The Central Park Track Club Journals --- April 2003

The Journal: The Life & Times of the Central Park Track Club

WEEK OF APRIL 29, 2003 - MAY 5, 2003

WEB ACCESS STATISTICS [5/02/2003] The May 2003 report is available. We are rapidly approaching to become a 200,000 home page visitor per year site. Large numbers are being driven by the photo album pages --- 990 for the NYRR 8000 and 837 for the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic this month.
ZANE GREY 50 MILER [5/02/2003] Bob Schulz writes: "I ran the Zane Grey 50 April 26, north of Payson, Arizona, finishing in 11:41 (38th/107 finishers). Billed as the toughest 50 miler, the race follows the Zane Grey Highline Trail along the scenic Mogollon Rim – the edge of the Colorado Plateau at an elevation of between 5,500 feet and around 7,000 feet. Because the race is one of several this year in the Montrail Ultra cup series (run.montrail.com) lots of really good runners showed up. It is a scenic but tough course with lots of rocks – which I was expecting and – some pretty steep uphill climbs, which surprised me a bit. I was always able to get back into stride after the tough uphills though and felt strong last 6 miles so I was very satisfied. Rolled my right ankle badly about 7 miles into the race, and thought that was it for the day, but it didn't swell and I was able to keep going without a problem – after a few Advils."
THURSDAY ROAD WORKOUT REPORT [5/02/2003] What a strange day! When we got out in the morning, we were drowned by a heavy cold shower. Towards the late afternoon, it became warm, bright and sunny. But now as we compose this journal entry, we can hear the southwest wind howling out the window. We lucked out by having the workout in the better part of the day, enough to get fifty-one persons to show up.

The random gossip from last Sunday's race included Amy Sheeran saying, "One of these days, I should show up at the Thursday workout. Hmmm ... I've been saying that quite often, haven't I?" Let the official record note that she made it here today. As the coach said, it always pleases him to see someone come back from injuries, race well AND do the workouts.

Speaking of club sub-classifications, the Web Photographers went off into the corner to discuss the quality of the photos from last Sunday's race. One said, "What did you do to the photographs? You mean, they all came from tiny little camera? And you didn't apply any Adobe Photoshop magic to enhance them?" The other said, "I was looking at the first photos from the year 1997. By today's standards, they were horrible. What were we thinking when we published them back then!?"

Showing up at the workout today is Hector Aponte, one of Tony Ruiz's idols. Tony said, "Hector is the first person on the Central Park Track Club who made the other guys respect Puerto Ricans as runners."

Speaking of workouts, Rick Shaver showed up today: "This is my fifth comeback on my career. Or maybe sixth. I've tried so many times that I am losing count. But I know that I will be running my twenty-seventh New York City Marathon this year. Although my running is not as well as I like, my biking is really getting a lot better. This year, I went to train with Hajo Thiele's team in Spain for a few weeks. I only had one spill the whole time. I was bloodied, but I was able to get up and went to the hospital on my own to get stitches, and then I went back to bike some more. Cycling is too bloody a sport, which is why I have to try running again."

Meanwhile, Frank Handelman showed up for a road workout. This caused us to wonder because the last time we talked to him, he had said, "No more road running for me, not even training runs. My knees just can't take the pounding." So what was he doing here tonight? He said, "My coach Devon says that I am allowed to run on the road once a year. This is that one day, because this is a nice evening."

In view of the collisions and the near-collisions in the last few workouts, the coach gave special instructions on safety techniques. It is very simple, run two abreast in the inside lane. Our observation is that enforcement should not be top-down (as in, "If you don't get back into the inside lane, I'm going to report you on the website!"), but the whole group needs to remind each other when some drifting occurs.

But the purpose of this workout report was really not to talk about the report. (Ha!) After the workout, we were feeling mildly tired and hungry. The though of yet another slice of pizza was not especially appetizing. Luckily, Sid Howard had his Super-Fast Deliveries van on the east side and we slid downtown all the way to Etsuko Kizawa's Soy restaurant for dinner. We walked in at 9:30pm and we were the only customers at the time, so we had her full attention. This being Soho, the place filled up by 10 o'clock all with people who had not been there before. As you might expect, Sid was handing out menus and keeping the talk lively. We ordered our dinners, with salad for Sid and curry beef for us and then we both ended with sparkling clean plates afterwards.

On Soy's bulletin board, there are Polaroid photos of selected customers. Sid Howard's photo is featured prominently and Margaret Schotte is not yet present. Etsuko took a picture of us but, as is always the case with us, the physical human being is mysteriously invisible. We have no explanation, but somehow it always happens. We report, and you can decide whether we are angel or vampire.

Soy is open from 5pm to 11pm every day. This means that Etsuko trains during the day. She says, "Every Tuesday, I look at the track workout description and I try to do it down at the track on my own." Given that Soy is reasonably close to the East River Park track, we asked Etusko what she would do if we bring thirty people down to her restaurant after the workout. She said, "My restaurant seats ten, so I'm afraid that some of you will have sit on the sidewalk. But it is warm and bright out during the summer ..."

Here is the previously unpublished (on this website) story of how Etsuko became Soy Mom Number One:

It was the fall of 2001. In the time of economic downturn and after September 11th, I was re-evaluating my life and future like many of us New Yorkers were doing. My handbag business at 102 Suffolk Street was struggling. My work-in-progress documentary film project entered a vault. A film degree and a decade of my 'career' as an entrepreneur didn't help me find a normal job. I had to think of the next move.

It was truly depressing to be here in downtown Manhattan, where we watched and smelt smoke coming from the World Trade Center for months after the attack. But I loved the Lower East Side; after 12 years in the neighborhood, this was my home. I was here to stay. I began to think about what I could possibly offer to the neighborhood.

Then one day, I woke up thinking about SOY.

It was about good, healthy and nutritious home cooking meals to make people feel better. Obviously we could use another food service establishment in the neighborhood; Delancey Street is saturated with fast food chains. Tablecloth restaurants began to appear on Clinton Street in the recent years, but healthier, everyday option was still sparse in the Lower East Side.

Goodness of soyfood is finally being discovered in America. Although you're likely to find 'tofu-something' in restaurants nowadays, I knew I have a lot more to introduce to the American table. I grew up in a household with a fresh supply of tofu in the refrigerator at all times. The 'tofu lady' came three times a week with fresh tofu of all kinds on the back of her bicycle. Naturally, we ate a lot of tofu. I already had so many tofu recipes I could make blindfolded. It's a wonderful, versatile food that can be incorporated into any type of cuisine. I decided to open the restaurant of my dream featuring soy and authentic Japanese home cooking. It's a hard business in hard times, but I'm having a blast since our opening in February 2002. It's wonderful to see pleasant surprises on my customers' faces when they taste the food. The walls are decorated with snapshots of happy clients. I know many of them by their first names. People sometimes stop in just to say hello. Many people wave at me when passing in front of the store. I feel SOY is coming close to what I first envisioned. I've been building wonderful new relationships with people around me, and I feel I've been making a little contribution to their well-being through food I prepare.

