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Fifth Avenue Mile Strategy
September 27, 2006

Every year Coach Devon sends out the same strategy guide for the Fifth Avenue Mile. And every year we print it here. And every year most of you ignore her advice and end up with disappointing times. Maybe this is the year you'll finally pay attention. But if not, don't come whining to us if you don't run a PR.

FIFTH AVENUE MILE COURSE:
0--400m slight downhill
400--800m slight uphill
800--1200m very slight downhill
1200--1600m very slight downhill

Because the 1st 400m is DOWNHILL, you must be careful not go out too fast. Better to go out too slow for the 1st 400m, then too fast. Inexperienced runners will go out like rabbits, don't get sucked in! You know your mile pace! Stick to it for the 1st 400m.

OVERALL STRATEGY:

0--400m
Get out, RELAX, let the rabbits go!
Run your own race for the 1st 400m.
(Don't worry about your position, it's the same distance from the middle of the road or the side of the road).

400--800m
Now it's time to work!
ATTACK the hill!
Start looking at your competition.

800--1200m
Forget the clock, it's time to compete!
COMPETE, COMPETE, COMPETE!
Start picking off runners one by one!
Every runner counts.

1200--1600m
Find another gear by competing. Remember those 200s & 400s you have been doing on the track?
Go after that runner in front of you!
Don't stop before the finish line---Run "through the line" (i.e., pretend the finish line is 10 meters farther)

Frequently Asked Question: What should I do if I run the 1st 400m too fast?
Do NOT slow down (slowing down doesn't work in the mile)
You've committed yourself to that pace, stick to it.
Don't panic. You still may run a PR.
Don't fight the pain---Run through it.
Only way to run through the pain is to compete, compete, compete.

NOTE: If you see the clock at the 400m or 800m mark, you are not running that time. You are actually running a few seconds slower. That's because you are seeing the clock BEFORE you actually cross the 400m or 800m mark. So, in other words, IGNORE the clock! If you can, don't look at the clock and focus on competing.

Remember, It's Not Racist If The Country Deserves To Be Insulted
September 27, 2006

The following story from the BBC is reprinted here soley for the benefit of Roland Soong.

Cricketing authorities in Australia have announced a new zero-tolerance policy towards racism in the stands.

They have threatened offenders with lifetime bans from their grounds.

But Cricket Australia has said that the term "pom" can still be used against the English, who arrive in Australia to defend the Ashes in November.

Like cricket itself, "pom bashing" is something of a national sport — performed with particularly vehement enthusiasm when the Ashes are at stake.

In formulating its new zero-tolerance policy towards racism, Cricket Australia consulted no less a body than the country's Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.

But after careful consideration, the commission ruled that the word "pom" — a term thought by many to have originated from the phrase "prisoner of his majesty" — was still permissible.

The body did, however, make a fine linguistic distinction, noting that pom was not hurtful when used in isolation, but possibly racist and humiliating when uttered in conjunction with other coarse language.

Asked whether fans would be evicted for using such insulting combinations, Cricket Australia offered a stout forward defensive, suggesting the question was merely hypothetical.

U.S. Runners Continue to Struggle
September 27, 2006

From Sports Pickle:

U.S. finishes fourth at U.S. Track and Field championships

America's recent ineptitude in athletics on the international stage hit a new low today when the U.S. team failed to win a single medal at the U.S. Track and Field championships. The failure comes on the heels of disappointing displays by men's and women's basketball, U.S. soccer, and the Ryder Cup and Davis Cup teams.

"We felt we had the best team in the meet, but sometimes things just don't go your way," said U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix. "We'll just have to regroup and try to do better next time."

Jeremy Wariner, the U.S. men's best 400-meter runner, said he simply had a bad day.

"I stumbled out of the blocks slow and couldn't make up the time," he said. "I can't explain why everyone else did so poorly, though. It's weird. You think at least someone would have stepped up and run well."

