be Hollywood news indeed ... Our website's primary mission is to serve the Central Park Track Club community. We do not pretend that we can influence larger issues (such as IAAF anti-doping policies, etc). Therefore, we have made no effort to publicize our website beyond our club community. Nevertheless, we recognize that tastelessness will inevitably be recognized and appreciated by like-minded people. So it does not surprise us that a Spokane (Washington) website with this name has found us.
This article appeared in Travel & Leisure. The author Christopher Cox wrote that he took photographer Luca Trovato down the Mekong river in Laos with him. We looked through this multi-part article several times and we did not see a single photograph. What was Luca doing? Did he forget to bring film? Postscript: Luca said: "But I took over 200 hundred rolls of film on that trip." Well, those films must be resting next to the many undeveloped rolls of film of Central Park Track Club people that Luca has taken over the years ... DISTAL SYMMETRICAL POLYNEUROPATHY Read what Dr. Michele Tagliati had to say about older patients having higher risk of AIDS-related distal symmetrical polyneuropathy. Does it have anything to do with running? Perhaps not directly, but it does inform you about what he does in his 'spare' time outside of running. The next time when you see him and he talks about not being in shape because he has been working a lot, please have some sympathy for him --- he's been trying to saving lives. Postscipt: When Michele showed this note to his Mount Sinai colleagues, they said, "It may be slightly exaggerated to say he has been saving lives ..." TWISTER GUY Did you know that Eric LaRay Harvey is a professional actor? Among his film credits is the monster hit movie Twister. In Eric's own words, "In Twister, I was the black guy in the black van with the smoked window." CHECK IT OUT Alan Kipust writes to everyone: "I have accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer at Checkout.com and we are moving to LA! I will be commuting from NY to LA for the next few months and plan on making the big move in 1-3 months." Checkout.com is a company that will offer information about entertainment and also sell compact disks, videos and games through a Web site of the same name. An investor and co-founder of Checkout.com is that Michael Ovitz guy, the talent manager who was called "the most powerful man in Hollywood." Congratulations, Alan, this sounds like a really fantastic opportunity! Alan can now be reached at Alan@checkout.com THE FIREMEN No, this is not about FDNY captain John Gleason and his buddies. Rather, Harry Morales translated two short stories by the Uruguayan author Mario Benedetti for the Spring 99 issue of the Kenyon Review. WHAT A BLAST! David Monti edits the widely distributed Race Results Weekly (aka The Bible) and here are his production notes: "I was startled by an explosion outside my building, and when I looked out of the window, there were already a group of fire trucks assembled. I heard another explosion, and went downstairs to find out what was happening. As I was standing on the sidewalk, a third explosion under First Avenue blew a manhole cover several feet in the air, and it landed on the front of a taxi. I could smell electrical insulation burning. Apparently, a small electrical fire in the basement of the building led to the explosions. Soon, gas and electrical service were cut, and I was in the dark. I had to turn my attentions from race results to keeping everything from spoiling in the fridge. In my decade of living in Manhattan, I have never lost my electricity, not even once! The good news is that I got most of RRW finished on time and no computer files were lost. However, the corridors smell of smoke, and the frozen yogurt got mushy." (source: Runner's World 5/18/99) A GERMAN BIRDWATCHER In the New & Noteworthy Paperbacks section of the5/16/99 issue of the New York Times Book Review, you can find Green Fires: Assault on Eden. A Novel of the Ecuadorian Rainforest. By Marnie Mueller. The short review is: "A former Peace Corps volunteer revisits the jungles of coastal Ecuador on her honeymoon in 1969 and becomes involved in a battle between the native people and American oil companies. 