TOP OF THE CHARTS [5/02/2003] Email inbox: "Here is a piece of unsolicited advice --- if you want to see your name at the top of the charts, please make sure that you win the first road race of the year. Right now, and it will continue to be the case for the rest of the year, the first thing that you see when you go to that winners' page is the name Stacia Schlosser!"
BIKE WEEK [5/01/2003] Next week is Bike Week here in New York City, and like any good party it starts early and runs late. Specifically, it starts today, with a morning ride in Staten Island (if you're just hearing about it now, then you've already missed it), and the start of the NYC Bicycle Show (which continues through Saturday). Bike Week features lots of group rides, films about cycling, and breakfast in a different borough each day for those who commute by bike (or anyone else who wants to join them).
UPDATES [5/01/2003] You may have noticed that sometimes race results and photos are updated after they are posted. Is this because we forget to include some information? Because some photographers don't get their pictures in on time? Because a lack of communication between among the web staff leads us to post incomplete pages? Of course not! How could you even think such things? We update these pages to keep our readers checking back here several times a day to see what's new. This not only lets you feel more involved in the site, it also does wonders for our hit count.
BRIDES SEE WEDDING IN BLACK-AND-WHITE [5/01/2003] The subject of this article is wedding photographer Ellen Wallop, a pioneer triathlete on the Central Park Track Club.
BATTING AVERAGE [5/01/2003] Toby Tanser reports hitting 0 for 3 in the latest CPTC trivia quiz, an average that he considers normal due to the obscure nature of the questions. Yes, but the point here is entertainment value. This is not a fair or reasonable test of useful knowledge. This is hermeutics --- you stare at the question, you curse at the impossibility, you peek at the answer, you go back to the question again and you see all the pieces are there.

Once upon a time, Toby Tanser himself gives quizzes that are true tests of knowledge. If you have not seen them before, you can still try them out and see if you are 'amused' by your low score! I mean, you should really be embarrassed at not knowing the combination of the lock on Henry Rono's brief case!
DIVERSITY PLUS [5/01/2003] The Central Park Track Club may be two hundred (give or take several hundred) runners, but we are quite a diverse, heterogeneous lot. In fact, we can probably construct many sub-classifications (possibly overlappling). There are the Financials, with further sub-sub-classifications such as the Quantoids. There are the people who can be seen congregating after the workout to talk about telecommuniations stocks. Then there are the recently emergent Carpenters (we don't mean the anorexic singers! we mean the folks who come in and demolish your apartment). But the most astonishing sub-classification that we have heard of is the Run-On-The-Reservoir-Bridle-Path-In-The-Dark Club. You may be outraged and you ask, why do that? To strengthen your ankles as you run over rocks and tree stumps that you cannot see, of course! At present, this is an thriving exclusive by-invitation-only sub-classification, and you must be show yourself to be worthy before you are asked to join ...

Complaint Department: "Okay, who wrote the phrase ' The Central Park Track Club may be two hundred (give or take several hundred) runners'? The membership total number is not subject to error, since all you have to do is ask the membership secretary to get the precise number (plus or minus zero)!"
RUNNING WRITER [5/01/2003] Famous Sayings #1467 quotes two Central Park Track Club runners Laura Ford and Joseph Kozusko. The author of the article is Gabe Sherman, said to be 'a writer and runner living in New York.' He is a Central Park Track Club member too.
BOOK SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR [5/01/2003] One of the more popular pages on this website is the list of books that we have sold through our Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble affiliate programs. If we are what we read, then this list is a window into our collective souls. You must not imagine that these book are all sold through spontaneous impulse buying by our visitors. First of all, we do run a massive, continuous promotional campaign. More importantly, we spend a long time talking to people and telling them about books. What we learn is never say, "Hey, this is a great book!" because they will yawn and fall asleep to the obvious con. Instead, we usually begin with some outrageous assertion that will appall them. Of course, they are incredulous and we will say, "Look ... if you don't believe us, please go and read all about it in [NAME OF BOOK]."

Our latest direct sales is ¡Qué vivan los tamales! written by Jeffrey Pilcher. Here is the central thesis: White Europeans are strong and smart becaue they eat bread made from wheat. Therefore, they are at the top of the socio-economic hierarchy in Latin America. Dark Indians are weak and dumb because they eat tamales (and burritos) made from corn. Therefore, they are at the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy in Latin America. You don't believe that anyone would say a thing like that? Go read the book! And the book is not espousing any racist theory --- it is in fact a report on prevalent attitudes in Mexico in early twentieth century.
ANOTHER CLASSICAL PHOTO [4/30/2003] There is a photo of Alayne Adams breaking the tape at the Thomas G. Labrecque Glassic on the NYRR website. Well, if that 'tape' or 'ribbon' gets any wider, we wouldn't be able to find her ...
LEATHERMAN'S LOOP WRAP-UP REPORT [4/29/2003]

The inimitable John Kenney, whose formerly secret life as a writer of political diatribe is now an open secret courtesy of an exposé by Peter Gambaccini, wrote this missive:

A quick, belated update on the Leatherman's Loop.

This race was great fun on many levels. The highlite was seeing the complete breakdown in Roland's legendary Global Surveillance System. Not only did he miss the finish of my wife, Jane (CPTC member since 1980), but he also missed the finish of Mr. Curtis "Coitus" Fletcher, CPTC's second University of Oregon runner with a 29:xx minute 10k to his credit prior to Frank Handelman's recruiting him on the checkout line at Fairway. Curtis proudly wore the CPTC colors. It is mistakes of Roland's like these that keeps me running....

This race also served as the Breene Family Reunion, with Jane's sister, her brother-in-law, and Jane's brother all running, fjording the rivers, etc. Lastly, the odious Harriers were also present, cowering from the formidable, overpowering CPTC in the NYRRC scoring race in Central Park.

I've attached action photos: Pictures 5 and 6.

Alas, there is no picture 5 in the email and picture 6 shows five rear-ends:

As a trivia quiz, this is rated so easy that no points are awarded --- it is clear as mud that John Kenney is the person on the left ...

More banter:
Frank Handelman: "Very nice story, I remember it well. Do I get points for the recruitment scorecard?"
John Kenney: "I'm sorry, but there is a statute of limitations."

TUESDAY TRACK WORKOUT REPORT [4/29/2003]

A lovely spring evening lifted the attendance of our group to fifty-two people, without counting the sprinters and definitely not counting the soccer and rugby players all over the infield. We saw one runner (not on our team) got hit by a soccer ball on the leg, and she promptly booted the ball all the way down the field. Way to go!

Is it any better uptown at Riverbank Park? Perhaps not, as they reported having to dodge lacrosse players. However, they will be able to move into the quieter environment of City College in June. Meanwhile, we can only ask everyone to stay alert about the public hazards. For a start, this means NOT standing by the soccer goal mouth in order to hold a conversation, because you deserve to get whacked if you pick that spot instead of anywhere else on the track. (Note: The above message is specifically directed to our coach, who really should know better).

Yamazaki progress watch: This is the second workout in which we have seen him (sorry, we were having lunch in Santiago last Tuesday) and he has already moved up to the "C" group. His last 1,200m seemed a bit shaky. So our prediction that is that he may spend next week with the "C" group and then he will be ready for the "B" group.

Random gossips:
Adam Newman: "I can't believe that you found my race result for the Leatherman's Loop, right with my girlfriend's."
Answer: "Well, you had just finished the London Marathon so we figured that she must be blamed for your presence in this race."
Adam: "Yes, you're right. I only scraped my leg once, and I survived. I will never go back to that race!"
Answer: "Until next year?"

Tony Ruiz: "Casey, I know that Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki are in town to play the Yankees, but you are here instead. You must take this workout stuff really seriously these days!"

Jonathan Federman: "Is there any more overt way of celebrating ourselves than that Road Race Winners page?"
Comment: How about standing on top of Belvedere Castle in Central Park, pound our chests and scream "We're number one!"

Margaret Schotte: "You ask how did I prepare for the Bronx Biathlon? I was sick that whole week ..."

Martha Stewart: No, she wasn't at the workout, but Soy NYC was reportedly featured on her television show this morning.

Photo album
This workout actually had its own photo album, which would be obvious to all of those present who had to deal with someone trying to call splits and take photos at the same time.

MSRC SPRING FLING [4/29/2003] On Saturday, May 10th, the Mile Square Running Club will be hosting its "Spring Fling", the club's first ever fundraiser at McMahon's Brownstone Alehouse (1034 Willow, Hoboken, NJ). Tickets for the night cost $25 each and will include an open bar from 8-11pm, prizes and raffles. A portion of the proceeds will go to YAI/The National Institute for People with Disabilities.