Running With Slowpokes
September 22, 2006

Gabe Sherman has an article on Slate today titled: Running With Slowpokes: How sluggish newbies ruined the marathon. We'll let you guess what it's about. We actually wrote something similar to this two years ago, but we have no evidence that it inspired the current article. That journal post earned us an email that included the line "get off your high horse." That's pretty tame compared to some of the reactions in Slate's fray. Some of our favorites: "bite me ... you suck"; "elitist pig"; "the Jerk store called ... they're running out of you!"; "please trip him at the start of his next marathon"; and "Pompous ass"

Wow! That's the kind of sophisticated dialogue you usually find on Let's Run. Yet, oddly enough, the discussion there is pretty intelligent, though our favorite comment is still a bit snarky:

Back when only runners ran races, it was fun. Like being part of a special group. It's just like when you are the first person in your school or neighborhood to listen to a band, then eventaully everybody catches on. It's just not as fun, it doesn't feel special any more.

Also, the penguins hurt the image of the sport. Distance running isn't something athletes do, it's something fat old guys do on the weekend.

Run to Kenya Sweepstakes
September 21, 2006

National Geographic Adventure is giving away a trip for two to Kenya for next June's Safaricom Marathon. There's no cost to enter the lottery, and you don't even have to sign up for their mailing list.

Top 2006 Outdoor Track Performances
September 21, 2006

Here are two age grade lists for the outdoor season. This year I created separate lists for "masters" and "open" runners in order to acknowledge more people, especially the women.

Once again the CPTC age-grade champion is Alston Brown with a 97.88 for his 2:05.9 800 at age 57. His "open" equivalent of 1:43.30 would rank him third in the world to this point in 2006. " and " also have "open" times that would place them among the top 30 in the world for 2006. Pretty impressive.

On our open list the women are well represented (9 performers) during a season in which they made major changes to the CPTC Top Ten lists.

My apologies in advance if I missed anyone or have incorrect information about someone's age at the time of his/her performance.

Joe Bolster

Top 20 Masters Performers — 2006 Outdoor Track Season

Rank	Name	Age	Distance	Time	AG %	"Open" Equivalent
1	Alston Brown	57	800m	2:05.90	97.88	1:43.30
2	Darnell Gatling	46	400m Hurdles	56.50	95.84	48.81
3	Marie-Louis Michelson	64	1500m	5:55.50	94.66	4:05.60
4	Tony Fulton	47	100m	11.46	93.89	10.43
5	Val Barnwell	48	100m	11.71	92.50	10.58
6	Neil Fitzgerald	38	800m	1:55.04	90.69	1:51.49
7	Kendrick Smith	56	100m	12.60	90.56	10.81
8	Sid Howard	67	800m	2:28.61	90.20	1:52.10
9	Chris Potter	41	800m	1:59.33	89.95	1:52.41
10	Tom Hartshorne	52	800m	2:11.78	89.74	1:52.67
11	Frank Handelman	61	800m	2:24.50	88.05	1:54.83
12	Mitch Lovett	44	100m	12.10	87.14	11.23
13	Mike Trunkes	43	3000m	9:14.10	85.94	8:32.00
14	Leon Brown	46	800m	2:10.80	85.86	1:57.76
15	Joe Bolster	53	800m	2:19.37	85.56	1:58.17
16	Armando Oliveira	38	1500m	4:14.90	84.35	4:04.20
17	John Affleck	42	800m	2:10.80	82.81	2:02.10
18	Salih Talib	61	800m	2:33.78	82.74	2:02.21
19	Doug Hertler	36	800m	2:06.05	81.20	2:04.51
20	Glen Carnes	38	800m	2:08.80	81.00	2:04.82

Top 20 Open Performers — 2006 Outdoor Track Season

Rank	Name	Distance	Time	Age Grade%
1	Idris Payne	200m	21.42	90.20
2	Jeff Williams	800m	1:52.68	89.73
3	Kobie Fuller	400m	48.35	89.31
4	Steve Benedict	100m	11.08	88.36
5	Caryn Waterson	800m	2:08.69	88.03
6	Kate Irvin	1500m	4:26.79	87.15
7	Natalie Gingerich	1500m	4:27.19	87.01
8	Sam McKenzie	800m	1:56.31	86.93
9	Evan Zeisel	800m	1:57.04	86.39
10	Alison McCabe	1500m	4:31.56	85.61
11	Kate Cushing	1500m	4:32.90	85.19
12	Katy Masselam	3000m	9:53.00	84.61
13	John Roberts	1500m	4:03.90	84.46
14	Les Page	800m	2:00.00	84.26
15	Will Berriel	1500m	4:04.72	84.18
16	Aileen Conlon	5000m	17:36.33	81.86
17	Kathy King	5000m	17:51.85	80.67
18	Seth Bender	800m	2:05.40	80.63
19	Sean Fortune	3000m	9:16.30	80.01
20	Sarah Alaei	3000m	10:32.00	79.34