'The characters are well drawn, and the novel has adventure, intrigue and romance as well as politics,' one critic said in 1994." A major character is the narrator's husband, a German-accented birdwatcher. Ja, Fritz, we know whom he might be modeled upon, don't we? I FEEL GOOD (I KNEW I WOULD) According to this story from Variety News and carried all over by MSN Entertainment for millions to read, the Godfather of Soul James Brown now has a very good reason for yelling out "I feel good!" This is because David Pullman helped him with a $100 million bond deal. WHAT'S UP, DOC? The photo on the envelop of the June 1999 mailer from the NYRRC is that of Laura Miller at the 1997 Rabbit Run 5K. Well, somebody (other than us) has got a long memory and somebody has long ears ... Please scrutinize that photo very, very carefully, because Laura was wearing rabbit ears!!! CARLY ROSE SONENCLAR Photos of the latest addition (born April 20, 1999 at 8:32 AM, 7 lbs. 5 oz., 19 1/4") to the Sonenclar family can be found at the home page of the Edelman Group. Carly got front page billing because Mom (Terri Sonenclar, née Edelman) is the boss of the company. Her big brother Russell also came along for the ride. Michael Rosenthal was quoted in this TechWeb item as saying, "The strength of the software is in the GUI, which lets us see how customers are using bandwidth and make changes to their [Internet] access capabilities on the fly." Yeah, Michael, right on ...! Not all of us can afford (in time and money) to travel out of town to cheer our teammates. At the 1999 Boston Marathon, Stacy Creamer managed to combine her trip with a business function. In her career, Stacy has made many business trips. But does she remember that she was an editorial fellow at the 1989 Jerusalem International Bookfair? And she wasn't as fast back then as she is today ... This indoor mile race is held in memory of Jim Hartshorne, who is the father of our own Tom Hartshorne. This link provides a history of the event, beginning in 1968. You will find many familiar names --- Brownie Ross, George Sheehan, Al Swenson, Harry Nolan, Duane Green, Carl Capello and, of course, Tom Hartshorne. BOND WHIZ SPINS NOTES INTO GOLD Read about the "gregarious" David Pullman who is "a little bit Wall Street and a little bit rock 'n' roll" blowing into Music Row, Nashville, as reported in The Tennessean. Nothing is going right for you? Just click on the link and find out who to blame! (note: that photo is part of the collection at the Nasse-Ward Gallery on Prince Street, Soho, New York City, New York, USA. PROGRESSIVE CEREBELLAR DEGENERATION No, this does not automatically arise from marathon overtraining, but it can be. You can get the real story in Medical Tribune from Michele Tagliati, MD ... "What caught our attention initially was the apparent discrepancy between the cerebellar symptoms...and the lack of dementia," Dr. Tagliati said. From looking at our photo gallery, we seem to have many demented runners, which is therefore a good sign according to this research ... This novel by Marnie Mueller is set in the Tule Lake Japanese-American internment camp. Marnie is known to us as Frau Fritz Mueller. You can also check out the book reviews at Amazon.com, where someone wrote "The sexual smut could have been left out ..." Ooooo ... But, seriously, the setting for this novel was not chosen by caprice. Rather, the Tule Lake Japanese-American internment camp was where Marnie was born, as described in this moving essay (very inappropriately labeled as '5˘ Fruity Scandal'). IUTA We care an iota about the IUTA (International UltraTriathlon Association), whose 1998 World Classification included Ross Galitsky (#43 with 7681 points) and Scott Willett (#53 with 7081 points). Those two did the Odyssey Double Ironman Triathlon in 1998 in order to earn those thousands of points. LONG & WINDING ROAD New member Harvey Agosto is a Princeton graduate whose 1996 senior thesis is titled "A Study of Rheumatoid Factor Production and Pathogenesis using a Cellular Automaton Model of the Immune System." Some of you may know that Harvey is taking the bar exam. Yes, it is a long way from doing molecular biology to practicing law; in fact, a lot longer than the 50K race ... OFF THE BANDWAGON Those of you who have dabbled in the social sciences will recognize the names of Kurt Lang and Gladys Engel Lang. A recent paper of theirs, titled Off The Bandwagon: Some Reflections on the Influence of Perceived Public Opinion, lists as one of its references something co-authored by Roland Soong. If you know this character, you will not be surprised to find that his contribution was about how to instigate unrest and rebellion against authority. RAIDERS OF THE LOST CAUSE In the March/April 1999 issue of Women's Sports & Fitness, Stefani Jackenthal contributed an article about her experiences at the ultra-adventure race Raid Gauloises in Ecuador last September. More than anything else, this race is about teamwork and here is Stefani's description of her team, "Successful adventure teams aren't just on the same page, they're on the same letter. We weren't even in the same library." How bad were things? Here is an exchange between two teammates:
If you want to find out more, you will have to buy the issue yourself. This article is not available on the WSF web site. Coverage of the Raid Gauloises can also be found at an Hungarian web site. ("Üdvözöljük a Raid Gauloises hivatalos magyar internet-oldalán! E vérbeli kalandsportverseny 9. fordulójának helyszíne Ecuador, 1998 szeptember 19. és 29. között. Kövesse nap mint nap tudósításainkat erről a látványos erőpróbáról!") WHO'S THAT GIRL?