WEEK OF APRIL 22, 2003 - APRIL 28, 2003

ROAD RACE WINNERS [4/28/2003] For the longest time, we have emphasized on this website how indifferent we were to individual or team victories. Time and again, we told you that we did not care if you finish first or twenty-ninth. The only important thing is that you should enjoy the experience. To show you how much we are contemptuous of the win-at-all-cost attitude, we have prepared a new page consisting of the winners of road race winners (including running races and anything else that has some running in it) since 1999. The establishment of this page will go a long way in convincing you just how much we don't care about tracking the extraordinary performances of our people.

Now that we are one-third of the way through the year 2003, what do the past data forecast for the remainder of the year?

Year 1999: 4 wins through April, 26 for the year
Year 2000: 5 wins through April, 43 for the year
Year 2001: 20 wins through April, 50 for the year
Year 2002: 6 wins through April, 41 for the year
Year 2003: 14 wins through April, ? for the year

Year 2001 was a true exception in our history because 11 of the 20 wins through April belonged to Toby Tanser. But compared to the other three other years, it looks like that we will have a great year 2003. And the sisterhood will no doubt note that 11 of the 14 wins so far are by our women.

Complaint Department:
Q: Am I confused, or do you mean the exact opposite of what you claim?
A: We report, you decide.
CLASSICAL CORRECTION [4/28/2003] Adam Manewell and Lauren Eckhart have been reinstated in the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic official results. Our team results are unaffected, even though Adam is still not scored as CPTC. Due to the addition of these and other previously omitted runners, the position table has been updated for everybody. Note this amazing stat --- Stacy Creamer was 8th overall but only 5th F40-44, behind Alayne Adams, Catherine Stone-Borkowski, Jeanne Pare and Jean Chodnicki-Stemm. What a division!
TRULY TRIVIAL [4/28/2003] Have you taken the latest Triva Quiz yet? This is your chance to impress all your friends with your knowledge of obscure CPTC facts...
RANDOM CLASSICAL GOSSIP [4/27/2003] Heard at the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic ...

Alexandra Horowitz: "Since I have a minor injury, I could not race today. Therefore I volunteered to take photographs. Let me tell you --- it is HARD! It seems that I always end up with the photo of the person behind the one that I want. I think I will stick to running instead. It is a lot easier ..." (Reference: Famous Saying #37)

Melissa Tidwell: "This is my first distance race. Four miles is a lot longer than the 200 meter races that I usually run. Let me tell you --- I could not have finished without the Walkman, because I would have to be thinking about what was going to happen next ..."

Melissa Tidwell, again: "I asked someone if I needed to wear Central Park Track Club. They said that if I did, someone would take my picture. Therefore, I wore white." (note: someone still took her picture).

Audrey Kingsley: "Oh, do you guys want to go for a warm down run? Wait for me! I'll change my shoes, throw up and then I'll be right with you."

Audrey Kingsley, again: "I put away from my favorite white shirt and put on a Central Park Track Club because this may be the chance that my favorite photographer will be able to take photos of it." (note: a photo for the memory)

Amy Sheeran: "One of these days, I should show up at the Thursday workout. Hmmm ... I've been saying that quite often, haven't I?"

... and just to assure you that we also speak to men ...

Dan Hamner: "If you happen to come across some miracle herbal or vitamin cure for SARS, please let me know."

Craig Chilton: "I have to thank Stéphane Bois for my personal record today. He passed me, and I tried very hard to run after him. Although I didn't catch him, I got a personal record by one second."
CLASSICAL MOVIES [4/27/2003] For today's Thomas G. Labrecque Classic, Neeraj Engineer has a collection of movies in various resolution. This is a chance to look at how good/bad your running form is, especially towards the end of the race.
SCHOTTE WATCH [4/27/2003] Margaret Schotte won the Bronx Biathlon this morning. Her margin of victory was over four minutes! So far, she's done three duathlons, and won two of them, with her only second place coming to Fiona Docherty (a pro from New Zealand ).
THOMAS G. LABRECQUE CLASSIC WRAP-UP REPORT [4/27/2003] We had labeled this race as the most vulnerable one on our competitive schedule by tradition, but we got through with no losses and even some gains.

Our team positions:
- Open men, 2nd place (3rd place for the season)
- Masters men, 1st place (1st place for the season)
- Open women, 1st place (1st place for the season)
- Masters women, 1st place (1st place for the season)

On the women's side, we knew that we would be missing the Margarets for this race, and this is what we mean when we say that we may be vulnerable. Although we lobbied hard for Alexandra Horowitz (who ran 24:06 at the Niketown four miler two weeks ago) and she actually agreed, she had to sit this one out due to a minor injury. So instead we found that Alayne Adams won the women's race in 23:26. This would be her third overall win in a NYRR scoring race as a masters runner (the last two were the Fred Leblow Cross Country Classic and the Staten Island Half Marathon last year).

There was some confusion with the scoring of our other women. By our count, we should have five women among the top ten women, but that was not how it was scored. Catherine Stone-Borkowski was second overall in 23:45 (note: a new entry into top ten best times), but she does not score for us yet. Our second scorer was Charlotte Cutler in 24:23 in fifth place. She was using this race to build strength for the track season. Although Charlotte has won a 5K in the park as well as a 3.5 mile Corporate Challenge race, this is the longest race that she has run for us. And we needed an angel from heaven for this race, just like Sonja Ellmann stepping in to save us in April last year.   Our third scorer was Stacy Creamer in 24:35 in seventh place. That time is a significant post-maternity-leave best. By our count, our fourth and last scorer should be Lauren Eckhart, who was two places behind Stacy at 25:02 by her own watch. She was not listed in the NYRR results at all. Did she fail to register or did she forget her chip? Here is our photographic evidence --- Lauren was runner #6495 and her yellow chip was tied to her right shoe. Without Lauren being scored, our official fourth scorer became Amy Sheeran in 26:25 in 21st place. Even under these circumstances, we were still 22 points ahead of the next team.

For the women's masters, they remain unbeaten this season. We had two masters (Alayne Adams and Stacy Creamer) within the top 10 overall, so it was all up to the third scorer. Catherine Stone-Borkowski does not score for us yet, or else it would have been easy (1-2-7). Yumi Ogita appeared to experience some physical problems during the race, but she finished gamely to clinch the win for the team. In any case, Mary V. Rosado was also there for insurance and would have been enough (just like the last scoring race).

For the men's team, Craig Chilton was our leader with a clock time of 21:00, a chip time of 20:59 and a personal watch time of 20:59.8, all and any of which are personal bests. Two weeks ago, he finished ahead of Toby Tanser and Stéphane Bois in the Niketown Four Miler. This week, Craig was ahead of Toby again but just behind Stéphane. Our second scorer was the inevitable Toby Tanser (who needs a haircut). By our count, our third scorer was Adam Manewell, who was not listed in the NYRR results anywhere. Once again, we present the photographic evidence --- Adam Manewell was runner #7068 and his chip was tied to his left shoe. Without Adam, our third scorer became Alan Ruben, just back from running in the heat of the Boston Marathon this past Monday. Alan was followed closely by Josh Feldman, and our fifth scorer was Armando Oliveira. Our men's open team finished in second place, whereas we had finished behind WS and WSX in all the other races this year. Today, WS won the race and WSX was third.

The men's masters team won again with the team of Alan Ruben, Stuart Calderwood and Tom Phillips. Obviously, the story of the day was the appearance of Alan Ruben. But of all the people on the team, he is the singular person who can pull off another race so soon after a major marathoning effort. We remember that he once won the Twosome 10K race on the Saturday after the Boston Marathon, but his post-race thoughts then were: "I don't recommend this. Please don't try it in your own home!"

