norwalk (sam elpern memorial) half marathon postponed because of hanna

in a wise move, don (the race director) and jim (clubct) sent out the following email to last night:

"Due to predicted rain & wind from Tropical Storm Hanna, the 31st annual Sam Elpern Half Marathon, scheduled for Saturday, September 6, has been postponed to the following Saturday."

check the lightfoot (norwalk) runners site for more information, but i believe all pre-registered runners will automatically be registered for the rescheduled race (saturday, september 13).

giants take season opener 16-7 over washington redskins!

what a great way for the ny giants to kick off the new season by picking up just where they left off at the superbowl! the score doesn't reflect how the giants dominated the game from the opening play. in fact, it the redskins didn't get a great kickoff return (50 yards by cartwright) - their most impressive offensive output of the entire game - just before halftime, followed by a gratuitous 15 yard face mask penalty that set-up a 12 yard touchdown pass - they would have been shut-out last night.

but the giants offensive, after an impressive start, gave way to too many stalled drives - which thankfully led to 3 field goals - in the first half. the score at half-time, 16-7, remained unchanged for the second half. the giants lack of any meaningful offensive let the redskins stay in the game well into the 4th quarter (if only because of the close score). but when the redskins finally put together a bit offense drive late in the 4th quarter, poor play selection and execution closed out any hope of rallying back.

while one game doesn't predict much, the win is a great morale booster for the team (and fans). playing without the newly retired strahan (who made a surprise appearance at the start to cheer on his former teammates) and with osi (out for the season) the team got it done. while it was an uneven game for the giants (great start, good first half, non-existent offense for the second half), a win is always a win.

but running back brandon jacobs summed it up after the game; "we still left about 90-95 yards on the field along with about 21 points. it should have been better."

ny times coverage of the game.

ny daily news coverage (and awesome photo gallery) of the game.

"lion in the white house: a life of theodore roosevelt" book review

aida donald's short biography, "a lion in the white house: a life of theodore roosevelt," is a great introduction to the man, his incredible life, and fascinating times. first, i should mention that teddy roosevelt is my favorite president. second, over the years i've read many books about him and, just this summer, even went to see my first one-man play about him, "bully pulpit." with that as a background, it's not surprising that donald's slim biography covered basically familiar material for me - i thought of it as a teddy refresher.

while donald researched and wrote the book from previously published material (no original research) - primarily his published letters and written works, i found her stripped down portrait of the roosevelt saga a solid, worth-while retelling of his life and accomplishments. for someone new to the man, she did a great job covering all the major points - starting with his childhood, the brief first marriage and child, the apprenticeship he served in the nys legislature, his escape to the badlands of the west to grieve, his return and remarriage to his childhood sweetheart, his emergence as a writer, and brief stint as nyc police commissioner.

all of which served as stepping stones to his eventual appointment as assistant naval secretary under president mckinley. during roosevelt's service as assistant secretary the spanish-american war broke out. roosevelt resigned his position, took a military commission, raised a regiment of volunteers, and then led his "rough riders" into battle. his military valor not only earned him a congressional medal of honor, but eventually led to his election as governor of new york state upon his return home. so independent was he, that the political bosses decided to "promote" him to vice president - and out of new york - when it came time for him to seek re-election as governor.

following mckinley's assassination, roosevelt became the youngest person to be sworn in as president - at the age of 42. the rest is, as they say, history. his accomplishments as president included "trust-busting," land conservation, a naval build-up, diplomacy (which earned him the nobel prize for his efforts to resolve the russian-japanese war), and he set in motion the creation of the panama canal. having served the remaining 3 years of mckinnely's term and the 4 of his elected office, he declined to seek reelection. instead, he helped elect his hand-picked successor, william taft, and then went on an african safari!

upon his triumphant return home roosevelt was lionized by the public. disillusioned by taft, roosevelt sought, and lost, the nomination for president in 1912. believing it was stolen from him because of political deals, he did the unthinkable and abandoned the republican party in favor of the progessive ("bull-moose") third party. that quixotic run paved the way for the democrats to retake the white house. after the election, roosevelt again left the country for a safari - this time he explored the uncharted "river of doubt" in south america.