During the week of February 15-21, 1999, the above photo appeared on our home page with the caption, "Who is that girl in the anti-photography gear?" Evidently, her disguise kit was so good that many people had difficulty identifying her. Kim Mannen had to issue denials, and it was not Madonna either. We had actually provided sufficient hints --- the top of the page shows someone in an Al Gordon Five Miler shirt and if you go to our photo album for that race, you will find out that it was Margarita Cabrera. Margarita would also don a disguise at the Snowflake run, causing coach Tony Ruiz to say, "What? Margarita was in the race? I never saw her." A NEWSLETTER EDITOR A former Central Park Track Club newsletter editor, Irene Jackson-Schon, apparently does not let her creative skills go unused. She is the editor of the monthly JAL Newsletter on the World Wide Web. Here are a couple of items that she reported on:
We are so glad to see that she has not lost her touch ... Read about Peter Gambaccini's unflattering review of the 100 best American films as selected by voters from the American Film Institute. Do you know where the words "I think you are filth. I think you are scum" come from? Those words are very much dear to Peter's heart ... Rae Baymiller holds the fastest time for 51-year-old females at 57:37, set in 1995. One of the premier ultra-distance races in the world is the London-to-Brighton 52.4 Miler. Perhaps the most remarkable performance in the history of the Central Park Track Club was when Allen Kirik won the event in 1979, something which had the British suitably appalled. So the Brits brought in the heavy artillery (in the form of Ian Thompson, winner of the 1974 Commonweath Games marathon in 2:09) for the following year's race and pushed Allen down to second place. But the Central Park Track Club took the team award that year, thanks to Allen Kirik, Fritz Mueller, Brian Flanagan, Gunther Erich and Stu Mittleman. So where are the ultras of today? Investment banker David Pullman was reported by Mitchell Fink in the January 6th, 1999 edition of Daily News to be taking classes on this subject. Thank God nothing ever happens on this club worthy of any gossip ... P.S. This same story was picked up by Leslie Eaton in the New York Times on Sunday, January 31st, 1999, on page 3 of The City section:
Yes, we at this website can appreciate that philosophy. The facts, just the facts, and nothing but the facts ... Annoymous Inquiry: "If David Pullman continues to attend
the anti-gossip class instead of doing the workouts, we should all
be able to pass him in the track workouts. Unfortunately,
if we follow his lead (spiritually), we won't be able to talk about
it." In the February 1999 issue of Town & Country, Luca Trovato received special credits for wedding photos in Napa Valley and Venice. It was mentioned that Luca "runs dozens of miles a week in New York's Central Park." Well, he wants to issue a correction to the effect that those were the days before he became a track runner (and before he ate the pumpkins ...). In looking at his photos, we are definitely troubled by Luca's tendency to take some unorthodox shots, like the back of the bride's head. This is beginning to look uncomfortably like some of the masterpieces on this web site (see example). Well, Luca, you are never going to be a successful wedding photographer if you persist on making those kinds of shots ... Jeff Kisseloff received thanks for interviewing Emma 'Pem' Farnsworth. The credits to this film include thanks to Rori Spinelli (Kiehl's Since 1851). We are not sure what Rori was doing there, but here are some concrete advice from her that appeared in Food & Wine:
Question: Are we all going to turn into pumpkins? SOCIAL WELFARE Tomi Gomory is now on the faculty of the School of Social Welfare at Florida State University. You can find a picture of what he looks like now at this link. Tomi was a coach for the Central Park Track Club for nine years. THE SPIRIT OF FOLK Our Global Surveillance System (TM) found Tim Robinson in the New York Times, Section E1, on Monday (1/4/99). The lead article, titled 'A Village Pied Piper for the Spirit of Folk' and written by Andrew C. Revkin, was about the legendary Jack Hardy, whose apartment has been the meeting place for numerous folk singers since the 1970's. Alumni of these meetings include Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega and Lyle