We did not have enough people for the veteran teams. This has been a problem this year, especially now that Irene Jackson-Schon is out in Taos, New Mexico these days. This is a pity, since Bob Holliday has been running well by himself without a supporting cast. Is anyone else ready to grow old in a hurry?
PENN RELAYS PHOTOS [4/27/2003] Seen on Sunday in the Park was Alan Bautista, just back from the Penn Relays, with these words: "You never take photos of sprinters! Just because we are fast doesn't mean we should be excluded. How about a picture of me with my Penn Relays t-shirt? Okay? ... ahem ... Even if you don't want to take a picture of me, could you just at least pretend? What do I mean? I mean ... I think that you should at least take the camera lens cover off when you pretend to take pictures ... hmm? It is a little too obvious otherwise ... hmmm?" So here is the famous picture of Alan Bautista in his 2003 Penn Relays t-shirt.

Another traveler to Philadelphia who just returned today is Kieran McShane Calderwood.
BOSTON MARATHON TEAM RESULT [4/27/2003] We would be negligent not to mention that our men's masters team placed third in that race. The three scoring members were Peter Allen, Alan Ruben and ... Jay Borok!
MAPLE LEAF FOREVER [4/26/2003] Here is what a Canadian observed: "The first time I saw a Central Park Track Club singlet, I was running behind a guy with a maple leaf on his back. I thought it meant he was Canadian. It was only after the Club Championships that I realed he belonged to a team." And what more obvious than for the Canadian to join that team? For the rest of the story, read the linked article (with a magnifying glass).
SPLITSVILLE [4/26/2003] As of now, we have different workout locations by group. The distance runners coached by Tony Ruiz will meet Tuesdays at East River Park Track (East 6th Street and FDR Drive) and Thursdays in Central Park. The middle distance runners coached by Devon Martin will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at Riverbank State Park (West 137th Street & Riverside Drive) until June, when they will move to the City College of New York track (138rd Street and Convent Avenue).

Emotionally, we find this hard to take. After all, we are all members of the Central Park Track Club, we have friends on the other 'side', we sometimes even belong to the other 'side' (e.g. Margaret Angell running the marathon as well as the anchor leg for the women's distance medley relay) and we will now see less of each other.

Intellectually, though, we accept that this is probably the only viable decision. The East River Park is very crowded during the outdoor track season, with multiple soccer, rugby and volleyball games going on in the infield and runners, joggers, walkers, two-wheeled/three-wheeled cyclists and rollerbladers on the track. Our combined group size often exceeds 100 during the summer, making track space very tight as our groups pass each other. More significantly, there are the hazards from the whizzing soccer balls, including one major concussion suffered by one of us last year. Through the past winter, we had tried to obtain an exclusive track use permit for East 6th Street from the city but this will not likely occur. At our first outdoor session two weeks ago, the situation was just as crowded and chaotic as last year. While we were standing at the 200m mark calling out time splits, a soccer ball flew by within inches of us. So, for now, we must go our own ways for a while and keep in touch through the website. Even at reduced group sizes, we must still remember that both East 6th Street and Riverbank Parks have those public hazards and we must always be alert.
DROP [4/26/2003] At the Penn Relays, we note that our masters 40+ 4x100m relay team's slow time of 56:09 was due to a dropped baton. This is unfortunate indeed, but baton passing at high velocity is not easy. The faster you run, the greater the risk. We remember watching baton passing practice during one workout when not a single successful exchange was made!
WHO WAS THOMAS G. LABRECQUE? [4/25/2003] On Sunday, the four mile race in Central Park is named the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic. Who was the man? The obituary on October 18, 2000, from the local newspaper in Red Bank (NJ) read:

Thomas G. Labrecque, of Fair Haven, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, on Monday from lung cancer. He was 62.

At the time of his death, Labrecque was chairman of Chase's International Advi-sory Council, a post he assumed following his retirement in June 1999, after 35 years at Chase.

Labrecque was described in 1993 by Forbes magazine as "the Gary Cooper of banking" and "a strong, silent leader" because of his low-key, laconic style.

He was chairman and chief executive officer of the Chase Manhattan Corp. and the Chase Manhattan Bank from October 1990 through March 1996. In April 1996, after helping to orchestrate one of the largest mergers in banking history between Chase and the Chemical Banking Corp., Labrecque assumed the position of president and chief operating officer.

Although Chase was the larger bank of the two, Labrecque agreed to become president and chief operating officer, the No. 2 spot in the merged company. Chemical's chairman Walter Shipley became Chase chairman and chief executive officer.

Labrecque said later he believed taking the lesser of the positions substantially improved the merger's prospects.

"It wasn't the easiest thing personally," he said of that decision.

When Labrecque retired last year, Shipley said, "There has been no better partner for me in my career than Tom."

In the mid-1970s Labrecque helped form the Municipal Assistance Corporation, which helped resolve New York City's financial crisis.

In 1980 he was Chase's representative on the team that worked out the financial arrangement that led to the release of American hostages from Iran. In recent years, he represented Chase in the negotiations concerning the Mexican and Russian financial crises.

Labrecque was a member of the board of directors of Pfizer Inc., Delphi Automotive Systems, and a trustee of the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City. He was past president of the International Monetary Conference and The Financial Services Roundtable, an active member of the U.S. Treasury Advisory Committee on the International Monetary Fund and of the Business Council.

He was a trustee of the Trilateral Commission and the Brookings Institution as well as the Central Park Conservancy, a director of the International Rescue Committee and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He was also served on the board of trustees at the University of Notre Dame.

"I have never had a finer friend or business colleague than Tom Labrecque," said David Rockefeller, a former Chase chairman who worked closely with Labrecque.

"He was a man of total integrity with great business skills and an exceptional sense of fairness and kindness in his dealings with others. His passing will leave a big gap in the lives of many," Rockefeller said.

In 1995, Labrecque was named knight commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a rare pontifical honor bestowed by Pope John Paul II in recognition of outstanding service to the Roman Catholic Church.

He is survived by his wife, the former Sheila English Cardone, of Ardmore, Pa.; and four children, Thomas G. Labrecque Jr., Douglas T., Karen L. Shea and Barbara L. Corbin; three brothers, Theodore, Robert, and David; four sisters, Cathy Skiba, Jeanne Gagliano, Susan Wooley and Barbara Danowitz; and by five grandchildren.

"He will be remembered for his humility, his honesty and his integrity," said Labrecque's son, Thomas Jr.

"My father said there were three types in business: sharks, minnows and dolphins," the younger Labrecque said. "He always considered himself a dolphin. A dolphin stays ahead through hard work and being smart. He always believed you didn't have to be underhanded or deceitful."

In September of 2000 Tom Labrecque was diagnosed with lung cancer. Six weeks later, he died. In his memory, the Labrecque family initiated the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic race with the dual goals of raising awareness about the disease, as well as funds to support research to find a cure. After the race there will be activities for children and a Health Fair. The funds raised will go to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Lung Cancer Research Fund, and this race is sponsored by J.P Morgan Chase, Pfizer and Prudential Financial.

Tom Labrecque was the chairman of Chase Bank. For the longest time, his organization (in its various forms) was involved in promoting the sport of running in New York City. In the early years of the New York City Marathon, Manufacturers Hanover Trust was a major sponsor. Encouraged by the success of the marathon, Manufacturers Hanover Trust started the Corporate Challenge race in 1977 for corporate runners, at the unsual distance of 3.5 miles which even busy corporate types can train for. A corporate merger later, this race became known as the Chase Coporate Challenge. Another corporate merger later, this is now known as the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge and this race series now involves 200,000+ runners in New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Frankfurt and Sydney. The Corporate Challenge race winners who are members of the Central Park Track Club span many decades --- Frank Handelman, Frank McConville, Amerigo Rossi, Candace Strobach, Claudia Malley, Charlotte Cutler, ...