Orange Kittens Need a Home
September 21, 2006

From Kate Irvin:

I have three energetic baby boy kittens (2 orange! and one black tabby) that were found last Wednesday. They are only 3 weeks old, but have been vet-checked and seem very healthy. I took the kittens from some construction workers who found them on a construction site and were planning to leave them on a busy sidewalk corner. I have been unable to find a no-kill shelter that will take these adorable babies in. Please let me know if you or anyone you know would be interested in fostering or adopting any of these kittens.

Thanks much!

— Kate Irvin
kate_irvin@yahoo.com
404-788-5283

Cross-Country Race This Saturday
September 21, 2006

The fourth annual Front Runners Cross-Country 5K Meet will take place this Saturday in Van Cortlandt Park. The race starts at 10:30. Registration (only $5!) starts at 9:30. For more info, see the official flyer.

Volunteers Needed For The First Ever Brooklyn Bridge Swim On September 9
September 4, 2006

After months of testing and retesting, the Manhattan Island Foundation will be presenting the inaugural 1-km Brooklyn Bridge Swim this Saturday. The swim runs across the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn, starting at the shoal underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan, and ending in Brooklyn’s Brooklyn Bridge Park between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Swimmers are traveling to New York from all over the country and from countries as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia.

The race is scheduled to start at 11:00 am. There will be nearly 150 swimmers, divided into seven waves, starting over the course of twenty minutes with the slowest swimmers beginning first and the fastest swimmers starting last. There will be cross currents impeding the progress of the swimmers; thus it will take anywhere 20 minutes to 50 minutes to complete the course.

Volunteer support is crucial to this event, and having additional hands and smiling faces will provide the swimmers with their best opportunity to complete the event successfully. Available volunteer jobs include checking-in swimmers, helping tired swimmers out of the water, cheering swimmers toward the swim finish, distributing food and goody bags, and handling event paraphernalia.

We will need volunteers from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, though you do not need to commit to the entire four hours. This leaves the remainder of the day free for you to get in your own workout, explore Brooklyn Bridge Park or Lower Manhattan or just relax at home. The early start also allows for delays and gives volunteers time to get set up, socialize among ourselves, mingle with the swimmers, relax a bit, and hit the bathrooms at South Street Seaport.

We will of course provide food, a volunteer t-shirt and an unforgettable event!

This is a great opportunity to support your fellow athletes, and then to hang out with them at the post-race festivities. Think of those volunteers out NYC Marathon Course or on the boats during the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim!

The best way to register as a volunteer is by going to the nycswim.org website. If you have not used the website before, you will have to create a profile. This is quick, easy, free, and opens up all sorts of neat features on the site. It also speeds the registration process for future events, whether you are planning to volunteer again or participate as a swimmer.

Nearly all the subways run downtown, with the Fulton Street/Broadway Nassau station (A, C, J, M, Z, 4, 5) being the closest to the swim start. The closest stops to the finish area are York Street on the F train and High Street on the A and C trains.

We hope you can share a few hours of your weekend to make the first ever Brooklyn Bridge Swim a grand success. Your reward?: The good feeling from helping the participants swimmers achieve their goals in as safe a manner as possible and helping to foster goodwill and respect for the open water swimming community among New Yorkers.

If you cannot volunteer the time, please consider coming out to cheer.

Remember that the swim starts at 11:00 am on Saturday, September 9th.

Thanks,

The MIF Volunteer Committee

That Stupid Video Again
September 4, 2006

Allan Piket writes:

In the NYC Half Marathon video commercial, there's another CPTC member who hasn't been mentioned. It's George Bullis who says "For 13.1 Miles" That's after Joe Kennedy, Michael Rennock and Aileen Conolon and before Nicole Sin Quee.

And of all those five TV stars, only Michael Rennock actually ran the race.

Al Gordon
September 4, 2006

Al Gordon has done more than just give his name to a race. Quite a bit more, as this article on Bloomberg details. Thanks to Craig Chilton for the link.

Winning Runner
September 4, 2006

Jon Le Var has a new website called Winning Runner. Lot's of nice links to running news there, without the junior-high-school-level discourse you find at Let's Run.