Lovett. Tim's moment of fame occurred with this paragraph: "On one recent evening ... Mr. Hardy's new song about a little boy with pirate dreams was gently dissected by Tim Robinson, a magazine illustrator from Brooklyn who is a regular at the swaps and performs almost every week at a handful of clubs that present acoustic music." Better yet, Tim has his picture right up there with Lyle, Shawn and Suzanne. LUCA TROVATO POKES INTO MARTHA STEWART'S LINEN CLOSET ... ... or at least that was reported in The Detroit News Lucas' reaction to this posting: "Really? I'll have to make sure someone pays me for using the photo." COACH MINDY Our greatest jealousy is the group of women who run by the Daniel Webster statue on Thursday and yelling, "Hello, Raphael!" So are the rest of us chopped liver? It makes us feel a lot better to find out the group is coached by Raphael Devalle's friend and our teammate Mindy Solkin, who has her own running center web site. Her e-mail address is appropriately coachmindy@therunningcenter.com .. TRAMPING ALL OVER THE WORLD David Pullman is running all over the world
David has also been mentioned in a number of esteemed magazines: CITY SPORTS Did you realize that City Sports carry a link to the Central Park Track Club web site? Did you know that the Central Park Track Club is the only local running club so honored? THE ULTIMATE SPORT ... AND IT'S NOT RUNNING On WNBC Channel 4 Late News, there was a two-part special by Dr. Ian Smith, featuring a triathlete bloke named Scott Willett. The first part ran on November 1st (Sunday) at 11pm. The second part ran on November 2nd (Monday) at 11pm. If you missed these programs, you didn't miss much because there is not much that would interest real runners. Just in case, we have provided our review of both parts of the program. Scott liked our review so much that he sent in the following appreciation note: "With running friends like that, who needs enemas?" Administrative detail: We ended the week of November 1st to November 8th with the highest number of home page visits (546) ever. This goes to show you how popular Scott Willett is. With a few more specials like these from Scott, we will be ready to ask David Pullman to underwrite our IPO. Among the participants for this August 1999 race are
Technical note: The participant information includes the occupation. This is very important for J.P. Cheuvront, who is aiming to be the first shrink finisher. ROCK SOLID INVESTMENT? David Pullman appeared in our hometown newspaper Daily News on Monday, October 26, 1998. The article by Phyllis Furman, Daily News Business Writer, cited the name David Pullman in seventeen places, and also included this mug shot.
The article begins with this sentence: "Rock 'n' roll investment banker David Pullman has a new gig." Even his detractor has good things to say about our 'financial impresario': "These are lousy investments. Most of the time in these cases, the seller is smarter than the buyer." (our italics) During a one week period between October 11th and October 18th, 1998, we instituted a survey amongst our mailing list members. The survey was restricted to these people, because we can notify them to complete the survey within the established time frame. ABS POWER In the October 26th issue of Business Week, there is a special report titled A $2.5 trillion Market You Hardly Know. What market? This is the market for bonds known as ABS. For those of you who are not hedge fund managers, ABS stands for Asset-Backed Securities (and not for Ellen Kvinta, as you might believe). Cited in this article is one David Pullman, with a full-color photograph.
Yes, the possibilities are endless. Yes, we too have faced such dilemmas. Like should we do 16 times 400m today, or 4 times 1 mile, or ... ? As a major feat of our Global Surveillance System (TM), we present the 1997 Senior ratings from the United States Tennis Association Southern California section in which James Calderwood was ranked third in the the 65-69 doubles with partner Bill Rosener. James Calderwood, being the father of Stuart Calderwood, recently offered us the word 'nefandous' to describe our website. We looked up the American Heritage Dictionary, and the word was not in there. We finally found in Webster's Dictionary that it meant 'impious'. Say what? That is just the sort of thing retired college English professors have time to think up, when they are not playing tennis ...