THE UNFINISHED TWENTIETH CENTURY [4/25/2003] While the twentieth century has actually finished, the anxiety about the Big Finish is unfinished. Although it was in the twentieth century that nuclear weapons of mass destruction were introduced, it was the nineteenth century novelist Joseph Conrad who foresaw that the human species might one day get ready to wipe itself off the face of the earth through the actions. That monumental Conrad novel was The Heart Of Darkness, which inspired Francis Coppola to make the movie Apocalypse Now. In a piece of masterful footwork, this linked article written by Jonathan Schell of the New School points out that "Conrad's intimations in a single text of virtually all the unprecedented evils, including the threat of self-extinction, that Western humanity was about to visit upon itself and the world in the twentieth century are evidence before the fact of their common roots and essential unity."

Now why is that so interesting to us here? We believe that we have given you enough hints already. If you really don't know, then you may proceed to the linked article and search for the word 'scholar'.
THURSDAY NIGHT ROAD WORKOUT REPORT [4/25/2003] If it is sunny and bright outside on a spring evening, then why are a couple of people still bundled up in winter clothing? Because it was breezy and cool! No matter, for even though it was three days after the Boston Marathon and two days before a NYRR scoring race, we still drew forty-one persons to the workout. This head count did not include Larry Thraen and Sandra Scibelli who began their training for a marathon that is just one month away; it also does not include the cyclist Ali Rosenthal in the Kissena Cycling Team uniform. Question: Who else is a Kissena Cycling Team member?

Mark Gumbiner showed up and said, "Okay, I have not been here in a long time. Who here is slow enough that I can keep up with?" We pointed to Stacia Schlosser. "... but she looks fast?" We explained, "Yes, but this is also her first day back since January. She is currently under doctor's orders to rest every third day and no more than 15 minutes of continuous running at a time." However, Stacia is already planning to run the Revlon 5K. The coach asked, "So ... are you going to just jog that one?" Reply: "... (pause) ... but I don't have a jogging pace ..."

Two weeks ago, we had a major collision in the northern hills, with two of our runners being knocked by some dude wearing a walkman. Today, post-marathon Brad Weiss showed up also wearing a walkman. This caused one of our runners to inform us, "Hey, there is the guy who knocked our runners over two weeks ago." What is the basis of the identification? "Well, he is wearing a walkman, except maybe that walkman set was blue unlike this one ..." So much for eyewitness reliability. Anyway, we asked Brad Weiss if he wore his walkman during the Boston Marathon. Reply: "Yes, I had it on me. No, I didn't listen to it much. It was sweaty and I kept spilling gatorade on it."

Given the collision two weeks' ago, the coach gave special instructions for people to run only two abreast and to stay on the inside lane. But it happened again, although fortunately not to us. Somewhere around East 90th Street, the coach had been running with the A group. When he saw his runners swinging wide, he told them to get back into the inside lane. A few seconds later, a cyclist came flying down the second lane, screamed at a pedestrian, was unable to stop or elude and knocked the poor guy over. All of this happened right in front of our A group. The victim was bloodied and dazed, and was receiving medical care when we left. You can expect to hear this story and its lesson mentioned again and again in future workouts.
BRANDING [4/24/2003] The New York Times reports that the NYC Marathon may be renamed the ING New York Marathon if J.P. Morgan Chase withdraws as the race's main sponsor. Neither Road Runners nor ING would comment on any potential deal, but some experts feel that rising costs will leave New York unable to compete with races like Chicago without the extra money that comes from letting a company put it's name on the race. We hope this is not true, and that Road Runners will be able to arrange a deal that does not involve advertising in the name of the race.
JACK BRENNAN UNVEILING AND MEMORIAL RUN [4/24/2003] Marian Brennan writes: "On May 18 at 11:00am, on what would have been Jack's 54th birthday, we are having an unveiling at Sleepy Hollow cemetary. This will be preceded by a run which shall begin at 97 Fargo Lane; Irvington, NY and end at the cemetary. If you are interested in running, please gather at our home at 9:30 and, in memory of Jack, you won't leave for a half hour or so after that. I hope you can join us. Please pass this message along to anyone who might be interested. If you have any questions please call me at 914-591-2048. Brunch will be served after."
ANOTHER BOSTON MARATHON PHOTO [4/24/2003] The Boston Globe has a pre-race photo of Colin Frew. What about photos taken by the club, you ask? We actually ran the race with a small, cheap digital camera in our pocket, but only got three usable photos out of it. And the spectators? Stacy Creamer writes: "I took some photos of CPTCers running the Boston Marathon. Sadly, my battery died after about the first five or so people." We'll have these up soon, along with any other photos that people send in.
SCRATCH [4/24/2003] More from Stacy Creamer: "Sadly, our women's masters' team has scratched from the Penn Relays. We were down to a team of four – me, Alayne Adams Mary Rosado, and Sue Hill – but Sue reinjured her hamstring in a recent 400." This should leave Alayne well rested for the 4-Miler on Sunday...
SCRATCH 2 [4/24/2003] ... but will anyone be running with her? Alexandra Horowitz writes us:

"It is perhaps inevitable that a website that features my accomplishments should also hear about my disappointment: in my last race I aggravated an achilles injury, and Tuesday's workout pretty much did it in for good, so I will be on the sidelines for at least this race. And just after I had my elbows professionally sharpened...

However, I feel responsible now that everyone has made such a friendly ballyhoo about my one little race. Can I contribute to the team instead by taking race photos of the team for the web site, if needed?"

We wish Alexandra a speedy recovery, but we're always happy to have any teammates who aren't running help out with the photos. In fact, we're thinking about making further "friendly ballyhoos" about other runners to encourage them to take photos, too...
NYRR SCORING RACE [4/23/2003] After the Boston Marathon and the Penn Relays, there is the matter of Thomas G. Labrecque Classic 4 Mile race this Sunday (April 27, 2003). The race starts at 9am and the start is on 72nd Street in front of the Bethesda Fountain. Please do not show up at East 99th Street!

Currently, our NYRR divisional positions are:

     Open men, 3rd place
     Masters men, 1st place
     Veteran men, 4th place

     Open women, 1st place
     Masters women, 1st place (undefeated!)
     Veteran women, 9th place

Traditionally, due to the spring marathons, this is the weakest competitive month of our year. In past years, the April scoring race was usually the Queens Half Marathon, which really caused some problems for us. This year, we have a short four miler instead. So we won't have Margaret Angell, Alan Ruben, Peter Allen and the marathoners back so soon. We will have Alayne Adams, who will be racing right after running a 400m at the Penn Relays, and the rest of the crew. We hope that some of our middle-distance runners can step in (that means Alexandra Horowitz, in particular) and give us some support (as Sonja Ellmann did last April). We will see you out there ...
BOSTON MASTER BLASTERS [4/23/2003] The wrap-up report of the masters divisions was written by Toby Tanser. This page links to five more Boston stories by the same reporter.
BOSTON MARATHON PHOTOS [4/23/2003] MensRacing.com has a photo of Peter Allen and two of Alan Ruben. These photos are professional quality work.
OUR LUNCH DATE [4/23/2003] Yet another review of a restaurant that you will probably never visit ...
SULLEN IS THY NAME [4/23/2003] In the history of the Olympic Games, there are many Americans who won the 100 sprint gold medals --- Jesse Owens, Bob Hayes, James Hines, Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene, .... The gold medal carries the title of the fastest man in the world. While Carl Lewis has the largest medal haul in history, he was never the most popular one. The precise reasons are not easy to spell out, but it would seem that he would always lose no matter what he did. When he tried to act as a professional by passing the last three jumps when he seemed to have the event won, he was booed. When he tried to embrace the American flag, he was thought to be fawning. When he won those medals, the product endorsement contracts did not come. This ESPN story uses the words "haughty and arrogant, cold and calculating, aloof and abrasive." Now following the release of the files of Dr. Wade Exum who worked for the USOC, Carl Lewis is back into the limelight, quite unfavorably so. This Guardian story will not help to improve Lewis' reputation.