where donald's book comes up short (albeit it is a "short biography") is the meager treatment of roosevelt's post-presidency, post-third party, activities. she covers off almost 10 years of material in a single all-inclusive chapter. it's almost as if she was in a rush to finish the story. she covered roosevelt and the first world war - including the service of his three sons, and the death of his youngest, quentin - in just a few paragraphs. that rush to get it done was noticeable letdown. but as a roosevelt primer (or refresher), the book is well-worth the read.

for serious fans of teddy roosevelt, however, invest the time to digest edmund morris' monumental first two volumes of his expected trilogy on roosevelt ("the rise of theodore roosevelt" and "theodore rex"). for fans of roosevelt the family man, try "the lion's pride: theodore roosevelt and his family in peace and war," by edward renehan. finally, for lovers of true adventure, consider "river of doubt: theodore roosevelt's darkest journey," by candice millard. it's a spellbinding look at roosevelt's last major adventure.

2009 umstead 100 mile endurance run

it's done! after a couple of delays in getting the on-line registration up and running - i just took care of my registration for the 2009 edition of umstead (april 4, 2009) - which will be its 15th anniversary!

after a pair of injuries to my left shin ended my 2008 umstead race at mile 78, this event has rocketed to the top on my list of unfinished business. in the process, the escarpment trail run had dropped down to number two on that list (but that's for another post).

anyone in the mood to revisit those gory details can check out my 2008 race report - and the pictures.

so, ever the optimist, this time around i hope to tack on an extra 22 miles - and finish it :D

UPDATE: kickrunners thread reports that on-line registration filled in just 19 minutes - amazing! but race organizers have put aside a few slots for snail mail registration - phew!

nike human race 10k: race report

before....

one reason i looked forward to the nike human race 10k was a chance to revisit randall's island. i hadn't run there since the nyrr icahn track summer races in 2007. the second reason was for the post-race all-american rejects concert. the overall experience was fun, but the race itself was the most poorly organized event i've ever participated in. while the level of enthusiasm from the volunteers was great, it couldn't take away from the awful (no, dangerous, is a better word choice here) course conditions 10,000+ runners had to contend with to finish the double loop course of the island.

race instructions directed runners to line up no later than 5:45 (for the 6:00 start). runners walked from the rear to the front to reach the time appropriate starting position. i can't remember a time it took so long to weave, bob, dodge, slide around, slip past, et cetera - just to reach the 8 minute pace section. all that work and we just stood there. a variety of excuses were tossed out, but the bottom line, the race went off a half hour late. it took me (from the 8 minute pace section) 2 and a half minutes to cross the start line!

then, somewhere near the end of the first mile we entered this man-made corral that was bordered on either side by huge orange sheeting. it was one of the most claustrophobic running passages - if only because of the sheer volume of runners funneled through that narrow space. i could only image the damage that would befall the runner unlucky enough to trip and fall along that stretch of the course. ironically, i made it out of that horrible stretch only to have a runner stop short right in front of me less than a mile down the road.

i swerved head-on into a plastic course divider - knocking it over and, luckily, just bruising my ego in the process. so far i was not having fun - and, funnier still, was working way too hard to maintain an 8:30 pace in the crowd of runners i was running with! i kept thinking that once the first loop was out of the way the crowd would thin out a little and we'd get some breathing room. no such luck. there were occasional pockets of space - but, overall, runners were crammed into unending narrow roads.

in a sign of possible trouble ahead - we crossed a narrow footbridge to complete the first loop. a left turn and we were retracing the route. but while things slowed down on the bridge for that loop, the came to a dead standstill the second time around - when the finishers turned right off the bridge and headed into the stadium to finish on the track. when i approached the bridge for the second time - it was crowded with walkers - literally - on their first loop! they had taken over both lanes of the small bridge and wouldn't let the runners pass on the right to finish! in all my races i never heard so many expletives being screamed at fellow runners! it was not only unsafe - the runners coming to a crushing halt and unable to cross the bridge - but downright ugly in the level of vituperation!