That is how this article started. So where does he keep his running shoes? BOB AND BILL INTUIT DODGES MICROSOFT BLOW --- Would be TurboTax rival not ready
for stores 'Dark cloud' Bob Meighan, vice president of Intuit's personal tax group, said from his headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., he'd heard talk of the changed plans but he wouldn't comment further. A software industry source, however, said that Microsoft recently sent out terse letters to major retailers telling them "not to save shelf space" for the upcoming season's tax product, reportedly called Tax Saver. Stores sell tax-preparation software from November to April. Market share (But the more important question for us is how has Bob Meighan's running been? At the Dr. Seuss Race for Literacy in San Diego, he finished the 5 mile race in an un-Meighan-like 34:28!) BIDU You must have noticed the little dog (Bidu) prancing around the home page. The truth is much less interesting --- during a work-related project, I came across this animated image, found it cute and set a link to it. So far I have received the following comments already:
It seems that people are spending way too much time contemplating this dog of an issue. So is it not surprising that our performance at the Club Championship is not outstanding? DOGNAPPING Jeff Kisseloff wrote in November 1998: "I tried to access the site today, but found after it loaded, the scroll bars disappeared as did the links under the leaf logo. This also happened a couple of days ago." The problem was that our guard dog Bidu was borrowed from the University of Săo Paulo in Brazil, and they must have placed some restrictions on Bidu's freedom of movement. Maybe they are holding out for the $40 billion IMF loan. Your browser was just desperately looking for Bidu while everything else freezed. Sadly, we are now forced to relinquish our guard dog. Jud Santos wrote: "The real problem was that you chose to borrow it instead of steal it. Bidu isn't exactly an original from Brazil. The Andersen Consulting servers have him as a mouse pointer, as well."
Well, well, well. Please check out the following link about the origins of Bidu. So now these global multinational corporations have not only stolen the gold from the Incas, exterminated the Tainos, stripmined Bolivia and Chile, imposed Catholicism on the natives, burned down the rainforests of Brazil, turned the mahogany trees of Costa Rica into furniture and, to top it off, they have even assumed ownership of Bidu. ˇBasta ya, Lucho, viva la lucha! NYRRC Board Elections In 1998, Central Park Track Club member Alan Kipust ran for a seat on the NYRRC Board of Directors. Unfortunately, he could not muster enough votes as much as we tried to help him.
$100,000,000! Able to raise $100,000,000! Be the first, second, third, fourth and only to securitize future royalties! Able to have a 100% share of the market! Yes, it is DAVID PULLMAN. See David as he appeared on the front page of Billboard! Read about the whole story at www.pullmanco.com. Dave is much more circumspect about all the hoopla. In his own words, "It does not matter how many headlines I get, because I still have to do the workout." PUBLIC HEALTH NOTICE This link shows a smiling Dr. Timothy Evans, Assistant Professor of International Health Economics, Department of Population and International Health, Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Evans' publications include:
TIME IS ON MY SIDE "Investment guru" David Pullman appears on page 39 of the August 17th, 1998 issue of Time magazine. Here is a copy of his mug shot from that page.
This is not the first time that our man has made the national press. Previously, he was one of the group of 'new stars of finance' in Business Week (10/27/97). NATIONAL PRESS COVERAGE Frank Handelman was quoted by Associated Press, and made all the major press outlet including CNN. PHOTOSCAPE Here is some personal information about the photographer Luca Trovato. ACTA NEUROPATHOLOGICA Michele Tagliati is a co-author of the following paper titled: Mitochondrial abnormalities in human immunodeficiency virus-associated myopathy. TRACK RECORDS Devon Sargent (neé Martin) owns the following track records at Columbia University:
Devon also owns the all-time fastest Columbia University 5K cross-country record of 17:49 at Van Cortlandt Park. Here is a picture of her winning a 1989 race at Vanny. JULY 4th, 1998 FIREWORKS In case you were out of town, here is the view from my window. Believe me, you didn't miss much ... As dumb as this item seems, one of your teammates told us that he had nothing else better to do than click on that picture repeatedly to simulate the fireworks show! Yes, this same person's running has been noted by the expert sitting on the parkbench at E90th Street to be rapidly deteriorating ... MEMBER HOME PAGE Check out Jess H. Brewer's Track & Field Page RESIDENT SCHOLAR Michele Tagliati was a resident scholarship recipient from the American Academy of Neurology. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie Among citations of works by people such as Theodor W. Adorno, Hannah Arendt, Pierre Bourdieu, Elias Canetti, Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Clifford Geertz, Martin Heidegger, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Robert K. Merton, Friedrich Nietzche, Georg Simmel and Max Weber, we find the following:
SEINFELD IS DEAD! LONG LIVE SEINFELD! Read what David Pullman wants to do for the syndicated re-runs of this self-absorbed, self-indulgent New York City sitcom. ASSAULT WITHOUT BATTERY The Assault on Mount Mitchell is rated as one of the toughest one-day bicycling events in the United States, with approximately 11,000 feet of cumulative climbing. As punishing as this event is, every year some people go back and beg for more! 1992 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1993 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1994 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1995 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1996 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1997 Assault on Mount Mitchell
1998 Assault on Mount Mitchell
Postscript: When Scott Willett found out about this item, he said "You have too much time to waste!" Yes, the 20 minutes could have been spent on either checking for these results or running a 5K --- which option is more fun and less painful? SOCIAL NETWORKS AND HEALTH There is a synopsis of a National Science Foundation research project conducted by Alayne Adams, titled Social Networks and Health in Mali. VIOLET TRIGEEK PARADISE For whatever reasons, there are some members of the New York University Triathlon Club who are also members of Central Park Track Club. These guys have their own web site, and here is a quick deconstruction:
CHINA DIARY Stefani Jackenthal kept a diary during the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest (MSOQ), a four-day adventure race in Xichang, China, Sept. 11-14, 1997. ART SCHOLAR Paul Sternberger won a Kress Foundation Fellowship for his dissertation "Photography and Landscape in America, 1880-1 900: Between the Amateur and Aesthete." (source: Newsletter Volume 11, Summer 1996, from The Department of Art History and Archaeology, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Fine Arts Center, Columbia University) He is also the co-author of Victorian Pleasures: American Board and Table Games of the Nineteenth Century from the Liman Collection. Wallach Art Gallery, 1991. 11 1/4 X 8 1/2", 80 pp., 15 b & w illus. Paper, $10. I AM A CAMERA When I grow up, I want a job as a photographer so that I can travel at leisure all over the world. In other words, I want to be just like Luca Trovato who got to visit ... HOW TO SUCCEED AS A WRITER Stacy Creamer says: "There is no such thing as genius; anyone can write if they approach the craft with an open heart and a dedication to the task. Even the greatest writers of our time have to keep at and at it, and if they don't, their work will fall short." A metaphor for running? PUBLISH OR PERISH If you get paid by the word, then you try to get published as often as possible, no matter where. How far will someone go? Here is Peter Gambaccini publishing an article titled The Cult of Celebrity Killed Princess Di in The Prague Post. THE CIDERMAN Just in case that you think our web site is the only wacky running site in town, you should check out the Hash Harriers. These folks are not into competitive running as such, but they certainly seem to be having as much fun. Here is an article featuring one of our own, Jonathan Federman, on the memorable occasion of the blizzard of the century. Jonathan is also mentioned in many other parts of the Hash Harriers web site. Check it out and you may find out why he is referred to as the Ciderman. Jonathan replies: "You spend too much time on the web! I had forgotten all about that flight of fantasy that someone else wrote. Of course, I did set a hash trail on the Monday after the blizzard and we had fine Guinness and mediocre Chinese food. You should try the hash sometime. It is non-serious running and serious beer drinking. Just your style." MAJORCA HONEYMOON Like any true New Yorker, we look forward to reading the nuptial announcements in the New York Sunday Times every week. But there is another source of information: the Internet. Here is a link to the wedding of Michele Tagliati. MOUNTAIN GOATS In 1997, we had reported that Ross Galitsky and Aubin Sullivan ran the Mount Washington race, a 7.6 mile run (walk?) from base to summit. Well, one year earlier, Alayne Adams finished third overall female in the Mount Washington race. Her pace was a sizzling 10:32 min/mile. INFORMATION INEQUALITY In spite of the high-tech reputation of the webmaster, the man is a Luddite deep at heart. Frankly, he is distrustful of the anti-democratic tendencies of the information society. In the case of the Central Park Track Club web site, he was ambivalent about the enterprise at the outset. His concern was that not all club members have internet access, and the web site would divide the club into the haves and the have-nots in terms of access to information. One year later, this problem has not disappeared by any means. One rationale might be that equality should not mean denial of service to all, but this is an arrogant elitist stance. Perhaps the only 'good' (if one can call it that) so far is that some club members have purchased computer systems because they felt that they have been missing out. There is another form of information inequality. This web site, and especially this page, relies heavily on links to club members found elsewhere. Therefore, some people are mentioned much more often than others. Sometimes, people achieve notoriety by publishing stuff on the web with sensationalist keywords, such as sex and violence. Other people are simply so diversified that they pop up everywhere, without any self-promotion. Here is our best all-rounder, Stacy Creamer, who is ...