Carl Lewis has broken his silence on allegations that he was the beneficiary of a drugs cover-up, admitting he had tested positive for banned substances but claiming he was just one of "hundreds" of American athletes who were allowed to escape bans.
"There were hundreds of people getting off," he said. "Everyone was treated the same."
Lewis has now acknowledged that he failed three tests during the 1988 US Olympic trials, which under international rules at the time should have prevented him from competing in the Seoul games two months later.
The admission is a further embarrassment for the United States Olympic Committee, which had initially denied claims that 114 positive tests between 1988 and 2000 were covered up. It will add weight to calls by leading anti-doping officials and top athletes for an independent inquiry into the US's record on drug issues.
Last week Dr Wade Exum alleged that a ban imposed on Lewis after positive tests for three stimulants had been overturned by the USOC when the athlete said he had ingested them mistakenly in a herbal supplement.
Lewis received only a warning after officials ruled that his positive tests were due to "inadvertent" use. Some scientists believe the substances could have been a masking agent for more serious drugs, such as anabolic steroids.
"The climate was different then," said Lewis. "Over the years a lot of people will sit around and debate that [the drug] does something. There really is no pure evidence to show that it does something. It does nothing."
Lewis, who was arrested in Los Angeles on Monday for suspected drink-driving which friends say was the result of depression over Exum's revelations, won the 100 metres gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics after Canada's Ben Johnson was stripped of the title when he tested positive for a steroid.
Lewis also won the long jump and finished second in the 200m behind his training partner Joe DeLoach, also named by Exum as having escaped a ban.
Johnson has now demanded that Lewis be stripped of his medals from Seoul, although the International Olympic Committee has no plans to review the situation because it has a statute of limitation set at three years.
"Do you expect him to say anything different?" said Lewis. "I mean we're talking about Ben Johnson. Come on. Let's be realistic."
Lewis, 41, said he was not concerned about the uproar around the world caused by the revelations. "It's ridiculous. Who cares?" he said. "I did 18 years of track and field and I've been retired five years, and they're still talking about me, so I guess I still have it."

Now, did someone say "haughty and arrogant, cold and calculating, aloof and abrasive"?

BIRTHDAY BARD [4/23/2003] Today is believed to be William Shakespeare's 439th birthday. We don't think that he was a runner, but he did write some pretty good plays. Or somebody else wrote them using his name (as has been suggested by many people over the years), so it is possible that today is not Shakespeare's birthday, and that Shakespeare wasn't really Shakespeare. Really, who cares? The plays are an important part of our cultural history. More than that, they're still enjoyable four centuries later. Somebody wrote them, using the name William Shakespeare. That person has a birthday. We might as well celebrate it today.
NEWSLETTER [4/23/2003] Craig Plummer writes: "I am putting together a health and fitness newsletter, open to all who are interested (especially CPTC members). I will be doing stories on individuals from every sport, often focusing on members of the Central Park Track Club. The newsletter will be sent by email bi-monthly. To see what we're about, check out my website at www.Prefit.us. We have some great stories coming soon, and the multi-events are going to start soon, (we're just looking for a venue that will facilitate our multi-event needs). If you have any questions, feel free to email the body!"
BOSTON MARATHON RECAP [4/22/2003] Usually you can count on this site to provide immediate results from major races, so why did it take us nearly a full day to post the results of the Boston Marathon? Because we were both out of town, with the boss in Chile and his assistant up in Boston, gathering material for a first-person account of the race:

It was a perfect spring day in Boston. Sunshine, a light breeze, temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s. The kind of day that's just perfect for lying on the grass in Hopkinton, sitting in the bleachers at Fenway Park, or lining the streets of Boston to watch other people run the Boston Marathon. What it wasn't perfect for – indeed, what the weather was almost completely unsuited for – was running in the Boston Marathon.

The coach had told us not to sign up for Boston, and instead focus on shorter races. Our friends had told us that our training was inadequate, and we should probably skip the race, or at the very least run it slowly. Waiting around in the athlete's village all morning told us that it would get too hot, and so we shouldn't run too hard. We ignored all this advice and went out at a fairly aggressive pace, though not one that put us in any danger of running a PR. There are some people who can't put on a race number without running all out. The briefest glance at our race results will prove that we don't have that problem, but this was no ordinary race. Our original plan called for us to run about a minute/mile slower than our PR. Surrounded by some of the fittest amateurs in the world, and with the crowds cheering wildly, we threw out the plan and took off down the hill at barely 15 seconds/mile slower than our best time. We would run the whole race hard or we would bonk and limp to the finish; what we wouldn't do is jog. After all, we had promised the coach that we would take a break from long distances after this, and we'd rather go out with a bang (good or bad), than with a whimper.

We don't know if any marathon can top the excitement of New York – the huge crowds along First Avenue; the kids along Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn high-fiving every runner who goes by; the four-year old girl in Sunset Park who exclaimed "I saw you on TV!" as we ran by last year (she didn't; we checked the tape and the only orange jersey visible in the first two hours belonged to Alan Ruben); dozens of our friends cheering us on – but Boston certainly comes close. The crowds cheered. The kids gave high-fives. The Wellesley students gave high-fives and kisses. The narrower streets at the end made the noise level even higher than New York.

Unfortunately, there were 13 miles between Wellesley and the end. The sun bore down harder, roasting our skin. The temperature crept higher into the 70s, mocking all our attempts to stay hydrated. The limits of our training became apparent as our legs grew sore. And then we reached the hills. We didn't study the course too carefully, and it's doubtful we would have remembered the details anyway, so we couldn't remember exactly where Heartbreak Hill was. We ran up three hills that we thought might be the infamous one, and even after that we weren't convinced that we were done. (This was due partly to a rumor we heard that Stuart Calderwood and Stacy Creamer would be cheering at the top of the hill. When we didn't see them we worried that another hill might lie ahead, but it turned out that they'd decided to spectate at about mile 23, by which point we had figured out that the worst uphills were over.

A mile into the race we were ready to break all our promises, rewrite our plans, and sign up for the New York Marathon again. Three hours later, sore, dehydrated, our skin burnt bright red, the only thing that kept us running was the worry that if we stopped we would never start moving again. We didn't break 3:00. We didn't even set a PR. We also didn't get injured, didn't throw up, didn't pass out, and didn't give in – not to the weather, to our pain, or even to common sense. In two weeks we'll remember only the excitement and fun of the marathon, and not the long hours of training and the pain that go with it. Luckily, by then it will be too late for us to sign up for New York. We'll probably come back to the marathon someday, but for now we'll keep our promise to the coach and stick to shorter races. If this is our last marathon, we're satisfied that, while we may not be going out with a bang, we're definitely not going out with a whimper.

WEEK OF APRIL 15, 2003 - APRIL 21, 2003

BOSTON MARATHON [4/21/2003] Unfortunately, we will not be around to post the results of this race when it finishes after 2pm on Monday. So this will have to be a self-help function for you to go to the race website and find out yourself. As a reminder, our list of entrants are: Peter Allen, Kevin Booth, Jay Borok, Roland Breitenberger, Patrick Cowden, Anna Fydodorova, Bill Haskins, Robert Jamieson, Laurie Jones, Jesse Lansner, Chele Modica, Anthony Munk, David Newcomb, Adam Newman, Matt Newman, Kellie Quinones, Seth Rosenthal, Alan Ruben, Erik Schmitz, Dawn Schneider, Gabe Sherman, Peter Smith, Fred Trilli and Brad Weiss.
PENN RELAYS LINE-UPS [4/21/2003] Here are a few more line-ups (subject to change):

Masters 100m for 50 year old men
Alston Brown

4 x 100m relay--MALE 40-49
Julio Jose Rodriquez
Darrly Lovell
David Poney
Craig Plummer
Alternate: Richard Stewart

4 x 100m relay--MALE 50-59
Richard Hamner
Noah Perlis
Jerry Scriver
Alston Brown
Alternate: Dan Hamner