i hesitate to paint such a negative portrait of the event. but honestly, "what were they thinking" is all i kept saying to myself?! putting 10,000+ runners in such a confined space and no course controls whatsoever?! a prescription for disaster for sure (and a miracle no such disaster occurred sunday night)! from my perspective, getting through 2 loops of that course under those conditions was demoralizing and mentally exhausting. the amazing thing, the all-american rejects put on such a great concert that it made being there totally worth it!

here are my splits:

1. 8:54
2.
3. 17:38 26:32
4. 8:11 34:43
5. 8:05 42:48
6. 8:24 51:12
0.2 1:34 52:46

one thing is for certain, my decision on running this event next year will come down to one thing (and utterly non-running related): who will do the post-race entertainment :D


after...

check out the race photos.

check out the all-american reject concert photos.

katie and alexa's excellent new england adventure: guest post

alexa and katie!

this was katie and alexa's second day trip to an amusement park in as many weekends! last weekend they went to atlantic park at misquamicut beach in rhode island. that was a water based adventure - they split their time between the beach and the water wizz slide!

this weekend they went north (and stayed dry), to six flags new england, in massachusetts.

here is katie's report of their trip.
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Sunday I went to Six Flags New England. The plan was that my mom and I would meet up with my cousin Alexa and uncle Miguel once we got there. Since Alexa (my cousin) lives in Hartford, which is only a half hour from Great Flags, they got there at 11:00. My mom and I, however, live 2 1/2 hours away so we didn't arrive until 1.

Once we met up, Alexa and I went on this really fun and crazy roller-coaster called "Pandemonium!" It's really wild and I liked it a lot because, as you go over the hills in each 4-person cart, it spins you in circles which is the best part!

Then we had lunch in the big cafeteria. I had pizza, which, although kinda soggy, tasted pretty good.

Our next ride was called the "Buzz-saw." That's where you sit on these benches on one big platform, then it takes you up and down in circles!

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly as we played games and went on more rides. My favorite ride of the day was definitely the "Tomahawk." I think Alexa really liked it also.

When we left Six Flags, instead of going straight home, my mom and I followed my uncle and cousin to a restaurant called Cracker Barrel. There we met my aunt Andrea (my mom's sister) and Alexa's brother, Miggy, my other cousin, for dinner. The food was very good and we all had a lot of fun there.

On the drive home, I thought of how much fun I had had. I definitely want to go back sometime soon!

alexa, miguel, katie, and pat.


alexa, katie, and miguel.




w/bugs bunny?!


pat and katie!

all-american rejects post-nike human race 10k concert: photos and setlist

the post-race concert by the all-american rejects was the highlight of the nike human race 10k event on randall's island! these guys can rock!

before nike announced they would be the post-race performers, i had never heard of this group! but then my friend kate set me straight when she sent me their "move along" album. i've been listening to it for the past two weeks, and am definitely hooked! good stuff.

with that taste of their music, i looked forward to hearing them perform live. they did not disappoint! the show kicked off with dirty little secret and was non-stop fun straight through to "move along," their encore. then we were treated to fireworks to end the night!

as to the music itself - the bulk of it came from "move along," but they tossed in one "oldie"and a new song that will be on the new album. at one point, mid-song, a stray "c" note caught tyson ritter attention during "it ends tonight." after tooling around with the various instruments to find the out of tune culprit (multiple blame)... the band decided to play it acoustic - awesome!

another cool retro moment for the old people in the crowd - the ramped up bay city roller inspired lead into "night drive!" the bay city rollers - a very unique group from that distant land of the 1970's, had a hit that played those chord..." that riff never sounded better than it did played as the tease into "night drive!"

for a bit of comic relief, ritter's congratulation to the runners for getting the 10k done turned into a search for the mileage distance of a 10k! "you guys ran 8 miles - awesome!" "you guys did 7.3 miles!" "wow there's a real mathematician in the crowd, exactly 6.21 miles!" "hey, what's with this metric system - isn't that for canadians?!" hilarious stuff!

if you get the chance to see this group - grab it!
































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here's the complete setlist:

dirty little secret
top of the world
swing, swing
stab my back
my paper heart
mona lisa
i wanna
night drive
i’m waiting
it ends tonight
the last song

encore:

move along
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check out the race photos and results.