In a way, I suppose that the web is no different from any other media. These words are written without any sense of relief. BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY Runners World Online began its WWW service in January 1996. That weekend was noteworthy when the blizzard of the century hit the east coast. Even as the weather forecasters predicted the storm to begin on Sunday morning, a few venturesome souls still went out to run the Fred Lebow Classic 5 Miler in Central Park. The race began with some light snow flakes and ended in invisible conditions. Coming through the blizzard as overall first woman was master runner Suzanne Rohr, followed by teammate Laura Miller in third place. That was a race to remember. (Footnote: Suzanne Rohr was not our first female master to win a race in the park, as Rae Baymiller had won the 25K once.) RUNNERS WORLD Here are some Central Park Track Club who are listed on the masthead of this running magazine.
IT'S A BOY Here is a photo of Alan Kipust's boy, born December 5th, 1997. Tyronne Culpepper is Front-Page Material! When we received our package of December 1997 racing materials from the NYRRC, we went to look at all the races that we are in no shape to run in and we noticed that the December Member of the Month is none other than our Tyronne Culpepper! In case you threw your packet out already, or maybe you are a conscientious objector to joining the NYRRC, we have the image here. First of all, there is the obligatory photo pose of that professional poseur Tyronne. Then there is a very detailed biography of our man. We learned that Tyronne used to run 800m in high school, so we now know why he starts out every road race so quickly. It is obvious that Tyronne gave full cooperation in this piece, but he sure has been tight-lipped about it. Supposedly, the only people in this world who knew were his wife and the sworn-to-secrecy Stacy Creamer! Hey, Tyronne, don't you understand the value of media publicity? Have you thought about using a publicity agent? Have you heard of the Ross Galitsky? As the Member of the Month, Tyronne will be the official starter at the HOT CHOCOLATE 10 MILER on December 6th. O, Tyronne, we are not worthy! We are not worthy! Tyronne replies: "To be honest, I figured with your telekinetic powers (of persuasion, of course) you already knew about it. That's why I hit the web site so often to see if it was already there. There's no doubt who's the King of All Media club award winner for the Central Park Track Club this year!! I'd like to thank my new PR man, Ross G. for making this all possible." Well, Tyrone, don't be too sure. As Ross will tell you, voting and award categories can be easily rigged. He knows. He is from Russia. Postscript: As it turns out, rather than hand Tyronne the award, the powers-that-be cancelled the Media Person of the Year Category altogether. Yes, he wuz robbed! ELM STREET Here is a short story, Ilan Stavans' Three Nightmares, translated by Harry Morales from Spanish into English for The Literary Review. CORPORATE MUSCLE Most of us know our teammate Terri Sonenclar as a iron-pumping half-marathon-running supermom. But did you know that she is also Terri Edelman, the President of the Edelman Group? (Edelman is her maidenname). Check out the link, which has her picture --- you will probably have to squint hard to look, because the person there does not match your common image of her! The site also has her biography. CATSKILL MOUNTAIN 100K ROAD RELAY The following quote came from Betty Marolla, President of the Central Park Track Club: "Fantastic job of directing the 100K Catskill Mountain Road Relay. We had a fantastic time! Because of the good spirits among all the participants, the beautiful course, and the terrific weather, we all want to come back and try it again." Comment: I think we will just send Alan Ruben alone next time. ALL-TIME MEDIA HOG Elsewhere on this page, there is the story about how Jon Weilbaker and Pat Tuz scored on one the all-time media stories. Unfortunately, they have not been able to maintain their pace. They would therefore have to yield the all-time media hog title to other club members. The leading candidate would be that very enterprising Stacy Creamer, who have the tendency to show up at the right time in the right space with the right people. How about going out for a run on the reservoice and, by accident, ran with President Bill Clinton with the Secret Service and the media corp in tow? And how about this famous picture that appeared in a NYRRC mass mailing? how did she, of all people, get in there? and how did she get her hair to behave that way? The other leading candidate has to be Fred Kolthay, who made a career of shielding the lead woman runner at the New York City Marathon from the potentially lethal radiation from the television cameras. In this picture, he is throwing his body in front of Grete Waitz on the Queensborough Bridge, and the helicopter teleshot was the only way that we could see Grete. Fred Kolthay was in fact toilet-trained to become a media hog. Way back then, he had appeared as a photogenic tiny baby