4 x 400m relay--MALE 40-49
Alan Bautista
Alston Brown
Tony Ruiz
Richard Hamner
Alternate: Craig Plummer

4 x 400m relay--MALE 50-59
Frank Handelman
Noah Perlis
Rich Hamner
Alston Brown
Alternate: Jerry Scriver

4 x 400m relay--WOMEN
Catherine Stone-Borkowski
Sue Krogstad-Hill
Stacy Creamer
Alayne Adams

4 x 400m relay--MIXED
Sid Howard
Yumi Ogita
Mary Rosado
Sylvie Kimche
Alternates: Dan Hamner, Frank Handelman
A TEAMMATE [4/21/2003] Bunny Franco: "I am an old member and still a paying member so kindly list my name in your email address book. I used to run for CPTC and would still, but my knees told me that I should stick to power walking, swimming and the gym. The listing should read as: Bunny Franco- (email address) bdfranco@aol.com." How old is old? In 1982, Bunny Franco was our MVP Woman 50+, at a time when Harry Morales was our MVP Junior, Tony Ruiz was our MVP Open Men Track, John Kenney was our MVP Open Middle-distance, Irene Jackson was our MVP Sub-vet Woman, Sid Howard was our MVP Masters (track) and Fritz Mueller was our MVP Masters Long Distance. Please drop her a note if you remember her ...
CARROTS IN THE STICKS [4/20/2003] The winners of the Urban Environmental Challenge 10K were Sue Pearsall (CPTC) and Stephen Marsalee (NYH), who received prizes wrapped in plain white cardboard boxes.

Any Van Cortlandt Park veteran will recognize these boxes as goodies from Lloyd's Carrot Cakes on Broadway across the park ...
NEW OUTDOOR TRACK SCHEDULE [4/19/2003] This schedule is as best as we know right now. The key races of the season will be the Penn Relays, the World Masters Games in Carolina, Puerto Rico and the USATF National Masters Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Although the Penn Relays are less than a week away, the race schedule is still not finalized. Our only listed team is the men's distance medley team in the Olympics Developmental section. The masters teams are not listed yet, but we expect to have multiple teams. For one, we know that Alayne Adams will be running the second 400m of her life. Noah Perlis will be in the M55 100m sprint, and probably in the M50 4x100m and M50 4x400m teams.
NEW YORK CITY TRIATHLON REMINDER [4/19/2003] Entries are still open, but they are rapidly getting to their 1500 limit. If you want to do this, you better register ASAP. The current list of entrants include: Noel Comess, Stacy Creamer, Shelley Farmer, Anna Fyodorova, Otto Hoering, Vito Iacoviello, Bill Komaroff, Gary McCraw, Zeb Nelessen, Matt Newman, Sandra Scibelli, Bob Summers and Vincent Trinquesse.
NET SCAM [4/19/2003] Here is one that came to our email address, noting that our email address has been used solely for CPTC business and all our personal messages have always gone under some other email account. The email from 'secure@paypal.com' (which does not mean anything --- we can change our sending name to be anything that we want) reads: "Dear valued PayPal member, It has come to our attention that your eBay Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to update the Billing Information If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your billing records, you will not run into any future problems with eBay's online service. However, failure to update your records will result in account termination. Please update your records in maximum 24 hours. Once you have updated your account records, your eBay session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Failure to update will result in cancellation of service, Terms of Service (TOS) violations or future billing problems. Please click here to update your billing records. Thank you for your time! Marry Kimmel,
PayPal Billing Department team."

Fact #1: We have never even been on the eBay site in our lives, much less than have an account.
Fact #2: We have never had a PayPal account in our lives. Therefore, this is a fishing expedition for users of a couple of popular services.
Fact #3: The English in the email is not fluent (e.g. who is going to have a first name like 'Marry'? 'Failure to update' leads to three mutually incompatible outcomes --- either you are going to cancel our service, or we will have future billing problems but not both, and Terms of Service violations have no consequences).
Fact #4: eBay and PayPal are separate services, so there is no reason for PayPal to be responsible for eBay record keeping. Under this situation, eBay should be the one who is coming after you.

This is a net scam in that it directs you to a website that asks you for you name, address and credit card information. All links on the website actually goes legitimately to PayPal.com, except the ostensibly secure connection that takes in your personal information. Given that this email was sent to us, it is likely that everyone else with published email addresses on our website may be receiving that email too. Beware!
SATURDAY'S RACE RESULTS [4/19/2003] Amerigo Rossi's 3:53.65 at the Mount SAC Relays makes him all-time CTPC best. Meanwhile, closer to home, Catherine Stone-Borkowski won the NYRR Rabbit Run in a time of 18:15, which puts her at 11th all-time best and only one-second out of 10th place. And that was a very hilly course.
GERMANY RHAPSODY [4/18/2003] At the Thursday night workout, we found Margaret Schotte and Tyronne Culpepper conversing in German. At one point, they turned to us and said, "Given all the German writings that appear on the website, you must know how to speak German ..." Yes, we sprung forward with our favorite phrase: "Ein Bier! Donkey short!" Actually, we know more than that as we can count the bottles on the wall: ein, zwei, drei, ... (until we lose count).

Okay, if pressed, we will admit to knowing more than just one phrase. If you press us to say something in German, whole streams of sentences will come out. Unfortunately, they are lyrics to lieders, and it would be frightfully embarrassing to hear us say, "Du bist wie eine Blume, so hold und schön und rein ..."
THURSDAY NIGHT SEDER REPORT [4/18/2003] The attendance at last night's workout is even more remarkable when you consider the fact that it wasn't just the weather and the impending Patriots' Day trip from Hopkinton to Boston that kept many runners out of Central Park last night. It was also the second night of Passover, the day before Good Friday, and the start of Spring Break in the public schools, all of which had combined to drive vast numbers of people out of Manhattan. It pushed us as far as Brooklyn – where we live anyway – and a second seder at our parents' house (we did Wednesday's seder at our uncle's apartment in Manhattan).

When we were younger most holidays were strictly family affairs. Eight or ten relatives gathering together, usually at our grandmother's apartment, for an evening that closely resembled the previous year's festivities. Grandma's spent most of the cold weather holidays in Florida for the past few years (though she still summers in New York), and her three children have been alternating hosting duties, which has brought about changes to both the menus and the guest lists. Wednesday saw the eight family members joined by five friends (three of them gentiles), and a updated version of the traditional meal:

Passover tells the story of the Israelites exodus from slavery in Egypt, and many foods take on symbolic value during the evening. Still, to our knowledge it is only our uncle who has thought to distill the entire story onto the dinner plate. For those wondering, the pyramid of rice represents our slavery in Egypt (the pyramid being the important part here). The lamb, as is traditional, represents the ten plagues visited upon the Egyptians, specifically the tenth – slaying of the first born – in which the Jews were spared as God passed over their houses, which were marked by lamb's blood. The red beets fill the role of the Red Sea. The piece of cardboard in the middle depicts the crossing of that sea, with Moses himself (Charlton Heston, in the center) parting the waters. Lastly we have asparagus in a yogurt and honey sauces, symbolizing the land of milk and honey and green pastures. (For those worried about the kosher nature of the meal, we are sure it was rice or soy based yogurt, and that there was no commingling of meat and dairy on this plate). Missing was the piece of matzoh that last year represented the 40 years of wandering in the desert, but what value that adds to the story is not worth valuable space on the plate it occupies that could be used for real food.

Last night tradition went out the window. Attendance shot up to 17 (one more family member and eight new guests), with five of them goyim, including three houseguests from Germany (they all spoke English, unlike the French houseguests at our seder a few years back). This inclusiveness extended to runners, as we had two CPTC members, one from the Prospect Park Track Club, one Flyer, and a couple of unattached athletes. The main course was an untraditional salmon, which inspired a friend to try (alas, unsuccessfully) to persuade her mother to replace the usual Easter ham with burritos. We expect our own Easter meal to consist mostly of pasta. True, this is usually forbidden during Passover, but there's a little-known exception for those who are running a marathon.
THURSDAY NIGHT ROAD WORKOUT REPORT [4/17/2003] The pedagogical subject tonight will be time series analysis in the frequency domain. Specifically, we refer to the Autoregressive Moving Averarge (ARMA) family of methods. Okay, to simply matters, the question is how would we predict something for tomorrow, such as the unemployment rate, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, retail sales or the high temperature. First, today's value would be a good predictor of tomorrow's value if this variable exhibits short-term dependency (as in a heat wave or cold spell). And if the variable has seasonal patterns (such as employment, retail sales or temperature), then having last year season's value should be helpful too.

So here are the known facts:
Yesterday's high temperature: 86 degrees
Last year's temperature on the same day of year: 96 degrees

Question: What is today's temperature? How about 88 degrees?

Actual answer: 35 degrees (feels like 30 degrees)!!!

Notwithstanding the sudden drop in temperature and the proximity of the Boston Marathon, we had forty-one people at the workout tonight. It was so cold that even our Canadian national high school 3000m champion showed up with ear-muffs. Our regular coach Tony Ruiz had the foresight as he is basking in sunny Florida at this moment. In his place stepped in Stuart Calderwood with the fastest baby-stroller in the park. The attendance figure was boosted by some unexpected company. Sid Howard showed up for the first time this year, because he needed to build strength before the World Masters Games in Puerto Rico. He said, "I will not be able to get my ice bath tonight because I don't have the heat on in my house." Alexandra Horowitz showed up 'due to an accident', but she was being lobbied to run the next four mile scoring race because she just missed making the top 10 list last weekend since (1) she started back in the pack and (2) she did not kick at the end. Alexandra said, "I'll give it some serious thought." More accidents occurred as Devon Martin even showed up for a road workout! We are sure that she has given it serious thinking about NOT running the four miler ...

Given that it was cold and that a different boss was in charge, the speech was short and sweet. Selected for praise was Craig Chilton, whose 21:02 PR was also the first time that he had finished in front of Toby Tanser and Stéphane Bois, both of whom reminded him of that historical moment. The bashful Chilton demurred, saying it was possible only 'because they let me ...'

P.S. As we stepped out of the West 57 Street subway stop to go to the workout, Jessica Reifer came by going the other way. We totally failed to recognize her without her CPTC uniform or her NY Magic soccer gear. Out on the street, someone recognized our orange jacket and said, "Hi! Could you please tell Brian Denman that Bill Henderson says hello!?" Who says wearing orange is no fun?
NO WEBS ATTACHED [4/17/2003] We read today about the large number of "net-evaders," people who have access to the web but choose not to go online. A recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 40% of Americans are not connected to the internet. More amazingly, 20% of those who shun the web share a home with relatives who are regular web surfers. If only these people knew about the CPTC website, we're sure they would be logging on every day.
ANOTHER BOSTON RUN-UP STORY [4/16/2003] This article by Toby Tanser for RunnersWorld features Rodgers Rop, the 2003 New York City Marathon winner.
COMMUTE TO NOWHERE [4/16/2003] In case you were out of town, or you were temporarily insane, or you just plain missed it, this article in the New York Sunday Times Magazine covers the unhappy side of life here. No economic theory, just personal tales. Reader feedback at Netslaves.
YET ANOTHER UNOFFICIAL TUESDAY TRACK WORKOUT REPORT [4/16/2003] After being confronted with yet another accusation of operating a text-based, graphically-challenged and flashless website, we counter-attacked: "If we have ten minutes to work on the website, which would you rather have us do? Some silly animated graphic, or a gossip report?" We are happy to report that gossip was grudgingly chosen. As a reward, we offer this collection of random gossips:

The Sky Is Not The Limit. A little birdie on a bike tells us that Scott Willett and Julie Denney are expecting their second child, who will keep their son Sky Wells Willett company.

Five Years Is A Long Time. Casey Yamazaki showed up at the track and asked: "This is the first time in five years that I have been down to the track ... (pause) ... now will someone please point me to the slowest group?" Well, five years or not, he still led his group during the workout. For those who don't know him, he is the LEGEND for running seven 2:39 marathons in a row – mind you, he did not run 2:4X and he did not run 2:38. It is a lot harder than you think ...

Soy NYC. Margaret Schotte said: "I've been meaning to write a review of Etusko Kizawa's Soy restaurant, which I visited with some friends." By the way, now that we are running at the East River Park track, Soy is actually within running distance (note: head south down FDR drive to Delancey Street (Williamsburg Bridge) and head west until you hit Suffolk Street where the cars go up the bridge. Soy is at 102 Suffolk, one block north of Delancey). Hours are 5pm-11pm, but Margaret said, "They seemed to get busy after 10pm!"

Washington Marathon Update. Emily Pierce tells us that, according to the Washington Post, the company that organized the recently cancelled Washington Marathon has just filed for bankruptcy. After charging $65-$95 each from the 6,801 runners, the company now lists $68,950 in assets and $1.3 million in liabilities. Even if you want to sue the bastards, there isn't much to collect. But let us guess --- are those expenses and liabilities for management salaries and consultant fees?

They Bad. In spite of the reticence to name names of latecomers in the other unofficial workout report, we can say that the list is much longer --- G'mo Rojas, Paul Sommerfeld, Dion Mulvihill, Jennifer Levine (of course!), ...

Fake Orange Girl. Audrey Kingsley: "At the London Marathon, we were criss-crossing the city to catch Margaret Angell at various points. When we reach a certain point, how would we know that Margaret is coming? Well, there was this other woman in orange just in front of her. Every time, we see this woman, we would yell, 'It's the fake orange girl! Margaret will be coming soon!'" A little bit of homework found runner #249, Michelle Lee of the Milton Keynes AC in a time of 2:43:41.

Track & Field News. Frank Morton: "Check out the new Track and Field News newsletter regarding the London Marathon. Margaret Angell is listed in the results. I'm always impressed when someone that I know has their name listed in T&FN." Ah, a little detective work showed that Track & Field News listed the top twenty finishers, with Margaret in 20th place and not the 21st place according to the London Marathon website. Tsk tsk ...

Heartbreak Hill. Bethany Aquilina: "I just wanted to let you know that you won't be seeing my name among the starters OR the finishers of the Boston marathon. Due to a very annoying "partial tear of the right adductor muscle" (according to Mr. MRI), I am not allowed to run until said muscle heals. Needless to say, I am disappointed and frustrated right now, but I'm hoping it won't be too long until I'm running again!" Remember Margaret Angell at the New York City Marathon last year? Great form going in, but stopped by a stress fracture. Well, a better day came for her this week --- the little birdies at the finish line of the London Marathon told us that she shed abundant tears of joy ...
UNOFFICIAL TUESDAY TRACK WORKOUT REPORT [4/16/2003] Ah, the great outdoors! It may not be the wide open spaces of rural America, but after a day spent staring out the window at the weather we weren't able to enjoy, East River Park more than fulfilled its job as an urban oasis. Staring out the same window today, we decided to add a few comments while we wait for the official workout reporter to file his story.

We threatened yesterday to report all latecomers on this page, but evidence suggests that we were the only one to arrive after 7:00 pm. Our bad! We didn't forget when the workout started, we just couldn't make it on time. Not that it affected us much, as we were the only one there running the pre-Boston Marathon workout of one mile around the track, with pick ups on the straightaways. As a result, we missed all the amusing running anecdotes that normally accrue in the group (hence the reason an official report is still needed). We did, however, get the chance to admire both Shelley Farmer's road rash (many pretty colors, but thankfully no major damage that will keep her out of training), and Paul Bendich's new bicycle (fewer pretty colors, and thankfully designed for commuting and not to turn him into a triathlete).