inside National Geographic in a story about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. An unwitting candidate is Michael Trunkes. He was attempting to qualify for the Olympics Marathon Trial in 1992 at the New York City Marathon, the same one that Liz McColgan made her marathon debut. After a courageous 1:09 first half, Mike slowed down considerably. As he came around Central Park South, Liz came tearing past him. With the television camera on them, the commenator said something like, "Look at Liz go! The man that she is passing so effortlessly is an elite runner!" MEDIA HOGS One of the all-time media scoops copped by Central Park Track Club members was the marriage of Patricia Tuz and Jon Weilbaker. They held their marriage ceremony during the 1994 New York City Marathon, thus guaranteeing themselves national television coverage for four hours. So there they were, dressed in shortened wedding gown and tuxedo, sipping champagne along the way, interviewed continously by a special television reporter. Eventually, they did finish in a time 4:00:14 (him) and 4:00:15 (her). Of course, media hogs never say quit. In 1995, they leveraged their notoriety for another round of media exposure by running the New York City Marathon again. However, the real media scoop occurred a week before the race, as reported in the Central Park Track Club newsletter:-
WHAT I DID THIS
SUMMER "Well, I stayed out on Long Island this summer. I ran some, I swam a bit and I even rode the bicycle a bit. That was about it. Nothing exciting, really." (Note: Mike did not write that. He is too modest and articulate for that. We made it up for him, given the following known accomplishments --- seven top 3 overall race finishes!!!)
HACKER ATTACK !!! During the one-week period from August 1, 1997, this Central Park Track Club web site was taken over by a net-terrorist group and renamed the site for the Gramercy Park Track Club. Who did this? How was it done? Why was it done? Find out about the story. FUN RUN People have different ideas about what their favorite runs are. For Gordon Bakoulis and Alan Ruben, their favorite is the 67km (=41.5 miles) Kepler Track in Te Anau, New Zealand. It took them about 9 hours to do this thing. WHAT'S IN A NAME? One of the laments about modern society is the growing inability of people to spell correctly, especially with respect to names. This becomes glaring when members of the media commit spelling mistakes for all to see. Thus, we were surprised to learn that our teammates Ed Gonnera and Ed Constantinou did well in the World Veteran's Athletic Championships and that our teammate Bonnie Russo won the Corporate Challenge. We did not even know that the named individuals were on our team! But we do have Ed Gonera, Alex Constantinou and Bonny Rozzo on our roster. So next time when you deal with the media, please make sure that they get your name right. For their part, the media should also diligently verify their spelling. Are you listening --- Eddie Coil, John Hank, Jude Santos, Peter Gambacchini and Ronald Song? Postscript: The New York Post's running columnist Mark McLaughlin could not resist taking a dig at his competitor's mistake. More than three weeks after the Corporate Challenge race, he prints this story, in which it was spelled out that Bonny Rozzo --- not Bonnie Russo --- won the race. But unless you know the background, the correction is incomprensible. The male winner is nowhere mentioned. JOEY RUBEN We are happy to report that a son (Joseph, 7 pounds 8 ounces) was born to Alan Ruben & Gordon Bakoulis on Saturday (July 21st, 1997). His dad Alan is one of our club's leading runners, having won races from 3000m up to ultramarathons (and would have won another Central Park 50K if he had not froze into an ice cube that day). His mom Gordon has been Runner of the Year in New York City seven times, ran the marathon in the low 2:30's several times, qualified for three US Olympics Marathon Trials, and is the editor of Running Times magazine. Given his progeny, the kid is doomed to become a successful runner. As it stands, the kid already has his own Joey's page on this web site. DOCTOR, DOCTOR Randall Ehrlich achieved immortal fame at the New York City Marathon in 1996 by being one of 14 runners who were brought to the finish-line medical staff and refused medical attention. We should mention that Randy is a doctor himself, which gives him the right to be stubborn. ICH BIN EIN BERLINER ... NICHT! Roland Soong is listed as having presented a paper titled Magazine Measurement in Extreme Environments at the World Readership Symposium in Berlin, 1995. That would be extremely difficult to do, since he has never been to Berlin in his life as far as he knows --- unless it was a case of alien abduction! RATING PEOPLE BY THE METER Roland Soong is cited in the Newsweek Media Research Index as the author of a Journal of Advertising Research paper on the 'statistical reliability of people meter ratings.' What was that again? Which body parts does he measure? Doesn't that seem unethical, or something? |
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